The Davide patriarch must be smiling
HILARIO Davide Sr. and Josefa Gelbolingo had seven children. All of them became professionals; two won the Ramon Magsaysay Awards. To give the reader an idea of how prestigious the award is, let me quote the Manila Bulletin editorial on August 30:
“The Ramon Magsaysay Award, established in 1957 by the Philippine Government and Rockefeller Brothers Fund of New York, United States of America to perpetuate the memory and legacy of President Magsaysay, is given annually to persons or organizations in Asia who manifest the same sense of selfless service that ruled the life of the beloved Filipino leader.
“The RMAF awards Asian organizations and individuals, regardless of race, for achieving excellence in their respective fields, addressing issues of human development in Asia, and contributing to transforming societies for the better.”
The awards are given in six categories: Government Service, Public Service, Community Leadership, Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts, Peace and International Understanding, and Emergent Leadership.”
The Bulletin revealed that the RMAF has recognized 18 organizations and 270 individuals since 1957. At least three of these individual awardees are Cebuanos. Two of them
are children of Hilario Sr. and Josefa.
Dr. Romulo Davide, who is referred to by colleagues in science and the academe as the “Father of Plant Nematology,” received his award the other night at the Philippine International Convention Center from President Aquino, ten years after his youngest brother, former chief justice Hilario Jr. got his own recognition in the field of Public Service. (The other Cebuano awardee, lawyer Tony Oposa, was honored for his advocacy on the environment in 2009.)
To have a member of the family bestowed the Asian equivalent of the Nobel peace prize is already a great honor. But two? The Davide patriarch, who died at the age of 101 a few years ago, must be beaming with pride from up there. That’s the most that he would have done if he were alive. That is why you have not seen the Da- vides buy tens of newspaper pages for self-congratulatory advertisements.
Humility comes naturally with them. That’s the way they’ve been raised.
*** Last week, I wrote here that although Liberal Party president Mar Roxas has kept the door slightly open to his being named Interior and Local Government secretary, it was unlikely that he would leave the Department of Transportation and Communications to try to fill the late secretary Jesse Robredo’s shoes.
It seems that Roxas’s loyalty to President Aquino won over his initial trepidations about not being able to do justice to Robredo’s legacy in the DILG. Or maybe, as the opposition has charged, he is just positioning himself for the 2016 elections when he is expected to run for president.
First of all, you can’t blame Aquino for placing the DILG in the hands of someone in whom he has absolute trust, given the fact that the department has control over the police and the local governments.
Roxas’ appointment can only bring something good to the nation. He knows that he has a lot to prove at the DILG (he said he had big tsinelas to fill) and the challenge should be able to bring the best out of him. And if he has an eye to the presidency in 2016, what better way to sell himself to the electorate than by being the best DILG secretary ever?