I logged on to my Facebook account while taking a break from work. I was shocked upon reading messages from my news feed that people are posting sympathies on a friend’s page. I haven’t been in touch with him for months now and I felt terribly sorry when I confirmed that Coy Caballes passed away.

I was speechless. All of a sudden, I was sobbing in tears and there’s a little feeling of regret that I didn’t keep in touch with him. In fact, the last chat conversation I had with him had something to do with me stressing him out with some business matters. Magulo. Hindi ko alam. Bakit? Bakit si Coy? Why of all people, ‘yun pang taong walang hinangad kundi tumulong at pasayahin ang mga taong nakapaligid sa kanya?

I wasn’t even aware that his health condition is that serious. Everytime I ask one of his close friends about his condition, the answer is simply “He’s sick”. I didn’t force him to tell the exact prognosis out of respect.

Before he was known by digital marketers and newbie bloggers as the Social Media Manager of Globe, Coy Caballes is best known in the blogosphere as CokskiBlue, the pioneer of videoblogging in the Philippines. I am a big fan of his work and as a struggling blogger/student based in Dagupan City, I adored his works and his determination to excel in videoblogging. We started commenting on each other’s blogs (I.PH Blogger here!) and eventually added each other on Friendster and YM.

I first met him in person at the Y4IT event in 2007. I was there together with my classmates in college and we decided to meet up there since almost every Computer Science and Information Technology students in Luzon are there to participate.

Right after one of the sessions, we met up in the lobby area of SM North Edsa Cinema. I was stunned on how humble and a gentleman he was. I told him that I would like to do videoblogging soon and he encouraged me to do so. I started recording clips and posted it on my then new blog ‘Missing Carlo’. He commented and gave more encouragements. He even advised that I don’t really need the most expensive videocam to record my videos. As long as the content is interesting, people will still watch you.

Eventually, I moved to Manila after college. We’d see each other in several blog events like the iBlog 4 and 5, where we were speakers. I was paired with AJ Matela (oh no, I’m gonna cry) to do a talk on ‘Basics of Blogging’ and he paired up with Winston for the topic ‘Blog Promotion and Traffic Generation Strategies). The Pinoy Blogging Community was less saturated then. Each blogger had its own personality, niche market and in some instances, I became friends with the bloggers I admire. One of them is Coy. From co-bloggers to good friends.

 

 

^Camwhoring at its finest! 😀 Hilig namin sa ganyan noon :))

I do appreciate when he attended the first event I organized for the Belo Medical Group. In fact, the community was there to support each other’s endeavors.

We started mingling with bloggers offline on our early twenties. Of course, changes occur. He is known as the pioneer of videoblogging in the Philippines and had a number of collaborations with other bloggers, but eventually semi-retired in vlogging to pursue a Social Media career, which is considered as a big risk back in 2009. I continued blogging and embraced my love for travelling.

One of the fun moments with Coy happened in Cebu last October 2009. Ada and I flew to Cebu just because we want to. PBA Organizers were there to prepare for the Philippine Blog Awards Cebu leg. I remember being grumpy because I lacked sleep. The group encouraged us to join them for their photowalk. Syempre, go na!

We had solo shots, group shots and even tandem shots. Click Click Click!

The next day, we went to Talisay and enjoyed a lechon feast then Sunday is the awards night.

Coy is loved by bloggers all over the Philippines. He is naturally a good guy. Like what Yoshke mentioned in his post, his only ‘sin’ is being too nice.

From time to time, I’d meet Coy and the rest of the Globe team in out of town events – all unplanned! In 2011, we saw each other at the Masskara Festival. Coy and Winston were there for Globe while Hannah and I were there to cover the event for AirPhil Express. We were running, laughing and cheering for our yayabels Byahilo.

There’s that crazy Boracay trip where I went there supposedly for soul searching, but I ended up seeing lots of bloggers and eventually joined them in the Globe Tattoo event. Fun Times!

Looking back, I really had nice memorable moments with Coy. We may not see each other as frequent as we used to when we were starting with the blogs, but I know we care for each other. I booked a ticket to Cebu last month with no concrete agenda in mind. I am not even there for Sinulog, but I felt the urge to just go there. I will visit you soon.

Thank You CokskiBlue sa lahat ng naitulong mo. Sa inspirasyon sa mga bloggers na katulad ko at sa iba pang digital marketing executives/specialists na natulungan mo. I know you’re in a better place now and please send my regards to AJ. Livestream din pag may time, ha? 🙂