BY ATTY. AYIN DREAM D. APLASCA
“HOW MUCH is the minimum paid up capital required from a corporation?”
How would you feel when someone asked you this question first thing in the morning?
At around seven o’clock, I was waiting for the next tricycle to stop outside a grocery store in Mandurriao. After almost six years, I will be meeting again someone whom I first met when I was 14 years old. He told my father to let me visit his place because he needed my help.
The above-mentioned question was another way for him to say “good morning.” He knew that I was taking up Bachelor of Laws that time. Thus, we had that kind of conversation.
He discussed to me his project proposal, but above anything else he wanted me to write in his newspaper – this newspaper you are holding and reading today – Panay News, the biggest daily in Western Visayas.
This newspaper was his “proof of life.” This is his brainchild. It immortalizes his existence, humility, and intelligence.
Of course, I am talking about the founder and the former editor-in-chief of Panay News, Mr. Daniel G. Fajardo a.k.a. Boss DF.
Gone were the days when we always had intelligent conversation – that moment that mapapaisip ka gid. It was 2018 when he passed away. I would ask myself: Whoever could have imagined it would have happened as it did?
Death means the ceasing of all functions of life. After breathing, heartbeat, and brain activity stop, the life-force gradually ceases to function in body cells.
Death is often compared to sleep. When a person is asleep, he or she is unaware of what is happening around him or her. The same thing happens when the person is dead. He or she is not conscious of anything. It is the opposite of life.
This article is written in memory of Boss DF. We know he is not conscious anymore of anything in order to read this. Hence, this is written for the readers who are alive and can still read and “witness” the wonderful memories and lessons he has shown to us.
First, he was everything one could look for in a good boss. He groomed his employees to be sound professionals. He encouraged and supported them even when some wanted to give up. It was because of him that his employees learned more about where they want to go in their career.
Second, he was generous and thoughtful. He had the willingness to help in different aspects of life.
I can still remember the time when he asked me to do a project. It was the summer of 2012. I had to look for individuals who will work with me. We were supposed to have a meeting at three o’clock in the afternoon. My team went to his place at around two and he asked them if they have already eaten their lunch. They answered in the negative.
“Tani aga pa kamo di nagkadto sa balay kay ginpalutuan ta kamo panyaga,” he said while putting a plate of suman and sundol on the table. It wasn’t a joke because he really did the next time they visited him.
Third, and on a very personal note, I admire him because of his humility and unwavering purpose. He truly wanted others to succeed in what they do.
I will never forget when he asked me to write in his newspaper. I am grateful that he took me under his wing when I first started writing. And for the past years, I called myself a writer – a writer by profession. It has helped me grow into my potential. He believed in me when I did not and could not believe in myself.
I can only hope to have the same impact on others as he had on me when he was still around. The privilege of meeting him will always be entirely mine.
I hope to see him in Paradise. (Acts 24: 15)/PN
