One of the best genres ever written would be a romance embedded within a tragedy. We remember the scene from the Troy film when Paris chose to save the city and leave his lover Helen. And of course not to forget the story of Jack who died for Rose after the Titanic sank.
There is one love story climbing up on the list – that of Lourdes “Chit” Estella-Simbulan told by no less than her husband Roland, at the May 16 wake.
It all started one day during the Martial law, a trying era for the Philippine Collegian writers. He said it was one of the few newspapers in circulation then and half of the copies were distributed outside the university. Authorities raided their office and arrested the editors.
Roland was associate editor then and Chit was applying for a post in the paper’s news section when they met.
“Hindi kami nahirapang tanggapin siya,” said her husband, “Gustong-gusto namin siya kasi journalism major.”
But that was only the meet-up, he said, days earlier from the stage where two people get to know each other.
Roland said Chit, being a journalism student, was his personal adviser as she shared tips on good and effective writing. It was that nice start to introduce each other’s strengths and limitations.
Roland even injected humor when he told the attendees one advice he would never forget: if you wanted to convey a message, there should be human interest, which is an important element of news. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be heard. Roland was a good follower.
The following semester in 1976, they coincidentally enrolled in the same class, that of Dr. Francisco Nemenzo’s, a former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
“Hindi lang ‘yon, magkatabi [pa] kami,” he said, “At hindi na kami naghiwalay.”
He said Chit was a very gentle person, someone who was soft spoken, yet had an inner strength and a natural compassion.
With Roland, Chit had the best person in life. They learned from each other. Roland is a professor of development studies and political economy at the University of the Philippines-Manila, and the 2008 Centennial Professorial Chair.
“Sa 30 taon naming pagsasama, nakita ko siya bilang isang matatag na kasama sa pakikibaka sa buhay at lipunan,” he said.
Their love story was set during tragic times. But a part which made it different from the Troy and Titanic romances? Roland and Chit never failed each other. The story ended happily.
“How can you not love such a woman?”
The sweetest statement heard that night came from Roland Simbulan.
The contents of this post were retrieved from a Wayback Machine snapshot of UPJC’s old website dated Aug. 24, 2011, 01:41:38 GMT.
