‘Bon Jovi’

Nora Soriño .

ILIGAN City — I first saw him going about the city by his lonesome. He could be in his late twenties or early thirties.

He’s a special person, his arms flailing in every direction even as his legs have difficulty too in maneuvering the steps one after the other if only  to move forward. His chin is several inches too long and the words that come out of his mouth are slurred. So you have difficulty understanding what he is saying. But you can get what he is saying if you try hard enough.

He answers to the name of “Bon Jovi.” We know of course that this is the name of a famous rocker. He with that colorful hair who was rumored once to have died. Like Jacky Chan. But no matter.

“Bon Jovi” I came to know later is a scion of  one of the wealthier families here. And I think that  helped him go about his ways unhampered. Kind of.

I became more conscious of him and I think  the general public too here when he became one of the casts in “Comedia San Miguel.” This is a play during fiesta time which reenacts the celestial battle between St. Michael, the Archangel and the “angels who became bad” or “devils.”

In this play, the devils are the stars even surpassing St. Michael, what with their evil lines and actions. They are dressed too in flowing red gowns complete with horns the standard looks of the devil.

St. Michael in his usual garb and spear had his lines as with the angels who were  all dressed in white.

When it was time for the devils to become really devils after the saint had slain their leader Lucifer they were all shown below the stage, complete with fires in the back signifying hell. Each of the devils were saying their lines, and included “Bon Jovi.” The audience did not pay much attention to the other devils as they were waiting for “Bon Jovi” to say his lines. Could he do it?

When it was time for him, “Bon Jovi” said his lines with the intensity of the devil in him. And he brought the house down. It was his two minutes of fame!

Now, the guy is a radio reporter. Still, his words are slurred but you can understand him if you try hard enough. He usualy gives updates on the prices of prime commodities, specially fish.

“Bon Jovi” reminds me of Stephen Hawking, an English physicist who died March 14 this year at age 76. He had a disability more severe than Bon Jovi’s but he was allowed to flourish even got married two times, after he and first wife divorced. Hawking had wrote,  “A Brief History of Time” which became a hit.

“Bon Jovi” might not necessarily be as brilliant as Hawking, but he too and the other Bon Jovis must be allowed to flourish, in  his own, differently abled way. After all, he has to struggle, to fight for his own place under the sun.

Just like everyone of us!