Sir Mike

Mike has a huge reason to hate my family. My uncle gave his uncle the shame of a lifetime by sending a sheriff to their residence right after my uncle won the mandamus case. He not only held a grudge against my uncle, he took it against my mother too. He blocked my mother's appointment to a higher position, even had shouting matches with her. They "bullshited" each other, Mama tells me. Good thing my father was too useful for him to be dispensed with.

And then comes the British. Papa does not know how to express himself him well, much more to a foreign national. And the communication gap caused a lot of conflict. And another round of legal battle ensues. And once again, my uncle finds himself in the same courtroom with another Rama.

That is why I was never warm to him. Especially that he scolded me for being late in an interview to a leadership search. The nerve.

I did not really hate him. I just decided not to trust him. He has, after all, many reasons to want to destroy anybody from our family.

So I decided to avoid him anyway I can. And them comes the elections.

Having the luck to be assigned in the War Room (thanks to Paul, but that's another posting), I was at the base everyday.

When Mike saw me with Paul, he immediately addresses the people in the room, "si Remoroza baya ni,". Huh? I didn't know what that meant. So what if Remoroza ko? What has he been telling people? And I did not dare ask Paul. And that was the last we saw each other. Until Sinulog 2003.

For the simple reason that nobody can confidently tell him around what time the mardi gras would end, he decided to get a "systems analyst." I didn't know why Paul thinks I could solve the problem. But then he contacted me, gave me the resources, a "buck stop" as he calls him and the authority. I later learned it was also Nagiel who suggested to bring me into the team (Nagiel gets another post).

So I did Sinulog. Pretty low tech. But at least I got the job done. At least Sir Mike would not be at my back anymore. I don't want to
work for him again. Kinda weird between us.

And Tommy has to get a stroke, or whatever it is that he got. And Mike had to take over, and had to get a team, a "core group" as he calls it, to help him, "ensure that [he's] doing things according to [Tommy's] plans." And Rene had to pull me in again. At least I get to spend two nights at Costabella, all expenses paid, for a legislative and executive strategic planning achochocho chuva. So ok. This is not so bad. And I get to hear how stupid other people are. Or how egoistic. "I know how this should work... blah blah blah blah... coz I've seen it at blah blah blah blah blah.

And he tells me, "see you at the next Sinulog." Ah ok.

Ricky went ballistic when Mike tells him "get Remoroza" and Ricky does not know how to find "Remoroza" and he has to deal with "where's Remoroza" in the next meeting. And Judith has to be the one to find me through the barangay. And the barangay does not know who "Remoroza" is yet. And they say, si "Sesbreño" ba. Hehehehehe. I enjoy having multiple personalities.

So I ended up doing two more Sinulog's. Kinda fun. I get to see him scold Joy. Hehehehehe.

So why does Sir Mike (he's Sir Mike to me now) merit a space, a long post, in my "angel" blog? Because our repeated encounters tell me that I am meant to work with this man. And that maybe I have a lot to learn from him.

And he finally saw me beyond being my father's daughter or Raul's niece. And he later defended me on so many things. Though he got Joy to scold me when Rodnie had to squeal to the media why I, a non-government personnel, am surpervising summer jobers and am allegedly using them for "political reasons," he still took care of me. He defended me against that bayot Fidel. And tells people to "deal" with my problems with the City. He gave me more summer job slots than he gave anybody and always prioritized my requests. He takes my calls even when he is on vacation with his children in Thailand. He takes the opportunity to broadcast to the people what I do best. He gives me free tickets. And still understands me even if I do not actually want to see him when he calls for a meeting. And oh, yeah, he contributed to my campaign just when I needed the money most.

A nice development to a fued, isn't it.