"His early education was handled in the private school of Maestro Cabriel of Santa Ana. His mother sought to prepare him for the priesthood, but his father's cousin Doña Carolina sent him to the Ateneo Municipal. His family, being impoverished by his father's vices, could not give the boy the luxury that other students of Spanish parentage had. Young Felipe had to walk to school barefoot and to carry his slippers under his arms, to be worn only in school". - Biography of Felipe R. Calderon on Wikipedia (Calderon is the Father of the Malolos Constitution)
“One memory he retains very well, however, was when his mother brought him to attend the first day of classes in the town’s public elementary school. “I was the only one barefoot,” says Salonga. Six years later, he remained unshod in a class photo taken of the graduating class, which a classmate gave him while he was campaigning for a congressional seat in 1961. He kept this picture to remind him of the hard times he and his family went through early on in his life."- Virgilio Galvez writing about Jovito Salonga (Jovito Salonga was a former Senate President)
When I was a kid, every time I’d nag my parents about buying me a new pair of shoes, they would always tell me that when they were kids, they’d walk to school in nothing but bakyas, and that for their entire high-school life, they only had one pair of shoes. My lola would buy them shoes that were two sizes bigger so that even if they grew, it'll still fit. Then they’d use my uncle who’s a successful businessman as an example, and tell me that my uncle walked to school barefoot so his sisters could buy bakya.
I have to admit that indeed there are many successful individuals in our society today that have had these, if not worse experiences during their childhood. But these aren't isolated cases, nor are experiences like these not happening anymore. Today, young students in the countryside still walk barefoot to school, as their impoverished families could barely feed them let alone buy them slippers or shoes. I myself didn't believe this until I went to visit one school in Laguna with the Knowledge Channel and found out that most of the children there were unshod, and that every school-day, these kids had to walk for thirty minutes just to get to school and another thirty minutes to get back home. Most of them even had to work after school so that they'd have food on the table! It’s just revolting how some politicians could stomach pocketing millions from the public coffers and turn a blind eye to such realities - just imagine how many children those millions could have helped.
“One memory he retains very well, however, was when his mother brought him to attend the first day of classes in the town’s public elementary school. “I was the only one barefoot,” says Salonga. Six years later, he remained unshod in a class photo taken of the graduating class, which a classmate gave him while he was campaigning for a congressional seat in 1961. He kept this picture to remind him of the hard times he and his family went through early on in his life."- Virgilio Galvez writing about Jovito Salonga (Jovito Salonga was a former Senate President)
When I was a kid, every time I’d nag my parents about buying me a new pair of shoes, they would always tell me that when they were kids, they’d walk to school in nothing but bakyas, and that for their entire high-school life, they only had one pair of shoes. My lola would buy them shoes that were two sizes bigger so that even if they grew, it'll still fit. Then they’d use my uncle who’s a successful businessman as an example, and tell me that my uncle walked to school barefoot so his sisters could buy bakya.
I have to admit that indeed there are many successful individuals in our society today that have had these, if not worse experiences during their childhood. But these aren't isolated cases, nor are experiences like these not happening anymore. Today, young students in the countryside still walk barefoot to school, as their impoverished families could barely feed them let alone buy them slippers or shoes. I myself didn't believe this until I went to visit one school in Laguna with the Knowledge Channel and found out that most of the children there were unshod, and that every school-day, these kids had to walk for thirty minutes just to get to school and another thirty minutes to get back home. Most of them even had to work after school so that they'd have food on the table! It’s just revolting how some politicians could stomach pocketing millions from the public coffers and turn a blind eye to such realities - just imagine how many children those millions could have helped.
1 comment:
Well said.
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