Former Solicitor General Frank Chavez INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The cremated remains of former Solicitor General Frank Chavez, who died Wednesday after suffering a stroke, are now at the Santuario de San Antonio Church in Forbes Park, Makati. Burial has been scheduled for Sunday at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig.
Words of condolence and praise from fellow lawyers, admirers and clients—among them Health Undersecretary Enrique Tayag, Sen. Cynthia Villar, former Elections Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio and activists Leah Navarro and Renato Reyes—have poured in for Chavez, particularly on social media.
Fought dictatorship
“I will always remember Frank Chavez as a nationalist lawyer who fought side by side with us against dictatorial rule,” Vice President Jejomar Binay, who lawyered for opposition figures during the dictatorship, said on Twitter.
While he was a law student at the University of the Philippines, Chavez participated in the so-called “First Quarter Storm” protests against the Marcos regime.
After graduating from law school with honors in 1971, Chavez continued his activism. He founded and chaired the Brotherhood of Nationalistic, Involved and Free Attorneys to Combat Injustice and Oppression (Bonifacio), which gave free legal assistance to victims and families of human rights violations.
Youngest SolGen
After Marcos was deposed in the first Edsa People Power Revolution of 1986, the new president, Corazon Aquino, appointed the 39-year-old Chavez solicitor general, the youngest in the country’s history.
After his stint as solicitor general, Chavez twice ran unsuccessfully for senator. He was also nominated to the positions of Chief Justice and Ombudsman.
Chavez served as a director at the formerly government-controlled Philippine Airlines, Petron-Aramco and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
In the previous decade, he handled various cases, mostly involving corruption and maladministration involving government officials. He also remained active in the human rights and ill-gotten wealth cases against the Marcoses.
In 2009, Chavez published a political-commentary novel, “Blighted,” which tackled pervasive corruption under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
In 2011, Chavez filed plunder cases against Arroyo and other officials over the alleged misuse of funds for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. The case was dismissed by the Ombudsman for lack of evidence.
Among the last cases that Chavez handled were the disqualification case against deposed President and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada (now Manila mayor), currently still pending at the Supreme Court, and the temporary protection order sought by celebrity Kris Aquino against her husband James Yap, which was heard by a family court in Makati.
Chavez, who was born in Sagay, Negros Occidental, on Feb. 6, 1947, is survived by wife Jean and daughters Ingrid and Stephanie.
RELATED STORY