Yesterday the world celebrated Fathers’ Day.

My own father passed away on November 22, 1963. He was not a national figure or a prominent personality. He was a school teacher. He was known only in my hometown, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, and in Dumaguete City. Still, hundreds of former students still remember him —the lessons he taught, his sharp wit, and his towering intellect.

My father wielded the strongest influence in my life. He was my teacher in high school.

Papa was adept at languages. He was one of two people in our town who spoke Spanish fluently. His good friend, Mr. Javier would visit him and they would spend the whole day chatting in Spanish. He spoke and wrote in English, having been tutored in Silliman University. He could shift from Tagalog to Cebuano and then to Ilonggo with ease.

Papa was a wide reader. I was nine years old when I started reading his collection of books, including “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Dumas. My favorite among the Harvard classics was the “Arabian Nights” in the original translation by Sir Richard Burton (not the actor). He also infected me with his love for music.

We were very poor but I was not bothered by it. We did not own a single flower pot of land in a town where respectability is measured by the amount of land one owns. As an intellectual, Papa had very high status in our community.

Papa taught that there are three kinds of people in the world. The first kind are those who do important and necessary things without being told. The second kind of people are those who act after being told once or twice. The third kind of people, he said, are those who don’t do anything even if they are asked countless times. This lesson probably helps explain why I feel the strong compulsion to act when there are things which have to be done, even at great risk.

When I was an official in government, a “go-between” for a big contractor asked me to whisper to the president about a huge project. I was assured that I would be compensated. When I refused, the contractor could not understand why a poor official would refuse the opportunity to become wealthy. The “go-between” explained, “she is only the daughter of a school teacher.”

Forty-six years have passed since my father died. His words still ring clear and true in my heart.

 Rigodon de honor

During the Independence Day rites, the president revived the practice of dancing the Rigodon de Honor, a stately dance traditionally performed by the highest officials of the land, titans of business and industry, leading society figures, and carefully chosen celebrities.

As a child, I loved watching the rigodon danced during our town fiesta by the crèam of provincial society. No public event of any significance was complete without the rigodon. It was considered a badge of honor to be invited to join the dance.

It is a dance of the rich, famous, powerful and the beautiful. It is enjoyable to watch impeccably tailored gentlemen and ladies in their dazzling ternos as they change places, get new partners and move through the intricacies of the dance.

Rigodon de horror

Another rigodon is also taking place in Malacañang—the kind which can only elicit gasps of “que horror!” Recently, the Secretary of Justice was “kicked” upstairs and given the imposing but empty title of Presidential Legal Adviser. The last time I counted the presidential advisers and assistants, there were more than fifty of them.

The public can expect more rigodons of top officials as cabinet members prepare to run for elective positions. It is said that Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap is running for a congressional seat in Bohol. Rumor has it that DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus will run for the Senate, hence, all those tarpaulins announcing the building of 64,000 new classrooms. Of course, the Vice-President is expected to run for the presidency. Defense Secretary Teodoro has articulated a similar ambition.

Everywhere, governors want to be congressmen; congressmen want to be city mayors, and barangay captains want to be councilors. Wives and mistresses want to replace husbands and lovers as the election fever heats up.

The latest news which has everyone screaming in horror is the possibility that the President will seek a seat in Congress. People are urging Randy David, who happens to be in the same district as the President, to run against her.

The president running for Congress? This is the ultimate horror story. Truly, a rigodon de horror of epic proportions!