This is part of the podcast series produced by the PCIJ in 2006 to mark the 20th year of the 1986 People Power. Check our page Remembering Edsa here.
'We cannot give up on the only country we have'
Rene A.V. Saguisag was one of many human-rights lawyers who defended the rights of political dissidents during the Marcos era. Having provided advice to Cory Aquino, several of these lawyers were roped into her Cabinet when she became president in 1986. Saguisag was elected senator in 1987 but dropped out of politics when his term ended. He continued to take off-the-beaten-track legal forays, defending a wide range of clients, including former president Joseph Estrada. He was known as the quixotic dissenter, the quintessential lone voice in the wilderness.
Photographs by Lilen Uy
Podcasts by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
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— PCIJ, February 2022