Home run hero
Filipino-Spanish Azkal football player Alvaro Silva visits ‘Pinas for the first time and reconnects with his Pinoy roots
by Nickky Faustine De Guzman
June 29, 2014
A suitcase in hand, a girlfriend in tow, and a lone Tagalog word as his baon, Filipino-Spanish mestizo Alvaro Silva flew in from Spain with barely any info on his supposedly second home. He’s here to fix the legal documents he needs to play for our national football team, Azkals.
Images by Pinggot Zulueta
Images by Pinggot Zulueta
Invited by friend and another Fil-Spanish Azkals player Juani Guirado, Alvaro says he didn’t have to think twice about joining the team. “I have a special relationship with the Philippines. I’ll give my 100 percent in every game,” says the soft-spoken player. As proof of his burning desire to represent the country, Alvaro even spent his own money for the trip to Manila. Anyone, he says, would be proud to represent the Azkals, who is gaining international footing in the world of football. It’s about time he stands for his “other” country.
But first, he felt he needed to brush up on his Filipino facts. And he did just that before his seven-day stay in Manila ended. “I now know more Philippine history than other Filipinos,” exclaims Alvaro with a proud grin. Apparently, he joined Carlos Celdran’s “fun and educational” Walk This Way tour on his free time.
Born to a Pinay mother and a Spanish father, Alvaro grew up unfamiliar with his Filipino lineage. He says his mother, Maria Nieves, was barely a year old when her family migrated to Spain. His late grandma and mama used to speak in Tagalog, but always in passing. They never taught him the languange. Besides the Spanish words the Filipino language borrowed—cuchara, cubiertos, lamesa, baño, pantalon—the only Tagalog word he knows is “Salamat po.”
Save for the language (roughly 80 percent of Tagalog words are Spanish), Alvaro says his adjustment will definitely be easier. Unlike in Azerbaijan, where he played professionally for a year as the central defense, it is easier to adapt in the Philippines, “because our culture is the same, it feels like home,” says the six-foot-tall player who’s been playing professionally for more than a decade now.
“I noticed that like in Malaga [his hometown], everyone here is smiling and friendly and happy,” says Alvaro, who, besides joining the Carlos Celdran tour, made a spontaneous trip to Divisoria with his girlfriend Isabelle. Drawing his iPhone out, he showed a video of the crowded Divisoria and another adventure riding a pedicab.
Filipino-Spanish Alvaro Silva is set to join national football team—Azkals. He was in Manila recently to arrange his local documents, but did not waste time to get to know the Philippines.
Filipino-Spanish Alvaro Silva is set to join national football team—Azkals. He was in Manila recently to arrange his local documents, but did not waste time to get to know the Philippines.
Back home, he barely recalls any memory of his Pinoy lineage. He hasn’t even tasted pancit or adobo, which in Spain is a kind of fish.
But there is joy and fulfillment in getting to know a culture, especially your own. Alvaro says he’s more than willing to retrace his Filipino roots. After all, we share almost four centuries of memories together—good or bad.
Every moment he spent in the Philippines this past week was unforgettable because it was his first. But there are a couple that mean so much more to him. For one thing, it was under the Manila skyline that he proposed to his longtime girlfriend. “It’s our first time to be away from each other for days, so I asked her to come with me here,” says the Español. And where could be the most perfect setting to pop a question like that than in Manila? Isabelle, of course, said yes.
While the Spanish influences remain evident in our food, our calle, and our collection of churches, Alvaro says there are many things he finds surprising. “In Spain we greet everyone with two beso (kiss) on the cheeks, here you do handshake. I was about to greet someone and I was waiting for a peck on the cheek,” he says, laughing.
While on tour, Alvaro also noticed our penchant for umbrellas and our aversion to the sun. Back in his hometown, the sun is an object of worship. “We like your color, it’s beautiful,” says he, who’s getting a sexy trace of tan thanks to his practice sessions under the sun.
On June 30, that’s tomorrow, we will be celebrating Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day. By this time, Alvaro’s back in his hometown. Like any regular day, he’d meet up with his two Pinoy expat friends, Tiffany and Marco. But this time, he’d know more about the Philippines, other than Rizal and Bonifacio. And when he arrives in August to play for the Azkals, he’d definitely have more than a mouthful of Tagalog words for baon.
www.mb.com.ph/home-run-hero/Hopefully other prospects have the same attitude as him. Heard some are acting like primadonnas or playing hard to get?