Reese Barcelon
- A Facebook user named Ailla Almario shared a post that confused a lot of netizens.
- Almario and her friends held a festive funeral for a deceased friend named Emmanuel Omaña.
Funerals are one of the most depressing moments in a person’s life.
When a deceased friend or relative dies, people have no choice but to see them being buried regardless of how painful it is for them. As a matter of fact, some people would even pass out or collapse on a funeral when their body couldn’t handle their grief.
But apart from the usual ambiance that most funerals have, one funeral stood out for being unique. Would you believe that a group of friends gave their deceased companion a festive funeral? Yes, you’ve read that right.
As a proof, here’s the story of Emmanuel Omaña.
Omaña’s story reached thousands of netizens after his friend, Ailla Almario shared his story on her Facebook account.
“Hi baklaaaaaa!!!! Sobrang pasabog mo kanina. Iba ka talaga. History bessy!!!! Una, buhat ka mula paglabas ng simbahan hanggang makarating ng sementeryo. Ang ganda ganda mo dun. Pangalawa, may pamasiko ka pa girl. Pak na pak! Pangatlo, para kang hermano sa fiesta. Ikaw ang nagkamit ng korona kanina ate girl. Panigurado nagkakakaway kaway ka pa with matching flying kiss kanina lalo na sa mga nagtitinginan sayo. May masasabi at masasabi ang iba sa pamamaraan ng paglilibing na ginawa sayo, pero wala kame pake sa sasabihin ng iba as long as alam namin yun nalang makakapagpasaya sayo hanggang sa huling pagkakataon.”
Almario and her group held festive kind of funeral for their beloved Omaña. They played happy songs and sang their heart out as Omaña was being brought to the cemetery.
“Ayaw mo ng malungkot, ginawa namin naging di malilimutan ang araw ng paghahatid sayo sa kahihimlayan mo di lang sayo bakla, kundi na rin sa mga taong nakiisa kanina. Ginawa namin ang kung anong hilig mong gawin, ang magpasaya ng tao. Hindi namin yun ginawa di dahil masaya kame na nawala ka, kundi dahil pinagdiriwang namin ang pagkakaron mo ng kaligayahan at buhay na walang hanggan kasama Nya. Maning, kung andu ka kanina, panigurado gandang ganda ka nanaman sa sarili mo. Hahaha at tiyal napagkukurot at hampas mo na kame. Mahal na mahal ka namin. Kaibigan, kapatid, Hanggang sa muli! #WeLoveManing #VivaManing#ForeverInOurHearts”
However, Almario clarified that they gave him such kind of funeral because it was what Omaña wanted when he was still alive.
To further give us a glimpse on Maning, we have reached out to Almario and asked her for more details about Omaña.
We asked what kind of person Omaña was, which Almario responded with: “Sya yung kaibigan na never ka hahayaan maging malungkot. Na dapat laging sa positive sides ng buhay ka lang titingin. Once na makita ka nyang malungkot or magdadrama sasabihan ka na nun ng “Arte mo” kasi di sya sanay sa ambiance na malungkot. Ayaw na ayaw nyang may galit or may sama ng loob sakanya yung kaibigan nya. Naiiyak na sya pag ganon. Na kahit minsan sya kame nang mga kaibigan nya na yung may pagkukulang syapa rin unang mag aapproach para lang matapos na yung di pagkakaunawaan.”
A lot of people are probably curious about the cause of death of a wonderful person. Almario was generous enough to share with us the kind of battle Omaña endured and fought bravely. “Nagstart kasi yun nung Feb nung magdonate sya ng dugo, nakaramdam na sya ng panlalata pagkahilo ganon. Eh nung unang nagpacheck up sya ang unang sabe nya lang samen non eh Anemia lang daw sabe ng doctor. Ibig sabihin kulang lang sya sa dugo, na kailangan lang sya salinan ng dugo so tingin namin after non okay. Hanggang sa mag ulit ulit na, labas pasok na sya sa hospital. Ganun. Then april, nabali-balita na may leukemia na daw si maning. Ang kaso, hindi nya alam na ganun yung sakit nya. Siguro ayaw na din ng family nya na panghinaan sya ng loob. So halos 2months lang sya kinaen ng sakit na leukemia.”
She also shared how Maning came up with such idea. ”Napagkwentuhan na po kasi yon. Apat po kasi sila sa barkadahan namin na mga bading sila po yung kung tawagin namin eh Sangres, mga bata palang po talaga sila eh sila na po yung magkakasama. Then tuwing nakatambay po sila at madadaan sila sa patay, ayun po parang naopen up po nila noon yung ganun topic. Na pag namatay daw sila ganto ganyan mga gusto nila. Kaya po ayun po yung sinunod namin pati ng family po ni Maning.”
Whenever people are being asked about the kind of funeral they wanted, they would always respond with a colorful coffin, specific kind of flowers and more. But Omaña wanted something unique, something that would fit his personality.
And to all those who are asking, Omaña’s family gladly agreed to the kind of funeral he wanted. “Yes po may permiso po, lahat po ng nangyari nung libing eh dumaan muna po sa family. Sabe po kasi samen ng family nya, sabihin na daw po namin lahat ng gusto ni maning na sinabe nya samen noon para daw po magawa nila, kaya ayun po.”
However, what’s saddening in this matter is that Almario and her friends received a lot of negative comments saying that they are still happy despite a friend’s death and criticized their act. “Hindi naman po maiiwasan magkaron ng mga negative comments lalo na po sa mga hindi po alam ang totoong istorya. Tulad nalang po na may nagsabeng wala daw po kameng kwentang kaibigan namatay na daw po kaibigan namin eh masaya pakame. Meron pa po sabe siguro daw malaki galit namin sa namatay kaya ganun nalang kame kasaya nung nawala sya. Mga ganun po.”
To Omaña’s friends, what matters is that they had proven that they genuinely loved him until his very last breath for fulfilling his wish. They don’t care about the negative comments anymore because they know that their friend is happily wearing a crown in heaven.
Last but not the least, here’s their last message to Omaña: “Hi maning, alam mo bang miss na miss ka na namin. Sobrang miss na miss! Wala na kong naipofront na wari boyfriend ko kahit na diring diri ka saken kasi sabe mo mas maganda ka pa saken hahaha. Sana bakla okay ka na dyan. Makampante ka na jan, kame na bahala dito pati sa family mo. Gagabayan namin isa’t isa basta ikaw maging masaya ka na dyan. Wala ka nang iniindang kahit ano na sakit at hirap dyan. Bantayan mo nalang kame dito, kameng lahat na nagmamahal sayo. Mahal na mahal ka namin bakla!!”
On the other hand, the Facebook users who had watched the videos and read Almario’s post were moved to tears and praised the group for being a wonderful friend to Omaña.
Indeed, friendship knows no boundaries. Despite the constant criticism the LGBT community has been receiving, it is wonderful to know that there are a lot of people who treats their friend like their own sibling.
We sincerely extend our condolences to Omaña’s family and friends. We believe that Maning is definitely waving at everyone from up above.
What are your thoughts on this story? Share your comments below!
