By Farah G. Decano

 

I have always been amused by the celebration of Women’s Month which coincides with Fire Prevention every March.  What is it with fire and women?

This does not require any research on my part because I wake up to a living fireball since birth – my beloved Mama.  She is not the “twinkle, twinkle little star” type that passively decorates the night sky with borrowed light from the sun.  Instead, she is an emblazed comet that cannot stay put and leaves the atmosphere with a trace of embers in a fast clip.  Depending on the level of understanding of the people she meets along the way, she is one who can either scar or motivate them to greatness.

Those who appreciate and speak kindly of her extol excellence or are known for their intellectual prowess.  They are her former bosses from the Supreme Court like Chief Justices Hilario David Jr. and Reynato Puno; Associate Justice Flerida Ruth Romero; and her former students from the UST Graduate School of Law, University of Pangasinan and PanPacific University Colleges of Law.

As to how my father managed a spitfire like my mom is not beyond me.  He was just an epitome of coolness with great humor enough to distract her razor-sharp focus from her goals.

Let me return again to my amusement on why women’s month is celebrated alongside the fire prevention month.  How symbolic it is.

We have always equated fire with passion.   And most women, when they love, are on fire.  They love their partners, their children and their object of affection so greatly even to the point of self-annihilation.  They love until it hurts.  Their affection inflames their being to the point of perdition.

Thus, we need to prevent this destructive fire from engulfing our women.  We need to remind our women to love themselves.  And we need to tell them that it is not selfish for them to value themselves, too.  After all, we do not want to see our women with their self-worth in a state of combustion.

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That some TV networks call presidential fora as debates is a misnomer.  We did not see any protagonists and antagonists as regards certain issues.  There was not even a period for rebuttal.  I understand the recent disappointment of the viewers.  They wanted to watch a battle.  They wanted the truth to be dug out by fellow candidates. 

 I suddenly miss the one-on-one confrontation between then Senator Alan Cayetano and then Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2016 when both were gunning for the Vice-Presidency.  The former fired his shots rapidly regarding the hidden wealth of his opponent’s family that the latter remained stupefied and could not help but display his irritation.

Many surmised that this was the reason for the absence of Marcos Jr. in the succeeding vice-presidential debates.  His absence continues even to this very day.  We hope that Marcos Jr. will change his strategy and will bravely face issues.  To run under a platform based on a social media image projecting him as a beacon of unity may not be enough to win the presidency. 

 A country is not simply run by platitudes of unity.  It is not simply ruled by kissing the hands of elderlies and babies looking like a Korean boy-next-door.  The Philippines can not be administered under a false image created by public relations experts or vloggers.

A country is governed initially by exhibiting leadership.  And an indicator of leadership, according to Vice President Leni Robredo, is showing up in the most difficult times.     

Along with VP Robredo, I also admire the seeming uneducated Senator Manny Pacquaio for attending the various presidential fora.  He brags no wealth to support his early education, much less a foreign education.  Through his own determination, he inched his way to college without relying on his father’s wealth.  He definitely had a handicap during the fora.  Yet, he fearlessly showed up.  Indeed, an element of leadership is courage and the touted frontrunner in the surveys needs to show more of this.

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