Four Philippine Presidents Came to Dine with Chris

Unbelievable.

I haven't met anyone in my life who has dined with four presidents of the Republic of the Philippines -- except for my friend, Chris. And it wasn't some kind of an official occasion. They just came to see him all at the same time. I saw the pictures myself. No photoshop involved, folks. :)

For security reasons, I will not mention my friend's family name. Let's just say, that by way of a hefty contribution during one of the Spanish uprisings, his family was bequeathed by the Queen with a Conde (Count) status for all males in all generations to come. He's a Filipino, yet with royal blood. Cool, noh?

So last Wednesday afternoon, I went to a quaint house in Ayala Alabang where I met Chris and his nephew Ramon. They served me moringa lime juice and finger foods from Deli France. The meeting took us only 10 minutes but the whole conversation and reminiscing went on for 3 hours.

You see, Chris, like me, besides being a malunggay fan, is also an EDSA People Power Revolution veteran. The main difference is that he is more of a servant leader and king-maker, while I am, err.... just Homer. :)

I enjoyed listening to a lot of anecdotes and stories about the 4 presidents: Cory, Ramos, Erap and Gloria whom Chris knew up-close and personal. Even stories about personalities such as Cardinal Sin, FPJ, Susan Roces and P-Noy were educational, to say the least.

So what did I find out based on Chris' first-hand accounts? Here you go...

1) Cory was a saint. I guess every God-fearing and freedom-loving Filipino knew that.

2) Ramos was a decent and fair man. Though lately, it was Ramos who called Chris a tiger.

3) Cardinal Sin voted for Ramos even as he celebrated mass for Mitra in the 1992 elections.

4) Erap was straight-forward and candid.

5) Gloria was allegedly small and terrible.

6) FPJ was a true friend who never abused his close ties with Erap.

7) Susan Roces loves to dance and could have been a very good First Lady.

8) P-Noy's siblings initially didn't want him to run for President.

There are a lot more but I just can't put them in print.

Chris was a Cory raving fan. He has one part of his house dedicated to her memory and has at least three Cory paintings on display. Chris even has one of Cory's hand-written prayers. What's intriguing though, is that my friend Chris is also a super-fan of Marilyn Monroe. Is there some kind of conflict? Well, as Cory herself put it in answer to someone's query to Chris about his fanaticism to Monroe versus his religiosity: "By today's standards, Marilyn Monroe was decent."

Ending my 3-hour visit to Chris' humble abode, he toured me around the house. He has a private chapel, a working jukebox and the family coat-of-arms in his bar at the basement, some collage pictures of both Monroe and Cory, and an office that houses EDSA memorabilia.

What I liked most were the Cory paintings on 3 fans.

I believe everyone's so intrigued about my friend Chris. Here's this humble man with royal blood who was offered a juicy post by one of the Presidents (which he refused!?!) but has still maintained a low profile, far away from radars and satellites.

Let me just say that Chris will always be the man who loves God, his country and his family (in that order) and seeks to keep the spirit of EDSA alive forever as a reminder that the Filipino is indeed worth dying for.