Proud of Mom

Last Saturday, a 97-year-old graduate of the night high school class of 1937 of Far Eastern University, then known as the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance, received a long ovation from an admiring audience as she gingerly walked up the stage to accept her Distinguished Tamaraw Award from chairman Lourdes Montinola during the 85th founding anniversary celebration at the FEU Auditorium in Manila.

There were 78 nominees for the Outstanding and Distinguished Awards, noted Alumni Affairs director Martin Lopez. After careful scrutiny and several deliberations, the FEU Search and Screening Committee named 18 Outstanding and 18 Distinguished awardees – all of whom are role models who personify the school’s values of fortitude, excellence and uprightness.

By far, the night high school graduate was the oldest awardee. After Mrs. Montinola put the Distinguished Tamaraw medallion around her neck, she was led to her seat in the front row on stage. Later, she confessed in all humility, that she felt she didn’t belong in the same category as doctors, bankers, lawyers and educators. She never went to college because after graduating from high school in 1937, she worked full-time to pay for the education of her sisters.

Although she never earned a college degree, she fell back on her FEU background to manage her late husband’s special agency in insurance in 1986 when she was 70. In 1995, she received the Award of Excellence as a “million producer” from BPI-MS (Bank of the Philippine Islands-Mitsui Sumitomo) Insurance Corp. president Fidel Alfonso.   A year later, she was cited for meritorious service by BPI-MS Insurance Corp. president Manuel Bengson. In 2006, she was recognized for 20 years of “dedication as a business partner” by president Noriaki Hamanaka. And last year, she was toasted for 25 years of loyalty by president Takaaki Ueda. BPI-MS Insurance Corp. assistant director Evelyn Lomabas said she has served under four separate administrations and her work has been consistently cited. “She continues to be one of our leading special insurance agents and at her age, there is no one who equals her commitment to service, discipline and hard work,” said Lomabas. Today, at 97, she is a shining example of a self-sufficient senior citizen, still serving her insurance clients, reminding them of premium payment deadlines, collecting checks, delivering policies, expanding her volume and reporting to office.

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The third of seven children, she left her birthplace in Albay at the age of three to move to Manila with her parents. Her father Joaquin died at the age of 45 when she was only in Grade 3. With little to feed her children, her mother Virginia thought of giving her up when she was 10 but changed her mind at the last minute with the pick-up van of the Philippine Independent Children, an adoption agency, already parked outside their home. She relied on relatives to pay for her education and moved from home to home as she studied at Quiapo Elementary then Zurbaran Elementary and Sta. Ana Elementary School. 

A cousin Petrona Navarrete Crisol took her in and enrolled her as a freshman in high school at the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance on Rizal Avenue. A sister Rosario sacrificed her college education to work as a ticket seller at the Tivoli Theater in Sta. Cruz to pay for her tuition. The Institute moved to a two-storey building on Azcarraga, now Claro M. Recto, when she was a sophomore and she applied for a job as a working student. The Institute’s founder Dr. Nicanor Reyes Sr. put up a night school so she worked during the day, earning P35 a month, and studied in the evening. Then, she called her sister Rosario to apply for a job at the Institute library and before long, both sisters were employed in the school. Since they were earning salaries, the sisters could afford to rent a two-storey apartment on 1814 M. Natividad Street, near Rizal Avenue, for P18 a month and brought in their mother and two other sisters.

“Before renting the apartment, I lived near the City Pound and a factory that manufactured wooden toilet seats,” she recalled. “If not for FEU, I wouldn’t have been able to move to our own apartment with my mother and sisters. I’ll always have fond memories of FEU. When I worked at the office, I became acquainted with the sisters of Dr. Reyes’ wife Amparo Mendoza – Milagring who was a bookkeeper and Angelica who was a librarian. I also got to know Francisco and Generoso Reyes. I remember on Friday afternoons, Mrs. Reyes would come to the school with her children wearing St. Theresa’s College uniforms. One of the children was a pretty girl who was probably six or seven at that time. That girl is now Mrs. Montinola, the FEU chairman. We were in a two-storey building and on the ground floor was a coffee shop run by Mrs. Reyes’ sister who was married to a doctor. I will always be grateful to the Reyes family and FEU for giving me an education and an opportunity for employment.”

Less than a year after graduating from night high school, she accepted an offer of P40 a month to work as a secretary with Filipinas Compania de Seguros. Eventually, she met a dashing insurance executive Gregorio who worked in the same building as she did on Escolta. They were married in 1942.

One of those who vouched for her qualifications as a nominee for the Distinguished Tamaraw Award was former Secretary of Finance Roberto de Ocampo. She was chosen by FEU  â€œfor her dedicated service to the insurance industry and being a role model as a mother.” 

As Marina Meneses Henson was greeted by warm applause at the FEU Auditorium last Saturday, my heart swelled with pride and tears rolled down my cheeks. I am her youngest of four children, the only one living here as my brother and two sisters reside in the US. My sisters Vicki and Irene flew in from the US to attend the awarding ceremonies and they, too, were overcome with emotion. My brother Ramon, his wife Sandy and their children Philip and Emma came earlier but had to fly back to the US. My wife Menchu, daughter Cristina and son-in-law Mark were in the audience feeling so proud. 

From my mother, we, her children, learned to be honest, hard-working, loyal, and devoted to God. Her example also shows the way for her seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. With her Distinguished Tamaraw Award, she has extended her glow to the FEU community.