On an early Sunday afternoon, Zeny Marcelo-Poe (the common-law wife of the late actor Conrad Poe), texted me a not-so-good news.
Maita Sanchez, the Filipina actress and former mayor of Pagsanjan, Laguna, has died.
I was shocked.
I don’t remember Maita, Maita Javier-Ejercito in real life, as having been hospitalized or reported sick.
Although a certain Jun Ombat, a netizen from actress Janice Jurado's online show it has been written in some social media spaces that Maita was stricken with an illness.
Even Janice herself couldn't believe the sad news was for real.
Meanwhile, when I talked to Zeny on my Facebook (FB) Messenger, she was also shocked.
In my disbelief, without batting an eyelash, I asked Zeny if the cause of Maita's demise was a heart attack.
Marcelo-Poe didn't immediately answer in a direct fashion.
"Ano ba naman 'yon. Umuwi na nga ako ng bahay para magpahinga galing sa Magalang, Pampanga dahil sa Undas. Tapos, nakita ko sa cellphone ko na patay na nga si Mayora. Kaya tinawagan ko ang isang (What’s the matter? I just went home to rest from Magalang, Pampanga for Undas. Then, I saw and read messages in my cellphone that the former lady mayor was gone. So I called one of her) staff niya.
"Do'n ko nalaman na totoo ang balita. Pero sabi ko sa kausap ko, hindi ba nagpapa-check up si Mayora? Ang sabi lang niya, 'no'n pong June, sabi niya sa akin na nahihirapan siyang kumain'. 'Yon (That’s the time I learned the real thing. But I told the staff I was talking with if Mayora had not been undergoing checkups. What she just said was ‘last June, she told me that she was finding it hard to eat. That’s it).
"Hanggang 'yan (Until this news)," gushed Marcelo-Poe.
Zeny claimed that the one she was talking to initially informed her that Maita would be cremated.
“Pero marami ang nagre-request na kung puwede raw na makita si Mayora sa huling pagkakataon kaya imbes na siya i-cremate, ibuburol para maraming makakita sa kanya sa mga huling sandali (But there were many who requested if they could see Mayora for the last time so instead of cremation, her remains would be laid for people to pay their last respects),” explained Marcelo-Poe.
Based on initial details of Maita’s wake, her body lies at the Don Porong Ejercito mansion in Pagsanjan. She was carried to her final resting place on Saturday.
Maita was 55.
Our deepest sympathies to the Ejercitos and the Javiers.
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