(Here's the speech which I delivered on behalf of Mayor Ronaldo Aquino during the Bahandi Samarnon Awards)
Another laudable undertaking by the Franciscan community
I am pleased to be part of this ceremony today which will honor one of the greatest sons of Calbayog. This awarding ceremony to be conceptualized and held at Christ the King College and in Calbayog City makes me proud both as a Christi Regian and as the Local Chief Executive of Calbayog. The City Government wishes the Award Committee all its best as they do the hard work of giving honor to all the deserving sons and daughters of Samar in many more years to come.
The Franciscan community should be commended for this worthy but challenging undertaking. Achievement Awards are so many that it runs the risk of being a commonplace. But in this case, in the case of the Bahandi Samarnon Awards, it is nice to note to have a group of Samarenos or Samarnon acknowledge the achievements of their fellow Samarnon. It should not take outsiders to acknowledge what good there is that is being done in Samar. It should not take outsiders to acknowledge what great achievers, what great people there are in Samar. When Chito Rono received an award from city government a few years ago, he expressed his gratitude by saying something like this: that receiving an award from your own hometown gives you that extra special feeling which is a notch above the feeling of winning during the usual film awards night. I guess the same thing can be said of this Bahandi Samarnon Awards. Before we look far and wide, let us look upon ourselves for examples worthy of emulation. There should be so many of them just lurking around.
A question of significance
Now a question: where can this Award find its significance? In this world characterized by political bickering, economic difficulties and what have you, don’t you think we should be looking at how we can help alleviate or reduce the incidence of poverty, maintain peace and order and provide decent jobs to our fellowmen? And let us not even start discussing about caring for the environment. That almost sorry scenario is exactly where this Bahandi Samarnon Award will find its significance. This is exactly where this activity finds its proper place. This ceremony calls for us to be able to do something good; or at least to manifest our ability to do something good out of the dire conditions. This is manifested by the life of the first awardee which the award committee has selected for tonight. He serves as both an inspiration and a call to action.
Let Jose Gomez live in us
Jose Cinco Gomez. No need to recall details about his life. No need to memorize the titles of his works. The name speaks for itself. But then, knowing his name and his person is not enough to honor to the man who has contributed much to the development of music in Samar.
It is proper that we honor Jose Gomez. It is proper that we respect the works of Jose Gomez. But after taking a close look at the life story of this man, he deserves more than just us memorizing the lyrics of “Calbayog”; more than just us tapping to the vibrant beat of “Kamote”; and more than just us being familiar with lively tunes of his Samareno folk songs. The life and times and the works of Senor Jose Gomez tell us two things: to be proud of our heritage; and to cultivate the hero in each of us. The times might have changed, but the call for us to be of service to our fellowmen and to be good sons and daughters of Samar remains. Like Jose Gomez, let us look beyond our mundane concerns in life. We have our own capabilities and abilities that can make a difference. Nobody among us is too small so as not to be able to do something for our beloved Samar.
Salamat ug maupay nga kulop sa atun ngatanan!
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