Lux in Domino
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In the grand tradition of Service, Sacrifice, and Excellence, the Fraternal Order of Utopia seeks to inculcate the passion for change in men, all for God and Country. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
The Lux in Domino Award is a special recognition of an extraordinary individual who has incarnated in life, and perhaps even in death, in an exemplary manner, the noblest ideals of the Ateneo de Manila University. Recipients of the award are chosen exclusively from the ranks of alumni or alumnae of the Ateneo de Manila University.
The title of the Award is taken from the motto of the Ateneo which appears both in the old and new seals. Taken from St Paul (Ephesians 5:8), the phrase Lux in Domino, “light in the Lord,” traces an ideal and sketches a way of life which the Ateneo holds up to her sons and daughters as their path of Christian discipleship.
To be “light in the Lord,” in all fullness may demand a following of Christ even to the offering of one’s life.
The title of the Award is taken from the motto of the Ateneo which appears both in the old and new seals. Taken from St Paul (Ephesians 5:8), the phrase Lux in Domino, “light in the Lord,” traces an ideal and sketches a way of life which the Ateneo holds up to her sons and daughters as their path of Christian discipleship.
To be “light in the Lord,” in all fullness may demand a following of Christ even to the offering of one’s life.
Judge
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Butch Rosales, was one of our country’s bravest and most accomplished judges. He had taken up grade school in Letran College, graduated from Bauan High School, gone to De La Salle University, and finally obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila College of Law.
He passed the Bar in 1981 with distinction, placing No. 25 with an average of 84.5 percent. After law school, he had worked as an associate for the De Santos, Balgos and Perez Law Office, then with his father-in-law, former Assemblyman Rafael "Paeng" Legaspi (Batasang Pambansa from 1984-85) as supervising staff officer. He was legal counsel to the UNIDO Aklan Chapter, then a Solicitor in the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) from 1986 to 1995. He was appointed Executive Judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 83, Tanauan, Batangas, in 1995. Judge Butch had a passion for his work and had dedicated his life to dispensing justice evenly and fairly for all. As a "heinous crime" judge, he heard cases involving rapists, drug dealers and manufacturers, and kidnap-for-ransom gangsters, aside from the regular load of RTC Judges such as theft, land-grabbing, and other civil cases. Rosales had the reputation of treating the rich, poor, the powerful and the powerless with equality and impartiality in his court. Efficient, hardworking and thoughtful in his deli-beration of cases, Rosales completed a record-breaking number of decisions per year. As a heinous crime judge, Rosales handed out five death sentences in his short career, earning him the reputation of a tough "hukom bitay" judge (hanging Justice judge). The past and present cases he handled were, among others, (1) People of the Philippines versus German Agojo, who was sentenced to death for drug pushing; (2) Vs. Nestor Guelos et al. involving the slaying of Major Camacho, Chief of Police of Tanauan. Guelos was sentenced to 8 to 12 years imprisonment (3) vs. Millano Muji et al. (sentenced to death for kidnapping with homicide, robbery, and carnapping in the case concerning a son-in-law of business taipan John Gokongwei; (4) vs. Benito Simbahan involving illegal possession of prohibited drugs and two counts of murder; (5) vs. Romy Rose Agojo for violation of Section 2, Article 5, R.A. No. 9165, or drug pushing. Executive Judge Voltaire Rosales, 48, of Tanauan, Batangas, was insolently shot to death by a motorcycle-riding assassin at almost high noon – just 100 meters away from the court room where he had just finished the cases of the day. Excerpts from Max V. Soliven's "If we don’t avenge the murder of Judge Rosales, then justice will go to hell in this land!" |
Governor
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Evelio Javier was a bright young lawyer who at the age of 29 defeated an entrenched incumbent and became the youngest provincial governor in the Philippines. Throughout martial law he steadfastly maintained his political independence from the Marcos regime. This independence cost him his life.
Javier studied at the Ateneo, where he finished high school and college. He became president of the student council and while in law school, editor-in-chief of the Guidon. Imbued with the idea that “politics is the concern of good and decent people,” he returned to Antique after having taught at the Ateneo for five years. He ran for governor, and won, serving for the next eight years despite his personal opposition to martial law. After that he declined to serve another term, and instead went to Harvard University to take up a master’s course in public administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Shortly after Benigno Aquino’s assassination in 1983, Javier returned to the Philippines and ran for a seat in the Batasan (martial law parliament) as representative of Antique. Shortly before the elections, seven of his supporters were killed in an ambush. In what was seen as a sham election, the Marcos-aligned warlord Arturo Pacificador was proclaimed the winner. (At the Batasan, Pacificador would be chosen majority floorleader for the Marcos party, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan.) Undeterred by this defeat, and despite threats to his life, Javier next focused his energies on campaigning for Corazon Aquino and Salvador Laurel who were facing President Marcos in the snap presidential elections set for the first week of February 1986. He played a key role in uniting the opposition behind Mrs. Aquino. He served as provincial chair of the Unido-Laban party. Five days after the snap presidential elections, Javier was shot dead by hooded men in broad daylight and less than 100 meters away from the provincial capitol where election returns were being canvassed and tallied. Evelio Javier, 44, was killed at a time when public outrage was at its height against the Marcos dictatorship. In fact, just days later, Marcos with his family and close friends would be flown out of Malacanang to exile in Hawaii. Months later, in September 1986, the Supreme Court nullified the proclamation of Arturo Pacificador as congressman of Antique. Javier’s body was flown to Manila where it lay in state at the Ateneo de Manila and served as rallying point for the forces which coalesced to become the EDSA people power. It was then flown back to Antique for burial. Provincemates mourned their young leader’s death in an epic funeral procession that ran the 160-kilometer length of the island of Panay. Excerpts from Bantayog ng mga Bayani's "Evelio Bellaflor Javier" |
