Mang Mario

I LOVE the new advertisement of Nestle ice cream, featuring "Kuya Mario", the popsicle vendor who gave the kid a ride home after he was left by the school bus. He just reminds me of Mang Mario, a mamang sorbetero in our neighborhood when I was still a kid.

He'd pass by every afternoon, then kids in our neighborhood would run after him like crazy. I was one of them - I'd ask for five pesos from my mom/dad (or was that 2 pesos?!) then run after him to get a cone of cheese sorbetes. I love it when he's left with a few of one or two flavors - He'd add them as bonus scoops sometimes on my cone!

On lean seasons, he would walk slowly and sometimes "Park" across our apartment. That's what I have in my memory mostly - Mang Mario, a man in his 50s, wearing hat and eyeglasses, wiping his face with his bimpo every afternoon, rainy or summer. I'd watch him from our bedroom window, wondering how long I've known this man - since God knows when! I heard from my sisters, he's been there even before I was born!

Since we moved out of our 1st house in Fort Bonifacio, I never heard anything about him again. All the more when my dad retired - We had to move to Muntinlupa, and say goodbye to the military camp for good. Until a facebook group was formed for the "army brats" as they say. LOL. or the kids of soldiers/officials in the 70s-80s who lived in McArthur road, Fort Bonifacio.

I heard nothing new about him actually from that group. Til the "sorbetes" topic came up, a girl then shared that Mang Mario is actually an undercover, a yet another military official assigned to look after the surroundings of Fort Bonifacio for I dunno - terrorists? mutineers? rebels? A guy confirmed this, saying he saw Mang Mario wearing a military uniform in his dad's office one time. Another girl then connected this to her testimony that one time, she saw a gun under Mang Mario's money chest. OMYGOSH! HOW COME I DIDN'T KNOW THAT?! Connecting the dots, that could be the reason why he'd park across our apartment for hours, doing "nothing"!

For a while, I felt so betrayed. But now I realize, being an "undercover", he's actually the COOLEST MAMANG SORBETERO ON EARTH! SOOO I STILL LOVE HIM! Mang Mario, wherever you are, I want you to know that [soldier or not!] you take a big part in my childhood memory! I miss you and your ice cream soooooo much!