I consider a friend my bestfriend once our connection becomes intimate reaching the personal level. We come to open ourselves to each other's family; knew each other's parents and/or siblings; and, share each other's rooms and/or wardrobe. We even flirt together, we hangout together, we get drunk together or even get laid together. And so I have lots of bestfriends. Some of the closest are the one's I involved in my other dreams and interests.
I am always interested in business. My oratorical piece in one english subject in college entitled "Go for Business Young Man!" always rings in my ears, though I can no longer remember the whole piece.
When I got the little amount of money, I thought of business venture. And I always involve my best friends in it. My best friends are my college gay friends. We went to college years together; we became close through the Reserved Officer Training Course (ROTC) or the so-called NSTP nowadays.
My first attempt was in 2005. My first business in thought was a refreshment parlor. I found a place in Surigao City (my home city), very strategic in fact; it is surrounded with offices, schools and colleges. I entrusted the operation to one of my bestfriends. He was jobless then so I thought of putting up the store in his favor. I owed him a lot though not financially. His mother is so motherly to me and I stayed in their place whenever I was in the city. That store still exists until today but ever since I had no return on my investment. That store was ransacked twice and the restoration costs were on me. Until such time that I learnt that the store has owed the bank and some other loan-sharks money for the purposes unknown to me. Then I gave up the management and the ownership with only the juice dispenser and the airconditioning unit as my return. My friend continues to operate the store using my BIR and DTI license. From the time that I cleared things out with him, I lost around P120,000.00, and we lost contact. And I lost one of my best of friends. His name is Victor Ortiz.
My second attempt was in Manila. I lived and worked in Surigao City for 5 years after my college graduation. One of my gay friends did not finish college and lived and worked in Manila. I was reunited with him when I got the job in Quezon City. He helped me find an apartment of my own in Commonwealth, Quezon City, where I live until today. He's very businessminded; he's a self-employed sales agent of many things. I admired his resilience, resourcefulness and unigue tactics of living jobless but surviving kind of life. So I trusted him. Then he proposed for a partnership with me in renting out apartment. I invested an initial P30,000 to acquire another apartment unit around the same area where both of our apartments are. Until now, no apartment is acquired and I lost my P30,000. He then proposed another business venture, a beauty parlor. I shelled out another P10,000 for that purpose. The parlor was closed which I was not informed and I lost more money. Until today, I never recovered the amounts I gave him. We never cleared on this matter and we lost contact. His name is Jessie Esaga.
My third attempt was with my classmate and best friend from grade school to high school years. He once lived in my place during his first months in Manila in 2007. He found a fortune with small businesses like manpower services and internet cafe, after having employed in the same industry. In 2010, he was unemployed and proposed to me another manpower business. I bit it and it grew until my investment valued more than P150,000. And then I discovered that such amount of money was never entered into my bank account, the supposed company bank account. I later found out that my friend opened another bank account in his name and all transactions were conducted and posted thereto. This has gone long for almost a year now, a year of me issuing futile checks. I wonder how the hell he afforded watching me sign checks that are never in actual use, no longer a legal tender. I abhor him for swindling me. His name is Al Bernadez. But I cleared this to him... that I want my money back... that I want the business closed... that I want to clear my record in DTI or in BIR or in City Treasurer's Office.
Three attempts, all has failed. I don't know if I learnt my lesson but no... I still want to enter into more businesses, only this time no more best friends.
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