Bigwas ng anak, bagwis ng ama

Bigwas ng anak sa doodles11006@yahoo.com:

I WAS one of the lucky few, I guess, that never needed to go to the infamous Counter 45A of the DFA as I was assisted by your news hen friend who covers the department. The long line really did bother me, but nonetheless it was fast considering that it was my first time to get a passport. All you need are the documents pertinent to your application and that’s it. Fortunately I never got into any red tape. I would commend the DFA for not putting me thru that otherwise I would have laid the smack down on an official right there and then. “Our taxes are paying you guys to work for us."

I care to differ on the reasons why millions of Filipinos go overseas, it’s never to support the country heck... every expat here are here not ever for that reason; but it’s so bayani of them to be here. I’m not here for the country. I want a house and realize my dreams. It’s bullcrap to say that it’s for our country. Every expat here went for their families, for their dreams to materialize as there is no possible way of realizing those in the Philippines.

Unless if you have a position under the Executive and Legislative body in government or if you hit the lotto or if you’re with Customs... I saw a house of a Customs employee over at Loyola Grand Villas, would you believe that an ordinary Customs employee’s salary can build a P10-million house, five SUVs not included?

Patriotism is a sensitive matter and it’s not something any Filipino would brazenly be so proud of. Unless Pacman is involved.

It’s just sad that only a handful are still patriotic for a country riddled with garapalang corruption. Last time I had breakfast with Ninong Jerry, Waya--or was it Liwa?-- mentioned that your generation are the only ones who are still patriotic about this country. We of the current generation don’t give a shit because all that the government has offered for our generation since we were born and graduated are loads of shit.

Bagwis ng ama sa noqualmasabomb@yahoo.com:

BY some quaint reckoning of space-time (exact latitude and longitude plus prevailing time upon such patch of earth), it turned out that I was born into the caste of Brahmin, priest-kings of sorts at the topmost of a sociopolitical hierarchy devised by Aryans who settled the India’s Indus Valley ages back. The Brahmin are a notch higher than Ksathriya or warrior class. That may explain why I easily stumble into esoteric and eldritch secrets… something that destiny drives me to.

Destiny is called in the vernacular as tadhana. Na tahasang nagmula sa katagang Sanskrit, sadhana. Matinding disiplina ‘to, malupit kaysa sanlibong sit-ups araw-araw upang mapagpag ang bilbil at maging matatag ang sikmura. Matinding bidbid o bigkis sa daloy ng diwa’t isipan at tibok ng damdamin ang sadhana—na pinagmulan din ng katagang sidhi or intensity. But siddhi is an individual, one who attains intense powers of the mind thru the praxis of sadhana. In the 1980s film-maker George Lucas somehow gave movie fans an inkling of sadhana practice—those taking umbrage in the dark side of the force turn out as Sith while seekers of enlightenment become Jedi… fallen like our hopes for a better nation or soaring like current prices of commodities, they’re powerful spirits both in a material world.

I can still profess love for the country—but not for all of the Filipino people. I have settled for the simplest form of patriotism, pagmamahal at pagsisinop sa lupang hinahasikan ng mga punlang pananim. Sabihin mang kabilang na ako sa hanay ng mga babaylan na nakapag-uugnay sa mundo ng mga karaniwang tao at sa tahanan ng mga anito, batlaya’t kaluluwa, ayokong pangahasan na magsinop at mag-ukol ng pagtingin sa lahat ng Pilipino. Pili lang, higit na nakararami ang mga kupal at kumag. Kailangang maging makapili…

Consider. One of your uncles who regularly imports capital goods—mostly second-hand equipments for deep-sea fishing—has to cough up P20,000 to P40,000 a pop to facilitate release of such shipment from Customs. Your uncle is a devout Christian, ayaw na maging bahagi ng panunuhol at katiwalian na pinaiiral saanmang singit at sulok ng gobyerno. Pero ano’ng magagawa niya kung itetengga ng gobyerno ang mga kalakal na inangkat niya? Ayaw man, magbibigay na rin ng suhol and corruption prevails again and again.

Saka hindi naman ipinanganak na Brahmin ang uncle mo—para sakali’y masalinan ng pamamaraan ng tigalpo o death sentence na ibubuga lang sa kahit na sinong kumag at kupal. Para unti-unting mamatay, matuyot sa kung anong karamdaman. That’s transformation.

That sort of transformation in certain people neatly ties in with my pared-down notion of patriotism, or nurturing love for the soil. Humans turn to humus. Those who enrich themselves thru foul means can be done in. Killed off. They’re transformed to enrich the soil.

Mwa-ha-ha-haw!