Eulogy for Rona Aumentado

I have had the privilege of working with Rona (or RG – Rona Girl – my pet name for her) for roughly 20 years—about half of my professional life.

For much of that time, Rona was the person who quietly kept my life together.

She organized my trips.
She made sure my passport didn’t expire.
She reminded me of birthdays—including hers, when I occasionally forgot. 😬

But beyond me, Rona was the person who made the entire office work.

She was our office manager—the one who made sure payroll happened, taxes were paid, and all the necessary filings were done.
Because of her, things simply worked.

And yes, we will miss her incredible organizational skills.
There is a huge hole that will need to be filled.

But the biggest hole she leaves has nothing to do with being organized.

What we will miss most is the sudden loss of her nurturing, caring presence in our lives.

Rona was our den mother.
She made sure everyone was safe, supported, and well taken care of.

And that care showed up in the smallest, most thoughtful details.

It was making sure Chelsea’s favorite Sola iced tea was ordered whenever they had meals together.

It was filling an entire clearbook with dozens of printouts whenever I had to go to court to ask permission to travel during his Rappler troubles.

It was buying wet wipes for GM whenever he traveled by plane—because she knew his tummy would probably be off that day.

Rona was everyone’s mother.

And we are shattered to be losing someone so loving, so affectionate, and so deeply present in our lives.

But we also take comfort in knowing that Rona is surely in heaven now, embraced by our Father.

Rona was a woman of faith—someone whose life was centered on loving God and loving others.

She lived, to a “T,” the words of the Prayer of St. Francis:
“To give and not to count the cost.”

Rona’s life is a story of giving—

quietly,
without fanfare,
without counting the cost,
and without expecting anything in return.

At Endeavor, we would say that Rona was a shining example of our core value: Pay It Forward.

The dictionary defines “pay it forward” as responding to kindness by showing kindness to others.

It’s clear that Rona was surrounded by kindness—from her family and her friends.
And she, in turn, spread that kindness so freely to everyone around her.

To keep Rona’s “pay it forward” spirit alive, each year we will award the Rona Award to the entrepreneur who best exemplifies this value.

Thank you, Rona, for loving all of us in your own special way.
Your example has made us more caring, more compassionate people.

We will remember you always Rona Girl.