KID BUNTAL (15 Oct. 1932 - 04 Feb. 2001)

Kid Buntal as a young student in Manila perhaps at the Far Eastern University where Auntie Angeling said he did college. He would always tell us later that he tried being a lawyer. He wanted me to become one too.

Kid Buntal sings with his left foot and definitely cannot play the guitar. This is probably a posed shot, perhaps with one of the many girlfriends he told us. Can’t blame him, he’s ruggedly handsome.

Kid Buntal always take us to the beaches when we were growing up in Mapandan, Pangasinan. Those were the age of youthful innocence and great joy. We were poorer than rich. But we were happy. Mom wrote a caption under this photo saying it was taken at the Blue Beach. Can’t find that place now though.

Mom quit her teaching job and went to work in Singapore. Kid Buntal quit too and went back home in Almaguer. We stayed in a small hut and for the first time away from the shadows of schools and churches. That’s when the angels left.

Kid Buntal and Mom’s last photo alive and together during my eldest niece’s second birthday in Bambang. On that niece’s fourth birthday in the same house, Kid Buntal dropped a rolled 500 peso bill I gave him during a visit to Almaguer. As he stooped down to pick it, his third heart attack came swift and deadly.