I love storms.
They make people realize (even for just a few days or hours) how puny we are compared to nature.
***
9:00 AM
Yesterday, because Basyang hit the metro so fiercely and so swiftly, the weather began to normalize—but not the rehabilitation of things she destroyed. Wanting to do something productive amidst brown-out, I went to PNU to get some papers to check. My plan was clear: 1. go to PNU; 2. get papers; 3. proceed to a coffee shop 4. buy their cheapest product; 5. check papers; and 6. re-charge phone. But not all plans turn into practice. It appears many people had the same idea, and when I went to SM Manila, it’s packed with people trying to escape reality.
I didn’t give up. SM’s kind of small, so I went to Robinson’s Manila, only to find out that the situation’s the same.
_____________________
REALIZATION #1: Technology has enslaved us; we have become too dependent on them.
_____________________
I had a moment of reminiscing. I suddenly missed home. When we were kids, we usually spend the day chatting, playing the guitar, and singing songs (not that we want the storm to return). At night, our family would usually play scrabble in candle lights (from which Papa would cheat, hiding the difficult tiles.
2:00 PM
Realizing the futility of my plans, I decided to just go to the hardware to buy a rechargeable lamp with AM-FM Radio. The scene shocked me. It looks like those Apocalyptic films that show paranoid people panic-buying.
_____________________
REALIZATION #2: People in the metro lack survival skills during brown-outs.
_____________________
I am guilty of this, I have succumbed to this pathetic nature of urban-dwellers. Back home, we usually just create makeshift lamps from old socks (or clothes) and gin bottles. Yeah, it emits black smoke, but we didn’t mind because we only use that as a substitute for candles, and we only use them for a short period of time—we sleep early.
6:00 PM
As darkness lurked metro, I noticed people scouring around, looking for an “activity” to do for the long dark night; some bought cases of beer, some looked for computer shops with generators, while some flooded coffee shops and fastfood chains.
_____________________
REALIZATION #3: We have turned the day into night and the night into day.
_____________________
I will never forget that line from Kurosawa’s “Dreams”. When a city guy went to a remote rural village, he asked an old man why there’s no light in village at night, from which the old man gently answered, “Why? Isn’t it supposed to be dark at night?” Indeed, modern technology has brainwashed us. It made us think that we can alter nature, that we can turn day into night and vice versa. But in reality, we can’t; we never can.
***
God created storms, and God loves His creations. Ergo, He loves storms.
They help Him make us realize (even just for a few days or hours) how powerless we are.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
After the Party
(NOTE: This blog was written a day after the inauguration.)
As the loud music turns into mute, as dancing and cheering turns into a halt, and as the partying turns into stillness, the real Day 1 of Pres. Aquino begins.
Yesterday, while everyone was ecstatically celebrating the triumph of Pres. Aquino, Kay and I quietly escaped to Mall of Asia and chose to unwind with vampires and werewolves—anyway, vampires and politicos are the same: they suck blood. We don’t intend to be passive or “anti-nationalist” (because in the first place, love for country is never measured by mere attendance to political events such as the inauguration). We just didn’t see the need to make so much “fuss” about it.
True. Yesterday was a celebration of democracy, of “the triumph of good over evil”, of the dawning of “change”. But how many “changes” have we witnessed? How many changes do we still need to finally realize that change will never take place if WE remain stagnant? If WE remain too dependent to politicians? To finally see that these people are mere instruments and we are the ingredients? [We can only change presidents every six years—or every time we wage people power revolutions—but we can change anytime we want; we just don’t]
After the movie, while doing our usual afternoon exercise, i.e. people watching, Kay blurted out a question:
“Anu’ng masasabi mo sa pagiging extra-agitated ng mga Pinoy ngayon? Kasi parang napaka-active ng lahat sa mga activities related sa gubyerno ngayon eh…”
I paused for a while and answered:
“Well, kahit sabihin nating “fanaticism” ang dating ng inauguration na ‘to, I would honestly concede to the fact that this day is a very important day.”
By “important” I mean the inauguration rejuvenated the Filipinos. It brought hope to the hopeless hearts; it brought light to the seemingly blind path.
However, the problem with most Filipinos is our post-colonial thinking of being “dependent” to someone. We have achieved “independence” over a century ago, but we haven’t learned how to become independent. We wait for someone to bring “hope” to us; we don’t seek it. We wait for someone to bring light to our dark lives, we don’t look for it.
It may be too early to criticize Noynoy and make conclusions about his ability to lead the country, but we should never be relaxed nor too confident because change is a long winding road. I am not Anti-Noynoy, but I am not a “fan” as well. He did not prove so much in both chambers, so I don’t see any reason why I should expect something “great” from him. If not for his hero-parents, I don’t think he would have a place in Malacañang. Everyone knows that his presidency is out of the picture until former Pres. Cory Aquino died in August last year. There is no question about Ninoy’s and Cory’s contributions to the country. But Noynoy is never Ninoy nor Cory.
After Filipino fanatics revered him as a demi-god gift from heaven, after the curse of presidency brought about by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo haunted him and his administration, and after the real problems of society stalk them in their sleep, the real Days of President Aquino begin.
As the loud music turns into mute, as dancing and cheering turns into a halt, and as the partying turns into stillness, the real Day 1 of Pres. Aquino begins.
Yesterday, while everyone was ecstatically celebrating the triumph of Pres. Aquino, Kay and I quietly escaped to Mall of Asia and chose to unwind with vampires and werewolves—anyway, vampires and politicos are the same: they suck blood. We don’t intend to be passive or “anti-nationalist” (because in the first place, love for country is never measured by mere attendance to political events such as the inauguration). We just didn’t see the need to make so much “fuss” about it.
True. Yesterday was a celebration of democracy, of “the triumph of good over evil”, of the dawning of “change”. But how many “changes” have we witnessed? How many changes do we still need to finally realize that change will never take place if WE remain stagnant? If WE remain too dependent to politicians? To finally see that these people are mere instruments and we are the ingredients? [We can only change presidents every six years—or every time we wage people power revolutions—but we can change anytime we want; we just don’t]
After the movie, while doing our usual afternoon exercise, i.e. people watching, Kay blurted out a question:
“Anu’ng masasabi mo sa pagiging extra-agitated ng mga Pinoy ngayon? Kasi parang napaka-active ng lahat sa mga activities related sa gubyerno ngayon eh…”
I paused for a while and answered:
“Well, kahit sabihin nating “fanaticism” ang dating ng inauguration na ‘to, I would honestly concede to the fact that this day is a very important day.”
By “important” I mean the inauguration rejuvenated the Filipinos. It brought hope to the hopeless hearts; it brought light to the seemingly blind path.
However, the problem with most Filipinos is our post-colonial thinking of being “dependent” to someone. We have achieved “independence” over a century ago, but we haven’t learned how to become independent. We wait for someone to bring “hope” to us; we don’t seek it. We wait for someone to bring light to our dark lives, we don’t look for it.
It may be too early to criticize Noynoy and make conclusions about his ability to lead the country, but we should never be relaxed nor too confident because change is a long winding road. I am not Anti-Noynoy, but I am not a “fan” as well. He did not prove so much in both chambers, so I don’t see any reason why I should expect something “great” from him. If not for his hero-parents, I don’t think he would have a place in Malacañang. Everyone knows that his presidency is out of the picture until former Pres. Cory Aquino died in August last year. There is no question about Ninoy’s and Cory’s contributions to the country. But Noynoy is never Ninoy nor Cory.
After Filipino fanatics revered him as a demi-god gift from heaven, after the curse of presidency brought about by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo haunted him and his administration, and after the real problems of society stalk them in their sleep, the real Days of President Aquino begin.
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