
december 04, 2006.. 5th death anniversary ng lolo ko s father's side.. i could still remember what happened here s house namin (house dti nila lolo and lola), 5 years ago..
it was just ordinary afternoon, monday din nun.. ciempre mei school and at that time i was still in elementary (grade 6 ata ak nun..), or so i thought..
21 days before christmas and our family was really excited kasi it would be very special.. it would be the first time that we'd celebrate christmas with lolo.. lolo kasi is a captain of a ship, seaman.. he'd usually go home tuwing summer ata e, or mga june, july, can't remember na.. bsta he'd stay for atleast 2 to 3months.. basta way back then dko maalala n ngcelebrate n kami ng christmas with him.. kya talgang super excited kami..
ayun nga, afternoon, about siesta time.. tnawagan or tnxt ata ni papa si mama.. pnppunta kami s house ni lola.. super biglaan lang talaga tas we had no idea tlaga kung bkit.. inassume ni mama na baka is.surprise kami ni lolo, na napaaga ung uwi niya for the holidays.. so ayun, pnagbihis niya kami ng pnkamgandang pambahay namin..
we arrived here, mga around 5.30pm.. nagdidilim na nun e.. pagpasok namin sa sala, nobody's there.. tas as in sobrang tahimik.. wala si lola.. so parang na.excite kami na bka njan na nga si lolo.. tapos pumasok si mama sa kwarto ni tita.. d na kami sumunod or anything.. sa sala nalang kaming mgkkpatid..
tapos.. the phone rang.. since wlang tao s sala, sinagot ni ate.. she was surprised to hear the panicked voice and recognized na si lolo un.. pero hindi si lolo na hinihintay namin.. it was my lolo's brother-in-law, kpatid ni lola, uncle ni papa.. tapos ate gave the phone to my tita inside her room.. i asked ate, "ate, sino yun?".. sabi nya, "si lolo boni, sabi
'ANO NANGYARI KAY *VIC?' (*i can't remember the exact name, basta tawag nila k lolo un e..)
pagkasabi ni ate nun.. it was the time when my mom went out tita's room, already in tears.. tapos she called us, ate, me, and my younger sis.. and asked us to follow her outside... she was there, sitting on the swing.. then she said to us with her voice weakened.. "
wala na si lolo niyo"..it strucked me.. suddenly, we all bursted into tears.. we were all shocked by the news.. tapos ang galing nga e, sakto, dumating si lola ksama si papa and tita cho.. they all hugged me tightly when i ran to them, they cried too.. my mom hugged my lola.. it was the most devastating moment of my life.. then we all decided to come inside..
my tita chona, comforted me and my sisters.. my mom comforted lola.. tapos after a while, i asked my mom, what happened.. tapos she said.. it was all unclear pa.. pero my lolo was found dead s tabi ng ship nila s port daw.. report said na hinoldap xa and pinatay.. tapos sabi daw ng mga fellow seamen niya, nag.suicide.. sobrang galit na galit ako nung narinig ko un..
suicide?! why would my lolo do that?! malamang, hindi ako naniwala.. tapos stories told by my elders revealed the real story to me..
the last time my lolo called, november 30, 2001.. he said to my lola na he was recieving death threats from the chief engineer.. and kung may mangyari daw saknya, aun nga dw.. kasi ung ship nila, nag.declare ng bankruptcy.. they were in nigeria, africa at that time.. and my lolo, as the captain, was to decide kung cnu ung papauwiin na and who'd stay.. he decided to make the chief engineer stay, kasi bka daw magkaproblema sa barko.. e at that time, gustong gusto na umuwi nung chief engineer, kasi may problem sa family, particularly sa anak niya..
tas i heard din na nung nakita daw ung body ng lolo ko, ung kamay nya swollen na parang may humawak sa kanya ng sobrang higpit or parang tinali.. tapos ung face daw ni lolo, puro pasa and ung mata nya nga may black eye.. when i heard that, i can't help but cry..
paano nila nagawa sa lolo ko yun?! ang masaklap pa.. the day before that incident happened, bumili na pala ng tickets ung lolo ko para makauwi na sila.. tas they were supposed to leave the day after he was killed.. can't imagine talaga kung pano nila pinahirapan si lolo.. and to this day, kpag tntry ko isipin.. naiiyak parin ako..
lolo as my lolo.. grabe, super spoiled kami sa kanya.. maybe because seaman xa and most of the time away xa kaya kpag nandito xa talgang spoiled kami.. walang prblem s pera kasi nga seaman si lolo so ayun.. kapg nd2 xa, every weekend, he'd take us to storyland, toykingdom, movies, jolibee, tongyang.. basta just anywhere we want to go.. tas kpag weekdays he'd ask my tito to bring fruits and pasalubongs to our house.. and he was the kind of person na kapag may pnangako xa, bibigay nya talaga..
like ung keyboards ko.. kahit patay na xa, natupad prin ung promise nya.. kasi he prmised me nung last talk namin nung november 30 na ibibili nya ako ng keyboard (organ), kasi he found out na i was taking up piano and keyboards lesson s school.. para daw practice ako sa house.. and tinake note nya na ayaw nya ng mumurahin, kasi i was just referring to a casio keyboards, pero he said na i should buy yamaha kasi it would last longer.. and it has better quality.. binilin nya pala k lola un, kea nung may na.recieve sila lola na partial salary ata ni lolo, they surprised me with yamaha keyboards nung 15th birthday ko..
also, my lolo bought me my own television set for my room.. i really didn't expect it kasi i was like asking for an electric fan lang.. pero with the intercession of my mom, they bought me tv nga, just like what they have in their room.. also in my younger years, i actually can't remember this story pero my mom told it to me.. kasi i was in my lola's house nga tapos kasi mlaki ung ref nila, i cried daw "
buti pa sina lolo may ref, kami wala." hahaha.. funny pero binilhan din ako ni lolo ng ref, though maliit lang.. di naman ako spoiled db?!
and at the time na na.dengue ako, dko alam kung bkit ako nasa house nila pero xa ung nag.aalaga sakin, sila ni lola.. he asked me several times pa nga, 'ano jen, gs2 mo na magpa.swero? (dextrose)' tapos aun dndala nya kgad ak s hspital.. and nung nagkamali ung nurse sa pgtusok sakin ng injection.. naku.. ang galit niya..
there was a time also na na.mention ko sa kanila ni lola, na hindi pa kami nkkpunta ni ate sa luneta park.. so aun.. dinala nya kami the next day, pero s kasamaang palad, umulan ng sbrang lakas and ndun lang kami sa chinese grden ngstay.. pnromise nya na babalik kami but unfortunately, un ang hindi natupad.. but it's ok.. and to share u a secret, hindi parin ako nkkbalik dun up to this day..
but my most favorite and sweetest memory that i had with lolo.. siguro i was about 4 years old.. ewan ko pero hindi mawala sa utak ko ung memory na 'to.. kasi kpag nd2 ak sa kanila, he would play the cd na puro children's songs.. tas sbrang favorite ko nuon.. "it's a small world".. naalala ko, binubuhat nya ak tas aun, ikot lang habang nagpplay ung song na un.. kea nga special song sakin ang "its a small world.." i soooper love it..
tas bsta everytime he'd come home from the barko, he'd take us to duty free.. tas bsta shopping kami ng anything we want..
madami pa sana akong gs2ng ikwento but the space is just not enough.. good memories that he left in our hearts.. bsta he never left a single bad memory sakin..
justice.. we try and continue to seek for justice.. maybe, isa ito sa mga dahilan kung bakit ko gs2 maging lawyer.. to bring justice.. though it's gonna be hard.. i know God would never leave my side..
for lolo.. i believe he's happy with lola in heaven na.. but i believe he'd be happier kung mabigyan ng hustisya ang pagkamatay nya.. but the least that i could do for him cguro ay ang tuparin ang huling bilin niya sa akin..
" jen mag.aral ng mabuti ha, be a good girl..''
- lolo vic