So I learned from dad to live my life to the fullest, to not worry about what others expect, or want of me, to pursue my own dreams based on MY own pace, MY own strategy, MY own desires.ĭad never stifled me even with 55-year age gap, he understood that I was my own woman, and that the way to nurture me was to let me be. True enough, when the results came out, dad only said, O, anong sabi ko sayo?, with a hearty chuckle. This was when I interjected, so daddy, happy ka na rin kung mababa lang grade ko, basta pasado? He just smiled at me and said, Oo naman, pero malabo yun anak.That simple statement from dad eased all the pressures of bar review, and from that day, I did not fret anymore about whether I would top or merely pass. So when he passed the Bar with a barely passing grade, he was already so happy. During his day, he had more time for fun than serious study. He said that he did not study much in law school. When I was reviewing for the Bar, dad shared with me a story. He taught me to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. He did not see titles, accolades and a successful career as those that defined a person, that defined me. In other words, he did not quantify nor measure my success and judge me more special as a daughter, as a person. He was more interested in what I thought/felt about topping the Bar, whether this particular success was, in MY estimation, a truly happy moment. Dad was just there in the background, happy that I was happy. He wasn't one to call up his friends and brag about my achievements. Nevertheless, I never felt that he wasn't proud of me quite the opposite in fact. When Dad found out that I performed especially well in law school, he was happy, but not as outwardly happy as one would expect a dad to be. Dad never really put a premium to these things. I got awards, honors, and the like, on a regular basis. You see, I have always been a good student. But it was a principle that he applied when raising me. The second of dad's lessons he never really voiced out loud. LaLoma is where I will always feel at home. Rodriguez High School, Malaya Street, the smells, the sounds, New Year's fireworks. I never forgot Aling Josie and Mang Frank, Aling Laura and Mang Arlie and my playmates Jennifer and Michael, Mang Nestor and his boys, the tennis court, the firehouse, the police station, E. #ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND ONLINE HOW TO#Even when we moved to our own house inside a gated community and long after I had my own car, I never forgot LaLoma, how to commute, how to eat binatog, isaw, scramble and fishballs. I had no illusions that I was any different from them, because dad showed me that they were my peers. Kids who dreamt only of living a decent life, kids who lived for the day, never for the next. So that even as I went to an exclusive girls' school during the day, my playmates were kids who went to public schools, or didn't go to school at all. That we were right smack in the middle of it for 14 years of my young life made me understand intimately the plight of the less privileged. Understand that LaLoma, where I grew up, was a place where more people were poor than rich. He loved being with them, talking to them about mundane things, important things. No, dad was more interested in talking about my day, and at night, when the world was about to sleep, dad liked to hang out with neighbors, men who had no college degrees, who waited on tables at a nearby fastfood joint, who were part-time firefighters, policemen, market vendors. He never told me these things-his exploits in Jordan, the cases he won, the many awards he received, the exotic places he has been to. Yet all these I knew only from his friends. He also became President of the Pangasinan Chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, and later on, Governor for IBP's Central Luzon Chapter. Dad was a big lawyer in the province, was one of the first to be elected as City Councilor of Dagupan City, and went on to be founder of Basic Petroleum and Minerals, Inc. The first of dad's teachings, I witnessed from him first hand. My dad taught me two important things in life that I live by to this day-(1) to treat every single person I meet as an equal, and (2) to live my life in accordance with my own, as opposed to others', standards. From that day onwards, I resolved that I wanted to be exactly like dad, a lawyer. I was just this curious observer of the entire exchange when dad called me aside, lightly touched my cheek and said: Anak, it's a beautiful day. I was about to go inside the house when I saw two of my dad's clients walk out the front door, my dad following behind them, dad holding a basketful of vegetables and two live chickens. I was about nine years old, we were then living in an apartment in LaLoma, and I just finished my regular afternoon play outside. One of the earliest memories I have of my dad is easily the fondest.
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