A TRIBUTE TO SILENT HEROES
Resora P. Acoba
Show
me two friends who have helped you through a difficult time, two people who
taught you something worthwhile, made you feel appreciated and special, persons
of compassion, and I will show you two Filipino-American doctors who are just
those. Dr Antonio Santos and his wife Dr. Sonia Santos are our silent heroes.
Without flare or fancy, they have worked on, touched and transformed lives, both
professionally as well as outside in the community. Everyone of those who came
to roast or toast these two retiring physicians had only the highest compliments
for them, Fellow employees from Southwestern State Hospital spoke reverently and
in choked up words how they will miss this couple who have become endeared to
all.
While at SWSH, from 1986 to July 1, 2000, Dr.
Tony had served
as Medical Director for Medical Services, while Dr. Sonia had served as Chief of
Psychiatry. They distinguished themselves by their professionalism, leadership
and integrity. They were models of hospital decorum. Together, they brought
honor to themselves, the hospital, and the Filipino-American community. Their
community service became evident to many as personal testimonies of
compassionate acts of kindness reverberated amongst the populace with their
impending retirement.
Dr. Tony, a native of Pampanga and Dr. Sonia, who hails from Masbate, received their medical degrees at UST and FEU, in Manila, Philippines, respectively. After some 10 years of private practice in Angeles city, Pampanga, they came to the United State. Dr. Sonia trained as a psychiatrist at Clinton Valley Center and Michigan State University, Lansing MI. They moved to Cannon AFB, NM, where Dr. Tony served as a Captain in the USAF Medical Corps. After concluding his military service, they worked at Florida State Hospital, and finally moved to SWSH where they stayed until their retirement.
Married for 41 years, each doctor evokes an essence of perfect harmony and balance. To illustrate: they raised four happy and highly accomplished children who remain respectful, grateful and loving. Additionally, they remain devoted to each other. Outside of work and family, their charitable interventions have diffused many a personal and/or family crises. In his Confucian words of wisdom, Dr. Tony summarizes their life together with these, "We were married the same day, been married the same number of years, have the same number of children, worked together and even retired the same day."
The Tinikling Dance
TINIKLING or Bamboo Dance is
honored as the Philippine
national dance. Originating from the island of Leyte (where Gen. McArthur landed
in WWII), one of the Visayan islands, the steps imitate the movement of the
Indigenous tikling bird. Two couples, one, sit on their knees, rhythmically
beating a pair of bamboo poles apart against a slab of wood and together; the
other, dance to the music while negotiating the opening and closing of the
bamboo poles. Grace, agility, speed and stamina are necessary to create a lively
presentation. The audience may clap to the rhythm and some may even participate
by trying out their ability to evade the fast closing of the bamboo poles.
What Should a Filipino Speak
taken from the Philippine Almanac
For reasons of geography and history, the
islands of the
Philippines have more than a hundred languages aside from Spanish, English,
Chinese and Arabic. The native languages belong to the Malayo-Polynesian family
but differ in many ways other than vocabulary. Some major regional languages
have dialects while some are spoken by ethnic groups. While under the Spaniards,
the country remained divided linguistically, while under the Americans, a
massive education system with English as a medium of instruction was launched,
but English never gained acceptance as a common language. In 1935, the
constitution provided for the development and adoption of a common national
language. Through the recommendation of the National Language Institute, Tagalog
was adopted as the core of the national language. At that time, eight major
languages were identified: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Bicol,
Pampango and Pangasinan. The Commonwealth act No. 570 of 1940 designated
Pilipino as the national language effective July 4, 1946. The language issue
remains controversial. A recent census revealed that there are more speakers of
Pilipino than English yet the latter remains the medium of instruction and the
official language of government and commerce. Cebuano advocates argue that there
are more Cebuano speakers than Tagalog, thus, Cebuano should be the basis of the
national language. The Tagalog-based Pilipino remains predominant as it is used
by Metro Manila, the center of government and commerce. It also enjoys the
unrivaled agents of Komiks, film and newspapers which many non-Tagalogs claim to
learn the language from.
