Paskong Walang Katapusan

Ilang linggo na lang ay Mahal na Araw na pero para sa restaurant na ito ng isang hotel sa White Beach sa Puerto Galera, pasko pa rin. May balak kaya ang may ari ng restaurant na ito na alisin ang dekorasyon na ito? O permanenteng gayak na ito dito?

Noong huling punta ko sa Puerto Galera maraming taon na ang nakakalipas, hindi pa gaano karami ang mga tao na nagpupunta dito at wala pang malalaking gusali na nakatayo dito. Noon, sapat na ang payak na kapaligiran upang mapahanga ka sa ganda ng lugar. Hindi na kailangan ng palamuti. Ngayon, kahti anong dekorasyon ang ilagay mo sa kapaligiran, hindi nito maikukubli na wala na ang likas na ganda na nagpatanyag sa lugar na ito.

Para sa akin, hindi nakakasaya ang dekorasyong pamasko na nakita ko. Nakakalungkot pa nga.

A refuge in Antipolo

One weekday I found myself in Antipolo with plenty of time and nothing to do. Thinking of where to better spend my time, I decided to go to the Silangan Garden and Pinto Art Museum tucked somewhere in one of the hillside subdivisions in that city.




The place is indeed a pocket of tranquility in a city that is rapidly and wantonly urbanizing. Those looking for some peace and quiet can find refuge here. When I was there, I was fortunate to have a chance to talk with the caretaker/curator(?) in charge of the place and he kindly pointed out to me the value and significance of some of the plants found in the garden.

There is also an art gallery in the grounds of the garden. For me however, the beauty of nature found in the garden is enough reason for my visit.

Wasting a precious resource

The town of Lucban, Quezon is known for its Pahiyas Festival, longganisa and its pilgrimage Healing Church named Kamay ni Hesus.

However, what I find most interesting there is its water resource which simply drains through the canal. I feel very sad that this water is not being tapped and utilized in a more productive way.

Running water is a specially precious resource that does not only nourish plants and quenches thirst. Running water is a potential source of energy that can help generate wealth for those who know how to tap its power.

I am not just talking about hydro-electric power which would require a bigger amount of water and capital. What I am thinking of are simple water mills that can provide mechanical energy for small scale use. For instance water energy can run mills that can grind rice, corn, rootcrops and turn them into flour. It can pound tough fibers to make special paper. Instead of just letting the water drain through the canals, water engineers can perhaps make gravity fountains to make the town more beautiful and interesting etc.

In Europe, watermills played a great role in fostering the Industrial Revolution by boosting productivity and allowing societies to create surplus.

In the Philippines, we still have to learn how to utilize our resources more efficiently instead of just letting it go down the drain... err canal.

Concertina Wire Country

In our minds, we Filipinos like to believe that we are a friendly and hospitable people capable of great things and achievements.

But what does it tell about us when just by looking around, we see that barbed wires are a common sight used to protect property and even just the plants along the sidewalks?

What kind of people are we or what kind of society do we have that we have accepted the unfriendly and hostile sight of barbed wires as a normal part of our environment?

Barbed wires in the city give an impression that we are a people living under occupation. But then if we think about the great and still growing disparity of wealth between the mass of people who are poor in our country and the few rich who own virtually the entire country if not its best parts, we could well be living in a virtual occupation regime of elites who impose a system of unjust social order on us.

At any rate, barbed wires remind us of a negligent government incapable of creating a kind and gentle city or maybe a people who have come to accept social inequity as a way of life... until maybe their seething resentment reaches a critical mass. And then they explode.