Unforgettable experience w/ Pres. Garcia
By Silverio D. Sarmiento
Our memories are enriched by experiences, past and present. I have treasured one such experience when I was a young budget officer in Malacañang during the time of President Carlos P. Garcia.
The Budget Commission under the Office of the President was tasked with budget administration, to include preparing the annual budget of estimated revenues and proposed expenditures for all National Government departments,offices and
agencies for the ensuing fiscal year.
I was a member of the Budget Commission group who were called to meet with the President on February 7, 1961, at his Bohol Avenue residence. We briefed the President on the highlights of the 1962 budget proposal. I was tasked to present the agricultural and rural development programs and projects of that budget.
After a brief question and answer period, President Garcia signed the budget document for the year 1962 which was to be submitted to the Congress of the Philippines, as mandated in the Constitution. Among those present in that signing ceremony were Budget Commissioner Faustino SyChangco and the author, as shown in the picture both standing at the right side of the President.
The President directed Commissioner SyChangco to provide budgetary support to government offices so as to effectively implement his "Filipino First" policy. This policy, among others, was designed to level the playing field in business, commerce and industry thereby allowing more active participation of Filipino entrepreneurs and businessmen in the face of well-entrenched foreign business interests.
After the signing, I approached President Garcia and introduced myself as the son of Nicanor Cabagnot Sarmiento of Taloto, Tagbilaran. He smiled, warmly shook my hand and told the officials then present, "Silvestre here is my godson at his confirmation. His father is my compadre, a good friend. We were then in Dumaguete where he was an audit clerk and I was a law student at Silliman Institute. I am glad to see him doing well." Certainly, I felt elated beyond measure to be so recognized.
I often saw him that day at times to see him play chess at which the President was very good like a grandmaster
"You know," the President continued "there were few Boholano students at Silliman and since Canor (using my father's nickname) was already employed with regular salary, he used to treat us weekends, after payday, to a merienda of mongo con hielo or pancit guisado." My father smilingly confirmed these statements as the Boholanos shared many things among themselves. He admitted that he was an active supporter in later political campaigns of Carlos P. Garcia, wherever he was assigned.
I recall my father telling me that President Garcia, or Caloy as he called him, even then was a visionary, intellectually brilliant, with the gift of a silver tongue, who showed potentials of enduring leadership. The president was the acknowledged campus student leader.
I served many Presidents after I left the military to join the career civil service - from President Quirino to President Marcos. By dint of hard work, integrity, and dedication to high standards of service, I rose in the ranks to become Budget Director in Malacañang, Finance Officer of Metro Manila Commission, Chairman of the Board of Accountancy and as the first Commissioner, Commission on Audit, from where I retired in 1986, with honors and distinction, after 45 years of government service.
To the best of my personal knowledge, President Carlos P. Garci was a most exceptional man of great talent yet humble, compassionate with high moral principles and firmly committed to the socio-economic advancement of his beloved country. It is indeed a great honor and pleasure to have officially and personally served a distinguished Man and a Great Boholano, whose memory I shall always treasure.
Source: The Bohol Chronicle
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