Diego: Dad got his last wish

MANILA, Philippines - “If you love me… no more.”

Those were the last words of Angelo Castro Jr. as he and his only son, actor Diego Castro, struggled against each other for the ventilator attached to Angelo three days before he died on Maundy Thursday at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in The Fort, Taguig City. He turned 67 on Feb. 22.

“Dad got his wish,” Diego told The STAR yesterday. “He was trying hard to remove the ventilator and I was stopping him. Then he said enough already, ‘If you love me… no more.’ So I let him.”

But before that, Diego recalled that his father was lucid until his last breath. The whole family was accounted for, surrounding Angelo’s deathbed as they bid him goodbye – including Angelo’s wife June Keithley, Diego with his wife and their four children, and his two sisters.

“My dad managed to say how much he loved us and then he asked for forgiveness,” added Diego.

Angelo was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in April 2008 and was given three to six months to live. He outlived the prognosis by more than three years. A month later, his wife June was herself diagnosed with breast cancer that has since metastacized to her brain.

In an interview with Tina Monzon-Palma aired on ANC last Thursday, June described in detail how her own cancer has spread and how her faith in the Lord has grown stronger. Angelo was Tina’s long-time co-anchor on The World Tonight, the flagship news program of ABS-CBN and ANC News & Current Events, for which he was awarded the Ka Doroy Broadcaster of the Year Award by the KBP (Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas).

Describing Angelo as a good and loving husband and father, June told Tina how good God is.

“God took away the pain, the worry and the fear,” said June, a Marian devotee, who proceeded to recall how she encouraged Angelo to carry on, telling him, “We should fight this together; we should be strong for our children. Angelo was so macho, he was so handsome and was so in control but he lost all that when he got ill. He was so depressed.”

The doctors were amazed by the couple’s brave battle with the Big C.

“The tumor in my dad’s lungs grew smaller and he went into remission. In October last year, the doctors declared him ‘clear,’ so he returned to work,” said Diego. “And my mom, she was up and about, walking around as if there’s nothing wrong with her and giving interviews. It was miraculous that my dad lived so long and my mom is so active. ‘She’s fighting the cancer,’ the doctors told us.”

But last February, Angelo complained of chest pains and was diagnosed to have contracted pneumonia. He was confined at St. Luke’s until last Thursday when he died.

“He waived everything,” said Diego. “He refused to be confined at the ICU, he refused to be intubated, he didn’t want to be administered with morphine to ease the pain. All he wanted was to go home.”

Confined at the same hospital in a room right across from that of Angelo, June stayed by Angelo’s side until the very end, holding Angelo’s right hand while Diego held his left hand, assuring him how much they loved him and how they would miss him.

Angelo’s remains were cremated the same day he died, as he wished. The wake is being held at the family residence in Capitol Hills, Quezon City. An Upsilon Night is scheduled and a necrological service on Tuesday, 2 to 5 p.m., at ABS-CBN. On Wednesday, a necrological Mass will be offered for Angelo at the nearby St. Peter’s Church.

“He didn’t want other people to see him, not even for 10 minutes,” said Diego.

Angelo saw to it that he was dapper as he rested in peace.

“He reminded me to comb his hair his usual style, using his favorite Finesse gel,” added Diego, “that his necktie be three-knotted as usual, and that he wear his favorite suit. I did as told but I kept the necktie for souvenir before his remains were cremated.”

The urn containing Angelo’s ashes will be brought home and placed near the fishpond, Angelo’s favorite spot at home. Then, it will be interred after a few months at a place yet to be decided.

President Aquino was among the first to pay his last respects on Good Friday.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the President wanted to personally express his sympathies to the family. Aquino relayed his condolences to June, also known as “the voice of People Power” in February 1986 when the President’s mother Corazon Aquino was declared the president after the first EDSA People Power revolution.

In a statement last Thursday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said, “We mourn the passing of Angelo Castro Jr. For many years, he was a calm and reassuring presence in the late evening news. His passing marks the closing of an era of gentlemanly broadcasting, where erudition and dignity were the hallmarks of news and current affairs.”

“Angelo was a good man,” said former President Joseph Estrada from Hong Kong where he was on a Lenten break.

As an actor, Angelo did movies with Erap, including Kumander Alibasbas (1980) for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Award.

“I will miss him,” added Estrada. – With Aurea Calica