By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

HOW do you sum up the life of a man? Stories are but a glimpse, and so are photographs. Stories are never enough even when told truthfully and well. Photographs, even when taken in the most candid way, are but epitaphs, memories entombed in time.

He was nuts about coconuts. Constantino “Jun” Aldana Castillo, was the National President of the Philippine Coconut Society (PCS), a group of coconut farmers and advocates seeking alternative ways to improve the coconut industry to better the lives of coconut farmers. PCS maintained that the lives of farmers will never improve under the current preoccupation with copra production and needs to explore the coconut for its potential uses which can demand a better price in the domestic and international market. Over the years, they have organized farmers nationwide using affordable technologies, with very little support, or no support from government. To help market the products under this initiative, Jun founded the Coconut House, a restaurant that provides a marketing arm for products such as Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO), coconut soy, coconut sugar, coconut coffee, coconut soap, various juices from coconut water and the coconut flowers. A quintessential social entrepreneur, he never wavered in his advocacy, often repeating himself, convinced about the role of the coconut as a driver of the Philippine economy, and as a cure for COVID-19, long before the Department of Health (DOH) endorsed it as a remedy:

“One coconut a day (niyog, not buko) will keep Covid19 away from you.  It contains 6 spoonfulls of VMCO (Virginmost Coconut Oil), a powerful antivirus and immune system building food.  Simple steps –1) Split the nut with a knife over a bowl, harvest the juice,  2)  Using knife carefully separate the meat from the shell.  3)  Cut the meat into small cubes.  4) Consume the cubed coconut meat like you do peanuts and chips. 5) Finish eating the cubes together with meal or snacks within the day.  6) Drink the coconut juice or use in making your coffee, tea or ginger drink (salabat), etc.  PLEASE SHARE VIRALLY!”

He would call, three or four times in a week, or send texts from his very old mobile phone: “Come, let’s have your favorite Coffeenut coffee!”

It is something I remember well, his invitations to taste his new recipe creations, to enjoy my favorite “coffeenut” coffee, but mostly for the precious conversations about being a patriot, about loving one’s own country, and fighting for it, in every way. He believed that the CPP-NPA could spring a surprise, despite its moribund present.

Jun’s death is a surprise. He died in his sleep, probably still with his coconuts. Death is a constant reminder of the transience and fragility of life, that we should be mindful of each moment, to be sensitive to the meanings in between silences, to understand the nuances of friendships, to value each experience with gratitude, especially the ones that challenge our values and make us question the foundations of our ingrained beliefs. Doubt should always be, an opening.

Even as we believe in another life, this life, the one we currently live, is to be regarded with utmost mindfulness, as it is the founding principle of our next breath.

Farewell, Jun, pinablin Kabaleyan. Pozorrubio is proud of you.

 

The coconut nut

you left, with the Sandman

in a dream, to a new reality

no, nothing remains of the man

but the sand, in a coconut shell

and the swirling bubbles

of the coffee nut

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments