THE BETTY GO-BELMONTE WAY

A decade ago, on the 28th of January 1994, a wonderful and great lady who stood for everything that was good, passed away quietly and peacefully. She was Betty Go-Belmonte, my spiritual and political adviser, someone I respected and trusted absolutely, a friend till the end of her life, whose idealism inspires, even beyond her life on earth. For months I meditated on the fact that her passing happened on my birthday.

It was only about two years ago when I moved out of my old home and endeavored to classify my memorabilia that I came upon my "BGB File" (referring to Betty Go-Belmonte). She had written a letter to me during the days after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, when the gathering storm lay heavy on the Philippines. The letter had a quotation from Robert F. Kennedy whose brother, the late US President John F. Kennedy, was also struck down by an assassin’s bullet: "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope… and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

Not too long thereafter, the mightiest walls of oppression in our country were torn down through the People Power Revolution led by the widow of the slain senator, now a Philippine hero.

This business of nurturing the ideals Betty Belmonte so strongly stood for has certainly affected the lives of people she touched, and there were many. For she had a following of true admirers, people that held her in the highest regard. She was, in her own right, a great achiever, for it was she that founded The Philippine STAR, and left a legacy her family and friends will always be proud of. She had such great strength and could afford to give a part of that strength to people that needed it. She was a refuge during troubled times, someone who would whisper confidently, "Things will work out, you wait and see." I used to tell myself that Betty must have a secret line to the Lord, for indeed, with her solace and guidance, things always worked out.

Her love was constant, her kindness immense, her concern for a friend steady, so that even if she were not feeling well herself, she stood fine and strong to help you cope. I don’t think I have met anyone with the kind of selflessness I saw in her.

Not known to many was the fact the Betty Belmonte had been a valuable resource for me, during the years I was in government, of good political advice. Her political and social connections were manifold, but she never ever wore them on her sleeves. It was she who brought me to what became my first introduction to then General Fidel V. Ramos, when the going was rough somewhere and sometime in government. Between the two of them, the advice I got was invaluable.

She was politically astute without flaunting it. If she were around today, the ridiculous political environment will not faze Betty at all… She had the right analyses and the right answers.

Having grown up within the publishing world of the Go family’s Fookien Times, and having become the Founding Chairman of The Philippine STAR from 1986 until her passing in 1994, Betty was as politically informed as they come. And she never flaunted the prestige she had acquired all the years she lived.

But it was during People Power One that Betty taught me how to fight – to fight for your ideals with everything you have at your command. For she was tough, tough as anyone can be. We were out in the streets together denouncing martial rule, condemning the killing of Ninoy Aquino, one of our most admired heroes today.

Betty’s sense of humor was appealing. During those days when we were marching together, a newspaper columnist had written about two women, both hardly 5’1", taking turns standing on a foldable plastic chair just to be able to catch a glimpse of Cory Aquino delivering a speech. The press article mentioned that a very tall Jaime Zobel stood directly in front of them, so that there was no way we could see anything. What the article did not mention was the fact that Jaime, the gallant man that I’ve always known him to be, offered to give us his place so we could see better. But Betty suggested instead that he take turns carrying each one of us! That was Betty with the girlish giggle and laughter.

We both became members of the oldest sorority at the University of the Philippines. It was during those good old days when problems were nowhere, and all one had to do was get good grades at school that she spread her optimism and cheer all the time. And yet there was a quietness that surrounded her, that revealed deep inner peace. It was there, very definitely there, all the time. Even when she was angry, it was there. During our student days amidst the irritation of campus politics, she would say that the problem would be overcome. And we won every election we entered into. She was already a formidable political adviser at that time.

This business of nurturing the ideals Betty Go-Belmonte stood for has certainly affected the lives of people she touched, her family and friends. But it was her deep spirituality that enabled me to know what Our Lord was all about.

I now know why Betty left us 10 years ago, the 28th of January, my birthday. God Almighty delivered the message that I endeavor, no matter how difficult and impossible it is going to be, to be more like her, to live by her ideals all the time. This business of remembering her must lead to a great re-awakening within our hearts. She has, in utmost simplicity, set forth the ideals, which she never let go.

I remember still quite vividly what Betty Belmonte wrote a couple of decades ago, that "Ideals are like stars, you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them, you reach your destiny."

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