On getting a passing grade
AS my professor Fr. Roque Ferriols, SJ, used to reminisce, when I was young and full of hope, the passing mark in grade school was 75. But today somehow the more leninent schools have adjusted it to 70. Perhaps because the quality of mercy is not strained; or is it because the Bureau opf Eucation has lowered the bar?
Yesterday I got my passing grade, the old higher-end numbers. Nears and dears greeted, commiserated. In times past, we dreamed of being swashbuckling. Now, only the knees are buckling. To comfort the afflicted, I was given to read the buoyant reminder, “Now that you know what you are doing, be glad that you can still do it.”
Half the clan are here. Kochel our eldest; Jamil and Wendy and their two roughabouts Emilio and Danilo. The other half of the clan are back in my previous sojourns. Massimo, our first grandson, is with his Dad in Varese. Ning and Martin and their brood – Carla our only granddaughter and Hugo and Hans – are in Switzerland; and Paolo is struggling to be the first in the clan to earn a doctorate in London.
Done that, been there in 40 years plus of foreign service work. We lived beyond our means with lifestyle to put best foot forward in representing the Republic of the Philippines.
Back to earth living on civil servant’s retirement remuneration is a challenge of Biblical proportions – like creation, i.e., to make something out of nothing. The only thing that doesn’t go up is the retirement pay But Ambassador Rosalinda Tirona and wellintentioned colleagues are trying to fix it with the Budget Office.
Meng was supposed to mark April 26 for a small commemoration in our bungalow which could contain as many as my pocketbook could accommodate. But a man of consequence decided to mark the day at a fashionable address.
I would have liked to say something nice, if not wise, when surrounded by friends and well-wishers. At this stage, I should have only friends and no enemy. (Or at least, survived the latter).
If one cannot abide by the Christian tenet of turning the other cheek, there is the wise counsel of Szu Tzu: “When your enemy’s is in retreat, build a bridge of silver.” Of course, considering the high cost of living, I will expect him to pay for it?
*** NEWSBREAK. The best intentions gang aft and alley? Where are our professionals? Because the rescue effort of Filipino OFWs in Kuwait failed to abide by the Queensberry rules, Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa was served by the Kuwaiti foreign ministry his walking papers.
Ambassador Villa will be welcomed and extolled back home as one who stood up for our OFW rights and rescued our countrymen. But that is well and good for public consumption.
A video showing the rescue mission went viral. To this, DFA Secretary Alan Cayetano said. “I apologize to my counterpart, and we apologize to the Kuwaiti government, Kuwaiti people, the leaders of Kuwait, if they were offended by some actions taken by the Philippine embassy in Kuwait.” Secretary Cayetano said the Kuwaiti government “has accepted our explanation.”
Not quite. The rescue mission was not coordinated with Kuwaiti officials, prompting the Kuwaiti government to summon the Philippine ambassador and explain the consular staff’s rescue effort.
The Department of Foreign Affairs finds the action taken by the Kuwaiti government “deeply disturbing” and “inconsistent” with the assurances given by Kuwaiti Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh during his meeting with DFA Secretary Cayetano in Manila on Tuesday.” DFA will ask Kuwait’s ambassador to explain why our envoy was declared persona non grata and “why the Kuwaiti government reneged on the agreement reached with him to work together to move bilateral relations between the Philippines and Kuwait forward.” This will not be possible, since Kuwait is withdrawing its ambassador.
The Duterte administration is has been threatening to withdraw the OFWs from Kuwait, etc., and telling us of alternative places where our OFWs could go. Now it faces an abject lesson. It is not time to call the cavalry.
Better yet to ask the old fogeys who are not being listened to in DFA how to make haste slowly. FEEDBACK: