Rest in peace
IN this time of the year, I recall all my friends and colleagues who have gone ahead to Greener Pastures since January. I cherish having been touched by their guiding hand, their generous sharing of their wisdom and support and by their zest for life, excellence, and service. My prayers are just a small way of expressing my gratitude for the good they have left behind and may I ask, you the reader to include them in your prayers.
I thank and pray for my fellow Rotarians, who lived the Rotary motto of “Service above Self.” The latest to go was Past Rotary International Vice President Paco Delgado of whom I had written in my editorial in the September issue of Philippine Rotary, an RI regional magazine. I narrated what he told me that he had declined being the first Filipino president of Rotary International because his wife was in poor health and he did not want to burden Rotary with a president who could not focus on total service. He said that he later saw the wisdom of his decision when his wife died at the year when he would have served as president. I admire Don Paco for his unselfishness, always putting Rotary’s interests before his own.
PDG Mario Nery, a close partner of mine in pushing for integrity and high ethical standards together with PDG Jess Laxamana, left a formidable record of institutional development and reforms in San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Red Cross, Christian Family Movement and other socio-civic organizations. His legacy of selfless service inspires us all as I emphasized in my Business Best column shortly after his death.
PDGs Jose “Tony” Agaton Sibal, Eduardo Alvarez (also a Pan Xenia fraternity brother), Manuel Tatel and Honorio Hilario were models of service to community even after their year of service as governors. Tony was the youngest district governor and up to his death was still active in the Rotary Club of Quezon City. Ed took on heavy multiple Rotary assignments serving with passion; Manny and Hila showed the way in providing advice and resources to succeeding generations of Rotary leaders.
In the Management Association of the Philippines, we lost Jose V. Martel, Ceferino L. Benedicto, Ceferino L. Follosco, Gabriel Singson, Jose M. Olbes, Ma. Amalyn S. de Quiros, Cesar B. Bautista, and Eduardo R. Alvarez, also a Rotarian. Cesar Bautista, my former boss when he was secretary of trade and industry, I described as the professional par excellence in my Business Best column. Gabby Singson led the institutionalization of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as an independent monetary authority and he spearheaded the liberalization of the banking industry. I owe him so much for his care, concern, and wise advice. Chef Follosco was with us initially in DTI/BOI before moving on as DOST secretary bringing his engineering prowess to push for the modernization of agriculture and small and medium enterprises. Many starting entrepreneurs benefited from his venture capitalist hat proving sound counsel beyond just funds. Cef Benedicto, active in many business associations, will be remembered for his innovative and provocative insights and his wholehearted support for numerous worthy advocacies.
I mourn my BSBA classmates Sonny Capalongan and Johnny Lu, who kept our friendships fresh and active through the years. Sonny, as I highlighted in my Business Beat column, was the complete Compliance Officer, who shared his knowledge and skills to build up the profession. Johnny who initially run the financial side of the family’s business in Cotabato was a gracious host to me in my countryside sojourns and later in Manila unstressed his classmates with his wit and humor.
As I asked you to pray for their eternal repose, may I ask you to also say prayers for people I do not know or you may not also know. Let us pray for all the victims of the war against drugs. Learning from the experiences of Mexico and Colombia, we should have been prepared for the high body count and the collateral damage. Drug addicts, pushers, and dealers as well as the deceased policemen deserve our prayers – Rest In Peace.