My friend Doy.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Isagani A. Cruz

I WRITE this with a heavy heart because it concerns Doy Laurel. We were friends for more than half a century, and now my friend is gone. I am diminished by his loss.

Doy passed away last Wednesday in the United States, far from the country he loved so well. He was confined for lymphatic cancer in the hospital, where he was in a coma for 21 days. He suddenly woke up, asked that his chemotherapy be discontinued and his life-support systems removed. He went back to his rented apartment, refreshed himself and had a hearty meal. He cheerfully said that he had already "been there" and had come back only to say goodbye. A week later, he went away again, this time for good.

During his hospitalization, I rejected the distressing reports about his ailment, knowing him to be a robust and vigorous person. The time came, however, when the news about him became more urgent and I felt I should drop him a note to cheer him up a bit. And so I called up his house for his address in the United States, but two hours later, our mutual friend and law partner, Leon L. Asa, informed me of Doy's impending demise. I then faxed him my letter, hoping that it would be read to him on time.

Doy was many things to his friends and admirers. He was a champion orator during his college days, an accomplished law practitioner who devoted much of his time and talent to pro bono cases, a law professor after his post-graduate studies at Yale, his father's own alma mater, a member of the Senate who authored the so-called Justice-for-the-Poor laws, and the founder of the CLASP that handles thousands of cases a year for indigent clients. He was elected Vice President of the Philippines in 1986 and briefly served as secretary of foreign affairs. His last position was chair of the National Centennial Commission in 1998.

He was an avid sportsman, a sometime singer, and an admirer of beautiful women, but never in preference to his lovely Celia, whom he adored. He was also a devoted family man who, despite his busy public life, enjoyed many leisure hours of fun and song with his wife and children, as well as his brothers and sisters.