Vice President Sara Duterte on Saturday, June 10, graced the book launching of Jose A. Lim III's book, “Rainbows of the Deep,” which was based on his experience being lost at sea in 2018.
Vice President Sara Duterte speaks at the book launching of Jose A. Lim III's “Rainbows of the Deep” in Davao City on Saturday, June 10, 2023. (OVP photo)
Lim, president of Toyota Davao, was reported missing in Oct. 11, 2018 after going scuba diving at a fish sanctuary in the Island Garden City of Samal.
“As a successful businessman, he studies calculated risks on a yearly, or maybe daily basis. His scuba diving incident is therefore a great example of effective risk management,” Duterte said during the book launching event at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Davao City.
She even joked about Lim being a “masamang damo (weeds don’t easily die),” which means bad people don’t die easily.
“Owing to his experience in risk management, and possibly a healthy mix of good karma, good fortune, and luck, pagiging masamang damo (being a bad weed),” Duterte said in jest.
The official even reminisced how “many sighed a breath of relief” when Lim was found off the waters of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur the morning after.
Lim was found off the waters of Sta. Cruz town the morning after, still carrying the Spanish Mackerel fish that he caught while diving.
(Photo from Inday Sara Duterte via Facebook)
Duterte commended Lim for “having the vision and making the effort to give what she think is genuinely enjoyable,” describing the book as “a testament to a grand life that has been lived well, with the author plunging into life's deep waters, promises, and plenty.”
“Enabling us to glean, listen, and learn from a distinctive voice, the power of treading one's own path, and relentlessly pursuing our creative pursuits, I truly hope that this book will be widely available and read,” she added.
For Lim, he shared that the book was written as a way to thank everyone who helped him during the time when “everyone thought he was dead.”
“I was inspired to write a story to thank everyone in a very special way and to tell them how stupid I was to be diving without a flashlight at 4:30 in the afternoon, and for me to be able to repay them at once to say thank you,” he said.
Also present during the event were President and Vice Chairman of San Miguel Corp. Ramon Ang, Davao Occidental Lone District Rep. Claude Bautista, members of Toyota Philippines, and Lim’s friends and family.