By Rex Catubig

 

SHE was variously viewed as intimidating, domineering, haughty. But she was also a most kind, caring, and faithful friend who valued her late husband’s associates like they were her own. And the respectful regard extended to their family, the way she extended her hospitality to this young son.

 And I’m almost certain that though she could appear to be a daunting employer, she treated her household staff well. There could be no other reason why the portly family driver Camilo, in wrinkle-free white polo shirt, had always been at her service for as long as I could remember.

 But no other memorable incident could surpass my remembrance of Dona Consuelo than when my father died. She called him Lope, a first-name basis without condescension. Though my father was merely staunch supporter, a trusted ally and confidante, and did not count as one of the high and mighty in local politics, just a diehard loyalist of the powers that be, Dona Consuelo in a show of unparalleled humility, personally honored him by coming to his funeral. 

She did not mind the crowd and the heat, and braved the hot June midday sun, walking the narrow gravelly path of the Catholic cemetery, with Dr Paco Duque holding aloft an umbrella for her. She did not budge when friends and family crowded around and inched her way up close to the coffin during the entombment, her dark sunglasses hiding her quiet grief.

 It’s only now that I realize the deep respect she accorded my father, and how she held the humble man in high esteem.  Despite her being a diva, a political royalty, it was not beneath her dignity to mourn a common man.

 Proof that nobility obliges.

 That was Dona Consuelo Salazar vda de Perez–an inimitable class act.  Despite her exalted status, she enthralled us with her spontaneity and her down-to-earth attitude. She could casually entertain carefree teenagers with no estimable credentials save for a token family tie, in much the same manner she would receive persons of prominence.  And to a large measure, she was a woman of fame and fortune who was magnanimous in paying her respects to a humble ally.

 Sadly, the old aristocratic political brilliance imbued with great humanity that she shared with the late Speaker is now merely an echo of past glory. The coda of a song like Ang Maya, whose soaring trills reverberate in the twilight of memory.

  As a footnote, it’s heartwarming to recall another woman of later distinction, whose association and eventual immersion in the lineage of greatness was not even hinted at then.

 It was mid-afternoon when a beige van pulled up in front of our house. Without the least fanfare, a lady in a simple dress got off, accompanied by a young teen. Not knowing who she was, presumably just a friendly sympathizer as my late father had many, she was ushered in.

 She looked for my mother, and forthwith, extended her hand and introduced herself in a soft voice: “ Ako po si Cory, pinapunta po ako dito ni Ninoy”.

 Yes, it was Cory Aquino, with daughter Ballsy, if I recall right. Her husband, Ninoy had been in prison since the imposition of Martial Law and it was now mid 70’s.

 My brother Luis, or Louie, was a Technical Consultant of Ninoy and had a close working and personal relationship with him. In one of the intimate photos in a book about Ninoy, a very young boy cousin of mine had his 15 seconds of fame, when he was  pictured with the Senator holding him on his lap.

 But my memory is meandering. Perhaps, I’m merely trying to say that the bloodline of the old distinguished politicos remained flowing for a time but ran aground the ungrateful and hardened veins of the new order.

 Will it ever flow unimpeded again,  will noble kindness ever be the order of the day? 

 Note: The photos were taken from the FB album of the late Consuelo Blanca “Connie” Salazar Perez.

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