Photos et lettres des Philippines, de France et d'ailleurs

It was at the end of May 2007 and I was riding the bus on my way back from Cebu to Dumaguete. The day before I had had diner with Patrick and Jean and we had spoken about Pierre. Patrick was one of his old friends and Jean often borrowed his French books. As for me, in two months I had not taken time to pay a visit to this grumpy old man. Patrick told me that after all that he had lived and his bad health condition, one did not have to take account of his sudden changes of mood. I thus decided to see him in the following days.

I was drowsing in the bus when my cell phone chirped. I had just received a laconic message from Jacques, a Swiss friend, telling this "Poor Pierre! What will happen to his books? " It was true that Jacques borrowed many books from him but gave him his own old books as well. I answered that I did not understand anything about his message and he informed me that Pierre had died the last night. Before I reached my destination several messages from other people confirmed and supplemented the information.

His body rested in a funeral home and once arrived I went there to pay hima last homage.

He was going to be 64 year old in December and suffered of severe arthritis and rheumatism, which made his walk difficult, but we didn't know anything about the real cause of his death except that he had had a hemorrhage.

Pierre had arrived from Cebu with his girl friend three years earlier and lived in Bacong, 8 kilometers south of Dumaguete. It was initially Charly who had introduced him to me and we often met again during parties and other social events where he mostly went reluctantly preferring his books and the quietness of his home. It was during these meetings that he told me of his life story.

(From the right, Patrick the friend of Cebu, Pierre, Charly, an other Patrick and Remy)

Pierre had been born in a middle-class family and grew up in Brittany where his parents had settled and very early was attracted by the sea. After high school, he enrolled in a maritime college and graduated as a mechanic engineer. A long career followed full of adventures and anecdotes, the most funny for me being while his merchant ship was put in at Hamburg.

He should be said that the heat of the engine room had made Pierre continuously thirsty, and not always for water. Thus in Germany, he went to the famous red-light district of Sankt Pauli for a few drinks. Later on, a little bit 'tired', he called it a night and took a short cut to return to his vessel and crossed railroad where an open freight car awaited him for a small nap. His sleep was so good that soldiers at the USSR border awaked him whereas he was without papers and money. So was Pierre and of these stories, he had plenty in store.

It is at the end of the Sixties that he went for the first time in Manila where he returned regularly. It was probably during one of his attack of thirst that he met a  woman in a bar who was going to become his wife for better or for worse but in this case, especially for worst. Furthermore she had already a child whom he adopted.

She was from Cebu so he bought a lot in Mactan Island, where Magellan was killed in April 1521 by the chieftain Lapu-Lapu. He had then their house constructed and all could have been for best in his life. However during an unexpected stopover in the port of Cebu, he decided to pay her a surprise visit and found her in bed with a Dutchman. The unfaithful wife was hardly disturbed and asked him what he was doing here. Outraged, he walked towards them but she stopped him with a sentence, saying  "leave my house, you are not in your home! " It was true and still today only a Filipino citizen can buy a lot, so most of the foreigners buy properties in the name of their wife, children or other associate and consequently some lost all. For a long time already the law was supposed to be changed but so far nothing has been done. Fortunately nowadays things are already better because the husband is supposed to recover 49% of the estate if his name is mentioned on the title.

So Pierre spent a small fortune in lawyers and court expenses but finally was deprived of his house. He won only a lawsuit in adultery and was granted a separation, which will end later in a marriage annulment, the divorce still not existing in the Philippines.

That was his first psychological shock and as a misfortune never comes alone, the second blow arrived quickly. He had to live a lay-off, which put him into early retirement thus adding to his distress.

Time passed, he met his new girl friend but his last misfortunes had left such marks on him that he recounted his ordeals to whoever wanted to hear them.

He settled in Bacong close to Dumaguete and not far from Remy to whom later I will dedicate also a letter. His health problems worsened his misanthropy and some among us were bawled out while wanting to invite him. On the other hand, he remained generous at heart and received readily visits for little that his nap was not disturbed; he lent also his many French books to the small French-speaking community. He had not set a foot in France for more than twenty years, saying that he did not have anything to do there and nobody to see. We will see further that nevertheless he still had a brother there.

(Pierre at the front on the left)

Once his first marriage annulled, he had started the processing of papers to marry his new partner. The marriage should have taken place in July 2007.

From the start his death, raised the material questions with which we had already been confronted at the time of Remy's decease less than one year earlier. Who was going to pay the funeral because his girlfriend did not have obviously one cent? Moreover there was a problem even more urgent. The private hospital where he had been transported, if in its great leniency had agreed to deliver the body, refused to provide the death certificate as long as the bill would not be paid. Someone asked his partner if she had the pin code of his credit card and she replied that she hadn't. Accompanied by his `widowed' we tried to receive from the bank the 800 euros of his savings account but to no avail. The local representative of the French Consulate contacted the embassy for help but as usual, they only took note of the details for the registry office but for assistance they said the consulate was not a bank. Two people took then the things in charge then whereas we had begun to collect money between us so that he could be buried with dignity. The first was Patrick his buddy of Cebu who contacted his brother in France for the financial matters and Charly in Dumaguete who dealt with the undertaking, the priest and the cemetery to find a decent spot for him. The brother agreed to pay all the expenses and immediately sent money for the hospital's bill in order to get the death certificate essential to the burial. Meanwhile Patrick advanced all the money and our contribution, quickly refunded, was thus used only for the funeral and to help his 'widow'. Sad to say that the money given to the concubine, we would soon regret

The blessing was fast, in accordance with the little amount invested. As for the cemetery, it soon became a farce. Indeed the ex wife who had made the voyage with her son, the only heir, competed for tears with the ex girl friend. This grotesque situation culminated when, she who had despoiled him and was responsible for his ordeals, rushed towards the coffin howling her pain. It undoubtedly should be added that the money blocked on the savings account did not have anything to do with her coming and with her sorrow. The sad story of Pierre could have been then finished but Patrick told us thereafter, informed by the sibling, that his girlfriend who had claimed not to have the pin code of the credit card, had in fact withdrawn the day he died approximately 1500 euros, which would have made her able to advance all the expenses without lying to us in such a shameless way. Admittedly her deceased Pierre had left her while they were still unmarried and thus without any pension or money. They had spent fourteen years of common life and she was now at 50 years old, penniless and no future.

Poor Pierre, he liked his wives unattractive, dishonest and unfaithful because rumor has it that the last one too? ….