The Comedy King Is Dead But He Lives Forever

I first saw him as a young man in brown polo during my freshmen year at the State University. He was called Rodolfo Quizon without the moniker Dolphy. Regularly built, he then sported that thin mustache that undoubtedly attracted the ladies. The place was on the grounds in front of the UP administration building near the Oblation. They were shooting a movie, and he was laughing, his Chinese eyes closing. Little did I know that he would become the country's number one comedian. A funny, ladies' man, indeed. His spirit was willing, but the flesh is always weak. They say that the spirit is energy, deathless, and indestructible. If that spirit did not immediately leave the body yet (July 12), a close friend at home can feel his presence, hear his voice calling to him, announcing his departure from the world of the living. There are other worlds near us or about us. Eventually, that spirit will lodge in a man or woman--Dolphy did not die.

Photos: Image on the ceiling of a Tuguegarao Catholic church, where my son Christoffer married her Canada-based Ibanag maiden last December .