A Forlorn Farewell

On arriving at the farewell reception of Spanish Ambassador Tomas Rodriguez Pantoja, each guest must have told him; "You haven’t even stayed here for two years and now you’re leaving us. How we shall miss you!"

Present were Hispanic peers Jorge Chavez Soto, Milena Santana Ramirez and Deputy Carlos de Carvalho as also Renee Veyret, Herbert D. Jess and Al-Ghamdi who is himself leaving shortly. The majority of guests consisted of Don Tomas’s Filipino friends, better said, admirers.

The occasion was in stark contrast to the welcome cocktails then Deputy Aranzazou Bañon and her husband Consul Javier Herrera tendered for the newly-arrived Ambassador Tomas Rodriguez-Pantoja. Guests were mostly from the Spanish community, the honoree not having met too many Filipinos.

Despite his brief stay, Don Tomas has made a tremendous impact, revitalizing the cultural scene with "Bravo Zarzuela!", a spectacular he directed which featured leading Spanish dancers, singers, and a conductor who inter-acted with outstanding Filipino performing artists. Last year’s "Fiesta!" likewise kept dance, music, theater and visual art lovers enthralled for the whole of October, thanks to the Instituto Cervantes.

We were fully expecting another Festival with Don Tomas as its impetus and inspiration. Instead, here he was bidding goodbye. "I’m returning to Madrid where I shall keep office hours like everybody else. My mother always thought I was a genius but my father did not think I would amount to anything."

His remarks were surprisingly self-deprecatory but the more he belittled himself, the more endearing he became to his listeners. He continued: "I shall always remember the Filipino’s most distinctive trait. No matter how challenged or oppressed or discouraged he is, he smiles. I shall not really be going away because this country and its people will always be in my heart."