araw ng magsasaka
my father is a farmer. or so he claims. actually, he’s a rice geneticist and worked for IRRI for 35 years before retiring in 2000. a farmer, huh? when i was in school, my father insists i write “farmer” as his occupation, rather than the more impressive sounding “agriculturist” or even the “scientist” he was. i told him then that to claim that my father is a farmer is embarassing, and got heavily reprimanded for being silly. he couldn’t understand what my sister’s problem was when he came to pick her up from school, coming straight from his experimental plots, all grubby looking and with mud clinging to his boots. a big snob from the very start, my sister pretended not seeing him waiting for her and opted to take the jeepney home with her friends. he was outraged. i can’t recall how long the lecture lasted, but suffice it to say that from then on, when someone would ask me what my dad does, i always say he’s a farmer. lesson no. 1: keep your feet on the ground.
this is a keychain i bought initially as a pasalubong. i just decided to keep it for myself to remind me daily of my dad, and all the wonderful little lessons in life he taught us. happy birthday, dad.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
33 Responses to “araw ng magsasaka”
July 14th, 2004 at
omg ruth! this is such a touching tribute.
now that explains the wisdom and humility.. that we all should learn from you!! (alam ko di mo talaga natural yan, na-train lang ng tatay mo. hehehe)
July 14th, 2004 at
ditto sa sinabi ni jhing. kaya ka pala ganyan, Ruthie! You’re one of my bestfriends here in Frankfurt and I am glad. You always amaze me with your wisdom and humility. If I had your (and your dad’s) credentials , I would probably be even more mayabang than I am now.
July 14th, 2004 at
the humility probably. but wisdom? ano yun?
July 14th, 2004 at
You have one of the best dads in the world!
July 14th, 2004 at
hope your dad gets to read your entry. it’s so touching.
July 14th, 2004 at
ang galing naman ruth!
i am all for humility.
July 14th, 2004 at
R: hope your Dad gets to read this…there are so many things I wasn’t able to tell my Dad (na sana…nasabi ko when he was still alive)…many more birthdays to come for him and good health!
July 14th, 2004 at
hi ruthie. that’s what i like about you — isa kang tutoong tao, walang kiyeme-kiyeme. i agree with what others wrote — i hope your Dad reads this entry, so touching!
July 15th, 2004 at
you obviously have the reason to be proud of your father, you are both equally blessed to have each other ( father-daughter relationship) I hope he could read this entry so he would know if not felt.
July 15th, 2004 at
tama ang tatay mo ruth. anong trabaho mo? magsasaka. wow. ang galing ng dating. it’s so matter of fact. humble and yet marangal.
as opposed to say - Congressman, President, BIR Examiner and Customs Police. i’ll settle for magsasaka anytime.
July 15th, 2004 at
Humbleness, modesty, is the mark of a great man. From this story, I can tell where your father’s priorities lay, not with superficial, material things. He must have been a wonderful father. Happy B-day to him.
July 15th, 2004 at
Happy bday to your Dad, Ruth. That was such a nice story. I had to learn humility the hard way and it took me all of 3 years. You’re lucky to have learned the lesson right from the start.
July 15th, 2004 at
Hats off to your dad, Ruth…and a Happy Birthday to him as well.
seems like your mom and my father share the same fate…I’m glad she’s ok now…
tc
July 15th, 2004 at
i wish too, that he can bring himself to sit in front of a PC to read this. however, technophobia seems to be also in our genes. it’s already a milestone that he’s learned to send sms!
pinayhekmi, you’ve described him perfectly!
jet, it’s a life-long process, i think…
thanks, everyone, for the well-wishes! help me pray for a longer, healthier, happier life for him!
July 15th, 2004 at
hello ruth, what a beautiful post. i read and re-read it.
have a nice day!
July 18th, 2004 at
your dad is such a great man. if only more people were like him
July 20th, 2004 at
Ruth:A very touching entry. Its really awesome, having a dad, with such great humility. I agee with the others, hope your dad can read this. I know, it will touch his heart.
Happy birthday to your dad, I pray for good health and more blessing for God.
July 20th, 2004 at
Uy Ruth! Your dad’s humility reminds me of my uncle who’s an agriculturist-entomologist at LB too. Baka magkakilala sila ng dad mo?
July 20th, 2004 at
thanks for the comments, girls!
karen: is your uncle with IRRI or UPLB? i might know him myself!
July 20th, 2004 at
UPLB faculty: Vicente Saplala. I have cousins who could’ve been your schoolmates.
July 21st, 2004 at
tatay ko puro kayabangan tinuro sa akin, yan tuloy and yabang ko… pero love ko pa rin siya…
you are lucky to have been blessed that way, let him know everyday how you appreciate him…
July 21st, 2004 at
karen: i’ve been to the same school (elem to hs) as carlos and sandra. are they your cousins? if not thru UPLB, my dad will probably know your uncle from the tennis courts!
jh: pero may innate akong kayabangan na hindi kaya ng powers ng tatay ko, hahaha!!!
July 21st, 2004 at
Oh shucks! Small world! Yes, they’re my first cousins, my kuya and ate.
July 22nd, 2004 at
i think i’m as old as carlos. we were classmates in elem pero he had grade 7 whereas i moved on to hs agad. i wouldn’t expect him to remember me, though.
it’s a small world indeed!
July 22nd, 2004 at
Yes, Kuya Carlo attended grade 7. I’m three years younger than he is. We’re among the younger batch of cousins and spent a lot of playtime together when they’d go home to Pampanga.
Talaga naman, with technology the world is continually shrinking!
July 22nd, 2004 at
karen, here’s yet another coincidence: my dad is from apalit, pampanga!
July 23rd, 2004 at
Wow! Don’t tell me he went to agriculture school in PAC (forgot the old name after the war), on the foot of Mt. Arayat. That’s where my uncle started his agricultural career!
Cabalen ca pala Ruth! We’re from Sta. Rita (in between Guagua and Porac) though, a bit far from Apalit.
July 23rd, 2004 at
nope he went to CLSU in muñoz.
i myself was born in apalit so cabalen talaga. but i don’t speak the dialect. i grew up in LB and we’d just go to pamp pag may special occassions. just enough for me to pick up a few words, but not much talaga. even the kapampangan prowess in the kitchen didn’t rub off!
July 23rd, 2004 at
Naku! And Apalit is the legendary Sulipan of culinary excellence! But that’s ok, we have a life outside the kitchen anyway and you have a lot of other talents. Will just send you a copy of Kusinang Sulipan cookbook for the sake of posterity, hehehe!
I grew up in Sta. Rita and speak the language well. And with grandmothers at that, which makes me use words not used in decades!
Hmmm… this really feels like six degrees of connection (?).
July 26th, 2004 at
is dr. Payawal still there in LB ?
did you take mr esguerra’s spanish class?
July 26th, 2004 at
karen, kusinang sulipan? must be a sumptuous collection!
jing, haven’t been to uplb for quite a while na. i guess he’s still there; i don’t think he’s retiring age yet. i’ve heard of mr esguerra, but i never took spanish. a pity, looking back! you a uplb alumna too?
July 26th, 2004 at
yes ruth I am, one of the OS (overstaying) devcom, from the older batch kaya inabot ko pa at naging kaklase si papa carlo
sa Soil science I (o ayan karen ha galing sa akin yan hehehe.
Anp told me about you before, di ko lang mahanap at matandaan yung link mo. add kita lola
tutal farmer din ang college na pinanggalingan ko 
July 26th, 2004 at
Ruth, hahanapan na kita sa National Bookstore!
Jing, oo sa iyo na yan galing. Akala ko stalker ka lang ng pinsan ko, classmate mo pa pala! Hahaha! My lips are sealed pa rin. At hinding-hindi ko ipapakita sa pinsan ko yung URL ng comment mong ito, hahaha!