A Piece of Paper

He never complains and talks even less. He’s industrious to a T and is well off by ordinary people’s standards. Yet, he’s not the type to wallow in the extemporaneous showmanship of one’s material accomplishments.

Forever humble, he goes through the motions in life as if he is on a divine mission — to an end only very few people can see.

It is rare to encounter such a person, but I did again, and I plan to hang around and learn more from him. In this world full of braggadocios and trying-hard hangers-on, it is like finding a gem that will last you a lifetime.

In my almost five decades of existence, I have had my fair share of friends. They have come and gone. Some have died along the way, and some have simply disappeared in the course of time—the consequences of aging, the sign of the times, or simply, the call of destiny.

True friendships are rare because they are matches made in heaven — a total ‘synching’ of two people’s mindsets and spirits. But to discover them requires a bit of patience.

They are not mere acquaintances that we had come to like in a short period of time. They are good starts, though, and could lead to one of those people we had tried so hard to look for in this complex jungle called life.

Over the course of one’s lifetime, I’m sure that one’s list of friends will have gone down from a volume to a single sheet of paper. Keep it and fold it close to your heart.

The memories you have shared with these people are enough to keep you aglow and lift your spirits as you amble along in the twilight times of your life.

I Remember June (And the Glorious Years of the PNB)

Philippine National Bank logoAfter the May festivities, it’s time to put things into their proper perspectives once more. The summer parties are over for the students, and it is time to troop into the classrooms again.  For the fresh grads, it’s time to push those resumes into the fax machines or attach them to e-mails and hope for the best.  The Philippine economy may not be rosy, but it can only get better from here (we hope so). The only difference between Manila and the rest of the third-world countries is the former’s penchant for being in this situation more often.

June will also be remembered as the month in which the Philippine National Bank‘s (PNB) shares were first listed at the then-dual exchanges of Makati and Manila in 1989.

This was made possible because of Edgardo Espiritu‘s leadership. His moral integrity and high ethical standards should be an example to our current crop of government officials. He quit as the Finance Minister during the Estrada administration and pursued his interest in running private corporations. The reason was obvious.

Over at the PSE, investors are digging their trenches and are preparing to be in for the long haul.  The trend had been established, and the administration was offering no clear signs of relief.  Short-term rallies will offer a “quick fix” for those who jumped the latest in this pain-bringing, if not perplexing, stock market.  But many ‘long-termers’ who were blindsided by the sudden reversal of fortune in the early going of the forgettable Estrada administration – and which had remained in the doldrums during the equally anemic Arroyo transition period/administration – could either bottom-fish or average down at their comfort levels.

In June, many of these prominent and honorable businessmen, politicians, and stock investors will be seen in churches and other religious edifices attending weddings and shelling out huge amounts either out of necessity, love for social gatherings, conceit, or to perpetuate the Filipinos’ bent for the padrino system.’

We can only guess what litanies will be heard during the ceremonies. We could also wish that in their prayers, they would fervently ask for the country’s economic salvation and not simply to recover—and then some—their political investments, or the country may ultimately be the most rotten one among the banana republics.

May the June wedding bells toll on the country’s economic recovery. Hang tough, Philippines!

—link:

www.pnb.com.ph