In Memory of My Dear Mother
ast hursday, ctober , e celebrated the th death anniversary of the co founder and inspiration of the 8niversity of the 9isayas my dear mother, Josefina Rivera Gullas. Just in time, I had the good luck of coming across a copy of the eulog
hat 89 scholar kne my mother very ell. e as close to 0ama 3ining, ho often invited him to our house along 0analili 6treet no 9icente Gullas 6treet , here she ould serve him snacks ith hot sik ate made from ola ndrea s famous tableya native chocolate . he late Judge oren o 3aradiang delivered the follo ing eulogy during my mother s necrological service on ctober ,
In occasions like no , hat comes to the fore is poet Edgar ee 0asters ho, in his poem, 6ilence versified )or the depth of hat use is language :e are voiceless in the presence of realities e cannot speak
ut then, there are also times that bottling inarticulate one s feelings of sorro and pain in silent ears, becomes more deafening, more unbearable, and more heartrending
hus for the countless persons ho ere, and have been, fortunate beneficiaries of the love and benevolence of the Gullases, let me speak for them. I am referring to the horde of scholars the academic, the athletic, and other e tra curricular scholars, and the plain 89 6trivers hom Inday 3ining held closest to her heart. heir talents might have had gone to naught ithout the opportunity to blossom, and perhaps, ould have had gone asted in utter frustration, if not for the kindness of Inday 3ining and her beloved husband and their children.
lmost four decades ago, hen the 9isayan Institute as still a nipa bamboo sa ali makeshifts right after the ar, a poor and timid small boy entered its portals for the first time. ungering for education, yes, hankering for a chance to study and learn, this uninitiated and still nawve boy found his benefactors.
nd time came to pass along homas Gray s famous verse that runs, the short and simple annals of the poor this student pursued his studies diligently over the years. n academic scholarship e tended by the school, he as able to finish his college courses, and above all, he as given first choice to teach in his lma 0ater.
his boy student, then, is but one of the many recipients of the school s scholarship program. In fact, he flatters himself into believing that he typifies the various 89 scholars hom Inday 3ining and her family have lent a helping hand in molding them into hat they are today. 0ultiply his case by the hundreds, nay, many thousand times more, and you ill have a picture of the magnitude of hat is meant by the 89 s motto mor, 6ervitium, umanitas.
3 r e s i d e n t 9i c e n t e Gullas, during one of his lecture sorties in various classrooms, once confided that the school motto as personified by his self, also epitomi ed the 89 6pirit , the latter smilingly replied 1o, no, it is principally personified by my ife I only come ne t.
0 o r e p a r t i c u l a r l y because of you, 0a am, e have coined the ell meant e pression he 89 is my second home, and sincerely feeling that is so.
8nlike other kno n personalities, you did not alk ith heroes so to speak you alked ith the humble and the lo ly. 8nlike others of your social stature, you did not talk in language elegant and ith affectations you talked ith your heart, and on first name and nickname intimacy. 8nlike other philanthropists, you philanthropi ed in silence and anonymity.
es, you could have mingled ith the haves, the elite or so called of society but you also chose to rub elbo s and e change pleasantries ith the have nots and the simple commoner. :hile other hanker, and even hector, for high bro s titles, honors, and publicity, you shun these social sophistications like plague.
nd as e kno you so ell, I am pretty certain that if you only had your ay no , you ould not have this display, all these rituals and eulogies. Indeed, you ere al ays at home in an atmosphere of simplicity of humility. :illiam 6hakespeare never alluded to you, 0a am, hen he said in the tone of irony, he evil that men do live after them the good are interred ith their bones. :hile you had your human failings as all God s creatures have, nonetheless, nothing evil in ords, or deeds, or even in thoughts shall live after you. :hile you leave us behind, the life you lived shall, e cuse the pun, live on for us to emulate and live by. nd the good that you have left us ill never be interred ith your bones. Inday 6ering, Eddie and Dodong and their children are not only your children and grandchildren, I venture to say. In a ay, e too, and thousands more, feel ith s eet sorro that you are our mother as ell, and a grandmother too, to our children.
o the bereaved children of Inday 3ining and their loved ones, may e plead 3lease, let us share ith you the consolation that your irreplaceable loss is like ise our loss, and our common loss is eaven s gain
Dr. Eladio . Dioko himself had mentioned that my mother as strong illed but fle ible, ethically driven but soft hearted, she as during her time an omnipresent phenomenon in the school campus, directing, advising and motivating school personnel, especially the students, to do their best for their o n good and for the good of the school. Deeply religious, she as also very much involved in socio religious activities particularly those initiated by mandated church organi ations and by the parish council of the ebu 0etropolitan athedral. s al ays, she as in the forefront generously giving time and personal resources for these. 6o e tensive as her services to local churches that in she as conferred the coveted 3apal ard by is oliness 3ope John 3aul II.
s her son, in my heart 0ama lives on for all the things she as.