This is just a pit stop in Alan’s long career. He will be back—I doubt if he’ll ever leave the political scene as a leading voice. It will be ages before we will come to read the requiem for this heavyweight. Not today.

His stint as House leader may be short, but it was spectacular. He passed all the bills the Palace requested, plus those which are products of the House’s policy ingenuity, which he harnessed in full.

While he had changed chambers, he was constantly in touch with his old colleagues in the Smaller but Smarter House. He is always welcome here, and the polls show that it will be a walk in the park for him.

When he accepted the demotion from Senator to DFA Secretary, he made it a point to be always accessible, wherever he was in the world. I have referred many OFWs in distress and he made it a point to personally attend to all of them.

I am writing this to thank him for his service to the nation as House leader. Old school it may sound, but in this age when the new is hailed and the old is forgotten, I believe that the courtesy of appreciating the good a person had done should continue as an honored tradition.(###)