Biography of antonio cabangon chua died

Share this story! Businessman and former ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon-Chua, 81, died on Friday, March He also owns Aliw Broadcasting Corporation. He was Ambassador to Laos during the Arroyo administration. Del Rosario: Funding crisis looms for foreign-assisted projects as budget misalignments persist.

Biography of antonio cabangon chua died: Antonio L. Cabangon-Chua (August 30,

ISBN Suryadinata, Leoed. CNN Philippines. March 11, Archived from the original on March 11, Retrieved March 11, August 21, CMMA Foundation. Archived from the original on March 13, Retrieved March 12, October 14, The Philippine Star. May 25, November 5, The Sin I Knew Not what you think! He learned to catch fish from the Pasig River by digging out worms for bait from empty lots somewhere in Santa Ana.

Dominga, who hardly cooked a meal in her young life, took on the task of whipping up sugared coconut patties bukayo to sell. After fleeing to an area the Americans had occupied—the barefoot Antonio walking for miles—both mother and child worked as clothes washers for the GIs. Antonio had asked an old man to craft a shoeshine box for him so he can add to his daily keep by shining the shoes of American soldiers.

He also raised chickens in his backyard, ironed clothes at night, sold ice drops—whatever it took to pay the rent and survive, he would do. Food was nowhere scarcer than in their little rented home.

Biography of antonio cabangon chua died: MANILA, Philippines – Businessman

Antonio would at times go for hours and days without a bite to eat, leaving him in an almost debilitating state of starvation. Tony later described himself as thin, of dark skin and a weak constitution. One afternoon, while shining the shoes of an American officer, the boy noticed the man munching on a pear. He had not taken a single bite for a whole day, thus his unwitting display of interest in the fruit.

Antonio said no. Without warning, the officer hurled the half-eaten pear to the ground, summoning Antonio to pick it up and eat it. Tony wanted it, but he held back his hands for reasons of dignity. He had learned from his mother not to belittle himself despite the pangs of hunger.

Biography of antonio cabangon chua died: Businessman and former ambassador

The boy refused to budge. The officer kept on nudging him, until the GI kicked the boy in the face. All Antonio could do was run to a corner and weep. The lessons learned by the young Antonio during the years of survival proved vital to his rise in the world, but such lessons did not come easy. Each lesson learned was hard fought. They were brutal trainings heaped by people who were, at best, hostile to him and his poverty.

At another time, the boy came home with nothing to eat the whole day. As Antonio searched the small rented hut for some food, he saw a milkfish stashed in the makeshift cupboards. The modest hut made of nipa, which mother and child shared with another couple, was empty at the time. The boy took the milkfish and ate it, thinking it was reserved for him by his mother.

Only later did he find out that the milkfish belonged to the other couple. He would, decades later, describe the incident as one of the most unforgettable in terms of what he had learned from it. He saw his mother, Dominga, suffer that day from a mixture of wounded pride and shame, anger and self-pity. It was on that very hour when the boy promised himself to do everything necessary for his mother never to suffer humiliation again.

From the Namayan Primary School, the young Antonio later jumped to other schools with the assistance of some members of the larger family. He was an avid student, working alongside his mother while studying. By the end of the s, he finished primary school at the Santa Ana Elementary. Too, Dominga had raised enough savings to return to Mandaluyong and there put up a sari-sari store.

While their life together had yet to turn for the better, things were already moving in their favor. This was up until the store started experiencing its attendant problems. Many neighbors bought supplies on credit, which made earning on time difficult for Dominga. One particular man bullied the mother to supply him with drink—a bottle of gin—sans any plan of paying up.

When Antonio heard about it, he immediately grabbed his balisong, a local butterfly knife, and challenged the man to leave. Then he thought of taking the entrance exam in La Salle College. Add a New Bio. Powered by CITE. Notify me of new comments via email.

Biography of antonio cabangon chua died: Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, who

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