Eduardo Araullo

Attorney Eduardo Araullo or “Ed”  was born the seventh of nine children in a middle-class family, and raised with his siblings in Guagua, Pampanga and Malabon.[1] He would graduate from the De La Salle University high school where he both learned Christian-humanitarian ideals and formed lifelong friends.

Entering the University of the Philippines in the decade leading up to Martial Law, Ed would become deeply involved in student activism.[2] After graduating from the Political Science program of the College of Arts and Sciences, Ed pursued a degree at the UP College of Law. As a student-activist, he played an important role as a member of National Democratic (ND) groups such as the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK) and Kabataang Makabayan (KM).

In an interview recorded in the Manila Standard, Ed recalls his most active years during his twenties.[3] Upon the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, Ed was one of the administration’s initial targets for arrest due to his role in mobilizing and organizing student activities. To avoid this, he proceeded to join the underground movement. “There was a time I was ready to join the New People’s Army under the name ‘Ka Glenn,’” he recounted, as the cut of his hair made him look like the Canadian-American Actor Glenn Ford. The week after he went to southern Tagalog to join them, he was caught by Metrocom forces and arrested for acts of subversion. The others he was with proceeded to join the NPA. None would survive the regime.

Ed’s arrest took place some time in 1973, and he would be detained for roughly six months.[4] When he was first brought to Camp Crame, he was punched and beaten with bats to his chest.[5] He was then transferred to Fort Bonifacio, then to the Youth Rehabilitation Center (YRC). He recalls that they were well-treated at the YRC – as a matter of “showcasing” to the public and to international inspection. Upon his release, Ed continued to support the resistance.

Finishing his law studies after imprisonment, he became a labor lawyer working for and alongside workers and trade unions.[6] With stalwarts such as Senator Jose Diokno and other young attorneys, Ed helped establish the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), the first lawyers’ human rights organization. He would further co-found the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism (MABINI),[7] serving as its chairman in 1984 to 1986. Ed would help human rights lawyers in several important cases during the regime, including the WE Forum Raid, which the Supreme court struck down as illegal.

Following the ouster of Marcos, Atty. Araullo was appointed to work for the new Philippine government with a post at Geneva, Switzerland. Later on during the 2010 Aquino Administration, Ed accepted a position as board secretary of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). In the last years of his life, Ed’s memory would be recalled with caring optimism – as a staunch patriot, persistent social reformer, and caring friend.[8]

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References:

[1] Pagaduan-Araullo, Carol (26-27 January, 2013). “In memoriam: Atty. Eduardo G. Araullo (1947 – 2013)”, Metro Manila: Business World. Published online at Bulatlat https://www.bulatlat.com/2013/01/26/in-memoriam-atty-eduardo-g-araullo-1947-2013/

[2] Ortuoste, Jenny (24 January 2013), “In memoriam: Ed Araullo”. Manila Standard. https://manilastandard.net/opinion/74930/in-memoriam-ed-araullo.html

[3] ibid

[4] Araullo, Eduardo (web profile), Nameless.org. Retrieved from http://www.nameless.org.ph/e_araullo. The information provided in the text was originally sourced from the Interaksyon digital news website.

[5] Ortuoste (2013), “In memoriam: Ed Araullo”.

[6] Pagaduan-Araullo (2013). “In memoriam: Atty. Eduardo G. Araullo (1947 – 2013)”

[7] Araullo, Eduardo (web profile), Nameless.org.

[8] Pagaduan-Araullo (2013). “In memoriam: Atty. Eduardo G. Araullo (1947 – 2013)”