The Neighbor I Never Met
We could have talked extensively about Martin Heidegger's Being and Time over several cups of coffee and later on exhaust ourselves on Sartre's Existentialism is Humanism over glasses of brandies. We could have philosophized about the quiet flow of the Jal-o River and collected common memories of its songs composed throughout the ages. But our roads were not meant to cross--even if our houses were only a few meters apart.
I knew my neighbor only from third party. And that knowledge came only later when we were no longer neighbors. I befriended some of his brothers and cousins. I was particularly close to his grandmother, Lola Mabing (Mabina Pareñas Feliciano-Cortes). In my childhood, I had the privilege of turning her orchard into my playground with the perks of having to pick up fallen Rambutan and Chicos--in a time when Rambutan was still an exotic tropical fruit. When she and Lola Pining (Crispina Pareñas Feliciano) died in the 70's, La Mabing's daughter, Nay Inday Ida (Ida Feliciano Cortes-delos Reyes) and her family moved into the vacant Cortes ancestral house besides the Rural Health Center. From then on, I got acquainted with the Cortes family but not the philosopher-journalist.
The late Joy Cortes delos Reyes is one of the few Baleten-ons who have made it into the mainstream society. He was the current Editor-in-Chief of Malaya Business Insight when he succumbed to death on May 4, 2013 in Roxas City at the age of 59. He suffered for a number of years from lung cancer. As ironies would have it, his remains is interned at the Columbary inside the San Agustin Center of Studies at Fisheries St., Visayas Ave. Quezon City, the very seminary I used to call home at one time in my journey. His remains now rest in peace amid the presence of Augustinian friars I used to break bread with while I wander still, restless, along the path I am now treading.
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Relevant reads concerning my neighbor:
I knew my neighbor only from third party. And that knowledge came only later when we were no longer neighbors. I befriended some of his brothers and cousins. I was particularly close to his grandmother, Lola Mabing (Mabina Pareñas Feliciano-Cortes). In my childhood, I had the privilege of turning her orchard into my playground with the perks of having to pick up fallen Rambutan and Chicos--in a time when Rambutan was still an exotic tropical fruit. When she and Lola Pining (Crispina Pareñas Feliciano) died in the 70's, La Mabing's daughter, Nay Inday Ida (Ida Feliciano Cortes-delos Reyes) and her family moved into the vacant Cortes ancestral house besides the Rural Health Center. From then on, I got acquainted with the Cortes family but not the philosopher-journalist.
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| The cloister of San Agustin Center of Studies in Quezon City (Photo, courtesy of Marcial Barrios) |
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Relevant reads concerning my neighbor:
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