MANGKOKOLUM!

Aanhin pa ang kabayo kung patay na ang damuho? PULOT, darak, tubig saka grassolina - ganoon ang kailangan para maipasada ang one-horsepower kalesa. Magbawas man ang damuho sa kalsada, mag-uunahan ang mga mahilig maghalaman sa deposito de caballo. Organikong abono na mahusay sa halaman ang tuyong dumi ng kabayo. Hindi rin parusa sa bulsa ang mga sangkap para manatiling in good running condition ang kabayo. Susulak sa inggit ang mga hinayupak na oil multinationals: grassoline is crude as crude gets and is immune from such phenomena as OPEC production cuts, price backwardation or contango, manipulated landed costs and stiff excise taxes, mwa-ha-ha-haw! Grassoline is nearly pure cellulose, a little lignin laced with lots of chlorophyll, vitamins A, B-complex and C, minerals and phytochemicals - nagtusak sa tabi-tabi ng mga ilog, parang, sapa at pilapil. Ibig lang sabihin: totally compliant sa Clean Air Act ang grassoline fuel for the one-horsepower kalesa. Now, that's ...

The greater portion of walls in my current abode are bare. I like 'em walls to be that way -- chewed clean like bone, empty of nuances yet pregnant with possibilities. I construe those walls as a reflecting mirror, as an "expression of the inmost self." Anyhow, one imparts generous portions of himself in his milieu, infects the very space he occupies with his sensibilities. I could do some carpentry, fix in a shelf, fill it with my books-- and the wall speaks volumes about me. Woodcraft and reading matter and all the bric-a-brac dumped there would proclaim of the human presence that redefined those confining walls with a few strokes, some choices of materials imbued there. One could tack a nude centerfold (there's a Hokusai woodblock print of a woman vendor with bared breasts that I recently downloaded from the Internet) or any present-day icon (I'd like U2's Bono and his quote about singing, "All it takes is three! chords and the truth."), a...

Three minutes went into the awkward swap of fist blows between two FX van barkers at Cogeo village’s gate 2, a traffic-chokepoint in newly minted Antipolo City. Neither appeared seriously hurt. Not a blood droplet drawn. No gash, visible bruise or snapped bone. Both were gushing with curses and taunts. They were about to have another go at it when a burly cop appeared, collared them both, dragged ‘em across the street intersection -- the fray had traffic choked in knots -- to a police outpost. Those blokes may be booked for public scandal, peace and order violation (say, POV was catch-all crime of political detainees in the Marcos years), traffic obstruction. Probably, even littering. Puwit, my youngest son witnessed the scuffle. It broke out in front of the Cubao-bound FX van that we had hailed and were about to board. The barkers, a pair of scrawny-looking chaps in their late 20’s or early 30’s had fought over P10 -- pittance sum that a driver pays a barker to call for passen...

My kid started off the mat-covered ground we were sleeping on. It was two in the morning. It felt like the ground air was freezing. The kid peeled the blanket he had wrapped himself with, then, proceeded stoking remnants of last night’s bonfire with an armful of cogon sheaves. Wispy tendrils rose off the ashes; embers bloomed; fiery petals resembling a chrysanthemum’s swayed and swung at the chill. “ Ganito pala dito, Papa. Lumalamig na todo,” he muttered, rubbing his hands together. “ Oo. Parang ginaw sa Benguet ‘pag madaling araw. Kaya pala meron din ditong rono.” “Rono?” “ Talahib-Cordillera. Narito rin sa Sierra Madre. Ginagamit sa La Trinidad na pantulos sa kamatis, sa sitsaro. Pati sa chrysanthemum.” “Ibig sabihin: puwede dito tumubo ang chrysanthemum?” the kid yawned. “May taniman nga ng Benguet pine si Chito Bertol sa kabilang bundok. Hindi kasi maselan ang pine tree. Kumakasa sa cogon. Tutubo kahit baog na’ng lupa. Pero bago tayo makapagpatubo ...

TAXPAYERS can assert that capital punishment is taxes. As added assault and insult to his bled-dry pockets, the taxpayer has to bear the brunt of paying for every death convict’s penal board and lodging while our non-honorable senators are making up their minds whether heinous crimes have palpable existence or are mere figments of the imagination. It is likely that the paltry P15 daily food expenditure (based on 1985 prices) per inmate had jumped to a more realistic P150 level. With over a thousand convicts on death row – including the much-awaited possibility of an ex-President getting dumped there for multiple counts of plunder -- that means taxpayers bleed over P150,000 each day -- or some P55 million per year to keep ‘em dead men walking with full stomachs. As show of earnest sincerity, every anti-death penalty proponent can put his money where his mouth is. Taxpayers would readily appreciate the bleeding heart arguments for sparing death convicts if anti-death penalty ...

TATLO nang balita ng kamatayan sa ilog at kauring daluyan ng tubig ang nasadsaran ng tingin nitong nagdaang dalawang buwan. Tiyak na may mga kasunod pang balita sa mga susunod na buwan. Maisasalpak sa Journal Online . Sa tibagan sa ilog ng Biak na Bato, San Miguel de Mayumo sa Bulakan—siyam ang nalunod na mga paslit. Hindi matiyak ang dahilan kung paano sabayang nalunod ang ganoon kadami. Mapapapalatak. Ganoon ding bilang ang nalunod sa isa pang balita—mga Boy Scouts nasawi sa isang bayang pampangin sa Pangasinan. Sa pinakahuling ulat: natagpuan ang naaagnas nang bangkay ng isang Prana Escalante sa isang ilog sa Bundok Halcon ng Mindoro. Talaksan ang naiwang galos sa hubad na katawan. Naligo marahil. Sinakmal ng iglap na ragasa ng baha. Tiyak na humampas sa mga matalim na batuhan. Sa ganoon ding paraan nasawi ang anak ng kaibigang pintor sa paanan ng Bundok Apo sa Davao—tila layak na itinalyang ang katawan sa kisap-matang halihaw ng iglap na baha sa binabaybay na ilog. Laso...

It takes only a pound per square inch -- one PSI -- of force to snap the rib cage, poke a way into a man's heart. It’s so disheartening to see that your average grade school child these days has to tote a bag bursting to its seams with books and things that can weigh over 13 pounds. That’s probably more than a tenth of the average school kid's body mass. I could be wrong. Any academic can rave and rant to render this whit of probability into something moot and, well, academic: the school bag-generated force can add up to two or three PSI which clamps down on the shoulder blade and collar bone. That causes childish discomforts -- bruises, cramped muscles, sprains, even bone dislocations. Academics can always construe this as dutiful obedience to an admonition of Christ’s: “Whatever ye do to these children, ye do it unto me.” So, off to Golgotha these kids go on schooldays cheerfully lugging their crosses, I mean, burdens. Well-meaning parents can ease their kids’ peni...

THE PLATE held five or six snipes, halved and oozing with a melange of grease and burnt soya-colored gravy. In Tagalog-speaking areas, we call these birds as kanduro . Enterprising farm-based traders (mostly from Bulacan and Pampanga) net ‘em by sackfuls, peddle a dozen-per-string of snipes in plush neighborhoods in the metropolis. Steep price to pay for a lean gaggle of birds that takes hours to dress, marinate, and cook. It was a late breakfast treat from the Upsilonian brod and Shell training farm manager. He wanted my taste buds to bring home a fond memory of a local Bicol delicacy, concocted by a carinderia off the Legazpi airport. So I dug in, divining the marinade’s ingredients with the first few morsels chewed -- dark soy sauce, kalamansi, sugar, Seven-Up or Sprite, and garlic. No hint of gaminess with the flavor a quaint closer to a combo of quails and bacon’s than free-range chicken’s. The Upsilonian insisted that I finish the job. Instead, I let out a bellyfu...

On the third day of the fast, while hewing a leg-sized log on a rock shelf above the stream where my three children and I have encamped for the Holy Week, a battalion of lulumbo wasps -- each no smaller than a pinkie finger -- came out of the rotted bole, swarmed as massing thunderhead, then buzz-bombed like a storm at surprised me with venom, concentrating their attacks upon my head. Nowhere to turn to except a three-meter drop on the stream bed strewn with pebbles and boulders, I hacked at a nearby bush, wielded it and swatted and swiped and flung and swung while beating a not-so-hasty retreat -- a three-meter drop can be ruinous to one’s health -- with a headful of pain. I couldn’t scream off the wash of pain. So those wasps either picked or pickled my brains with venom and made a swell-headed oaf out of me for unwittingly doing a demolition job on their abode -- but how was I to know? I am supposed to rid inner impurities, keep a clear head during a misogi harai -- a spiri...

BACOLOD CITY -- The order for repast hereabouts sounds too near to the military than the alimentary -- “ sutukil .” Such an order spells out the staple culinary delights enjoyed by Negrenses: sugba (broiled seafood), tula (fish-based soured soup), and kilaw (raw seafood or fishmeat morsels wallowing in palm vinegar, julienned ginger, hot pepper shreds and shallot slivers livened up at times with coconut cream). An assortment of fish species and shoal dwelling critters, say crabs, lobsters and bivalves like diwal and scallops caught off the waters or mudflats girding Negros island provide ample rounds of “ammunition” for sutukil recipes. Unlike continental cuisine, Negrense yummies rely on scant condiments to conduct a symphony of flavors in their cookery. Sugba is a theme on simplicity -- seafood fresh off the brine tossed onto the grill, dished out half-done to retain broad hints of saline sweetness, to be rounded out with a dipping sauce of sinamak (nipa palm v...

MALINAW ang inihayag na dahilan ng nakausap na kawani sa Dairy Training & Research Institute (DTRI) ng UP-Los Baños: kulang ang gatas mula sa kanilang bakahan kaya wala silang magawa’t maipagbiling puting keso. Nakasanayan nating gamitin bilang sangkap sa samut-saring ensaladang gulay ang kesong puti. Ilang himay na ulo ng letsugas, ilang hiwa ng kamatis at pipino, pinong gayat ng luya’t lasona saka tipak-tipak na kesong puti—maringal nang katambal ng kahit tinapang Salinas. Sapak sa sinaing na tulingan o tambakol, kahit sa inihaw na hito o bulig. Kahit lang sa hawot o tunsoy na tuyo. Kahit pa sa roast lamb chops. Madalas na simutin ng mga anak ang kesong puti. Masarap kasing palaman sa hot pandesal. Maituturing na kabilang kami sa mga masugid na tumangkilik ng kesong puti mula DTRI sapul nang P20 sambalot ang presyo nito. Mga P35 na ngayon. Wala pang mabili. Nailuwas na hanggang Metro Manila ang kesong puti ng DTRI nitong ilang huling taon ng dekada 1980. Madali nang ...

IT WAS flesh ramming into metal. There’s no arguing when a lanky eight-year old slams himself into a four-by-four crawling at less than 20 kph around noon, first day of Ramadhan; he flies off a few feet from impact, gets bruises on his face plus a pock of a wound on his pate from that sudden smooch with a vehicle’s signal light (smashed), then, a spread of asphalt (intact). Never mind the usual mob gathering at her heels, the lady driver stops, scoops up battered victim in a jiffy, heads to the nearest clinic for more than usual swabbing of betadine on bruises—say, X-ray and a cranial scan. Find out if the kid got more than scratches inside him. Turnout: the clinic’s lacks staff, facilities. Off rushed the offending four-by-four to get, shall we say, a second opinion? A few hours later, the kid’s aggrieved kin finally caught up with the driver at a hospital—the kid’s X-ray and CT scan’s gone stale. Surface scratches, yes. No fracture, not a dot of blood clot. No internal harm ...

NAGLISAW na lagda ng salaula: samut-saring kalat sa bawat sulok at panig ng Picnic Grove, Tagaytay City. Ilang saglit ding nakapulong ang isa sa mga tauhan ng naturang looban (tahasang salin ng “grove”). Hindi pa rin siya napuknat sa pagwawalis ng mga ikinalat ng samut-saring salaula na dumalaw sa lugar. Kailangan kasing palisin ang mga lantad na patalastas sa lupa. Plastik. Bote. Tuhugan ng barbecue. Basyong pakete ng sigarilyo’t sitserya. Upos. Pira-pirasong papel. Pagkaing panis. Bawat isa’y nagsusumigaw sa latag ng lupain. Bawat piraso’y tatawag ng pansin. Magpapahayag: “Hoy, mga hindot! Pumasyal kami dito’t heto ang iniwan naming bakas. Masdan at sumuka kayo!” Hindi pa man naiimis ang iniwang kalat ng mga nakaalis, dadagsa ang panibagong kawan ng mga namamasyal. Muli: mag-iiwan ng panibagong dungis at dusing sa mukha ng lupain. Kaya hindi makaugaga sa walang latoy pero walang patid na daloy ng pagwawalis. Sinabihan ko ang nagwawalis na kung panay ganoon ang takbo...

BARAKONG KAPE na may kanaw na gatas ang agos ng apaw na ilog, may hilang butil ng banlik, samut-saring halimuyak, layak. Pati mga isda't hipong natulingag. Minsan, may tangay ding ahas, bayawak, manok, kambing, biik. Kung anu-anong nahagip sa halihaw ng hangin at ulan. Masarap ang adobong ahas sa kakang gata. Malinamnam ang laman ng bayawak na tinuyo sa alagaw, bawang at tanglad. Banayad na humahagod sa puso ang kikislap sa isip na mga lutuin—the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Cogito ergo dimsum ... Oo, 'haplos sa puso' ang katuturan ng dim sum . Buhos-baha ng biyaya ang maaaring masipat sa ganitong haplit-haplos ng panahon — alinman sa 20 unos na nakatakdang rumagasa sa bansa bawat taon upang magdilig o mangwasak ng pananim, magtipon ng tubig sa mga imbakang dam. Sa saganang tubig, mababaha tayo; sa katiting na tubig, mababaho tayo. Nakatukod ang pagtindig, pilit binubuwag sa suwag ng agos sa gilid ng ilog, paulit-ulit na isusulsol sa ilalim ang...

WRITING is focused thinking. So if you want to write in earnest, stop watching television. TV makes you lose precious focus. And it nudges most folks into hare-brained thinking—they get to soak up all that trash purveyed by the idiot box, from lousy turns of phrase, carabao English plus kalabaw Filipino, feigned affectations off talk shows to trivia passed off as news. Two-dimensional sight won’t engender insight. Afternoon at a vacant lot run over by weeds across our abode in Ciudad Real (that's in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, about a four-hour commute northeast of Manila), we bumped into a gaggle of children keen on catching dragonflies—pretty live playthings. Catching such wee critters can be a field test of patience. And pinpoint focus. Say, a dragonfly's an airborne predator gifted with zillions of eyes entirely filling up its head to keep keen watch for prey on the wing. Too, a dragonfly is equipped with two pairs of wings—lightweight and lacy, yet, suff...

KINILALANG tirador ng tinambangang mataas na pinuno ng NAIA ang isang Waray mula Leyte. Tinambangan ang naturang pinuno sa isang subdivision sa Parañaque City. Batay sa pahayag ng isang saksi sa hiwalay na pananambang sa Anda Circle, Bonifacio Drive sa Port Area ng Maynila, ang naturang Waray pa rin ang bumaril sa isang collector ng Bureau of Customs. Nadakip ng pulisya ang tirador sa Taguig, may limang milya ang layo sa kanyang tirahan sa Pasay City. Namamasukan siya bilang makinista. Kumikita marahil sa ganoong kayod—pero tiyak na hindi sapat. Inihayag ng pulisya na natuklasan din nila na may nakabimbin pang kontrata ang tirador. Isa pang malaking tao ang nakatakdang birahin ng tirador. Presyo ng hindi natupad na kontrata: P2,500,000. May kahirapang subaybayan ang pagkilos ng ganoong batikan. Nakapako ang kanyang lungga sa isang lunan. Pero hindi nakapako ang lawak na kanyang kinikilusan— nakasaklaw mula lima hanggang 20 milya o higit pa ang ka...

NAKAGISNAN nang ganoon ang tawag sa dalandan—sintunis, Ilang ulit na nahapyawan ang ganoong taguri sa katutubong kahel mula sa ilang sinulat ni Apolinario Mabini, tubong nayon ng Talaga sa Tanauan, Batangas. Mag-isa niyang binuno’t inakda ang unang Saligang Batas ng bansa na pinagtibay sa Malolos. Sa kanyang kabataan, araw-araw siyang naglalakad mula Tanauan tungo sa Lipa—higit 20 kilometrong lakarin-- para pumasok sa paaralan. Kaya marahil nalumpo. Lumpo sa yapak, malawak gumalugad ang utak. Natukoy siya na utak ng himagsikan kontra sa mga sumakop na Amerikano. Nasakote. Ipinatapon sa Guam. Habang tiwalag sa sariling lupain hanggang sa pag-aagaw-buhay, nag-umalpas sa gunita ang mga hanay ng punong sintunis na kalapit ng tinubuang dampa sa nayong Talaga, nakadunghal sa Lawang Taal. Nakalakhan na ang sintunis— mula uring Szinkom hanggang mala-mandarin orange na uring Ladu—na kabilang sa mga madalas lantakan noong kamusmusan. Mas mura kasi kaysa kahel-California o Perrante or...

HABANG kinakapitan ng tahong at talaba ang sinakyang bus sa gitna ng trapik sa EDSA Megaparking Lot, nakatuwaang bilangin ang hagod ng suklay sa buhok ng kalapit na babaeng pasahero. May hitsura. Bihis pang-opisina. Kinosmetik na mukha. Bagong paligo. Amoy pabango. Mahigit sandaang kalaykay ang naitakal sa ulunan. Wala namang napagpag, umalimbukay na balakubak o garapata kaya, mwa-ha-ha-haw! Hardin din siguro ang ulunan. Kailangang kalaykayin at sinupin ang mga kalat, tuyong dahon at yagit sa panimula ng bawat araw. Nakagawian ng isa kong abuela ang ganoong tahimik na rituwal tuwing umaga. Nagsisinop sa paligid. Tila sariling ulunan ang paligid – higit sa sandaang hagod ng walis at kalaykay ang iniuukol. (Kahit kutis-ampalaya, mas marikit pa rin sa paningin ang aking abuela. Kasi, ang kanyang gawain ang naglalapat ng kariktan. We define ourselves with what we habitually do. A chicken cackles all day and proclaims itself a cackling chicken. Unskilled dullards cackle all day and...

Ages back when life was simpler and sweeter, our forebears gifted us with equally plain and preciously simple names that stuck. No, such awkward-sounding names don’t suck. Our forebears meant well. The names breathed of the spiritual, every name professing the bearer’s faith. Their plainness throbbed and thrummed of the Filipino collective soul’s yearning for protection and guidance from benign powers-that-be. Sure, most of ‘em names didn’t sound musical, extraordinary, fashionable or reeked of the “stateside” unlike the names whimsically tabbed to offspring of city dwellers. The plainest Juan was a pleading for God’s boon. The name means “blessed of God.” Awkward-sounding Pedro or Petra signifies more than musical rock – it’s the Rock upon which the incarnate God built his place of worship. Such a name was home-shrine to holiness and rock-solid traits. To our old folks, each name was a magical mantra, an orison for invoking power bequeathed to a beloved heir. They treasured t...