FPJ and Coke in cans
i was watching the latenight news last monday when it was reported that FPJ already passed away. Hearing the doctor confirm his death came as a shock to me. well, yes, i knew that he had a stroke but it was so unreal that after only a couple of days, he's gone.
the first person that i thought of was my mama.she is a big big fan of fpj. i remember that when we were younger,she would "secretly" take us to the cinemas and watch fpj's movies because my papa wouldnt allow us to go to the movie houses. she voted for him in the 2004 presidential elections and even got angry at me and my sister because our votes went to ping lacson. she is irked by the sight of gloria macapagal arroyo because she believes that gma is a cheat and fpj is the rightful president of the philippines. she gets offended when there are people who call fpj supporters as uneducated fools becuse she is an fpj supporter, she has a college degree, and she’s definitely not foolish. she believes in fpj because according to her, fpj has helped a lot of people and he symbolizes hope. and that for a country such as the philippines--- hope is very much needed. well that's my mama-- a true blue fpj fan.
so it came not as a surprise to me when she texted me and told me that she wanted to go to Sto Domingo and see fpj's wake. i gamely went with her, even if a lot of people were warning us that it would take hours before we'll be able to come inside the church. i was thinking that the media is just exaggerating and it wouldn’t really take us that long to see fpj. But when we arrived at sto domingo in quezon ave, we were overwhelmed by the number of people lining up just to catch a glimpse of fpj. We thought that we wouldn’t be able to make it because my mama still has to travel back to Pampanga.
We decided to have lunch first at the KFC –in front of the church before trying to go battle with the people in the lines. There we met an old lady who was with her niece who told us that senior citizens were being prioritized and they don’t have to line up. But my mom is 44 years young so it was impossible to mistake her for a senior citizen. But the old lady was kind enough---after my mama's coaxing---to let us pretend to be her relatives so we could also go in without lining up. We went to the shortcut for senior citizens and were able to enter in less than five minutes. I know that’s super madaya but if you were there, seeing all those people, you would understand.
We were able to see fpj—he looked young and strong lying there, its as if he was just taking a nap-honest! I was able to take some pictures of him and my mama—creepy but true ;) then we stayed inside the church and seated ourselves at the pews reserved for VIPs – another violation! But the FPJ marshals were letting us , maybe because my mama was dressed, with her gold bling blings and all that, and she was mistaken for a VIP too. We were able to see Susan roces arrive and my mama had her picture taken with her and with the brother of FPJ. It was a little funny because my mama does not look like someone who would go out of her way to have her picture taken with artistas—she has this mataray aura in her – that’s why she takes people by surprise and in the end, they just let her have her way even if its bawal because she confuses them ;)
Anyway we stayed for another 3 hours just sitting there watching the people at the wake and praying. It was unbelievable to see that there seemed to be no end to the line of people wanting to see fpj. The people just kept on streaming in. We were able to talk with some fans who came from as far as ilocos. We saw a 78 year old woman who traveled alone from pangasinan just to be able to see fpj. Another lola who looked half Spanish was also there alone. she looked frail but strong and when we asked how old was she, she told us that she was born july 8, 1900!! Making her 104 years old! She went there just to see her idol and pay her respects.
When I was finally able to convince mama that it was getting late and its time for us to go home, she lined up the short distance to see fpj once again. There was a sheen of tears in her eyes because it will be the last time that she’ll be able to see her idol. We sadly went to the exit of the church which was lined up with beautiful flowers from various prominent people. As we were walking out the church, the fpj marshals were thanking us for coming, asking if we had enough pictures and all that. We signed our condolences in large manila papers and we were given Coke in cans to refresh ourselves. I noticed that all of the people paying their respects were given Coke in cans as they exit the church—there were truckloads of cokes and every person gets a can. Well, just imagine, judging from the number of people coming continuously since Tuesday, that’s A LOT OF COKE IN CANS!!!! (sorry, just an observation :p ) outside were still hundreds of people lined up in kilometers, patiently waiting to see their idol, hoping to get a glimpse of susan roces or their favorite movie stars…
well, a lot of them will be able to see fpj, some would be lucky to catch susan inside, a few might even be able to shake her hand, but one thing im 99% sure of is that—all of them would get a can of Coke.
the first person that i thought of was my mama.she is a big big fan of fpj. i remember that when we were younger,she would "secretly" take us to the cinemas and watch fpj's movies because my papa wouldnt allow us to go to the movie houses. she voted for him in the 2004 presidential elections and even got angry at me and my sister because our votes went to ping lacson. she is irked by the sight of gloria macapagal arroyo because she believes that gma is a cheat and fpj is the rightful president of the philippines. she gets offended when there are people who call fpj supporters as uneducated fools becuse she is an fpj supporter, she has a college degree, and she’s definitely not foolish. she believes in fpj because according to her, fpj has helped a lot of people and he symbolizes hope. and that for a country such as the philippines--- hope is very much needed. well that's my mama-- a true blue fpj fan.
so it came not as a surprise to me when she texted me and told me that she wanted to go to Sto Domingo and see fpj's wake. i gamely went with her, even if a lot of people were warning us that it would take hours before we'll be able to come inside the church. i was thinking that the media is just exaggerating and it wouldn’t really take us that long to see fpj. But when we arrived at sto domingo in quezon ave, we were overwhelmed by the number of people lining up just to catch a glimpse of fpj. We thought that we wouldn’t be able to make it because my mama still has to travel back to Pampanga.
We decided to have lunch first at the KFC –in front of the church before trying to go battle with the people in the lines. There we met an old lady who was with her niece who told us that senior citizens were being prioritized and they don’t have to line up. But my mom is 44 years young so it was impossible to mistake her for a senior citizen. But the old lady was kind enough---after my mama's coaxing---
We were able to see fpj—he looked young and strong lying there, its as if he was just taking a nap-honest! I was able to take some pictures of him and my mama—creepy but true ;) then we stayed inside the church and seated ourselves at the pews reserved for VIPs – another violation! But the FPJ marshals were letting us , maybe because my mama was dressed, with her gold bling blings and all that, and she was mistaken for a VIP too. We were able to see Susan roces arrive and my mama had her picture taken with her and with the brother of FPJ. It was a little funny because my mama does not look like someone who would go out of her way to have her picture taken with artistas—she has this mataray aura in her – that’s why she takes people by surprise and in the end, they just let her have her way even if its bawal because she confuses them ;)
Anyway we stayed for another 3 hours just sitting there watching the people at the wake and praying. It was unbelievable to see that there seemed to be no end to the line of people wanting to see fpj. The people just kept on streaming in. We were able to talk with some fans who came from as far as ilocos. We saw a 78 year old woman who traveled alone from pangasinan just to be able to see fpj. Another lola who looked half Spanish was also there alone. she looked frail but strong and when we asked how old was she, she told us that she was born july 8, 1900!! Making her 104 years old! She went there just to see her idol and pay her respects.
When I was finally able to convince mama that it was getting late and its time for us to go home, she lined up the short distance to see fpj once again. There was a sheen of tears in her eyes because it will be the last time that she’ll be able to see her idol. We sadly went to the exit of the church which was lined up with beautiful flowers from various prominent people. As we were walking out the church, the fpj marshals were thanking us for coming, asking if we had enough pictures and all that. We signed our condolences in large manila papers and we were given Coke in cans to refresh ourselves. I noticed that all of the people paying their respects were given Coke in cans as they exit the church—there were truckloads of cokes and every person gets a can. Well, just imagine, judging from the number of people coming continuously since Tuesday, that’s A LOT OF COKE IN CANS!!!! (sorry, just an observation :p ) outside were still hundreds of people lined up in kilometers, patiently waiting to see their idol, hoping to get a glimpse of susan roces or their favorite movie stars…
well, a lot of them will be able to see fpj, some would be lucky to catch susan inside, a few might even be able to shake her hand, but one thing im 99% sure of is that—all of them would get a can of Coke.
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