IS THE key to resolving whatever feud is brewing in the Yanson family?
Sayang, they have done great service to our commuters, travelers and thousands of workers employed in the company - is the common sentiment and if the feud results to the collapse of the Ceres bus empire.
Of course, the smaller bus players, especially the “double tire”, would be gloating already for fresh opportunity for them if Ceres would be gone.
I take this up again because this is a classic on the issue of family life and siblinghood, which the poor and rich alike can learn from, but something which politicians, academicians, faith people, lawyers and even the in-laws don’t give a damn.
I couldn’t believe the Yansons would easily let go of each other because the family’s parents, Ricardo and Olivia, have built their fortunes from a solid family life, love and cooperation, collective dedication and hard work. Something must have gone twisted in the family’s loving and communication system, especially after the demise of their father.
Aside from this, it might be interesting to know also what role their lawyers, in-laws or “tapik” of sorts, close friends and buddies have played that may have contributed to the feud.
I mention this because a number of family feuds and break ups I knew were triggered, fueled and pushed to the edge by non-family members, or the in-laws, the tapiks, the tapiks of the tapiks and even by the lawyers.
In many cases, they are only after something, the spoils of war so to speak.
To help the Yanson family regain its common family sense, it would be great if the non-Yanson family members refrain from joining the brew or even just teasing their respective husbands and spouses on whatever is the issue in the brewing feud, and instead encourage them to resolve their feud among themselves in the spirit of family life and siblinghood.
They can try to truly and sincerely act like members of the Yanson family. But no matter what, they’ll remain extended members, whose origin and perspective are different in many ways with the Yanson family. Whatever happens, they could only be winners, not losers, something that feeds the ego of the conscience.
For the Yanson family, I don’t think Roy, Ric, Emily and Celina have completely lost their sense of siblinghood and family bond vis-à-vis Leo Rey, Jeanette and their great mother Olivia, and vice versa.
Whatever they say, they could not simply dismiss or hide the sibling love they have nurtured and exchanged from their childhood to where and what they are now.
I don’t believe too that money matter is what the feud is all about because Yanson group of bus companies is a multi-billion empire and such is more than enough for each one, even their respective caprices if any at all, and for their hardworking army of well-organized labor.
Someone said once that our family is more than a blood, a name, a fortune or misfortune; it is our anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a resting place, where everyone is loved and can love.
Let’s admit that no family is perfect; they argue, fight, stop talking, evade each other, even part ways, but in the end, family is family, and the love is always there, a brother is always a brother, a sister is always a sister, and so are father and mother - no matter what.
That is also because families are created in different ways, but are still in every way a family.
While I said in my earlier column that countless families have broken up over land, wealth and other material possession, I also asserts that those who have successfully patched up and restored their brokenness are those who have a strong sense of family life and siblinghood.
I really hope and pray that the spirit of siblinghood and family life reigns again in the hearts of the feuding siblings and their mother and restore the life with dignity of the Yanson family.
You only experience once your original family. You may be able to imitate it in some aspects, but you would never be able to have the same family again in your own generation.
In all this, I encourage the Yanson siblings to embrace and resolve it in that spirit, so thousands or millions others in the same brokenness would also be inspired to re-journey towards restoring the deepest meaning of family life in their own sphere.