“Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone.”

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox

SIX years after I wrote an article entitled, “Marivic Mabilog’s pain”, I got a message from the former First Lady of Iloilo City, who is now based in Canada together with former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog and their children.

“We are in a much better place now,” Mrs. Mabilog wrote. “We try to forget the betrayals…they still hurt but when you look at the bigger picture, we are truly blessed and we are on the exact place God wants us to be.”

This was what I wrote in my column and blogs on August 30, 2017:

Josephine Bracken to Dr. Jose Rizal: “Love, I will love you ever; love, I will leave thee never; ever to me precious to thee; never to part, heart bound to heart, or ever to say goodbye.

So, my darling, receive many warm Affection and love from your ever faithful and true till death.”

No one knows how many cups of tears has Marivic Mabilog shed secretly, so far; how many sleepless nights she has logged; and how tight were the embraces she gave her husband, embattled Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

No one can approximate her heartaches and tribulations, but any wife and mother will feel the same pain inside Marivic’s heart.

The torrents of recent events that pilloried her husband and placed his life in jeopardy, must have taken their toll on Marivic as a wife.

No first lady of a city chief executive must’ve suffered the level of distress, sadness and anxiety Marivic has been going through nowadays like Xanthippe, wife of Socrates, condemned and forced to drink the hemlock for the sins he did not commit.

Especially that Marivic knows her husband is innocent like Sir Galahad, but is being fiercely loathed by the President, treated shabbily by a police underling through their irresponsible and uncalled for public admonishments, and abandoned by hitherto political allies through their deafening and incredible silence.

Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you where they are now–and why they refuse to make a stand.

Beneath the veneer of Marivic’s brave and unruffled front must be a dreary wife that resembles Achlys: weeping, emaciated, and pale, with chattering teeth, swollen knees, long nails on her fingers, bloody cheeks, and her shoulders thickly covered with dust.

Marivic has become a woman pushed against the wall, Iloilo’s modern symbol of martyrdom, Agathonice.

A wounded tigress can be vain and histrionic, but once we reach the level of hypothermia, human beings tend to become stiff from fear and intimidation.

Like Hua Mulan (The Ballad of Mulan, 6th Century Chinese poem), Marivic can turn into a warrior when push comes to shove, her bravery may not revolve around avoiding marriage or seeking passion, but will be one centered on familial love and honor.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “What cannot kill you will make you strong.”

When it comes to pushing beyond our comfort zone. fear can sometimes be transformed into energy and endurance.

We can then sit with fear and acknowledge it, humble ourselves before fear, and accept fear’s challenge to be brave as it comes in each moment.

Let me share this letter from Unveiled Wife entitled, “Letter To My Husband: I love You” :

Dear Husband,

Our world is not perfect, I know, but it’s perfect to me. Just being able to wake up next to you gives me so much peace joy and hope. Though this road is rocky and it seems to get worse at times, just know that I love you and always will. We can make it and we will. Let’s just keep putting God first and having our nightly bible studies till we get it right so we can become someone else’s or even another couples beacon of light!

Love Your Wife

-o0o-

EMAIL FROM NEW YORK GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL. Alex, New York State is in the midst of a housing crisis that has been decades in the making.

Even though New York is the place where people and businesses want to be, too many can’t afford to live or move here.

Over the last ten years, our state has created 1.2 million jobs — but only 400,000 new homes.

Rent and home prices are skyrocketing. In the New York City metro area, rents have risen 30 percent since 2015 and home prices have risen 50 percent. Outside of New York City, rents have risen 40-60 percent since 2015, while home prices are up by 50-80 percent.

That means young people can’t afford to start families here, grandparents can’t downsize, and businesses can’t find housing for their workers.

We need to build more housing to make life easier and more affordable for New Yorkers.

We have a plan to build 800,000 new homes across our state: The New York Housing Compact.

The New York Housing Compact will help spur the changes New York needs to create more housing, meet rising demand, and make our state a more equitable, stable, and affordable place to live.

Alex, together, we will tackle our housing crisis and create a brighter future for New Yorkers. Ever Upward, Gov. Kathy Hochul

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)