By Gonzalo Duque

 

I congratulate the ascendancy of Congressman Conrad Estrella III of the Abono party list as secretary of the Department of Agrarian  Reform, a post once held by his late grandfather and namesake Conrado F. Estrella who was DAR’s first secretary for 16 years and also former governor of Pangasinan.

I’ve had a lot of encounters with Conrad and I have observed that he has that kind of developmental mind that would bring progress to the country, especially Pangasinan. As you all know, he initiated the transfer of the Ombudsman office, the LTO, TESDA and a host of other government offices, to a new government center in Rosales, whose location is situated on a sprawling land donated by his family.

You know, I had a memorable conversation with the old man Estrella during the rites commemorating the landing of General Douglas Mac Arthur and Veterans Day in Lingayen where he was invited as guest of honor and speaker.

We talked about his friendship with my late dad, Dr. Francisco Duque Jr., former Health Secretary during the Macapagal administration and also former governor of Pangasinan.  The two belonged to different political parties, although they were together in the Rotary Club of Dagupan. (My dad was with the Liberal Party and the old man Estrella headed the Nacionalista Party then).

When Tio Condring was called to deliver his speech, and some people came to him to assist him, he waved them off. “Ang gusto kung magdala sa akin sa podium ay si Gonzalo Tiongson Duque “ (That’s me!). I was surprised. An old man twice my age required a younger person to bring him to the podium.

Tio Corning recalled that his son Bobby (Conrad’s father) who died as a young  congressman because of the negligence of the doctors who performed the operation on him. He intimated to me he could have filed and won a case against the doctor as advised by his friends but he decided not to because his son already died and that the doctors were family men, too.

In our lengthy conversation that followed, he also mentioned that he lost a lot of his memorabilia, including his rare close up photos with his idol President Ramon Magsaysay, when their house in Carmen, Rosales was flooded during Typhoon “Pepeng” in 2009 that also submerged SM Rosales.

Despite, Tio Conring’s fame in his life, he always advised young, aspiring politicians not to let vindictiveness rule their hearts because they will only lose their perspectives if they become vindictive persons.

In that occasion, he shared with the audience how he and my father, Dr. Francisco Duque Jr., fought each other but took their fight in a sportsmanlike manner. But mind you, that at the top of his power, Tio Condring and then Secretary Jake Clave helped my father establish the first College of Medicine in Pangasinan in the now Lyceum Northwestern University.

Fast forward, during his wake years later after his speech during that Mac Arthur landing rite, I was invited by Bernadette and Jimmy Estrella to deliver one of the eulogies among the many. I did.

As I was about to enter the place where the wake was being held, a reporter from ABS-CBN asked me: “Was Conrado Estrella a crony of Marcos?” I didn’t mind her. But as I was delivering the eulogy, that question flashed in my mind. So, I said: “Conrado Estrella was never a crony. He was a party loyalist.” That made a lot of difference!

Like my late father, Tio Condring never moved to another political party during his time.

If we follow the nugget of wisdom of the old man Estrella, who had the almighty power at the time to file a case against the doctors but didn’t, Conrado Estrella III would not be successful as he is today if his grandfather allowed vindictiveness to rule in his heart.

I salute you Secretary Conrad Estrella III.

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As to Bongbong Marcos, we will extend our full support to him because he is now the president of the Philippines, elected overwhelmingly by our people. What happened in the election is past. We should now reconcile and work together to ease the sufferings of our people, most immobilized by the pandemic and burdened by the soaring price of fuel and commodities. 

On behalf of my family, I wish BBM all the success. 

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