Angel Thoughts
If you are neutral in situations of justice, then you are on the side of the oppressor.
– Desmond Tutu
President Noy was warmly welcomed in Paris this week. This brings back nostalgic memories of his mother’s official visit there during the bicentennial celebration of France as a republic in 1989. President Cory was the darling of the international media – the icon of democracy who overthrew a ruthless dictator through the peaceful People Power Revolution. Her son was welcomed in the city of love and liberte’ by the French president who saw the historic visit as a continuation of the Philippines’ and France’s good relationship. Vive le France!
Back home, I am awed by the faith of Gonzalo Co It, a law-abiding, God-fearing businessman, who at 92, should be enjoying the fruits of his hard labor and marketing skills. His eight children are all grown up and have businesses of their own, also his 18 grandchildren, most of whom followed their lolo’s entrepreneurial footsteps. There are eleven great grandchildren all devoted to their always smiling, generous and loving grandfather.
A gentleman of the old school, a Marian devotee (he still joins Legion of Mary activities) and proud alumnus of De La Salle College, he proudly writes in long hand with that distinct La Sallian penmanship. His eyesight is still sharp, and is a voracious reader of newspapers, magazines, and books. Occasionally, he plays mahjong with friends and family and beats them at it, too.
He likes going to malls with his family and enjoys eating out every Saturday after the anticipated mass. In the evenings, he prays the rosary and is particularly devoted to St. Padre Pio. He is an active Rotarian and Knights of Columbus and surprise, surprise, goes regularly to the gym!
Unfortunately, Gonzalo is now saddled with a sad battle not of his own making; fighting for what is legally and morally his – the company he founded and the products he painstakingly marketed.
He founded Gonzalo Laboratories which produces Green Cross Alcohol and Zonrox. He marketed them himself, introducing them to retailers and end-users. He registered the company and the brands and left his younger siblings, which he treated with love and trust, to run the administrative side of the business.
Years later, to his dismay, he discovered that his siblings had fraudulently robbed him of his own company through clever forgery of stock certificates as was found in a Department of Justice’s official investigation. A dutiful citizen, who is proud of his contributions to the country’s economy, he has sought legal remedies from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) only to be met by blatant biases for his brothers and sisters. It disgusts me, too. I can only pray that the officials’ eyes at IPO and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be opened. Attention to IPO director Ric Blancaflor and DTI secretary Greg Domingo!
These days Gonzalo goes about his daily routine, still cheerfully keeping his engagements and thoughts in a little red book. I found his autobiography a pleasant and fascinating reading, like sitting with a grandfather recounting his life and relearning good, old-fashioned values: love of God, integrity, trust, respect, humility, and kindness.
His quest for justice, I hope has a happy ending!
Now, let me wish my BFFs Edna Macapinlac Corrales, Inquirer’s Letty Magsanoc, and Thelma San Juan, Beth Sison Tagle, Alice De la Cruz, and Milen de Quiros belated “happy birthday.” Their friends fathered at XO:46 Bistro for excellent Filipino cuisine and lots of happy talk!
