By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
ON APRIL 19, the Dr. Manuel Lo Foundation (DMLF), Inc. gave P500,000 to Negros Press Club, Inc. (NPC) for the latter’s future socials/events or programs and projects.
The foundation’s prexy, Sir Ian Lo, handed the cheque to yours truly in the presence of other newly-elected NPC officers in a simple ceremony.
It’s the first time in NPC history that a foundation gave such an amount.
But many are asking: What’s the gist behind this?
Sir Ian said: “Purely for the sake of the media people.”
Such a line “melted my heart”.
Why?
When I first ran for president of NPC last year, I lost. I was misunderstood.
When I was nominated again for president in January, I did not refuse. I stood tall during the one-minute campaign, stressing my point that I’ll be running for president (again and again) not for myself but for the club and my fellow journalists. My battle cry: To raise (again) the NPC flag.
God heard my wish. He felt the beat of my heart.
Now, the question is, how can I raise the NPC flag again amid lots of challenges, including a financial debacle confronting the oldest press club in the country?
Not easy.
LOS’ ‘HIGH’
Thank God and he gave the Los.
The P500K donation to NPC is considered as the Los’ “high” in demonstrating their candid concern for the members of the Fourth Estate in Bacolod and Negros Occidental. Beyond hail, hence.
A fellow journalist asked me on what to do with Los’ money?
My simple retort: In everything I do, I commit to God’s guidance. With this, I know I will never go wrong.
I pray to God to give me the wisdom on what to do using the Los’ donation to benefit the NPC and the media in general.
LIBERATING
Going back to the Los, it is public knowledge in Bacolod that they’re really “givers”.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Los made some endeavors – unknown to many – that truly benefited the masa: rice distribution, among others.
The Los already mastered the art of giving. But what is in giving that made the Los excel?
Just ponder on what Ben Carson, former US Secretary on Housing and Development, had said: “Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.”
But the most is weighty one was that of American memoirist and poet Maya Angelou: “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”
‘MISUNDERSTOOD’
Despite these good attributions to the givers, sometimes Sir Ian is misunderstood. Good thing he never stoops down to level of his accusers. Instead, he just goes on what his heart is telling him – just do good to people!
With this resolve, he cleared his path for giving, and that makes him happy all the way.
He believes what former prime minister of United Kingdom Winston Churchill had said: “We make life by what we give.”
Salamat, Sir Ian, and to the Lo family.
Your “blessings to NPC will spell a lot of “goodness” to club members./PN
