IN HONOR OF DR. NEMESIO PRUDENTE

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Founding Chairman, Communist Party of the Philippines
Chief Political Consultant, National Democratic Front of the Philippines
4 April 2008

My family and I express sincere condolences to the family of Dr.
Nemesio Prudente. We grieve his passing away. At the same time, we
accept his well-deserved rest. We know that he has gone to a place
of glory where he joins the patriots and heroes of the motherland. We
honor him for his many achievements. We celebrate these as various
speakers recount them.
He was an outstanding educator. He rose to the position of president
of the Philippine College of Commerce and then the Polytechnic
University of the Philippines. But most admirable of him was that he
promoted and practised that type of education and life of action that
is clearly, resolutely and militantly in the service of the Filipino
people in their struggle for national liberation, democracy, social
justice, development and peace.
Before "Doc" Prudente became the president of the PCC in the 1960s,
I had been in touch with PCC student leaders and campus journalists
whom I encouraged to form a study group in connection with the
project of developing the national democratic movement among the
students in the University Belt area and preparing for the
organization of Kabataang Makabayan.
When "Doc" Prudente" became the PCC president, we did not know right
away what would be his policy towards the student movement. Soon
enough, he articulated a progressive nationalist policy and was ever
supportive of the students whenever they joined protest mass actions.
He also appointed to the faculty patriotic and progressive teachers.
Thus, the PCC became one of the most active centers of the
anti-imperialist and democratic student movement in the 1960s, in the
First Quarter Storm of 1970 and up to the imposition of martial law on
the people.
Before I went underground in late 1968, I had become close to "Doc"
Prudente because I had frequent conversations with him and Prof.
Teodosio Lansang over subjects encompassing philosophy, political
economy and social science in connection with current events. "Doc"
Prudente had a revolutionary outlook and was seriously interested in
the revolutionary transformation of Philippine society from a
semicolonial and semifeudal status to an independent and democratic one.
When I was already underground, I continued to communicate with "Doc"
Prudente through Charlie del Rosario who was a PCC faculty member. He
did not waver in supporting the national democratic movement and
student protest mass movement against the US-Marcos regime, even as
the writ of habeas corpus was suspended in 1971 and the fascist
dictatorship was rapidly taking shape.
He also actively supported the Movement for a Democratic Philippines,
the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties and the
formation of a workers' institute. He cooperated with the Preparatory
Commission of the NDFP and subsequently with the NDFP. He was never
cowed by threats of arrest and actual detention. In and out of the
fascist prison, he was a model of firm resistance and a modest
hardworking man among comrades.
I met "Doc" Prudente for the last time when we attended a fund-raising
event for SELDA in the garden of a well-to-do in Dasmarinas Village in
1986. While abroad, I would be saddened and outraged by repeated
attempts on his life in 1987. The enemy could not tolerate his ideas
and deeds in fighting for the rights of workers, in promoting the
united front and in making the PUP an outstanding university of
learning and technical training for patriotic and progressive
students and teachers.
But "Doc" Prudente was a steadfast revolutionary patriot. He upheld
his principles and courageously put his life, limb and liberty on the
line in fighting for the just cause of the Filipino people. In his
years of retirement from academic life, he continued to have excellent
relations with the revolutionary mass movement, especially with the
youth and workers. He was held in the highest esteem by the broad
masses of the people. His memory and example will always inspire the
people.