Miko does mom proud even in death

By God’s mercy, I haven’t experienced death in the family. But with the sudden death of Miko Sotto last week, I got a first-hand glimpse of how it can be difficult for the bereaved to make funeral arrangements and supervise a wake.

Although I am not related by blood, Ali Sotto is family. I know her parents and siblings – Allan, Alvin and AJ – and even some of their relatives.

When I heard about the tragic news of Miko’s death, I had just arrived in Baguio after spending seven hours on the road. The first thing I did was to confirm it first with the person who texted me this piece of information. It was true. He heard it on Unang Hirit. But even with the confirmation, it wouldn’t sink in. It was then that I called up Ali and together we cried on the phone.

At that moment, I decided to cut short my vacation and return to Manila.

I didn’t know how I could be of help, but I knew I had to be with Ali at that very trying episode of her life.

Meanwhile, I was plagued with inquiries on how to get in touch with Ali Sotto. Some wanted an account of what happened. I didn’t know the details, of course, since I was up there in Baguio. More inquiries followed on my way down to Manila and it wasn’t funny when the phone calls and text messages kept coming while I was negotiating the steep and winding roads of Marcos Highway. (I took Kennon on my way up).

The trip back to Manila was plain torture – no thanks to traffic that started in Capas, Tarlac. The North Expressway was bedlam. The four-kilometer distance to the Balintawak tollgate took motorists 50 minutes to negotiate. I left Baguio before 6 p.m. and reached Manila at way past 2 in the morning.

After dropping off friends in various parts of the city, I drove straight to Santuario de San Antonio for the wake, but Ali had just left with husband Omar. But the Sottos were still there along with Dolphy and Willie Revillame. (Fernando Poe, Jr. and Susan Roces had dropped by earlier.) We called it a night at 6 a.m.

The following day, I was surprised to see hordes of fans outside the mortuary chapel. It turned out that it had been like that since the first night – with fans wanting to see a final glimpse of Miko Sotto. Fortunately, Malou Choa-Fagar of TAPE, the production company behind Eat Bulaga and Walang Hanggan (where Miko can still be seen in episodes he finished before he died last week), was there to act as marshal – and Ali Sotto appreciates this very much because this put some order into what could have been a nightmare of a wake.

Food was also aplenty because friends kept sending over snacks and complete meals for those who were going to keep vigil. (Even the fans had to be fed.) But the one who sat on top of things in this department was Helen Gamboa who made sure there was food for everyone.

Ali can’t thank enough those who gave their support in this difficult time of her life – from her good friend Menchie Jose of Arlington Funeral Homes to the fans of Miko who paid their final respects to the young actor. But there are too many to mention here.

At this point, in memory of her beloved son, Miko, she would like to take on a crusade. This concerns the donation of corneas to the eye bank (headed by Dr. Dominga Padilla), which – if I got my figures right – has helped restore the vision of about 6,000 individuals.

When Miko died early Monday of last week, Ali wanted his internal organs saved and donated to anyone who would be in need of them. Unfortunately, the internal organs could no longer be saved – only the corneas.

The good news, however, is that there would be two recipients of Miko’s corneas: a househelp who was operated on yesterday and a six-year-old kid who will be operated on today.

Ali, of course, is very happy about the development and is encouraging others to please do the same if and when family members have to move on to join their Creator.

In her case, she is just very pleased that her son Miko – even in the afterlife – has continued to be of great service to those in need.