Estelita G. JucoDay to Day Heroism

Estelita G. JucoWhen Esty got disabled (right arm

amputated, right eye completely blinded, and left knee chopped off, causing a lifetime fracture) because of the explosion of a shell in the Philippine General Hospital where they had sought for refuge from their burning homes during the World War II.

Looking back to all of her trauma, she find herself thanking God rather than blaming life.

Estelita G. JucoThere were periods when Esty feel

depressed and drowning in tears of self-pity. But not for long. She had to put on bravery for the sake of her mother who was very sensitive and emotional person. Esty wanted to spare her mother from the added burden of worrying about her and empathizing with the difficult period of accepting her disability and adjusting to it.

Estelita G. JucoEsty filled herself with activities

designed to prepare herself to return to normal living

She practiced writing with her left hand

Books also gave her immeasurable comfort

Gradually, she learned to appreciate the world of people around her, taking an interest in their individual lives.

I Need Thee, Lord by Esty Juco(1947, age 16)

The road has thorns and stones, my Lord

They hurt my aching feet;But with Thee for companion, LordEach weary step is sweet.

I Need Thee, Lord by Esty Juco(1947, age 16)

Dark gathers all around me, LordI know not where to go;Allow me hold Thine loving hand-I need Thine presence so.

I Need Thee, Lord by Esty Juco(1947, age 16)

The cross upon my shoulder, LordGrows heavier with each mile Give me strength that I may veilMy sufferings with a smile.

I Need Thee, Lord by Esty Juco(1947, age 16)

I see a beckoning light, my LordMy quest draws to an end;Lord, hold me close-a soul to come

homeThine weary, wayward friend

Estelita G. JucoHer innate gregariousness always

made her share everything with teachers, nuns and classmates. She accepted her disability and the rest accepted her like one of them. She graduated as the class valedictorian and was a given a four-year college scholarship at St. Paul college in Manila

Estelita G. JucoHer disability was never a cause

for demanding special treatment

Esty Juco graduated from St. Paul in 1952 with a degree in education, Summa Cum Laude.

Estelita G. JucoShe had re-made her life and re-

invented herself into an outstanding graduate, a true leader as a student, a woman and a Filipina.

Her disability, her orphanhood, her slim financial means were never obstacles but the reverse-motivating factors that pushed her into transforming herself to a self-reliant, secure and accomplish campus figure, a confident person who accepted the challenges of the future.

Teacher Par ExcellenceAlong the way to becoming

herself. Esty found her vocation – to teach the young and inspired them to do their best.

“Perhaps one of the most important ways that helped me cope with disability was my decision to be a teacher. This I took to be my lifetime vocation and I have never regretted it.”

Estelita G. Juco

Teacher Par ExcellenceWhen Esty Juco chose her

vocation, the trend of the times in compensation and the teacher’s place in society was becoming clear. It would be a life of modest if not insufficient salary. It posed no prospects of triumphant public vindication in the future. Esty realized all these but she chose to teach.

Full Circle with JapanSometime around 1954, Esty was

chosen as a Philippine youth leader to go on a three-month Japan tour designated as a leadership training course and a living experience.

It was a turning point of Esty’s life not only because it would be the first time she would travel out of her country but…

Full Circle with Japan

because she would have confront again a painful and tragic past which by building a new life she was assiduously trying to put her behind.

Thus during her first trip to Japan, her forcible return to her past did not recreate as much of the old anger and bitterness. Rather…

Full Circle with Japan

She opened her eyes to the outside world and in particular to the Japanese.

Esty was featured on Japanese television playing the piano with one hand and speaking as a war victim without hatred and bitterness towards the enemy.

She saw her Japanese relationships in the wider light of a new start between the Philippines and Japan.

Resisting the Dictatorship

Aside from being a teacher, Esty Juco is also a politician protecting the rights of women and disabled, she has gain many positions at the government especially at time of President Magsaysay(Esty’s close friend) until his plane crush accident.

Esty Juco was depressed but still, she continue what she have started until the reign of Marcos.

Resisting the DictatorshipEsty wrote a column wherein she

criticize martial law, she decried the violations of human rights, she targeted Imelda Marcos’ Frivolities.

Writing a critical column for a struggling opposition paper in the Martial Law era was a quite a courageous act.

Resisting the DictatorshipOne night she came home to her

Kamias house and wondered why it was so dark that she couldn’t see the lights. There were none because her house had burned down with earthly possession she had including her collected writings-prose and poems. This was in 1984. She was left with nothing

Resisting the Dictatorship

Despite her misfortune with the fire she was not about to become a charity case.

At this time Esty was beginning a physical decline that was becoming visible with an increasing number of falls, something which did not occur in the past.

Public Servant: For the Disabled

As a sectoral representative for the disabled, Esty went out of her way to help them. She put up a fund that she termed TIWALA(trust) from her extra earnings to help disabled people who came to her for assistance.

Public Servant: For the Disabled

Esty had all her life proved that disability did not have to sacrifice self-reliance. In fact she was a proof that the disabled could earn their keep.

Estelita Juco

On may 10, 1989, her knee was so painful she could hardly walk and the end was near for she passed away on July 12, 1989.

LegacyWhen people learned Esty had died

they went back to the beginning of her life and reflected how despite pain and tragedy, Esty had Triumphed. No one could remember her asking for anything special because of her handicaps. In fact her handicaps receded from memory replaced by what Esty really was – a teacher, a leader, a person, a Filipina – facets of her whole, complete self.