VIRAL: Pinoy husband’s appreciation post for wife elicits mixed reactions from netizens
A husband’s appreciation post for his wife went viral online and elicited sharply divergent reactions from netizens as some were inspired and touched, while others were more critical.
On April 14, Mark Vincent Yap Nodado shared a morning exchange between him and his wife Mhei on Facebook. “My wife said this morning: ’10 years na pala akong graduate, parang wala akong personal achievements’ to which I immediately responded, ‘Wag mo sabihin yan. Yung achievement ko, achievement mo. Kasi hindi ko naman magagawa ng wala ka ehh,’” he began.
Nodado then stated the many things his wife does for him: “Kaya nga yung mga maliliit na bagay, hindi ko na napapansin kasi nandiyan ka naman: pag iwan ng tuwalya kung saan, hindi pag flush hahaha, paghagis ng damit, simple things I don’t notice anymore kasi alam ko nandiyan ka naman,” he continued.
“Ang dahil nandiyan ka, I’m free to reach higher. That’s why every achievement I get, you are a big part of it,” Nodado added.
"You are the scaffolding to my structure, in the end, people won’t see what you’ve done, but this structure won’t go higher without you," Nodado said, before ending the post with an “I love you.”
Some netizens found it “touching and inspiring,” praising the husband for his love and appreciation for the special woman in his life.
“Not every man would commend his wife the way you did, so inspiring and full of love. Salute to you, sir, and wishing you many more fruitful years with Miss Mhei,” a Facebook user wrote.
“Grabe, I don’t know you personally, but I was touched na may ganyan pala. Good for you both,” another one said.
“Nothing is nicer than a husband who appreciates his wife’s sacrifices,” a netizen pointed out.
Meanwhile, there were also people who found it quite disempowering for his wife.
“Katulong ka ‘te?” a netizen wrote with the hashtag #SmashThePatriarchy.
“Akala ko sa marriage, dalawa dapat ang may growth at mag reach higher, ‘di lang isa?” another one added.
“So basically, dapat fulfilled ang babae pag inuuna niya kung ano’ng kailangan mo. Ang lupit mo ‘no,” an FB user said.
Nodado, an engineer, describes himself on his Facebook page as “a husband, son, contractor, instructor, brother, God's creation and most of all, a father.” The couple has three children.
Later that day, Nodado shared a lengthy message on Facebook saying it'll be "the last time" he'll be addressing the viral post. He stated that the post will remain to be an appreciation post for his wife.
"It was and still is, an appreciation post for my wife. She was down that morning. Saw a memory pop up on facebook. We reflected about the effects of the pandemic. And we had a longer conversation that what was posted. I shared only that part because that's what made her happy," he started.
While he made it known that his wife is "part of everything that I'm able to accomplish," he stated that it doesn't mean she didn't accomplish anything herself. According to him, there's more to the story.
Nodado shared that his wife is a financial advisor and was on to become a Unit Manager before the pandemic hit.
"That time I supported her. I drove her to Makati. Take days off to take care of the kids when she has meetings and supported her every way I can. But then pandemic hit, so it was put on hold. But she is a successful advisor," he added.
Aside from that, unknown to the public, his wife Mhei is also a vlogger, a plantita, and a businesswoman. However, people assumed that she is a full time housewife.
Nodado said that she didn't highlight those in his tribute because his wife "appreciated it more, that I acknowledged her as being my support through this."
"And those simple tasks, people, don't take things too seriously," he said. "'Eh hindi naman namin alam na joke yun'. Precisely, kasi hindi niyo kami kilala. But you thought you had the right to judge based on a single post. Panoorin niyo yung funny video about a mother teaching her family to do simple things, as simple as closing the cabinet," he continued.
The engineer continued to defend himself from netizens who called him patriarchal and mysoginist.
"Ehh may time nga na malaki pa sahod niya sa monthly profit ko ehh. And I was not insecure. that was the time na mababa yung sales, and she covered for us," he explained.
He added that he "was just going to keep quiet," but people started attacking his wife.
"I don't care if you call me names, or judge me. But attacking my wife, owww you're going to hear from my lawyer for that. Imagine someone even went out of her way to tag her on other negative posts," Nodado said.
Nodado made it clear that his tribute post was meant to show appreciation to his wife, and it did.
"She appreciated it. She cried. Smiled. And said 'kinilig' siya about it," he continued. "But you people think, your opinion matters more than the 2 people who are really involved in this."
"I hope we stop making judgements based lang sa facts in front of us. If you really want to comment, do a courtesy to dig deeper. Nandiyan ka na rin lang, research if gusto mo talagang mag comment," he ended his post.