My Dad’s Story

I’m posting this with the permission of my Dad. It is a bit long but I hope you would read it because his story is part of who I am today.

My Dad was born in 1946, a year after the World War II. He is the second among nine siblings. They actually lived where the Japanese dug foxholes. They don’t have much. Actually, he just graduated from high school and was unable to go to college.

He is smart and maabilidad. He is quick to learn and very industrious. He is a good leader. He is a jack of all trades. These are the reasons why we are able to survive as a family.

1995, when I was on my third year in high school, I came home with a sad news that my Dad is totally blind because of retinal detachment. It crushed me. Being the eldest among four, I wanted to earn a college degree to make a difference in our economic condition. Dad’s getting blind seemed to have ended my dreams and I just cried that night.

Dad sought to be rehabilitated so that he can still earn as a licensed masseur of DOH.

Fortunately, Dad’s sister helped me to finish my fourth year in high school with the condition that I help in their carenderia. Then her husband helped me review and apply for UP. Further, a friend of Dad helped me apply for DOST scholarship. By God’s grace, I passed UPCAT and became a DOST scholar.

But I wasn’t prepared and intelligent enough. I almost jeopardized my UP schooling and I lost my DOST scholarship. Fortunately, another of Dad’s sisters came to help and she and her husband sustained me until I graduated college.

Back when I began my own insurance policy in 2006, I wanted my parents to be insured but the insurance company that insures me doesn’t cover those that are already old. And although Mom can still be insured, I can’t afford the cost of her insurance.

Dad would be 73 in July. Disabled and growing old.

Discussing insurance with Dad makes him regret that he should have known what to do when he was still younger and not yet permanently disabled. My Dad would often express his frustration about his disability. He wanted to help with the income of the family but he is limited by his disability and old age. When I was preparing for my wedding last year, he was telling me with tears, “Anak, kung may P150,000 lang ako ngayon, wala na tayong pag-uusapan.”

He and Mom already told us that they are unable to leave a financial legacy for us. The lot where our house is standing in Novaliches is not even under his name yet.

It is hard to be poor. It is harder to be poor when you are financially illiterate. It is harder still if you don’t know someone, like a financial advisor, who could help you establish a financial roadmap and navigate it.

What would you do if you are a father like my Dad?

Even if you’re not yet a parent, what would you do for your family to alleviate their condition and for them to #LiveBetter?

What decisions and actions will you do NOW if you know that you’re poor and and salary is just your source of income?

Even if you’re rich or financially able, what legacy are you going to leave your children?