A former officemate asked me two days after the Dinig Sa Guimaras event how the gig turned out for the first musical fund-raiser for the province. At first, I was delighted to ‘hear’ from this then colleague that it was so nice of this person to inquire how the evening transpired. So, I politely said it went ‘well’. Of course, people were expecting us to fail since it was the production’s first attempt and I simply said it went ‘well’ for the sake of brevity. Since brevity is the soul of wit, let me be a fool this time by being brutally frank while still being Roy.

It was great to have power back after 72 hours since the typhoon razed havoc in Metro Manila. Electricity was out for three long days in the Greenhills area but on the night of the event itself, I believed for a moment that God was not that angry anymore as I was informed by a co-organizer that Meralco’s electricity had flowed like honey once more!

Having no power for that long, it was impossible to imagine the lack of cold beer in convenient stores within proximity. Nevertheless, if Bela Bar was flooded with beer, I would estimate that the amount of beer could have probably touched the edge of my balls. The people had to scavenge for slightly chilled Red Horse beer just so everyone could have a dose of alcohol that they all deserve. The beer could have been frozen cold from where they got it from but due to traffic and distance, the beer temperature had probably altered to a nearly undrinkable state.

After another couple of hours while the nice people from NU 107, Greenpeace and a few other guests were waiting, the bar was being filled slowly as souls came and went as there was some technical delay in officially commencing the event. Although the bottom of the money barrel could still be seen empty, it was somewhat relieving to see some people entering despite that business was slow.

And this was what irked me. A few people, faces of whom I will certainly recall to spit on when I see again, dodged our security measures that they got in for free. I swear I could have heard their guilty thoughts saying, “Who the hell cares about the cause where we got billboard tarpaulins tangled in front of our house’s power lines! I am here for some electricity and fun! Save Guimaras!” and/or “I’m a photographer and I am with a nobody-photographer expecting me inside that I ought to get in for free! Save Guimaras!” and/or “I’m with the band but I have never touched an instrument as passionate as how my mother would play with my organ but we are here to rock the night! Save Guimaras!”

Well, I was perplexed by these people who had the gall to attend an event to raise funds and sneak their way in deliberately and forget about helping the famished families of Guimaras. Yeah, we set it up for them and not for your unneeded presence. This event was for the people whose livelihood and ways of living are as dark as the oil that made the once rich province become void from its natural wonders!

But hey, everything still went ‘well’.

I, on the other hand, got hammered pretty bad that I kept losing track where my camera was every time I tried taking pictures of the bands while chug-a-lugging on that fine, warm, Red Horse beer. The bands roared their souls out even if they played for free! And even if I was a part of the organizing body of this event, I still paid good money for my own good time to help those good people!

Whether or not you are one of those people who I have ‘mentioned’ in this entry, I would like to inform you that 1FiSH Entertainment is coming up with another event for the same cause that will happen early November. Watch out for it and this time, be there so you can stop gossiping your calloused asses about the hammered people I have mentioned (that would be I) and see the disaster for yourself.

Roy Alberto is a co-organizer of 1 Fish Entertainment and an active participant in the SaveGuimaras group. Check his blog here.