I met Alfredo ( Butch) Agtarap, Jr. in high school at the R.A. He is smart, good in English have a sense of humour. During that summer of '58, ( or maybe even before,) we got involved with the combo thing, as I have mentioned in my previous entry. He could sing too ( a little bit ) as I could sing ( a little bit ). But if a singer do rock and roll , no one cares if he could not sing at all as long as he gyrates like a drunken monkey on the stage. We had our balladers namely Teresita Villanueva, the younger sister of Nestor and Cora Tendero my first cousin with whom I shared a strong love for music. I learned my guitar skills practicing on HER guitar cuz at that time, I did not posses any kind of music instrument. Both ladies have such lovely voices that would even move a Sasquatch into tears!
Fast forward to the 90's..During one of my Balikbayan trips, whom did I met again but Butch!..He still looked the same. His jokes are still funny..And I know he would make a good salesman someday! I met him through Johnny Sindayen and we went places during those Balikbayan trips. One time Johnny drove us to Binmaley, to visit another classmate Amado Benito who is the Officer in Charge of an AFP camp.Butch was quite sick already, thats one reason why he came home..He already had a number of illnesses. I still have his calling card that says:
Butch Agtarap, Manager
Show room at Akariya Shopping Center
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
His address is just a postal box in Riyadh...
When classmates meet each other after decades of non communication, time loses its meaning..There is no time anymore and we like to catch up with so many things.It is summer '58 all over again..Thus we spent a day or two in Binmaley under Amado Benito's care..After a lunch of boiled crabs and raw oysters marinated with vinegar and spices, then washed down with Ginebra San Miguel, we would go for a swim, floating like a ball and enjoying the lukewarm water.
When I left Asingan, Butch said he is not going back to Riyadh yet.."Will see you again when I return, maybe next year?," I asked. .." "Of course", he said with his familiar smile..
This entry, unlike the others, would end with a sad note. I heard sometime after that Butch had a heart attack and he did not make it. He was still in Asingan then. The next time I was a Balikbayan, I visited my Mother's tomb. There I saw Butch's final resting place.---#
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