The legacy of Buddy Britanico

By Herbert Vego

WE feel the loss of a buddy in former Congressman Salvador “Buddy” Britanico, who passed into the afterlife on Good Friday, April 3,  at age 88.

He has lived a full life that reminds us of the Bible verse, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

Throughout his long political career, we in the Iloilo media have embraced him as an elder to turn to for advice or help in times of need.  We can no longer count the times he provided us a room to stay in his house whenever we were in Metro Manila.

 

A native of Oton, Iloilo, he was one of the few good men who rose to national prominence during the martial law administration of the late President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. with his election as a member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa (IBP) in 1978.

Despite his closeness to the elder Marcos, however, he never amassed questionable wealth. He focused on public service, especially on college education for the poor. To him, education was the main “ingredient” that catapulted him to success.

Buddy Britanico graduated Salutatorian of Oton High School.

He finished Law at Far Eastern University in Manila, took the 1962 bar examinations and ranked 28^th, making him an in-demand practitioner. He put up the Britanico Britanico Lisaca & Associates Law Office.

He ran and won as municipal councilor of Oton, Iloilo for two terms from 1963 to 1970.

Between 1963 and 1978, he was professor of law, philosophy, argumentation and debate and political science at the University of Iloilo, University of San Agustin (Iloilo), San Sebastian College and Lyceum of the Philippines.

As one of the elected delegates to the 1971 Constitutional Convention, he authored the provisions mandating the standardization of salaries of government officers and employees and terminating the rights of American citizens to exploit the natural resources of the country after paying them just compensation for their vested rights.

As a member of the regular Batasan Pambansa (1978-1986), he authored the reduction of the qualifying age of provincial elected officials to 21 years old; sponsored the bill abolishing the mandatory teaching of 24 units of Spanish and instead making it optional and only mandatory to selected courses in college.

He co-authored the laws establishing scores of state colleges and universities in all regions in the country. He was appointed concurrently as Minister of State for Transportation and Communications from 1982 to 1984 and as Deputy Minister of Education, Culture and Sports from 1984 to 1986.

He sponsored bills that resulted in the extension and expansion of the University of the Philippines-Visayas (UPV) in the municipality of Miag-ao; and the conversion of the West Visayas State College (WVSC) into the West Visayas State University (WVSU), and the Iloilo School of Arts and Trades (ISAT) into the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (WVCST).

I still remember that, with the fadeout of President Marcos and the entry of President Cory Aquino, Britanico ran for governor of Iloilo but lost to Sim Griño.

Grinning and bearing that loss, he ran for congressman of Iloilo City in 1998, losing by a close margin to Raul Gonzalez.

He ran for party-list congressman, representing the Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency (BANAT), in 2004. Losing that one, he ran again in 2007 – and finally won.

His entry into the 14^th Congress on 28 April 2009, after 23 long years of absence from the legislature, came about as a result of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision on April 21, 2009 in the case of BANAT vs. Comelec (G. R. No. 179271) which granted BANAT’s petition to fully fill up the 20% party-list seats in the House of Representatives.

Cong Buddy is survived by his wife Dr. Lita Celestial Britanico, sons Bud and Franco.

Wake arrangements have been set for April 8 to 9 at Heritage Park in Taguig City, followed by April 10 at the Justice Ramon Britanico Cultural Hall in Miag-ao, Iloilo.

A memorial mass will be held on April 11 at the Miag-ao Church.

So long, Cong Buddy.