Unraveling Bert Gonzales
Written by Chay Florentino Hofileña
Sunday, 23 June 2002
He’s divisive. He’s a shrewd tactician. He’s a sleek operator.
He’s fast. He’s glib. He’s a dynamo. He can deliver.
He goes by the name of Norberto “Bert” Gonzales Jr.—presidential adviser for special concerns.
Armed with the gift of gab, he’s managed to worm his way into the circles of two former presidents, three past presidential candidates, and now, the incumbent president.
He almost succeeded in mediating a deal between coconut farmers and Marcos associate Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. on the controversial coconut levy issue and, more recently, sealed an interim agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He also facilitated the ouster of Nur Misuari as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by bridging government, disgruntled MNLF members, and the Organization of Islamic Conference.
And if his critics are to be believed, he derives pleasure from sheer power play.
Early Activism
Born to a poor Aglipayan family in Turtugas in Balanga, Bataan, Bert obtained his pre-med degree from the Ateneo de Davao, where he took additional courses in chemistry and biology. It was there, too, where he became Catholic. Sent to school by siblings who were based in Mindanao, he later moved to Manila and enrolled at the University of the Philippines for a master’s degree in chemistry in late 1968—a period of great political ferment.
Sucked into the vortex of activism, Bert organized the urban poor in San Andres in Malate, Manila, and in Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City, with the help of the St. Paul sisters. Jesuit provincial and activist Romeo “Archie” Intengan, then a senior resident at the Philippine General Hospital, says he found Bert to be “very enthusiastic, somewhat disorganized, someone who had to learn the ropes of maintaining an organization.” Undoubtedly, however, Gonzales had a lot of determination and energy.
Tony Asper, head of the Federation of Free Workers and a bosom friend of Bert, recalls, “Siya iyong kiti-kiti, di nakakatagal sa meetings (he was restless and couldn’t stay put in meetings).”
Bert went through seminars organized by Jesuit priests Jose Blanco and Horacio de la Costa that sought to instill a nationalist spirit in the youth, and to counter the drift toward communism. On Dec. 26, 1968, Jose Maria Sison founded the Communist Party of the Philippines, which advocated armed struggle and aggressively pushed the Maoist ideology as an alternative to capitalism. Moderates, who were anti-communist and pro-democracy, were searching for an alternative to the national democratic framework, and teach-ins among students, the religious, and labor forces were in vogue.
“I first met him in 1969. I was 26 and he was 22. We met in one teach-in for St. Paul sisters. He had organized the urban poor then,” recalls Intengan, a long-time friend and supporter of Bert.
An ideas man, Bert has a gift for quick insight. “They come in batches and he needs a team to ground them in an orderly and systematic way. He is strategically sharp, moves very far ahead of his associates and has a ‘seize-the-moment’ orientation,” adds Intengan. Because he is fast, he finds processes and structures constricting.
This impatience with procedure got him into trouble with party mates at the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP), which he chairs until today.
The Party Man
First launched as a movement in 1971 with 15 member-organizations, PDSP officially became a party espousing social democratic ideals on May 1, 1973, eight months after martial law was declared. Shunning armed struggle except in extreme cases, the social democrats pushed for social equity and opposed liberal capitalism and foreign domination.
Intengan, who entered the Society of Jesus in 1970 and was one of PDSP’s founders, was recognized as the party’s ideologue since, ironically, Gonzales, the party chairman, was not.
The two leaders found a comfortable arrangement. Intengan says Bert told him, “You provide the theory, I’ll provide the action.”
The party chairman was short on theory but was quick to maneuver in and out of sticky situations. He anticipated scenarios, mapped out the roles of players, and was a good tactician who translated tactical programs to electoral strategy, says Asper. Often, however, the party got left behind.
During the April 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa elections, for instance, he offered the PDSP machinery to the opposition when all it had was 80 cadres. “In January he was given charge of the election machinery and we needed 7,400 poll watchers for that. I was vice chair then and I was told one week after the decision was made,” says Intengan, recalling how unprepared they were for the task.
Bert’s decision was one major point of difference between the two, but Intengan says, “he is very well meaning and there is no treachery.” Former cadres who have left the party disagree.
No Accountability
As an operator Bert is comfortable with “back channeling,” say his critics, because he need not abide by procedures. He has little sense of accountability even to the party, they add.
He did not account for party funds. In one meeting when the party treasurer was supposed to give a report, he (the treasurer) handed out blank sheets of paper. He made a point: no money passed through his hands and he did not know how much and to whom funds were being disbursed.
Yet even today Bert always manages to raise funds for the party, ensuring its survival.
“He uses patronage on the mass base,” says another critic who has left the party. This includes Filipino-Muslims who come to him asking for help and members of people’s organizations. He disburses cash amounting to as much as P10,000, sometimes P20,000. “Ang problema sa kanya wala siyang financial procedures (The problem with him is that he does not have financial procedures).”
Bert says that because he was born poor he is prone to help anyone who approaches him. “Natural ko lang iyon. I’m probably the biggest fool in town. I help not because I’m buying loyalty.”
Another time, during a march to protest the results of the 1978 elections in which then opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. lost, he allegedly withheld money from other party coordinators who had mobilized marchers from various sectors.
“It was the final blow which led to my disillusionment. After the march, maraming nakulong (many were arrested) and there was no contingency plan. Merong pera pero hindi pinamudmod (There was money, but it was not disbursed) and lives were at stake,” says another former party member. The money was supposed to help families of those arrested and those who were wanted by the authorities and had to remain in hiding.
“I can’t trust him because his point of reference is not clear. He will sacrifice you for the greater cause, but that cause is unclear,” says the same former party member. Bert, the ex-cadre says, “rationalizes everything in terms of pragmatic politics.”
Political Player
“Power now” was how Bert and PDSP justified support for Fidel V. Ramos in the 1992 presidential elections. Some party members who had personal knowledge of the maneuverings say that he brought leaders of mass organizations to then President Corazon Aquino to persuade her to endorse Ramos. Intengan and Bert’s previous association with Ninoy Aquino were his tickets to her circle.
Ramos won, but Bert and his partymates did not get any appointment. “I was tagged a Cory boy and I was never really trusted,” Bert says, adding that was why he was eased out early during the campaign.
In the 1998 presidential elections, he committed what by his own admission was the “biggest crime” against his party: multiple candidate switches. A parallel battle among administration candidates involved bagging a Ramos anointment.
At the start, Bert was friendly with presidential candidate Jose de Venecia Jr., then the House Speaker, because he helped set up the multimillion-peso Peasants’ Fund, but he drifted toward another candidate, retired general Renato de Villa, defense secretary at the time. “I advised him [De Villa] in the beginning to assemble his own loyalists within Lakas, but he was very careful not to displease Ramos,” Bert says.
Meanwhile, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was reported running for president as well, and when columnist Teodoro Benigno introduced Bert to her, he (Bert) advised her to wait because he anticipated that De Villa would not run without Ramos’s endorsement. Late in the game, De Villa decided to go ahead with his candidacy.
Bert was brought into the De Villa camp sometime in May 1997 by Jose “Ping” de Jesus, De Villa’s campaign manager. De Jesus was a former member of the Aquino Cabinet. “Bert was assigned to set up a parallel organization nationwide for De Villa to jump into if he did not get into Lakas,” says a former De Villa campaign insider.
“He would draw huge amounts” that totaled “at least P3 million to P4 million,” says the insider. And when he was being asked by the party comptrollers to account for the money, Bert just disappeared. Days later, he was raising the hand of Arroyo, says the campaign insider.
Money Questions
“That’s not true,” Bert says of the unaccounted-for funds. He says his expenses are recorded in vouchers. Money to pay for stickers, streamers, and posters were allegedly advanced by him because there was no money coming from De Villa so that in the end he was in debt by as much as P5 million to P6 million. The De Villa campaign insider laughs this off.
Former PDSP members say Bert made an impression on Arroyo because he brought her to one of the Scandinavian countries with whom the party had good relations and introduced her to prime ministers who were members of Socialists International, of which PDSP is a member.
But because of his “anybody but Erap” stance, Bert switched candidates once again when Arroyo slid to the vice presidential slot. Survey results convinced him to go for Cebu’s Emilio “Lito” Osmeńa. “It was a desperate attempt to find a candidate to beat Erap. I changed horses midstream not just once or twice,” he admits. And the turncoatism did not even pay off.
Shortcuts to Power
Among socialists and social democrats here, Bert does not seem to be well regarded. Ronald Llamas of the Bukluran ng Sosyalistang Isip at Gawa says Bert gives socialism a “bad name” because he prefers shortcuts to power which smack of opportunism. Bert will even go as far as compromising with elite politicians, he says.
For instance, Bert supported relatives of convicted rapist Romeo Jalosjos who ran in the last elections. His candidate-switching and the talks with Danding Cojuangco on the coconut levy issue indicate the same, Llamas adds. With the upcoming 2004 elections as the fulcrum, getting Cojuangco into the Arroyo camp is part of the political strategy, says Llamas.
“Bert is a risk taker. The higher the gamble the better,” says Asper. He is strong-willed, persistent, and can survive infighting and intrigue—the mark of a seasoned politician.
To Intengan—who social democrats say lends legitimacy to Bert—the presidential adviser for special concerns remains the “most viable for social democrats” because he has the “common touch, a lot of drive, charisma,” and the depth of experience.
To his critics, Bert says, “I’m really trying to serve the country and the people. You may choose to believe it or not.”
