2015 was a surprise. With a newborn apo this year, I was not sure how my writing would be affected, as my husband and I became co-caregivers with her paternal grandma. My apo turned out to be my muse, as you, our loyal readers. The well-read articles reflected that our readers value good teachers, young beauty queens, gifted artists, young student leaders, highly skilled and multi-awarded chefs, and life lessons.
1. Imelda Cledera Rodriguez
Teaching with passion and purpose
“Who is the kid who needs me the most?” That question animates her teaching throughout the day and on Sunday afternoon, when she writes her lesson plan, she is thinking of the “deaf, old lady in the back of the classroom, who I need to reach.”
Each morning, she greets her potential scholar with a smile and a personalized good morning to each student, acknowledging who they are, by name. By recess, she reminds them to wash their hands and before they go home, she thanks them for a productive day.
In her class, she has identified 5 to 10 are critical synthesizers, who are smart but impatient. By teaching them the art of patience, she gets them to become effective teachers to the other students, “the gifted takes over the class in explaining the concepts they quickly learned.”
She makes everyone realize that she is noticing the good in the students and if a student is “calling out” a classmate, she reminds them that “he has feelings too” and the complainant whispers to her ears what he has done. Students then become more responsible and those who were formerly late an hour and a half, gets to class much earlier. Not only does she shape the attitude, she develops the skills for them to have a solid foundation of knowledge, with the parents very much aware of the students’ progress daily and weekly.
2. Juanne Elisha Aquino
From church cantor to beauty queen
Entering the pageant was supposed to be a summer activity, or Juanne would have simply enrolled back at Los Angeles Community College. “When I joined, I was intimidated by young women who have joined fashion shows, who were hapa (meaning half Filipino and half white), I was simply a dark-skinned, brown Pinay. I have not joined pageants, like others did and I have not joined public events like some had, though I had been in school plays,” she said.
With that first struggle, “my mom, Dindin reminded me that God gives everyone beauty. You cannot compare their beauty with you as God gives you your own unique kind of beauty.” For this writer, Dindin’s reminder was reminiscent of the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary who received individual flame over their heads on Pentecost Sunday, a metaphoric reminder that “each of us receives that gift which is most appropriate to us. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not generic. It is personal and intimate.”
The rest is history, as her beauty came through, her poise, her humility, her talent, her sweetness, she became the top scorer to be the Bb. Pilipinas-USA 2015 titleholder with several more titles: Bb. Philippine Airlines, Best in Evening Gown and Best in Talent.
3. Nilo Alcala
An emissary for music
An Asian Cultural Council grantee, Alcala is a recipient of a Billy Joel Fellowship at Syracuse University where he earned a master’s degree in music (majoring in composition) and received the Irene L. Crooker Music Award.
He recounted how sounds “came to him” for a composition called “Dancing Delusions.” “I got to a dead-end at 2 am. I slept then, woke up at 4 am from a dream with a full orchestration in my head: the flute, the violin, the marimba, the cello, the percussion, the whole chamber ensemble. I proceeded to notate the music on my software. I could sense that I should not take 100 percent credit for it. I believe that any creative product, any art form, any good thing comes from something or someone larger than the artist — a Divine source,” he said.
But, at Syracuse University, his professors taught him not to simply depend on inspiration. He was trained to be consistent and disciplined in the craft. “Our teachers trained us to have various compositional technique as tools, and to treat composing as we’re fishing. Not all days would be productive but we should just show up to work anyway, like a regular job,” he said, joking that he will treat himself to ice cream once his composition is completed.
4. Lean Alejandro
Remembering a short life well spent
He had many reflections, perhaps foreshadowing how he needed to make the most out of what turned out to be a very brief life. Lean died at the age of 27. He had grand stories to tell — stories of how he persuaded folks to change their perspectives, while organizing students and many others, to lift martial law, to restore democracy and human rights in the Philippines, during the Marcos’ dictatorship from 1972 to 1986.
And his story took us to the Lords of the Rings. He loved it so much that J. Uy of the Philippine Inquirer, Sept. 19, 2007 wrote: “ I (Lidy) introduced him to the ‘Lord of the Rings.’ But he didn’t tell his friends that he got it from me. Macho kasi,” said the feminist firebrand, (Lidy) chuckling at the memory of her husband, Lean.
Lean spoke in layered volumes, disclosing at times his dilemma, using the Lord of the Rings analogy: “Does the fellowship have what it takes to complete its task, or will the powers of evil overcome those of good leaving behind a world ravaged by the rage of Sauron, the Dark Lord?“
The Dark Lord of course, he was insinuating in the context of the Marcos dictatorship — a regime that instilled fear among Filipinos. Former President Marcos was known for unreasonably sending the opposition in prison, stifling the media, and taking ownership of key industries.
Lean was then aspiring to run for Congress, at a young age of 27. As a student leader, he attracted legions and inspired crowds. He got along with everyone — the poor, the middle-class and the wealthy elite. He was welcomed in the mansions of the rich, in churches, even in a humble slum dwelling. He inspired folks with simple words and with his abundant humor.
He had a knack for creating slogans spontaneously: “ The struggle for freedom is the next best thing to actually being free,” or “ In The line of fire is a place of honor.”
5. Hannah Ignacio
On looking for signs of love
Frances and 9-year-old Hannah both had pink colors on their clothes. Hannah sat closer, as if to seek comfort from her mom. “My mom is the best mom. She does a lot of cool stuff with me. She makes me warm breakfast – scrambled eggs with salsa, banana bread with butter, bacon, sometimes lots of fruits and vegetables. My favorite thing is homemade crepe. She has special fillings on the crepe –strawberries, nutella, and even a strawberry on the whipped cream. She drizzles the top with chocolate syrup. She does not make me sad, not a lot.”
Hannah’s eyes sparkle as she describes her mom, while Frances is noticeably touched, as she has just heard a glimpse of both Matthew John and Hannah share their loving feelings, with depth, “She encourages me a lot. When I am having trouble with homework, she helps me. Directions are hard to understand and mom helps me. You had to find a spelling word but the words weren’t really words, they were bunch of letters put together. I did not get that plainly as words, mom had to help me understand that [the] homework [is about] finding the words.” How many words did you find, I asked? “They were bunched up, but I found one word per spelling line, five to six words, one of them was a really long one, favorite.”
From that gifted cue, I asked if she was mom’s or dad’s favorite. “I am both. I am mom’s favorite.” How does that make you feel, and Hannah responds: “It feels good. It makes me happy to know I am her favorite and I feel her love.” What would you tell other children who do not feel their mom’s love, I asked? “Look for love signs, even though they do not feel their mom’s love, I am sure that their moms love and care for them, look for the signs.”
6. Romy Dorotan
Palates sing and give thanks
On Sept. 2015, Purple Yam was named one of Michelin’s Best 133 New York Restaurants for 2016. As if that was not enough, on Sept. 7 to 13, 2015, Purple Yam-Brooklyn’s chef, Romy Dorotan became a guest chef at De Karpendonkse Hoeve, a Michelin star restaurant in Netherlands, along with the upcoming chefs of Purple Yam – Malate. Both restaurants have innovative menus, using organically sourced produce, meats, fish, seafood, grains and heirloom rice.
On October 30, 2015, four Los Angeles-based artists, along with two friends from New Jersey, and a jewelry designer from Florida, were greeted warmly by Chef Romy Dorotan. We had no idea what our chef’s meal would be like. It was a journey of about 12 hours from Los Angeles to Brooklyn, traversing land, busy airports, airspace, and busy freeways. Famished, we were ready for our palates’ adventure into the wild unknown of organic produce, fresh meats, fresh seafood and a skillful chef imagining how our food should be, closer to the raw state of freshly harvested from Mother Earth.
It is a minimalist restaurant, decorated with split bamboo, superimposed on one another, forming a 3-D wall sculpture. The patio was equally simple, with grown bamboo and lights, giving one a feeling of being home. Chef Romy delighted our palates. From each course he served, the smells, the array of colors and the out-of-this-world flavors took us to a palate satiation summit. One of our favorites was the Cordillera Mountain wild rice, fried with garlic and bagoong. Another was the sea bass sinigang with fresh guavas, pechay, radish, fresh tomatoes, and the artsy flavorful salad of pomegranate seeds, suha, ampalaya, sorrel leaves and radicchio, topped with a light dressing.
Happy New Year to you all! I cherish you, our readers — you are the very reasons I write and here’s to you for a robust, prosperous 2016! More water to our reservoirs, prosperity, good health and goodwill to all!
* * *
Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.” She has been writing for Asian Journal Press for 8 years now. She contributes to Balikbayan Magazine. Her training and experiences are in the field of science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong. She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium and Mexico and 22 national parks in the US, in pursuit of her love for arts.