By Manny Pinol
For two days this weekend, I had the opportunity to be with my son in the farm and spent with him moments which I believe both he and I will remember for as long as we live.
“When you had your crush, did you tell her so?,” Imman, now 11, asked me over breakfast yesterday.
That left me laughing and I told him: “Of course, how would she know if you don’t tell her.”
The lessons in life that I shared with my son were not only about human relations but also about the values that I have embraced all my life.
“Honesty will make you a better person,” I told Imman as we discussed the issues surrounding the M’lang Airport where my political detractors have accused me of owning one half of the area and of pocketing a huge sum from the P450-M alleged “ATO Fund.”
“Believe me son, Papa does not own the airport and the P450-M they are talking about is actually a big hoax because there is no such money at all,” I assured my son.
“If what they are saying is true, then we would be very rich by now and we do not have to raise Manok PiNoy to make some money in the farm,” I told him as we both had a good laugh.
Former vice governor Jose Tuburan, Cong. Jose Tejada and former mayor Luigi Cuerpo may have failed to realize that when they accuse me of wrongdoing, my son and two daughters who idolize me will ask questions.
Yesterday, I assured my son that the charges that I own one half of the airport area and that I allegedly kept P450-M in ATO funds intended for the land owners are lies.
Then I proceeded to teach him another great lesson in life: Never bear false witness against your fellow human being.
While Imman is a gentle boy who has never picked a fight in school or with his cousins, I told him that he has to be tough as he grows up and that he should learn how to stand up and fight to protect his honor and dignity.
This is what I will show my son when I will initiate the filing of libel charges against those who have maligned me as a person and who, at least for a moment when my son asked me the question “Do we really own the airport Papa?”, led Imman to doubt the integrity of his father.
It is not an easy lesson to teach since I have to go through the pain and the anguish of being falsely accused to be able to show my son how to stand up and fight for what is right and just.
These are the important lessons in life that Imman will learn not in school but in the open classroom of life.
(Photo caption: This photo shows me pointing out to my son, Imman, the trunk of Longkong Lanzones being attacked by red ants and worms. I taught him how to scrape the trunk and apply Malathion. Photo by Joey Razonable)
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