“Another definition of a hero is someone who is

concerned about other people’s well-being and will go out

of his or her way to help them – even if there is no
chance of a reward. That person who helps others simply
because it should or must be done, and because it is the
right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real
superhero.” – Stan Lee

Evil in this world takes many forms: Poverty, Oppression, Hate,

Suffering, Greed, and Hopelessness and these evils are every bit as
terrifying as “Thanos” or “Hydra” or any Comic Book Personification of
Evil. Just like in the comics it takes people with Superhuman abilities to
keep these evils at bay. However, as Stan Lee quoted, being a
superhero doesn’t always mean having Hulk Like Strength or Tony Stark
like Intelligence. “Being a Superhero is about helping others because it
should or must be done.”

Lola Carmencita, you were my Superhero, you are my Superhero

You’re passing has truly shaken me and put my own mortality in

perspective because you were always superhuman to me, despite your
old age and small stature. You had a Fiery Heart and Indomitable will
that moved mountains. And I mean Literally, your numerous Road
Projects literally Carved mountains to make way for economic progress
and added opportunities for your beloved people. I literally thought you
were invincible. You fought poverty, illiteracy, complacency, and the
grave environmental abuse of our dear mother earth with the kind of
indomitable will power you would not expect from a 4 foot 11 inch tall
“chinita.”

You know, one of the fondest memories I have of you was New Year’s
Day about 4 Years ago. Due to our Ongsiako New year’s lunch being
held at your house in Damsa, I decided to sleep there after celebrating
the new year at a Nightclub. As I Entered the house at 5am, reeking of
the last nights sinful activities, I see you, then 83 years old, riding the
hell out of your stationary bike. And not that lazy kind of stationary bike
riding you see in Instagram a lot nowadays. I mean you were really
going at it. At 6am, you had broken into a full sweat. But that was you.
That was your superpower. Not strength, Not Speed, Not X Ray Vision.
But I Tireless Ethic and Will that refused to take no for an answer. In the
25 years I’ve known you, I only heard you say the words “I’m tired” and
“I need to rest” Once. And that was before we were supposed to have
dinner at Sicilian Roast last December 29. with the Tambuntings
because you were already suffering from what eventually claim your
beautiful, beautiful life. Otherwise,You were never put down by the
fatigues and pains that stopped mere mortals like me. I catch myself
sometimes complaining of work midway through the week. I’ve never,
ever caught you complaining about work that needed to be done, and
you tirelessly worked for the good of thousands of other people, for 4
decades. Tell me family and friends. How is that not Superhuman.

I will Forever miss your Bopis and your Callos, which I can truly say are
the best and the world, and yes this includes the callos in spain made
with iberico pork. That one just lacked the kick, the spice, the fire that
yours did. And perhaps that extra kick of spice you added on your Callos
was a fitting distinguishable quality. You always had that extra fire, that
extra push to do what needed to be done whether as a leader of a
province or as the leader of our Family. For those who may not know,
our family highly values Sunday lunches and reasons for missing it must
be noteworthy. I must quite a few of these lunches to play in basketball
games. At following family get together, she would always ask: “Did You
Win?” and I would shake my head side to side. She would then shout
“Talo kayo Na naman!!” “why do you play if you are just going to lose”
after which we would just laugh it all out. But that was Lola, she
expected excellence from all of us, NO EXCEPTIONS. not because she
thought we were particularly talented but because she believed that
great things could be done by anyone so long as we were dedicated and
persevering. Borrowing a beautiful line said by the Bishop of Boac
yesterday at the mass held in your Honor. “Carmencita was a Hard-
Headed woman, if there was something she intended to do, it was
impossible to get her to change her mind. However, despite her being
hard in the head, she was never, not once, hard in the Heart.

Returning to the Motif. The recent Marvel Blockbuster Spiderman: Into

the Spider Verse had a very beautiful dialogue. The new Spiderman-
Miles Morales asks the Old Spiderman- Peter Parker: “How am I
supposed to Save the whole world”, to which Peter Replied: You can’t
think about saving the world, you have to think about saving one
person. It seems that line was written for you Lola, you never saw
Poverty or Suffering as an insurmountable Evil comparable to a never-
ending uphill climb. You saw it as helping one scholar through school,
one jobless man find work, one hospital patient getting assistance, or
one grandchild needing words of assurance and a boost of confidence.
I would like to end by reciting the immortal words of sir Elton John
to you, so if you can hear me Lola. Here it goes.
Goodbye My Superhero
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart
You called out to our country
And you whispered to those in pain
Now you belong to heaven
And the stars spell out your name
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along Our Land’s greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will