Friday, March 14, 2008 Dossier: Vicente Rama's immortality By Mikel F. Rama
(The following are excerpts of a speech delivered on behalf of the Rama clan during Cebu City’s Charter Day celebration)
Now, if you could just indulge me with your time and attention, I would like to say a few words to express my sentiments on my great grandfather Don Vicente Rama.
In this world of fleeting moments and all things temporal, it is difficult to imagine anything that lasts forever. The idea of immortality has yielded to the concept that nothing could withstand the inevitability of death and that all things must come to an end.
However, I do not adhere to the idea of the inexistence of immortality. This is because I believe without a shadow of a doubt that my great grandfather, Don Vicente Rama, is immortal.
Through the course of his life, Vicente Rama achieved a myriad of things. He became a newspaper editor at the age of 18 and cemented his place in the history of journalism in the Visayas when he founded three of the most noted newspapers in that era, the La Nueva Fuerza, Progress and of course Bag-ong Kusug.
He directed his endeavors in journalism to effect awareness and social consciousness among the people of Cebu and the Visayas during that crucial time in Philippine history.
Contribution
He also made indispensable contribution in the cultivation of Cebuano culture as a prominent figure in the world of Visayan literature by which regard he was subsequently considered as the Dean of Cebuano Language.
As a family man, he emphasized the importance of tradition and custom which imprinted upon his familial legacy a deep sense of morality and value.
But most noteworthy was his role in Philippine politics where he became a congressman, mayor, and subsequently a senator.
It was through his life as a government official that he came to embody the essence of public service. It was here that he became a model of passion in the service of the people and in the maintenance of unwavering fidelity to society.
It was through this passion and genuine concern for the public good that Don Vicente Rama fathered the Cebu City charter.
Through this act, the autonomy of Cebu and of its constituents was achieved. It was through the efforts of my great grandfather in authoring the charter of Cebu that we, its people, have been given the opportunity to realize the spirit of republicanism and democracy in the establishment of a local government that would effectively see to our needs in a level closer to home.
Immortal
On the 24th day of December in the year 1956, at the age of 67, Don Vicente Rama did NOT die. Although his physical tangibility ceased, he himself did not die.
My great grandfather is immortal. He is immortal in that his spirit cannot be banished into the obscurity of death. The legacy he has sown during his life can never be forgotten.
He lives within each person in whom his vision and ideal is realized. In every public servant who toils for the benefit of the people without compensation or recognition, Don Vicente Rama continues to live.
In every journalist or any person who continues to seek the truth in order to bring awareness and transparency to the people, Don Vicente Rama continues to live.
And in us the Cebuano people, who are lucky enough to see the Cebu that he had envisioned, Don Vicente Rama continues to live.
And by this my great grandfather, Don Vicente Rama, never died. He will live forever because it is through us that he remains immortal.
