Son narrates last conversation with dad, former Sen. Alvarez

Former Senator and Cabinet official Heherson Alvarez takes the podium during his active years in public service. Image from Heherson Alvarez’s Facebook page, courtesy of the Alvarez family

MANILA, Philippines — “I’m worried about your mom. I can’t see her.”

While he was hospitalized to be treated for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), former Senator Heherson Alvarez was extremely worried about his wife Cecile Guidote-Alvarez who also caught the virus.

He shared this concern to his son, Hexilon, but only through a phone conversation since family members are barred from having physical contact with COVID-19 patients as part of health protocols.

The former lawmaker and his wife were admitted in a private hospital, but were on separate rooms.

Alvarez had all the reason to worry about his 76-year-old wife. Unlike him who only had mild hypertension, Cecile had pneumonia, diabetes, and high blood pressure, and on top of these illnesses, she’s a cancer survivor. He knew all along that experts have repeatedly warned that elderly people with underlying medical conditions are more vulnerable to the disease.

But on April 15, Cecile was discharged from the hospital and is now in a better condition, according to her daughter Xilca. It was the 80-year-old former senator who lost the battle to the disease.

In an interview with dzMM on Tuesday, the younger Alvarez shared some snippets of his conversation with his father before the latter’s sudden death.

“Naaalala ko pa ‘yung usapan namin (I can still remember our conversation). Medyo naiinis siya (He was upset) why does he have to [be there], what’s taking the result so long kasi (because) he feels fine,” said Hexilon, quoting some words from his father.

“He sounded perfectly, fine and healthy, and then after a few days my sister got in touch with me tapos sabi (and she said) they (both parents) are being intubated. Para akong sinuntok sa tiyan bigla. Nawalan ako ng hangin. Hindi po kami prepared sa nangyari (I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I lost oxygen. We were not prepared for what happened),” he added.

That was the last conversation he had with his dad.

According to Hexilon, the former lawmaker was physically strong and was healthy before he contracted the virus even with his advanced age.

He shared that his father would regularly exercise and go to the gym as he was very conscious about his health.

“He was very driven. He was always like a pillar of strength for my sister and myself and my mother also. Naging source sya ng lakas ng pamilya namin (He was a source of strength to our family),” he added.

When the body of Alvarez was already being placed inside an equipment ready for cremation, Hexilon could not withhold his tears from falling.

“Nung nakita ko nga ‘yung pinasok si dad doon sa loob ng cremation gadget, nakaplastic na itim na body bag, pinicturan ko, napaiyak na lang din ako kasi sabi ko somebody, katulad ng tatay ko na nakibaka, lumaban sa lahat tapos ganito na lang ang mangyayari sa kanya,” he said.

(When I saw that my father was being placed inside that cremation gadget and was wrapped in a black body bag, I took a picture of him and I cried because I have said, like my father who fought a lot of struggles and faced many battles, but he ended up like this.)

Like her son, Cecile was also devastated at how she was not able to talk to her husband before his death.

“Sobra siyang nagdadalamhati sa nangyari kay dad. Umuungol nga siya eh. Kausap namin kahapon. We had to have her sedated kasi sinasabi nya ‘Oh my God, hindi ko man lang siya nakausap,’” shared Hexilon.

(He is really mourning over what happened to dad. She was crying hard. We talked to her yesterday. We had to have her sedated because she was saying, “Oh my God, I wasn’t even able to talk to him.”)

Alvarez served two terms in the Senate from 1987 to 1998. He was the chairman of the Senate committee on environment for 10 years. Among the laws he pushed in Congress were the Clean Air Act and the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act. He founded the Earth Savers Movement and authored the resolution declaring April 22 as “Earth Day.”

He also served as Environment secretary from 2001 to 2002. After serving through this position, he became the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino communities in 2003, on Agrarian reform in 2005 to 2007, and on global warming and climate change in 2008.

From 2010 to 2015, he also served as commissioner and vice chair of the Climate Change Commission.

With the sudden turn of events on his father’s battle against COVID-19, Hexilon then urged everyone not to downplay the threats of the disease that has already claimed thousands of lives across the globe.

“Seryosohin po natin ang COVID-19. Hindi ito biro. Traydor to na sakit. Hindi dapat ito ginagawang ano na parang wala lang. It’s not worth it,” he said.

(Let us take COVID-19 seriously. It is not a joke. This is a traitorous illness. We should not take it lightly. It’s not worth it.)

Edited by JPV