Isyu 26 Dec 1995

Until last year I always wondered, come December, what it would be like to simply snub Christmas like some people I know who heartily hate the season’s trappings – from the décor na kukutikutitap to the shopping and cooking till you drop (they’d rather drop acid or ecstasy anytime) – but I would always cop out just because the very idea freaked out the kids and their tatay. Besides, I had to admit it, Christmas isn’t all that bad, specially for the family. At least once a year, it gives us the chance to touch base with our larger families, and if only for the children’s sakes, why ever not. Of course I was always sustained by the thought that there’d come a time when the kids would be off on their own (I can hardly wait) and I’d be old enough to retire.

Pero last year, Katrina turned 18 and in lieu of a big party on her birthday (December 22), she settled for a small one. Not out of any great love for her poor parents, however. I mean, it wasn’t to save us the extra expense. It was so she could ask for an extra 3,000 bucks to spend on goodies for giving away to streetchildren on her big day.

She had it all thought out. Sixty bucks per child was not much, but (I had to agree) if she spent it wisely, it could buy enough basic food and maybe a toy and enough candies to sweeten the three days coming. Her tatay, however, was less than enthusiastic. Anak, sey niya, sindikato lang ang makikinabang. Except the sindikato story didn’t faze my unica hija, who was sure there were free-lance streetchildren out there and that she could find them with her good tatay’s help.

She was in charge all the way, from canvassing prices to budgeting to shopping (which included a trip to Divisoria) to bagging to distributing. Each bag contained food for eating at once – two sandwiches (one chicken, one ham; a hundred sandwiches all in all, prepared at the break of dawn para fresh from the bakery ang tinapay) and a tetrapak of fruit juice; also, food that would last – an assortment of cookies and candies to save and / or share; and, for play, either a rubber ball or a plastic badminton set. She cared little for appearances – nothing shiny or showy or glittery, rather the simplest and most sensible, meaning the cheapest paper and plastic bags. She cared more about filling each and every one with her own two hands, para sigurado raw siya na every child gets as much in volume and variety, walang kulang, walang sobra, as every one else.

It was a success, of course, and it felt very good all around. Kahit papaano kasi, bugbog din kaming mga kabahay niya, lalo na ang unica yaya naming si Dorie with whom I shared a deep sigh of relief (thank God she turns 18 only once) the next morning.

Well, a year later, believe it or not, we’re back at it. This time she’s preparing a hundred bags for 75 streetkids and 25 street-lolas and street-lolos; instead of a toy, each lola and lolo gets a pastel-colored face towel and a bath soap. To raise the money, she saved half her daily school allowance for a couple of months (no fancy lunches, no kitkats); the rest her tatay and kuya and I and her lola next-door volunteered in installments as money came in. Right now, a balikbayan uncle is offering to get crayons and pads for the kids, so now I’m wondering what to get the lolos and lolas, maybe candles and matches?

Mahaderang anak that she is, Ina has disabused me of my agenda for a Christmas-less existence. My generation was into making love-not-war and communal living, which meant sharing resources not only on Christmas but all year round. It was hard to sustain, of course, and most of us ended up scrooges or in cynical compromise with the establishment. Now it’s the next generation’s turn and I’m learning a different kind of giving, the selfless and anonymous kind. It’s a whole different trip, and I couldn’t have come up with it myself.

Gotta run. There’s chicken to boil and cheese to grate for the 200 sandwiches we’re making first thing tomorrow. Sana kasing ligaya’t hectic ang inyong Pasko.

Manila Standard 12 Jan 92

Psychics and seers, led by Rene Mariano and Jojo Acuin, are the biggest TV stars of the New Year. The two were everywhere: not just in sosyal talk shows like Inday Badiday’s Face to Face and Jullie Yap Daza’s Tell the People and Johnny Litton’s Oh no!… but even in conservative political fora like Louie Beltran’s Straight from the Shoulder, Rod Villa’s Talakayan, and Dong Puno’s Viewpoint.

In the beginning of 1991 all our seers rendered dire predictions of deaths and grave disasters for the nation. We only realized how grave when Mt. Pinatubo erupted, rendering millions of people uprooted and homeless.

Of course there is that failed prediction of Manila flooding and sinking. Manila did not flood and sink but Ormoc did. The mistake was in identifying the place to be Manila; and Ormoc did not quite sink the way we imagined Manila would, but it did sink in the sense of being briefly and suddenly flooded as to drown people and land.

A similar case involved Armida Siguion-Reyna of Aawitan Kita fame some years back. Tita Midz used to be very interested in the occult (twice she asked me, in my astrologer days, for birthchart readings), but one day a psychic (I’m not sure which tool – cards, birthchart, palms, vibrations – was used) predicted a possibly fatal attempt on her life. I can’t remember now what the details were but it was enugh to freak Armida out and make her quit on manghuhulas. Nothing happened to her, but sometime after that, Elvira Manahan was murdered.

The psychic’s mistake was in identifying the victim as Armida, which was an easy mistake to make: Armida and Elvira are women of the same mold, parehong alta sociedad, parehong mataray, may pagka-pareho rin ang itsura.

To paraphrase Rene Mariano: psychic vibrations / visions do not usually come in clear stark images, more through a kind of mist. One “sees” enough to sense the basic situation, but not exactly where and when it will happen or who exactly is / are involved.

Our seers are good at what they do. They’re arare breed of “sensitives” with a gift for tuning in to another dimension of reality and accessing a sort of image bank of past, present, and future.

Of all the seers who take to television every New Year, I’d say Rene Mariano is the best of the lot. This is why I listened very closely to his prediction that the next President will be male; he’ll have business ties / connections abroad; he’s not really a politician, “tipong ngayon lang, at hindi pa siya nag-iingay” (as of New Year).

Immediately Winnie Monsod concluded: Danding Cojuangco. I’m not sure. Around that time nag-iingay na si Danding; he was figuring in the nws a lot. Also, he’s not the only presidentiable with business ties abroad. Fidel Ramos would also fit the bill. And between Cojuangco and Ramos, I’ll take Ramos anytime.

Except Ramos, so far, has been disappointing. He quit government just when there was the Pinatubo disaster to deal with. He joined the LDP, only to lose out on the nomination. If he doesn’t get his act together soon, he might have to settle for Vice (which might not be a bad idea), like Joseph Estrada, who has reportedly agreed to run as Danding Cojuangco’s VP (what a twist, if true).

The good news is that Jovy Salonga and Nene Pimentel have joined forces. Between Ramos and Salonga, I’ll take Salonga anytime. I don’t see him as “too old,” rather, as experienced and wise. (We take our elders too much for granted.) I think he’ll be good for the nation, which at this point I can’t say for anyone else.

Diyaryo Filipino Oct1989

Aliwan page din lang ito, pag-usapan natin ang iba pang aliwan ng Pinoy bukod sa pultika’t showbiz. Itong sugal, halimbawa, na pilit na ipinagbabawal ng batas. Sabi raw ni Senador Jovito Salonga, matapos i-aprub ng senado ang isang bill na naglalayong bumuwag sa lahat ng casino by 1992 (Globe Oct 14), “. . . Our nation can never achieve greatness unless we encourage our citizens to embrace the ethics of hard work, honest toil, self discipline and sacrifice – not the temptation of instant wealth . . .”

Hmmm. Ewan ko rin. Ako kasi ay nagsusugal paminsanminsan. Tatay ko ang nagturo sa aming magkakapatid ng larong mahjong, 13 yata ako noon. Sa asawa ko’t mga bayaw naman ako natutuong maglaro ng blackjack, pusoy, pekwa, poker, betobeto, high-and-low, at roulette, at sa Tiaong (Quezon) ako natutong tumaya sa jueteng. Dati madalas at malakas kaming magsugal magkakaanak (miron na lang si erpat), kung hindi mahjong, blackjack, naeeskandalo na nga si ermat dahil hindi naman kami pareparehong madadatung, no? Tapos ang dami na ring mga kai-kaibigang dumadayo, nabalitaang masaya’t malakas ang labanan, e di siyempre naiba na rin hung timpla, hindi na friendly, talutalo na. Di nagtagal, natauhan kaming mga misis at itinigil muna namin ang get-togethers. Ngayon, madalang at mahina na kaming magsugal, maliban kung nasa Baguio kami, hindi maiwasan yung casino, kahit sandali, trip lang, manalo o matalo.

Sa palagay ko, itong hilig at abilidad ng tao sa sugal ay depende sa karma ng bawat isa – merong mahilig, merong hindi. Tulad din ito ng hilig at abilidad sa sex, o sa musika, o sa sports, hindi basta-basta mapipigil, may sarili kasing puwersa, at nasa bawat isa kung hanggang saan pagbibigyan angudyok. At nasa sa karma rin yung malas o suwerte sa sugal. Meron talagang ipinanganganak na suwerte, mayroon namang malas, pagdating sa risk-taking, at mayroon ding pabawi lang parati. Siyempre, ang dumadayo madalas sa pasugalan ay yung suwerte’t pabawi, pero meron ding mas malas kaysa suwerte, at sila ang pinoproblema ng iglesiya’t simbahan, at ng mga moralista kuno.

Problema raw itong mga sugarol na nasisira ang ulo at buhay at pamilya dahil sa sugal, nawawalan kasi ng kontrol, pati pang pagkain ng pamilya’t pangmatrikula ng anak ay napapakialaman, umaasa kasing makakabawi,makakajackpot, makapag-uuwi ng lmpak-limpak na salapi, na bihirang mangyari, kaya merong nagpapakamatay, meron ding nagbebenta ng droga’t babae, makaipon lang nga pampuhunan. Sey ko naman, iilan ang nagkakaganyan, at karaniwan ay kabilang sila sa malalakas tumaya.

Higit na maraming Pinoy na sugarol ang marunong namang magdala, marunong umayaw, marunong matalo, okey lang, dahil hindi lang naman yung “instant wealth” ang habol nila kundi yun ding sarap at excitement ng mismong paglalaro. Libangan, ika nga, pagkatapos ng trabaho. Ewan ko kung bakit sila ang iniiiwas ng pamahalaan sa mumurahing dibersyon at pinagdadamutan ng kahit karampot na pag-asa.

Pustahan tayo, hindi uubra yang mga batas na yan. If anything, titindi lang lalo ang problemasa illegal gambling. Kung bakit kasi hindi pa gawing legal ang sugal. E di sana mareregulate at mamomonitor na ang mga pasugalan na tinatangkilik ng publiko. E di sana matitigil na ang pagdadatung ng gambling lords kung kanikanino, gobyerno na mismo ang dadatungan by paying taxes. E di may pag-asang mabawasbawasan ang ating kauutang at kapapalimos ng foreign aid. O di ba?

Parade / Notes of a TV Junkie / 15 Dec 1982

Christmas is here. There’s no denying the cool evenings and chilly dawns. There’s no missing the storewindows decked out in buntings of red & green & gold, beckoning, inviting, warm and welcoming and enticing, reminding us all, lest we forget, that the holiday season looms straight ahead and it’s time to make Christmas lists, to shop, to be generous, to give in a spirit of love and goodwill.

So, too, with television. Can-afford sponsors have momentarily replaced their regular ads with specially-made Christmas commercials, the better for us to see (in living color yet) and hear about the wondrous joys that are ours for the taking (in exchange for money, of course). The message is clear. Indulge, indulge, this the season to be merry.

I like to think that I’m impervious to it all, that I can watch and not be swept up by the merciless onslaught on the human, the acquisitive, the greedy in me. But it’s a difficult battle. My own children are not in my camp. The commercials that offend me because they tease my children with a cornucopia of material goodies that they don’t really need are the very same commercials that they make abang for, the ones they watch with eyes popping, hearts pumping with excitement, hands craving to touch, to hold, to play. No more shifting to other channels during commercials. At least not where I watch TV, where child power equals, sometimes supersedes, parent power.

Thanks to television commercials, it’s getting harder and harder for parents of normal, growing, impressionable children to explain about values and priorities. Parents are pulled this way and that. What to do? Indulge them, given them their Lego sets and Barbie dolls and Twin Stars and Mighty Kids lest they grow up anxious and envious and frustrated? Or do we give them more credit than that, appeal to their minds, help them understand the difference between essentials and junk, point out the alternative joys that can be derived from other less shiny, less obvious objects?

A balance is difficult to reach, much more to maintain. We end up buying them a sample of everything that our middle-class means can manage and yet I always feel that it’s still too much, they cost too much, we waste hard-earned money on plastic toys that crack, break, splinter, hurt, on not-for-cuddling dolls that cost a small fortune to clothe, house, make happy. Where’s my sense of values? Going, going, gone.

Were I a witch with a magic wand, I’d wave the trusty thing and in a flash commercials would disintegrate and forever be gone. But I don’t have a magic wand so it’s back to the salt mines or I might not survive Christmas. Television’s got me by my tail.