Rest in peace, Anak-Baryo

Egay Uy .

WE lost another original Anak-Baryo member – rest in peace, Hamelton “Puto” Bullercer.  Puto was the serious clown of Anak-Baryo.  Serious in the sense that he meant what he said and a clown because he made a lot of people laugh with his antics which he must have learned from his father, Pinto.

Puto earlier suffered a stroke that kept him literally confined in a breezy and comfortable hut by the river in Taguanao, this city.  He stayed in Iloilo City for a while where he and his late wife Rose raised their two kids.  He came back to Cagayan de Oro to spend the rest of his life here.

A visit to his place a couple of months ago made him smile and laugh as if it were the good old days.  His cheeky smile was still eminent and we had a good time eating baked siopao as we recalled the happy memories of Anak-Baryo.

Earlier, another Anak-Baryo left ahead.  Teddy Ludena shocked most of us by his sudden demise. Teddy was one of the original Anak-Baryo guys who was full of ideas and on whom almost everyone referred for opinion. He was a virtual walking book of knowledge.

I remember having opened a print shop with Teddy and his cousin Manny “Nonong” Neri.  We called it PastTEN – the transcendental print shop. TEN stood for Teddy, Egay, Nonong.  We had a lot of fun, not financial gain in that endeavor, although it did not last long.

Puto and Teddy will surely reunite with the other Anak-Baryo who left ahead of us all. They will meet Romulo “Moling” Lumagsao, Jimmy “Jimbol Ai-ai” Jabol, Dante “Tedans” dela Serna, and Roy “Bongke” Lagunday and make sweet music where they are now. Guys, while you’re there, look for Gil “Boy” Diputado.

Dance With Me, You’ll Never Walk Alone, Witchita Lineman, White Christmas, Teach Your Children, and most of the Beatles’ hits that Puto and Teddy will lead in singing, will surely be among the songs they will croon once they get the chance to gather in one corner (not necessarily at 12th Street, Nazareth) in the place where they are now.

For sure, your group there will later meet with our group here.  By “our group here” I mean the originals, i.e., Jack Lacre, Coburn Lumagsao, Bebot Talatala, Intoy Rodriguez, Flor Diputado, and yours truly.  Then later, the Anak-Baryo Parts 2, 3 and 4 will for certain follow suit.

Rest in peace, mga amigo.