CLARK FREEPORT – Not the usual rags-to-riches fairy tale but a true story of pure grit and determination to triumph over poverty was the main feature in the Discuss WidUs Father’s Day edition of the Central Luzon Media Association-Pampanga Chapter held at Swissotel Clark on June 20.
Born to poverty as the fifth of 12 siblings, Engr. Eliseo “Bot” Bautista recounted how his parents instilled in them the value of education as the greatest inheritance. This, practiced in the siblings’ sequential support whereby one who finishes school and gets a job supports the schooling of the next in line. A practical, and effective system, as all 12 of them became professionals.
“We grew with that value that has continued to our maturity in our mutual support for one another,” Bautista shared.
College was a struggle, he said, reminiscing how he walked from a boarding house near the University of Sto. Tomas to his school, Far Eastern University, to save on his allowance. “Lumpia lang at soft drinks sa sidewalk, sapat na sa buong araw na pag-aaral.”
He graduated with a civil engineering degree and went on to his first work – at the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, earning a “good salary” enabling him to sustain the studies of four younger siblings.
His professional journey took him to international projects in China, and eventually back home, where he and his wife Susana co-founded B-12 Construction and Trading Corp. And the rest, as cliched, is history – built in strongly ready-mix concrete, aggregates, roads, and buildings.
Over and above his successful business story, Bautista’s pride and joy resides in family. His daughters, Dr. Haidee and De La Salle University law student Precious embodying the Bautista family values of hard work, kindness, and faith.
“True wealth is not measured in possessions, but in the love, sacrifice, and values we pass on to the next generation.” So spoke, eloquently, the father in Bautista. Punto Lifestyle Team/Photos: Nelson Gonzales-CLMA
