Ed Angara remembered as friend and mentor

More than his achievements in politics and advocacies, Senate President Edgardo Angara is remembered by friends and former colleagues in politics for being a friend and a mentor.

Former President and incumbent Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada considers knowing Angara and becoming his friend a great privilege.

“Noon at ngayon itinuturing kong isang malaking karangalan na nakilala ko siya at naging kaibigan,” Estrada noted in his eulogy during the necrological service held at the Senate session hall on Wednesday.

The former President said he had high hopes when he picked Angara to be his running mate in the 1998 presidential elections. Angara lost to then vice presidential candidate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“When I chose him to be my running mate in 1998, alam kong maaasahan ko siya. Salamat, Ed. Salamat sa iyong dangal sa paglilingkod at pagmamahal sa bayan,” Estrada said.

Arroyo described Angara as her mild-mannered mentor.

She said that Angara supported her during her presidency when the latter was elected as Senate President.

Taguig Representative Pia Cayetano was emotional as she delivered her eulogy, saying she considers Angara as part of her family.

“This great man has left so much behind. Filipino, grieve because we have lost a humble and dedicated statesmen, a great teacher—my teacher—a visionary,” she said.

Former Senate President Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. said Angara had perks to savor but he tried to share them with others.

Pimentel noted that he personally experienced Angara’s kindness martial law when “he (Angara) shared with me the material things he has, but I turned it down.”

Angara’s focus on knowledge-sharing earned him his rightful place on the pages of history, Pimentel said.

Senator Joel Villanueva said he was mentored by Angara and even acknowledged the latter for leading him to be the “TESDAman.”

“Walang TESDAman, kung wala si Tito Ed,” he said.

“Si Tito Ed gustong-gusto niyang nagtuturo, nagmementor. Siya ang senior adviser ng ‘Seatmates’. He believed in us. Sa amin, si Tito Ed was the senators’ senator,” Villanueva added.

A connection with people

Senator Loren Legarda’s voice broke as she delivered her eulogy.

“It is not easy to eulogize, lest I miss out on so many accomplishments or even overshoot the time allotted to me, because there is just too much to say about a person whom I have known and become close to, both at work and on a personal basis,” she said.

Despite being an accomplished lawyer, legislator, and statesman, Angara maintained a connection with the people, Legarda noted.

“Maybe because even with all his achievements, he had always considered himself a ‘probinsiyano’. He dearly loved his home province and its people, including the Dumagats, the indigenous people of Aurora,” she said.

She said Angara’s demise left a gaping hole in Aurora. But on the national stage, his absence will be felt long after his body has been laid to rest.

Minority Leader Franklin Drilon described Angara as a major influence in his professional and political life.

“Ed was a jewel of a friend—a man who had my highest respect and admiration.  It is not a secret that he was a major influence in my professional and political life,” he said.

He noted Angara’s passing came as a shock as they were together in Tagaytay with friends and colleagues hours before the former senator died on Sunday.

“I am privileged to have known him, to have laughed, walked and worked with him. It is not easy to bid him farewell, but I find comfort in the thought that his was a life well-lived. In his lifetime, he enriched many lives, including mine,” Drilon said in his eulogy.

Senate Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said Angara—polite and courteous—fought great causes without having to utter a single curse in public as he saw no need to punctuate the point he was making with coarseness.  

“At a time when speeches are measured by loudness, not logic, he spoke calmly and ditched oratory. In fact, his spiels bordered on the bland, but what he lacked in bombast, he made up through powerful arguments which were impossible to ignore,” Recto noted. —VDS, GMA News