lamentations

(This column appears in today's edition of the Leyte-Samar Daily Express)

Hi there! It’s another weekend, ngan patrun yana sa Oquendo. Today is the big day of the Santo Niño de Hibatang Festival which opened 11 days ago. The festival was held to highlight the 125th year of the commemoration of the Holy Infant Jesus as the patron saint of Oquendo; and along that line, to underscore the importance that Hibatang river played in the ancient settlement which we now call Calbayog City. Sa mga igkasi ko Oquendohanon, maupay nga patrun sa iyo ngatanan!

* * *

A cabinet secretary was in an early morning TV show and there he said that 3 out of every 10 government employee are sick, specifically may sakit sa pag-iisip. Hmmm, what’s the best reaction to that? (Should I call it lamentation #1?)

Lamentation # 2. Two people died as 2 million joined the Nazareno procession. It’s not that I’m against such show of faith. But it seems like it already borders on fanaticism. Do you really have to physically torture yourself to deserve the blessings of the Lord? On the other hand, can’t blame them, we all have our own way of reaching out to the almighty.

Talking about the Nazareno. Heard from a sermon during a local celebration of the feast. My source told me that the priest was trying to center on concern for the poor. And how did he do it? Among his examples were Noynoy and Villar. That Villar will be a better president than Noynoy because he (Villar) is (or used to be) poor. Then he narrowed the scope and touched on provincial politics. Si gobernor bisan nanu kuno pakaraut ada la guihapon kay makitawo damo an proyekto pareho san panhatag bugas, an iba ada la san pangawat. My source was waiting for the priest to touch the homebase (read: local politics), sadly he did not. So what about this sermon? Wala lang, I just didn’t see the connection between the Nazareno and Noynoy becoming a bad President because he is rich and the other Samar officials becoming mga kawatan because they did not give rice. Yun lang. Seriously, it’s a weekend, let’s take time to smile. Magulo ba? (That’s another lamentation)

* * *

Lamentations of an OFW. If you have been following the news; and if you have relatives working in Dubai, you must have taken notice of the news about the near economic flimflam of the said emirate. It’s that news which led me a blog post (I forgot the name of the blog site) of an OFW expressing sadness over his plight in that area of the U.A.E. I first didn’t know if I had to take it seriously, smile at it or take it with a grain of salt. I decided that I would like to share it with you. I call the article ‘lamentations of an OFW”. I guess the same thing can be said about our OFWs who are working in other parts of the world, especially those who were not able to make it land in lucrative jobs like others we know. Here’s the first part of that article:

“Akala ng mga tao na nasa Pilipinas kapag nasa DUBAI ka akala nila madami ka ng pera ng langis. Ang totoo, madami kang utang, dahil credit card lahat ang gamit mo sa pagbili mo ng mga gamit mo. Kailangan mo gumamit ng credit card Kasi naubus na ang cash pinadala sa pinas, kase pag hindi ka nagpadala, iisipin nila nakalimutan mo na sila. Akala nila mayaman ka at marami kang pera kasi buwan-buwan libo-libo padala mo walang palya at kapag pumalya iisipin nila baka nagbisyo ka na o may sinusustentuhang iba. Hindi nila alam food allowance na lang ang natitira sayo at pag kinulang pa umuutang pa at lista muna sa malapit na bakala. Pag may okasyon sa pinas birthday, fiesta, anniversary, pasko, new year, at iba pa, padala ka agad panghanda sarap ng kainan nila, di nila alam ikaw tiyaga sa budget meal, kapsa, noodles o de lata at itlog na nakakabutlig na ng balat, hay naku! Akala ni Tatay, Nanay, Ate, Kuya, anak, mga pamangkin at iba pa namumulot ka ng pera sa Dubai kada may problema text kaagad, kumusta sa una sa bandang huli kelangan ng ng pera! Hay naku…nakaka-alergic na ang text sa roaming puro gastos…minsan padala ka pa ng load! Load mo nga utang pa Pala! Hay naku bakit ba nauso pa yan dagdag gastos lang talaga at pag di ka pa reply aawayin ka pa! Akala nila masarap maging OFW at tinatawag na bagong bayani…. naku mas masarap pa yong nasa pinas na sa katas ni bagong bayani ay syang umaani! Utang sa DUBAI lalong dumarami. Akala nila masarap sa DUBAI di nila alam di ka na nga makauwi kasi roundtrip tiket kina-cash pa mapadala lang at ibayad sa utang. Akala nila sosyal ka na kulay ng buhok mo uso pa at naka-highlight pa, di nila alam buhok mo namumuti na sa stress at problema at pag minalas pa nalalagas pa! Akala nila masarap sa DUBAI kasi pag-uwi mo mestiso ka, maputi at mamula-mula ang balat mo, di nila alam babad ka sa opisina at kulong sa bahay mo dahil no choice ka, mga kapit-bahay mo di mo kaano-ano, walang paki-alaman at kung lalabas ka sunog ang balat mo, init ng araw sobra! Akala nila mayaman ka na kase may kotse ka na. Di nila alam hulugan pa ito! Ang totoo, kapag hindi ka bumili ng kotse sa dubai maglalakad ka ng milya-milya sa ilalim ng init ng araw o kaya sa winter na kasama ang asawa mo dito sa dubai.. O kaya naman tiyaga kang mag -abang ng RTA Bus or Coaster na ubod ng babaho ng mga pasahero at pagbaba mo amoy putok ka na rin, grabe! Walang jeepney, tricycle o padyak sa dubai .. madami mga indiano, Bangladesh na driver na ubod ng baho. Pag minalas ka paskitani na taxi driver na rapist pa!” (to be continued…)

* * *

Wedding Bells. Joper Conarco (who is connected with the Social Action Center of the Calbayog diocese) and Terry Salino (who is with WESADEF) will get married tomorrow. Their wedding mass will be held at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Reception will be at the Centennial Pastoral Center.

* * *

This is it for now. Have a nice weekend everyone! Ciao!