Cycles of life

Life is a cycle. Joy and sorrow, pain and comfort, ups and downs, rains and sunshine, sickness and health -- all these things, just like the seasons of the year, come and go. For those bereft of material wealth, coping with the sorrow, pain, downs, rains and sickness in the cycles of life can be truly awesome, frightening and daunting. The tragedy is that most of the time, the poor fail to push themselves up again, in the ceaseless cycle of life.

Datsu Molintas of Baguio City, whose son Niño Joshua I wrote about many years ago, stirring many hearts and rallying fellowmen, most of whom were strangers, to lend a helping hand for Joshua's heart surgery, is going through another cycle of life that is heart-wrenching. Datsu's true-to-life story was so touching that a film producer, after I wrote about the mother and son, called up to ask if a movie could be produced about the rich girl-poor boy story.

As written in my book Walking Through the Pathways of Life, copies of which are available in all National Book Stores, Powerbook stores, and La Solidaridad Publishing House, Datsu's story is one that could make eyes well with tears. Rich girl from Negros meets poor boy from Baguio. Rich girl falls in love and marries poor boy. Rich girl is disinherited by her hacendero family. The couple goes through the harshest and cruelest times. They could hardly make both ends meet.

As the family struggles to survive, their only daughter dies. Their youngest son Joshua has a serious heart problem. Soon, the father dies after a heart attack. The mother also goes through medical treatment. Then, the mother is left alone to take care of three boys, the eldest of whom was not even a teenager. Her family does not even bother to send any help to the distraught mother.

The time came when the youngest son Joshua had to undergo heart surgery. Without any money, the mother had to practically beg from friends and strangers to lend a helping hand. Soon, my Good Samaritan Fund participated in saving the life of Joshua. The response of Christian-hearted people, from various parts of the country, was overwhelming. Joshua was able to have his heart surgery.

Recently, the mother was herself bedridden. And the only breadwinner is the eldest son, now a teenager, who works parttime in the Good Shepherd Convent, helping prepare strawberries for the nuns. In the meantime, not a single centavo has come from the mother's rich family in Negros. Yes, Datsu continues to be disinherited, all because she fell in love with a pony boy in Baguio City.

Here are some things that many people probably do not know:

* Can you name the world's only two "doubly-landlocked" countries? "Doubly-landlocked" means that not only are these countries landlocked, but so is every country that borders them. Answer: Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan.

* The planet Uranus was originally called George. The astronomer who discovered Uranus, Sir William Herschel, named it in honor of British King George III. Other astronomers preferred the name we use now: Uranus.

* The smallest primate is the Pygmy Mouse Lemur from Madagascar. It weighs only 30 grams and is about 20 centimeters long, tail included.

* Legendary Western outlaw Billy the Kid was born in New York City.

* In August 1914, this British explorer and his crew of 27 men set sail from England in an expedition across the frozen Antarctica. When the expedition's ship became trapped in ice and sank, this explorer and five companies set sail in a 23-ft. boat for South Georgia, in Southern Africa. Sixteen days later, they arrived in South Georgia, and several months later, they rescued the remainder of the expedition. Not a single member of the expedition was lost. Who was this remarkable explorer? His name is Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton.

As a way of thanking them for spending time to read and react to my opinion on various issues, let me allocate some space to their letters, excerpts of which are as follows:

ROY PLATON, Aurora Towers, Cubao, Quezon City: "The current hostage crisis involving the Abu Sayyaf is a recurring problem that has been going on for almost 10 years. This band of terrorists has committed so many atrocities and has done more damage to the image of the country than the NPA-MILF combined. What is ridiculous about the whole thing is that these acts of terrorism are being made by a very small band with only about 100 to 200 armed members. Furthermore, the identities of these terrorists are well known. How come the military and the police cannot wipe out this small band of terrorists?"

RODOLFO A. ARIZALA, Santiago, Chile: "How true, indeed, is your observation that 'there is no place like home' and I think that feeling is universal. For example, when Chilean poet laureate and Nobel Prize-Awardee in Literature Pablo Neruda ended his diplomatic career and learned he was going home, he said: 'I believe that the uprootment of humans is a frustration which somehow beclouds the purity of the soul. I could not live elsewhere except in my country; I could not live without placing my feet, hands and ears on her; without feeling the flowing of her waters and her shadows; without feeling how my roots seeks among the dirt the motherly sustenance of life.' And our very own noted writer, diplomat and educator S.P. Lopez, when asked why he returned to the Philippines, said: 'I decided to go home to savor the living reality of Manila and Tagaytay, Mayon and Apo, Dapitan and Agoo."

Dr. JEREMIAH REYES, 144-D E. Rodriguez Avenue, Concepcion, Marikina City: "I would like to encourage you to continue doing your share in lifting the morale of our countrymen and not listen to these people who hate President Estrada. They have nothing else better to do with their lives, but to look pessimistically at everything. I continue to pray to God that He will use the President and allow him to succeed."

Dr. ZEN UDANI: "Last March, President Estrada formed an anti-corruption team. I wonder what accomplishments it has done so far. Indeed, corruption of any kind is a grave injustice. A few enrich themselves immorally, while the rest -- the honest-to-goodness wage earners and salaried workers, the ordinary citizens -- suffer silently. I hope that Erap and his anti-corruption team will report regularly on milestones of their endeavors."

Engr. VINCENT ROMANO, Marlboro St., Fairview, Quezon City: "May I encourage you to continue writing about good developments in our country. It is a pleasure to reach such refreshing bits of information. Your column is a whiff of fresh air in the stale atmosphere of the opinion pages of newspapers. It is easy to rant and rave when one is in the sidelines. But we know that the gladiators who actually step into the arena, fight, get bloodied and knocked down, get up again to fight, who gets to taste defeat as well as victory, are the people who truly move this nation, not the doomsayers. Don't mind the hate mail you receive. Consider them as one of the blows you receive from those who sit in the sidelines but who know neither defeat nor victory."

N. NER, Irvine, California, USA: "Many of us from Mindanao who have known Rufus Rodriguez can attest to his being a man of honor and impeccable integrity. Our government should have more people like him. May his tribe increase and God bless him."

Art A. Borjal's e-mail address: <[email protected]>