The last time I saw him, we had so much fun, it seemed there was no tomorrow.
That last I heard of him, he was gone like being snatched by a thief in the night.
I am talking about my high school friend Jay Glenn “Jingle” Dizon.
Jingle died early morning yesterday from severe fractures at the back of his head after colliding fatally with another motorcycle in Dumaguete city
It was totally unexpected.
Still at the prime of his life, Jingle ended it without saying goodbye.
I received the shocking news from classmate Voltaire who sent me a text message.
“We lost a friend, Jingle”
The story was that he had a night out in the home of his parents in Daro.
He went home aboard his motorcycle.
Somewhere in Banilad, he crossed path with another motorcycle, a male and a female back rider.
Both motorcycles collided head-on.
Jingle ended up dead.
The back of his skull was cracked, said Voltaire and Alex who saw Jingle’s body in the morgue.
How tragic. How sudden. How painful.
Good memories.
Last year, our high school batch had our twentieth reunion.
We had so much fun.
Jingle is the musically talented in our batch.
He modulates like Nonoy Zuniga.
He can give Raymond Lauchengco a run for his money.
Naturally, Jingle led the pack during our sing-along evening.
He held the microphone in one hand, beer on the other.
It was classic Jingle.
Definitely one of the best memories I have of him.
Then Christmas came.
Karl Bambi brought his family for a visit from Australia.
Jingle and I had a long talk about what he was doing with life.
Never did I think, it was the last time I would be talking to him.
Jingle sang in our high school graduation at Silliman twenty years ago.
He rendered the song “Farewell”
Farewell to you my friends.
We’ll see each other again.
Don’t worry cause its not the end of everything.
Truly, we’ll be seeing Jingle again, in the afterlife.
Farewell for now Jingle.
Rest in peace.
Paloma property
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This afternoon, December 27, 2008, after having luch in san Jose town, here
in Negros Oriental, my father took us to a piece of beach lot he bought
years a...
15 years ago
5 comments:
Jay, with the wide visibility of your articles and your voice, you missed out on an opportunity here to celebrate "Jingle's" life in a truly positive way... that is to remind people to ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET when riding a motorcycle and maybe to push for a helmet law in Dgte. Notice that it was his head injuries that killed him. If you talk to ER doctors, you will know how many lives could have been saved by simply wearing a helmet. But it's not too late... you could still make a statement in Jingle's behalf to make it his positive legacy.
Yes, you could be right. However, to conclude that Jingle’s non wearing of helmet was the proximate cause of death might be misleading and pre mature.
We do not know yet all the facts, Was he drinking intoxicating substance previous to the incident?
Was the other driver drinking?
Was the other driver an amateur driver?
Did the other guy have a driver’s license?
Was the other driver familiar with motorcycle driving?
If there was liquor drinking involved, then it opens up a loose debate as to what the proximate cause really was.
Should the campaign be, “wear-a-helmet”?, or “don’t-drink-if-you-drive,?” or “no-license-no-driving”?
If you talk to those who knew Jingle for years, he was a very slow motorcycle driver.
As for me, I just want to pay tribute to my friend.
I don’t want to spark a debate, when we still don’t know the surrounding circumstances enough as to determine the cause of the tragic incident.
Again, you could be right about the helmet thing.
But I can’t go on a campaign based on pre-mature, un-substantiated conclusion.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Jay,
I wasn't even close to talking about the 'proximate cause of death'. I was just responding to what you said in your blog, "Jingle died early morning yesterday from severe fractures at the back of his head"... I think you will agree that with a helmet, the 'severe fractures' could have been prevented... as to whether any of them were drinking, driving fast/slow, minors, unlicensed,what not.. that's not what i was going after... wearing a helmet could have saved his life... by the way, i heard that the woman backrider of the other mc had to have her legs amputated... I like all your suggested campaign slogans and yes, these are valid... I know you just wanted to pay tribute to your friend and not spark a debate... but you're in a public forum and debates do happen...
thank you for your blog...
Mr./Ms "Wecansavelives," ---while you are making comments under the veil of anonimity--- you were not responding to my blog. You were exhorting me to take action and initiate a campaign about helmets (Read again your public statements). You were not responding. You were pushing me to do something. I even take as baseless criticism your statement that "I missed out an opportunity." I am sorry but I don't take action based on unverified assumptions.
In legal procedure, your statements are what is called "mis-leading". (Highly objectionable). You were assuming as fact, that which has not been proved. You were already concluding that non-wearing of helmets would have saved Jingle's life. That is your opinion. But that is not fact. At least not yet. Other people would think differently--- that if they don't drink and drive--- then lives are saved. But you prematurely jumped the gun, and publicly criticised me that I "missed out" an opportunity (what?), and even asked me to initiate a campaign. Well, that's not me. I am not that reckless. If you want to initiate a campaign about helmets based on unverified assumptions, you can do it yourself. We live in a free country. By the way, would you be man/or woman enough to reveal your true identity when you make public criticisms of other people? People will respect you more if you do that, rather than criticize, and hide under the skirt of anonimity.
It's unfortunte that you feel i critcized you. It was not my intent and I apologize if I offended you. It's my opinion that i feel you 'missed out' but it was never intended to be a criticsm on your part. I'm greateful for your blog and how you've responded to my statments. But i will stick with 'WeCanSaveLives'. sa pagkatinuod, ug wala pa ang option nga 'Name/URL' dili jud ko mo-respond. I put my name once before in a blog -unya baling daghana insulto nga nadawat nako gumikan lang sa akong mga opninion nga dili man pod unta makadaut.. anyway, nalipay ko nga at least nagka-dialogue ta. Basun pod lamang ang mga readers nimo makahuna-huna pod ani. Many many thanks and keep up the good work you're doing.
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