On becoming a dual citizen

Today I will rest from politics and economics and write on something very personal … tomorrow I become a dual citizen. No, I am not going to have a blue US passport like my friend Gary Olivar. My dual citizenship arises from being both a Filipino and a senior citizen. I am sending my application today for a senior citizen card to my barangay captain. 

Turning 60 is giving me a weird feeling. Where have the years gone? I still remember very clearly events in my life when I was just starting out in journalism in 1969 as if those were recent events. The violent student protest rallies I have covered couldn’t have happened 40 years ago. I still have the plaque ABS-CBN awarded me for “dedication to duty” by risking my life while covering the Liberal Party’s political rally in Plaza Miranda live on television even after it was bombed and bloodied bodies were falling near me.

In more tranquil times, I remember clearly the first night after we brought home our first born. Since my wife had a c-section, the task of taking care of the baby fell on me. I remember complaining why babies don’t come with instruction manuals. That baby is now a 29 year-old bank officer working in Singapore.

I read the newspapers today and I realize nothing much has changed. We are still fighting the same old tyrants (or their sons and daughters) and the same old social maladies. It is easy for those in my generation to feel that all those years have been such a waste. The country is worse off now than it was when we started our careers.

Last Thursday, I attended a luncheon of the Samahang Plaridel, a group of journalists who have met more than their fair share of deadlines and look it. All of a sudden I felt at home. I have been used to being the youngest among the reporters in the beats I have covered because I was just 19 when I became a journalist.

The luncheon was in honor of Kit Tatad, who was himself the youngest cabinet member ever at age 29. I covered the foreign affairs beat with Kit when Carlos P. Romulo was Foreign Secretary. And even if we don’t share a number of views particularly on population management, I will not only vote Kit Tatad for Senator but urge people to do so as well. I know the Senate would benefit from his intellectual discipline.

Passing this life threshold is going to mean significant changes in my daily routine. I am expecting the Lopezes to retire me as called for by company policy. I would have served them in a number of their companies (ABS-CBN, Manila Chronicle, SkyCable, Benpres, First Holdings, BayanTel and North Tollways), for over 20 years if the three years before martial law are counted.

Being a long time kapamilya notwithstanding, I don’t expect special treatment in this regard. They retired my good friend Freddie Garcia when he turned 60, and he was running ABS-CBN at that time and was probably the largest individual shareholder of the company.

Of course this policy of retiring people at 60 is somewhat antiquated in this age when life expectancy is hitting the 90s. It also works against companies who end up losing people with such wealth of experience. People in their 60s have already made their major mistakes at the expense of the company yet the retire-at-60 policy prevents the company from continuing to benefit from their investment on them through the years.

Sometimes, it even gets worse. I remember the case of Mekoy Quiogue who was retired by ABS-CBN when he turned 60 but didn’t tell him until some weeks later. Mekoy turned around and joined GMA 7 and led the rival network in a most spectacular challenge to ABS-CBN that saw Channel 2 giving up market leadership for the first time. Now, ratings claims aside, the industry is an effective duopoly where no one can really have the kind of dominance ABS-CBN once had.

Then again, there is wisdom in getting retired at 60. It gives you the chance to do a Chapter 2 or maybe a Chapter 3. It opens up a whole new horizon of possibilities you have been too busy to consider. How often do we say there are things we would love to do if only we didn’t have to earn a regular pay check?

Now is the time for that… provided you have made plans. There are those books you have always wanted to read. Or the classics you have always wanted to reread. Or even go back to grad school for the sheer joy of learning. Or maybe start accepting speaking invitations from Rotary and other clubs you didn’t use to have the time for.

When I told my good friend Resty Perez about my imminent retirement from the Lopez Group, his eyes lighted up. He saw it as an opportunity opening up for me to do things outside of my comfort zone. The market for your capabilities and experience is so vast, he enthused, even as I tried to tone him down by saying I am not sure I want to do more of the same things in this new chapter of my life.

Indeed, something in me just wants the simple joys that come with dual citizenship. With much of your life behind you, your focus moves on to the next generation. I am told that at this stage, one is to find great joys in grandchildren.

I am happy that I got an advanced birthday gift in this regard. My daughter just informed me that Joshua, my soon to be six year old grandson, tested at the top 2 per cent of schoolchildren his age in national diagnostic tests administered for gifted children by his school district in Orange County, California.

Additionally, my grandson’s kindergarten teacher, reacting to the test results, told my daughter that he is the only student she’s had in her 26 years of teaching who scored perfect in the initial assessments. She also said she gave him a state test last month and he also delivered a perfect score. But she warned that my grandson is still not performing to potential and has a tendency to slacken. I am afraid that unfortunate tendency is inherited from me.

In a way, I have fulfilled many of my own frustrations in my children’s accomplishments. My constant badgering of my children to excel is paying off. Who would have thought that this slacker from the middle class fringes of the Paco slums would have a son with the focus and drive to earn a graduate degree from the Cambridge Business School in the university’s 800^th year? What’s more, my daughter is transferring my high expectations on to her son.

It is comforting to know that even if you have underperformed, your children and grandchildren are making up for it.

But this slacker is finding out there is still so much to do. There are new fields to conquer just because you want to. Maybe I can open up a speechwriting business and offer my services to Manny Pangilinan. Maybe I can do something not too respectable like write a gossip column.

Or maybe do something more useful. You see all the uninformed comments on Facebook and you get a sense of mission to do your share to encourage informed citizenship. And because there is this hint of change after June 30 when Ate Glue hopefully takes her bow, you are able to keep your hopes high that it isn’t too late to make the world a little better just yet.

In the meantime, I am determined to enjoy the benefits of dual citizenship… I can’t wait to start taking advantage of the discounts on my regular doses of simvastatin and anti hypertensive drugs. I will no longer feel out of place when my friends whip out their senior citizen cards for restaurant discounts during our get-togethers. Too bad I don’t live in Makati or I would get a birthday cake too… or get to see movies for free any time I want.

So, to my friend Romy Bernardo… sane fiscal policy be damned. I want my senior citizen discounts.

Consultant

Marilyn Mana-ay Robles sent me this advice from Maxine, just in case I am thinking of becoming a consultant now.

It takes two things to be a consultant: gray hair and hemorrhoids.

The gray hair makes you look distinguished.

The hemorrhoids make you look concerned.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. This and some past columns can also be viewed at www.boochanco.com