Fil-Am #SHEro Cynthia Bonta, Fil-Am lawmaker’s mom

CALIFORNIA, USA – Anyone impressed by California Assembly Member Rob Bonta’s success needs only to know who his mother is and how she brought up her 3 children. (READ: Rob Bonta: California’s first Fil-Am assemblyman) 

Cynthia Arnaldo Bonta leads several Fil-Am community organizations.

Leading by example

The resumé of the Laguna-born Silliman University alumnae, who holds a Masters  in Religious Education, speaks of a life dedicated to public service, particularly to those pushed to the margins of society. Perhaps she has served best by modeling her principles at home.

“Motherhood is raising a child to be a contributing member of society by being a protector, a teacher, an enabler, a guide, an example,” Cynthia defined her primary role to the author.

The sophomore state lawmaker re-elected last November by the highest percentage among all Assembly candidates may be her famous son, but he is among 3 achievers born to Cynthia and Warren Bonta.

Their eldest child Lisa Ligaya Bonta Sumii is a psychotherapist, while their youngest, Jonathan Marcelo Bonta, founded and directs the Center for Diversity and the Environment in Portland.

Their parents helped organize the United Farm Workers of America and that period clearly is imprinted on Rob. The required inclusion of Filipino Americans’ contributions to the history of the state’s farm labor in secondary school curricula was among one of his first bills filed.

When the bill become law in 2013, was an “emotional” moment for Bonta’s mother. The milestone transported Cynthia back to 1993, when legendary Filipino farm worker organizer Philip Vera Cruz and his wife Deborah were her houseguests as he was to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Filipino Fiesta in Sacramento, “a year before he passed away.”

Their mother taught them to take pride in their heritage and appreciate diversity ”as a rich quality…for which to be thankful.”

Cynthia is most proud that she taught her children that “oppression, prejudice, injustice, inequalities in the world exist” and urged them to “actively take the side of the powerless by empowering them.”

She came to the United States in 1965 to complete a Masters in Religious Education program as an ecumenical scholar of the World Council of Churches.

While earning her MRE, she met Warren Bonta, who was pursuing a bachelors in divinity. They both attended the Social Concerns Committee of their school and volunteered at the Filipino Hall in the farming town of Delano during Christmas break.

They married in 1967. Together they fought for social justice during their 26-year marriage. They divorced 1993.

She explained why she became emotional when her son’s bill became a law. Since 1975, she said, “a group of activists and I had wanted to make changes to the inaccuracies, distortions, and omissions in social studies textbooks in the way they have treated the mention of Filipinos and the Philippines.”

“Finally someone from our children’s generation succeeded in making the first of the many changes that yet needed to be made.”

She contemplated the significant moment. “I knew it would be emotional for the son of Larry Itliong, Johnny, who has been crusading to give his father the honor that he so deserves, whom Rob asked to meet with, not the other way around.”

Lifelong role

Instilling independence is key to Cynthia’s mothering style.

“They needed to learn early how to face the world out there,” she said. “My children were exposed to whatever activity I was involved in, because I liked bringing them with me rather than leaving them with babysitters at home.”

“Provide the childcare, neighborhood, and school that will develop the kind of social being you would like your child to become,” Cynthia recommended. She added that motherhood doesn’t stop after high school.

She had known early on that Rob would distinguish himself in school and beyond.

Gifted

“I knew Rob was not an ordinary child from the time he expressed original thoughts as a toddler,” she remembered.

The signs were clear: His second grade teacher had him placed in gifted class because of his advance math skills; he topped his senior class as Valedictorian graduating with honors in athletics; and was invited to attend Yale.

“What he decided and had the opportunity to do was just a matter of time,” she thought of Rob’s political feat. “I knew this in my heart…I did not favor him over my other children, I did not worry about it. My job was to be the best mother I can be by being the best person I can be, so I developed myself the best way I could and be the best guide for my children.”

Her son called her up from campus “once a week with no fail.”

Circle

“I learned from my mother never to stop fighting for justice and to love and serve your community,” Bonta affirmed. ”My mother demonstrated these lessons to me by showing me through her actions every day.”

“He continues to meet others – whether they are positive or negative examples,” she conceded.

Cynthia concluded: “He is in control of his life and he has the best tools to be at its helm. He knows that it is important to build the right circle of support around him because he cannot do it all alone and he knows how to build that support….I am so secure in being part of that circle of support, as an individual and as a mother.” – Rappler.com 

This story is an abridged version of a story originally published in Philippine News. The March 6 issue of Philippine News, available on news stands in local Filipino supermarkets across the US, has the full story.