Roll call

 LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

David March Fianza

The past weeks have not been good as we saw relatives and friends being called one by one by the Maker. What can mortals do when it’s the grand plan that is being carried out? I thought my mother's leaving in May would be the last. Yet, my sister-in-law departed too without prior notice.
    The roll call to the great beyond continued. On the last day of August, the neighborhood storekeeper at New Lucban told me that ex-Punong Barangay Manuel Carantes, 84; was found lifeless in his room. He was buried 21 days later because his daughters had to fly home from the United States.
    Then Aunt Minnie, 86; my late father’s younger sis was found motionless on her bedroom floor. As if she knew that it was her time because she left a note requesting that she be interred right away and no wake would be held. No obits too. Well, that was exactly what we nephews and nieces did.
    A few days after Aunt Minnie’s funeral, I was told that my cousin Sydney in Pushong, Daclan, Bokod got infected with Covid-19. Luz, his loving wife, looked after him. The caring wife contracted the killer virus and died. Sydney survived.
    Early Monday morning, retired Baguio City Prosecutor Benny T. Carantes was rushed to the BGH for an unforgiving dry cough. Between two to three at dawn, Boss Benny expired due to cardiac arrest. His swab test result was negative of Covid-19.
    April, the favorite niece said, his uncle’s remains will be brought to the Baguio Justice Hall for viewing in the morning of Tuesday, to be followed by a mass at a church at Scout Barrio before proceeding to the Pyramid Cemetery at Kias. His sons, Marc and Mel confirmed this. Surely, many will miss Boss Benny. 
    Before going out to check the flowers for Boss Benny that was ordered by his brod, the former Congressman Ronald M. Cosalan on behalf of the Sigma Rho, I received the sad news that my cousin Cesar P. Fianza of Itogon passed on after a long bout with kidney disease.
    May the Good Lord provide Cesar’s wife Tessie, their children and grandchildren guidance, courage and strength to move on as He always does. Cesar now walks peacefully with Uncles Peping and Ponso.
    On the same fateful morning, Romeo P. Cachero, 44; my 7th cousin Conrad Marzan’s son-in-law was cremated after being ill for almost two weeks with Covid-19. This, after his wife Soliel and Conrad’s daughter lost a baby last July.
    In her Facebook account, Soliel posted Romy’s pic with the caption: “Ayu, Romeo, nagsaur ka! Kasatnuk ibaga kids? (Ayu, Romeo, you cheat! How will I tell our kids?) Thank you for everything and for the kids. I will always make sure that they will always remember that you were a good dad to them. Until we meet again.”
    With that roll call, I find Romy’s passing as the most painful, seeing that he knew he was leaving Soliel and their three very young boys but he cannot even go to say goodbye to them. I felt the heartbreak but what can we mortals do other than try to make things easy for the orphaned families by saying kind words.
    More than a decade ago in Nueva Vizcaya, I learned a lesson in life from a farmer who walked three kilometers daily from his farm to reach the main highway and back. One evening, our paths crossed as he was about to walk the distance.
    Having traveled the rugged foot trail myself, I can only imagine how a farmer who could be pushing 80 years negotiate his way at night, encountering the so-called “nice people around” at certain times.
    I offered him my flashlight to which he quickly refused. Instead, he said it is safer to walk through the fields without any light or under cover of darkness so that he can pass unseen. Furthermore he said, life-threatening incidents come according to God’s will.
    When I asked if he really believed what he just said, he narrated that there are people who every so often meet accidents but still survive, while there are newborns whose lives are suddenly snuffed out even before they have yet to open their eyes.
    The farmer said such instances were all God’s will. We all have destinies written on our palms as soon as we are born. His quick advice was that people should move on with whatever fate they have because that is willed by a Supreme Being who takes charge of our lives.
    Birth and the time of death, according to him, have been written on our palms the moment we enter this world. His words reminded me of stories about very healthy and wealthy people who, without any known causes, just drop dead.
    Then there was this guy who sustained three gunshots on his chest and still lived to tell his story. He rushed himself to the hospital and walked out the next day. And I remember my conversation with the farmer by the Aritao Road, he said, “If the roll is called by Him, it is time.”