As i was surfing the net, i came across this award Happiest Pinoy. I was surprised to learn that there is such an award given to the pinoy who according to some criteria, are the happiest in the land. I read the article about the year's winner and i was having goosebumps while reading it! sooooo inspiring! i am now posting the article in my blogsite for the information of everyone reading my blogs! i hope you'll be inspired as well. :)
ARGUABLY, it is easier to be happy when one has many things to be happy about. And a person in the midst of suffering tends to lose faith and give in to sadness.
Winston Abella Maxino, 47, has been, for the longest time, contradicting these statements. Humor and infectious laughter are his best “weapons,” empowering him to rise above the medical challenges in his life.
The eighth of nine children, Winston was born and raised in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. For most of his life, he suffered from severe asthma and allergy attacks. There were times when he had to be brought to the hospital and be confined for half the total number of school days.
The surest way for him to get rid of the physical pain was to make people laugh by cracking jokes and playing tricks on them. He always felt he was on the verge of death and with those simple gestures, he could leave a mark in case he would die soon. People would remember him as the “poor boy” who mastered the art of making people happy.
Even while faced with serious medical conditions, Winston was born to be an achiever. At 11, he became the “Little City Mayor” in Dumaguete City and performed mayoral duties for a week. He got elected as the youngest kagawad representing the youth sector of the city when he was still studying in Silliman University in 1980.
He completed BS Political Science, cum laude, despite his busy schedule as a public servant. He carried the distinction of being the only college student of Silliman University who was the grand slam recipient of the Most Outstanding Student of the Year in his four years in college.
Winston’s condition could have been an easy excuse for him to stay in the background and live in self-pity, but it only made him more determined to go beyond his limits.
From 1984 to 1988, he pursued his ambition to become a lawyer like his father and two older siblings at the Ateneo de Manila University. Law school tested his endurance with sleepless nights of studying that led to worse asthma attacks. His strong will and hard work paid off when he graduated with Distinction for Honor Scholarship.
After law school, he served as a legislative assistant to former senator Agapito “Butz” Aquino from 1988 to 1990 and a technical assistant and one of President Corazon Aquino’s speech writers in the Office of the President from 1990 to 1992. He occupied various positions in the Philippine Postal Corp. from 1992 to 1996.
Discouraged by corruption and bureaucracy in the government, Winston made a big leap to the private sector in 1997. He was hired as special assistant to the President of Hooven Philippines Inc. and quickly promoted as vice president for Corporate Affairs.
In 2000, when everything seemed to be perfect, he was diagnosed with a degenerative and incurable bone disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), a rare case of rheumatoid arthritis of the spine and sacroiliac joints. He found himself unable to move without pain and walk without help. He had to take various strong pain relievers to manage the pain.
Despite his newly discovered disease, he became chief operating officer of Hooven Philippines Inc. in 2003—and remains so up to the present. As a leader he led from the heart and made employees’ welfare his priority. He was accessible to anybody who wanted to talk to him, and inspired loyalty and dedication in his subordinates.
Beyond Winston’s numerous accomplishments, it is his noble role as a loving husband to his wife Alina and an adoring father to his three daughters that he is most proud of.
His second child was born with Down syndrome. He worked hard to earn well so that he could support the regular medical treatments and weekly therapies of his daughter. He became an active member of the Down Syndrome Association of the Philippines, where he served as president and chairman of the board. He was instrumental in securing Presidential Proclamation 157 which declared the month of February as “Down Syndrome Consciousness Month.”
His passion in life is to make people happy. He loves to make children happy and calls himself a “kidologist.” He presents impressive and entertaining magic shows equipped with latest magic kits. Winston is also a certified balloon artist who conducts balloon twisting and decors in kids’ parties for free. He would surprise people with an audio-visual presentation that he prepared with photos he took.
Death is not a distant possibility to Winston, and he bravely welcomes it. He does not dwell on his health problems, having learned how to suffer cheerfully. His positive frame of mind motivates him to make the best of time with his family by starting to chronicle their happy moments together.
(Note: This is part of the profiles BusinessMirror is running on the persons who made it as finalists in the Search for the Happiest Pinoy, presented by Cebuana Lhuillier).
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