In the service of humanity

Almost P16 billion of the proposed P19 billion budget for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict is to be utilized for the development of 800 barangays around the country that according to the military, have been cleared of communist-rebel influence. National security will not be compromised by diverting a portion of this allocation for the victims of typhoon-hit communities from “Yolanda” to “Rolly,” as well as those displaced by the Zamboanga City siege of 2013 and the Marawi City takeover in 2017.

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One of the first batches to graduate from UP High School, Diliman, after the war was the Class of 1951. Starting out in quonset huts, the school was later accommodated at the College of Education Building. Professor Juan Canave was our beloved principal, and many of our student teachers would later occupy positions of responsibility in the university.

A few months after graduation, three members of the class headed for Baguio City. Jaime “Jimmy” Venago, Cesar Ignacio, and myself, had made it to the Philippine Military Academy and along with others, found ourselves on a PMA shuttle taking us to Fort Del Pilar in Loakan. One could sense the change of mood of the guys as we got closer to the academy. Earlier, there was a lot of talking and horsing around but as we entered the military reservation, things quieted down with the realization that our lives were about to change profoundly.

We became part of PMA Class of 1956, 77 strong. Jimmy was the “Benjamin” of the group and also one of our brightest. He would finish No. 4 in the class and was headed for a career in the Navy. However, President Ramon Magsaysay decided that the entire class would be thrown into the anti-Huk campaign and so, all of us were fielded with the Battalion Combat Teams of the Philippine Army, mostly in the Southern Luzon area. Almost a year after, we were allowed to join our branch of choice but Jimmy decided to stay on with the Army instead of joining the Navy.

During the Marcos administration, Jimmy was assigned to Malacañang and designated military assistant to executive secretary Rafael Salas. From then on, he would shed his uniform for the civilian dress of a technocrat working under one of the country’s most brilliant public servants. He would become a sort of “man Friday” for Salas, taking care not only of office matters but also of personal affairs of the heart for the bachelor official. Salas would later resign from government to join the United Nations Fund for Population Activities.

In 1980, Jimmy would follow his mentor to the United Nations in New York but in his case, it would be with the UN Development Program (UNDP). His stint with the UNDP covering a period of more than 12 years, would take him all over Africa. His first assignment was as senior security officer, UNDP, in Kampala, Uganda, during the days of dictator Idi Amin. This was followed by a posting at Lagos, Nigeria, as senior administrative officer, UNDP. After several years in the field, he returned to UN Headquarters in New York and was designated senior area officer for West Africa. After two years, it was back to the field, this time as deputy resident representative, UNDP, to Zambia.

His last field assignment was to Equatorial Guinea, also as deputy resident representative, UNDP. After two years in this particularly difficult posting, living most often on canned goods, he was transferred back to New York. In 1992, he decided to call it quits with the United Nations, and came home to the Philippines to enjoy retirement.

Gen. Fidel Ramos had just been elected president, and Secretary Corazon Alma de Leon of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, an old friend, asked if he was interested in helping her out with the Mount Pinatubo disaster work. He readily agreed and in June 1993, Jimmy was appointed deputy executive director of the Mount Pinatubo Commission (MPC) and would later take over as executive director.

Perhaps his work in Africa had taken a heavy toll on his health but whatever it was, Jimmy kept things to himself. Exactly one year after assuming the post of executive director, MPC, Jaime Venago closed his eyes, as if to say goodbye. He was at work when he suffered a stroke from which he never recovered. In a eulogy, Kevin McGrath, UNDP resident representative Philippines, described Jimmy’s work in Africa as a “magnificent performance.” The same was said of his efforts with the Pinatubo Commission as he gave his best in the service of his own people.

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