Serendipitous book possession

In the 1986 World Championship of Public Speaking organized by Toastmasters International, a Filipina resident of Canada, romped off with the championship. Her name is Arabella Bengzon. She is the only Filipino to have won this yearly competition. Her piece was entitled Serendipity. In all honesty, that was the first time I heard the word and so i immediately consulted the dictionary to find that it means the occurrence of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

I remember Ms Bengzon’s Serendipity because also by chance a thick ring-bound document fell on my lap few days ago. When I initially scanned the book, I realized that it contains some kind of a report submitted by the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino to President Rodrigo Duterte, on COVID-19. That is precisely the cover of this book/document. This occurrence is beneficial to me because the document is quite informative. Sec Dino has lately been on the receiving end of harsh criticisms. (By the way, I only personally met the man twice). There were times that I cringed on the language used against him on radio. They were foul blows. Most of the brickbats could even be considered personal assault that, in my perception, bordered on criminal libel. But he has apparently rolled with the proverbial punches like Muhammad Ali who took the best shots of George Foreman. His seeming cavalier attitude on these critical commentaries is difficult to fathom. In Dino’s position, he should have tools to defend his character with but it looked like he preferred to remain stoic.

The impact of generosity in our material world usually depends upon the depth of the pocket of a giver. A poor generous man can only give so much that cannot match what a rich man can afford. An item of the book/document that I got mentions an act of generosity on the part of the Cristina Lee Dino Foundation. I suppose this is the foundation of the family of the presidential assistant. It appears that this foundation donated to the lead government agencies fighting the coronavirus a huge load of medical supplies. These goods are identified as (1) three RT PCR machines, (2) twenty two thousand RT PCR test kits, (3) twenty thousand swab kits and (4) three thousand liters of alcohol. Frankly, I do not have the monetary value of these supplies but I presume that the donation carried a huge tag not just anybody could afford.

The book/document in my possession does not give any reason for the generosity of Sec Dino’s family. I have read it quite thoroughly but nothing seems to indicate what prompted them to unload a substantial sum. Well, a sincere act of liberality does not have to be advertised. A truly generous person feels content in having shared with what he has than in announcing his deed. It would have, of course, been a prostitution of sort if he attempted to insert a word or a statement revealing why the donation was given. A kind heart is not boastful, my late father said once. So, as in this case of the Dino foundation let us respect their choice to be silent.

Sec Michael Dino is no ordinary citizen. He is a presidential assistant and is supposedly our closest link to Malacañang. Apropos to his high position in government, his actions are, whether he likes it or not, subject to scrutiny. I was not surprised to have heard malicious insinuations leveled against him in the things he did in connection with the COVID-19. The book/document i got by chance made me better informed. Serendipity.