I always get this lecture around this time of year, from my own mother: we are celebrating the wrong mother’s day. This article by Narda Camacho explains why. The traditional Filipino mother’s day from 1921 to 1986 was on the first Monday of December (that’s when I have to remember to greet my mother a happy mother’s day).
I once asked my mother why the shift was made and she said, department store sales are at their lowest in early May. And also, she said, remember that at the time, the greeting card companies still had economic clout. I don’t know if she was being serious or was joking -or or was joking to make a serious point.
Saturday was spent in a blitz in Camarines Sur, to express support for the candidacies of Jess Robredo, Cholo Roco, and Abang Mabulo. We spent most of the day with Sabas “Abang” Mabulo. He is the kind of candidate we need more of in this country. I got to talk to him during the hours we spent, first for a press conference in Naga City with Mayor Jess Robredo and congressional candidate Cholo Roco, and the over lunch, and after Abang’s miting de avance and during a 5-hour caravan that wound its way (getting longer and longer) through the first district of the province. The day ended a few hours later with a radio program in which we helped him make his final appeal to the voters. This is a man who proves a candidate doesn’t have to spend a fortune to seek (and win) office, who can serve without terrorizing his constituents or appealing to their worst instincts, and who has mobilized others to serve their communities.
Re wrong mother’s day, your mother probably has a point. And come to think of it, we never used to celebrate Grandparents’ Day but these last few years, this one sprung up in malls, complete with raffles and promos. That bolsters her theory about low mall sales.
My Iranian grad student roommate at LSU told me that even in Iran, people now celebrate the American Mother’s Day. It was a recent innovation to boost sales of consumer goods! Iranians have their own traditional mother’s day where food offerings to dear mum (home cooked) were the norm.
This American Mother’s Day I don’t celebrate because of it’s crass commercialism. We should return to our own mother’s day and make it more spiritual. The cadena-de-amor flowers have a spiritual significance since this represents a mother’s unbreakable love for her children
Sadly even priest’s homilies in church have cashed in on this commercial holiday.
Great, I have 15 minutes to un-greet my mother! hehe
I would personally like to thank you Manolo as well as Dinky, Enteng, and Leah for a great time you have spent with us during the last hurrah of the campaign for Abang Mabulo. As the counting progress, the lead of Dato over Abang is getting bigger. I would like to believe that the power of money, promises, and intimidation has worked over the few voices who clamor for change in our politics.
But the few people who went out, volunteered, and worked hard for Abang is a clear indication that there are still a lot of people who desire a better country for their children. The battle in the first district is not at all lost… it has just began.
Now we know how strong is the force of “Tropang Abang” – I’ll call thi group first this name, in the absence of a more appropriate term, and this group shall spell the start of a crusade for a better governance in the first district.
I hope you guys would again find the time to visit our place. Thank you