‘Everyone Who Eats with Us Becomes Part of the Family’

By Alex P. Vidal 

“My father always taught me that when you help other people, then God will give you double. And that’s what has really happened to me. When I have helped other people who are in need, God has helped me more.” — Cristiano Ronaldo

IF you happen to barge inside a huge warehouse in Metuchen, New Jersey where a party is being held anytime of the week, chances are you will be welcomed and accommodated without being interrogated or frisked away.

And aside from being served with salubrious Filipino dishes, you will be considered as “part of the family.”

“This is the legacy and wishes of our father,” gushed Cynthia Monares, a clinical social worker in the Middlesex County and daughter of the late legendary Filipino-American balladeer Eleno “Lino” Monares.

Eleno, or “Tito Lino” to Filipinos living in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Washington, Virginia, Maryland, was the first known Filipino to succumb to Covid-19 on April 24, 2020.

Eleno suffered heart attack in a pandemic-related illness inside the bathroom weeks after New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy (D) ordered New Jersey’s nine million residents to stay home and closed non-essential retail businesses in state lockdown to fight coronavirus.

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New Jersey had logged 1,327 confirmed cases of the virus and 16 known deaths before Eleno, then 75 years old, passed away.

In an executive order, Murphy allowed other industries, such as manufacturing, trucking, construction, transportation, and health care, to stay open though it called for businesses to allow employees to work from home whenever possible.

It had also banned all social gatherings of any size in the state and sought to keep most New Jersey residents off the roads at all times.

“But dad was devoted to his job to help Filipino families in the Philippines, thus he continued to accommodate those who wanted to drop their balikbayan boxes (in our warehouse) and (that’s where he probably) contacted (Covid-9),” narrated Cynthia, who described Eleno as having an “angelic incredible voice” as a balladeer regularly belting the songs of Andy Williams, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Tom Jones as lead singer of a famous Filipino-American band.

“We became known in the community because of my dad; he was very funny; he made everybody laugh mostly with his horny jokes he narrated in English, Tagalog and Spanish,” Cynthia stressed.

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“He passed along to his children the principle of always maintaining a sense of humor and to laugh at ourselves, that we shouldn’t be silly. He instilled in us the value of kindness and to treat everybody the same; invite especially those in service jobs like waiters and waitresses to parties and treat them like kings and queens. Everyone felt they were so special in the world (because of how our dad treated them).”

Eleno, originally an engineer from Cebu in the Philippines, was also the patriarch of Magcor International Forwarders Corporation (Magcor) based in Metuchen, a suburban borough in the heart of the Raritan Valley region.

The Monares family—wife Luzviminda, 81; children Ferdinand, 59; Cynthia, 57; and Ginging, 55—celebrated Eleno’s fifth death anniversary on April 26, 2025 inside the warehouse converted into a banquet hall, where regular parties or social gatherings are held for both the clients and agents of Magcor.

“(It is) dad’s wishes that we continue the (regular) parties as if he is there because he’s really there and here with us,” added Cynthia, describing the parties they regularly held for the late mathematician and Filipino Image “1999 Most Outstanding Filipino” awardee as “love letters to our dad.”

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Eleno, described by Cynthia as “the heart and soul” of all the parties, received the award together with 19 others in Washington, D.C. “in recognition of his inspirational and dynamic leadership, and his unwavering support to activities enhancing a positive Filipino image in Canada, US, particularly in Guam and Virgin Islands.”

Luzviminda, or “Mommy Neneng” to Magcor clients and agents, treats and calls anyone who comes to join them in the parties and business as “adopted” because of Eleno, according to Cynthia.

Luzviminda, a native of Dapa, Siargao in Surigao del Norte, Philippines, and Eleno first arrived in the US and lived in Patterson in 1972.

The following year, the Monares siblings followed suit accompanied by their grandfather, the late Mariano Matugas, Luzviminda’s father.

The entire family moved to Edison in Central Jersey, or 38 miles away from Patterson in 1977.

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Lawyer-singer Twinkle Factoran of Bataan, Philippines, calls Eleno “my dad” saying “I am an adopted daughter.”

Claire Ruiz, a Filipino registered nurse, also considers herself as Eleno’s “adopted daughter” saying “she feels” his presence each time they have parties in the warehouse.

Engr. Alex Soquena, 52, of Sta. Barbara, Philippines, a Magcor agent since 2008, claims his “Tito Lino (Eleno)” always “guides me even when I am driving.”

Another Magcor agent, Vic Calimoso, 66, of Capiz, Philippines, admitted he never met Eleno but heard “so many great stories about him. He could have guided me (in my music hobbies) because he was truly an excellent balladeer.”

“We have to continue singing and dancing and holding the best parties because this is the only way for us to honor him,” Cynthia enthused. “We can feel dad’s spirit in every person touched by his heart. We must continue to invite others, share laughter and joy with them, and make them happy so that my dad would be smiling in heaven.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)