Random thoughts

Do you know who Jeffrey Umali, Marlon Bandiola and Sallymar Natividad are?  Probably not.  I did not know them either until I read about the tragedy that befell them recently.  

Thirty-year-old Jeffrey is married to Myla Hernandez-Umali and their union has been blessed with two children — four-year-old Jhey Myren and Jhemiella, 10 months old. Residing in Sta Mesa, Manila, the couple had big dreams for their children including sending them to good schools. Hence, Jeffrey has been working over time, day in and day out, not only to make ends meet but to save for the family’s future.  Yet Myla said she had never heard her husband complain about his work schedule.

Twenty-nine-year-old Marlon is married to Norberta, a factory worker, and the couple has a four-year-old son, Mark Nathan. Currently living with Norberta’s parents in Carmona, Cavite, the family recently obtained a Pag-IBIG loan and was looking forward to moving to their own modest house in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite towards the latter part of the year.  Marlon usually stayed in Pasig during the week and went home during weekends.   

Forty-one -year-old Sallymar, his wife Lilibeth and their two children live in a three-room bungalow in Bulacan. Lilibeth is on the family way and expecting their third child in August. Sallymar also stayed in the metropolis during the week and came home only on his day off which was every Sunday.   

Jeffrey, Marlon and Sallymar are all employees of agencies contracted by Abenson and currently working with the store’s outlet at the Market! Market! mall in Taguig City. Their personal and professional lives and circumstances mirror that of many a Filipino.  

Last May 31, at around 10 past eight in the evening, the three were inside the company delivery van driving along 22nd Avenue near the Fort Bonifacio High Street, literally and figuratively minding their own business.  From out of nowhere, a loud blast was heard, after which a giant concrete slab was torn from Unit 501-B of the Two Serendra development and hurled towards the street, landing squarely on their van and instantly crushing the three passengers. 

This is a most unfortunate tragedy. As a rule, people should be responsible for the consequence of their actions. But what did the three do wrong? Unlike a soldier who is sent to the battle field, a fireman who is trying to control a blaze or a policeman going after suspected criminals, these three had no inkling, (much less any participation), of what was about to happen to them.

What did the three do to deserve such an untimely end? What if they arrived a minute earlier or later? Why were they taken at the prime of their lives? What happens now to their young families? A litany of unanswered questions that can go on and on… Yet this is a clearly a case of innocent bystanders being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.   

The randomness of the situation and the ensuing questions raised remind me of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1927 novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey.  The story recounts a fictional event that happened in Lima, Peru at 12 noon on July 20, 1714. At that particular moment, a woven Inca bridge snapped while five people were crossing it, sending the helpless victims plunging into a ravine. A Franciscan monk, Brother Juniper, who was about to cross the bridge as well witnessed the tragedy.  Perplexed as to why the five lives were taken on that fateful moment, he sets out to investigate and interview persons he can find on the lives of the five victims. The good monk seeks to discover a possible cosmic explanation surrounding their deaths.

Over a period of six years, he compiles evidence to try and prove that the beginning and end of a person’s life is all part of God’s plan for that person.  Of course, this thesis supports the argument of predestination and perhaps the Hindu concept of karma and goes against the Christian concept of free will.  

Later on, Wilder clarified that his book did not seek to draw any definitive conclusions about the meaning of life but merely wished to pose a question:  â€œIs there a direction in lives beyond the individual’s own will?” The author attributes the central idea of his work to friendly conversations with his Calvinist puritanistic father who imagines God to be a strict schoolmaster that constantly and minutely weighs good versus bad deeds, sin against merit. On the other hand, Wilder argues in favor of God’s Caritas which he believes is more powerful and encompassing than the human concept of just retribution.

The book is also famous for the following memorable passage: “There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”

Returning to our local tragedy and philosophical arguments aside, the reality remains that three orphaned families need assistance. Those who wish to help may contact Ms. Hazel Baraquell at 0922-8317436 or email [email protected].    

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In memoriam: Four centavos of tribute to honor the memory of Manuel “Meckoy” Pamintuan Quiogue who suddenly passed away last week.  A marketing whiz and turn-around specialist,  his stints at J. Walter Thompson, Jourdan et Cie (Calvin Klein/Cacharel), ABS-CBN, GMA-7 and most recently, Solar Sports were marked with professional excellence and integrity. A rabid blue eagle fan who lived his life “the Ateneo way,” he leaves behind a grateful family and a legion of friends and colleagues who will miss his generous habits, cool demeanor and biting wit.

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Greetings: Birth anniversary best wishes to noted dermatologist, Dr. Corazon Geraldez-Logarta, and newly elected Pacific Plaza Towers Condominium Corp. president, Gemma Guerrero-Gemayel.

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“What’s meant to be will always find a way.”

                                               –Trisha Yearwood

Email: [email protected]