MANILA, Philippines - This family trip to Manila happened because I am such a lucky girl. I’ve been living in Italy for about a decade now. My husband, Andrea Zini, is completely attached and enamored of my family. So we’ve always come home to our “other” home, Manila, without discussions or objections, to spend Christmas with my family. It has always been fascinating for him to see such a huge family come together annually — the Cojuangcos, the Lopas, the Teopacos, the Reyeses and the Aquinos.
Last Christmas was particularly special. It was our daughter Demi’s first Christmas, and it also happened that my cousin Noy had announced he was going to run for president of the Philippines in the May 2010 elections. As expected, Andrea, the proud in-law, asked to have a picture of Demi, himself and me taken together with Kuya Noy.
“A picture with Kuya Noy?” I said. Deep inside me I was so embarrassed to ask Kuya Noy because it seemed so, well, weird. He is my first cousin, you know! My generation! We did nothing of the sort before, why would we do it now? But I asked and Kuya Noy obliged and the picture came out so well that it is now framed and has a place of honor in our home.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long in Manila due to Andrea’s working commitments so we missed the whole campaign season. But we kept in touch with my family the whole time. We sent text messages back and forth throughout the campaign period.
As in:
Me: “What’s happening there? No one has time to tell me anything! We went, lit candles and said our Italian prayers!”
Them: “No gulo so far, good nalang…”; “Noy is leading by 2 million…”; “3 million…”; “We haven’t slept yet! We’re waiting for the results!”; “…4 million”; “… 5 million…”
Then:
Me: “What’s going on now?”
Dad: “Noy won already!”
Mom: “Wait, wait… um… wait for the proclamation! Scary to say that now!”
Andrea: “Mom, in the newspapers here in Italy, they say that Noynoy has won!”
Mom: “Really? How nice!”
Andrea: “My dad has told everyone in the office!”
That night, I made pa-simple and told Andrea, “Wouldn’t it be so great if we could go to the inauguration on the 30th”? Then he said, “Of course, amore, we are going to the inauguration. I want my little Demina to be there in Manila with everybody.”
We left Florence on June 23 and arrived in Manila via Rome and Hong Kong. Demi stayed awake during the whole flight. She was so hyper, wanting to see and touch everything, kept saying “Hiiiiiiiii!” to the other passengers, waving at them and charming the flight attendants. When we arrived her excited wawa was waiting at the airport. By that time, we were exhausted and totally needed some sleep. Home, sweet home!
The following days the question of the moment became: “Do you have something to wear to the inauguration?” And the unanimous reply: “I’m waiting for Mom! I’m borrowing from Mom but I don’t know if it will fit!” And then, more questions: “Where are we sitting? Can Manong Jo and Andrea bring their professional cameras?”
Of course Andrea literally didn’t have anything to wear to the event except his camera, a white T-shirt and a pair of black socks! So Dad had a barong made for him and we had to shop for a pair of black pants at Greenbelt 5.
Not surprisingly, with everyone being so busy, we left everything to finish the last minute. Vasyon, our family seamstress, worked overnight to adjust Mom’s skirts and tops! Obviously, with Mom being so thin, nothing fit any of us perfectly. We opted for the quickest and most comfortable solution: a Filipiniana top and the malong.
It was a good kind of mayhem the day after. We had friends from Mindanao over, as well as Rick and Taru Burbige from Australia and Tita Lin from the US. We all left for the Quirino grandstand together. We eventually sat with my cousins at the topmost row and noticed that Auntie Passy, Auntie Jo and Dad were just three rows in front of us.
Ten minutes later, Andrea said, “Amore, I will go and take pictures,” then disappeared for a good two hours into the crowds.
In the course of events, my cousins asked, including my Koyang Noel, “Where’s Andrea?” I said I wasn’t sure, we kept missing each other’s calls but I knew he was somewhere out there.
Andrea and I finally managed to talk a few minutes later. He said, “Amore, look where I am! Guarda! Here! Here!” And I saw this foreign-looking man waving (super) excitedly from the stage. Everyone burst into laughter.
Andrea came back drenched in sweat and said Tita Ching Escaler was really nice to let him take pictures. He was absolutely thrilled because there was one picture where Kuya Noy was directly looking at him but seemed unsure if it was really Andrea. It was a face that said, “Hmmm, you look like Andrea, but is it really you?”
We spent the remaining moments of the inauguration together and then boarded our red bus besieged with yellow ribbons and stickers to head to lunch with our group of 60 (or so) at the Fortune Restaurant.
Everyone was talking about the ceremony and Kuya Noy’s speech, which was powerful and meaningful. To me it was about hope. Finally, a chance for real change!
Surely that speech touched me even more because I know the speaker as family and not as a president speaking to millions from a podium. It’s impossible for me to separate what I heard from the way I know Kuya Noy personally. I grew up with him (although he’s considerably older than me — oops!) in a tightly knit family, and I can proudly say that he is one of the simplest men I know. Downest-to-earth. And funny, too.
Mind you, I was not alone in declaring this. You would have been touched upon seeing all my cousins’ faces as Kuya Noy spoke. They were such eager faces, so proud and gratified after all the hard work and dedication during the election campaign.
Words cannot describe how we feel as a family. We say amongst ourselves, “Grabe, can you imagine what Uncle Ninoy and Auntie Cory are saying now?” And in Andrea’s exact words to my sister Pin: “Can you imagine that everything that your Uncle Ninoy did long ago is still felt, being fought for and carried on to this day?”
Living away from the Philippines has its up and downs. I can’t count in the past how many family gatherings, birthdays, events and friends I’d yearned for. Such is life. But I’m extremely happy to say that my cousin Noy’s inauguration as the 15th President of the Philippines was one occasion I didn’t miss. It was all about family, about being together and about being a Filipino.
Like I said, I’m a lucky girl.