The Conspiracy

The Conspiracy

     Driarco had probably short of two hours sleep when jolted by the ringing of telephone on the desk by his side.  Putting on the light of the lampshade while rubbing his eyes as if clearing some specks out from their sockets, he saw it was still barely twenty five minutes before midnight on his wristwatch.  The soft tone and resonant voice on the line was very familiar to him.  It was his mother Illa Crispe.  But what urgent message she had that ungodly hour, the thought taking him aback as he reached for the telephone.

“Sorry, son, for disturbing and waking you up,” she said pausing setting the tone of her ultimate message hopefully to calm his nerve down on the other end.

“Yes, mom, what’s up?”  Driarco retorted knowing something ominous happens back home gauging from her voice tentative and shaking.

Taking deep bated breath and mustering enough courage after gradually regaining her composure, she finally spills the sad news.

“Dead!  Yes, your father is dead. . .!”  Brief deafening silence ensued as if hell break loose as the unexpected impact send shiver down his spine.

“Excuse me and I’m sorry.  Come again please. . . ," he snapped back as if protesting, emphasizing each word, begging the question in disbelief, aghast even before the message would sink deeper into his subconscious, quickly sending fear and trembling down all over to the top.  Like scalpel, it cuts into his very deep recesses the echo of the message blowing right before his face catching him practically off guard.

“He’s gone five hours ago after the attending physicians declared that there’s no way of reviving him back to life,” she reiterated holding back her tears, the tone of her voice slowly tearing his spirit into bits and pieces away.

Silence was deafening, as if the impact of the news registered too strong decibel for Driarco’s ear to hear.  Lost, finding appropriate words of comfort and empathy for her son, she just waited for his corresponding response.  But there was none coming from Driarco, save for deep sigh of disbelief on the other end.

“What a breaking news of all stories in the middle of the night yet,” he thought griping.  As he rightly construed from her calculated statement, something must have really gone wrong on her message.  Knowing now the incident involving his father, makes the whole thing doubly outrageous.  But what could he do, he was merely in the receiving end.

“Isn't it that life is full of surprises anyway?  Some like manna are sent from heaven.  All you have to do is pick them up and take and enjoy them with joyful hearts with great thanksgiving; the rest, beautifully packaged items and stuff that you have to open it first and voila requiring you sharing it with others.”  Ironically, today’s gift was practically incomprehensible to Driarco.  Sick joke, no  less pure and simple.

“God must be crazy,” he thought with reservation as he heaved sigh of relief feeling as if he was left in the cold of the dark.  Giving away his father’s life in a casket – “what a metaphor,” he pondered!

Holding on to his sanity, he mustered enough strength to be real.  “Death after all is a celebration of life.  We have to die to live again.  It’s a special growth taking place in man’s life and there’s just no way  postponing it.  The only catch is, you don’t recognize it until you experienced it yourself or party to the deceased.,” the thought from reflection of the subject coming out like globules from his palm.

“But what difference it makes? We’re all mortal in the first place. It’s just a matter of time when it would come.  It maybe now or later.  It’s fair game excluding none and indeed great life’s leveler like tax,” the thought continue engrossing him.  That makes passing away a mere transition, beautiful act towards fulfillment as you come and finally meeting personally God face to face.

“Great and no problem for such stage coming in its natural pace.  But not when it happens out of the blue.  Worst still when death comes unexpectedly shrouded in mystery yet,” the notion registering in his mind protesting emotionally drained from the shocking news over his father’s death.

Like any ordinary mortals, Driarco didn’t have any foreboding it was coming that way; let alone, fast, expecting such frightening news knowing his father’s Ora Et Labora – “Just do right and make things happen."  Stay in the middle when in doubt because that’s where virtue lies.  Don’t touch any live wires for they will in the end, electrocute you – and no nonsense ‘Take everything with moderation lifestyle,’” the reason he extended his vitality that far to his over ripe mature age of sixty five still very strong and healthy.  Unfortunately, that death snuffing his life out that night spoiled what otherwise would have been his rare and best chance of enjoying life to the fullest with his family.

“Who could have done this must have very important and urgent reason knowing  that his father had no perceived enemies,” his reaction for the first time feeling the heat of the incident facing the blank wall.

“Life is not ours to spend nor cherish.  It’s God’s.  We are just here to share His love to each one,” he recalled vividly his father’s advice imbuing him greater sense of understanding the immediacy of time.

“We are living on borrowed time, Driarco, so do what you can accomplish today,” the timeless instruction he’s always reminded of.  He would definitely have that epitaph embossed on his exquisite tombstone as his way of returning the compliment and gesture of gratitude back to his father for such didactic wisdom instilled in his heart.

“Lord God, bless his soul.  Make it whiter than snow.  We commend that You accept his soul as token of his sacrifice and our humble offering, the way You did when Your Son expired on the cross dying for our sins in Calvary,” he finally come into his senses breaking his long silence on the phone with silvery tears now falling freely from his eyes to the cheek touching gently his whiskers as they flowed down.  The words were sincere and earnest, full of entreaty coming only from the heart of a religious convert.

“Amen, amen and amen,” his mother intoned at the other end.  Cerebral death, she qualified was the cause of Clioneo’s untimely death.  That after relating how in five straight long hours, his brain didn’t register any semblance of activity as shown in anElectroencephalogram administered by attending physicians after he was brought  by friends to a government hospital.

“Cardiac arrest before passing away is the clearer and most logical explanation then,” Driarco concluded listening to the graphic narrative reconstruction of the incident – rare drinking spree with friends spiced up with songs, humor, anecdotes  and stories; no questions whatsoever until they called it a night at nine thirty p.m. before separating their ways, probably leaving the poor Nong Clioneo on his seat where he perhaps caught his last bated breath.

Or who knows the Grim Reaper striking under cover of darkness with stillness of the night as mute witness did the favor harvesting him while on his way home.

“But there were no indications of foul play, he learned from his mother,” the idea further aggravating his confusion on the issue all the more.

“Strange and incredibly even more than fiction,” is all he could utter summarizing thus far the event surrounding the circumstances.

“Clearly constituting legal death then in jurisprudence it seems,” he further ventured without any slightest hint surrounding  his father’s mysterious death.

“Any conduct then of post mortem?” explored Driarco taking aback her mother.

“Pardon me . . . !” she retorted.

“I’m sorry.  I mean I got your point and that explain everything,” he rectified himself avoiding pricking her innocence and securing her from any untoward complications given her fragile health his unfounded theory might cause and drag her into.  Some other time maybe when all is set after an inquest have been conducted to get into the bottom of the incident.  Besides, there’s that time-tested tradition of honoring the dead first whose premium over other practices has been religiously observed and followed to the letter over the decades.

“There’s definitely time for everything as there is time for every season.  For now it’s the moment to grieve and remain silent unless you wish to be cursed,” his reflection on the matter taught him.

“Be sure then to catch the first flight tomorrow so you can hug your father first before others will do,” she reminded.

“Yes please, before you put him in the casket,” he requested.

“God bless then!  Take care and I love you, son,” she ended dropping off the telephone back to its receiver.

What a revelation it has been as Driarco dropped back on his bed for needed  rest.   Fixing his gaze to the ceiling, various images were playing on his mind but can’t exactly figure out what precisely happened and who could have done it.  With consoling thought that the devil who perpetrated his death would soon be confused and have his day full when he comes back home finally lulled him to sleep.  So be it, the wall clock seemed to agree as it stroked exactly twelve o’ clock midnight.

It was so far the longest night for Driarco as he remained sleepless till the dawn of the day cracks.  How could he afford sleeping anyway with his head reeling over the incident.  Wasting no time, he hurriedly packed his things up checking all important documents are secured and in place before dumping them at the back seat of  his Chevrolet.

Handing his personal letter to his superior through his ever loyal driver Nilo, he finally bid adieu St. Peter Church, his first ever parish assignment at suburbs in Kaohsiung.

Soon he passed by Taichung maybe halfway before reaching Taipei’s airport.  Along the road are beautiful sceneries from vast track and verdant rice fields to agricultural industries like piggery and poultry, beautiful bridges, colorful Cinderella like palaces, pagodas atop mountains.  The cold breeze caressing his face somehow provided him peaceful contentment as he was nearly fast reaching Taipei International Airport.

“Two hours more and welcome back to the Philippines,” the thought playing on his mind, excited and in quandary how to cope up accepting reality of  his father’s death.  Taiwan actually is smaller than Mindanao.  Going there is roughly one hour and forty five minutes from Manila to Taipei just like Cagayan de Oro to Manila route.  How it has metamorphosed into an advanced Tiger Economy catching up defanging and leaving behind Japan, South Korea and other Tiger Economies few decades later  is one of the record.  It’s so rich a country that it could even give the run of the money other developed countries have including Mainland China, its erstwhile tormentor and nemesis forcibly driving then Gen. Chiang Kai-shek out from the mainland by the marauding Red Army of Mao Tse-Tung in 1948 to then Formosa re-christened into Taiwan later.  Yes, it’s ironic that Taiwan can still afford claiming that theirs is the legitimate seat of power and that all of the  mainland China is merely their satellite.

It was really never the same again since then as Taiwan proceeding with blistering pace in developing their economy carving a niche as one of the  world’s best.  Their foreign reserve is just too high indicating that it’s how to spend not how to earn their money is  the problem.  It’s the premium they have reaped  after investing so much with all their resources.  But it was not all easy specially when US through Gen. Douglas Mc Arthur provided them windfall of financial assistance in rebuilding and rehabilitating their tattered  economy brought about by the chaos and destruction of war.  But known for their celebrated work ethics they literally rise up from the grave and after taking everything in stride with no non-sense approach for development, are now enjoying all the best the world could offer.

But how exactly they did it is what  Fr. Driarco likes best.

First no non-sense Agrarian Reform starting with land consolidation and titling.  Sorry, but definitely no Stock-Distribution-Option scheme or any subtle insertion of partial agrarian clause favoring the oligarchs characterizing implementation of agrarian reform in the Philippines.  Farmers were given directly the land they could manage, mostly one hectare but not over three hectares.  Implementation was strictly monitored.  Those doing monkey business have their faces splashed the following day in newspapers.  The reason is how could they afford facing their commitment to US if they are not doing their work well.  All is told, Taiwan would soon become so successful that it became the Mecca of Agrarian Reform where people all over the world  study how they did it and hopefully replicate in their respective countries.  This Driarco learned as one of the participants to the 54th Regular Session of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development earlier among others from 26 other countries worldwide imbuing him greater sense of understanding how and what it takes to have sure-fire booming agrarian reform program.

Absolutely no incidence of poverty as the government makes use of all available lands there is for agricultural development.  Thus from Taipei all the way to Kaohsiung, farmlands are seen all over.  There’s just no vacant spaces as farms are developed side by side with big and tall skyscrapers.  Yes in villages, towns and cities!  No mercy that rice paddies are even seen along  the left and right portion of the bridges serving as movable feast in Driarco’s eyes as his automobile is nearing the destination.

Ironically, Taiwan is a typhoon belt area.  Yet they have shown they could manage.  How?  By simply consolidating first the area – uprooting undesirable materials before putting top soil and planting with rice and then constructing huge concrete like drums octopuses serving as water breaker.  The result, vast tracks of lands are secured for good harvest, as water simply cascading all the way to catch-up point back to sea without ever destroying beautifully crafted rice fields along the bridges.  Twenty four hours economy, no traffic jam, effective tax collection – name it and Taiwan is showing they have them all.  And here’s what every government employee could wished for happening to them but don’t at the end of each payday.  Forty five percent of their salary is saved no matter how much they spent!  Simply amazing.  Yes indeed but they did it their own way.

“That we have so much resources than Taiwan and yet have not fully exploited them is the irony.  True indeed that ours is far fertile island but how appalling that we have not developed them,” the thought lingering on his mind.

”It’s because we need men and women who have fertile hearts and  minds to make them productive.  Wasted opportunity translated to bad politics.  That is the real culprit back there at home,” Driarco considered as he boarded Taiwan’s 300 Airbus for Manila.