Your Christmas, Philippines

A piece I wrote on December 25, 2006 but was unable to post here due to this blog’s migration.

Yesterday E. Rodriguez Avenue was strewn with dismembered cats. Ortigas wasn’t better off either — the road was strewn with little kids waiting to be dismembered.

Cats squashed by speeding cars in a desperate dash towards the other side of the road — new garbage pickings might await, why not go for it? Beggar kids run over by wayward trucks in a desperate pitch for a few coins — those coins are the greener pasture, why not go for it?

Our streets are filled with dead cats and near-dead children. Near-dead, in many facets of the word.

On any other day they would’ve been an ordinary sight in the metropolis. They blend in so perfectly with all the debauchery in the surroundings, from the eyesore billboards to the disheartening headlines of peddled tabloids, from the speeding, swerving, law-intolerant buses to the million little pieces of trash mesmerizingly dancing with the cars’ exhaust, from tarpaulins graced with the ~~dishonorable faces~~ honorable feces of our politicians to the kotong cops with “Satan” sewn on their name patches. (Not to mention the smog that pitifully attempts to hide this grisly theater behind a black curtain that, by the way, also tries to smother the audience during the show.)

But to see dead cats and near-dead kids on Christmas day?

It is a not-so-gentle reminder to myself and to whoever is reading this that we are mightily fortunate, whatever our daily ‘troubles’ are.

I’m guessing you don’t want to hear clichÃ© pontifications such as “You’ve probably eaten a full meal at least once this day”, or “Just by understanding this text written in a foreign tongue, you’re already enjoying a luxury”. Me neither. But I hope you’d give me a bit of understanding when I (must) say this:

This is your Christmas, Philippines. I hope you’re not being too merry about it.

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But, sometimes, even these near-dead kids don’t even know they’re having the roughest of times.

Anyway. Some things on the news are even more pathetic, simply because they’re supposed to have had an education before they’ve made such stupid decisions and spoke such stupid words.

Nice new site!

My site desperately needs to be made over. Ia is the first I had contacted to find out if available to help me out, as well as freelance professional fees.

ia, true. at least, these children manifest what the human spirit can unbelievably do in the face of adversity — to smile and laugh.

thanks, sir eric! am biased, but if you and ia do get to agree on terms, i’m pretty sure she’ll do a heckuva job for your site :D

hi phillip, happy new year! thanks for the christmas greetings, and congrats on your new blog. i’ve updated my blogroll. mahirap na mawala ang link-up with corsarius! :) thanks for all the help, i’ll email you other questions i might have. take it easy for now. :)

gibbs, thanks. may you and your loved ones also have a great 2007!

btw, i emailed you again re: “blog-help”. i really hope to see your new domain alive and kickin soon ;)

congrats on the new home. i’ve also been planning on moving to wordpress..pero so far hanggang don pa lang..plan. :P

thanks for that. it’s pretty much of a jolt still, even if you know in your heart of hearts that it’s happening.

i love the new home, btw. and i love that i know how you look like. HA! ;)

thanks, light. do find the time to move to WP, sayang ang oras :P

illyria, is that an evil “HA!”? ;) so if ever i meet an elegant lady on the street smirking at me, one of my suspects will be you, heh. well, you’re [dangerously] close to giving away your face, too, on your site. HA! (though of course, your space is waay more private than this one ;))

Sad, but true… Just updated my links. :)

thanks, andy. looks like you’re really busy nowadays, still no new blog posts? :)

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