Daughter tells Honasan: ‘You are already legendary’

MANILA, Philippines—  Being called  “legendary” by a daughter, who was “busy angry” at him, was probably the most heart-warming message Senator Gringo Honasan has received as he bid the Senate  goodbye.

Honasan’s last term as a senator will end on June 30.

Before Congress adjourned on Tuesday, the senator said his farewells to his colleagues and the people he worked with in the Senate.

On the same day, his 30-year-old daughter, Kai Honasan-Del Rio, left a note for him on Twitter to give him a few words of comfort.

https://twitter.com/kaihonasan/status/1135906723384795136

“My Dad said bye to his job of 25 years today,” she said. “I was 5 going on 6 when he was first elected, I’m 30 now. That was also when I first met him.”

“My entire life you’ve been somebody, and now you’re settling in to something a *little* less public. I can’t even begin to understand what’s going through your mind but allow me to provide a few words of comfort.”

And then she went on telling her father that his legacy was never  his job, but his family.

“Show me another man with a job like yours who built a family like ours. (Nada right?) Because like what you said, the measure of a man is his family—and you did alright there,” Kai went on.

“Super proud of you, I don’t think I said it enough in those 25 years because I was busy being angry. You did good. You did enough. You are already legendary. You will be remembered,” she added.

On Wednesday, the senator responded to his daughter, also on Twitter.

“kaihonasan, you are truly not only our baby but my biggest, most audible (in a good way), most rabid (in a nice way), most diehard (in a cuddly way) fan. And that’s why I, we love you so much…” he said.

Honasan later explained over the phone his daughter’s message to him.

Because he had been “out of the system,” he said he missed many special occasions, including the birth of Kai, the youngest of his five children.

Honasan was one of the founders of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) that recruited soldiers to rebel against the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos

“Wala ako nung pinanganak sya. Wala ng high school graduation. Wala ako nung college graduation. Kaya malaki ang atraso ko dun,”  Honasan said.

But when Kai got married last year, he made sure he was there to compensate for his absence in the past years.

Honasan has been appointed new secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology but he has yet to assume the post.

READ: Palace releases appointment paper of Honasan as new DICT chief

Aside from Honasan, five more senators also said their goodbyes in the Senate.

Leaving the Senate are Senators Bam Aquino, JV Ejercito, Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, and Antonio Trillanes IV.  (Editor: Mike U. Frialde)