Page 103 - A Life Well-Lived Is a Beautiful Memory

suffering. I think he wanted to appear strong so as not to burden his family and friends. In the
last weeks of his life, mutual friends from ANU kept me updated on his condition as a delegation

from Thammasat was visiting ANU at the time. His colleague and my friend, Tik, informed me
of his passing on the day he passed. I am pretty sure that Bhanu held out for as long as he could
because he did not want to leave Divina behind.
While it was not unexpected, his passing was still a big shock. Imagine seeing someone at

least twice a year for almost two decades and then suddenly having to come to grips with the fact
that one will never see that person again in this life. As I slowly tried to wrap my head around
this new reality, I realized that AEP meetings will never be the same again without dear Bhanu
around. These days, I cannot help but remember him, especially when I see Eng Bee Tin hopia,

which sadly, I have no one to gift with in AEP anymore. (I usually gift others with chocolate-
covered mangoes because they come from countries where mangoes are not grown.)
This upcoming March 2024 meeting in Seoul at the same hotel as the October 2002 one
will be quite nostalgic for me because it was where I saw Bhanu for the last time. I am happy

that he got the chance to meet my eldest son during that October 2022 meeting as my son was a
discussant at the meeting. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have known Bhanu and enjoy
many years of friendship with him. These memories will remain with me.

Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista or Corina, is Professor Emeritus at the University of the
Philippines School of Economics, where she held the BSP Sterling Chair Professorship in
Monetary Economics. She began her academic career as an Assistant Professor of Economics at
the University of Hawaii at Manoa before returning to her country in 1987. In the years since,
she has been a Visiting Research Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a Senior
Research Fellow at the Bank for International Settlements Asia and Pacific Office in HK, and a
Senior Economic Advisor at the Asian Development Bank. She holds a BA Economics degree
from Mount Holyoke College and a Ph.D. Economics degree from Columbia University.

Bhanupong Nidhiprabha 103