From My Cyberjournal 83March 2007 copyright/all rights reserved/Alfredo Roces
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Life takes pleasure in ambushing us with unexpected encounters. I had
two such recent fleeting experiences during my Manila visit.
The first happened while in the chauffeur driven car of my cousin
Marcos Vidal Roces, on our way home from a luncheon. At a stop light,
I spotted two young boys braving the congested traffic to cadge alms.
One was blind. Camera at the ready, I asked the driver to wind down
the window, and then I realized I had no coin in my pocket, so the
driver graciously offered one of his own.
I took the sad photo of the poor blind boy before I handed over the
coin. Lo and behold, the boy opened his eyes with glee. Meanwhile, his
companion ranted and berated at us for not giving him anything. The
encounter happened so quickly I failed to get a third photo of this
miracle with eyes wide open as the light had turned green and our car
moved on. Ha.Ha. No wonder Manila commuters are stoic and indifferent
to the adverse poverty around them.
My second surprise encounter was at the chic new restaurant called
"Abe". In homage to the late journalist E. "Abe" Aguilar Cruz, the
eatery's decor featured mural sized sepia photographs of bon vivant
Abe and his times. I gazed around, spotting familiar people in the
life sized photos: one, Abe's painting group called Dimasalang;
another, a group of artists standing in a row in early '70's attire. I
recognized them all. Yes, there was Ang Kiu Kok, Abe, book publisher
Manny Duldulao, Galo Ocampo, Nanding Ocampo, art gallery owner Philip
Monserrat, Cesar Legaspi, and —well hello? —there standing beside
Malang with patches of black hair and beard, was yours truly! Ha.Ha.
You don't expect to encounter your image near life sized as decor in a
public restaurant. A quick count revealed that of the nine standing in
the photo, seven had departed for that great art gallery in the sky!
Only three, including this ageing cyberjournalist, still precariously
walk this weird earth.
