Tribute to a Remarkable Woman

The celebration of National Women’s Month is almost over, but before the celebration closes, let me pay tribute to the most important woman I have been gifted with, my wife Minda. We have been married for almost sixty-years now, and these have been years that have made me personally witness how remarkable women can be. She has given birth to six children, all very different from each other in temperament and personality, but I have seen how she has given her whole heart to each one of them. She has made great sacrifices every step of the way, even sacrificing what could have been a lucrative career abroad as a nurse, because being a mother to our children has been more important to her than anything else. She has supported me in my political career in my most productive years, She has made great contributions to the institutions she served in her own professional life-this alongside bringing up our children and raising them with me, to embrace the right values and ideals in life. As all mothers are, she is our children’s “voice of conscience”. When my children in their young adulthood (and now our grandchildren) made choices from the simplest things such as the clothes they wear, the first question they would always ask is “Pasado ba ito kay Mommy/Lola?” Wherever she worked, she would always be the staunch advocate of what is right and what the standards of ethics called for. When she pursued law, she passed the bar exams amidst so many difficult circumstances, including the demise of her father. As a lawyer she has helped other women stand up for their rights.

My wife has shown me how remarkable women really are- how resilient, courageous, decisive, committed and self-giving they can be for the family. Women can be everything, to everyone, driven by such great love in their hearts. And this is the most beautiful gift of women to the world- love that surpasses all unimaginable challenges.

Happy Women’s Month to all women out there!

QUOTATION FOR THE WEEKl

“WOMEN ARE INHERENTLY BUILT WITH STRENGTH, PERSEVERANCE, AND CHARACTER.”

Coco Chanel

FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE:

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” .

Proverbs 31: 10