Rainbow Builder

Rainbow Builder | Daily Tribune

There are men who hold office. And there are men who hold steady. Jose “JDV” C. de Venecia was both.

To the nation, he was a statesman. A long-serving Speaker who understood that legislation is not spectacle but structure. At a time when democratic institutions were regaining their footing, he built majorities and kept them intact. His “rainbow coalition” was not a slogan but a method: bring competing interests under one roof, manage tensions, deliver results. Governance, in his hands, was disciplined coalition-building.

Beyond parliamentary arithmetic, he possessed something rarer: conviction anchored in constancy.

Within Lakas-NUCD-UMDP, he stood tall among leaders who believed that Muslim democratic participation belonged at the center of national politics. He did not merely accommodate the advocacy of Muslim Democracy. He advanced it. He defended its place within the constitutional order. For him, inclusion was not optics. It was nation-building.

That belief moved him to act.

When Atty. Sanchez A. Ali, founder of the United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines and one of the pillars of Lakas-NUCD-UMDP, received an ad interim appointment as ambassador; the confirmation process carried its usual uncertainties. Endorsements matter. Silence can stall momentum.

JDV did not hesitate. He assured full support from the Office of the House Speaker, placing institutional weight behind the confirmation. He stood firmly behind the appointment because he believed in the man and in the vision the appointment represented.

Years earlier, in 1992, JDV ran for Congress in Pangasinan under the same reform banner. He prevailed in that campaign and would go on to shape the House in ways few have. Not every candidacy under that banner had the same result. Politics does not reward every effort. But defeat never translated into distance. He continued to engage allies, advance shared advocacies, and carry the message of inclusive democracy locally and internationally. In forums across Europe and Asia, he helped present the Philippine experience as one where diversity and democratic order could coexist.

He understood that ideas must be carried out, or they fade.

There were also moments when the battles were not electoral or legislative. When our family encountered a difficult and uncertain season, JDV did not wait to be asked. He moved early. He rallied support. He made his presence felt in ways that steadied us more than he may have realized. What could have become isolating instead became bearable. What might have stretched into uncertainty found firmer ground. In those quiet days, we saw not the Speaker, but the brother.

That instinct defined him.

JDV will be remembered for the speakership, coalitions, and campaigns. Those who worked closely with him will remember the steadiness behind the title. He believed democracy must be broad enough to include every community willing to work within it. He believed leadership meant showing up early.

In the end, titles fade. Coalitions are archived. Legislative victories are recorded in journals and footnotes. Remaining are the lives steadied, the friendships honored, and the causes carried forward because someone chose to stand firm.

To the family of Speaker Jose de Venecia, please accept our deepest sympathies and gratitude. Thank you for sharing him with the country for so many years. He will be remembered not only for the majorities he assembled, but for the conviction he carried and the loyalty he demonstrated in both his public and private battles.

That constancy is a legacy of its own.