The works included in this book cover varied themes and subjects, but as the title chapter “Valentine Means Love” suggests, the theme of love-love of God, of country, and of people —predominates. Moreover, the title signifies that this work is part of my love offering to my beloved Alma Mater [Central Philippine University] on her 100th anniversary.
Most of the meditations and messages in this book were delivered before the board members, officers, and some employees and clients of Taytay sa Kauswagan, Inc. (TSKI) and Opportunity Kauswagan Bank (OK Bank). TSKI is a non-stock, non-profit Christian development organization. It was founded in 1986 and in twenty-five years, by God’s grace, has become one of the largest microfinance institutions in the Philippines. From a staff of three, TSKI now has 2,700 employees. From a dozen of fish vendors in the La Paz Public Market in Iloilo City in 1986, it has 300,000 active, current clients in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. OK Bank is a microfinance-oriented thrift bank that is majority owned by TSKI.
A few years ago, a friend who had just returned from the United States told me, "I saw two of your books at the New York Public Library." Then a year or so later, another friend who worked as a librarian in America said to me, "You can consider yourself a fulfilled writer. You have been listed by the Library of Congress." Intrigued by those statements of friends, I asked my brother Ed to make a survey of libraries to find out where copies of my works, especially books, are located. A literary work is the writer's brain-child. To the author of the works in this Directory, it is a great pleasure to know that his "children" have spread to many countries around the world.
My father was a remarkable person. He was poor and uneducated but he had a dream for his children. He told me the dream when I was still a boy.
The twenty-nine stories included in this book reveal the kind of man my father was. In presenting these stories to the public, I do not intend to glorify my father. I simply wish to share with the readers these tales of love and care, of struggles and dreams, of homespun philosophy and wit, which I hope they will find interesting, entertaining, and perhaps edifying.
The speeches and lectures selected for this book were delivered at different places and before various audiences. The purpose for collecting and putting them in book form is not only to make them better understood and last longer, but also to make them reach a wider audience.
The title “No Man Is An Island” was chosen because it expresses the central theme common to all the speeches and lectures. This theme is that man does not live by himself and for himself alone, but he also lives with and for his fellowmen. Of course, as the reader may find out, the speeches and lectures also dwell on other subjects of wide and lasting import.
The Dr. Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation is pleased to publish the three papers that Mr. Sonza delivered during the Avanceña Centennial Lectures. The lectures were delivered in 1998 which was also the Centennial of Philippine Independence; but the shining saga of Arevalo and the Avanceñas remain meaningful today, and will stay to be so for a long time in the future.
After nine years out of service, the author was once again elected member of the Provincial Board (the local legislature) of the Province of Iloilo in 2010 and reelected in 2013. In acknowledgement of his accomplishments as a historian and writer, he was chosen by his peers to chair the Committee on Culture, Arts, History and Tourism of the Provincial Board.
Ever active in the activities and deliberations of the Board, Mr. Sonza has delivered dozens of speeches during the "Privilege Hour." Some of the speeches were on passing or ephemeral issues and concerns, but a fair number are on subjects of lasting interest and relevance.
