Honoring Dodong Nemenzo

“Dodong Nemenzo has been confined at the ICU. Are you aware of it?”

That was the first thing that my 94-year-old mother worriedly told me when I visited her more than a week ago.

It surprised me that my Mom learned about Dodong’s confinement at the ICU. (The latest development is that Dodong has been transferred to a regular room, but his state of health remains a cause of concern.) Although my mom knows Dodong and wife Princess, the last time they probably met was nine years ago, upon the passing of my wife Mae in 2015. My mom is fond of Dodong and Princess. She has not forgotten their visiting my dad’s wake and how they condoled with her.

I asked myself: How could my Mom have obtained the information when the Nemenzo family has avoided making any public announcement regarding Dodong’s health? Earlier, I was informed privately by Fidel (Dodong’s son) and wife Marivic about their father’s critical condition.

So, I asked my Mom where she got the information on Dodong. She said she was watching a public affairs program on TV where a guest on political affairs, in Marites (gossipy) fashion, broke the news of Dodong’s ICU confinement. The news anchor, according to my Mom, shifted the conversation to Dodong and family. The anchor even went off-topic and expressed his high opinion of Fidel, the son of Dodong, for his intelligence; for being a mathematician, a full professor, and a Doctor of Science; and for being a fraternity brod. (Dodong, Fidel, and the news anchor belong to Pan Xenia.)

I then called Fidel and narrated to him what my mother told me. Only then did Fidel become aware of the TV announcement regarding his dad’s health.

Our fervent hope or desire is for Dodong to recover and heal.

He is a survivor. He had experienced staring death in the face, but death blinked first.

In the years of living dangerously, especially in the early years of martial law, Dodong was in constant danger of being killed by the State’s merciless forces. Worse, because of inner-party struggles or antagonisms within the revolutionary movement, one faction attempted to physically eliminate Dodong (and the group succeeded in killing Dodong’s younger comrades).

And about 10 years ago, Dodong had bacterial meningitis, which caused him to become temporarily unconscious. It was a long ordeal that Dodong miraculously survived.

There is reason for Dodong to keep the will to live. A few months from now — to be exact, on Feb. 5, 2025 — Dodong will turn 90 years old. It will be a celebratory year.

Two books about Dodong and by Dodong will be published soon, on the occasion of his 90^th birth anniversary. The first book is about Dodong’s life as a professor, a political scientist, and a University of the Philippines (UP) President. The second is a volume consisting of his works as a Marxist, a democrat, and a revolutionary.

Also anticipated, though still on the drawing board, is a collection of Dodong’s writings about his personal life — especially his being a husband to Princess; a father to Fidel, Leonid, and Lian; a grandfather to six apos; and a friend, neighbor, and mentor to many.

I suspect what society as a whole will remember most about Dodong is his illustrious life as an academic or as a revolutionary or as both.

Yet, Dodong has multiple identities, not just being an esteemed political scientist and University President or a freedom fighter and inveterate Marxist.

He is a fratman. Among his brothers in Pan Xenia are those associated with big business and those responsible for the economic collapse during the Marcos dictatorship (specifically Cesar Virata and Gerardo Sicat).

He is a Cebuano whom Tagalogs and Ilonggos treat as inferior. He and his cohorts from Cebu, like former UP President Emanuel V. Soriano and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jun Davide (who incidentally is the brother-in-law of my mom’s sister Paula Davide), were on the same boat that transported them from Cebu to Manila as they all entered UP. They found solidarity and friendship in being Cebuano as they adjusted to a new but distant and intimidating environment that was Manila. And even as they later pursued different professional and political paths, their bond has lasted.

Society might perceive a dyed-in-the-wool Marxist like Dodong as doctrinaire and illiberal. But that ain’t him.

Being a Marxist and being a liberal are not binary; they can go together. Dodong is the personification of being a liberal and being a Marxist,

How can it be explained that Dodong, a thorough believer of scientific materialism and Fr. Ben Nebres, the Jesuit who seeks God in all things, are close friends? They are one in using the scientific method and obtaining scientific knowledge, advancing education. And they both have the calling of being a “man for others” (which can be done in different ways).

Or how come Dodong, the unarmed communist, is a friend of an anti-communist and militarist like Gringo Honasan? Well, they had a common enemy that was the Marcos dictatorship.

And even at the height of the anti-dictatorship struggle when he co-founded the socialist organization named BISIG, he likewise became a leader of the UP chapter of Kaakbay, a nationalist and democratic but non-socialist group that the late Ka Pepe Diokno established. It might seem odd that socialists like Dodong and Randy and Karina David would form Kaakbay’s UP chapter (My late mom-in-law Cil Manalang was likewise a proud member of UP Kaakbay.)

Also an oddity was the fact that UP Kaakbay attracted non-UP elite like the family that owned a well-established commercial bank.

The student activists among the Baby Boomers and the Gen X generation remember Dodong for marching shoulder-to-shoulder with them in protest actions. Moreover, as a University official, first as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and later as University President, Dodong gave succor and protection to the protesting students.

As said by my activist friend Rene Raya: “Dodong exemplified a strong and principled defiance of dictatorial rule which he vehemently opposed in words and actions. Even at the height of martial law, I remember him continuing to lecture on Marxism, academic freedom, and student power. He stood on the side of the students rallying for student rights and against militarization.”

Dodong recalled to me an incident, many years after it had happened, that I had likewise forgotten.

This was circa 1977, at the time that the student movement was resurgent. The UP students were stretching the limits of protest actions, and student boycotts became frequent. He recollected that he requested me to convince protestors to take prudent action. He approached me, for I was then an official of the Committee on Student Affairs, which then acted as a quasi-student council. He told me that he received a phone call from General Prospero Olivas, head of the notorious Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command (Metrocom). General Olivas warned him that once the students exited the Arts and Sciences (AS) Building and marched on the streets, his troops would “break the skulls” of the protestors, Dodong did not want a tragedy to happen. He assured us though that he would allow the protests to continue for as long as we desired inside the AS building. But he did not want students being bloodied.

Being a stubborn and angry young activist that did not fear confrontation with the enemy, I initially resisted Dodong’s request. But ultimately, Dodong’s solicitude and persuasion prevailed.

When Dodong retold this story, I realized that he was no longer acting simply as a comrade but as a wise man trying to alter our infantile thinking and behavior, and, more importantly, as a father, expressing care and love for his children.

And so, when we celebrate Dodong’s 90^th birthday in February 2025, we will celebrate not only his multi-faceted accomplishments. We will both be reaffirming our love for one another.

Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III coordinates the Action for Economic Reforms.

www.aer.ph