Lighting candles in Mindanao

I am always impressed and inspired whenever I hear Ambassador Alfonso T. Yuchengco, our Permanent Representative to the United Nations, talk about the need for everyone – both from the public and private sectors – to help develop Mindanao. No, Ambassador Yuchengco does not have in mind the total comprehensive development of what has been dubbed as our neglected land of promise. What he has in mind is to help individual Filipinos from Mindanao, especially those who come from Muslim regions, improve their lives – by giving them the chance to get an education, or by providing them opportunities for livelihood.

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After last Tuesday’s (January 15) meeting of the Board of Trustees of AY Foundation, the social arm of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, Ambassador Yuchengco again expressed the need to uplift the lives of the poor people from Mindanao. "This, in the end, will be one effective way of resolving the age-old conflicts in Mindanao," he said. And he told me of his yearning to help as many Muslim Filipinos get an education in their schools of choice in the region.

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"To light as many candles as possible" – that is Ambassador Yuchengco’s dream for Mindanao and the Filipino Muslims. And this can be done, so long as countless Filipinos take heed and listen to the wise counsel of Ambassador Yuchengco.

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If one takes a close look at the projects of the AY Foundation, one easily notices a major thrust: To instill national discipline in our country and to inspire nationalistic-minded Filipinos to continue doing their share in nation-building. Apparently, this is an almost always recurring dream of Ambassador Yuchengco: To see his country and people move forward by imbibing the values that make nations grow and prosper.

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Let me cite the trustees whom Ambassador Yuchengco had personally handpicked to help him implement the socially-oriented projects of AY Foundation: former Senate President Jovito Salonga, Senator Juan Flavier, former Prime Minister Cesar Virata, former Trade and Industry Secretary Rizalino Navarro, Bro. Rolando Dizon, Ms. Lourdes Montinola, Sr. Christine Tan, Msgr. Francisco Tantoco, Ms. Susanne Y. Santos, Mr. Alfonso S. Yuchengco III, Ms. Yvonne Yuchengco, Ms. Anabelle S. Yuchengco, Ms. Michele D. Santos, and Arturo A. Borjal.

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Mark Japheth Fernandez of the Benigno Aquino High School in Makati City is just 15 years old. Yet, even at such a young age, he feels the ugly impact of the turmoil and chaos happening both here and abroad. "Because of what is happening today, I have mixed emotions. Oftentimes, I’m perplexed," he said.

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Mark observes that the constant cry of the country’s leaders is "peace" but they seem not to really mean it. For why are innocent lives killed, and why is there so much squabbling and quarreling? "I’m just a youth, caught between boyhood and adulthood. I want to be carefree but I am also very eager to accept responsibility," he said. "The peace that the world has taken away from me has slowed down my life. With peace, I could have reached my goal in a shorter time. But now, the road to prosperity seems long and narrow."

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"Peace, peace, how I love to proclaim it! But how? Should I therefore confine myself and create my own world to gain peace? Or should I go out into the streets and make alliance and add force with those who advocate peace?," Mark asked.

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As a young man, he seeks the advice of the old and the wise. He appeals for guidelines on how to live normally in this chaotic world and gain this very elusive peace within himself. "Kindly help us go on with our lives without being sidetracked.," he pleaded.

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TG Limcaoco, the current President of The Rotary Club of Makati West, an organization that has over 150 business leaders from Makati as members, has a very inspiring offer to the Good Samaritan Foundation. Recently, through the efforts of one of its members, PDG Guiller Tumangan, the Makati Rotarians were able to acquire a good number of wheelchairs from the Wheelchair Foundation in the United States. And TG and his colleagues are now busy distributing these wheelchairs to those in need through the initiative of Rotary District Gov. Ernie Salas and through the efforts of the other Presidents of the Rotary Clubs.

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President Limcaoco is offering some 20 wheelchairs to the beneficiaries of the Good Samaritan Foundation. And the wheelchairs, he said, will be distributed sometime before Valentine’s Day. Thanks a million, and my staff assistant Alex Dinoy (Tel. Nos. 716-1399 and 716-1499) is going to coordinate with Mr. Limcaoco on this matter.

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Charity Ampil-Dy of Quezon City recently invited three guests for lunch last January 10 at South Villa in Annapolis St., Greenhills. When one of her guests, Purita Festin, sliced her pork siomai, an entire cockroach was found inside the food item. Naturally, Ms. Dy and her guests were enraged and asked to talk to the restaurant manager.

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It took time before the manager, a certain Oscar Lu, approached the table. When he was shown the cockroach, he showed neither sympathy nor concern. He merely took the plate and left, without even offering any apology. Then, with sarcasm in his voice, Lu told the waiters to change the food.

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Ms. Dy and her guests were so disappointed they decided to walk out of the restaurant. As they left, manager Lu did not even show any reaction. "Is this the way a first- class restaurant should treat customers who were given health-hazardous food?," Charity said in her letter to me.

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Thoughts For Today:

God’s love is like a candle in the dark.
No matter how gloomy your world may be,
just one little light of His love
is enough to bring warmth and light.

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Many people will walk in and out of your life,
but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

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My e-mail addresses: [email protected] and [email protected]