Honoring Heherson ‘Sonny’ Alvarez

Honoring Heherson ‘Sonny’ Alvarez

The late former Sen. Heherson Alvarez

By Jose Maria Sison and Julie de Lima

April 22, 2020

Julie and I wish to convey to Cecile and her children Hexilon and Xilca our sincerest condolences over the demise of the  former Senator Heherson “Sonny” Alvarez.  We also wish Cecile to recover fully soon. We share your grief and at the same time we celebrate his brilliant achievements in life and his enduring legacy.

We were Sonny’s contemporaries in the University of the Philippines and we became close personally, intellectually and politically through the  “university within the university,” which the Student Cultural Association of the UP (SCAUP) created by setting up study groups on Marxism and the people’s democratic revolution.

The SCAUP sought to recruit the best and brightest of the UP Diliman students, in terms of academic excellence, writing ability and organizational skills from 1959 onward.  We belonged to various colleges, fraternities, sororities and other campus organizations.

While I was the Chairman of SCAUP, Sonny rose to the executive position of  president after the success of the rally of 5000 students on March 15, 1961 against the  Committee on Anti-Filipino Activities (CAFA)  which invoked the Anti-Subversion Law to conduct an anti-communist witch hunt.

We stood for  the academic freedom of the university and defended the democratic rights of UP faculty members and students who had written and published patriotic and progressive articles in campus publications. And we were successful at scuttling the witch hunt and further inspire the academic community to think and speak for the national and democratic rights of the people.

Sonny was outstanding as a charismatic leader, a consensus builder among the campus organizations and  an orator par excellence.  He learned well from the study meetings to discuss the issues before the protest mass actions and before he sallied forth into inter-university debating contests. He became a champion debater in the Philippines and abroad.

I knew Sonny closely enough and trusted him with my own life when I would let him know in advance where we could meet and talk whenever I was in Isabela in the years from 1969 to 1972. I was then the  target of a manhunt by the reactionary armed forces as I engaged in revolutionary work among the masses in the forest region and plains of Isabela.

Sonny was an excellent campaigner when he ran for the constitutional convention in 1971.  He was certain to be elected because he had rapport with the masses and was known as a friend of the revolutionary movement. In addition, our mutual friendships with anti-Marcos mayors helped him to get elected.
I admired Sonny when he opposed the scheme of Marcos to use the constitutional convention as an instrument for legitimizing  his fascist dictatorship. He was in the forefront of protest mass actions to uphold and defend the civil  and democratic rights of the people.   For this reason, Marcos and his agents threatened him with arrest and detention, which forced him to go on exile.

He worked effectively in the US to strengthen the movement against the  martial law regime and the fascist dictatorship of Marcos. He  worked closely with Manglapus and then with Ninoy Aquino. At the same time, he kept in touch with the more progressive forces in the Filipino community.

After the downfall of Marcos, he returned from exile and became the secretary of  agrarian reform.  I came out from military detention. And we met a number of times to discuss the new circumstances and further prospects. We exchanged friendly advice.

My personal contact with Sonny became less  after I went abroad at the end of August, 1986.  But I observed his work in government and appreciated his patriotic and progressive stand on issues. But we never had the chance to discuss his vote concerning the US military bases.

But subsequently he took positions which I appreciated and admired,  such as his active cooperation with Anakbayan and other forces in the movement for the ouster of the Estrada regime.  He also took sound positions on energy, the environment and climate change.

A few years ago, he expressed his wish to visit me in the Netherlands.  For some reason he could not come.   Buf, of course, we remained friends and  we were in touch with each other via email and Facebook and through occasional travelers between the Philippines and The Netherlands.

Julie and I regard Sonny as among the best of the leaders of the Philippine ruling system by adhering as closely as he could to the principles and mode of conduct that he learned from SCAUP, the youth movement,  the struggle against the Marcos fascist dictatorship and further experiences.

He was among the alumni of the SCAUP who rose to high positions in the professions, in the government and in the national democratic movement.

The late former Senator Heherson “Sonny”Alvarez  accomplished much that is exemplary and commendably in the service of the people and inspiring to the youth and all other people.  Goodbye, Sonny.  Rest in peace. We will always respect and honor your memory and recount your  deeds in the advancement of the national and democratic rights of the people.