24 posts tagged “tomodachi”

Tomorrow, he embarks on the biggest challenge in his life.
Even bigger than when he lost his father in 1983 and became his family's de facto padre de familia.
Much bigger than when he lost his mother this year and the burden of carrying on his family's name was suddenly thrust unto his shoulders.
As I watched him through TV feeds online, I see that there is fewer hair than when we first met him in 1998.
But the humor, especially when there's no scripted speech on hand, is still very much him.
Even the short text messages that he still sends whenever, I guess, he has the time from what I can imagine are endless of meetings he has to attend right now.
He must be tired. But then again, tiredness was never in his vocabulary.
He was the one who had to battle a morning full of committee hearings and an afternoon full of boring drones of plenary speeches back then and would still have energy for coffee and endless chats until the wee hours of the morning. The chats were not just about nation-building of course. There were the personal stuff too.
Yes, we met the girls. Even chaperoned for him on certain occasions. We were already in The Entourage even before they made that series.
But this was not something that took place in the middle of dizzying fame nor of blinding power.
This may have been borne out of politics (source-reporter) but it went beyond that to the grounds of UP (even if he is an Atenean) to the late night streets of Morato; from the halls of Congress to the sleazy corners of KTVs.
Over the years, even if some of us have moved out of his turf (House of Representatives and later, Senate), he still remained as our KUYA. Some of our political friends have come and gone too. But he remained.
If only for that I'll tell you to vote for him. Because he is a loyal person. And loyalty--to country, to the people--is something we need right now for the Philippines to move on.
He is also honest. When his sister says he has no money, that is true. He does not live a lavish lifestyle and is already happy with the factory dri-fit shirts I get him from Bangkok. (He used to brag about the export-overrun polo shirts his mother used to buy for him in Clark.) He has simple tastes that he has never quite recovered from the dirty ice cream he once had in UP.
If he isn't simple, he wouldn't have been our friend. Who are we in the grand scheme of things in the Philippines? Set aside our job that people might think gives us certain privileges, we're just ordinary people in a rat race; but we also share everyone's hope for a better country.
If he isn't loyal, he would have forgotten us as he moved from a local position to a national one. People call him senator. We still call him Kuya.
And if he isn't honest, he wouldn't have stayed friends with us knowing how our jobs might imperil him one day. And if we aren't honest ourselves, we wouldn't remain friends with someone who is deemed powerful and wealthy to some, but really, at the end of the day, all that he could offer us and all that we asked from him, was real camaraderie. And of course, the occasional political gossip and tip-offs.
So now as he inches near to making formal in accepting the challenge ahead of him, I could not help but be scared for him. He is not the politician that Filipinos have been accustomed to, who corrupts shamelessly, who steals without guilt, who amasses properties without moral conscience.
He is just a simple man with a bleeding heart owing to his parents' advocacies and calling. And though I see in him the hope and inspiration that everyone has been looking for, I fear for him. Because it is not easy to be president of a country whose coffers have been emptied by people who came before him and whose expectations are as wide and endless as the Milky Way.
But this is his fate, his destiny.
And we can only stand behind him.
And say... KUYA, 'di ka magiisa*.

(He corrected me the first time I told him that. He said, the proper line is: "'di ka nagiisa" and I replied, 'di ka magiisa" is for future reference. For the time when he takes on the challenge. And the time has come. NOW.

KAY NOYNOY TAYO.)

I met her personally once, not as a reporter covering a former president, but as a private person.
It was Holy Week. I don't even remember the year, maybe 1999 or 2000.
We were going to Tarlac to spend it at Hacienda Luisita on the invitation of Kuya.
We all agreed to meet at the Times house which Kuya shares with her.
Before the day, we were teasing him if we see his mom, can we interview her?
We were just joking of course and he was like: "DON'T!"
On the day itself, we got there on our best behavior.
We were not really expecting to see her.
We sat in the living room chatting with Kuya while waiting for the car.
And then... suddenly... she came out from her side of the house.
Not expecting this, we all panicked. OH MY GOD, IT'S HER.
Kuya said I thought you wanted to meet her?
Before this, I've seen her in coverages but she was always up at the front while I was on the side covering.

There was heavy rain when I left BKK on the 23rd last month (sounds like aeons ago) delaying my flight.
I was scared I wouldn't make it to my connecting flight but I did.
Terminal 3, where I landed in Manila, is not fully operational yet. It looked bare and empty.
I spent nine days at home. Nine hectic, but fun days with family.
I cherish moments laughing with my mom and sister and catching up with the rest of the family.
And eating lechon. I think I gained 10 pounds the first day I arrived.
Then back to Manila for two nights before flying back to Bangkok.
My first meal in Manila had to be at Friday's (I didn't realise till then how bad their food is), of all bloody places.
But thank God for friends who saved me from bad food and awkward company.
JV, VK and I were cruising the Ortigas area at way past midnight.
We had foot spa in Greenhills and in the middle of it, there was a blackout.
The spa that night was very noisy thanks to us and the GMA tantrum reenactment.
The following day, VK and I watched A Very Special Love and were convulsing from laughter.
No, the movie wasn't that funny but the people behind us were.
Buti na lang John Lloyd's acting and Sarah's rendition of the theme song saved the movie.
Later in the night, we all met up with the rest of the gang for dinner at Bellissimo owned by Cesar Montano.
And we were introduced to Kuya's lablayp.
The governor of Leyte was also dining there and I found it amusing that his bodyguards were right behind him.
While the senator's bodyguards were being low key as usual.
Four hours seem long for dinner but that can never be enough especially with the Os leaving for NZ soon.
We also missed BosButch who is in his island, perhaps busy being a carpenter.
But I guess we're all getting older because at midnight, all our eyes were drooping.
No more Starbucks or moving somewhere else afterwards for a post-mortem, especially to discuss Kuya's lablayp.
I'm happy to have friends with whom I can just laugh and talk as if time hasn't passed, no one has left and returned or no one is leaving.
We've been friends for only 10 years yet it seems I've known them all my life.
Food, family and friends... life is fabulous because of them.
But I'm glad to be back to my second home even though BKK is under a state of emergency.
The immigration officer, upon handing me back my passport, said: "sawasdee kha."
Welcome back yupki.

I spoke with Kuya last week to interview him about the assassination of his father 25 years ago. And it struck me that when this year's Congress was opened, it marked the 10th anniversary of my friendship with the people--who in the past few years--have served as my family in Manila, the friends who dealt with my bad moods and put me in my place whenever necessary and in the process, taught me a lot not only about the work that we all have in common (except for BosButch and Kuya), but more importantly, about life and friendship. It's not easy to find real friends but I have been blessed with the best. Thanks VK, TV, JV, Kaytee, Ja, WengO, the original BB and Kuya. As VK said, 10 years na pala tayong nagtitiisan sa isa't-isa!

These days, I tell myself over and over again:
When God closes a door, He opens a window.

Ja's window, Spore

Subic. The year was 2002.

I was in the shower when JV came hollering outside of the bathroom door.

"(Yupki), lumabas ka diyan! Patay na si Rico Yan! Kelengan mo i-report yan! (Get out of there. Rico Yan is dead. You need to report it)."

I ignored him thinking he was joking. It was Good Friday.

Turns out it was not a joke. One of the Philippines' popular young actors has died from acute hemorrhagic pacnreatitis or bangungot to us Filipinos. He was only 27.

Since it was Holy Week, all forms of media were closed. In the days of our lolo and lola before SMS and the Internet, who would think of working on a Good Friday when Jesus Christ died on the Cross? One of our editors even joked: "Hindi pa nga na-SMS ang pagkamatay ni Hesus, si Rico Yan pa kaya? (We haven't even SMS-ed Jesus' death, much more Rico Yan's?)" It was only about 9am or so; Jesus died at 3pm.

But Rico was a popular actor and he worked at The Network so Good Friday or not, his death had to be covered and we reopened the SMS service and the Internet edition to report his death (I worked remote). Of course TV broadcast resumed too.

That was March 29, 2002. Sounds and feels like ancient years ago. I'm remembering that now and miss my friends and the Holy Weeks we have spent together.

Last night, I was talking to my mom and she said they had a Visita Iglesia, a Catholic practice on Holy Thursday when people visit seven churches. I missed out on all the fun, because truly, even when Lent is a solemn religious event when we remember the sacrifice and death of Jesus, in the Philippines it is also a time for family reunions. I promised next year, God willing, that I'd be home for Lent.