Perhaps no other man of my age and time in the province of Aklan can claim what I may say, a closeness to Godofredo P. Ramos. Barely out of my teens in 1964, he had me called to discuss with him the hopes and aspirations of the students and youth of the province for a better and progressive Aklan. Since that particular point in time and even the few months before his death on July 17, 1977, it was an association with so great a man with so vast an intellect.
As fate would have it, I was detailed in May 1972 to his office as technical assistant when he was Constitutional Convention delegate. The late governor Roberto “Nono” Garcia had me appointed earlier as assistant provincial secretary but had noted my desire to know more about the workings of the Constitutional Convention.
It was the Con-Con where young but very intelligent delegates would refer to him, seek his advice on so many vital matters. The older delegates would oftentimes mingle with the young in his office soliciting his wisdom on various issues.
Godofredo p. Ramos had a deep respect for the young. He would like to discuss issues with them. He is a firm believer that the youth, by the force they exert and by the power and influence they assert land claim in our democracy, are a tremendous power of good. He also considered that the youth have the velocity of the wind, the energy of the sun the unconquerable spirit of the sea and the waves, and fecundity of this good old earth. He posited the view that the youth, full of fire and promise, exuberant and not yet prey to cynical thoughts, posses ideals that will stand the test of solidity and purity amidst the then political dissension and turmoil in our country.
Godofredo P. Ramos once asserted that every period of life has its peculiar temptation and dangers. But is the time when we are most likely to be ensnared. This, pre-eminently, is the forming, fixing period, the spring season of disposition and habit; and it is during this season, more than any other, that the character assumes it permanent shape and color, and the young are wont to take their course for time and for eternity.
To the of our time, Godofredo P. Ramos made this admonition which applies even today. The youth, he said, should not think that youth shall not have end. For the longest day shall have its evening and the young shall enjoy it but once. Consider, therefore, youth as a springtime which shall depart. Youth should plan and sow all provision for a long and happy life, Godofredo P. Ramos emphasized. He once warned that the follies of youth become the vices of manhood and the disgrace of old age. Like Sir Thomas Moore, the Lord Chancellor of England, he once observed that it would be very sad indeed if we witness the youth idling away the springtime of his existence. In doing this , the youth shall not only be losing the benefit of time, but wasting it in the formation of evil habits. Reckless youth would certainly have a regrettable age.
While Godofredo P. Ramos believed that youth is the gay and pleasant spring of life, when joy is stirring in the dancing blood, he also believed that the youth should build up good habits, and hopes and faiths. Godofredo P. Ramos stood firm in his belief that the youth shall inherit this earth. But while he did so, he had also asked the youth to prepare themselves and inculcate values. He wanted the youth to be individuals of characters more sensitive to the needs of the community, more competent to contribute to the society, and more civil in habits of thought, speech and action.
Godofredo P. Ramos recognized and declared that national leaders should consider is increasingly important to listen to the voice of the youth and find in it the guidance and direction of the future.
Godofredo P. Ramos did that not forget that as young man, he struggled to be what he was. But then, he had always insisted with much vigor that a young man should always have a positive mental attitude to overcome obstacles and difficulties.
Godofredo P. Ramos had been once asked if positive mental attitude would not stand as a liability as too much of lit makes a young man sort of quixotic.
And Godofredo P. Ramos, if I may remember it right, answered what Cyrano de Bergerac did. You see, Max Soliven, used to lecture on column writing and had occasion to remind his audience of the French playwright Edmond Rostand’s immortal character, the fearless swordsman and cavalier, Cyrano Bergerac. In that play, specifically Act II, De Guiche, a friend of Cyrano reproached him for tilting against the windmill’s like a reincarnated Don Quixote. De Guiche declared, thus: “Windmills, remember, if you fight them may swing you round their huge arms and cast you down into the mire.
We here the answer of Cyrano resonating like a Godofredo P. Ramos in so many aspects of his distinguished career and too outstanding life: And the answer: “Or up --- the stars.
As fate would have it, I was detailed in May 1972 to his office as technical assistant when he was Constitutional Convention delegate. The late governor Roberto “Nono” Garcia had me appointed earlier as assistant provincial secretary but had noted my desire to know more about the workings of the Constitutional Convention.
It was the Con-Con where young but very intelligent delegates would refer to him, seek his advice on so many vital matters. The older delegates would oftentimes mingle with the young in his office soliciting his wisdom on various issues.
Godofredo p. Ramos had a deep respect for the young. He would like to discuss issues with them. He is a firm believer that the youth, by the force they exert and by the power and influence they assert land claim in our democracy, are a tremendous power of good. He also considered that the youth have the velocity of the wind, the energy of the sun the unconquerable spirit of the sea and the waves, and fecundity of this good old earth. He posited the view that the youth, full of fire and promise, exuberant and not yet prey to cynical thoughts, posses ideals that will stand the test of solidity and purity amidst the then political dissension and turmoil in our country.
Godofredo P. Ramos once asserted that every period of life has its peculiar temptation and dangers. But is the time when we are most likely to be ensnared. This, pre-eminently, is the forming, fixing period, the spring season of disposition and habit; and it is during this season, more than any other, that the character assumes it permanent shape and color, and the young are wont to take their course for time and for eternity.
To the of our time, Godofredo P. Ramos made this admonition which applies even today. The youth, he said, should not think that youth shall not have end. For the longest day shall have its evening and the young shall enjoy it but once. Consider, therefore, youth as a springtime which shall depart. Youth should plan and sow all provision for a long and happy life, Godofredo P. Ramos emphasized. He once warned that the follies of youth become the vices of manhood and the disgrace of old age. Like Sir Thomas Moore, the Lord Chancellor of England, he once observed that it would be very sad indeed if we witness the youth idling away the springtime of his existence. In doing this , the youth shall not only be losing the benefit of time, but wasting it in the formation of evil habits. Reckless youth would certainly have a regrettable age.
While Godofredo P. Ramos believed that youth is the gay and pleasant spring of life, when joy is stirring in the dancing blood, he also believed that the youth should build up good habits, and hopes and faiths. Godofredo P. Ramos stood firm in his belief that the youth shall inherit this earth. But while he did so, he had also asked the youth to prepare themselves and inculcate values. He wanted the youth to be individuals of characters more sensitive to the needs of the community, more competent to contribute to the society, and more civil in habits of thought, speech and action.
Godofredo P. Ramos recognized and declared that national leaders should consider is increasingly important to listen to the voice of the youth and find in it the guidance and direction of the future.
Godofredo P. Ramos did that not forget that as young man, he struggled to be what he was. But then, he had always insisted with much vigor that a young man should always have a positive mental attitude to overcome obstacles and difficulties.
Godofredo P. Ramos had been once asked if positive mental attitude would not stand as a liability as too much of lit makes a young man sort of quixotic.
And Godofredo P. Ramos, if I may remember it right, answered what Cyrano de Bergerac did. You see, Max Soliven, used to lecture on column writing and had occasion to remind his audience of the French playwright Edmond Rostand’s immortal character, the fearless swordsman and cavalier, Cyrano Bergerac. In that play, specifically Act II, De Guiche, a friend of Cyrano reproached him for tilting against the windmill’s like a reincarnated Don Quixote. De Guiche declared, thus: “Windmills, remember, if you fight them may swing you round their huge arms and cast you down into the mire.
We here the answer of Cyrano resonating like a Godofredo P. Ramos in so many aspects of his distinguished career and too outstanding life: And the answer: “Or up --- the stars.
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