Bong: 1,357 days of solitude

Curtain-raiser:

• A reader has caught the beauty-pageant fever and sent this item which he said he found in Funfare in an old issue of The STAR:

Miss Universe intros:

• Gutom ako, gutom kayo, gutom tayong lahat!

— Miss Hungary

• Malay mo, malay niya, malay nating lahat!

— Miss Malaysia

• Ola voila kaserola, tinola saranggola, arinola ni Lola!

— Miss Venezuela

• Baha doon, baha dito, baha sa buong mundo!

— Miss Bahamas

• Hindi sa akin, hindi sa’yo, kanino siya?

— Miss Kenya

• One way, two way, there’s no other way!

— Miss Norway

• Mula sa lupaing, kulang sa bigas, at mataas ang gas...

— Bb. Pilipinas

***

If you happen to be in the vicinity of the Camp Crame Detention Center, I bet you will know who is (if he does) singing the Bobby Vinton song that goes this way (excerpts):

Lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely

I have nobody for my own…

I am so lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely

Wish I had someone to call on the phone…

…Away from home through no wish of my own

That’s why I’m lonely, I’m Mr. Lonely

I wish that I could go back home…

Since his good friend, former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, was released on bail, former Sen. Bong Revilla has been feeling terribly lonely even if his family and friends pay him regular visits.

“But once they are gone,” Bong once confessed, “the silence in my room is so deafening that I feel the loneliness more intensely. It was less lonely when Jinggoy was around because at least mayroon kang kausap.”

Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado (left) presided over the mass wedding of 107 couples at the Strike Gymnasium last Valentine’s Day.

Three days ago, Bong poured his heart out on his Facebook page. Here it is, as is (unedited):

Halos apat na taon o mahigit 1,300 days na akong nakapiit mula sa aking pagsuko sa Sandiganbayan noong 2014.

Ilang birthday na nga ng aking mga mahal sa buhay at mga mahahalagang okasyon ang aking napalampas — mga mahahalagang oras na hindi na maibabalik — dahil sa aking kinalalagyan. Hanggang kailan pa kaya?

I do not deserve to be incarcerated, gayunpaman, buo ang tiwala ko sa sistema kaya mula’t sapul ay sumailalim ako rito.

Tulad ng ipinangako ko noon, patuloy kong hinaharap ang lahat ng mga paninira at kasinungalingan na ibinato nila sa akin.

Matatag, buong tapang at buong pag-asa kong sinasalubong ang lahat ng pagsubok na dumarating, sa kabila ng napakahaba nang panahong lumipas na hanggang ngayon ay wala pa naman napapatunayan laban sa akin.

This will never weaken my resolve to fight for the truth and what is right. I am steadfast in my commitment to our kababayan.

Naniniwala pa rin ako sa hustisya. I trust that the truth will prevail and that I will be vindicated. Tiwala ako sa ating mga hukuman na tanging makapaglilinis sa aking pangalan. Kumpiyansa akong makakamit ko pa rin ang katarungan.

Salamat sa lahat ng mga nagdarasal para sa akin. Please continue to pray for me. Tuloy lang po tayo sa panalangin at diringgin din ito.

Meanwhile, when she and their children are not visiting Bong, Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado attends to her constituents as normally as she can. Last month, she led the city’s celebration of two special events as part of the One Team, One Love, One Bacoor movement — a free Valentine concert with De La Salle-Dasmariñas Kundirana 2018 serenading 2,500 senior high and Grade 10 students from different schools in the city; and the mass wedding of 107 couples at the Strike Gymnasium (Mayor Lani was assisted in the event by Vice Mayor Karen Sarino Evaristo and the City Councilors).

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare. or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)