THERE’S much more to him than just being a Marcos man, at one point at least.
Lawyer Vic D. Rodriguez is unforgettable to so many Filipinos, favorably or unfavorably, for being the driving force behind the Marcos family’s return to Malacañang.
Through it all, loyalists saluted him for single-handedly fighting the battle for the son of the dictator which meant taking blows left, right and center from adversaries who had grown allergic to a Marcos presidency.
But that’s all in the past now. The former “Little President ” is no longer in the Marcos camp and has in fact made revelations about the real deal that brought him to the decision to resign in his tell-all book, “Kingmaker. The Hardcopy”, written by seasoned newsman Gerry Lirio.
Now, he stands right back on his own, re-introducing his name as no one’s man but himself.
The lawyer
Identifying one’s name with the Marcoses especially after the historic people-backed EDSA revolution is tantamount to a social suicide, save for the hardcore supporters. Very seldomly will a non-loyalist go with the Marcoses, the family forced out of the country for committing the “greatest robbery in government” as put by Guiness and horrific human right violations.
But Rodriguez took a shot at Marcos Jr.
He breezed into the spotlight the first time when he defended the latter in his electoral protest against then lawmaker Leni Robredo for the vice presidency in the 2016 polls.
Why? He simply did what a lawyer should do.
By background, he was a product of the Faculty of Arts and Letters and the Faculty of Civil Law from the University of Santo Tomas.
The young Vic was a student activist and was never a Marcos supporter in his younger days.
Back in school, the future executive secretary would already show what he’s made of. He ran for president of the Arts and Letters community and campaigned for student and campus reforms but lost.
After graduating in 2002, then Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte would take him in as a special assistant to the chief of the Business Permits and Licensing Office in the City Hall and eventually, the officer-in-charge of the Community Relations Office.
After passing the bar however, he would leave government work to put up his own law firm. Currently, he serves as president of the Quezon City Trial Lawyers League. In the past, he was former deputy general Counsel of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and a former treasurer of the University of Santo Tomas Law Alumni Foundation Inc.
“Independent”
Many may think by being Marcos’ top attack dog meant being controlled by the family but not Rodriguez. His friends, from across all sides of the fence, speak for it.
The ever self-righteous, taking-no-shit lawyer surprised the world when he supported Marcos Jr. Nonetheless, his friends knew he will always do what is right, just and truthful to his mandate as lawyer and as a Filipino.
Among those who vouches for Rodriguez’ character is lawyer Maria Angela N. Esquivel, a UST Lawschool batchmate and a staunch anti-Marcos activist who happened to be a special legal counsel of the Presidential Commission on Good Government running after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
Esquivel is confident that her friend will never be influenced wrongly. Clearly, she was anti-Marcos but pro-Rodriguez.
“Because I know him. “Vic has always been independent,” quoting Esquivel’s statement in the book “Kingmaker. A Hardcopy.”
Principle over money; fighting Pacman
With his stature, Rodriguez is one of the most high-profile lawyers in the country, hands down. Nevertheless, prominence and success never hindered him or his law partners from taking unpopular cases, that are sometimes even pro-bono.
Among them was a case he accepted in 2006, a woman named Joanna Rose Bacosa from Palawan who sued boxing champ Manny Pacquiao for child support. She was then a 24-year-old waitress working at a billiard bar of a famous hotel in Malate district in Manila.
Exposing and suing a world champion over a controversial love child was not good, in fact “dangerous” quoting Rodriguez from the book but again, he said he only did what a lawyer had to do. Now, their son Joseph Emmanuel is making a name in boxing just like his father.
The missing matriarch
He would handle yet another case that he couldn’t refuse; a matriarch of a prominent Malate-based restaurant held hostage and maltreated by her own family.
After learning that the family wanted to kick her out of the business for them to take over, even damaging the matriarch’s reputation saying she was insane, Rodriguez filed a writ of Habeas Corpus compelling the family to produce the matriarch.
In court, under scrutiny on the witness stand, the tough-talking lawyer was able to prove she was sane, stable and healthy. Court favored the petitioner and immediately ordered the release of the matriarch.
Outside law
Taking side in government does not mean turning back on family, friends and colleagues with dissenting views. But it is not easy keeping friendships, especially real ones if you’re front and center to a Marcos-condemning society, but he did. In fact, most of his friends, outside the law circle, shared mostly polarized opinions with him.
Proving this is a friendship he shares with left activist Lejun dela Cruz, son of communist rebel leader Nilo Dela Cruz of the Alex Boncayao Brigade, the urban assassination unit of the New People’s Army.
They managed to remain friends despite differences in opinions.
“In the beginning I was trying to size him up. Marunong siya makisama at lalaki siyang kausap,” quoting dela Cruz’ words for his friend in the book.
Furthermore, dela Cruz noted Rodriguez’ “honest” and “straightforward” stance and how he deplores dishonest people.
“He is brutally frank, ayaw niyang manloko at ayaw niyang niloloko siya,” said dela Cruz.
