GENEROSITY IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY

BALER, Aurora, February 21, 2012-It is easy to fall in love with President Aquino not so much with his good looks for which he moderately possesses some. He is no Piolo Pascual who can send one Auroran lady swoon or shriek at his sight. Nor a John Lloyd Cruz who can send another girl’s heart flutters. What makes him ooze with sex appeal (in all sincerity) is his innate wisdom, his grasp of issues, his keen eye for details, his sharp, logical reasoning and his discernment of a class act when he sees one.

One cannot help but admire Mr. Aquino for lauding the Japanese government for donating the world-class Aurora Memorial Hospital even when Japan was being buffeted left and right with calamities. P-Noy hit the nail right on the head when he mentioned that it is easy for someone to give assistance to less fortunate people if he has a lot of moolah to spare. This is not to disparage the likes of Bill Gates and other high-profile philanthropists who have made a career of donating their own money for charity and for the betterment of the lot of others. But for one to donate quite a sizeable amount of resources to others when he himself is in dire need of such resources is a class act in itself, something which deserves the highest form of commendation that can be given.

Governor Angara-Castillo also said it is the ultimate tribute of Japan and JICA that they poured over P500 million in their own money to finance the hospital construction when the Japanese government could have opted to cancel the donation or defer its release, particularly since its own people need every single yen they could get for rehabilitation because of the massive earthquake and tsunami that swept through its shores. The effects of the twin calamities were no joke and one could see the trail of destruction it left in its wake in footages shown on television. The Japanese government had the option to pull out its aid to Aurora and Aurorans would readily understand. But the Japanese proceeded with the aid, as if telling Aurorans “we are true to our word and the show must go on.”

It’s like this: Japan is like a family member who has seen his sisters and brothers simultaneously drowning along with Aurora which is not even his next of kin. The natural reaction is to save your own household first. For after all, charity begins at home. Japan did not and in a rare display of goodwill to others, he saved a drowning Aurora at the expense of his own relatives. It went on with the aid for the benefit of Aurora at large.  

To say that such gesture is laudable and admirable is a gross understatement. We say it is the highest act of selflessness on the part of Japan. Never mind that several decades back, its soldiers earned notoriety for its war atrocities. But this is now all water under the bridge and this is dwelling on the past.

That singular act of generosity will ultimately bring blessings to this not-so-Christian nation.

To this we say “domo arigato.” (Jason de Asis)