A weekend of birthday songs, the Chavit Coliseum, and tips on life

It was a weekend of “Happy-birthday-to-you” singing — from the hangar of his private plane in Paranaque before he flew to Vigan; to his house in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur where countless guests came with birthday cakes and gifts; to the streets of Vigan, where he politely accepted greetings, posing for photos with people walking by his table along the street; to the huge stage of the 10,000-seat coliseum bearing his name; and at the driveway where townsfolk not dressed for the inaugural ceremonies had waited for hours.

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Four days later — as he stepped off his plane back at the hangar in Paranaque, airport staff waited with a birthday cake with lighted candles to sing the same happy birthday song.An old habit turned me into a reporter again — and not a guest — in this trip with former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson and his guests for his birthday weekend. For many years, he would fly out of the country on June 21, to avoid the birthday greetings that poured like a tropical cyclone. In the years he had been home, his birthday was known for cash raffle prizes that could make poor men and women wake up to another lifestyle.

The lovely part of the weekend was the quiet hour we sat with him on the day before his birthday to talk about what’s on his mind as he turned another year. “I want people to know that I am still 41, because I feel like I’m 41 and I was born in 1941,” he said with a smile that challenged anyone to disagree.

He looks at life in very simple terms — “It pays to be good to everybody; spend money on scholars who can contribute to the country later; money is not yours until you spend it.”

He said he taught his children how to work, giving them the best education and some capital to start a business. “But they have to work. I tell them — take the stairs, not the elevator, to success.”

To the question — what else do you want to achieve — Chavit did not hesitate to reply: “No more, I am contented.”