Nanay, Ate Eden and the Amazing Facebook

Last Sunday, we were set to go to my uncle’s home in Pacita, San Pedro, Laguna for my cousin’s birthday and the blessing of their newly renovated house. What would have been an entirely happy affair, however, was tainted by the death of my aunt’s 93-year-old mother who had been living with them for years.

According to my Tita Liz, “Nanay” – as we call her – had this mischievous habit of playing dead whenever the maid enters her own bungalow at the back of Tito Nonoy’s house. She’d do her utmost best not to move or react to questions, until the maid mentions her favorite dish or the name of one of her daughters. Then, she would open her eyes and cock her head to one side and ask about the topic that caught her attention. This had been going on for months.

Early Sunday morning, when my Tita went in to rouse her for breakfast, she appeared sleeping. Thinking she was playing dead again, Tita teased her and shook her several times but she remained still and unmoving. Despite faint signs of life, Tita thought there was something wrong. So they rushed her to the hospital. Unfortunately, she was pronounced dead on arrival.

My father and my cousin were left at home to entertain the priest and guests, and to supervise the maids. When we arrived after lunch, my Tito and Tita were still in the hospital overseeing arrangements for embalming, wake and funeral. They arrived early afternoon, and my parents decided to stay there several days more to help out.

Aside from my cousins in Laguna, Nanay had two other grandchildren, the son and daughter of Tita Liz’s sister who had died long ago. But they had both moved out of their former home, went their separate ways, and cut all communication with Tita Liz and her brother, who were their only closest relatives.

At one time, the granddaughter had stayed with us together with an adopted little brother, but Ate Eden turned out to be a very dependent person (or a user, if I may say so). She would stay in the office until late, without arranging for anybody to fetch her brother Kevin in preschool, and not caring whether my mother had sufficient funds to feed two extra people. When she ended up not surfacing at the preschool at the appointed time several times, and the brother was left all by himself, the teacher began to take it upon herself to bring Kevin home to our apartment in UP. [The preschool was near Hardin ng Bougainvillea, where Mama kept an apartment for us as students.] Nakakahiya sa teacher.  

She started going home much, much later and wouldn’t leave money to help Mama with the food supplies at home. What irritates us is that she says she doesn’t have a large salary that can tide both of them through so she’s appealing to us for support. But we’d see her newly bought Vogue, Mega and Cosmo magazines all over the house. She says she does overtime always because of the workload and also because she needs the extra income, but I’d catch her in the IRC chatrooms during the hours she was supposed to be doing “overtime”. It’s like she just looked for somebody to dump her responsibilities on and found us. And went on with her own life like she’s the most carefree single lass in the world.

One day, Mama decided enough is enough. Even if we cared for Kevin and were concerned about what would happen to him, Mama talked to Ate Eden and told her that if she cannot do her part as a transient guest, then she has to leave. We weren’t rich and we don’t have excess money to give. We tried to help out of the goodness of our heart but we can’t keep on doing it as we also have our own financial concerns. So she left and we haven’t heard from her since.

Last Sunday, I was tasked to search for her and her real brother, Kuya Erwin. Where on earth will I look? I know she was once connected with Delifrance, and Mama heard recently that she’s working in People Support. Now, how will I hack the employee databases of these two companies? Haha, just kidding.

For lack of anywhere else to go, I went straight to Facebook. And sure enough, she and Kuya Erwin have FB accounts. Amazing facebook. Why didn’t we think of that before? Perhaps even criminals have FB accounts. The NBI should start exploring it…. Ate Eden is the type who wouldn’t survive without social networking activities. Aside from FB, she has multiply, twitter and flickr accounts as well. I sent her and Kuya Erwin a message that Nanay died and would be interred on Tuesday or Wednesday but they did not reply to me.

Nanay was laid to rest on Wednesday at the Mandaluyong cemetery, beside other members of her family who went ahead of her. Up until today, I haven’t heard from her long-lost grandchildren. I just hope that one day they don’t die alone in some forgettable, filthy place on earth with no relatives or friends around. And I hope they come to terms with themselves when ebb tide kicks in.

On GMA's appointment of a new SC Chief Justice

Kung ako si Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, siguro ito ang nasa isip ko nung inappoint ko si Senior Associate Justice Renato Corona bilang susunod na Chief Justice pagretiro ni Reynato Puno:

naghahabol ako ng panahon

sa liit kong ito, gusto ko pa rin maging prominente

yan lang ang panglaban ko sa kulay ng araw

na ngayo'y namamayagpag na sa buong bansa

takot ako

kahit man lang sa loob ng ilang taon

maitago ko ang mga kasalanan ko

kailangan ko ng kakampi sa SC

dahil titirisin ako ng bagong administrasyon, 

kahit sino pa ang manalong VP, patay ako

nagliligpit na, ngunit mabigat sa kalooban

hindi ako handang lumisan

mamimiss ko ang pasig river at ang libreng gasolina

ang mga larawan ko sa diyaryo tuwing umaga

at sa FB tuwing may nagagawa akong palpak

hindi ako handa, ngunit parating na sya

kawawa naman ang aking asawa, anak, mga kaalyado

malulugi na ang negosyo

 

sige, isang biyahe pa at siguro pwede na

di ako nagkamali kay Corona

paalam Malacañang, paalam

di pa tapos ang laban

may Lubao pa at kongreso

sayang nabuking si Garci

sana, sana, sana'y maulit muli

I'm not voting for Noynoy

One workday, over lunch, an officemate said she had an argument with her boyfriend regarding voting for Noynoy Aquino as president. The boyfriend had nothing against Noynoy. It's the fact that my friend couldn't explain why she is choosing Noy over other candidates that seemed to have triggered the argument. Up until that lunch, she still could not defend her choice.

I was itching to say a word but I let my other officemates who favored other candidates to butt in and say why she should not vote for Noy. I realized that many people still do not see the significance of this particular election to our future as a nation. Many will still vote based on the achievements and track record of the candidates. And many others will still vote based on personal leanings and loyalties.

If this were a regular election like any other elections we have had, any of the presidential candidates would be appropriate. Many of them, after all, are good in what they do, no matter what they claim or what others say about them.

But this is not a regular election. It is a vote for the future of the nation. When we go out there tomorrow to mark our ballots, we are either signing up for the death of the Philippines or for its continued existence as a real democracy. It is not a matter of who to choose but a matter of what we choose if we choose who we choose.

I'm not voting for Noynoy....per se. I'm voting for what he represents as a person, as a leader of the country if he wins. I'm not voting for him because he is Ninoy and Cory's son. I'm not voting for him because he is single and has no family distractions. I'm not voting for him because business groups favor him. And I'm definitely not voting for him because he is Kris' brother.

I'm voting for Noy because among the current presidential candidates, he is the only visible symbol of what GMA is not. He is not corrupt [no one with a secondhand car would be]. He is not vain [walking into a rally stage with an unkempt hair and sweaty shirt]. He is a member of the Aquino family, whose mother as president doesn't even use a "hagad" when traveling the streets of Manila during her term, even if she has the authority and power to require special treatment. He has always been in disagreement with Kris, and I think I don't have to explain why this is a good characteristic, if you know how Kris is.

Noy doesn't come from a "poor" family where a younger brother is claimed to have died due to the circumstances of the family's social position. But he did have a Dad who has been imprisoned for so long only because he strongly opposes the dictatorship, and Noynoy endured many birthdays and Christmases without him, continuously suffering oppression whenever they visit him. Noy has had his own set of adversities in life that made him strong and humble, but he doesn't really flaunt this like it's supposed to be the single most important criteria to being president.

I'm voting for Noynoy mainly because he is not another GMA. He is the only one we can be sure of who will prosecute GMA for all her sins to the country. All other candidates are mum or indecisive when it comes to punishing the proven corrupt administration. We don't need a president who is chummy with people who rob the Filipinos of their right to a good life, or their right to be told the truth.

We don't need a president who rubs elbows with any of the Marcoses, who have not at all suffered for their 20-year unconstitutional grip on power. We don't need a president who owes his big break to GMA and claims that his loyalties to her will not be absolute. Rubbish. Since when did politicians in the Philippines go against the wishes of those who had been instruments of their material and political power? And we most certainly don't need people who say one thing and live another. That is why we don't need a president whom GMA can easily persuade to be soft on her. Because if she goes unscathed after her term, it will be a precedent for future usurpists of the nation's wealth. They will think they can get away with corruption because GMA did.

So, I'm voting for Noynoy because I believe that the moral foundation of his government will be greater than that of GMA's administration --- if the latter has a moral foundation to speak of.

This election is special. It's a vote between the good and bad, the white and the black, the high and the low, the life and death of democracy in this country. There will be no gray areas in this election. You're either for the people or not. And for me, Noy is the good, the white, the high and the life of the Philippines as far as this election is concerned.

When I cast my vote for Noynoy tomorrow, I'm declaring war against all elements that threaten to destroy our institutions and the future of our children. I'm voting for Noynoy because I'm voting for the ideal Philippines that my own parents had the chance to see when they were younger. I would like my family and my children's children to experience that as well.

Maybe I should have told my officemate, do not vote for Noynoy because he is Noynoy. Vote for him because he, his parents and his whole family truly cares for us and the whole country. If they didn't, they would have gone back to Boston after Cory's term and left this country to rot.