Parting is such sweet sorrow: Filipinos flock to Taft Avenue to see Pope off

MANILA, Philippines–It was a bittersweet Monday for Loreta Dumlao, 70, who had come to see Pope Francis off. As usual, she brought a monoblock chair as she posted herself near the corner of Quirino and Taft Avenue, where the Apostolic Nunciature, the Pope’ residence during his stay in Manila, was located.

“The feeling that I get when I see him is happiness and of being blessed, with a little bit of kilig (giddiness). He’s a handsome man after all with a pointed nose,” Dumlao told the Inquirer. “But it’s sad that this is the last time we’ll see him.”

This was the general sentiment among the people who had gathered on the route Pope Francis took from the Nunciature to Villamor Air Base for his trip back to Rome. And with the Pope leaving, they said they were sending their prayers, wishes and thanks to him, audibly or in silence, as a final show of support.

For Dumlao, being a resident of Malate—her son’s house where she lived was just a stone’s throw away from the Nunciature on Taft Avenue —meant that she had seen Pope Francis six times.

“This will be the seventh time I will hopefully be able to see him. I have been praying for the fulfillment of my son’s hopes and plans,” she said. “I hope the Pope can share that with me.”

For his part, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority traffic constable Wilfredo Dacut said he felt that just by seeing the Pope, he had already imparted his intentions to him.

“I have been part of the human barricade wherever the Pope went for the last few days and I have had glimpses of him,” he said.

This time, Dacut brought his wife with him so that she could also see the Pontiff in the flesh.

“She was able to see Pope Francis and she was delighted about it,” he said after the papal convoy had passed. For him, sending off the Pope safely was a great way to end his posting.

“Our job has been hard but just seeing him safe and well makes it all worthwhile. I was able to pray for my petitions as well. I almost cried when I saw him when he arrived in the Philippines,” he said.

Meanwhile, Boyet Magale, a Church lay leader at the Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish in Sta. Ana, Manila, said he wanted to thank the Pope for showing solidarity with Filipinos.

“I couldn’t express what I really felt during the Pope’s stay here. But he has done so much for the country that I just want to thank him: for reaching out to the poor, unfortunate ones and for commiserating [with] and remembering the victims of Typhoon ‘Yolanda,’” Magale said.

“Thanks to the Pope, our generation feels that there is hope. In return, Pope Francis now knows how close he is to the Filipinos’ hearts,” he added.