Goodbye Manny A.

I've known him since my high school days... long before he etched an image of himself as advocate for what is right and just for all... long before he earned his rep as a musician, I knew Manny Amador as brother to Ditto Amador. Back then, they were just a pair of Ateneans, and what most probably kept us connected was a shared passion for reading comics - that and a mutual friend, Maxi Fernandez.

In a seeming day and time when the rivalry between Ateneo and La Salle would prevent us from talking civilly to each other, we respected and even welcomed each other's interest in reading comics - and yes, even up to the point of discussing in near impassioned manner, what was happening in the comics, with the characters... just plain old discussions on what is... what if... what are the repercussions... in this imaginary universe filled with heroes.

Manny would play the younger, dutiful brother to Ditto - and they would hang around in the Manila and Makati night life... I would bump into them there as well, though I suspect they spent more time there than I did - but then again, that's the advantage of having a car - and Ditto, being the eldest, was the designated driver.

One thing that struck me was their use of nicknames - not necessarily their own... for example, Ditto was called 'Coach' by Manny - thus indirectly espousing the fact that he looked up to his older brother and sought some form of guidance. Ditto (or Deke, as we now call him) would call Manny 'Canon' - I never did get to ask them why they did that.

One particular time, I contracted the chicken pox - so naturally, I could not go to school - this despite my being a supposed DJ for the school disco... and since this was basically pre celular phone days, I just has no way of contacting friends. Well, Ditto - for some reason called - apparently wanting to read some comics that Maxi did not have... he was asking if it was okay ot drop by. I told him I had Chicken Pox and he just said no problem - they've had theirs already. So it was to my mom's surprise that I had my only visitors while in quarantine, and they were Ateneans to boot.

I really appreciated them for that visit.

From comics and night life, our interest seemed to have shifted to Role Playing Games, and though Ditto as very active in this, Manny on the other hand, was steering clear of the games for their known association with some devil worship - hence the start of Many becoming independent of his 'Coach'. Because of this, I would have lesser mingling time with Manny - in fact the only time I'd see Manny was when I'd visit the Amador home in Sta Ana and catch him there. He'd look at what we were doing and just be on his way, civilly keeping to himself.

This is not to say that Manny never tried role playing games - he just avoided the Dungeons and Dragons milieu- I know this for a fact, because when our group had a Vietnam-milieu RPG, he was one of the first to want to try it out. In fact, this was one of those rare games he and I were part of a game, and I remember a few instances when my character wanted to do something (you see, I was playing the demolitions expert) to his character's chagrin - who was our patrol lead. If I remember correctly, Ditto was the sniper and the GM for this was Allan

I first discovered Manny's musician side when Johnny Alegre and I watched a concert - and Manny was the guitarist... he performed a lot of Police hits, and whether Johnny will admit it or not, he felt like Manny was upstaging him... a fellow musician, albeit a semi-retired one at that point in time. I never got to see Manny play again - and I guess part of that is because I was not too keen on live and loud bands - of which Manny seemed to enjoy doing. So yeah, he was the Rock God-worshiper back then, something strangely considered as a viable combination.

I'd be seeing less and less of Manny - simply because our circles would not be the same. Even if he was Deke's brother, I don't think they were as close as before. Manny was doing a lot of things in his life and Deke was now the underachiever of the family. But I would read about Manny in the news - leading seemingly Quixotic battles for what is right against PLDT, Microsoft and yes... even the government. So as the public knew more of him... I got to know less of him.

Last I saw Manny alive was in - of all places, the grocery. I was with Bryce and we were getting some items for spaghetti (I think), and when we bumped into him, I introduced Bryce to him. Not missing this as a possible opportunity, I asked Manny to give Bryce a bit of advice in IT and Manny gamely gave Bryce his viewpoints. I know Bryce found Manny entertaining - and I wonder if this likewise put some impression on Bryce regarding IT.

So... that was Manny to me - an acquaintance, almost a friend, a good (some would argue 'great') guitarist, a man wiht a mission - be it against population control, metering of phones or the Microsoft juggernaut. But always a man with a smile. One who'd readily call you Dawg, even before I heard it from an American Idol judge, and he'd call himself (sometimes even declaring it to the sky) how handsome he was (Ang pogi ko!!!). Yup, definitely a character - but a sharing soul as well.

Manny died a few days ago - apparently of cardiac failure. The news was sudden... and definitely unexpected. That it happened in Cebu made it hard for us to help him. His remains lie in state at Don Bosco now... and I feel that I should see him for the last time.

Rock the heavens, Manny. I'm sure you shall be missed. Too bad we never had another conversation before you decided to clock out of here.