in retro

05 april 2008
makati city.


29 February 2008 –


my hair was still in a total mess when i received a text from a friend. with a stick of marlboro squashed in between my fingers, i eagerly read the message. it was a forwarded message: ate, kilala mo daw yung barret ng batch 10? patay na daw po.


wilbert was a classmate in high school. he was from the group of prim and proper, inversely proportional to the crowd i was associated with that was a bunch of rockers wannabe (at that time, i mean). they were the well-ironed-uniform-wearing classmates who would fit in the definition of "hot guys/gals" while we were the cool guys/gals who never cared how do we look like. despite the differences, we actually didn’t have any problems chilling out together. we were able to whip through our distinctness.


it was in the kamalig that the ties among the members of our batch started to flower. like anyone else, wilbert was a total stranger to us, further bolstered by his surname which sounded foreigner. but kamalig explored the ways to converge us, paving the way to the friendship we’ve been holding on to until this very day. until finally, we’re able to figure out each strengths and weaknesses.


i have actually been preparing to see my classmates as, during the last entry to our batch blog, it has been agreed upon that we would hold our get-together after a decade of hiatus. the last time i caught a glimpse of wilbert was when we’re obliged to clean the entire school just to get our hard-earned…good moral certificate. this was the consequence of escaping from practising graduation for a batch picnic. it’s still vivid in my memory how we plugged our asses away from sleeking the entire building, with sweats dripping like flowing on our foreheads.


up to now, it is still a puzzle to us what really took place. several stories have been in rounds, but none of them are confirmed. some assume that his death was related to his work, as he’s an engineer and some not-so-nice guys might have not liked the way wilbert dealt with them. i’ve always pictured wilbert as a boy-next-door type who’s willing to share his shoulders to be leaned on and extend hands to those who need his help. i guess he stuck to that image till a wacko put him to silence forever.


it is still hard to imagine that wilbert would be no longer with us on our get-together he planned. in memen's words, nakakalungkot.