After going to a Regan-MacNeil-head-spinning meeting with freelance writers on a Sunday evening, I came across a church in a middle of a mass. I can hear the echoing voice of the priest through the speaker system conveniently installed around the church so that everyone, including the clueless kids parents bring to church who keep running around the church grounds, peasants outside the vicinity who seriously need some charity help, people outside the church who no longer fits it and others can hear the on-going mass.
I have nothing against church masses, I think they are really effective in keeping all the bad people in the world to take a few hours of not doing something horrendous to mankind and the world. To give them a few moments to simply take a pause from all the dwindling, lying, stealing and killing human dignity.
I am not saying that all church goers are bad people, but it’s a fact that not all church goers are good people.
There are a lot of proven serial killers in the world who were arrested that are involved in churches and even building charity projects. Going to church for them is like a chain that holds back the monster in them – but we are getting sidetracked from what I want to say.
I couldn’t help but notice the huge tarpaulin banner at the gates of the church that says “NO to RH Bill”, I also couldn’t help but over-hear the rubbish that was coming out from the priest’s mouth.
He was saying that same-sex marriage and homosexuals will never be accepted as they – the homosexuals are unnatural creatures.
If I were one of the audience which most were simply pretending to be listening, I would have walked out of the place immediately. But the sheepish audience remains to be herded to the land of bigotry.
Even if there was a burning bush that told him that homosexuals were unnatural creatures roaming the earth, I still wouldn’t stay to listen to him. His audience of course remained, oh the rudeness if one dared to leave – he or she may even be stoned to death, you never know – some of them already tried to burn down CCP and I believe most of them are only waiting for someone to cast the first stone.
I would take the initiative to leave not because he’s saying something bad about homosexuals but simply because the priest is teaching the people to discriminate and look at other beings as inferiors instead of teaching peace and equality.
I quickly took the jeep that came across since I need to get home early.
They say that the Philippines is composed of 85% Christians… No wonder we're having a hard time progressing.
I remember last year that I was totally broke I did not have even the money to get to work, I had nothing the whole day. The fridge in the condo unit I was staying has nothing for me and I had 20 pesos in my pockets. P10 became load which zeroed out in the next ten minutes of having it since I had to tell my boss I couldn’t make it to work. I didn't lie, I told her I'm broke.
The other P10 became a piece of banana which of course disappeared within ten seconds.
The day before I had a couple of flat tops for lunch, it wasn’t filling but of course it was better than without. I couldn’t bother to call my mother in the US or any of my other siblings living a life of comfort in different corners of the globe.
I chose to stay here, to fulfill my dreams right in the soil of the motherland.
There was no other way, it was a Friday and I had to get back to my home in Laguna, it was the first and last time that my salary was delayed for a few days. I couldn’t bring myself to borrow money but of course out of hopelessness and famine I was forced to contact a friend of mine who works in Makati who was kind enough to lend me some cash. The problem was I didn’t have the money to go to Makati from Mandaluyong.
I was doomed.
But of course that was last year, at the end of the day my salary went through and I was able to go back to Laguna for the weekend.
Today, I may be experiencing the same thing. I just know that being a writer will never ever make me rich. It’s a very enduring profession but I keep telling myself that I’m not doing it for money but yes, a little bit of comfort won’t hurt and comfort would of course cost money.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell and other writers before me have suffered as well as writers. Fitzgerald had to toil in order to support his lavish lifestyle and George Orwell hid his poverty stricken status by hiding away and keeping the bread he bought in his pockets for people might see him buying cheap bread.
This week, I found myself eating Kimchi Ramyun noodles and baked beans straight from a can.
The feeling of air-headedness starts to kick in when I haven’t been eating healthy and nutritious food. As a faithful vegetarian, I need to eat more varying vegetables in order to fulfill my daily nutritional needs, which of course were flung to the Pasig River since the beginning of the week.
I try to kill my blazing appetite with water. The fridge at my place in Katipunan only has a spread of Sugar-free orange marmalade and another bottle of molasses. It could last me another week.
Another book will be sold again this week and somehow, I consider it as a shining ray of hope to extend my days before complete famine and destituteness.
Meetings and events that requires attendance may have to be postponed which also meant that the progress of my careers would stop to a halt as well. I shall go, even if I have to pack boiled sweet potatoes for lunch.
What George Orwell and I had in common, I recently discovered, was that despite famine looming over our heads – we were able to hide it quite perfectly. He never wanted anyone to know he was a starving writer when he was in France that he couldn’t even tell his laundry maid that he had no money to pay her anymore that his maid thought he had another one doing the work for him and had conceived contempt towards him – that, he’d rather accept.
In my case, I do my own laundry because the idea of stranger going through my clothes is enough to drive to neurotic madness and yes, I also won’t pay for a service I can do better myself. No one else knows how to take care of my clothes but me alone.
Being broke and having this status burned on my skin and soul keeps me grounded. That girl that everyone’s telling me to ask out will never be asked out, for the sole reason – I can’t afford dinner. I can’t afford to pay for her fare, drive her to places and thankless tasks I would normally do for someone out of sheer honor and a tinge of pride. Because I have this ideology that frugal pocket is proportional to frugal passion and the code of etiquette for lesbians – “the asker pays for dinner”.
I also can’t entertain others when asked out, because I will always offer to go Dutch and since I can’t even afford to go Dutch then I would rather spend the evening reading books and studying new materials or writing the novel I’ve been dying to finish.
If the asker or askee insists on paying for my dinner: an epic battle will ensue.
Friends are also starting to miss me since I haven’t been able to hang out.
Poverty is like a chain and ball cuffed to my every limb. But it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m unhappy, I just know that I’ll get through this high and low state of my early-twenties life.
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the Roman Emperor from 54AD to 68AD who used Christians to light his garden at night by setting them on fire. He also persecuted a lot of Christians for entertainment. It was also rumored that he killed one of the apostles.
Christians back then were strapped down on metal chairs placed on coals and burning fire and other torturous deaths preceded these unfortunate souls of the early ages. They were placed in the coliseum filled with angry bulls as targets and were burned alive for Rome’s entertainment.
These Christians died defending their religion, never renouncing their faith despite their skin scorched by metal or burned by fire. They stood their ground and held on to their faith of Christianity. They didn’t have photos of Jesus or a cross to worship back then, perhaps because it wasn’t in the market and artists aren’t around much. They only had their faith, shining brightly in their souls to guide them, they harmed no one despite their religion challenged or prohibited and when suspected of being Christians - which was considered a crime, they didn’t deny it.
Politeismo by Mideo M. Cruz exhibited in CCP has created such uproar with the Catholic Christian community, demanding for the exhibit be cancelled and or closed down. Vandalism were also made by the appalled Christians, attempting to burn down the exhibit is very… spiritual really.
Visual Art is a sibling of Literary Art and being able to express and convey your ideas to challenge people and tap into the shells of their souls - is what most of us are struggling to achieve – in forms we see would best fit without anyone dictating on our backs what not and what to do or how and how to do it.
We of course believe in a free world, free to express whatever we want to – until someone points a finger and demands for our expressions be halted out of being offended simply because they do not understand or that they think it’s wrong.
Martial Law On Art
Imelda Marcos has demanded the exhibit to be closed down. (Please check out the news on what she has to say about the exhibit, it’s all over the internet)
People who produced the exhibit and the artist have received death threats.
I’ve just read the news that the Kulo Exhibit will be closed down and it was a decision that boards have agreed upon.
Holy Christians!
I have read a lot of what the unhappy Christians had to say about the exhibit. Without understanding what the exhibit is trying to express, they have resorted to being appalled and called the exhibit and artist not –so-holy names aside from “blasphemous”.
But what is faith and how do you defend it? What is spirituality?
I am not a Catholic or any other follower of any branch of Christianity. I read about spirituality and religion. I do not bother going to church, it is a waste of time – I would rather read. I have read the bible (parts of it) and just recently the Teachings of Buddha. The next on my list would be the Quran.
Faith and Spirituality is not about worshipping stones, images, sculptures or toilets.
It is how we treat others and live our lives, following a ‘code’ which we will never betray ourselves for it is a sacrilege on our own. Faith and spirituality goes beyond that, beyond material symbolisms.
As what the spiritual university taught me, we should detach ourselves from these materials as they are nothing but manmade illusions, what’s important is how we live each day and what’s here (Points to forehead, where the soul was believed to reside in our bodies) so if ever these objects were used in whatever form or ways, we are unaffected and are able effortlessly to contain PEACE within ourselves.
Burning and vandalizing other people’s property is not a shield to defend spirituality and faith, it is nothing but a weapon to harm others and worse, harm the image of the religion that is supposedly to be defended.
Am I spiritual? Not so much but I follow a certain path. I know enough not to harm anyone who insults or challenges me. Just enough to entertain any idea that comes my way and not react in such barbarous ways.
It is always fascinating to see what these Christians have to say and would do when their religion has come into play, especially in our country. They always have something to say, most of the time from a rigid and narrow perspective.
People who were offended didn’t see the art form in its wholeness but it was the parts that offended them simply because they lacked the proper education or capacity to understand, then they labeled it as immoral and wrong.
But what if it were created to offend a religious community, which comprises more than 80% in this country? What if its own purpose is to create uproar? Then these people were nothing more than pawns… actors in a play.
And if it was made to insult and trash their religion, does it justify that the exhibit be vandalized and burned to the ground and closed down?
When Buddhism was starting out and Shakyamuni Buddha with his followers came to a town where everyone insulted them, degraded them and refused to give them food and even harmed them throwing out their preposterous beliefs. A follower of Buddha said “Why don’t we just move on to another town? We are being treated in such inhumane ways.” In which Buddha replied “And what if the next town is the same? Should we move to another town again? No… we stay here and endure this until it ceases” and it did.
Should art only convey the good? Should it be limited?
I suppose we should just write about happy poetry filled with all the positive adjectives available in the dictionary and maybe even sing praises.
Who’s really obscene here?
Is it the one who tried his ideas in harmless and artful ways or the ones who tried to express their ideas by vandalizing other people’s work and gave out death threats?
I write for several clients, these clients come from every corner of the world. I wrote for games such as sports, casino, board games and others. I would also sometimes write about real estate, a country in Central America and environmental awareness and sometimes just plain quirky topics like lottery. In other words, I pretty much write about – anything.
As a starving writer I don’t say ‘no’ to these writing jobs since my company would probably give me the boot. Then again, I have come to certain lengths in order to push the limits of my boss’s temper.
Writing about psychology and addiction wasn’t bad, I liked it. It helped me learn about certain disorders that’s possible to be exhibited by a person.
Recently I’ve been given an assignment to write about Adult Dating and anything that is associated with it. Adult Dating is a pretty term for casual sex apparently.
Since the global financial crisis had devastated the consumer population across the earth, it seemed that people, particularly North Americans affected by the Credit Crunch just aren’t fit to go to fancy dinners anymore, at least… most of them. A number of US citizens have also fallen to spiraling depressions, they didn’t want to go out and perhaps have passed up doing what they used to love. They have retreated to their apartments, caves, mansions that will soon be repossessed, have filed bankruptcy chapter 7 or 11, etc and took comfort in eating microwavable TV dinners while sulking over the crisis that has loomed.
I have reasons to believe that Filipinos were the only ones who’re pretty much unaffected.
For the American Capitalist, this is very bad. The snail is beating the speed of global economical progress and they have now pushed the emergency button.
Did I just hear the US dollar rate go down?
Good news for people who buy their items online!
I was digitally summoned through a Skype meeting and my boss informed me to put on hold whatever I was writing and had to produce several articles about “Adult Dating”.
As much as I wanted to write about the horrors of Adult Dating, I was assigned to write about people, who have voracious appetite for something else, (trust me, it’s not what’s for dinner) on how to meet easily and how they should go out there and well “mingle” with likeminded beings.
Has dinner become THAT expensive for people to skip it altogether and go on directly to feeding their carnal organs? I managed to produce more than a dozen articles about the topic and it left me feeling like a pimp, no… worse… I felt a little bit reduced… degraded. After two seconds I have detached myself completely with the emotion and finished work in a male persona.
After work my friends and I have decided to have dinner and of course talk and hang out.
I told them I was assigned to write articles encouraging people to date without dinners.
They all laughed and one said “Do people really need encouraging? It’s happening left and right.”
I must add that it could be happening here and there, now and then, clockwise and counterclockwise, etc.
“So where’d you get the contents of what you wrote? Experience?” said a friend of mine, they were making fun of me.
I didn’t show the slightest appalled reaction “Imagination, stock knowledge and common sense” I answered without seething. “Even if I had to eat tofu for the whole month and end up broke I’d still bother to pay for dinner, I don’t think it’s a matter of being destitute to resort to such body-conscious desires. I’ve met a lot of rich folks who’ve forgotten the essence of dinners. I don’t agree much that it has something to do with their budget, but yes, it plays a small part, a tiny part” I added.
I’ve met people who will give me quizzical looks when talking about dinner and some of them just simply don’t like the idea. They would rather hang at bars, well – they are perhaps the ones who are interested in nothing but going to bed and getting naked or who knows, maybe they just really like a closed space packed with sweaty people, beating with loud music and has cigarette smokes for oxygen while chugging down a bottle of beer against the ambiance of a restaurant where people talk in low tones under nice lighting, wearing something that actually covers their body and eating delectable meals and drinking wine while the fresh or AC air is filled with soothing jazz or classical music. But I do go to these bars on occasions, as often as once a year when invited by friends and I don’t entertain most invites, since I would rather play videogames, write, read, philosophize with friends to hours on end, sleep or spend a meaningful time with a close friend or someone I would like to know more.
In our times, it’s accepted as normal behavior but for spinsters like me, well… we are shunned to the nearest library to poke our noses on any interesting book. I know it may sound such a loser thing to do but I take great pleasure in that. Trust me, you can also get picked up at libraries, at least there you know the people you meet actually READS and someone you can philosophize with.
The culture today has definitely been more open to these things and most of us are more than eager to join the bandwagon while there’s a handful few who would rather stay and be left behind.
According to psychology, impulsive sex for people causes guilt and remorse among other not-so-positive emotions.
The financial status of a person does affect a person’s regard about sex. Poor people who have no other outlet of entertainments (lack of television, books, music etc) would just simply take their pants off – thus the ever ballooning population of the Philippines. Also poor people don’t have access to better education and any philosophical sources out there in the nasty tenements they call home.
Of course, a certain percentage of homosexuality in the country is desired, WE are needed in order to leverage population even just for some tiny little bit and luckily we are very good at that.
Then again, harlots will be harlots - with articles promoting such acts or without. Doesn’t matter where you came from; rich or poor, intelligent or well not-intelligent or mentally-challenged…
Soon, when such sensibilities that a few of us have, had completely died out -
I can just imagine that in the future, if someone asked you out for dinner – it would just be plain ridiculous and out of this world.
Remember Happy Tree Friends? That cartoon animation on MTV where furry animals die in ridiculous and always horrible way? Apparently, people have this sort of obsession with murdering animals and true enough, millions of animals die on the face of the earth daily. A large portion of animal death is dedicated to feeding humans while a not so big part would go for clothing, biological research and a rather smaller part which seems to be the rage in the Philippines – entertainment.
Horrible isn’t it?
Cut the crap if you’re an omnivore and for vegetarians who have bleeding hearts for these poor creatures: REJOICE!
Scouring Metro Manila for a decent restaurant who feels for animals won’t be as daunting as it was years ago.
Bowl of Chili
At Corner Tree Café, you will be served with animal free meals.
The nightmare of your date not knowing where to take you for dinner had somehow diminished. How many times have you gone out with someone for dinner and couldn’t eat anything on the menu aside from fried Kang Kong – unless it’s your idea of a wonderful evening dinner then ignore what I said.
This restaurant offers Vegan and Vegetarian cuisines (if you’re a vegetarian who has no idea what’s the difference then please go down on your knees and pray, hopefully the knowledge will be bestowed upon you by the gods and goddesses)
So Vegans! You can now leave your homemade ‘baons’ or lunch boxes! In this restaurant, you can actually dare to look at the menu and get to order. It brings tears to my eyes really… Sigh.
A must try and something I keep coming back for is their Bowl of Chili that can either be served with bread or couscous, I have forgotten if they offer it with rice as well but you can always order rice on the side.
Another great order would be the vegan lasagna, a treat for those vegans who has forgotten exactly how lasagna tastes like.
From vegetarian main courses to salads and great desserts - offering vegan chocolate cake. Vegetarians and vegans can now enjoy dining out instead of doing all the trouble of preparing mouth watering dishes all by themselves.
One thing though…
Please avoid ordering the Walnut Tofu burger since as a vegetarian, I always crave for burgers and sadly their tofu burger couldn’t quite make the pass. There are better vegetarian burgers out there, less expensive too. It’s not the greatest burger I’ve tasted, but it’s filling.
The service isn’t something that great but it’s not bad. It’s not like the waiters would serve your meals Cirque Du Soleil style but it’s alright.
As for selections of wine, you can ask their waiter for what they have available. Otherwise there’s a wine store nearby and you can buy wine there and simply pay for the corkage fee. Your call, order here or outside. Ask them to chill the wine you bought outside if you did made the choice of purchasing outside the café.
Corner Tree Cafe is always full especially in the evening. When dining here, make sure you have made reservations by calling them.
The ambiance is great, illuminating the interior with warm light making your date and friends look prettier. Their skin, almost radiant despite the lack of moisturizers and their eyes would sometimes have the reflection of the candles on the table. Maybe they're getting teary because of the amount they would have to pay when the bill comes in.
It has a quiet feel to it unlike in other restaurants where talking seem to require higher decibels as what Anna Kournikova would use when she’s hitting a tennis ball.
Usually, the music played is jazz or bossa nova I forgot and as for the furniture inside the café - well as a daughter of a carpenter who has a legacy in Laguna - they’re not stunning but they are decent and one can sit comfortably.
Conclusion *
Great restaurant for Vegans and Vegetarians and omnivores should also try it here as they really make tasty dishes that are often better than those with meat products.
Try to save an animal life occasionally and try tasting what vegetarians are having, it’s healthy and can accommodate everyone.
Though as much as I want to dine here every day, the life of a starving writer is harsh and quite unforgiving. Prepare to cash out around P400 for your meals here. As for me, I would probably have to save up and eat Tofu for a week in order to dine here again. RATE: **** (4 Stars out of 5) (This review is posted on munchpunch.com)
Highschool was a very awkward and confusing period of my life. I didn’t know how to get along well with others and I was always misunderstood. Though life was easy, I wouldn’t exchange the future for the past. There were a lot of moments that I fail to recall and I don’t feel as if I lost half of my life, I’m glad it’s over.
My dreams then were less molded and I never really wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a game designer – which was also quite different with what I wanted when I was in elementary.
I wanted to go to Digipen University in Michigan. I told my mom about it and she said that I should prepare for everything that I would need. My relatives were already citizens in the US and after a while, half of my family followed for good.
At the age of 15 I’ve tinkered with game designing software and have created a few games for my own and my friends’ amusement. From pixel sprites to programming languages such as PEARL, RUBY and scripts, I studied them all on my own. I also launched my own first website back then for the hell of it.
One of the games I created was an RPG based game which was deliberately short in order to simply send a message. It was titled “Stringed Memories”. I still have the game with me and it can be installed on any computer as long as the Operating System is Windows (Works with Windows 7 as well despite being created almost ten years ago) If you want the game, message me and I will give you the installer setup file which was about 20 Megabytes.
The game starts with a little story, sequence or cut scene and you can control the character easily. Roam around a fictitious town/world I created and talk to people who represent real people that I know. Each time you talk to a person is a message I want to send out. Sometimes a poem or just a mere story would be told by 2 dimensional characters I’ve taken the pain to create by painting every pixel.
Why do all this you ask? I did it because I was in love or I don’t know, maybe I just really have a wild imagination and was driven to certain creative lengths under the illusion of liking someone. There was a girl in highschool and that girl every summer, would go to another country for the whole period. I didn’t just want to send her a simple letter or e-mail so I went ahead and created an RPG game for her. Yes, I’m monumental and perhaps it was a way on how I could release this modern romantic part of me that’s dying to come out.
I was also a member of the High-school art club with Zeus Bascon and thought perhaps I could also divert to illustration and cartooning. I also made comics on the side. This art club of ours was in charge of any visual artistic creation necessary for any sort of production in school – from the theatrical productions down to several school events, we’ve won several competitions against the local and regional schools in the province.
I did a lot of crazy things back then and what does this has to do with me answering the questions of my followers and readers? This is merely a small portion of my life that may or may not have mattered at all. The context of it I believe would not at all be very similar to another human being. I will answer all questions according to what my life has taught me in the past and the present.
Moving on here are the questions I’ve answered and not answered personally so I’m answering them right here. I would like to say that I’m very happy and touched warmly by those who bought my book and were kind enough to send out a feedback.
Veronica, I keep reading one of your poems [Breaking Silence] and this question seems to plague me. I do believe in forever but how do I prevent two people from getting tired of loving each other? I don’t want to fall in the dull routine of relationships where love seems to fade away.
-Falling Out Girl
I have accidentally deleted the original question so I tried to dig up my mind and hopefully my half-dead neurons served me just right. I also added a cheesy anonymous pseudonym if you don’t mind.
Love is a very complex matter and I for one can’t exactly answer that. I am not an oracle of love I’m afraid.
I always loved the movie “Big Fish” with Ewan Mcgregor. It was about a cynic man’s dying idealistic and romantic father. It’s very inspiring and heartwarming and I don’t mind watching it over and over. I won’t get tired of it. I do recommend watching it.
The father believed in courage, justice and undying love which seem to prove true with the story. He did love the guy’s mother forever or until his last breath. The father never cheated despite a woman spreading her legs before him – that’s right! In the face of temptation and a chance of ill-devotion he turned his back and said he loves his wife! Don’t worry he could be the real life’s unicorn but there are people out there who would do the same – *cough* like me *cough*.
Before he married his wife he actually worked for a circus because he wanted to know more about the girl who he’ll marry someday. His pay at the circus only consist of one fact each month about the girl such as “She likes daisies” - upon hearing such information the father would giggle and his eyes would sparkle with fulfillment and he scooped up elephant feces and cleaned disgusting cages for years just to get enough information about the girl. He seemed like a guy in a cheesy movie – because he IS.
Too bad they didn’t have google or facebook back then where you can easily check someone’s profile and almost everything will be laid out for you. No more scooping of elephant or buffalo dung, it’s easy!
If you are as naïve, as romantic as the father in the movie and are a strong believer of everlasting love then why doubt your own emotions for another person? And why doubt the other’s emotions and affections as well? Just a small spark of doubt is enough for the fortress of love to burn to the ground, meaning – You alone could be the reason why love fade away - subconsciously.
This is nothing more than a worry that you shouldn’t be concerned with, the future is nothing to be worried about. If you have her at present then show your undying love and affection. Do this everyday for the rest of your days forever.
Don’t stay too long at downe (Downelink) it will eat you ok?
I thought the whole purpose of joining Downelink was to be eaten.
Thank you for the advice. I have a downelink account because people there are actually interesting such as – they are great readers. Their online inhibitions are less limited. It’s also fascinating how my friends’ behavior on facebook and downelink are very much different. I believe certain anonymity in Downelink plays a great part.
Hi, if I send you a message will you return it?
Sure thing.
Where can I get your books?
Unfortunately, no bookstores are carrying them yet. I’m still struggling to get my books out there. I’ve sold advanced copies to people who were previously avid readers. But I will let you guys know when you can grab a copy. Do send me a message.
I hope I made sense and if things blow up in your face by following my advice please don’t blame me.
My childhood friend Zeus Bascon invited me to go to a road trip with his family over the weekend. It was a long and fun drive to Quezon from Sta. Rosa Laguna. The plan was to have a picnic there.
I was already at their place at 7am which isn’t bad since I live 5 minutes away from their house if I were driving a car. His mom said we start by 7am and I hate being late at any event.
When I came over last Friday I took the bike with me instead of the car, my 10 year old cousin gave me a bike since he bought a new one. Now I have a small bicycle altered to accommodate my size.
The handle bar and seat were heightened so I could pedal and maneuver the bike comfortably and it was also painted chrome.
I stuffed the bike in my trunk in case the terrain in Quezon is good enough for biking. Unfortunately I was unable to use it since the place was too rugged and mountainous. There was absolutely no way of enjoying my mini bike in the area, such a shame.
It wasn’t easy to drive to the place especially if you’re carrying 5 other people in my really old car, or my mom’s car, the back seat was packed with 4 people making it very hard to go uphill and I think after the trip I would have to get Ula, the car, checked. I should have told them not to overload the car, I thought there would only be two people at the back.
Since the stereo was busted we resorted to improvising, so the song we all sang to was…
Classic.
I cooked spaghetti with mushroom and tofu, I already know that I can’t eat whatever they’re having since the diet of a vegetarian is typically unheard of in Filipino families. But thankfully they’re starting to realize that I don’t eat meat anymore. Someone cooked fried eggplants, I was grateful.
Tiaong was a mountainous place in Quezon and people there speak in a rather funny accent that is almost similar to the people of Batangas.
There where overwhelming amount of vegetation and trees. There were corn shrubs, a few of them I accidentally run over since there was absolutely no road to follow. I also happen to rear a coconut tree but since the terrain was absolutely incorrigible it was a miracle I was able to park somewhere.
There was also a river at the northern end of the place so all of us have decided to take a look.
Floating plastics, foil wrappers can be found on the side of the creek and on its surface. I have never seen a really clean river in the Philippines so I wasn’t surprised although there were fishes and soft-shell turtles living in the river.
Unfortunately they are in grave danger since the people around the area heartlessly shoot them. We saw a man fishing with a spike like equipment and he didn’t even let a small fish, about 4 inches long, go. He shot the poor creature, as though it would really fill him up when he eats it. I think a boiled sweet potato would have filled his stomach more and he wouldn’t have to bother swimming around, not to mention having to endure the searing sun.
While playing my double-reed harmonica in an upbeat tune which Zeus said sounded like Huckleberry fin-ish but I aptly named the tune “An Ode to Maria Makiling” (A fairy, nymph or deity in Laguna – particularly in Los Baǹos) we marched from a hill to the river banks and started to dip our feet in the shallow part of the river, feeling the strong cool stream.
The sun was too harsh so I retreated under a shade of tree and sat on a boulder, playing continuously with the harmonica just at the side of the river bank.
It wasn’t long when we heard a sort of explosion not too far from the river.
“That’s a gunshot” said Zeus’ sister and later on, her husband came in saying someone was shooting a turtle on the other side of the river. Dismayed by such news I quickly stood up and placed my harmonica at the back pocket of my denim shorts.
I saw Zeus dragging a log near the side of river, saying he could do something with the beautiful log. It seems that he wants to take it home to Laguna and take it to the car. I told him he’s not carrying that 60 kilo log to my car and he should just leave it here and come back for it next time.
“It’ll be gone by then” he reasoned.
“Tie it to a tree” I said.
He asked his brother-in-law to help him carry the log but it proved to be heavy. “There’s someone shooting down turtles at the other side of the river, we need to stop him. Drop the log, it’s already dead but the turtle is alive and we need to save it!” I told him.
“Fine.” He said, dropping the log and the two men followed me uphill to the other side where the shots originated.
Upon reaching the other side of the river, we had to go downhill but it was too steep. I was waiting for Zeus to dash down but it took him a while to figure out how he could go down the bottom unscathed. I followed quickly after, dashing below and not a bit troubled by what would happen.
If I had to shield the turtle with my body – in a heartbeat I would, although my heart does have the tendency to skip beats.
The new ground was near a cliff where there were tall weeds and shrubbery, a little bit of clumsiness and we'll definitely fall on the river. Not knowing what you’re stepping on will increase the possibility of plummeting down the river below.
Another shot came and we were sure it was pretty close.
I looked around and saw the guy, whom Zeus’ father was talking to earlier.
I thought perhaps we can ask him where the guys shooting the turtle down can be found.
As we drew closer to his position, at the edge of the cliff – I saw him raise his arms holding a .45 caliber and fired a few more shots.
“I got it! It’s a big one!” the idiot said.
It was too late, I saw the turtle a bit smaller than a car tire sank at the bottom of the river about less than a 100 meters in distance. We were at the edge of the cliff and below would be the river, about 8 feet below.
“There! Saw that huge green shell sinking?” he said.
“Where?! Where?!” Zeus said
I was offended gravely. “Why did you kill the turtle?” I asked him.
“We eat them.” He said.
“Well, aren’t you going to get your kill?” I asked again.
“That part of the river is very deep. Deeper than the bamboos you see” he said, “I’ll just let it go and let it surface on some shore” he gave a smirk as though he felt he was so awesome.
It seems he has no plans of fetching his kill, he’s not planning to eat the turtle. He just shot it for target practice and he’s old enough to know that what he’s doing is wrong. He’s not retarded not to know, he has no excuse – he’s just an ignoramus who thinks we will be impressed by what he was doing.
Is he trying to tell us in a way that he has a gun?
“Poor creature” Zeus and I said.
We told the ignoramus that these turtles looked like pawikans or sea green turtles and they are endangered species but he said they are soft shell turtles (much to Zeus’ disappointed he won’t be able to get any turtle shells)
The ignoramus guy said “They are endangered in your place, but here it isn’t.”
Oh and that makes it right to shoot them? I thought, only a buffoon would reason that.
“At this rate they will be endangered” I said.
“Look there’s another one” the brother-in-law said, we all looked to the direction and saw a small young turtle about 8 inches in diameter. The soft-shell turtle reared its head on the surface of water to take a few breaths. We can clearly see its body on the water, wiggling its stubby fat legs to float.
The ignoramus guy once again aimed at the turtle and commenced on pulling the trigger.
“No!! Stop!” I was about to grab the gun from him but I halted when he looked at me very surprised and lowered his gun.
“If you’re going to eat them, I’ll give you money so you can buy food at the market. Just don’t kill them.” I said.
Imagine a guy around my age going to shoot an innocent poor creature that emerged from the bottom of the river simply to take amounts of oxygen in order to continue its harmless life but would only be shot down.
“Huh? What?” he said. He was surprised at what I said.
“How do they taste like?” Zeus asked.
“They taste like beef” he said.
Liar, I haven't tasted turtles but I don't think they taste like beef. Soft-shell turtles as what my office-mate told me were the turtles used in soup.
I didn’t have any homicidal thoughts against the man at that time but I do want him to stop, but what chance do I have when he has a gun and I only have a double-reed harmonica?
There was silence and the turtle after taking sufficient amounts of breath retreated back to the bottom of the river. The creature is safe for now, I thought to myself.
We left the guy at the cliff and I told him to not kill them anymore. He didn’t say anything and we left.
Zeus told me about cultural boundaries, that I can’t just tell people to stop what they’re doing if it has become part of their culture. Uh-huh shooting down turtles with a .45 caliber is very cultural, I wonder if they have a “Let’s shoot down soft-shell turtles” festival.
Then again, if it were, I don’t care if I’m crossing cultural boundaries if I could save a turtle’s life.
It is immoral no matter how I look at it.
Zeus said we need to educate these people and I agree, but I wasn’t in the mood to lecture the buffoon with the gun and tell him about global warming, endangered species and that shooting any living creature down is not right – when in fact he ought to know these things. Is that gun even registered?
“He’s not going to eat the turtle, he’s just practicing his aim” said Zeus’ brother in law.
True, how is he going to fetch his kill when it sank more than 10 feet below the surface of water? Would he really take the time to wait for it on the shore when that is so uncertain? How many more turtles has he killed and how many more will die?
No other living creature in this world has the capability to be such monsters than humans, all other animals will only harm a human when provoked or threatened. They would never ever harm anything out of pleasure.
Hunting in several regions on earth would be acceptable. The English before would shoot down foxes since these animals harm their stocks and farms. They would collect the hunted fox and make use of its hide. But why shoot down a turtle when it’s harmless, it already has a slowed motion, why else shoot it?
A bear would never attack or scratch a human just so he could sharpen his claws.
After a while we went back home. I’m sure that guy has done it a lot of times and I’m not going to stand here thinking about those poor creatures getting shot for mere target-practice.
I will try to contact PAWS or DENR if I had to. Or even PETA, although I don’t really like PETA but the circumstance is asking for it. PETA is too extreme, too intense for my taste.
I don’t want to go marching down holding planks or sign-boards. I may need to consult my friends for help on this one.
There were people who killed animals and made fun of animals that spread all over the news like the kid who hanged a puppy by the ear and the one in UP who stepped on a kitty - those aren't even close to what I've witnessed. I literally saw an adult man gun down an innocent creature who has no chance of fighting back.
Anyway here’s a video for PETA from Bullshit (I love this show)
I have a lot of reasons why I’m vegetarian and when I was in college, torturing animals was the last reason why I was following this diet to heart but it doesn't exactly mean I don't care about animals at all - I just have better reasons in being a vegetarian than just mere compassion towards animals.
Please don't tell me to eat meat, I will eat meat if I want to - thank you.
Do watch the PETA Bullshit show and know more a bit about PETA who wants to shut down Manila Zoo.
