The Endless Battle between Kiko Matsing and Elmo Finally Comes to an End

You see, my brother and I were exact opposites since we were kids. We were entirely different. It was as if both us were in the same spectrum but with different wavelengths. He was different. I was different. He's well-built. I was and still is physically deprived. I excelled both in academics and in other extra-curricular activities. He was the average. He was mischievous. I was sane. But he's good-looking though. Well as for me, let’s just say that my mom would always subtly tell me that some women “don’t go for looks”. Go figure.

Sometimes, my brother and I would exchange roles back then – taking part in being the “black sheep” in the family. I even bullied him around, too; taking things that matters most away from him – even the girl he liked. Yes. My ex-girlfriend was his crush back then. He was just simply head-over-heels but I would just laugh at his futile attempt to talk to her. And you guessed it right. I stole her away from him. (Crap. I was that harsh?) Of course, I am the KUYA and kuyas, whether you like or not, are supposed to always reign supreme over the inferior broodlings! (Okaaay, that’s it. I’m harsh.)

So anyway, my brother always dreamed to live or to study in the States. In fact back when we were kids, he would watch Sesame Street while I prefer to watch Pong Pagong and Kiko Matsing (Ate Syena, matigas na yung saging ko!) in Batibot. So, you see? We’re different.


But if there was one common thing that we got from our mom, it would be her assertiveness. My family could never afford to send him to study or to be exiled in another country but my brother never stopped looking for information in the Internet to the point of spending the rest of the night in our print shop in Davao looking for scholarships in the Internet – the sweet and glorious Internet. That’s when he learned about the Philippine-American Educational Foundation (PAEF) scholarship and applied.

And guess what? Just recently, my brother finally got his scholarship grant to study International Business in Brigham Young University in Hawaii. The lucky bastard.

But you know what? The more I see our differences, the more I come to accept that even though we are different, we both have one thing in common. Putting our differences aside, we are both dreamers. We have one thing in mind: excellence. Excel in the best way we can.

So to my brother who’s leaving right after Christmas, do your best! Make us proud! Bring home the gold! Send dollars! Don’t talk to me in English when you’ll call! Itaas ang bandera ng mga Hernandez! Whatever. Just make your k0YaH proud, you dimwit! And send me chocolates.