Retiree’s philosophy: ‘Honesty at all cost’

It’s 68 minutes before sunrise today, but the 78-year-old retiree is already up, with only a little over six hours sleep – without any change in lifestyle since he has always operated a family business.

The only change has been, the Manila-born Aristeo Lat Jr., former general manager at LBP Insurance Brokerage, Inc., admitted in an interview, he no longer stays behind the steering wheel every day to Makati since “our office has always been in Quezon City since 1986.”

The brokerage firm is a 100 percent subsidiary of LandBank, a government-owned bank in the Philippines with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fishermen.

The liberal arts degree holder from the old San Beda College in Mendiola, Manila admits to taking maintenance medicines since 2008 when he was diagnosed with diabetes which triggers his irregular heartbeats when his blood sugar level shoots up.

The father of four—three daughters and a son, all medical practitioners—and grandfather of 10 grandchildren, is now only allowed to work part time, so he goes to office only on Mondays and Thursdays.

But he can always be reached at home every now and then by phone, the man whose philosophy in life revolves around “honesty at all cost (and) help anybody who needs help and you can help.”

Lat, managing editor of The Bedan, his college news publication in his time, acknowledges he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and has since received radiation therapy.

He owns up to having more stress now since he is handling the family business, adding “while in my old job, I worked only within parameters and let other officers handle what went beyond the parameters.”

His meals have remained the same, but stopped short of identifying his menu, although he concedes he drinks eight glasses of water every day and a popular drink, sugar free if possible, but has a checkpoint for alcohol since he develops vertigo if he did.

Lat has signed off on being active in community activities, saying “I have learned that when you perform better, you gain more enemies.”

As from March 2020, when the global health emergency hit the country, he started to feel weak physically after missing his daily exercise “and before I knew it I could not just lift what I used to be able to do.”

Then he gets big on falling off a tourist bus in Japan in 2022 when he had eight stitches on just about the right eyelid.

The lens-wearing Lat, who has been wearing glasses since grade 2, has confessed his right eye “had been replaced by an implant from cataract operation (and his) left eye due (due for replacement).

Let’s read his lips.

GG: How do you address biological aging?

AL: I have always been interested in martial arts. I started learning judo at the NBI in high school, then karate during summer and finally Chinese martial arts.

I joined Chin Wu Athletic Association of the Philippines, learning the Wu style of Tai Chi. Unfortunately as I said, during the pandemic, I practically stopped doing my daily exercises.

I just have to accept growing old, i.e., people addressing me “Lolo” or helping me get on the sidewalk or reminding me to be careful, because I experienced it in Japan. I fear (as my wife does) that time will come when I cannot drive my car anymore; when I have to depend on my children to go where I want to go.

GG: Are there things you now remember as an elderly that you should have done when you were younger?

AL: I never looked back. I always moved forward and met what was there. My father used to tell me when I was still very young: “Once you get married, never look at other girls again.”

GG: Do you let your children make their decisions on their own, or do you try to influence their decisions?

AL: I let them make their own decisions unless I am asked about my opinion. They have their own children now and I know they have not forgotten what we taught them.

GG: Your philosophy in life.

AL: Live and let live. Do unto others what you want others do unto you.

GG: What are your thoughts on people who still work after retirement?

AL: I will encourage them but of course no more manual jobs. Make their brains work to avoid dementia.

GG: Do you think early retirement affects an elderly person’s health?

AL: Definitely. That is my experience during this pandemic.

GG: Now that you have retired, your view backward and forward on life.

AL: As I said I don’t look back because it might have a negative result; I don’t look at my neighbor’s grass. As my father’s old partner in the stock brokerage business always said: “Sige lang ng sige.”

Then he talked about his friend who worked in a Japanese-owned firm in Los Angeles in the 1990s.

His friend’s Japanese boss was scared of him, because the latter thought the former was a better decision maker.

As some say—intolerant of corporate competition.