One of the gifts I received last Christmas was a 2016 Calendar Pad given by my next door neighbor who is a medical representative. I was struck by the cover phrase “A Year to be Inspired” with the silhouette of a human heart in the background for it came at a time full of hope and expectations.
As the new year unfolded I attended the 93rd birthday of my godmother, Emiliana Elemento-Abellana fondly called “Mama Miling” on January 5. She reminded everyone before Christmas to attend her birthday celebration. She actively helped in the preparation like cooking some of the dishes for dinner because she was wary that the other members would be coming late from work. Her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren and close friends were there. Aside from the sumptuous food prepared by her and her children, there was singing both chorus and solo (her children invited a singer for the occasion) with special rendition of the songs composed by her late husband, Ramon Abellana, brother of artist Martino Abellana. When I asked her why she insisted that her family members should attend, she said that she might not be able to celebrate another birthday with a smile. But she will still have more birthday celebrations to host for at age 93, Mama Miling is not suffering from any illness, has no maintenance medicines nor food supplements. She still does housekeeping especially cooking. She is a living example of how to live well – caring for the family, kind and gentle to everyone, never raising her voice, industrious, shares her laughter in any gathering, never nagging. Seeing her and being with her even in the few times I get to visit her is so encouraging – to see a woman age so gracefully and graciously. I am greatly blessed to have her as my godmother, not a fairy godmother, but a true and real godmother.
There are three women I know very well who are living examples of living gracefully and graciously and coincidentally they are all trailblazers. Despite having reached beyond retirement age, they are still very active in development work, advocacy work, strengthening institutions and very influential. I have been fortunate to have worked with them in various instances. I have worked closely with Dr. Araceli G. Almase from the late 1990’s to the present particularly in the UP Alumni Cebu Chapter and other related matters. I learned a lot from her especially in getting records straight, organizing programs in homecomings and holding alumni institutes which served a a continuing education program for the alumni. Firm but fair, assertive but not offensive, it was always a learning experience to hear her side on controversial issues. She is mainly an academic person with specialization in Science Education. Mentoring the trainors and teaching the teachers became the call of the hour after science and math became the nexus of development. She was the most sought-after Department of Science and Technology Director in the Philippines for several years.. The Confederation of Scientific and Professional Organizations recognized her with a Leadership Award for pioneering in the organization of scientific and professional organizations in Region 7 which served as a model for other regions in the country. In the search for Tatak UP awardees we always consulted her regarding the nominees for the field of Science and Technology. She is one of the very rare women in the field of science who could explain to us the intricacies of the scientific world. While doing all this work she was a doting grandmother to her grandchildren even up to their college years. I will never forget her suggestion and even an offer to come up with a syllabus in relation to the Summer Art classes for children of the Fine Arts Program of UP Cebu using Science as a foundation of Art, that is using shapes, sounds, materials, etc.
I first met Vice Gov. Agnes A.. Magpale at the UP Alumni Homecomings and subsequent meetings in the late 1990s. She was among the earlier groups of women who braved the world of local politics and entered it in 1971. But I got to know her more when she was constantly calling women’s groups for the establishment of the Provincial Women’s Code from 2000 to 2005 when it was finally approved and implemented by the Provincial Board. Her leadership of the Provincial Women’s Commission was so effective and dynamic that the Provincial Women’s Code was made the basis for monitoring presentations in fiestas, and handling controversial issues concerning women and children. She also spearheaded the Search for the Most Gender Responsive Local Government Unit in the Province to forward the gender and development programs in the local level. The last time I worked closely with her was the town history writing project where she headed the Historical Project Committee of the Province and I was one of the cluster editors. Then she was hugging the headlines with the successive raids and arrests of human traffickers and providing assistance and care for the victims. A woman always in the limelight handles very tough criticisms and issues but still maintains her graciousness.
I knew Atty. Virginia P. Santiago as a woman trailblazer in pursuit of efficiency and transparency in her work as Director of the Ombudsman in the Visayas where she awakened the Cebuanos to the reality of the moral strength of women in government service..She says, “I am a public servant performing the duties tasked of me by law. I am dedicated to see to it that public services are delivered to the citizenry.” When she was a prosecutor, she was consistently chosen by the IBP Provincial and City Chapters as an Outstanding Prosecutor. When she receives the Outstanding Prosecutor Award from the Judicial Excutive, She remembered she cried because she could hardly believe that from among the 2,000 prosecutors in the entire country, she recalls, “They recognized me, a woman and a provinciana at that!” At present she is the president of the Board of Directors of the Legal Alternatives for Women Center, Inc. (LAW Inc.) for the second term. She also anchors the weekly TV program of LAW Inc., “Sa Mata sa Kababayen-an” aired on CCTN where they tackle issues on violence against women and feature clients who have survived all forms of abuse. She tirelessly conducts seminars on RA9262 in the various municipalities in the north and south of Cebu and the barangays in Metro Cebu.
Each day I pluck the leaf from the calendar pad I remember how these women show us how to live well.