Brotherhood at its finest

Last night was a beautiful fellowship. Here, we witnessed a fellowship hosted by Willie Fernandez ‘69 specifically for a senior brod, Bobby Carpio ‘64.

The invitation was open to every brother, and overflowing food and drinks was promised.

Indeed, our brother Willie ‘69 prepared a sumptuous feast. There were so many types of dishes that everyone could find their favorites. Lechon, kare-kare, callos, puto at dinuguan, roast beef and practically everything else.

As to drinks, there was wine, whiskey of the best, the Blue Label, XO, the single malts and many others.

The “kabats” among us, especially me, wondered why a junior brother would go out of his way to host a fellowship for a visiting ‘64 from New York.

Finally, Willie talked about it. He said at one time, when he was experiencing a business bump because of the Iraq War, he asked Bobby, who was then the manager of Century Park, for help.

Without any hesitation, Bobby approved what Willie was asking. I suppose that became a turning point in Willie’s career. Bobby does not remember what he approved, but that started a close kinship between the two that carried further into the US.

In the same way, Willie had never hesitated when it came to anything for Upsilon. Oscar Valenzuela ’64 shared, for instance, that he was having dinner with his family in Makati Shangri-La and was about to pay his bill when the waiter told him it had already been taken care of by Willie. To which Bobby Carpio quipped, “That’s typical Willie!”

My point here is that we do much for our brothers, seniors or juniors, without thinking about it. We do not expect anything in return. We just do it.

At the same time, when the opportunity arises, when we can, we give back to our brods and to the brotherhood the gratitude that we feel because of what these deeds did for us.

Bobby convinced us to stay and show how much he appreciated the host. There were about 30 people in the fellowship from batch 1969 to 2023.

In our 60 years in the brotherhood, I feel proud that we continue to witness the great deeds of our brothers and the gratitude we can show when the opportune time is at hand.