Sow abundantly, reap abundantly

Not too long ago I was touched by a story in the papers. The item narrated in detail what a couple, who refused to be identified, did as an act of charity. It was heartwarming to find out that every weekend they would cook gallons of arroz caldo to bring to some street intersections to feed the hungry street children.

Reading the story made me think and wish I could do the same. Then I remembered a close friend of ours in the Apostleship of Prayer, has a young son rumored to be a trailblazing councilor of Muntinlupa. During a meeting, I mentioned to my friend that I wanted to do some charity work and she assured me of her help.

A day or two later the household staff announced that Councilor Jojay Alcaraz had come to speak to me. I led him to the family lanai where we sat to talk. I informed him of my desire to do charity work and he confirmed that indeed the marginalized could certainly use that kind of aid. This young man of stunning bearing and an air of distinction offered sound suggestions.

He reminded me of the role of Batang Munti Foundation. I learned from him that this group not only runs a soup kitchen but it gathers deserving students and searches for possible sponsors who might want to take care of their tuition and the feeding program that goes with it. From elementary to high school or even up to college, deserving students whose backgrounds are properly researched and studied are awarded scholarships by the foundation.

The foundation is run by youthful volunteers has earned a very positive reputation not only in Muntinlupa but even in the neighboring municipalities. This huge success of the organization raised the popularity of the young Alcaraz among the city’s councilors and ultimately induced the incumbent mayor, Jimmy Fresnedi, to single out the trailblazing councilor to be his running mate in the recently concluded elections.

What surprised me about the initial meeting with Alcaraz was his ability to articulate the current national situation particularly the poverty among the majority of the population. I do not remember exactly how he expressed his opinion regarding an honest and clean election but he opined that poverty is the root cause of vote-buying. He lamented that anyone running for office has no other choice but to spend during the campaign.

Eradication of poverty among the masses is one thing that should be the top priority of the government. He cautioned though that the government should not be left alone in this mission. Filipinos in general should have the mind and heart to extend a helping hand in alleviating the plight of the marginalized.

In the recently concluded elections, Alcaraz had to fight an uphill battle when he ran for vice major. His opponent made use of his affinity to the foundation and made issue of his involvement in the Foundation as being part of graft and corruption. It could have mattered at the polls but as the results showed the black propaganda boomeranged. Voters were convinced of Alcaraz’s integrity and sincere intentions and he won.

Better to see the young vice mayor at work so I asked to be allowed to intrude into his daily activities one recent Monday. Due to the terrible traffic that rainy morning I missed the flag raising ceremonies. But I was fortunate enough to be invited by Mayor Fresnedi to exchange greetings. I did just that and caught up with a huge delegation of the members of Knights of Columbus who were paying a courtesy call to the re-elected mayor and his newly elected vice mayor.

When Mayor Fresnedi and Vice Mayor Alcaraz were finally free from their callers we had an informal chat. We discussed several topics. Some were serious but on the whole it was a very animated casual exchange of ideas. I asked questions that led the mayor to define his immediate plan of action and what surfaced was that the mayor and his vice mayor were working as a team. Alcaraz is supposed to take care of the legal aspects and Fresnedi would initiate moves based on his vast experience being re-elected mayor and all.

Alcaraz can be considered very lucky to have earned the full trust of Fresnedi. It has been proven time and again most vice mayors or even vice presidents end up very frustrated not being given enough room to accomplish certain programs.

A short backgrounder on our young vice major: Alcaraz spent his teen years at the La Salle Zobel in Ayala Alabang where his family resides. He completed his degree in Political Science at the De La salle University. After college he went into law school and got his law degree from the Ateneo De Manila University. He is married to Menchu, the daughter of Tim Jimenez. The young couple have a son who was born on May 21, 2001.

I am sure that you will be mesmerized by Jojay Alcaraz’s youthful zest for life. He has a lot of promise. He is bound to reap abundantly since early on in his young life, he has been sowing abundantly.