MANGKOKOLUM!

"Pap, gud evening :D balak po sna naming ni Geng pa trim konti yung bamboo tree. Ang bilis humaba papa nakakatuwa. Paano po kaya? Bsta ok lng putulan sa gitnang bahagi nya? ;D thanks papa. Gudnyt jan." (Raymond 24 Oct 2012 00:39:35) "Tawag ka uli" (Misha 24 Oct 2012 13:04:03) "Hahaha. Alam ko po hon, after natin mag meet punta ko s friend ko. Please" (Catherine 24 Oct 2012 19:16:01) "Hon, text ka po" (Catherine 31 Oct 2012 10:52:53) "Wait kita hon" (Catherine 31 Oct 2012 11:49:25) "Kita tayo one of these days Dong!" (Dindo Angeles 31 Oct 2012 14:14:12) "Hi Sir Dong! Daisy here. May story po ako on Masbate. Hope you can accommodate : ) Happy long weekend: ) thanks much!" (Daisy 31 Oct 2012 14:32:59) "I’m waiting for u mylove. Did u take ur lunch?" (Faye 1 Nov 2012 11:55:21) "Eh kapag mahal mo, hindi ka takot sa dalaw nila. Maski ikaw kapag hindi dinatnan ng   buwanan...

D UMUDURONG karayom sa dibdib ang hikbi—nauwi sa hagulgol—ng nakatabing dilag sa bus… patungong ospital upang dumalaw sa kanyang ama na pumanaw na pala. Mapait ang text na humagupit ng siphayo sa kanyang dibdib. Napag-alaman sa katabi na walong ulit sambuwan na isinasalang sa dialysis ang kanyang ama. Nasabi na lang sa kanya na napakabait ng kanilang ama, pinili ang lumisan kaysa maging pabigat sa kanyang mga anak… abot kasi mula P45,000 hanggang P50,000 ang gastos nila bawat buwan… napatango ang dilag sa aking tinuran, patuloy pa rin ang impit na hikbi, sagana ang daloy ng luha. Lintext talaga— samut-saring kalatas ang matatanggap mula sa cellphone… kaya kahit na burahin pa ang bawat pangungusap at kataga na tila kidlat na inihahatid sa himpapawid, may maiiwan pa ring haplos sa dibdib at himas sa isip—batay sa nilalaman ng kalatas.   May katumbas na kahulugan at kahihinatnan kasi ang mga kataga at mga pangungusap na ipinapahatid sa kinauukulan: “Ok mylab ingat s...

S A mahigit 8,000 text messages na tinanggap sa cellphone, hindi pa umabot sa 2,000 ang mga kalatas at tugon na ibinalibag sa kung sinu-sino… tipid na rin na sa bawat apat na mensaheng bumulabog, isa lang ang binalibag ng sagot. Tinitimbang kasi ang bawat kataga—words bear a counterpart measure of significance and consequences, so an economy of words that convey an opulence of sensibility, sensitivity becomes my rule in sending out replies… Savor these. “Mamatay kana at condolence sau at sa family mo.”   (Misha 24 October 2012 13:09:53) “Tawag ka.” (Misha   24 October 2012 11:17:36) “sana nga.. guxto mu mag sama tayo. .mangupahan tayo. .dun mu li pupuntahan. .oh. para mkasama kita. Patawad.. kya kht anung work papasukan ko na eh” (Ria 13 September 2012 19:06:45) “salamat.. ikaw ang lakas ko.. nakakapangli.it kc eh. .nkakasama ng loOb. . haist. . Ayaw mu b ako mkasama ? :( “   (Ria 13 September 2012 19:16:25) “how I wish hehe eatwell hane q.” (...

W HEN push came to shove, a Quezon City judge proved that he was made of less sterner, too-mortal stuff—and buckled under brazen bullying of a High Court official. No matter: The judge had made his stand, inked a decision on a case involving a government financial institution in favor of the other party assailing the cash-strapped, graft-ridden, debt-saddled GFI… such a status for the GFI stood firmly at quo. But once the Ombudsman pries its nose into that institution, the anti-graft body would likely convulse in loathing, but that’s another story. GFI honcho, rather than bow to the judge’s ruling, chose to grovel to his University of the Philippines frat brod who happens to be a Supreme Court official. Aah, a deputy court administrator can be a lofty post, yeah, but hoisting a bull or a bully that high neither transforms nor lends nobility to the beast-- a bully in a china shop is just another bully out to wreak havoc. So this Supreme Court goon went after the lower cour...

N OMADS Sports Club must have acquired a taste for settling on tracts of land that turn into prime real estate stirring the greedy to try for a grab, not unlike a maniac drooling for coveted flesh. The 98-year-old non-stock, non-profit group composed of 60 percent Filipino and 40 percent foreigner voting members started out in the Ermita/Malate area in Manila on a spot where the Philippine President Lines Building sits now. The Japanese occupation evicted the club and in 1949, they moved to a rented lot in Makati, a sneeze off where Pasay Road meets EDSA. Yeah, another pricey place that went up for sale and raked profits in the 1960s. Nomads settled for the suburbs, leasing a 2.5-hectare tract in Merville Park, Parañaque from Nersan Corporation in 1969. Over the years that spread of land turned up as, say, a lot like prime beef that had vultures hovering, eager to devour. After the club was told that a company called Multisphere Trading offered to buy the land in 2007...

SA wikang Thai natalisod sa katagang “katha.” Katumbas pala ng mantra, oracion, dasal o panalangin na inuusal… may bisa pala para makamit ang anumang ninanais. May katha para matuhog ang dilag na nililiyag. May katha upang maging kaakit-akit sa paningin ng balana. Mayroon din para magkamal ng magandang kapalaran o maging magaang ang kabuhayan.  Nasumpungan din ang “katha” mula wikang Sanskrit. “Kamatayan” naman ang kahulugan. Katunayan, ang “Kamatayan na Tagapagturo” ang tuwirang kahulugan ng banal na aklat ng Persia na “Katha Upanishad.” “Hari” ang katumbas ng “wang” sa salitang Chino—naging “Juan” nga sa Nueva Ecija ang apelyido ng mas nakararaming bilang ng mga Chino, kaya hindi maipagkakaila ang malalim na agos ng kalinangan at gawing China sa naturang lalawigan… Sa dalawang kataga na pinagsanib—katha wang, katawan—mauungkat ang tahasang pag-iral at paghahari ng mga panalangin sa kabuuan ng katawan… tiyak mauulinig ang alingawngaw ng Banal na Kasulatan, “at ang Kataga ay...

Pangil sa pangilin APAT na kapatid sa hanapbuhay ang nakipagtipan sa kamatayan kamakailan, pawang nakababata sila sa inyong imbing lingkod… na patuloy ang walang humpay na pagpupugay at pangilin sa anghel ng kamatayan—Azrael, Osrail, Tar’athyail-- sa tuwina. Kaya yata nagkapangil mula pangilin, mwa-ha-ha-ha-haw! ‘Yung isa’y dinaluhong ng apat na lalaki—dalawa ang menor de edad—nang maalimpungatan sa pag-idlip sa panaderya. Hindi sumuong sa ulan, sumilong sa panaderya para magpalipas ng buhos-ulan, nakaidlip… at ‘yun nga, tinarakan. Pumalag kasi nang kinakapkap ang susi ng kanyang motorsiklo. Aba’y tumpak pala ang diskarte sa Batangas ni Brig. Gen. J. Franklin Bell sa digmaang Pilipinas-US nitong 1900— tinotodas ang edad-10 pataas dahil tulad niyong dalawang menor de edad na dumaluhong sa pobreng peryodista sa Antipolo, ubra na silang lumikha ng perhuwisyo… kaya masayang itumba’t ilagak sa DSWD ang kanilang bangkay para mapangaralan ukol sa pananagutan sa anumang gawain. Bangkay na tina...

Mental cramps DAILY rental for a house where a local television series may be shot runs from P15,000 to P50,000—quite a windfall for a homeowner whose abode grabs the fancy of a shooting location scout, ever on the lookout for settings that breathe chic, opulence, taste… maybe a certain ambiance or energy that hums and thrums in such living spaces. Or, maybe that which the late Third Reich mystic Karl Haushofer referred to as lebensraum , “living space” that had fueled the Nazi hunger for geographic expansion: “Space is not a vehicle of power. It is power.” The viewing fare jabbed like splinters into the eyes-- and minds-- of audiences trot out characters that, uh, they don’t belong to such spaces. They neither dwell nor live there. Somehow, those cardboard characters betray dysmenorrhea in demeanor, terminal spinal fractures of speech that limn muddled marshy mindset, aah, even cockroach sensibility and paralytic sensitivity. In short, they’re no better than zombies. Claims statesman...