On December 26, my friend Jose de Venecia turns 80.
At 80, the Philippines’ five-time speaker of the House has chalked up remarkable life story. And public service record.
A journalism graduate of Ateneo, Joe was a pioneering diplomat and entrepreneur in his early life. He was the one who conceived the idea of a government program to tap overseas remittances by Filipino expats. In the mid-1970s, he became becoming the country’s first billionaire oil man and labor exporter.
Better than that, Joe was a visionary legislator, authoring most of the greatest pieces of political, social and economic legislation ever conceived. In between, he is an accomplished local and global peacemaker. He is not done yet.
Man of JdV’s accomplishments can be gleaned from his biography, “Global Filipino,” penned by former US Wall Street Journal editor Brett Decker, and episodes listed by writer Charlson Ong.
Here are highlights of JdV’s enviable saga of eight decades. He:
1. Conceived and implemented the historic Philippine dollar remittance program since 1967, which now earns the Philippines some $25 billion to $28 billion a year, dramatically enriching the Central Bank foreign exchange reserves and which killed the then rampant black-market, finance the economy and countless homes for Filipino overseas worker families nationwide, and which has become a model for many Third-World countries.
2. Pioneered Filipino projects as prime contractor in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world and North Africa, which led to the employment of millions of Filipinos from the mid-1970s up to now. De Venecia has earned numerous decorations from the Central Bank, Labor and international organizations.
3. As a 30-year-old young diplomat, Minister and Economic Counselor during the Vietnam War, then based in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, pushed the creation of the first Philippine Helicopter Squadron and first Armalite Battalion in the AFP with his friendship with the then famed US Military Commander, Lt. Gen. Creighton Abrams, after whom the US Abrams Tank was named.
4. In UN speeches, pushed the Christian-Muslim and Inter-faith Dialogues approved by the United Nations to reduce politico-religious tensions and conflicts in various parts of the world. This was a breakthrough because inter-religious issues were before taboo in the UN system. Today an Inter-Faith unit functions in the Office of the UN Secretary General.
5. As a congressman, designed and authored the conversion of the US military bases Clark Field, Subic Naval Base, Camp John Hay in Baguio City, Camp Wallace in San Fernando, La Union, into free ports or special economic zones, and simultaneously converted the Filipino military camps in Fort Bonifacio and Nichols Air Base, into major business cities under one classic law, a dramatic successful “game changer” for the Philippines, the Bases Conversion Law.
6. Initiated the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) and is president of the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI) and Co-Chairman of the International Ecological Safety Collaborative Organization (IESCO), based in New York and Beijing, and which enjoys Consultative Status in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
ICAPP’s management 4-man Bureau, includes Cambodian Vice-Premier Sok An, Vice-Chairman, South Korean Chung Eui-Yong, Co-Chairman and Secretary General, and Pakistan Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defense, as Special Rapporteur.
7. Negotiated the ceasefire with the RAM-YOU rebel leaders Col. Gregorio Honasan, then in the underground, General Abenina, Commodore Calahate, both in prison, which led to the final peace agreement, ending RAM’s many coup attempts; he crossed the Sahara Desert twice with wife Gina, for peace talks with Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi and MNLF leader Nur Misuari in North Africa, ending in the 1996 peace pact; and was the first Christian leader to enter the MILF mountain lair at Camp Abubakar for initial talks with MILF Chair Hashim Salamat and his Deputy, now MILF Chairman Gen. Ebrahim Murad. He was accompanied by Deputy Speaker Simeon Datumanong. Final peace with MILF is still pending.
In 1998, Joe ran for president but was trounced by the hugely popular Vice President Joseph “Erap” Estrada. In a fine gesture of sportsmanship, as speaker, Joe proclaimed his arch rival, the duly elected president of the Philippines. Erap served only for 30 months. He was succeeded by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who served for nine consecutive years. Joe prospered as a politician and statesman—and businessman—under Arroyo.
Happy birthday, Joe.