A Final Salute to Tatay

Salvador Olaguer (November 9, 1924 - March 26, 2008).

It's been almost a month as I'm writing this. My grandfather "Tatay" (Filipino word for "father") passed away and went home to be with the Lord.

When I heard the news about his accident, I was in church on a Saturday night with my band preparing for Sunday morning worship. Evidently, Tatay hit his head climbing up the stairs to a friend's house where they were supposed to have a prayer meeting. This caused him to go into a coma from which he never woke up.


It was a Wednesday that he died. March 26, 6:12pm GMT +0800 to be precise. Again, I was in church in a Bible study when it happened. My mom, sister, aunt, and niece all went to Manila the same day. They were hoping to still catch him alive -- but it was too late. Tatay had gone home to his eternal resting place.


I booked a flight to Manila a short while before he died. It was on the next Saturday, March 29, that I was able to fly to Manila together with my cousin. I took an evening flight, and I waited on the airport a long time since I had to get there in the afternoon via shuttle van.

I was able to meet this Chinese national who happened to live close to my house. He was an old guy with a wife and children living in the same district as me. He sold orchids.


After taking some coffee and surfing the Internet from my cousin's laptop, we were able to fly to Manila that evening.





We went straight to Loyola Chapels in Guadalupe, where my grandfather was in wake. I spent the first night watching over my grandfather's body and I slept in the chapel.


The next day we went to Sunday service at Jesus' Flock, my cousin's church. It was a small church that reminded me of my home church Calvary Chapel back in Iloilo. The service was great, and the pastor talked about unity in the Body of Christ.




I had lunch with my mom, sister, niece, and brother-in-law in a Chinese restaurant in one of the SMs in Manila.





Sunday night, my longtime friend since childhood, Dr. Mark, came to visit at the wake. It was great talking to him again and spending that time.


That night, I stayed in the chapel again till morning.

Monday was the day before the burial. It was the last night where we would spend time with the tent that my grandfather left -- his body. Soldiers were posted round the clock that night, since my grandfather was a veteran who served his country as a soldier for the Philippine Army. That night, I led worship and even shared about my relationship to my grandfather, and the legacy he has on my life. I believe he was instrumental to my coming to faith in Christ, and his influence on my life greatly impacted me years long after my childhood.

Tuesday morning, we buried Tatay. It was a military burial, with a twenty-one gun salute.




That was the only time I finally broke down in tears. It was at the very moment when my uncle addressed the crowd after Tatay was committed to the ground. Tatay's influence would always be with us. But he himself would be absent -- that caused me to cry and I broke into tears.

Tatay was buried beside my grandmother Nanay, his wife. You might remember the post I posted last year entitled "The Gift That is Nanay" that I wrote about her.

Tatay will always be remembered. A father to his family, a soldier to his country, and a minister to his community.