Looking Back to Move Forward

By: Lou Maningas Cabalona

 

When my lolo (grandfather) passed away when I was young, we had a week-long wake at their home which was kept open 24/7 for friends and family to pay their respects anytime. On the day his body was to be brought to its final resting place, I remember my aunts locked all doors and family members were warned to not go back nor look back at the house once the coffin was out.

Why? We figured, it had something to do with bad luck or teasing Death to take away another family member.

Recently, I found there is also a similar custom for weddings where the wedding party, as they process to the altar, must not also look back to the back of the church, lest they bring bad luck to the newlyweds. Fingers crossed, no one did during our wedding!

The most amusing one I heard though, is my lawyer friend’s version who meticulously followed all customs when taking the bar exams. To ensure that she would pass the bar, she, as custom dictated, “walked away from the building where she took the exams without looking back”. Obviously, it worked!

It seems that in Filipino culture and in Asian cultures, in general, looking back is never a good sign. In some other oriental culture, it even goes to the extent of saying doing so will cause evil spirits to capture you! Interestingly, Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, on the contrary, lauded this same act. His most famous quote advice, “Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.” He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.

Last October 27, I had been invited to sing the National Anthem for the Chinese Mutual Aid Association’s Annual Dinner hosted by CBS Chicago’s Mai Martinez. An estimated 500 guests packed the Furama Chinatown ballroom for the hugely successful event.

Three days later on Oct 30, I had the opportunity to share a more intimate dinner at the University Club with host and good friend, Jan Paul Ferrer, Philippine Ambassador to the USA, Jose Cuisia Jr., his lovely wife Ninang Vicky Cuisia, the ladies of Filipino Kitchen and Gawad Kalinga supporters in Chicago.

Jan Paul, a fellow FYLPRO (Filipino Young Leaders Program) alumni and Via Times writer, shared the good news about a social enterprise he started in the Philippines as well as highlighted similar efforts led by folks present.

Two very different events yet the people I met and spoke with prove a unified belief that Dr. Rizal’s advice to “look back where we came from,” isn’t only guiding us how to avoid misfortune, it is actually a key ingredient to one’s success.

Look back to honor those who helped you along the way…

At the CMAA Dinner, Filipino American Edilberto C. Ortiz, CPA, Founder of E.C. Ortiz & Co. was awarded the Founder’s Award for Immigrant Success. I had the pleasure of meeting him years ago in a networking mixer he hosted in his downtown office where I learned of his passion in helping the younger generation of accounting professionals in the Philippines by providing them opportunities to work in his company. A few months after that meeting, I took a chance at reaching out to him to ask if he could extend his help to a Filipina friend who was losing her work visa status because she needed to quit her job. I knew it was a long shot. At best, I would have probably been passed to HR by his secretary. Instead, he took my call, we chatted for a while and he invited my friend and me to come by the following week.

EC Ortiz has received many well-deserved accolades and awards, and the company he built over 40 years ago is performing well as one of the largest Asian American CPA firms in the country.

I am proud of him as though he is family because I can genuinely feel he honors his home country like we honor our parents and his actions reflect his aim to help his county men, like his own brothers and sisters. This, I believe, is a big reason for his success

Look back to acknowledge how far you have come

Over dinner, Jan Paul shared that his first trip back to the Philippines through FYLPRO after over 20 years, since his family migrated to the US has been one of the most enlightening and life changing events he has experienced.

He met his cousins again this time as adults, none he mentioned ever made it to college. He immediately recognized that by his own merits and, more importantly, his parents’ sacrifice to give their children a better future, he has built a successful career in the financial industry — leaps and bounds away from where they would have been had they stayed where they were.

Then and there, he acknowledged his achievements, and accepted that he is in a very good position to make a difference in the life of his cousins and many other Filipinos who deserve the same opportunity. This was his motivation to create a not for profit that hopes to awaken a neglected yet promising silk industry which he hopes to will sustain and peoples life.

Look back to move forward

There is a new breed of Filipino Americans who are satisfying their hunger to learn more and go back to their roots.

Sometimes it entailed going back to the homeland where their parents once forbade them to avoid getting kidnapped.

Sometimes, it involves being immersed and digging deeper into a culture that seemed to have forgotten itself in favor of adapting to the more advanced western influence.

In beautiful irony, this culture is now experiencing a rebirth with the help of social media and connective technologies that the Philippine’s western influences provide.

In our lively discussion at the University Club, Co-Founders Natalia Roxas-Alvarez and Sarahlynn Pablo eagerly shared how their passion for Filipino food and rediscovering it, has turned into a full time, most rewarding job of uplifting the profile of Filipino food in the US through writing and curating events. The hugely successful Kultura Festival held last Oct 4 will make a comeback on Dec 13 at the Emporium Chicago – Filipino Christmas style!

Similarly, going back home to my husband’s province of Tacloban has opened up so many opportunities for us. Since finding out about their best native products – binagol, moron, mangoes and macapuno, we have set out to find the best way to create import quality products through Tacloban’s Finest, a social mission-driven business incubator my husband and I started to help uplift the economy in Typhoon Haiyan devastated areas through partnerships with local ethnic food and crafts microenterprises. In very unique ways, what we learn in discovering our past is beginning to shape our future. And we couldn’t be more excited!

Louella Maningas Cabalona is a singer, actor, and a Manager at Sears Holdings Corporation. She is the co-founder of the Filipino Folk band, SamaSama Project, ILPRO (Illinois Philippines Recovery Operations) and is one of the 10 inaugural delegates of the FYLPro Immersion program of the Philippine Embassy in DC in 2012. She is passionate about sharing Filipino culture in the modern world and actively supports all outstanding Filipinos around the world. She is currently pondering on a “Pinoy” business startup while planning the next series of 2016 medical missions to the Philippines with her husband, Baron. If any of these adventures sound interesting to you, email louellarose@gmail.com.

Dinner with the Philippine Ambassador (counter clockwise from bottom left) Louella Cabalona, Vicky and Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Rose Molas, Lakhi Siap, Jun Hermie De Guia, Dr. David Calimag, Ed Ramos, John and Josie Disterhoff, Lyn Santos, Jan Paul Ferrer, Sarahlynn Pablo, Caitlin Preminger, Natalia Roxas-Alvarez, Tess Tan

Louella with Ambisyosa Productions’ Rian Enriquez (2nd from left), CMAAManager Michelle White (2nd from right) and honored guests.

Baron and Louella with lovely Mistress of Ceremonies, Mai Martinez of CBS Chicago at the CMAAAnnual Dinner and Awards Night

E.C. Ortiz receiving the Duc Huang Founder’s Award for Immigrant Success award from Duc Huang , Founder of CMAA and daughter, Yman Vien

(1) Louella with CMAA Executive Director Dennis Mondero and Yman Vien; (2) Baron and Louella with another Awardee, Tommy Choi, Public Affairs Manager of the Office of the Illinois State Comptroller.