Doy Laurel never was Ninoy’s counsel

IN BOY del Mundo’s June 23 Special Report, he wrote: “Cory Aquino refused to see Laurel, a  former senator who had organized the opposition during the martial law years, gave up his lifelong ambition to rally the anti-Marcos forces behind the widow of his boyhood friend in the snap election of 1986 that preceded the revolution. Instead she urged (Doy) Laurel to reveal the Marcos message to the public. He refused. He said he was only the messenger.”

I remain naive in politics. I was not all that privy to the goings-on in the 1970s but fought martial law from Day One (even before). No question, Ninoy, Doy and Cory were all patriots. But, certain facts are undeniable. Brilliant Doy did not serve as counsel for Ninoy or the human rights victims. He was not alone, he was among the prudent topnotch lawyers then, who were not with us. Hence, the need for and emergence of the young, obscure FLAG-MABINI lawyers.  Had the abogados de campanillas done more, we might have simply grown old, obscure. Many of the best and the brightest then went to ACCRA and the like.

Doy was not with us in politics and human rights in the 1970s. The Laurels were allied with the KBL. The first opposition rally I saw Doy in was in 1981, in Liwasang Bonifacio, for an election boycott. It would seem to be a stretch to say Doy organized the opposition during the dark years of the 1970s as all the Laurels were in bed with Marcos then.

We welcomed Doy in the 1981 election boycott, given the Laurel prestige and following. If he and Cory had both run in 1986, both would have lost. It is to Doy’s eternal credit that he  sacrificed and withdrew, and he was awesome on the hustings.

However, in the many coups launched against us, Doy was never there for us, to my knowledge, as I went around radio-TV stations to rally support for President Cory. I was with her in all those hectic tests when Doy would be reported to be out of town, out of the country, and even out of this world (out of reach). He could have asked the troops to rally behind the commander in chief, the chain of command, the flag and the Constitution. Never happened.

President Cory must have missed Doy’s support in all those coup tries. Imagine if they had stood side by side condemning the coup attempts? Was he hoping President Cory would be deposed as he was next in line?

On another point: “Allegations of corruption against [Marcos] have never been proven in court.” Boy del Mundo should read the July 15, 2003 decision of our own Supreme Court against William Saunders (FM) and Jane Ryan (IM), forfeiting the hundreds of millions of dollars turned over by a believing Switzerland, which changed its policies on deposited ill-gotten wealth—another positive Edsa upshot President Cory should be credited for.

—RENE SAGUISAG,

UIOGD, [email protected]