2016 readers’ feedback: On Mea Culpas, indulging children and the ’40s-’60s

There’s a lot of brainstorming going on. President Duterte with his growling face, clenched fist raised high is front paged daily in all newspapers as he declares war with the drug lords and at the same time makes peace with the enemies – NPA, MILF, Marcos, etc. He doesn’t spare even the United Nations.

Radio and TV broadcast his pronouncements ceaselessly since he was elected about 50 days ago. Is this a reality show? Or is he like a schoolboy cramming to do his homework to meet a deadline. Please God, help him and help us.

From mea culpa to the inner transformation of the nation

An anonymous column reader from San Juan has this to say about my August 11, 2016 column: “Thank you for your column on Mea Culpa. It was the most incisive analysis I’ve come across of the sordid situation we may now find ourselves as a nation today. It is both a scathing indictment of the past, as well as a jolting wake-up call of what the future holds out for us if we do nothing.

“Yes, we are now at war – a war on criminality, a war on drug abuse, a war on ignorance and poverty. A sense of urgency now moves us. I did not vote for President Duterte. But perhaps he is the right man for the moment. I now accept him as our President and trust he will be true to his word (as he has proven so many times in the past) and render justice to everyone within bounds of our Constitution. We have acknowledged our MEA CULPAS. It’s time to MOVE ON.”

Over-indulging children

My recent July 8, 2016 column, Help! We’re Killing Our Kids with Kindness received numerous responses. Augusto Ayo emailed “I just wanted to commend/applaud you for the well written article about growing Filipino kids nowadays. All the points and facts you have written are 100% true. I just hope many parents read this and realize the potential danger that they are facing when they continue to raise their children in this manner. More power and hope you continue to educate Filipinos on right parenting.”

Daughter of a remarkable O.B. Montessori teacher, and alumna, Agatha Salanatin commented “Thank you for reminding us parents that we need to teach our children independence, self-reliance and critical thinking. I hope you still remember me. I am the daughter of Norma Primavera Salanatin. I was a student at your Sta. Ana branch during my elementary years. Sara treated our OBMCI classmates to lunch at Sta. Ana a few years back, and we were so happy to walk inside the halls of our old building again (now expanded to a third building and an auditorium). Despite the many changes in the campus, we still felt the warmth of our old school. We truly appreciate the kind of learning we had at the school. Mama passed away June of 2003 and she is dearly missed. We have been living in Davao since 1981. I’m an architect and managing our construction business. My husband is a physician and we have three children ages 10, 12 and 14. I hope that on one of my future trips to Manila, I could visit you also. I still keep in touch with Sara and our other Montessori friends so we try to get together once in a while.

“I hope someday I would be able to visit your Preziosa Botanic Park and Farm. I remember us camping in Batulao when I was in Gr. 4. My elementary years in O.B. Montessori gave me the best foundation true to our motto “Seipsum facit persona” (Man makes himself). If I am fortunate to have an audience with our Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, I will discuss with her your intent to put up a preschool here in Davao. More power to your mission, and God bless us all.”

From Pete D. Henson, “I read your article in the Philippine STAR and I just thought, why not introduce a summer work program for students of O.B. Montessori – either in the school itself on in companies that O.B. Montessori can partner with. Taking a cue from your suggestion to make kids work (instead of partying and taking endless holidays here and abroad), I thought that making kids work during summer is an awesome idea. My daughter, who is in Gr. 4 in OBMC, Angeles will be one of the first to enlist for the Summer Job program of OBMC if ever. More power to you and O.B. Montessori.”

Anna Maria Sanchez commented, “I just read ‘Help! We’re killing our Kids…’ I am not a mother but have observed the same points you wrote down. I agree with you. I have a brother in the US who, with my sister-in-law, have eight children (ages 2-18) and no helper. Since both of them work, there is an occasional babysitter but the little ones are self-sufficient. The older ones watch out for the small ones and help in house chores as the most normal thing to do. Much is wanting in the wholistic formation of children at home so they become tough for life, especially the boys. Thanks for the write up. I shared it on Facebook.”

Recalling Japanese time and after

Chinoy Chua’s comment on the March 3, 2016 column, We Children of the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s: “Thank you very much for these snippets. They’re so bittersweet, I could taste yesteryear on a silicon wafer. I was born in 1965 and was able to catch the tail end of the good old days. You’re right. Someone should gather it all in a bunch, one anecdote at a time, one memory after another. Someone like you, I suppose.”

Francisco Jr. De Jesus, “I read your column today and it caught my attention when I saw the name Atty. Calixto Silverio, a good friend and classmate of my late father, Atty. Francisco D. de Jesus Sr. In UP or in Philippine Law School. I cannot say anything more except to send you some of his letters regarding some money transactions and two pictures, one taken in Baguio City and the other one, in Unisan, Quezon Province. I am not sure if the boy with them in the picture was your father’s godson, my older brother Remigio or my eldest brother Jose, who was the grandson of Don Claro M. Recto. There are still two letters that I couldn’t find, a copy of the letter of condolence from my father and your mother’s reply to my father, a handwritten note expressing her grief over her husband’s tragic loss. I still remember Ka Felicia, your father’s sister? She used to visit us in Bo. Obrero in Tondo in the late ‘50s. She was the ninang of my youngest sister Juliana.”

The following are the feedback on the March 10, 2016 column The Way We Were: from Richilda Almeda Lopez, “My father Augusto Almeda Lopez, now 87 years young, asked me to convey to you that he was greatly excited and happy to read your column of March 3, 2016 about your childhood years during the Japanese occupation. He was then called Nene and with sisters Marita and Lulu, lived in the same block along Ayala Avenue as your family.

“Of course, because of the 10-year gap so much bigger among young children – he never really got to play with you. But he still recalls Alex Gonzales, Francis and Josie Ablan, Eling Ablasig, the Ramoses, Agustins, Garlitos and the Albas and Nadals. In fact, your cousin Carding Silverio was his schoolmate in La Salle before the war. Because food became so scarce in Manila, My father’s family evacuated to Tayabas in March 1944. My father has been wanting to know the events and tragedies in Ayala that January of 1945 and so he was truly elated to read your story.

“My father asks if it would be possible to have a reunion of those still around for them to exchange their recollections and stories of 70 years back. If you are agreeable, he would very gladly help in bringing about this grand meeting.”(Yes, I would enjoy the reunion. It can be held right here at the bistro of our headquarters Operation Brotherhood, #3 Eisenhower cor. Annapolis Greenhills tel. 7220019.)

Is the EDSA ‘revolution’ real?

Neng Bunag wrote this comment on the column 30th EDSA Still Awaits Revolution in the Inner Life of Filipinos last February 25, 2016, “Peace be with you! I am a follower of the Queen of Peace messages in Medjugorje. I have been there in 2008. I believe that Medjugorje is an authentic Heavenly Plan through our Blessed Mother for the Parish of St. James and for the World. I am fully convinced that if our people are rallied to follow what Mother Mary is teaching us, that is returning back to True Faith with humility (2 Chronicles 7:14), Be consistent in coming closer to Him, God will bless our land!”

Dear Neng Bunag, thank you for reacting to the column that hopes Filipinos to undergo a spiritual inner transformation. Your devotion to the mission of our Queen of Peace as revealed in Medjugorje is commendable. I do believe our country has also been favored with the Trinity of Shrines mystically requested by Blessed Mother through concert pianist Punay Kabayao Fernandez for three national disasters that occurred from the 70’s Marcos dictatorship (Cadiz, Negros Shrine), to the ‘86 EDSA Revolution (the most accessible Shrine Avenue with its 23 holy monuments at the OB Montessori headquarters, Greenhills) and the 1991 Pinatubo volcano explosion (Mt. Pinatubo Hidden Temple Shrine facing the volcano in Palan, San Marcelino Zambales). Our Lord’s constant message expressed through His Blessed Mother, His Associate, is that Filipinos must have a true change of heart to gain that elusive unity. This is only possible with prayers.

Mary’s message to the world

Through her messenger, Annie Kirkwood of Texas, Blessed Mother cites “The Importance of Prayer” in her book, Mary’s Message to the World. “I have asked that all people pray, but I realized that you on earth do not always understand prayer. You think of it as pleading or begging. Prayer is many ways to communicate with the Creator God. I will give you some of the ways you should pray.

“Understand that the very act of desiring closeness with God the Father is the very best prayer… All people talk to themselves. The chatter within your mind and heart is prayer when you link it to God.”

A clean “inner self” is needed to pray effectively. “Cleanse from your heart and mind any feeling of envy, jealousy, anger, unforgiveness, prejudice and such hard emotions. These emotions deplete your energy and your life. I speak of inner life.”