A Cup O’ Kapeng Barako
by Jesse Jose
Now and then I’d read an opinion column that would stop me dead in my tracks and say: “Wow! That was good. It’s a beaut. I like it.” And this one has a beautiful ending, too, that jolted me out of my seat. First with a chuckle, then with a roaring, hearty laughter.
After my laughter subsided and I became more rational, I thought this story BEGS for a different ending, a much better ending that would give OTHERS a hearty laugh and a good feeling, too.
But first, Dear Readers, here’s the story. Short and sweet and easy to read. It was written by Manuel Buencamino, a political columnist for the Business Mirror, a publication in the Philippines. His column is called, “Life in Gloria’s Enchanted Kingdom.” And he has titled this story, “To Die Like Christ.”
If you have already read it, read it again and enjoy. Because it’s really a classic.
An old priest who lay dying in his hospital bed motioned to his nurse to come near.
“Yes, Father?” asked the nurse.
“I would like to see Manny Villar and Gloria Arroyo before I die,” whispered the priest.
“I’ll see what I can do, Father,” she replied.
Villar phoned Arroyo after he heard from the nurse.
“Did you get the priest’s request?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she replied.
“I don’t know why he wants to see us but my advisers told me I should go, it will be good for my image daw,” he said.
“My people told me the same thing,” she said.
“Then let’s get together,” he proposed.
“That’s a good idea,” she said. “We can milk the visit.”
The priest’s hospital room was packed with reporters and TV crews when they arrived.
The priest beamed when he saw Manny and Gloria. He motioned her to stand by the right side of his bed and Villar on the left. A look of serenity settled on the priest’s face after they took their places.
The cameras were rolling. Everybody was waiting for the priest to say something for the evening news’ sound bite. But he said nothing. All he gave them was a beatific smile.
Villar finally spoke up, “Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to share your last moments with you?”
The dying priest replied, “I have always tried to live my life as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did. Now I want to die like He did.”
Villar bowed his head. Arroyo wiped a tear from her eye.
The priest continued, “Thanks to you both my wish will come true.
“How so?” chimed Villar and Gloria.
“Christ died between two lying thieves.”
Hahahahaha! Don’t mean to be a sacrilegious jerk, folks, but I really think that was sooooooo funny.
Okey ngarud, as we all know, that’s how the tutas and the supporters of Abnoy, sorry, I mean, Noynoy, would like that story to end, right? There’s another ending to that story, which I think, is more apt and believable.
So, there were two “lying thieves” that were also crucified on their crosses and died with Jesus on that mount, “called the Skull.” One on Jesus’ left and the other on his right. I believe their names were Dimas and Gestas. I am not really sure who was on the right side of Jesus and who was on His left.
But of this, I am sure, for I’ve quoted the following passages from the “Gospel According to Luke” in the Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible:
Now one the criminals hanging reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but THIS MAN has done nothing criminal.”
“Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Those words are beautiful, too … and TRUE. It’s the Word of the Lord and I believe in His Words.
Now … fast forward to today’s Philippine politics and to this raging war of words and intense race for the skull of the Philippine presidency. And I think the question is: Who would be that “criminal” who jeered at Jesus and who would be that one who sought forgiveness and asked to be remembered when Jesus “come to His Kingdom?”
Two lying thieves. One on the left and one on the right. Who would be Gloria and who would be Manny. I dunno if Gloria reviles Jesus or not. I am not a judge of that. And I dunno either if Villar’s the one who repented his criminal ways. I dunno a lot of things.
But I do know that Manny Villar’s supporters would like to believe that it would be Villar who sought forgiveness for his sins and who had asked Jesus to remember him in His Kingdom … and for doing that, therefore, “entered the kingdom” and won the presidency of the country of Wawa We.
And, that would be the true beautiful ending to that story that Manuel Buencamino wrote, a story that BEGS for a different ending.
Yes, for reasons of my own, I am for Manny Villar. So I say: Go, Manny! Go for the gold. From rags to riches, from the PALENGKE TO THE PRESIDENCY would be a great Filipino story. A story, with a much more beautiful and apt ending than Mr. Buencamino’s fanciful story of a dying priest, with a fanciful wish to die like Christ. JJ
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