I remember Jojo

Erap's birthday wish: "Freedom from poverty for all Filipinos." Should that come to pass, Erap's vaunted masa would be gone and that would leave him by his lonesome.

* * *

They say Erap's birthday wish for a poverty-free Philippines is wishful thinking. Oh, well, at least he has belied claims that he couldn't think.

* * *

There are talks about the death penalty being abolished. Here in Cebu some people don't give a hoot - whether or not it's abolished. We have the vigilantes to take care of the bad guys.

* * *

Now that Ate Glo has made known her stand against the death penalty, the militants are clamping up. Time was when they were noisily calling for the abolition of death penalty law. Can't they give Ate Glo even just a single thumb up for doing what they had been demanding her to do?

* * *

Jojo dela Victoria was a frequent visitor to our office. He would engage me in conversation about his government job and the projects he had initiated for the Talisay parish church of whose parish council he was president. "You're working for God and man," I once said. He laughed. "Sort of," he said, adding: "You can say I'm serving Heaven and Earth." He laughed again.

* * *

Jojo was instrumental in having many unmarried couples live under the sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Many "amansebados" or couples "living-in" without the benefit of matrimony had been married through Jojo's help. A PUJ driver after getting married was greeted by friend: "Unsa na, Bay, minyo na gyud ka." The driver replied: "Posas na ni, Bay. Gipaposasan ming Jojo." They both laughed.

* * *

Jojo also initiated a feeding program in the parish where children from poor families in Talisay enjoyed free meals paid for by Jojo. Some parents of some of these kids are now asking: "Duna pa ba gihapoy libreng kaon karon nga wa na si Jojo?"

* * *

When Jojo heard that I was in the hospital for a serious slipped disc that made me, for a while, a wheelchair case, he called up not just to say hello or for me to get well soon but also to give me some inspirational lines from the Bible. His call was rudely interrupted by his cellphone load that ran out.