The Mistress

Ah. I know you are now thinking of Sari and JD. But wait, I am not a movie critic. I mean, not as of the moment. I don't think I have enough bullets to fire a really persuasive review. I also don't think I watch movies that often. Yes, I watch Tagalog movies a lot. Tons of them. The romantic type, filled with cheap, cheesy lines which become an instant talk-of-the-city where people try to muster and give it their own version (ala jd or sari). As if they are auditioning for the role? Uhm...dont get me wrong. Let me clarify that I also watch Hollywood movies. The hunger games? Yes I did. But the Tagalog films are dearer. I don't really know. It must be that when it rained patriotism, I was fully drenched of it and many get into my blood! Even with songs. And singers. And...okay. I know you are convinced. So i stop here.

My family's story has some element of "The Mistress". The notable difference though is that my mom befriended my father's other woman. And that they bore a child, Pipoy, who is of the same age with me. I can vividly recall that during birthdays, they came and gave us gifts. We played balloons. We were friends.

As far as my recollection, my childhood memory did not include confrontation that we seen in movies. The kind that Hilda Koronel delivered in The Mistress, "Layuan mo ang asawa ko. Tagalog yan para maintindihan mo." None at all. According to my mother, it was my Lola, Papa's mother, who went ballistic and acted like Hilda Koronel. My mother kept it. She remained strong. She did not make a hell out of it.

I was in dumaguete over the weekend and Pipoy and I met. We had coffee and we talked about my work in Bacolod and his work in Saudi. He just arrived from the Middle East after a two-year contract. By the way, he is a Mechanical Engineer. And I think he looks very similar to Papa. We don't see each other frequently so when that opportunity happened our storytelling will be in chapters.

We are a family. Growing up, Papa's other woman is my Auntie. And that's how I call her. No awkwardness. No aloofness. No insecurities.

And we are happy about it.