I composed and posted the poem the day after I read about his honesty. Politicians grabbed the limelight by making “promises” as usual, and which not a single one materialized…
Ronald Gadayan
…Gem of Honesty
By Apolinario B. Villalobos
For someone in need of money,
To earn by dint of hard work
Should be the chosen way,
But those who find it not easy
To be diligent in all they do,
Find it hard to firmly say “no”.
In the world we have today,
Seldom can there be found
Those with heart that still beat
With love, good morals and ethics,
But not a certain Ronald Gadayan –
Many times proven – an honest man !
Labored to earn since age seventeen,
All that Ronald wanted, then
Was help his mother honestly earn,
For he saw her sacrifice for all their sake,
From morn till night – a sight
That until now, he can’t forget.
Waking up, to God, he fervently prays
To give him strength and he, be safe
Also his wife, his kids, the three of them
Be well, healthy and from danger spared,
Simple prayer from Ronald’s heart –
With all sincerity, and humbly said.
(Ronald Gadayan is an employee of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), assigned at the Terminal 2 as building attendant. He found a bag containing Php600,000, cash, an expensive watch, cellphone and jewelries on September 5, 2012 at the south wing departure area which he turned over to his superiors. Despite his meager earning that gives him less than Php10,000 a month, he was not tempted to keep what he found. He has three kids, ages nine, six and two years. The two elder children both go to school. His wife is jobless. At 28, he espouses honest living deeply embedded in his heart by his mother who brought him and his siblings, alone as a single parent.)
penpowersong 