SOME BLASTS IN THE PAST

SOME BLASTS IN THE PAST

By BERTENI "TOTO" CATALUÑA CAUSING

Aug. 28, 2012, at our ancestral house

August 28, 2012 was a great moment with my Mommy and Daddy with sister Lyndale and Marianita Jr. and niece Bambina at our ancestral house.

I documented that moment with a photo taken by sister-like Chona Magsombol at 9:00 a.m. at a receiving area of our house in Koronadal City. The photo was taken shortly before I left for General Santos City to attend to my client planted with a grenade during the execution of a search warrant that states no address.  (Just imagine how can a search be done if the search warrant does not state the place to be searched.)

Before I worked for the client, I savored to the best I can the time with my father who is a frustrated engineer for he completed only high school by reason of poverty and my mother who has been a public school teacher all her life except for ten (10) years that she served as a councilor of the then municipality of Koronadal.

I remember my father and mother campaigning hard for her councilor bid.  He, our close relatives and I as a kid distributed 2-inch-by-4-inch bond paper cutouts as campaign flyers while my mother delivered her speeches or talking to barangay folk. On those leaflets were printed by a rubber stamp, "IT'S THE REAL THING, VOTE CAUSING."

My mother won as an independent candidate when the heavyweights were with two parties only: Liberal and Nacionalista, drawing votes from the people who mesmerized by the beauty she delivered speeches, from our relatives and their kumares and kumpadres, and from people she taught at the then Koronadal National High School  (Now, Koronadal National Comprehensive High School). DURING THOSE TIMES, HARDLY ONE CAN HEAR BUYING OF VOTES.

I remember my mother was being egged on for projects. She was the decision-maker on whom to award school building projects being the chairman of the School Board, the committee given to her in respect to her being one of the outstanding teachers prior to her election.

We could have completed our house my father literally started slowly, hollow block by hollow block, after retiring an elevated bamboo house he built on bayanihan spirit with friends and relatives.

My mother did not play favorites among contractors, so she earned nothing. Until they saw their kids already earning as professionals, the house remained uncompleted.

I could have not completed my civil engineering degree were it not for my full scholarship at Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City because my father and mother were poor as rats.  From there, I worked hard to earn money and reputation. Then I thought of studying law at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) also as a scholar and I completed the same and passed the Bar exams in the same year of 2005.

I value so much the values of my dad and mom and these are my bible as I serve my clients.