Fathers' Day June 21, 2026: A Tribute and Reminder of Fathers' Role in these Critical Times

 A Tribute and Reminder of Fathers' Role in these Critical Times

Father's Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Father's Day 2026 in the Philippines falls on Sunday, June 21, celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year.

Excerpt of TV interview of Dr Abercio V Rotor Ph.D.

In celebration of International Fathers Day

June 16, 2019 , Manila Hotel

Ulirang Ama Awardees: PM GENERAL GUILLERMO ELEAZAR 

and DR ABERCIO V ROTOR 

Hi! This was taken during the Ulirang Ama Awarding last June 16 2019 held at The Manila Hotel. My grandpa, Dr. Abercio Rotor, was one of the awardees together with another ulirang ama. I always pretend to play as a super-agent, that is why, when I met NCRPO PM General Guillermo Eleazar, i was so happy! Someday, I want to be like him! And I was also happy because I got to play and spend some time with my grandpa, grandma (photo), tita ann  and tito mac, tito carlo, and my cousins; mackie (photo) and markus. It was a very happy Father’s Day. HAVE A GREAT DAY! Mateo Laurencio Vicente M Rotor, 8

 

                                 AVR - Ulirang Ama Awardee for Education 2019

 

29 Ulirang Ama awardees 2019 in 11 sectoral categories pose with Ulirang Ama/Ina Foundation officers after the awarding ceremonies at the Manila Hotel.  (Dr Rotor is shown standing, extreme right)

I am honored to receive this prestigious award Ulirang Ama for Education 2019.

While I am an individual named by your Foundation, I must insist of sharing this award with all fathers.

Father's Day brings back sweet memories of the man in particular who was father to me. The inspiration he provided and the moral values he instilled are very much alive in me - in my children and hopefully with their children, ad infinitum. To my late father, “To the world you are a dad; to our family you are the world."

Father's Day bespeaks the unity and continuity of the Filipino in particular that the Family is the central element in our national life. The role of the father carries responsibilities as well as the joys and rewards of fatherhood. 

“If the father's responsibility and authority break down, the family is in trouble. If the family is in trouble, the Nation is in trouble.” Said United States VP Gerald Ford 1974 Father of the Year Awardee)

I congratulate the organizers of this yearly event in keeping this beautiful bond of love blooming with kindness and love. This is one of the most important bonds a person can share. It affirms the greatest gift of the Omnipotent Being the sacredness of man-woman union in matrimony and procreation and in establishing the nucleus of society. 

Robert Browning has very rightly stated that “Take away love and our earth is a tomb”. God had sent to us love in various forms and one of them is your Father. He is a person who stands by our side no matter what. He loves his children unconditionally and the beauty of the relationship is that he does it all without demanding anything in return.

Before I get carried away with my role of the father and recipient of this award, let me point out that my wife Cecille deserves the same if not, greater recognition, because  a father cannot be a father without a mother for their children.

The concept of Father's Day is one that celebrates human relationships built on love and family unity while inspired by the love of country and humanity with the moral values instilled by the Supreme Creator.

Again, I thank you for selecting me for this cherished award. I wish all the fathers Happy Fathers' Day. But let us not forget the mothers, the uncles, the aunts, the grandparents, and the children themselves who make it all possible.  

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"We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves."
—Henry Ward Beecher 

Dr Abercio V Rotor Family

Front, seated: Dr Abe V Rotor, Sister Venie Valdez Rotor (religious), spouse Cecilia Rojas Rotor.  Standing L-R, Daughter Anna Christina Rotor-Sta Maria (with grandson Markus Andrei), neice Jules Rojas; son Leo Carlo Rotor (with granddaughter Michaela Adrianna);  Dr Charisse Mendoza Rotor (MD); Matthew Marlo R Rotor. (Not in the picture is son-in-law Mac Sta Maria who took this photo)

Armageddon in the Making in Our Postmodern Time

Armageddon* in the Making 

in Our Postmodern Time

Dr Abe V Rotor

* The Book of Revelation is often interpreted as a symbolic and apocalyptic work, with Armageddon representing the final cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil.

1. Fiery Serpent at Sunrise 

A streak of fiery cloud hangs on the Eastern horizon as seen

from the author's residence at Lagro, QC. 

It hangs menacing over the empty horizon

     this streak of fire in the sky;

where it came from it's hard to deny,

     but from the dreaded land of Armageddon.

It came from the home, car and furnace;

     factories and burning forests;

little volcanoes thought harmless

     scorching our Mother Earth's face.

I stood there to say my morning grace,

     Hello sun! Hello New Day!

Now, now, what have I to pray?

     Would my Creator accept my praise? 

2. A Piece of Armageddon

 Overcrowded Earth, Manila.  Photo by the author c. 1990

                                                                 

Armageddon in human hands released,
     piece by piece ticking with the clock;
innocence denied, sanity defied
     to the final shock.

Time capsules all into infinity:
     pleasure and pain, evil and goodness -
all that is on planet earth,
     into emptiness.

It's Sodom revived, so with the Flood
     and Vesuvius a thousand times;
and in war none but the innocent
     is the price.

And the god in man and man in God
     in futile struggle comes to end
the earth shall be no longer,
      so with a heaven.

Fabled paradise shall be no more,
     lost and regained, and finally gone;
Then a new world shall rise - perhaps
     without man. ~ 

3.Armageddon Shroud

   (Dirge over a Burning Sky)

A sugar mill furnace at night in Batangas.  

Photo by the author c. 1989

The night has a thousand eyes,

     bright and twinkling in song;

but one dreary night one cries

     out, the cry of Armageddon.

No song can bring back the moon

     and the stars - they've died out

under a blanket of doom

     where spirits roam about.

No other but his own death,

     and the earth's, man is doomed;

masked by power and wealth, 

     softly he digs his own tomb. ~

4. Armageddon in Art

Colors of Armageddon

Two Faces of Armageddon in acrylic by the author

When red is fire, black is death,

     romance no longer in the air

and black a tragic beauty

     of ultimate warfare.

Suffer the artists to capture

     in vivid imagination, 

scenarios ahead of time,

     ahead of others' vision.

They are at the frontline  

     before the Armageddon.

with colors, brush and pen 

     into the night 'til dawn.~

 5. Dirge of a Dying Creek

The afternoon sun casts an aura of the creek's once beautiful state with trees and shrubs lining its banks. Now the creek is virtually dead - biologically. Note highly polluted water and dumped quarry materials blocking the natural waterway. (Parallel Aurora Blvd, QC)

Once upon a time, so the story goes, clouds gather

     from the sea and land, cumulus to nimbus,

falling as rain, drenching the trees and grass and all,

     and down the lake and river and field it goes.

I was born this way, like my kin, many miles away,

     children of Pasig River, seat of a civilization,

the artery of vast Laguna Lake and historic Manila Bay,

     and I, a tributary of this magnificent creation.

I lived in the stories of Balagtas the poet laureate,

     in Rizal's novels, Abelardo's Kundiman song,

I throbbed with the happy heart of a living system,

     like the Rhine, Danube, Nile and Mekong.

I am part of history, obedient to man and nature's will,

     I gave him clean water and fish, I sang lullaby;

laughed with the children at play under my care,

     through generations and time sweetly went by.

Seasons come and go, the story goes on - ad infinitum -

     but where are the birds that herald habagat?

where have all the children gone after class, in summer?

     reflection on my water, green carpet on my rock?

I am dying, dear mother, I long for you and my kin,

     I choke with debris, laden with waste matter,

my banks are no more, concrete walls have taken over,

     I am dying mother - but my mother doesn't answer;

my mother doesn't answer. ~

Balete or Strangler's Fig clings on an adobe rock cliff.

Views of middle stream, and upper stream to the east. 

The creek is now an open sewer, ugly, obnoxious

Outgrowth extends over the creek as if to hide its pathetic 

condition and man's indifference from public view.

Just across the creek to the north lies a man-made pond of 

the Oasis - serene and aesthetic, except the foul air of 

Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen Sulfide, methane, ammonia 

and other gases,  being emitted by the nearby creek. ~

Past lessons on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air)

with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday [www.pbs.gov.ph]

In Celebration of the 128th Anniversary of Philippine Independence (June 12, 2026): "Kalayaan, Kinabukasan, Kasaysayan"

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid 

738KHZ Radyo Pilipinas

Theme - KKK

 "Kalayaan, Kinabukasan, Kasaysayan"

Originally, Inseparable Duo: Patriotism and Cultural Values 

 In celebration of the 128th Anniversary of Philippine Independence (June 12, 2026), and National Heritage Month (May 2026)

Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or historical aspects.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Patriotism is a sacred temple founded on four pillars:

· love and compassion,

· support and defense of ones country

· national loyalty

· universal principle for peace.

Patriotism has undergone a long historical evolution. 

To children patriotism and heroism are tied up, say in Superman comics and in the classics. Here the protagonist prevails over the villain and circumstances while building the moral of the story. Heroism is a result of strife, sacrifice, guts and Providence. In tragic stories, death is justified by a cause, such as freedom. At the end it is always the human spirit that triumphs.

Our children therefore must be guided to inculcate in their mind and heart the sense of patriotism and heroism and as they grow up will understand their common grounds and differences, whether fiction or true story.

To scholars, patriotism has many faces. In the age of colonization the master was the patriot, the self-proclaimed civilizer as he “brought the subjects – the natives into the folds of civilization and converted them into a new faith.”

First Philippine Republic: Asia's First 

Going back to June 12,1898, proudly the Philippines proclaimed independence from Spain, the first to break away from colonial rule in Asia. Though short-lived, the First Philippine republic, nonetheless catapulted the Filipino nation onto the world’s consciousness carving not only a place among the family of nations but also a distinct niche as the first republic in Asia. 

The birth of new nations in post-colonial era spawned a new breed of heroes and patriots, hardline nationalists building a glamorized image as benevolent dictators. while they were trapped to allegiance to either democracy and socialism polarized during the Cold War which lasted for 45years until 1989.

Racism, apartheid, anti-Semiticism, extreme fundamentalism, and the like, have faded from the limelight of enlightened societies. Walls dividing ideologies were knocked down. Divided countries like Germany and Vietnam were reunited. USSR was dissolved back to Russia we know today, liberating its union members into independent states.  

Today the concept of patriotism is again at the crossroad. For one, the indigenous peoples have found a place among former colonial masters in government and in various fields, and even excel in many of them. Indigenous leaders considered before as enemies are now recognized as heroes like Lapu-lapu in the Philippines, and   Montezuma of the Aztecs (early Mexicans). Many aboriginal leaders in Australia, Africa, the US and other parts of the world have been brought to fame and bestowed honor. Patriotism brings back the pride and dignity of ancestors, aborigines and indigenous people: Mac-liing of Upper Chico River in Kalinga Apayao, Wangari native of Kenya led the planting of millions of tree, Barack Obama and Luther King led the once maligned Negro to international respect, redeeming him from freedom to equality. 

Patriotism in Postmodern Era

Patriotism grows with the times. But it must stand firm, it should not be engulfed by the current of change. On the contrary, patriotism must serve as anchor against rapid and chartless change, especially in our new era we call postmodernism, which means “living tomorrow today.”

The electronic age has “wired” the globe. Today we are just a dial away from each other. Communication satellites loom in the sky.  We are now subjects of the cyberspace empire. Today we ask what is patriotism in social media, in the Internet? To Google, Facebook, Twitter et al? 

No one should live in the future. It is too dangerous, lonely and uncertain. Out there is a battlefield where the enemy is no other than us – ourselves, having drifted away from

· time-tested tradition,

· valuable lessons of history,

· the primordial institutions of family and community,

· honored values and tradition, and

· man’s harmonious relationship with nature.

Where does patriotism come in - in this scenario? In this battlefield that covers practically all human societies linked by a network of communication and transportation, commerce and industry, the so-called progress has been found to have miserably failed to bring true prosperity, peace and happiness. It has undermined the true meaning of The Good Life. It is taking man away from the realities of life, much less its challenges and conditions that make life exciting, fulfilled, and worth living, that ensures the sustainability of these attributes in future generations.

One unique characteristic of Patriotism is its humbling effect, contrary to popular notion. It brings man to his knees to reflect and meditate. And to gather courage and strength for change. But it is a change against, and away, from futurism. Away from the brink of Armageddon, from a cataclysmic consequence of a global conflict that is not remote from happening.

Let us seriously consider these disturbing global events that threaten world peace and security:

· US-Iran conflict in the Middle East

. Israel-Lebanon conflic

. genocide in Gaza by Israel

. Russian war in Ukraine

. rise of organized terrorism,

· continuing Syrian conflict 

· the sudden diplomatic row between and among countries in the Middle East.

· breakup of the European Union,

· nuclear threat by North Korea and Iran

  (and the unaccountable nuclear stockpile during the Cold War.)

· unabated pileup and emission of wastes on land, sea and in the air

· global warming, climate change, induced force majeure and other consequences

· runaway increase in population (8 billion today)

· eroding values and tradition 

· greedy capitalism and consumerism,

· maverick science and technology (Frankenstein syndrome)

· extremism and fundamentalism leading to separatism and alienation.

· Mindanao conflict, renewed New People's Army threat to peace and security

. crisis in leadership at the Philippine Senate 

 We must be soldiers to defend none other but ourselves, the human race. No species on earth is as self-destructive as Homo sapiens, ironically the “thinking man,” the only rational organism on earth. 

"We are soldiers ourselves to protect ourselves."

If we are soldiers ourselves for our own sake what then are we fighting for or against? Remembering the great Mahatma Gandhi, we must renounce the seven Deadly Sins defined by this great leader, acclaimed Man of the Millennium (the greatest man who ever lived in the last one thousand years) by starting with and in ourselves. 

Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Aristotle who lived 2500 years before, qualified such change, said, “It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”

These sages meant that a good man has higher attributes than just being a good follower, law-abiding, and conscious of his rights and privileges. Patriotism surpasses tenets and doctrines; it sets inviolable principles. It prods us to renounce

· Wealth without work

· Pleasure without conscience

· Science without humanity

· Knowledge without character

· Politics without principle

· Commerce without morality

· Worship without sacrifice.”

― Mahatma Gandhi, Seven Deadly Sins

Patriotism is committed to preserve tradition. 

Declaration of Philippine Independence June 12 1898, Kawit Cavite

It is a conservatory of values that have guided our ancestors for eons. In fact one writer said, “Primitive people were more patriotic than we are today.” The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was at its greatest before there was any civilization. On the road of change let’s look back and see the beacon that has guided man's aspiration and goal.

“A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations  in their hour of peril” said the great British hero, Winston Churchill. 

"We have reasons to cherish life which nature provided us free and plentiful. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children.

Tradition is the saving grace of a dangerous postmodern world. We are living in a bubble that can burst anytime. As a consequence economics over the world is likely to collapse. We are sitting on a social volcano which may erupt in Gaza, Ukraine, Pakistan, Syria, Middle East, Mindanao, Europe, North Korea and elsewhere. We don't have to go far - own country is in crisis today.

Among us are heroes and patriots in their own way: senior citizens still active, still contributing to the welfare of our society; teachers dutifully attending to their duties as vocation; media men and women truthful to the code of journalism even as they face the risk of the profession; "doctors in the barrio" as how the late Dr Juan Flavier described them; widows, orphans in great resolve to go on in life - these and 1001 others are the unknown heroes in our midst. They are like the Unknown Soldier, who only God is witness to his deed. And that there is no deed, however small, is insignificant.

Yes, patriotism is a way of life. So with loyalty. Both must live in and with us always. ~

Originally published with revision and update  on the 120th Philippine Independence June 12, 2018,  
Guest Editorial (Greater Lagro Gazette

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* By virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 439, s. 2003, the month of May has been annually celebrated as the National Heritage Month. This observance aims to create among the Filipino people a consciousness, respect, and love for the legacies of the nation’s cultural history.

This 2022, the National Heritage Month banners with the theme: “PAMANANG LOKAL: Binhi ng Kulturang Pilipino” which highlights the importance of preserving and promoting local heritage within a community and its impact in shaping the Philippine cultural identity. It calls on each and every Filipino to return to our cultural roots and appreciate the rich legacies passed on from different generations.

Usapang Bayan: Monsoon is life (Self-administered test)

Part 1 - Usapang Bayan

Monsoon is life 

It is life to millions of people, in fact half of humanity, living along its yearly path, and to our living world, for that matter.  

NOTE: This schoolyear's opening is June 10, 2026 for 26 million Filipinos

          Ms Melly C Tenorio, host, and Dr Abe V Rotor, Guest 

In line with the observance of International Mother Earth Day (April 22, 2025); International Day of the Forest (March 21); National Heritage Month (May 2025); Day of Biodiversity (May 22); Environment Day (June 6); Philippine Eagle (June 4 to 10), Philippine National Arbor Day (June 25, 2025). Also, Feast of San Isidro Labrador (patron saint of farmers), Pahiyas Festival* May 15 (Lucban Quezon); kite-flying in Japan, Rolling Cheese chase in England; Ceres Harvest Festival in Ancient Greece; Spring Season Festivals in India     

Let's learn from the answers to a self-administered test on Monsoon and its Effects occurring on the Northern Hemisphere.  The Southern Hemisphere (e.g. Australia) experiences opposite seasons of the year. 

Monsoon is life. It is life to millions of people, in fact half of humanity, living along its yearly path. It is a regular climatic phenomenon but sometimes it comes early or late, sometimes bringing in plenty of rain and typhoons. It may end early or extend over, and the consequences are both good and bad. But it is unthinkable if there were no monsoon at all. 

Here are some questions to test our knowledge about the monsoon, more than that, to test to what extent we have learned to live with and by this natural phenomenon.

1. Ideally, rainfall is the purest water we get from nature, because the principle involved is distillation. Rain therefore, is distilled water. T

2. Because of gas and particle emissions from cars, factories, agriculture and human settlements, rainfall is unsafe to drink, and in fact we should refrain from going out in the rain. T

3. Global warming has something to do with the disturbance of the tectonic plates leading to more frequent and stronger earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruption. T

4. Global warming is the concern of governments and big businesses because they have the power and resources. We, ordinary citizens, have very little contribution to its solution. (F)

5. Three things to do in preparation for the monsoon season: House repair, gardening, and community work such as tree planting and cleaning drainage canals. T

6. Among the recommended plants for the rainy season are ubi, malunggay, singkamas, gabi, carrots, pechay and lettuce, to augment our local food supply. (F )

7. The best time and most economical, and with least care and attention to plant vegetables in the backyard and idle lots is during the monsoon season. T

8. Frogs, snails, catfish, crayfish, mudfish, and the like, remain in a state of torpor during summer then they come out of their hiding places - cracks in the soil, underneath mulches, underground springs, etc. T

9. Wallows of carabao, river basins, farm ponds, ricefield catchments are natural sanctuaries. When the rains come, the aestivating organisms become active and start populating the flooded fields. T

10. It is customary to walk, play, sing, in the first heavy rain as the monsoon approaches, but you have to wet the navel first before attempting to do so, according to old folks. T

11. Rain makes the swimming pool green because rain dissolves nitrates in the air which it brings down to earth. T

12. Sporadic rainfall may be just thunderstorm. We can dismiss the possibility of strong rain after the sky has cleared and the thunderstorm has passed. (F)

13. Weathering is a geological process leading to soil formation. The principle is alternate heat and cold causing differential expansion and contraction of the material. Its principal companion is water - rainfall and running water. T

14. Bare watershed absorbs rain greedily because it is thirsty, so to speak, so why worry of delayed reforestation? Nature has her own way of self-regeneration. (F)

Aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, Tacloban Leyte

15. Typhoons occur mostly during monsoon. A typhoon has a large circulating mass of air, laden with rain at its periphery, and moving from a high pressure to a low pressure area, circulating in a clockwise direction, that is if you are above the equator. (F,  counterclockwise)

16. On the Central Plains, during the monsoon season the most important crop is corn. Corn likes a lot of rain. (F)

17. During the monsoon period the Inter-Tropical Convergent Zone (ITCZ) is usually up north of the Philippines; whereas during the amihan, the ITCZ moves southward to Mindanao or lower. T

 

Gamu gamu or winged termites emerge at the onset of monsoon.  Right, trapping gamu gamu with plastic bag attached to a light bulb, devised by author's son, Leo Carlo in his high school. 

18. By now the June beetle has emerged, so with the cicada, and the winged termites (gamu-gamu) PHOTOS have swarmed out from their colonies. T

19. The path of the monsoon winds is over the south western Pacific picking up moisture that builds into clouds which subsequently become rain that pours over a wide area covering Southeast Asia, the sub-continent of India, over much of Asia, on to Western Africa. T

20. The water table rises as the amount of rainfall increases, and in many cases, it reaches the top and joins with the runoff water, exacerbating flooding in the area. T

21. Planting trees, scientists tell us, is not a wise measure to curb global warming, because trees absorb the heat of the sun and make the earth warmer. F

22. It is the light of the sun – not its heat – that is used to convert H2O and CO2 during photosynthesis to produce sugar and Oxygen. T

23. Twice in a day the tides come and go, meaning there are two high tides and two low tides alternately taking place. T

24. Doldrums at sea have killed as many sailors as storms in the old days of shipping. T

25. When lightning strikes, the surrounding air suddenly expands and produces the sound referred to as thunder. This phenomenon takes place more frequently in summer than in any other time of the year. F ~

On the rescue. Flood in Metro Manila is a recurrent problem.

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* The Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon is a vibrant harvest festival celebrated annually on May 15th. It honors San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers, with homes decorated with fruits, vegetables, and kiping (rice wafers). The festival includes street parades, cultural performances, and the "Kalas" parade, where participants grab produce from decorated homes. The Pahiyas is a celebration of gratitude for the year's harvest and a display of the Lucbanin culture.