Joaquin Cojuangco

**Joaquin A. Cojuangco** is the central character in Gigi Chan's web-comic Somewhere in My Past. He is the love interest of Gian Celis.

## Appearance

Standing tall, Joaquin is described to be extremely handsome by majority. He has a side curtain haircut and a strand of hair at his left. His eyebrows are slightly thicker and has light skin.

He is mostly seen wearing his school polo inserted in his faded jeans. His collar is wide open, revealing his undershirt and chest. He also wears a pair of white rubber shoes. Outside school, he is commonly seen wearing buttoned striped shirts. He is also seen wearing ring shirts when at home.

Later in the comic, Joaquin developed muscles after watching his mother's Betamax copies of Jane Fonda Aerobics.

## Personality

Joaquin is kind, friendly, and charismatic to everyone. He is also sweet, especially to Gian and to his mother. He is intelligent, particularly in Science subjects. He is also protective of his friend Gian and his mother. Joaquin also has rebellious side, as seen in Chapter 8. As confirmed by Gigi Chan in the Author's Note, Joaquin is bisexual.

## Biography

### Background

Joaquin is born on May 6, 1973 to Dra. Cecilia Cojuangco and Mr. Cojuangco. According to him, he once lived in the city proper of Davao. When his parents separated, he and his mother moved to the rural areas. As a result of his parents' annulment, Joaquin was forced to transfer to Sta. Lucia National High School in his second year. There, he befriends Gian Celis and became close with each other.

### Somewhere in My Past

In 1987, Joaquin Cojuangco was introduced as a transferee in Gian's school. During his first day, he befriends Gian Celis in which eventually they became friends. On the way home, he meets Gian on the street and finds out they both lived in the same neighborhood. From then on, the two started going to school or home together. One day, Joaquin pairs up with Gian for an investigatory project in Biology. During dismissal, he brings Gian to his house and shows his talent in gardening. He gives Gian a cutting of a Monstera Deliciosa plant and tells him to take note of the root growth through water propagation for their Biology project.

One morning, Gian tells Joaquin that he didn't feel going to the class. As a result, the two skipped classes and went to downtown of Davao City. He later brings Gian to his secret spot where they can see the majestic view of Mt. Apo. The next day, the two are punished to become cleaners for the whole week. After cleaning their classroom, Joaquin learns more about Gian, especially his sexuality. At the end of that year, Joaquin gives Gian a Debbie Gibson cassette tape album as his gift.

Joaquin is set to transfer to a new school by his Junior year. He tells Gian he might not be able to see the much awaited total solar eclipse because he had an entrance exam. On the day of the eclipse, he surprised Gian at his house. He brings him to the PTA Grounds where they are able to witness the phenomenon. When Gian semi-confessed his feelings and his doubts to him, Joaquin reveals to Gian that he tells his mother he won't transfer and he'll remain in his current school.

During their Junior year in high school, Joaquin meets Kyle Ejercito who is going to be his rival. After having an afternoon snack, Joaquin and Gian was suddenly barred by a stranger on their way home. He fights with the stranger but is defeated. Luckily, the two were saved by Aling Nida.

One afternoon, Joaquin and Gian was tailed by a female Japanese spitz mongrel dog. Joaquin adopts the dog and named her Happy. He and Gian agreed to switch places in taking care of the dog each week.

One day, Joaquin invites Gian, Rhey, Kyle, Alliah, and Verhonica on his house to tutor them on Chemistry. After the tutor, the group played Agawan Base in their street. However, the game ended abruptly when Kyle tripped his foot, resulting a domino effect on Gian and Joaquin. Gian sprained his ankle from the minor accident, resulting his absence in his class. The next day, Joaquin visited Gian in his house and takes care of him.

In their semestral break, Joaquin joined with Rhey's ghost hunting along with Gian and Kyle at the abandoned house on Champaca Street.

When his classmate Alliah went missing, he also becomes worried for Gian. Later on, Alliah was found at Bago Aplaya hence Joaquin drives to the said location with Gian and Verhonica. After Joaquin takes Alliah and Verhonica home, he breaks down in front of Gian and admits he wants a hands-on father rather than his actual father, revealing he was abused in his childhood.

During Valentines Day in 1989, Gian invites Joaquin for a friendly date. In their date, the two watched a double feature at Galaxy Theater and ate a Durian at a fruit stand. As they go home, rain poured down on them resulting the two playing with it. When Joaquin is home, he tells Happy that he had feelings for Gian since the eclipse phenomenon.

In their Senior Year, Joaquin is slowly pursuing Gian but his plans were interrupted by his admirer Serena and also his rival, Kyle. During a quiz bee event in his school, Joaquin was paired with Serena. The pair won while Gian and Kyle lost in History division. Serena invites Joaquin for a victory date. In Magsaysay Park, the pair coincidentally meet Gian and Kyle. He and Kyle decided to duel for a prize. Kyle eventually won the prize and he gave it to Gian. Later on, Joaquin frankly tells Serena that he is not ready for a relationship. Going home, Gian hitched with Joaquin.

Joaquin joins with the group again on Kyle's road trip at Kapatagan. During a truth-or-dare game, Joaquin was asked if he likes someone within the group. Afraid to reveal his feelings for Gian to everyone, he lied which disappoints Gian, resulting him walking out. He follows Gian beyond the forest. When he finds Gian, he apologized for what he said. He tells Gian he liked him through a hug. After the two embraced each other, Kyle finds them and they went back to their camp.

On the night after their Senior Prom, Gian and Joaquin are heading home and the two danced together while listening to *Lost in Your Eyes*. Later on, Joaquin tells Gian that he is afraid to leave him because he is set to take a pre-med course for college in Cebu. Gian also tells him that he'll be leaving for college because he is set to study Fine Arts in UST. A day after their graduation, Joaquin wanted to see Gian and the two went to their spot. There, Joaquin confessed to Gian how much he likes him and the two shared a kiss for the first time.

In the summer of 1991, Gian and Joaquin had a road trip to Kapatagan again but it's only them this time. The two had a nice closer look on Mt. Apo and the two shared a kiss again. Later that night at a hotel, Gian and Joaquin made love. After making love, Gian was worried whether he gets AIDS from what they did. Joaquin assures Gian that he won't get one as AIDS is transmitted if a partner has the virus too.

In May 11, 1992, Joaquin, who became a Red Cross volunteer, was in Sta. Cruz for his duty. After the duty, he calls Gian and tells him he is about to go home. He also informs Gian about the cassette tape he sent for him that contains his recorded message and some songs. At dawn of May 12, Joaquin rode a bus on the way home. While going home, Joaquin takes a look of his photo of him and Gian on his wallet. Although it was not explicitly shown in the comic, the bus went into an accident, resulting his death. Days after, Joaquin was cremated and his remains were spread by Gian on their spot.

## Relationships

### Gian Celis

When he sat at the vacant seat beside Gian, he befriends him. Eventually, he became close to Gian when he finds out they lived in the same neighborhood. When Joaquin finds out Gian was a victim of bullying in his school, he is very concerned and protective to him as seen in Chapter 17. At the end of Chapter 27, it is revealed that Joaquin developed feelings for Gian since the 1988 total solar eclipse phenomenon. However, it is also confirmed in Chapter 36 and Chapter 39 through a flashback that before the eclipse, Joaquin already had a slight crush on Gian by writing their names on the Jail Booth and kissing Gian's forehead while he's asleep during their first sleepover. He also tells Gian that he used to like girls but he became more attracted to him, hinting that he's bisexual.

### Kyle Ejercito

Joaquin had a bad impression for Kyle and almost got a fight with him twice. The first attempt was when Kyle never returned Gian's sketchbook. Second is when he tries to grab Gian from him in their recreational game. When Gian informed him that Kyle was a nice person, he eventually withdraw his bad impression of him. Although not really close, he and Kyle were friends despite rivals for Gian's affection. Sometimes, Joaquin feels jealous for Kyle whenever Gian had an interaction with him.

### Rhey Marasigan

Rhey had been Joaquin's class president for two years. Joaquin barely talks to him.

### Alliah Montevano

Joaquin had an interaction with Alliah since he is Gian's friend.

### Verhonica Cobero

Joaquin is also interacting with Verhonica since he is Gian's friend.

## Trivia

* According to Gigi Chan, Joaquin was inspired by his past crushes.
	+ Chan also modeled Joaquin after Hsu Tai Yu of *Our Times*, Hua Biao of *When We Were Young*, and Romnick Sarmenta.
	+ Chan once admitted he was bullied during his high school years and there is no person like Joaquin who can protect him hence he created the character.
* He likes to listen to New Wave. His favorite song is *Everybody Wants to Rule the World* by Tears for Fears.
* He has the talent in growing plants hence he has a lot of house plants.
* He is fluent in English, Tagalog, and Cebuano.
* His favorite subject is Science.
* His hobbies are making mixtapes and gardening.
* He likes to read National Geographic magazines.
* His written signature evolves as he grows.
* Star Wars, Weird Science, and E.T. are his favorite movies.
* Joaquin is originally written to be a tsundere or a bully but Gigi Chan scrapped this idea. He wanted Joaquin to be more friendly and kind.
* Some fans of the comic often nicknamed Joaquin as *Pandesal*, referring to his six-packed abs.
* Gigi Chan released the fictional audiotape of Joaquin as a supplemental material for the Epilogue. The tape was dubbed in Cebuano with English subtitles.
	+ The audiotape was in Cebuano since Joaquin is in fact a bisaya.
* Gigi Chan mentioned that Joaquin is the personification of the past or youthful life hence he died and becomes a memory.
* When Gigi Chan was asked whose actor he wanted to play Joaquin, he suggested *Ian Pangilinan* or *Donny Pangilinan*.