An kalipay ngan danay an katuyaw, may ada katapusan ngan may katubtuban.
Not that we rejoice on one’s demise but there are problems and events that we pray its ending. We think of the halt on the face of a fierce storm, and we pray for halt when our neighbor is on a karaoke concert when its time to sleep, even if the voice is akin to Frank Sinatra or Jed Madela. That too shall pass, that too, must stop.
The case of Manong Johnny, who once said that gusto ko happy ka or the one that grumbles, I do not respond to stupid questions! He finally writes 30 at 101 years old.
Juan Ponce Enrile, basically rose from illegitimacy of a son out of marriage to becoming the giant that he was in politics and the icon of longevity. He was well loved in the Senate by its employees, I have heard of his genuine generosity from Senate employees who are friends of mine. I have heard the comparisons and the observations from these folks.
In spite and despite the revisionism efforts, people in the know is certain that he was one of the architects of the Ferdinand Sr. administration, for all its glory and ruthlessness, Manong was there at the center, in command, in control. The logging concessions in Samar, the ruthless operation against the leftists and perhaps many other things that we can never know.
One thing is certain Manong was rich and had gone richer than most Filipinos, not his fault, maybe, but maybe a fate he wrestled with, and fate surrendered.
For a long time, I think of Manong as a demigod, half human, half alien. His memes were sellouts and blockbusters in drinking sessions because of his age and supposedly immortality.
But like the proverbial storm, problems, and even good things , it never really lasts. It never goes on forever even if you are Juan Ponce Enrile.
As Barbara Streisand would say, no matter how hard we try some bad things err, some good things never last. The arithmetic of fate will catch up and that it will come in the dead of the night when no one is watching.
May ada katubtuban an tanan!
