Bok

When I heard the news of Nonoy’s passing, I was hit in the gut, like many of us. It had been only a month or so since we first learned about his serious health issues; the end, when it came, was so sudden.

Since then, I have been obsessively reading all the news stories and personal accounts about the man we called Bok, our fearless leader and faithful friend.

I tried to recall the last time I saw Nonoy face to face, and it turns out it was during one of those Black Friday protests that he helped organize, in front of ABS-CBN. It was late February 2020, just a few weeks before the pandemic became official, and the Black Friday protests that started as a very small gathering on Roces Avenue had become a large mass action on Sgt. Esguerra Avenue.

After I said my piece, I stayed on the sidelines, and then said to him:

“Bok, tawid lang ako. Hindi pa ako kumakain.”

There was a restaurant right across the street from the protest, and it was open.

Nonoy replied immediately and naturally:

“Samahan kita, bok.”

And so I ended up having dinner with the chair of the NUJP, at a table that looked out into the street and to the street protest. It occurs to me, now, that for half an hour or so, I was able to share his vantage point.

What did he see from that vantage point? Allow me a personal reading. First, that courage is contagious. The small group that rallied on Roces Avenue had generated a real groundswell of support. And second, that conflict requires company, or companionship. Many of the stories and accounts about Noy stress that he was both a fierce advocate of press freedom and human rights AND a beloved, caring mentor; that he was both always on the frontlines but always ready to keep us, even starving columnists, company.

Young people these days have a meme-ready saying: The duality of man. But Nonoy, Bok, did not live a dual or divided life. He focused on the struggle, yes, but he also lived a full, happy, well-rounded life. He showed us the unity, the integrity of the journalist’s life, that we are all capable of.

He was the best of us; that’s why when he led, we followed.

Remarks prepared for a video sharing during the “media night” wake, July 14, 2021.