Ducky Paredes

Malaya (07.28.09)

 

“Until then, we cannot agree that Mar Roxas is the President of the Party, much more our nominee for President in 2010.”

by Ducky Paredes

            Renato Ramon Ermita, one of our past presidents in the Rotary Club of Pasig is also our first Hall-of-Famer for the great work he did in beginning our Gawad Kalinga project two years ago. The reason I mention him today is that today Rhett completes his 50th year working in the first company he joined in 1959. He has been with Republic Glass since. Although lifetime employment is no longer in vogue nowadays, Rhett partly attributes his doing so to his dean who, in his exit talk to the graduates, stressed the value of staying long in a company.

            He joined Republic Glass Corp. as a laboratory analyst with a salary of P150 a month on his graduation from De La Salle College. He is now chairman of  the same company which has been renamed Asahi Glass, the only glass manufacturer in the Philippines.

Rhett is one of eight children of a physician-father who practiced in his hometown of Balayan, Batangas, As a young child, he worked as a gasoline boy in a cousin’s gas station and sold Magnolia ice drop and popsicle at ten centavos, earning one centavo on each sale.

Then, his dreams were simple: Study in La Salle and see Baguio. Now, Rhett has already seen most of the world. He has also survived a kidney transplant done by Dr. Enrique Ona in 1992 with a sister as the donor. He has also had two angioplasties and a quintuple by-pass in 2004. Rhett, however, still has a mean golf game.

Rhett joined Republic on the invitation of his professor Geronimo Velasco, who took in the top three students in his class. Rhett topped his class and was among the top ten in the board exams.

When he joined the company, on a Monday 50 years ago, he remembers that workers were still putting up the factory. He was married on July 4, 1964 and his wife Belle says that she has kept all of his pay slips from that day to this.

Rhett survived two labor strikes where his family, living in the factory compound, were held hostage. They had to hire a chopper to get them out.

            Glass making under the old vertical process was so complicated, that there were times the glass just kept on breaking the whole day. Sometimes, he would run out of solutions that he would pray over the process. Sometimes prayer worked sometimes.

            Thus, when the much easier float glass technology came along, it was difficult for him to give up the job even with the “double-your-salary” offer from another company.

            “Because of the difficulties, I got more attached to the company.” he says now.        Rhett, at 70, is probably not yet retiring any time soon. Congratulations on completing 50 years with just one employer!

* * *

In his talk to the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) last July 21, Secretary Lito Atienza talked of the rule of law and the Pandacan Oil Depot. But he also spoke about the Liberal Party. Here are some excepts from the early part of his speech:

“Many people are asking me what political party do I belong, and I say I am still a Liberal, and I will continue to be a Liberal until we are able to resolve our problems within the party because it is a fact that my, or, some party men in the Liberal Party continue to defy the Liberal Party Constitution. And since our country is suffering from a lot of problems that are rooted to violations of the Constitution, I would like to also point out that particular clarification. What is happening in the Liberal Party today is a continuing violation of our own rules and our own Constitution.

“Ang sabi nila, ‘Talo na kayo in Court bakit pa kayo nagpupumilit?’ Gusto ko lang malaman ninyo ang decision ng Korte Suprema ay nagsabing ang Partido Liberal ay dapat magkaroon ng halalan. Drilon, Atienza, pareho kayong tama, subalit hindi kayo parehong pangulo, magkaroon kayo ng halalan ayon sa inyong sariling Constitution. At yun ang magde-decide sino ang presidente.

“So we waited and we set aside our claim to the presidency although we met all the members of our party nationwide and they elected me as President and Drilon was elected only by a handful of Liberals he selected at Club Filipino. We waited for that election that was stated in our Constitution. So November 2007 came, We were prepared to face anyone in that Convention that was supposed to be called but I was expelled from the party one week before the Convention. So hindi natupad ang sinabi ng Korte Suprema. So, walang decision ang Korte Supremang sinunod nitong aking mga kaibigan, Kaya hanggang ngayon, I am accusing them of a continuing violation of our Constitution. And therefore, we do not recognize them as leaders of the Liberal Party until when we call for a national gathering of the Liberal Party leaders and elect our leader. Until then, we cannot agree that Mar Roxas is the President of the Party, much more our nominee for President in 2010.

“Ang naghalal sa kanya ay 32 at ang pumili sa kanya ay yun ding 32ng yun na tinawag nila’y pedigree Liberals. Kami raw ay mga askal; alam ba ninyo yung askal? Asong Kalye. Mas maraming asong kalye sa Pilipinas, a. Kaya yung mga pedigree poodle at mga shitsu,iilan lang yun. Ang aking alok sa kanila, tawagin ang partido sa isang pulong at convention at maghalal sa isang malayang paraan, demokratikong sistema na niloloob ng aming sariling Saligang Batas at kung sino ang manalo, siyang tatanghalin, pangulo ng partido.

“I see a very good friend, a former Liberal himself who invested so much in the Party, Councilor Pete Villanueva who can attest on the rules of the Party. He is also very close to Mar Roxas, as I am very close to Mar Roxas. But all I’m asking for is an implementation of the Constitution of the Party. If he wins in the Convention, then he is our President. If he gets the nomination, then he is our presidential candidate. But short of that, I don’t think you will be able to excite the members of the Liberal Party nationwide because we have not followed the Liberal Party Constitution.

“So ayan ha, sinagot ko na ang mga tanong ninyo; anong partido ko? Liberal ako. E si Mar Roxas, Liberal din. Pero kailangan, i-settle namin yung issue ng liderato.”

Is Mar Roxas listening? Does he even really want to unite the Liberal Party? Can he win without a united Liberal Party?

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hvp (07.27.09)

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