Response of Dr. Fe R. Juarez on behalf of her mother, Mrs. Gloria Laureana Rosales
It is our honor to accept this Ozanam Award on behalf of our mother, Gloria Laureana San Pedro Rosales. Our family is deeply grateful for this recognition. Coincidentally, we just commemorated her 10th death anniversary last July 24.
Our mother was a woman who in her lifetime had a simple vision, yet her influence is so strong that even now she continues to transform people’s lives.
She did not have an easy life, yet she took all of her struggles in stride. It is from her life experiences that her advocacies were born.
She is the 6th of 8 children of Dionisio San Pedro and Gregoria Llamsin of Limay, Bataan. Mommy would say she learned to be generous by watching her own mother, who for her was the epitome of grace. Despite their poverty, her mother would not let anyone who knocked on their door leave empty-handed. They would be orphaned early, but all her life Mommy looked to her mother for inspiration.
Mommy was in her teens during the outbreak of the second world war. She remembers that it was a priest who showed her family kindness during those difficult times. This would fuel her lifelong support of the priests and religious. She always reminded us to think of them for she understood that the mission could be a difficult and lonely path.
In that time of war, uncertainty, and fear, Mommy sought and found solace in the church. She came to believe that it is necessary for anyone to have a dignified place of worship—a sanctuary, a refuge. This is why cathedrals, mosques, churches, and even remote barrio chapels received her support. Often, she would buy the materials herself and took an active hand in the projects’ completion.
She loved her God and she loved His people. So she helped build churches, she supported seminaries, she donated land for drug rehabilitation, for street kids, for unwed mothers, and for other causes. Her family is not privy to all her philanthropic deeds, for she gave without her left hand knowing.
All the schools founded by Mommy and our father, Engr. Sesenio S. Rosales, have extensive working student programs—providing many poor students access to good education. Mommy was a working student herself; she knew firsthand the power of education to change lives, because it changed her own.
Her passion for education was rooted in the desire to empower especially the marginalized. This path required from her extraordinary courage. In the 1950s, for example, while working as a school administrator in Marawi city, Mommy was unwavering in her campaign for Maranao women to be educated.
She was a mother not only to us, but to an extended family as well. She is “Mommy” or “Madame” to all those whose lives she touched. She was generous with her time, her affection, and her cooking--which she shared with many.
Mommy was foremost a strong woman. Even in her sick bed, her mind, her faith, and her will kept strong. She bore her pain quietly, praying to Jesus on the Cross, for the intentions of priests and religious.
Thank you to Ateneo de Manila University for honoring our mother, for celebrating her life, and for reminding all of us that there is still much work to be done.
