Ka Sonny in his white kamiseta
The Louis IVth Building was the second building that I had erected. It was located in the midst of a squatter colony, and I wasn’t optimistic about the success of the building in terms of attracting Tenants. I was looking for a Guard who would (1) guard the building, (2) run the building and (3) get along, if not be accepted by the surrounding “informal settlers.” During those times, we were not concerned about minimum wage laws. I was just looking for someone who would guard my new sparkling building at the price I could afford.
When my cousin, Raul Alejandrino, a professor from Miriam College, heard that I was looking for a “Bantay”, he called me to say that he had the perfect person for me. This Man was a community leader in a very, very poor fishing village.
Ka Sonny's home
The Louis IVth Building was at the end of a labyrinth of winding roads, with the informal settlers becoming more visible (and more threatening) as you went in. When you felt you could go no further, the road turned into a corner, and this amazingly gorgeous building sprang up from nowhere, like a castle appearing in a deep forest.
Louis IVth Buuilding
We advertised the Louis IVth. Out of the 30 rooms, nine were filled with mistresses of men who wanted to hide their lady loves from prying eyes. Apparently, these men also had the same idea as we did: none of their wives would ever go this far to look for their “secret loves”.
The mistresses became close friends with each other. They went shopping, dining, traveling together. After a few years, the lovers were able to save money, and installed them in condos they had bought for their “Other Woman”. I was invited once to a meal with them. Even as they lived apart, they still continued their bonds with each other.
Ka Sonny kept me updated on their activities. My favorite story was about one time, when a “Papa” (the john paying the rent) came home unexpectedly. Lady Love had her Real Love (a younger stud, no less!) with her in the Unit. Ka Sonny quickly buzzed the apartment. “zzz-zzz-zzz-zzz!” went the buzz. Real Love put on his clothes are went to hide in the Fire Escape Stairwell. Lady Love went to the shower to wash off the scent of her afternoon of love. When “Papa” got to the doorbell, Lady Love was all fresh and ready to be his consort. Meanwhile Real Love was safely out in the streets with no harm done to anyone.
Ka Sonny was a success. One time, he presented me with three Log Books, all bearing information on the tenants, all logically pieced together. There was the Log Book for Tenants: their occupancy, their contract dates. Another was for the vehicles that they owned. Dates and hours of their coming and goings. The third one was for their consumption of utilities. I was surprised!!!
“How did you come up with this?” I asked him, my eyes wide with excitement.
“You always asked the same questions, so I decided to put the information into books that would help me answer your questions immediately.”
I showed the books to my cousin who ran a Security Agency, and he told me that these books were even better than the ones they made their Guards use in the buildings they were watching.
Jotting on these books made Ka Sonny notice something unusual. The car that was parked inside the Building had a different number from the same car that returned after a few hours. It was a carnapped car!!! The NBI quickly swopped in the building. After some hours of “negotiations” (read: bribery), the people were released and the NBI personnel left happy with some money in their pockets.
Ka Sonny and his partner, Ka Romy, coexisted very well with their neighbors. The first building that I put up, the Donya — Mansions, had a tenant who started selling cellphone cards before it became a common activity. Ka Sonny and Ka Romy became agents, and their neighbors were their clients. Pretty soon, Ka Sonny and Ka Romy were making huge amounts of money, more than they ever dreamed of. Ka Sonny was able to rebuild his house to accommodate another storey, and — to have a toilet inside their house.
Ka Sonny's house
When I needed a housekeeper, Ka Sonny gave me his daughters to clean my house. One daughter fancied a CD player that was laying around the house unattended. She decided that I wouldn’t miss it, so she took it for her own. Within days, she got the fright of her life when she saw a ghost sitting in one of the beds in our empty house. She initially thought it was me.
“Look at Ate, it is so early and she is already weariung her hight dress.” The lady was wearing a long-sleeved dress made of lace.
When Didith went closer to “Ate”, the Lady moved her face toward Didith. Didith saw that there was nothing in the face. She ran to the stairs, and almost fell since she missed some steps.
Didith confessed that she took the CD player. The ghost appeared to her as though to tell her that she had taken something that wasn’t hers. Didith’s other sister, Beverly, also worked for us. Beverly was very adventurous. She took jobs that brought her to Lebanon, Singapore and the UK.
After a while, the cell card sales waned, and Ka Sonny seemed almost happy to return to his new house that he built with his cell card sales. He was really a fisherman at heart, and working for my building was literally like being a “fish out of water.” We parted ways after six years of working as a Building Manager of the Louis IVth . He had been able to put his elder children to work in Manila. They gave him money from time to time. His daughter, Didith, got married and gave him grandchildren. Sister Beverly continued her sojourns abroad.
Ka Sonny died last December 29th. He was run over by an Elf truck as he was walking in the dark at 4 a.m. For some strange reason, I had been thinking of Ka Sonny days before his death. Somehow, there was still that connection that tied him to me. Ka Sonny– the unconventional Guard.
Saying Goodbye to Ka Sonny's family
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