ROMEO "JOEY" HONASAN, JR.
UP Beta Sigman - A Tribute
by Ed Abon
L-R: GP Cris Michelena UPD'73D, Dave de la Torre UPD'73B and Joey Honasan UPD'72A.
I sponsored Romeo "Joey" Honasan, Jr, a tall, dashing, good-looking and athletic
sophomore to the UP Beta Sigma Fraternity in 1972, my senior year. I was to
graduate with a BS Chem. Eng'g. degree together with Brods Noli Nolasco, Rene de
Grano, Josue Castillo, Pol Damasco, Norman Bituin (MBA), Ed Tadiar and Claro Sta.
Maria that school year of martial law. Brod Rolly Zubiri, a neighbor and
basketball teammate of Joey, and I took Joey under our wings when he was being
initiated concerned that he would quit and we would lose a good fraternity asset
and a likeable brod. We were both delighted when Joey successfully ran the
dreaded gauntlet and became one of us, a UP Beta Sigman. The embrace was tight
and lasting when we met him, exhausted and hurting, at the end of his final run.
The Honasan brothers (Don, Bert and Joey) were constant fixtures at the old gym
(beside the Drive-In restaurant, in front of the International House) where I
usually met them to play basketball and played hard balls with some UP High
alumni players. I invited Joey to join the frat and he gladly accepted the
challenge. He became a Betan fanatic to the very core.
But fate was unkind. Years later, Mel, his younger brother, who was then
studying in San Sebastian College, was initiated by the SSC Beta Sigmans and
died of hazing in the final session in the very hands of the SSC Beta Sigmans he
so very much wanted to belong to as his extended family. Joey was in deep pain
and he cried hard and loud on my shoulders when I paid my last respect to Mel
who was then lying-in-state at the chapel inside Camp Murphy, fronting Camp
Crame. That was also the occassion where I first met then Captain Greg "Gringo"
Honasan, now Senator Honasan, the eldest of the siblings.
I believe this tragedy took its toll on brod Joey. Imagine Mel, his blood
brother, dead at the very hands of the fraternity brothers, his extended family,
whom he loved. He became somewhat adrift and unsteady. He wandered around. One
afternoon, I was surprised to receive a call from him at my office at the
Philippine Refining Company (Unilever). Eagerly, we met up at the Holiday Inn
across the Cultural Center at Roxas Boulevard and only parted in the wee hours
of the morning after downing countless bottles of beer. We were both drunk,
laughing at the very sight of each other, at the silliness of it all, at our
foolishness, at our recklessness, at our craziness and at what he disclosed to
me to be his last days of bachelorhood. He was getting married. I was happy for
him. I was happy that he was settling down finally. He said he wanted to tell
this to me personally. He also said I was the first brod to know. We feasted on
balot and toasted and cheered each other at some more bottles of beer at the
sidewalk which was our unique Betan way of celebrating his impending wedding to
a lass in Cagayan de Oro. But the marriage did not last long I came to know
later. It was very short-lived. They parted ways after spending only a couple of
weeks together as husband and wife. That was Joey. True to form. Still
unpredictable. Still drifting.
I lost track and did not hear anything from him after that. Somebody told me
that he became a Pastor. Then I learned that he left for Canada. I heard also
from his brother Bert that he was finding his bearings and enjoying life to the
fullest. Satisfied of the news, I went about with my daily business of living.
Many years later, at the Senate Session Floor, I approached Senator Greg
Honasan, introduced myself and asked him how Joey was and how he was faring.
Sadly, he told me. That was when I came to know that Joey had left us... left
this world that was both generous and unkind to him. Shaken, I kept silent. And
after thanking the good Senator, I slowly walked away to hide the tears that
were welling in my eyes.
I heard stories and adventures of Brod Joey in the service of the Fraternity. I
do not have personal knowledge of these stories however so I cannot tell them
afraid of inaccuracies and oversensationalism. I heard about that famous JD bus
incident along Katipunan and others tales. These stories now belong to the
Fraternity. I leave it to the UPD brods to recall these fascinating stories of
how Joey served and loved the brods and the Fraternity to the very end.
By joining the UP Beta Sigma Fraternity, Romeo "Joey" Honasan, Jr. honored me.
By writing and reminiscing stories about him, I honor him back and pay tribute
and give accolades he so richly deserves.
Rest in Peace, Brod Joey. Keep those bottles of San Miguel and Ginebra chilled.
And reserve a place for me wherever you are. You just wait. I will seek you out.
Ed Abon
UPD 69 Panzer
19 June 2013
Postscripts:
1. I also sponsored Brods Ernesto "Togi" Igot (in Maryland) and Alejandro "Ale" Bayangos (MIA).
2. Image below taken from Billion Graves GPS Headstones (Toronto, Canada). Brod Joey died from brain aneurysm.
3. Official photo of Brods at UP Diliman Commencement 1972:
L-R: Pol Damasco, Ed Abon, Claro Sta. Maria, Noli Nolasco, Rene de Grano, Norm Bituin, Ed Tadiar and Josue Castillo.
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