BINMALEY, Pangasinan—From a dishwasher, to an unsuccessful mayoralty aspirant, to a regional trial court judge, and a retired Sandiganbayan justice, this man has gone far with his recent appointment as commissioner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

But don’t make mistake. He may just be literally a small man having a 4 feet nine inches height but this 74-year old four retried Sandiganbayan justice stands tall, figuratively that is, among his kabaleyans (townmates) and provincemates for his known integrity, honesty, morality and untarnished reputation, both in his private and public life.

Nicodemo Ferrer, a native of Mabini st. this town, who was appointed by President Gloria Arroyo last month to complete the seven-man Comelec commissioners, however said that “I am not a knight in shining armor riding on a white horse to save the country because I am honest. I do not intend to be like that….”

Ferrer was feted Saturday night via a testimonial dinner by the municipal government here led by Mayor Simplicio Rosario. In fact, Rosario said he joins thousands of his kabaleyans in saluting Ferrer but felt somehow dismayed when a national daily erroneously reported that Ferrer was from San Carlos City this province.

The mayor and the municipal council members presented a resolution sponsored by Councilor Leo Urmaza embodied on a glass plaque congratulating Ferrer for “ bringing honor and glory to his hometown with his recent appointment and for serving as an inspiration to Binmaleynians”.

“President Gloria Arroyo made the right choice because Commissioner Ferrer is the epitome of Mr. Clean, “ Rosario said.

Heeding a priest’s advice

Ferrer, son of Andres Ferrer who served as mayor (then called Presidente Municipal) here, dreamed of following his father’s footsteps.

He ran twice but failed as mayor with only 700 and 400 votes margin respectively to the winner in his fights before and after the Martial Law.

Immediately after the votes were counted, Ferrer prayed inside the Church to thank God despite his failure.

He recalled that the town priest, the late Rev. Fr. Leo Behneke, tapped his back and told him,” Son, maybe God has better plans for you”.

Ferrer said when he ran, people thought that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth as his father was also a former vice consul.

But he said they were trained how to live and respect the dignity of labor. He recalled that he did odd jobs like working in fishponds, and when he was in the US, he did also menial jobs like a dishwasher, floor mopper in order to have free breakfast and lunch, and worked in a cannery. It was in the US where he finished high school.
He finished his law degree at the University of the Philippines and since he was unlucky in his mayoralty bid, he shifted gear and accepted the challenge to be part of the judiciary.

He had a lucrative job then as a practicing lawyer but he accepted the challenge to be part of the judiciary despite the meager salary.

“As a judge, I learned to live within my means and never to accept anything from anybody,” he said. “

He added that he used to scold people for bringing gifts to him, not even during Christmas. Ferrer was a former regional trial court (RTC) judge for seven and a half years in Baguio-Benguet where his fellow Comelec commissioner Romeo Brawner used to be his fellow RTC judge then.

When the devastating 1990 earthquake shook Baguio City in 1990, Ferrer’s children had trauma so he sought transfer to the RTC in Lingayen, Pangasinan where he worked for another 10 years.

He retired at the age of 70 as Sandiganbayan justice. Perhaps his integrity worked well for him as he felt no pressure from anyone. He went back to his law practice but it came to a point that he realized he doesn’t want to end that way the chapter of his life.

He said he prayed that God would give him his last hurrah “to see if I can do something better than what I am doing as a private practitioner”.

He told himself that he wanted to do something for the country and God must have heard and answered his prayers when his former classmate who is now a congressman broached the idea to him to try to apply as commissioner of Comelec.

Leadership by example

Ferrer admits that Comelec is suffering from a bad image. But he appealed to his townmates to adopt an open mind by not quickly concluding based on what are being reported against this Constitutional body.

“The Comelec’s mission is very important to the life of this democracy. You destroy the Comelec and you destroy our democracy,” he said.

Asked by this writer if the Comelec’s “bad” image did not make Ferrer, then an aspirant, to join the constitutional body, he said,”I was inspired because the way I saw it, it was merely a question of image”.

He added that all the accusations still have to be proved and as a lawyer and a trial judge, he said he was trained not to believe anything unless it is proven.
“So I told myself I want to join it not as a knight in shining armor in a white horse but to show how it can be done, how you can live decently by living frugally without resorting to some considerations”.

When he applied, he said he was not really expecting to be appointed but merely took a chance.

He added that he is hoping that by the time he will hang his gloves, he had done something that he will be proud of when he faces his Creator.

Since he is yet to face the Commission on Elections for confirmation, he told his townmates, “I ask you to always pray for me. That I will be able to resist any kind of temptation and pray to God that he will not give me a test that I will not be able to overcome.” –Eva Visperas