Eric & Bea Puno create a home — the old-fashioned way

Bea wouldn’t let me go," announced the man of the house, lawyer Eric Puno, as we made a rather tardy entrance into their spacious but cozy house. It’s a tree-shaded house almost at the end of the road. Bea L. Puno, the "General Rumsfeld" of this home, smiled mischievously in response. ‘I didn’t want to be alone for the interview, eh’ And so I told him to skip his morning meetings today, anyway this doesn’t happen all the time." Oscar Lopez, the chief honcho of the Lopez group of companies, usually chairs the morning meetings she speaks of. He is the younger brother of the late, great entrepreneur Eugenio Lopez, from whom he took over the top job when the latter passed away two years ago.

Bea is one of the eight children of Oscar Lopez and Connie Rufino Lopez. She is the sixth among five girls and three boys in the family. Bea, who is used to the great outdoors and obviously, the good life, is currently a full-time mom and wife but she was a former entrepreneur. She used to own and operate a children’s shoe store in Edsa Shangri-La Mall until the economy headed south and she sold out.

Bea decided it was more productive to stay home and ensure the happiness of her growing family. Then one day their eldest son Rocco was doing his homework and one of the questions he had to answer was– what do your parents do? Bea rattled off all the details of hubby Eric’s occupation. "And you," asked young Rocco, "what do you do, Mom?" Bea was stumped. Suddenly she realized that she wasn’t too sure how to answer that question. She was unconsciously equating a homemaker’s work to that of a professional which she couldn’t or didn’t know how to describe. Somehow she explained that she was home to take care of him and his sisters and brother. But Rocco seemed to want more answers.

From the other side of the room where Eric was listening came the answer: Mom has a lot of work...she takes you to soccer and basketball, she takes care of your little sisters and makes sure they attend their swimming lessons, she prepares our favorite food and puts it on the table for us, she fixes all the stuff we need so that we can all do what we’re supposed to do. Rocco looked up proudly at his bewildered mom with sparkling eyes, with that wonderful understanding which can only be beheld on a child’s innocent face. He smiled this time and begged his dad to stop talking because he couldn’t keep up writing all that on his notebook and "it won’t fit anymore."

These days, Rocco’s energetic mom, Eric’s loving wife and major girlfriend to a multitude of close pals keeps on top by attending regular Pilates, kickboxing and a variety of workout classes. She also likes maintaining their beautiful house, which she herself designed and decorated. She maintains a pool, a "park," a gym and a pet Labrador aside from managing a coterie of helpers, nannies, drivers and a gardener to run the operations of her busy household.

This full-time job of Bea’s enables Eric to concentrate on his punishing schedule at the office. Starting in March this year, Eric quit his family law firm Puno & Puno Law Office to focus on his father-in-law’s many legal and regulatory concerns. He now holds office at the Lopez headquarters at the First Philippine Holdings, the holding entity of the Lopez companies. Eric had been handling the Lopez family cases anyway, so when his father and brother-in-law suggested he work for them full time, he didn’t skip a beat.

Nevertheless, he sought the blessing of his father, the former Justice Minister Ricardo Puno, (Senior Dong Puno to those not in the know) who gave his heartfelt blessings to the Benjamin of his brood. After all, Puno Sr. had four lawyers among his offspring and another one flying the coop was no new case to him.

Eric is the youngest of 13 children, of which five are lawyers, including him and a sister. (The 12th was a girl who died of pneumonia at seven months). The rest of the Puno legal eagles are Ronnie, the former DILG Secretary, Dong Puno, the most famous Puno, Reggie, a former Undersecretary of Justice, and only living girl, Sela Puno Mapa who proved that girl can be boy in this family.

Since committing his loyalty to his in-laws in March, Eric has wound down on his extra curricular activities in the gym and at the basketball court where he loves playing ball with his young sons, Rocco, 10 and Javier, 8. He is so immersed in his work that he is only able to call it a day at "8 or 9 really" and is home just in time to say goodnight to his four little ones.

Eric and Bea also have two girls, Rocio and Isabel, ages three and two. In consideration of this hectic schedule, Bea and Eric make breakfast a must-meal at least between the two of them. This is their sacred time together alone as they discuss endless topics like the college plans of their eldest son who wants to be a lawyer and a hot basketball player at the same time, the soccer and swimming class schedules of the children, where to go for Christmas, "and yeah, Baguio is it for this New Year," that kind of talk.

Their typical day starts with the two older ones heading for school first thing in the morning, while the pint-sized bambinas Rocio and Isabel stay at home to keep Mom and the house occupied. As soon as the squealy moppets get up, they race to the "park" (as the girls call it) just at the back of the house to play at the swings, slide and see-saw before they take a dip at the pool just off the "park." The "park" is the village easement at the back of their lot, which they were allowed to develop and maintain and use as they please, provided it remains open to the association and to those who may want to frolic and romp around. However, since they’ve developed it, no one has come to play and the village association has been around only once to "dig up something, but it was nothing earth shattering."

A house full of sprightly tots is the perfect incentive to spruce up what would otherwise have been a talahib (wilderness) and an eyesore in the neighborhood." The "park" is fenced in by lush fruit-bearing trees and plants of all sizes and kinds, an old molave swing stands on the far left and a couple of kiddies, equipment beckon the free spirits to come and play.

This is the most frequented area in the house for the children and makes the whole family want to stay home; it is pretty much like having your own country club in your house. Only better. And like a good club, there’s also an in-house gym that is well-equipped with exercise machines that keep Eric and Bea in shape. However, says Bea, if we are blessed with a fifth child, there goes the gym.

Being at home with Eric and Bea with their children makes one remember the way life was before the Internet, CNN, cable TV and the PlayStation. Those were the days when kids went out to play bat and ball rather than couching it in front of Cartoon Network or the Disney Channel. There were walks in the park, climbing grassy hills, and falling and laughing with glee, young hearts bursting with so much fun. Now there’s Gameboy Color, CounterStrike at home or better yet at the Mall, there’s Audiogalaxy.com and there’s DVDs galore to watch. The only part of the body they exercise are their fingers and their failing eyes.

We have forgotten the simplicity of nature, the wind in our face, the fireflies at night and the warmth of our loved ones as we talked face to face, holding one another and not getting enough chances to chat about our how our days went just because we had so much to talk about. Now as the sun goes down, all that’s left are those tiny gadgets lined up by the electric socket, all waiting to be charged up to full power so we can all begin our day again...texting one another.

Thus, it is heartwarming to know that there are those like Eric and Bea who are happy to eschew the modern and comfortable way of raising a family via high-tech nannies and babysitters in the form of computers and giant flat screens. These gadgets keep the children motionless as zombies for as long as can be so that their busy parents can keep them out of sight and mind.

It is an inspiration to us and to others what Bea and Eric are achieving with their active and hands-on parenting style. As a reward they will surely see their children one day join the bigger family – society as we know it. They will be molded with confidence and wisdom, ready for the role of future enlightened leaders of this country, or perhaps this global village...this one world. And then maybe, just maybe, there will be world peace.

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For comments, suggestions and letters email Vickie at migasora@yahoo.com.