An early Christmas story

When Kit Mayor Ravana, a Metro Manila-based human resources executive,  saw The STAR’s front page photo of the soft opening of Jollibee in London, she decided to try to be a fairy godmother to her sister-in-law Nancy Mayor, who is battling cancer. It was a shot at the moon, but she aimed, nevertheless.

But Kit didn’t have a magic wand. Just guts born from her affection for her sister-in-law Nancy, wife of her younger brother Leandro Mayor III or Junjun. And faith in the goodness of mankind.

(Kit is the first cousin of my late father, Frank. But she was not the one who relayed this story to me. Read on.)

Kit saw that among the Cabinet secretaries in the photo in London was Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat. Of all the officials in the photo, she chose to reach out to Berna. Perhaps because she is a woman, too.

Unbeknownst to her, Berna’s late sister Lupe was a top executive of Jollibee. Kit sent a private message to Berna on social media telling her that Nancy, 40, who lives in Bristol, is fighting the Big C and one of her wishes is to eat her favorite Chicken Joy in Jollibee when it opens in London on Oct. 20.

Nancy Mayor.

“I hope and pray she can still make it,” Kit wrote Berna.

Now, Berna is an extremely busy woman but she tries to read all her messages.

Imagine Kit’s surprise when she saw in her inbox that Berna had sent her a reply, asking for her (Kit’s) brother’s contact details. Kit said she was simply “overwhelmed” when she received a reply from the Tourism secretary.

“I didn’t expect that she would reply. I just tried...,” Kit recalls.

Berna did not only acknowledge Kit’s message, she took action. She forwarded the message to her sister Lupe’s former boss at Jollibee.

* * *

Back in Bristol, Nancy was resting at home when the doorbell rang and a tall guy in red (who earlier planned the visit with Nancy’s husband Junjun) introduced himself as Jollibee’s marketing man in London. He might as well have said, “My name is Santa Claus” because in his hands were all the Jollibee goodies a homesick Pinoy could ever dream of — Chicken Joy, Yumburger, spaghetti. They even brought Nancy a stuffed toy!

“We’re here to grant your wishes!” said the man in red, who introduced himself as Fred Ventura.

“Wow, Jollibee nakarating sa Bristol,” Nancy exclaimed, clapping her hands like a child. It was a total surprise to her.

It didn’t only seem like Christmas Day to her. It seemed like she was back home. Having a Pinoy Christmas.

* * *

Behind the scenes, this is what happened. Jollibee got in touch with Junjun and told him that their London team wanted to surprise Nancy. It was only then that he found out that his sister Kit had earlier gotten in touch with Berna and relayed Nancy’s wish to have Chicken Joy.

“Secretary Berna’s reply to my message,  and the effort of the Jollibee team, who traveled almost two hours from London to Bristol, were simply overwhelming. According to one of the crew members who went with the team to Bristol, they woke up really early to cook the chicken and the burger. Naiyak ako sa sobrang tuwa para sa hipag ko,” Kit shares.

At the soft opening of Jollibee’s first store in Earl’s Court, London on Sept. 25 are (from left) BCDA’s Vince Dizon, Valezuela City Rep. Wes Gatchalian, NEDA Director-General Ernesto Pernia, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Jollibee’s Ernesto Tanmantiong and Dennis Flores, Philippine Ambassador to the UK Antonio Lagdameo, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano.

Junjun and Nancy (both of whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet) have a 10-year-old son, Andre, who was present during Jollibee’s visit.  It gave him a chance to know the culture and the traditions of his parents’ homeland. Junjun started working in the United Kingdom in 2003 as a nurse in the cardiovascular unit of the Bristol Royal Infirmary hospital. Nancy followed in 2004 and they are now both citizens of the UK. Now Andre knows that wherever a Filipino transplants himself, there will always be part of him that will remain as Filipino as Chicken Joy.

In an Instagram post, Nancy said, “Thank you so much Mr. Fred Ventura, Mergie, Jesper and Carlo from Jollibee London Team for the surprise visit. Maraming salamat po sa Chicken Joy and cheeseburgers na pasalubong ninyo. Napabusog ‘nyo po kami lahat. Nagpapasalamat din po kami kay Secretary Puyat of Philippine Tourism for this unforgettable moment and also to my sister-in-law Kit Mayor Ravana. At sobra po ninyo kami napasaya, kasing saya din ni Jollibee.”

* * *

According to Berna, “Jollibee did this without publicity.”

It was a high point in a week that was exhausting for the Tourism secretary, “But this made me happy.”

“I love it that Jollibee just did it. They could have asked for coverage but they didn’t.”

So, here are people I know and who are dear to me, and a brand I love on earth with the help of a friend (Lupe) in heaven, all getting together to make someone happy. I only found out about this circle of love spun by total strangers when Berna asked me after the Jollibee visit if I was related to Junjun. It was only then that I put two and two together. And the end result was total happiness — for all. (I had to ask Junjun and Kit’s permission to put out this story.)

For indeed, what is Christmas but the sharing of God’s love, the very reason He sent His only son to earth to redeem mankind. And when we encounter strangers who go out of their way to show us acts of kindness, we know there isn’t just a Santa Claus. We know there is a God.