My Best(yes) Man(weh?!) speech

*I just fondled in my Dashborad and saw this. I haven't posted this yet. A friend of mine told me to post it anyway since I wasn't able to say this during my brother's wedding. It was frustrating enough for me not to be able to do my Best Man's Toast, so I don't want to add more frustration by not posting this, so here goes.

When kuya told me that I will be his bestman, naging Pilipino ako; nanlaki ang mata ko. After ilang seconds, Intsik na ulit ako.

From what I can remember, best man are supposed to be the one who is close to the groom; and its not me. I was expecting either a cousin, his bestfriend or my dog to be the best man, but I was surprised that he got me.

I then asked a friend who was a wedding coordinator what a best man does…Best Man's Toast for the groom and a speech.

SHIT.

He doesn’t deserve to be my brother, I don’t deserve to be in front of you giving you this speech. Moreover, Ate Thet doesn’t deserve to marry my brother, he doesn’t deserve to be mom and dad’s son, and my ate’s elder brother. He doesn’t deserve to be a pilot and he doesn’t deserve to be happy. I was thinking of stopping the wedding a while ago, pero naisip ko "Ang ganda ng mommy ko at ng mother in law ko, di pwede masira ang make up… (I thought "My mom and my mother in law were both beautiful, it might ruin their make up.")

Let me tell you about my brother; he was a player before; I’m not sure if the rumors were true, but I think it was 3 girls a month was his rule. While I was in a long term relationship with my then girlfriend, what I saw in him was simply unacceptable. He was also always out while I stared at the television and when he arrives, he’ll grab the remote from either me or my sister and would watch his OWN favourite show leaving me and my sister no choice; either watch what he was watching or leave. IF there were treats given to us whether chocolates or goodies, he doesn’t care if we already ate or not; he’ll just eat them all.

That’s my brother. WAS my brother.

When I was growing up, I studied tae kwon do so one day, I wish I could beat him up, that didn’t happen. I grew up with angst, hatred and fear from my brother, that’s how we grew up.

I grew up thinking life is unfair because everything was almost in his favour. He never had any problem on his studies. He passed Rural High School while effortlessly passing his grades and could’ve passed UP, but since he was a kid, it was already his dream to be a pilot. He also attended it without any effort. While me and my sister were struggling which course to take, struggling to college life, passing our grades and me dreaming of studying in a prestigious school in Manila, ended up graduating in a college in Calamba City.

When he was in highschool, he already knows how to roam Manila, while even in college, that’s when I just started roaming Calamba City. He effortlessly do his responsibilities like waking up in the morning and doing his morning rituals ¼ the time me and my sister did.

I think I can give him the dictionary definition of smooth criminal.

He gets away of almost anything, and that’s why I hated and envy him so much.

That’s until she met Ate Thet.

Or rather we met her.

I’m not good with dates, and I have trouble with my memory. However, this specific moment when my brother introduced Ate Thet to us was rather peculiar. Hindi ko sya nakausap (I didn't get the chance to talk to her), he just introduced her like any other girls he had before, yun nga lang, mas nauna ako sa pagdala sa bahay ng girlfriend ko… na ngayon may iba nang asawa. (thing is, I was the first one to bring a girlfriend at home... who now has her own family.)

I can still remember, it was Kisses chocolates a bag and a Body Shop soap was left as a gift. Sabi ko may sumpa talaga ang pamilya namin, nung nagka girlfriend ako, ako rin ang niregaluhan… bakit kami ang nililigawan??? I was about to ask dad pero ‘di ko na tinanong… Tama na yung kaming dalawa nalang nakaka alam.

Anyway, I can still remember, thinking that time, kawawang babae (pity girl), bumyahe ng olongapo to los banos, para sa 3 weeks na kalokohan. Lumaki ulit mata ko kasi occasion after occasion sya ng sya na nakikita ko. Naka ilang serious relationship nako, sila pa rin ni kuya! And that was the time, siguro dahil matanda na kami, nagkabati na kami ng brother ko…

I graduated and sila pa rin?! Nagkatrabaho nako, at may dumagdag na sa listahan ng mga reregaluhan ko sa pasko!? Little by little that’s when I knew Ate Thet more. There were times when I resigned at work and my brother was the one who supported my masters and my living, he’ll invite me to join them to eat outside. They’ll take me to fancy restaurants that I could only dream of eating, and that’s when I saw na pumuti na ang uwak, in love na nga talaga ang kuya ko, and I guess everyone already witnessed that in front of God, he gave his solemn promise that he’ll love Ate Thet, but I was concerned kasi sa pagkaka alam ko, nagpromise si kuya na hindi na sya mambababae, but I forgot to tell her tinanong mo ba sya kung hindi sya manlalalake?

I want to take this opportunity to thank Ate Thet for making our family bigger, not by the number but by love. You’re the second sister I never had, a gift from God to our family, a friend I was looking for and an angel to my brother. A textmate whenever I feel sad, and the best of all, may kakwentuhan na ako sa showbiz news.

Like I said before, my brother is not a pig! I mean, he doesn’t deserve all of these, he was mean to me, and he made my childhood a nightmare, he doesn’t deserve Ate
Thet, but when I came to my senses, he proved to everybody that he’s a changed man. And Ate Thet coming into his life, our life changed everthing… He’s not worthy to be her husband. However, I thought, who is more deserving than him? I think none.