Bakit, Nagsimula na ba ang misa?

TOKYO - Eat, Bulaga!’s 2010 Christmas party happened last Dec. 18, a Saturday. The Yuletide party place has always been our Xavierville office grounds in Quezon City  rain or shine. Naka-tent yata kami. Actually, nadala na because one time, in one of those early celebrations, inulan kami! Hindi white kundi wet Christmas. And this year, to get more light from the stars and the moon, our tents were of see-through materials. Hanep!

This much-anticipated event (would this be because of the raffle?) would usually start with a Thanksgiving Mass at 5 p.m., to be followed by dinner complete with the Christmas season favorites  the Yuletide yummies of bibingka with itlog na maalat and puto bumbong. Ayos!

At s’yempre may pampahaba ng buhay  lechon. But wait, there’s more! And that lecheng lechon (actually malaki-laki naman) is only second billing. Wala, supporting role lang s’ya. Eto na nga  kasi each year, as you enter the gate, a big and whole (buti na yung malinaw) baka being roasted will “warmly” (mainit-init s’yempre) greet the guests. Oh yes, suddenly there are “cow center” agents and, of course, people from the “coal center”  ngek! And while they are staring at us as the Dabarkads arrive one by one, they are all singing, “Turn around...”

He, he, he  always brings back memories of one of TVJ’s very first Tough Hits in the early ’70s  that Jose Feliciano favorite  “It’s been so long since my baby has been here and I’m so lonely... I remember when she was my one and only... but I guess it doesn’t matter INIHAW... na bangus, na baboy, na baka!”

Wow... those corned beef days.

We’ve been having this kind of setting and preparation (that with the inihaw na baka) since we beat our original noontime home, Student Canteen. Actually, I hate mentioning that “beat” word. I’d rather say “when they stopped airing their show and we lost a neighbor.” Ganyan naman talaga kasi dito sa TV at kahit saan. Masyado lang tayong ratings-conscious. Well, everything is up to us. Stop and go lang naman ang buhay  you live or you stop living. Para ding telebisyon  may “live”... or “is taped?” Ngek!

Kaya nga kami (TVJ), from the very first day and airing of Eat, Bulaga! in 1979 up to today, hindi kami nagme-make-up. What you see on TV is what we are in person. No make-up. We just let our thumb nails run and do the scraping of the sides and corners of our noses to remove excess oil. We use our palms and arms to wipe off and minimize the shine of our foreheads and cheekbones. Pagkatapos konting dampi ng tissue, presto! Pogi na.

Pero bakit nga ba ayaw naming mag-make-up talaga? Kasi, we believe that kaya nga kami nagtagal ang buhay sa TV ay dahil hindi kami naglalagay n’yan. Kasi nga ang minimeykapan lang... patay! Ngek!

Oh well, this practice of having roasted calf for our Christmas party dinner started only around the very early ’80s. So to date, we’ve had about 30 Christmas parties at the same venue  no miss.

Now let’s go back to our story  the party sequence is actually very simple  Mass, dinner, raffle (kung minsan may musical numbers and special presentations), Tony Tuviera’s closing speech, tapos uwian na. But the 5 p.m. Mass last Dec. 18 did not start on time  wala pa yung pari. My Pareng Tito twice told my Pareng Tony Tuviera, “Ano pare, sisimulan ko na.” Meaning, s’ya na raw ang mag-o-officiate ng misa. Walang’ya, ginawang Senado. Palibhasa Majority Floor Leader. Naisip ko naman, pwede namang sigurong mag-officiate ni Tito dahil ‘yung party namin eh ginagawa sa OFFICE ng Eat, Bulaga. Ngek!

In truth, we already asked the waiters for a small serving of ukoy and the delicious inihaw na baka dahil medyo nagugutom na kami. Yung ibang mahiyain dinaan sa tsaa at kape. To cut the roast calf, este the long story short, Father Arlo Bernardo Yap finally arrived and we started the Mass at 6:45 p.m. Of course, nobody dared to ask him why he was late.

He opened with an apology for not being on time. He said he came all the way from Malolos, Bulacan to perform the ceremony at the wedding of a relative. And then he seamlessly segued to another story and incident where he also arrived late. And when somebody commented, “Father, late ka.” He answered back, “Bakit, nagsimula na ba ang misa?”

Clearly, he got back his “timing.” Pun intended here.

It was indeed a very nice evening. Nice friends. Nice food. Nice raffle prizes. I particularly enjoyed and loved Father Arlo’s homily and Tony’s speech. They both conveyed the same message of forgiveness and compassion. The word sermon that evening sounded more like “share more.”

Happy New Year to all!