JANUARY 2016. TO BE HOME, doing what you want, is our guilty pleasure. With Mahal back in Pangasinan with her folks, six siblings and dozens of nephews and nieces, we were free in Manila to do whatever we wanted that weekend morning, and we did.
We ran only our second half-marathon ever, baking in the early morning concrete heat of Alabang to Sucat and back, but even as lactic acid swelled our bones and joints, we had no time to rest. After the race, we had to taxi to Greenbelt Makati, where a mutual friend hooked us up with an up-and-comer, His Excellency Ambassador Jesus Gary Domingo in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This rising star had done the hard yards in the outback: Middle East, and perfected his credentials in both academe and the cradle of statesmen, United Nations and Geneva. But his heart had remained with the most vulnerable of the DFA’s clients : OFWs and migrants.
We only spoke for an hour-plus, but he mesmerized me with his plan to harness the tsunami-like power of the overseas Filipino. Not only were kabayan abroad a potential powerhouse, they were a force whose time had come.
Filipinos were born not only to excel abroad, AmbaGary said (that was what he has come to be known). They were destined to do well with and among non-Filipinos, it was part of their culture and history to be the best among a rainbow of races.
And this would be his guiding philosophy in his first Ambassadorship, where Your Loyal Kabayan (that’s me) was and is working as an OFW: to lead and represent the Pinoy community as Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand.
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That was five years ago. Without fear or favor in his mission, AmbaGary is promoting, defending and fostering the OFW, migrant and Kiwi-Pinoy community in the way he does best. He bristles at the sign of any slight or prejudice against Filipinos, directly attacks and threatens anti-labor or anti-OFW agencies, and brings the full force of the law against any entity that acts against the interest of the Filipino community.
He also inspires all kabayan to be leaders in New Zealand, both in and out of government. He is as accessible as your next door kabarrio: You only need to contact him through the Embassy or any of his social media accounts.
On his birthday, I join all kabayan in and out of New Zealand in celebrating AmbaGary as the new breed of Filipino public servant: to exist in government for the purpose of serving kabayan, and kabayan only.
Happy birthday AmbaGary, mabuhay ka!
