Where's Manong?

It's been more than 2 weeks since I've seen "Manong..."

Yep, Manong, the TG (Taong Grasa) we lovingly call that because we didn't know how else to address him.

Manong grew on us when he moved into Yale Street just a few months before Christmas 2006.
With his various plastic bags, backpack, cap and greasy face, he became a mainstay on our street, on the sidewalk of the house beside ours. Sometimes, he attempted to hang around in ours but I think he learned that my sister comes home late every night so he moved to the house next door...

Manong was the kind of TG I never hated, in fact, he was the TG that seemed to become part of my everyday life. Every night, I'd come home around the same time as Manong from work. I'd observe him trying to get into his sleeping position in front of Dr. Filart's garage. Or I'd see him asleep already when I come home a bit late. In the mornings, Manong would situate himself outside my Uncle Pedro's house, with his normal plastic bags and backpack, he'd sit there, quietly drinking from a Jollibee or Mini Stop cup, or eating a sandwich. He was Manong, the Yale TG, he was Manong, the TG that ate, drank and struggled to squeeze his way between the electric post and the taxi blocking the way to his temporary home. He was Manong, whom my sister gave a Christmas shirt too and from there we found out he changed clothes.

He was Manong, and we don't know where he is.

I started to notice Manong's "unpresence" around more than 2 weeks ago. Before the holy week. I went out in the morning as usual, on my way to catch the jeep to work. He was nowhere to be seen, not at Uncle Pedro's nor was he across the street where he sometimes goes as well... Days passed and Manong never seemed to be there when I got home from work... After the holy week I posed the question to my family, "Where was Manong?"

It was only then they realized he wasn't there. No one noticed...

But it still doesn't change things...

Where's Manong?

And how is he?