My Father: Moises de Jesus (July 2, 1923-June 20, 1993)

My father Moises de Jesus (Jess to his friends and colleagues) was a very intelligent as well as a sociable person.  In every social gathering that he attended, he was the “life of the party” and the emcee in the program.  Nowadays, we call it “hosting”.  He was a very well-read person.  He could engage anyone on any subject.  He was not selective when it comes to talking to people.  He could converse with a garbage collector or with a president of a company or a politician.

Although my father was not able to finish college, that deficiency did not prevent him from getting good  jobs.  He started as a clerk, and then gradually moved up to supervisory and managerial positions, until he became vice president of a company.  During his time, diplomas  were also necessary for people to land a good job.  But because my father had proven that he was very intelligent, very knowledgeable, very good communicator and very good in public relations in spite of having no college diploma to show, he easily was able to be employed.  Of course, he also needed to know rich and influential people, and because my father was feisty, he knew many rich people and even rubbed elbows with some politicians.  Just recently, as I was going over my collection of old photos, I saw a black and white picture of him wearing a coat and tie and holding a leather briefcase.  At that time he was at the airport waiting for his flight to some province in connection with his official duties.

My father was a stickler for cleanliness and orderliness.   He wanted the house clean and orderly all the time.  Every part of the house must be clean, and everything must be in its proper place.   After reading his favorite newspaper, "The Manila Times", you would not think it had been leafed through because the newspaper would still be like it had not been read yet.   It would lie in a spot like nobody had opened its pages yet.

My father loved children.  When my siblings and I were kids, he used to “play rough” with us, and also he was very good in storytelling; both fantasy and true stories, such as his horrifying experience during the World War II.

I recall when I was in elementary, he would tell me to memorize some poems, and when we had visitors at home, he would call me and tell me to stand in front of them and recite.  He said he was doing this to make me overcome my shyness.  I was painfully shy as a child (I don’t think I have completely overcome this negative trait of mine).

My father is far from perfect.  He had his shortcomings as a husband and as a father, but that would not make me love him less because after all, he is my father.