Thank you, Lord! Climbing The Tough Mountains Of Life!

Today, I turn a year older and just as in my previous birth anniversaries, this would be another working day.

Birthdays were never extraordinary occasions for me and my brothers when we were growing up.

There were no birthday cakes or candles to be blown.

There were no parties even.

This was so because with 11 sons in the family whose parents were both public school teachers, celebrating every birthday with lavish preparations would have been a strain on the hand-to-mouth existence of the family.

So, we all woke up to our birthdays every year with each of the brothers and our parents wishing us “happy birthday.”

We said our prayer of thanks, took a bath, shared native manok with “ubad” and mongo and everything else became usual and ordinary.

When I was Governor of North Cotabato for nine years, I prevented employees in the provincial capitol from feting me with the traditional “Mañanita” where they serenade you at 4 a.m.

Actually, a very simple question which I posed when they first planned to serenade me, stopped them.

“Would you still serenade me even when I would no longer be your Governor?” I asked.

They knew that I knew the answer.

Nobody attempted to serenade me after that.

Never during the nine years I was Governor.

Instead of lavish celebrations, the provincial government sponsored the “Pasko Alay sa mga Bata” where 100 poor children from each of the 18 local government units were given gifts which included slippers, t-shirts, toothbrush and toys.

Our upbringing and the difficult life we had been through made us tough.

We literally crawled up from the bottom of life when we only had one pair of “maong” or denims to wear in college to where we are now.

The odds had always been high but somehow we prevailed.

Today, at age 68, I am making what could be my toughest mountain climb – a run for a seat in the Senate.

As in my previous challenges, this is daunting as I am up against moneyed and popular personalities in politics.

Wala akong kaba sa laban na ito maski wala akong pera.

Kung magtatagumpay ako, sigurado ako panalo ang buong bansa sa programa ko na Pagkain at Trabaho.

If I don’t make it, ako lang naman ang matatalo but I would not even call it defeat.

It would simply be a redirection in my life which would bring me back to the place where I started, the bottom of the Valley of Life where the grass is green, the air is fresh and life will be quiet in the warm embrace of my loved ones, especially my grandchildren.

Thank you everyone for remembering me on my birthday!

#ThankGodForTheNewDay!