Fr. Fernando Suarez with Noel and Arlene Gonzalez and their son Christopher.

ANGEL THOUGHTS

“Never explain yourself to anybody. Your friends don’t need it, and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.”

– Elbert Hubbard, sent in by Chuchi de Vega

Tomorrow, independent producer Beth Sison Tagle of Newsmakers’ Forum is presenting a dinner-concert as a tribute to healer Fr. Fernando Suarez of the Companions of the Cross at the Manila Hotel Tent, starting at 5 p.m.

Beth and her family and friends have been the beneficiaries of Fr. Suarez’s healing powers ("No, I am but the instrument of Jesus. He heals!" Fr. Suarez insists) which is why she is so committed now to help Fr. Suarez in his healing, livelihood, feeding, and other ministries, and of course, to help build the shrine at Monte Maria in Batangas City.

I watched the rehearsals at Beth’s home-studio (to save on expenses) with director/musical arranger Eric, and Fr. Suarez and Fr. Jeff Shannon, his mentor and companion, were really enjoying the jamming! We expect a lively show tomorrow!

Singers Jose Mari Chan, Pinky Marquez, Mika (a sensational child singer), Noel Gonzalez and his son Christopher who can also sing like an angel, Jonathan Badon, The Angelos, Fame Flores, with Immigration Commissioner Marelino "Nonoy" Ibanan and his band, with surprise performers, will regale the audience with an evening of love and music! All for the humble healer from Botong, Taal, who is celebrating his birthday on Saturday!

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Speaker Prospero "Boy" Nograles has been unjustly pilloried in some media quarters for the Legacy companies’ (pre-need plans and rural banks) collapse.

This is quite unfair for Boy Nograles because while it is true he knows Celso de los Angeles (who knows VP Noli de Castro too and almost all politicians) who owns the companies (but Angeles denies he does), the fact is, Nograles is also a victim of the banks’ investments mess, being one of the investors/depositors. I know several people who were also attracted to Angeles’ sweet talk and promises of high interests and so parted with their money!

If at all, I would fault Speaker Nograles and my friends for being quite gullible to have fallen for the sweet talk for what turned out to be a "Ponzi" or pyramid scheme and lots of questionable business practices of a questionable "businessman." Is this the same guy who stripped his mistress, a young dancer-singer, of his gifts to her for years, including a house and a diamond ring, when they parted ways? Just asking.

Moral of the story: let us not be too gullible (or greedy)! In the meantime, let’s wait for the authorities to investigate and hope that regulators will be more strict in implementing their rules. Of course, we only have to look at what happened to Wall Street and the giant investment houses involved in the US meltdown to realize that the love of money is still the root of many evil schemes! Unfortunately, the Legacy case has happened here before and will happen again unless those who are supposed to watch for us wake up! SEC, DOJ, ano ba!

I share the utter frustration of Atty. Philip Piccio who represented the planholders at the Senate hearing last Monday. And I like the show of impatience and anger of Senator Mar Roxas who is chairman of the investigating committee. He really gave the SEC fellows a tongue- lashing as well as a lecture on finance. That’s it, Senator Mar…continue to show righteousness passionately! It becomes you!

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Last Christmas season, I wrote about meeting a woman at the Missionaries of Charity house in Tagaytay named Susan. She was a ‘cleaner’ and the sisters gave her whatever they could to help Susan’s brood of nine children, ages 3 to 16 years old, and her terminally ill husband.

She immediately struck me as someone out of the ordinary mold of poor folks because she had a dignified air around her and she took pride in her work as a sweeper. And she stressed that she was a "volunteer" there at the center.

I found out from our conversation while she swept around me, and as the 300 children who were beneficiaries of the sisters’ catechism classes and the generosity of people like Sec. Cerge Remonde and Cora Barte were enjoying a Christmas program and lunch, that she was a flower arranger at the nearby Lourdes church.

But weddings don’t happen everyday, and sometimes, the couples have their own arrangers. So Susan lives a hand-to-mouth existence, as I know many of our poorest-of-the-poor do.

Fortunately, she found a friend in Madel, who owns a furniture shop, along Sta. Rosa road in Tagaytay called October 12. Through the kind-hearted Madel, Susan’s dream of putting up a small shop where she can offer fresh flower arrangements and thus earn a steadier income might finally materialize. Madel has helped her find a small stall in the Tagaytay Public Market, and although the price is steep, she is hopeful they can swing it.

I found out about Susan and Madel when I met Madel through Joy, who makes pretty birdhouses out of discarded wood one recent Saturday. She mentioned that she knew Susan, whom I had written about in a pre-Christmas column. So you see, people are really connected to one another through a sublime plan! Imagine meeting Madel who told me that she was the one Susan was referring to, the woman who had promised to help finance her dream!

And Joy, who touched the "sipag at tiyaga" heart of Senator Manny Villar with her own story of struggles to keep her little enterprise afloat, was now doing her bit to help the other entrepreneurs in the area!

But Susan’s dream will have to wait, as her husband finally succumbed to lung cancer last week, and her first priority is to bury him. The last I heard from Joy was that Susan was looking for a good soul to give her husband a barong Tagalog for him to wear, so he would look dignified in death, at last.