Fly High Amiel!
I came from UP and not from Ateneo and I am a father as well but my son is not an ATENISTA but from Lourdes School of Mandaluyong. I write because what had happened to AMIEL was something that made me realized a lot of things not just about the incident but about FATHERHOOD.
The story focuses on AMIEL’s FATHER as well as a FATHER & SON school activity has been nearing. We as fathers may not at all be so showy and emotional to our sons because of being pre-occupied with our roles as providers and heads of our families but then this has made me re-think that our focus no matter what should always be with our kids – with our family.
Each day counts. I often would kiss my son and tell him how I love him being the only child. I could just imagine how painful it is for AMIEL’s FATHER to have bid farewell to his son after breakfast as a normal daily routine without expecting that moment was their last. I cried while driving home.
I must have heard the news late but I cannot stop thinking about it. Imagine a school so expensive where you expect that traffic enforcers are regulating the flow of vehicles because kids from known and from ordinary families are around the place which they have to protect, but then there is none.
I have not heard in any of the news article about the school having its own ambulance or experienced in-house medics attending to the need of the child. It was the lady whom we all do not know who volunteered to help the child and the driver to take them to the hospital.
Julian Carlo Miguel Alcantara
Worse is that as mentioned, no one even wanted to open their doors for the driver who was walking and carrying the bloodied child for help. It is sad. Imagine how people can be heroes in the split of a second and how some chooses to be numb and careless. Why? Is it because they do not want to stain their nice car’s interiors? Too bad.
I do not intend to blame or raise issues here. The point here is that all we all as parents are responsible for our kids. More so, as drivers, we too are responsible to ensure that we maintain safety and caution. Now, we can never revert things. We need to move forward and learn from this. AMIEL’s life has a good purpose indeed and that is to awaken us all about safety, care, time and love for our kids.
As I reached home, I asked for my son. He was again playing hide and seek with me as usual. I searched for all the possible hiding places until I found him. I never asked him about his school works or about what the day’s news were on BANDILA as he is fond of watching news. No words were said at all… I just hugged my son so tight and kissed him so many times as tears fall.
I love my son and I would not want such a thing to happen to him even when he is already old and on his own. From Day 1 until now that he has grown up as a 9-year old boy, I still carry him whenever we do malling and he would say “Dad, pakarga!” while massaging my back as a consolation. I love my son and I know you all are the same with yours.
Thus, as I write this, I am writing to the officials of Lourdes School of Mandaluyong as well to improve pedestrian safety and proper parking regulations and perhaps put PEDESTRIAN LANES and MARKINGS along SHAW BLVD. and in front of CITYLAND SHAW TOWER to ensure safety. Police Officers should also be stationed near schools and that educational institutions are to be required to have their own ambulances and people experienced in providing medical attention. It’s time for all of us to improve things and move on.
Thank you AMIEL for waking us up. You will forever be remembered in our hearts as a son and as the pupil who touched our hearts to value life and family more.
RYAN ERICSON CANLAS
SAP Practice Manager – SAP COE
International SAP BASIS Consultant
ryanericsongcanlas@yahoo.com
Yeah you are right Ryan, I must agree with what you have just wrote. I think we all humans have a beastly nature which shows that thru instinct they did not open their car doors so as to protect themselves and just ignore the responsibility of having to tend to an accident victim.
By: Arch.Sonny&Che Sumangil on March 2, 2009
at 1:49 AM
To Mr. Enrico De Guzman of LSM;
Thank you very much for all the good deeds and various initiatives to address such clamor for a safer LSM. Anyway, I get to see you every day as I take my son to school every morning. It is just that perhaps we may not have talked in person before. More so, I know most of the security guards at LSM since I often would take an overnight pay-parking as I live in a residential tower just fronting the school. We are also regular churchgoers.
Well, I appreciate all the improvements introduced. Although my work has made it hard for me lately to actively participate in PTA meetings and even meet you in person to thank you, I share the joy that all parents have with all the efforts being done to secure our kids. The guards are very much visible as well that even this morning; there are several of them assisting parents dropping their kids to school.
I have a son who is in Grade 4 and like any parents; we wanted the best for them both in terms of education and security. Besides, he is our one and only and LSM has always been a second home to him because we take him there in the morning while we work and we fetch him in the afternoon as we go home. Thus, most of his time is spent at LSM and it helps us parents to have a peace of mind knowing that our kids are well taken care of through all these security measures installed.
The only issue I see now is being able to request for Ortigas Center to put up some PEDESTRIAN SIGNAGE aside from the PEDESTRIAN LANE and ensure that speed is monitored. Erring drivers often would speed up even when seeing kids and parents walk along the marked pathway. They try to catch the traffic flow long Shaw Blvd. and often this can open risks to pedestrians. We do not want the same fate as 2 year old girl who was killed just yesterday near Camp Crame as she was crossing a pedestrian lane with her mother. The driver obviously ignored them. Thus, we call for the installation of signage.
More so, if MMDA personnel and Pasig Traffic Police (TMG) are fond of catching traffic violators at the J.VARGAS crossing and just at the corner of EDSA entering SM MEGAMALL, perhaps we can ask them to police as well the junctions along ST. FRANCIS ST. and SAN MIGUEL AVE. and impose the same fines for speeding drivers. This will ensure that drivers will observe such rules and regulations.
The TRAFFIC SIGNAGES as well for the PEDESTRIAN LANE and for the SPEED LIMIT plus a SCHOOL ZONE sign will make the awareness more effective. I do hope that the same measures are applied as well on other school zones and busy streets so we can prevent accidents and unnecessary loss of lives. Anyway, thank you for all the efforts and we hope that you and your office will continue to do more.
Regards,
Ryan Ericson Canlas
SAP Practice Manager – SAP Center of Excellence
International SAP BASIS Consultant – Team Lead
Philippines
By: Ryan Ericson Canlas on August 20, 2009
at 5:06 PM