Ruben S. Menguito

Remembering daddy. Handsome, suave, ladies' man and how. Man for everyone, great friend to many (but as a father, hmmm, let's sit on this)
He would always say he'd die happy if his dream of" I want to be mayor of Pasig", the town he loved, his birthplace, his hood, would come to be after being a councilor there and many failed sojourns into bokal and con-con elections. He also wanted to make a million bucks in commissions for the kitchen equipment he brokered for Allied International. One day, he got both and the next day, he died.
He was appointed interim Mayor of Pasig, the town he loved, now a city. He used to argue with his eldest son, my half brother Cesar, "Would you rather be the son of the mayor? Or the Nephew of the mayor?" At the same time, he landed one of the biggest (and last) accounts ever, that of providing the new Asian Development Bank that just moved to Ortigas (thereabouts, how should I know, places have changed so much) and actually would have made a million in commissions outfitting the kitchen and the tableware for this project.

Father of 21 (at last count) from myriad women who fell prey to his suave good looks (and he actually wanted to re-incarnate as a doberman pinscher because "they get paid to mate"). He genuinely loved GY, not as beautiful as probably the others he had, but one who brought him into the world of glitz from his meek and mild teacher's life, to wine and dine in the restaurant and hotel industry. Most romantic moment: he came home and shut the lights and GY thought he was coming home drunk again, as she started to rant and rail, he opened a jar and released hundreds of fireflies he took the time to catch and save for that moment.

Never mind the other times I would rather not remember, but that I was the first daughter to walk down the aisle and he actually haad tears in his eyes, so there!

I could go on and on about daddy, all the ups and downs, the fights and the good timesand finally the acceptance that he was who he was and just have fun with it.

After he died, I had one dream , in a light blue striped shirt, youngish probably
30ish, at his handsomest, he did say, "I have always loved you, even if you didn't believe it".