How to destroy a good name like Ambos Mundos Restaurant...

I feel sick just writing about it but I would feel sicker if I don't. Reading the bad reviews about the restaurant in Sta. Cruz, Manila who dares call itself Ambos Mundos Restaurant makes me want to shout to the high heavens and ask why such travesty continues to go on and on. I am reminded by the popular biblical story about King Solomon and the two women claiming the same child as their own.

Two women came to King Solomon and stood before him. 

One woman (#1) said: "My Lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while with her in the house. On the third day after I gave birth, she also gave birth. We live together; there is no outsider with us in the house; only the two of us were there. The son of this woman died during the night because she lay upon him. She arose during the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep, and lay him in her bosom, and her dead son she laid in my bosom. when I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead! But when I observed him (later on) in the morning, I realized that he was not my son to whom I had given birth!"

The other woman (#2) replied: "It is not so! My son is the live one and your son is the dead one!" 

The first woman (#1) responded: "It is not so! Your son is the dead one and my son is the living one!" 

They argued before King Solomon.
King Solomon said: "this woman (#2) claims 'My son is the live one and your son is the dead one, 'and this woman (#1) claims 'Your son is the dead one and my son is the living one!"' 

King Solomon said, "Bring me a sword!" So they brought a sword before the King. The King said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other" 

The woman (#2) turned to the King, because her compassion was aroused for her son, and said: "Please my Lord, give her the living child and do not kill it!" 

But the other woman (#1) said: "Neither mine nor yours shall he be. Cut!" 

The King spoke up and said: "Give her (#2) the living child, and do not kill it, for she is his mother!" All of Israel heard the judgment that the King had judged. They had great awe for the King, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to do justice. [I Melachim 3:16 - 27]. The woman was rightfully awarded custody of her son.
From Jewish Law Commentary

The wisdom of King Solomon was said to be acknowledged from the time of this account. He found his answer in the willingness of the false mother to have the baby cut in half, something which no real mother can allow to happen. In my version, the two contending mothers are represented by myself and the false claimant/s while the baby being fought over here is the AMBOS MUNDOS RESTAURANT name.

As the official registrant of the AMBOS MUNDOS RESTAURANT trademark which has long been attached to the Gaudinez Family, the responsibility of fighting for it falls squarely on my shoulders. Even then, I have always tried my best to keep the "fight" above board, based on facts, and within the parameters of law. I have always been careful to do this because it is very clear to me that the AMBOS MUNDOS RESTAURANT name is always at stake.

If I were to believe now the bad reviews that I had the recent misfortune to read, I cannot help ask myself why someone or an entity would stubbornly hold on to the name of AMBOS MUNDOS RESTAURANT and then allow it to be lambasted in public purportedly for falling way below the expected standards of paying customers. In direct analogy to King Solomon's story, I can't help but see the similarity between the false mother and the false claimant/s in my story. These false claimants refuse to give up their claim which has repeatedly been rebuked by legal institutions but appear to be willing to watch the AMBOS MUNDOS RESTAURANT name go down the drain.

I honestly do not know how this legal battle will end. I have been waiting for so long I sometimes wonder what would be needed to make that happen. Never the less, I am hoping that even if the false claimants succeed in reducing our family's beloved business name into tatters, we will be able to rise up and make it whole again.

How does one destroy a good name like AMBOS MUNDOS RESTAURANT? ...by lies, selfishness, and purposeful negligence. 

How does one rebuild a good name like AMBOS MUNDOS RESTAURANT? ...by truth, justice, and love.

My Say

It is my fervent hope that Ambos Mundos Restaurant customers will know the difference and will be able to differentiate and separate the real from the false.

That said, I will continue to do whatever is humanly possible to defend the Ambos Mundos Restaurant legacy, the rest I leave to God.