Anita Magsaysay-Ho: A woman so steadfast

MANILA, Philippines - I speak before you as the eldest daughter of Anita, on behalf of my father, my sisters Linda and Doris, my brothers Robert and Steven, and all our spouses’ children and grandchildren.

We thank you all for being here to say our goodbyes, but also to celebrate her life.

Mom had an amazing journey. As a child, though she grew up in Manila, she had deep roots in Zambales. We heard stories about intertwined relationships among countless relations in San Antonio, San Marcelino and Iba, the Magsaysays, Corpuses, Ferrioles, Arguelleses. She spoke Ilocano fluently with great exuberance when with family and loved simple Ilocano food like diningding and pinakbet.

Her father, Don Ambrosio Magsaysay, was a professor, a disciplined man. Her mother, Doña Amalia Corpus, came from a loving musical family of classical violinists, which continues till today with the Bolipata brothers.

Her brother, Mike Magsaysay, played the piano like no other. Her sisters, Moning Pleno and Emma del Rosario, were loving and kind.

Her grand-uncle, Don Teodoro Yangco, was a noted philanthropist at that time. She had stories of how he opened his home every Sunday to everyone in their neighborhood. She grew up being carried by the conjoined Godino twins, straddled between them; and she told of his support for so many charities like the YMCA.

"The Dining Table" by Anita Magsaysay-Ho (oil on wood, 84 x 109, 1950) shows Linda and Helen.

Mom had met Dad, the love of her life, in New York. Dad, who comes from Shanghai, was pursuing his master’s degree at Columbia University. Lola was at the Arts Students League. Some of their deepest friendships go back to those days at the International House on Riverside Drive, and at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan.

Dad and Mom were on the way back to Shanghai, but as fate had it, China fell to the Communists; so they settled here in Manila.

As children growing up, five of us did our homework around a round table in Mom’s studio. She would continue to paint, watched us out of the corner of her eye, and most especially she would “touch up” our art sketches, vastly improving them for submission the next day.

There were exhibits of her works at the AAP. There were friends posing for their portraits, and the names of artists abounded as we grew up at home. All the time, she painted.

Also daily around the round table in Mom’s studio, we had a Chinese tutor who could not control us five naughty children. So instead they brought “children’s books” on the famous Chinese Love Stories which kept us mesmerized and quiet... at least for a while.

Mom would listen quietly as Dad instilled in us Confucian values. And from when we were very young, he would “call to order” our family board meetings and explain the “ABCs of business.”

Mom was a very brave, supportive wife as she followed Dad all over the world, bringing all of us up in 42 homes throughout Manila; Sao Paolo, Brazil; Tokyo, Japan; Vancouver; Montreal; Hong Kong...

She was steadfast as a mother — our Rock of Gibraltar — with our theme song being Somewhere There Is a Place for Us, making us children feel so full and confident, viewing each exciting place we moved to in a positive light, a new place to explore.

Still, no matter where we were, Mom painted every day: always scenes of the Philippines, drawn from her deep love of daily life of ordinary people in the fields, in the market, on the seashore; perhaps feeling connected to her roots, family and friends still at home.

Over time, she was a pivot point in the lives of the 14 grandchildren and now five great-grandchildren. Over the years, she maintained close ties with life-long friends and relatives in many countries, a truly global Filipina.

She continued to paint every day until she had her stroke three years ago.

Robert and Anita with Helen Ho-Delgado and sons Rashid and Zaki; Doris Ho with children Alexandra and Joey Cecala and son Patrick;Jesse Maxwell and Patrick Maxwell; Steven and Jaymie Ho with Anna, Sara and Ben. Not in photo are Linda and Gage McAfee and children and Robert Ho Jr. and children.

I would like to share with you a poem she wrote on Jan. 5, 1945:

If I could but paint the sunset,

with the emotions aroused in me,

To unfold its passionate beauty

as ‘tis reflected on the sea;

The yellow as it blends with fire,

red-hot as it meets the cold,

The violet twilight creeping in

struggling with the gold,

the ever-changing shapes of clouds

now pink; now gray; now white;

the multicolored glaze above

the heavens extremely bright!

I gaze at my drab colors —

and at the grandeur that is Thine

Lord, how can I depict Thy work,

without Thy hand in mine...

Mom always said that butterflies in this world were designed by angels in heaven: each one different and unique.

Mom, I can see you now in a heavenly studio, a room shimmering with golden and purple light, drawing flowers, and butterflies.