An Account of the Apostolic Visit in Universidad de Santo Tomas

“Fancisco”

Walang nang mas liligaya pa
Sa puso ng isang Pilipino
Kundi ang iyong pagbisita
Sa lupa niya at masilayan ang mukha mo

Mahal ka ng sambayanang Pilipino
At bilang Pilipino’y mahal rin kita
Bumubuo ang buhay at puso
Kapag nasisilayan ang iyong mukha

Sa amin, ikaw ay Kristo
Na bumibisita sa Bagong Jerusalem
At ang tanawin ng mukha mo
Ang bumubuo sa kaluluwa namin

Ito ay iyong bayan, Francisco.
Ngunit hawak ang lupain namin
Ng mga buwaya’t demonyo
Iligtas mo, Francisco, ang Bagong Jerusalem.

It is January 17, 9 pm, when my brother, Bug, and I arrived at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) to see Pope Francis tomorrow. The gates of UST are still closed but there are already crowdful of people, mostly students but there are also elderly people, sitting and some sleeping while waiting beside the stinky sidewalks of España Boulevard. To fight sleepiness, we drink coffee in a McDonald’s around UST. People grew in number at 12 midnight.

People waiting beside the sidewalks of España Boulevard with the Arch of Centuries in the background. Courtesy: Paul Quiambao, The Varsitarian.

          Some people made pranks to made the crowd believe that the pope is already there. This made my brother and I stick to the line and we remained in line even after realizing the prank just to be sure. We waited for almost 4 hours until the gates are now open. The line began to slowly move. The movement of the line was slow because of the security. There are people who groin that made some of the people in line to erupt. After more than an hour of swimming in the crowd, and security inspection (the security took our umbrella) we finally made it to the grounds of UST. My brother badly needs to pee that time, but the line to the portalet was very long, so he decided to wait until the end of the mass. We waited for 6 hours until the Pope Arrived at UST at 9:30 am. The crowd was very excited and raised their gadgets to capture his face. (If you did this, fuck you.) Because of this, I could barely see the Pope’s face.

                                   Sea of Gadgets. Courtesy: Basilio H. Sepe, The Varsitarian.

          The pope passed through the Arch of Centuries then went inside his pope mobile. When I saw his face, I cried with joy and so much delighted. All the waiting and suffering was worth it. The pope mobile went through Plaza de Intramuros, meeting with the Miguel de Benavides Monument. The vehicle went around the UST main building then going to the grand stand in the UST football field.

Pope Francis and Cardinal Tagle riding the pope mobile with the Benavides Monument and UST main building in the background. Courtesy: Nazzi M. Castro, The Varsitarian.

          The pope made a mass for the World Youth Day. His homily was also intended for the youth. He said in Spanish that we should learn to cry as Christians and “Reality is more superior to ideas.” (The translator translated the Spanish homily into English for us.) The rain fell throughout the mass. Some guys wear a raincoat, while my brother just used a hooded jacket and I just used a bonnet and a sweater jacket. Some scumbags use an umbrella that escaped the security.

          After the mass, the pope used his pope mobile to go to Quirino Grandstand. We took our umbrella from the security office and waited a bus or UV Express in España. Later, we realized that it is hard to find a bus and a UV in España today, so we decided to take the LRT. We took a jeepney to Quiapo Church and walked to Central Station near Puente de Quezon. We took a line to the ticket booth, bought out tickets and took the LRT. We got out in Roosevelt Station and took a bus to Novaliches Bayan and from there, we took a jeepney to Deparo, our home.

          Today, Pope Francis leaves the Philippines. Good bye Pope Francis! Come Again!