IALWAYS say that the death of a president is an inevitable time to compare them with the others. I saw this during the death of the very popular Corazon Aquino in 2009 and just recently with the death of the hard-working Fidel V. Ramos.

But nowhere was this more evident than 23 years ago on Sept. 28, 1989, when one president learned about the death of another as she prepared to go to another one’s celebration.

It was the 79th birthday of President Diosdado Macapagal (president from Dec. 30, 1961 to Dec. 30, 1965) at the Philippine International Convention Center Banquet Hall. The program was titled “A Salute to a Good President.” Dadong’s re-election defeat in the hands of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. (Dec. 30, 1965 to Feb. 25, 1986) and the latter’s proclamation of martial law, which he opposed by writing the book Democracy in the Philippines, may have caused his being underrated and under-appreciated for many years.

President Cory Aquino (Feb. 25, 1986 to June 30, 1992) was preparing a speech for this occasion: “Today we honor a good man. I might have said that we are honoring ‘a great President,’ but this is a lesser achievement than to be what Diosdado Macapagal was and remains to this day, a great and good man.

“He was a good man even as President, and that is a very difficult thing to be . ... President Macapagal did not enrich himself in office. He left as he had come to power, with only his powerful mind and his unimpeachable integrity . ...

“President Macapagal left this nation alone to realize its full economic potential . ... By the end of his term, the richest and most promising country in Asia, save for Japan.”

In one part of the speech, she compared him with Marcos: “Today, we honor a man who was his exact opposite . ... When Macapagal left office, we had virtually no foreign debt. When Marcos was driven out of office, he left us in ruins.”

She continued on Dadong: “Was he a great president? We have established, he was a good man. And to be good in the presidency is to be greater than one can hope to be anywhere else. Was he good to be great? Perhaps he was too good to be notorious. But in his honesty in the midst of temptation and in his humility at the height of power, he was as great as it is possible to be in a small and struggling nation.

“Does our size exclude the possibility of individual greatness? Does a flower cease to be marvelous because it is small? Is courage diminished because it is shown only by one?

“Our country is small but one can be great in it. Diosdado Macapagal, the poor boy from Lubao, has shown us how. It is our great pleasure and honor to pay this tribute to him . ... ”

And then, Cory received a phone call from Buddy Gomez, the consul general in Honolulu, Hawaii, informing her of the announcement by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (future president, who began his term June 30 this year) that his father, the former president and dictator, had died at the St. Francis Medical Center.

When Cory arrived at the celebration, she asked Dadong if she could digress a bit, “because after all, today is his day and he was very obliging, and said I could. “

And so, during her speech, she read a small portion of the statement on Marcos’ death that she had released earlier that day: “Speaking for the nation I represent, I can say that this man touched the lives of every Filipino who was his contemporary as no other Filipino leader did before him. His rule changed our country beyond recognition. In what way he changed it, I leave to others and to history to describe.”

Despite being critical of her nemesis, she said, “… No one should trench on the dignity of