
‘Salamat, Bien’
by PATRICK V. MIGUEL
IN AN online wake, several people pointed out that one distinguished trait of Bienvenido Lumbera—his sense of humor.
Behind his distinctive smile is a story worth to tell, and the jokes he told around his friends and family will be missed.
Smiling as she talked about Lumbera and their memorable times together, actress Bibeth Orteza said in the wake, “He really had a sense of humor.”
Charlson Ong, a colleague in the PH chapter of the International PEN recalled how he once shared a dingy room with Lumbera while they were in a Baguio workshop. The bathroom had a washbowl that was barely supported by a mesh wire.
“I remember him as a trooper,” Ong told The Flame. “At lunch, [Lumbera] was regaling us about how he had to keep the sink from collapsing wh...