A group of delegates were talking. Cosoy Rosales was saying that we should introduce as amendments those provisions we had approved on second reading before the Steering Council coup. He asked me to help prepare the documents so that we could all cosign.
I met Celing Fernan when I went over to the other side of the hall. I seldom see this very good and intelligent colleague because his seat is at the far corner of the hall. We were close friends at UP and at Harvard. We have had so many struggles together, especially at Harvard. I have a special fondness for him.
We reminisced over the past and dolefully mused over the terrible things happening at the Con-Con. He was also appalled and repulsed by the new developments. I confided to him that it is now my ambition to be out of the country during the next few years; I do not relish the thought of living under a dictatorship.
I also informed him that Pete Yap feels the same way and that, in fact, he would like to write Ambassador Tensing Brilliantes in Geneva to see if he could help us. Celing surprisingly expressed a desire, too, to work in one of the United Nations agencies. He said he would also be interested because insofar as he is concerned, he has no more ambition in life. His only concern is the welfare of his six children.
Cosoy and Celing had both voted “No.” They are good men. They have decided not to join the interim Assembly. We are proud of them.