Presumptuous Me

May of last year, I and my girlfriend attended the first death anniversary celebration of my Lolo Roger. We drove south (on my motorcycle) from Cebu City to the southern tip of Cebu Island and took the barge going to Negros Oriental. Lolo Roger is buried in Dumaguete City.

A few months after, in a proud, almost boastful, voice, I told a good friend of mine about our summer escapade.

It was then that I learned that this friend of mine drove from Mindanao to Manila during the same time I drove from Cebu to Dumaguete. Then he told me that when they were driving to the capital, they met on the road a foreigner walking. The man has been to different countries on a mission: to walk around the world.

I went to my friend so proud about my adventure only to find out that he's been to a greater adventure and that other people are on or have been to much greater ones.

There is nothing wrong about being proud of the things that you have done but bragging and thinking no one's ever done the things you did probably is. And it just might make you lose your face...

In Luke 14:8-10, Jesus said:

When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.

no ID, no discount

I and my brother got on a bus on our trip from Santander to Cebu City yesterday. We bought two tickets: a regular ticket for me and an SP (student privilege, discounted ticket) ticket for my brother. The conductor, upon hearing “SP”, immediately asked for an ID. This is pretty normal. Bus companies may have learned from the past that many of those who were availing of the privilege are not really students. Many people get SP's just to save some peso and make a fool of the bus companies in the process. Hence, not so very long ago, they started asking for ID's.

To my surprise though, the conductor did not peruse my brother's ID. He just looked at the ID my brother got out of his pocket. He did not even touch it. Had he looked at the ID, he would have known that my brother graduated early last month and that technically, he is no longer a student. In fact, he is in Cebu right now searching for a job (and trying to get in to law school at the same time). We saved some peso. Good riddance!

About halfway to Cebu, an elderly woman got on the bus and sat right beside me. She asked for a Senior Citizen's discount from the conductor. He then asked for an ID. The woman said she forgot to bring her ID. She ended up paying the regular fare.

How can he not give the lady a discount? He gave my brother a discount without even checking his ID. Yes, my brother can pass for a student. But so can I. I could have tricked him if I wanted to. However, it was very much obvious that the lady was old and therefore deserves the privilege.

I can't blame the conductor though. Asking old people for their Senior Citizen ID Card (and not all old people have ID's) before giving them discounts is one of the loads of crappy things about this country.

ID's are proofs – of being a student, of being a member of an organization, of being an employee of a company, and of many other stuffs. When you are old, you do not need proofs! So why can't we just give old people their rightful discounts? To hell with Senior Citizen's ID's.

from dumaguete with...

I am in Dumaguete, the place where I spent five of my great years in life. This morning, I attended the funeral service of my late Lolo Roger. The pastor said pretty cool things in his message. He said that God did not make the vastness and the abundance of the universe and of eternity if they are out of our reach.

It may be true that our bodies can only last of about a hundred years tops. It may also be true that the stars and the other wonders of the universe are millions of lightyears away - meaning it will take us millions of years to reach them, which is way past our life expectancy. However, God's promise of eternal life is our one ticket to such a long destination. It is through eternal life in Him that we will enjoy the richness of the universe.
Thank You Lord for the gift of life eternal.

A Tribute to My Lolo Roger

I just got a text message this morning that the youngest brother of my grandfather passed away.

I spent five years (my college years) in Dumaguete City which is quite far from home (at least 5 hours away by boat). Lolo Roger, together with his wife Lola Nati, was my guardian in the university during those years. He was always there for me. This may be the reason why I felt like visiting them in Dumaguete this summer. I missed them both. Now, I’ll miss my Lolo Roger all the more.

Let me give you glimpse of my time spent with my Lolo Roger:

Of all siblings my grandfather (Lolo Aureo, the father of my dad; he passed away a few years back; I represented all his grandchildren in speaking of our memories of him on the day of his burial) have, Lolo Roger was the one closest to me, probably because he was the youngest and no doubt the coolest of them all.

During my earlier years in college, Lolo Roger worked in the Business and Finance Office of the Silliman University. This means I have somebody inside to grant me “privileges.” He always offered that if I’m going to pay for my tuition or dormitory, he would be happy to tap the cashier on the shoulders to have my transactions done ahead of all those morons falling in line. I can’t remember much but I think I took his offer a couple of times. Then, during my later years in college, he was diagnosed with a serious case of diabetes. Work at the business and finance was deemed strenuous for his condition, so he was transferred to the Multimedia Center (MMC) of the university (this office takes care of any multimedia needs of the students and faculty alike – like equipment for film showing, forums, programs, etc.). At about the same time, I took major responsibilities as a student leader in the College of Engineering (now College of Engineering and Design). This meant there are times I needed to get in touch with the MMC for our multimedia needs. Again, I have someone in the inside to help me out. See, he was always there for me.

But what I will miss most are his stories when he was younger. He has sung in amateur singing contests in Bohol, Cagayan de Oro (CDO), and other places. He has also been a boxer in Bohol. And he always had anecdotes of his escapades as a youngster. One story that I will never forget was his encounter with a police officer in CDO:

He was riding a bicycle with a friend and was asked to pull over by a police officer (a rather dirty one). I can’t exactly remember this part but the cop extorted them for some money. They managed to outsmart the officer and were able to escape. Later that night, Lolo Roger had himself listed for an amateur singing contest at a park. When his turn to sing came, he went to the center of the stage ready to sing his winning piece (he has won several times before in similar contests). But as he started to sing, he noticed the same police officer watching him right in front of him. Scared of the cop, he started trembling real hard. His performance that night became the worst one he has ever had. Right after finishing the song, he left the contest without even knowing who won.

I am not much of a story teller so you might not find my retelling of the story funny. But believe me, when I heard him tell the story over and over again, I was laughing my heart out.

In his younger years, being the youngest, he also stayed with my grandfather, Lolo Aureo for a few years. Lolo Aureo was the eldest and therefore stood as second father to his siblings. Lolo Roger looked after my uncles, aunties and even my dad. For some reasons, my dad and I never really had conversations about his childhood. Through the years, though I never really expressed it, I developed a yearning for such stories. My Lolo Roger became my source of stories about my dad and his siblings. He even had stories about my Lolo Aureo, stories I never heard from my dad, uncles, aunties and grandmother before.

When I graduated from the university and was on my way to being a full-fledged civil engineer, he talked to me about his parcel of land in Guindulman, Bohol. He wanted me to design a guitar-shaped (he loved music) swimming pool for his lot that is situated beside a river. I’ve been wanting to talk to him about it. I still don’t have a design for it though. But if he still wished to push through with the plan (there have been problems with the lot and it’s been more than a year since I saw him last), I will be more than glad to make a design for him (I’ve never designed a swimming pool before or anything this grand for that matter).

I and my girlfriend have been planning to visit the beautiful city of Dumaguete by the end of this month. It is just unfortunate that such sad news would bring me back to the city earlier than expected and she, my girlfriend, will never meet my Lolo Roger.

Lo, I love you. And I will miss you.