Press Release
September 17, 2009

TEROY LAUREL A NATIONALIST, TRUE GENTLEMAN - ROXAS

The late Senate Pro Tempore Sotero "Ka Teroy" Laurel's intense love for country should be emulated by all as he made sure that each generation his life touched should learn true nationalism, Senator Mar Roxas said today as he eulogized the late senator during necrological services in the Senate for Laurel.

The Liberal Party president praised the late Nacionalista Party senator's life as a principled gentleman who was greatly loved by the people and his colleagues in politics for his genuine love of the country and concern for every Filipino.

"In my mind, Uncle Teroy loved the Filipino people with a genuine care and affection unmatched in the intellectual class. Despite his lofty education, he held no pretensions to either knowledge or power," he said.

The Visayan senator shares Laurel's deep interest in pushing for Philippine education to be at par with the rest of the world, both being advocates of free education up to high school. "Today he inspires the educational agenda of this august chamber, as we strive to extend his legacy through education reforms needed to build Filipinos with better brains, stronger bodies and bold hearts for a nation that yearns for more jobs, food and most of all, political transformation," he noted.

He added: "Iilan lang ang katulad ni Uncle Teroy. Iilan lang ang may umaapaw na pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa. Few leaders have ever graced these halls who loved their country so much, who fought for it so passionately and who mentored the rising generation to do the same thing. Si Uncle Teroy: Walang mantsa, walang bahid, disenteng tao."

"I am in personal grief over the death of Uncle Teroy. I was close to his family and I respected him so much. He was a true gentleman of the old school: decent, honest, no stain upon his record," he said.

Roxas and his parents, the late Senator Gerry Roxas and Mrs. Judy Araneta-Roxas, and his siblings were close family friends of the Laurels. He is a long-time buddy of Ka Teroy's son, Peter, his classmate in Ateneo high school.

"We pray that he rest peacefully in the palm of the Almighty; and that by his legacy and example, we will always have a good yardstick of what it truly means to be an honest and decent Filipino. The Filipino people will truly find it hard to let him go. I find it hard to let him go," he said.

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