Stunning Mother-and-Child in PINK

A mother-and-child painting always stops me dead in my tracks. The special love of a mother for an infant evokes so many virtues: strength, sacrifice, resoluteness, and patience—all of them divine.  

I have a file folder of my favorite mother-and-child paintings by various artists. 

On Mother’s Day this year—amidst the presidential campaign—I was particularly riveted to one titled "La Leche Materna" with a PINK background on FB. Not only because of the color which had become our campaign staple, but because of the impact of a selfless mom breastfeeding her child.  

I can never describe the exquisite artistry as I am not an authority on art. But I can express my feelings in one word: stunned. 

The artist, Tom Yboa, is a dear, long-time friend, whose works I marvel at on social media—but only if they happen to pass my wall during the hours I spend online. 

This stunning image never left me as the campaign drew to a close, because that was how I imagined the election results: 

Our next president is a mother.   

She has demonstrated all the sterling qualities of a mom to the people whom she served (nursed may be a better word) for years. I had dreamed of her doing the same for the rest of the country.  

Alas, it was not to be. Today, VP Leni announced—through Atty. Romulo Macalintal—that she will bow to the voice of the people.  

This mother has accepted “defeat” with grace.

Macalintal's short speech was cathartic to us kakampinks (kindred spirits) who, during her Pasasalamat (Thanksgiving rally), cheered her plan to launch the Angat Buhay NGO on July 1, the day after she ends her VP stint. 

Her words, "Allow yourself to cry, but when you're ready to wipe your tears, prepare yourself, strengthen you heart, because we have work to do." She vowed that even as an ordinary citizen, stripped of any government post, she will continue helping Filipinos to have a better life. 

Tom’s art will always remind me that once in my lifetime, I helped passionately campaign for hope, humanized by a mother in PINK, who was spurned by the majority (if the numbers are indeed true). 

But no matter how many times a mother is spurned, she will give of her best, she will persevere. That is a universal truth. 

 “ . . . God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV)