Dr. Samie Lim, also known as the father of Philippine franchising, was honored for pioneering the current Mother’s Day celebration in the country. This was held during the Ugoy Art Installation of artist Kristine Lim at Fort Santiago. The Ugoy Art Installation is an art exhibit in praise of mothers and motherhood.  This will run the whole month of May.

The simple but meaningful ceremony was attended by family members, friends, and colleagues from the retail and franchise sectors. The plaque was sculpted by the artist herself and recognized Samie for his role in institutionalizing the May celebration of Mother’s Day in the Philippines.

Mother’s Day in the Philippines used to be celebrated in December, particularly during the American occupation. We didn’t celebrate it the way other countries, especially the US, did. Back in 1980 when the Philippines started to promote the export of Filipino workers, Samie lamented the fact the Filipino mothers felt left out whenever Mother’s Day was celebrated. This and the firm conviction that mothers played a crucial role in raising a family and in building a nation made Samie determined to campaign to have Mother’s Day celebrated in May and the rest, as they say, is history.

Back in 1980 when the Philippines started to promote the export of Filipino workers, Samie lamented the fact the Filipino mothers felt left out whenever Mother’s Day was celebrated.

Among those who paid tribute to the father of Mother’s Day in the country were Bing Sibal-Limjoco, honorary chair of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Sherill Quintana, president of the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA), and Yvette Pardo-Orbeta of the I Love Mom Movement.

Incidentally, the I Love Mom Movement, which was also founded by Samie, is currently having a contest for PFA members on the best Mother’s Day advertising campaign.

The I Love Mom Movement was founded to help contribute to efforts to perpetuate the honoring of mothers and motherhood. The founder of the movement always had a soft spot for mothers because of how he witnessed the proverbial mother’s love from his own mother, his wife, his sisters, and countless others. He also recalled that as a young human resource manager of the family business he noticed that employees who were problematic and not productive enough had family-related issues, in particular, the communication gap between parents and children. He believed that this could be addressed by creating an opportunity to bridge this communication gap, hence the I Love Mom Movement.

He invites everyone to like and follow the Facebook page of the I Love Mom Movement, which now has a growing community of almost 50,000.