We have our own ‘Amandas’

The last column in the Inquirer of the former Supreme Court Justice Isagani Cruz, who passed away last March 21, was titled “Amanda” (Opinion, 2/17/08). [The last column of Justice Cruz was run on June 13, 2010, and titled “Reminiscences.”—ED.] It was a poignantly written piece, “mixing memory and desire,” as noted English poet T.S. Eliot wrote.

In Cruz’s writings, two strange bedfellows—poetry and law—magically blended. The “Amanda” piece was a towering example. This is the reason I faithfully followed Cruz’s columns for almost a decade.

This is a small paean to Cruz, whose stint in public service as an eminent jurist and a columnist par excellence touched the Philippine landscape for decades.

In the column, he never met “Amanda” again. The effect was both surreal, romantic and painful. Allow me to say that we, too, have our own “Amandas,” remembered and

cherished.

—IKE C. GUTIERREZ,

ikecgutierrez@yahoo.com.ph