Congrats, Supermoms!

Maria Fe Diaz, 62, has 18 certificates of appreciation, 10 plaques, and an award for an outstanding program, among others.

A three-term councilor of Lapasan, she is active in its Barangay Women’s Development Council and works for senior citizens, aquatic resource management, and the family as the basic unit of society. She also raised four kids, now professionals.

For all this, Diaz is one of 10 recipients of the Talamdong Inahan (Bukod Tanging Ina) of Cagayan de Oro, a result of a search organized by the Supermoms’ Club under Mom’s Radio DXNY FM 107.9.

"We empower women with information and linkages," says Linnie Mayoralgo-Dinopol, national president of the Supermoms’ Clubs and executive producer of Mom’s Radio, "and Kagawad Diaz typifies the mother active in the community: civic-minded, charitable, and working for her family’s welfare."

With these criteria in mind, the awardees for Talamdong Inahan were nominated by their peers as well as their barangay captains. They received plaques of recognition and special gift packs from Mom’s Radio and its partners.

"As it is the general impression that media companies are the most difficult to deal with, SBN and Mom’s Radio have taken the initiative to take on the advocacy for change challenge," said Teofilo Henson, president and CEO of Southern Broadcasting Network (SBN).

Henson describes Mom’s Radio as designed to continuously educate and form mothers, as well as to endow them with the qualities of the "Ideal Pinoy Mom."

Mom’s Radio mother-formators and their guest panelists go on the air in Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, Naga, and Tarlac to share their experiences and expertise with other mothers.

"We have organized Supermoms’ Clubs which have entered into strategic alliances with 18 or more advocacy groups in Cagayan de Oro, effectively harnessing the collective efforts of other drivers of change in society," Henson said.

As Supermoms’ Club members packed gifts nearby, Mommy Lani gave listeners tips on coconut dishes, Mommy Mae answered questions on the 70/30 programming mix of talk and music for radio, and Mommy Vicky met with members on the flow of the first-ever Supermoms’ Congress last year.  

For the thousands of members present from the 89 barangays of Cagayan de Oro, there was a morning session on character building. In the afternoon there were sessions on home and family relationships, livelihood seminars like candle-making and flower-crafting for which the best entries got awarded, and product demonstrations by some of the sponsors of the congress.

Highlight was the Anak TV symposium on child-sensitive media and a screening of TV program entries held at the nearby Pilgrim Christian College. The afternoon event ran for two sessions to accommodate as many parents as possible, many of whom were literally brought in by army trucks commissioned for the day by the local government. Drinks were hosted by Chocquick, snacks by Goldilocks and URC, and giveaway packs were given by Splash, PLDT, Hallmark, and HBC. Panasonic laid out TV monitors for the hall’s use, Negros Navigation sailed in the team and the tons of cargo while Cebu Pacific flew in the guest resource persons.

Mom’s Radio Cebu’s affable Mommy Inday imparted legal literacy by sharing the key points of the Anti-Violence against Women and Children Act of 2003.

Davao’s Mommy Kaye anchored the presentation of the highlights of the session on special children, where two mothers stressed, "Love and acceptance form the foundation of caring and working with these gifts from God." Meanwhile, Mommy Honey of Bacolod helped cue people backstage.  

Instead of sashes or olive leaves, Diaz and co-awardees were crowned with ethnic-style headbands of beads accented with shiny red ribbons. Doing the honors was actress Boots Anson-Roa, whose husband Pete is from Cagayan de Oro and whose late dad’s screen name is the same as the name of governor of the province — Oscar Moreno.  

A model mom, Boots talked on archetypal mothers in her life — her own mother, mother-in-law, and lastly, the Blessed Mother on whose feast day as Our Lady of Fatima (May 13) SBN held the Supermoms Congress.

"My mom taught chemistry at the University of the East," Boots recalled, "but she didn’t give up smoking to protect the lab. She contracted cancer, but continued to laugh, jesting that when once up there, she would teach St. Peter how to smoke."

The loving side of Elisa Cristobal-Anson was that she took care of her four children and all others who came her way. As for Andrea Ner-Roa, she was a teacher but gave it up at the request of her husband.

"When she died, we found bundles of his love letters to her," Boots recalls. "And she also enjoyed hosting all of us every Sunday."  

Often, the meals were courtesy of Pedrita Ecaranum, cherished by the Roas for her inimitable recipes. Once again, she proved herself invaluable in Subic, to where a son of Pete and Boots had moved.  

And last but not the least of Boots’ archetypal mothers is the Virgin Mary who accepted the will of God to bear the Blessed Child who was to save the world.

"Mother Mary gently asked Jesus, then 12, why he had gone to the temple without telling anyone," Boots related.

"How many of us mothers would raise a fuss when our kids just go off? And at Cana, she facilitated His first miracle by simply telling Him that the wedding banquet had run out of wine. And on the road to Calvary, she stayed with Him until death."

"Mothers are, indeed, builders of character," affirmed Bong Dimacutac of Couples for Christ. In her talk at the plenary keynoted by Boots, Dimacutac stressed that they can do this quietly and lovingly.

"We are the first character encounter of children," she told the Supermoms. "There’s research that when they smile, their infants look more often at them than if they don’t smile."

"Character is the inward motivation to do what is right, whatever the cost," explained Jose Eugenio Ferrer in his talk on parents as advocates of character families. He is also the head of PURESEED, acronym, says his wife Joji, for Program Reunited Restored Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development Entrepreneurship, Inc.

On hand were educational institutions (represented by Dr. Ma. Fe Opina of Xavier University), local government units (Norma Sabacajan), law enforcers (Police Inspector Norma Serrada who has handled the Women’s and Children’s Desk), and media (Abigail Malalis of Sun Star Cagayan de Oro and Edgardo Roces, president of the Southeast Asian Foundation for Children and Television).