Into the woods

The campaign jingle of a candidate for senator blared from a loudspeaker mounted on a small pick-up truck. It was 6:30 in the morning and we were stuck in traffic. Early morning drives are supposed to be relaxing but the noise pollution that the campaign jingle generated changed that. The jingle did a good job of keeping sleepy drivers awake but not much else. If campaign jingles were the sole criteria for choosing a candidate, I would not vote for her.

We were going to Baguio for the long weekend. It seemed like a good idea to go there and escape the scorching Manila heat.

Everyone must have had the same thought because the entrances to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) were jammed with vehicles.

We took the SCTEX and exited at Hacienda Luisita. The roads inside were festooned with campaign materials for Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas. In other parts of Tarlac, huge posters of Gilbert Teodoro were plastered in buildings. Posters of local candidates were more ubiquitous though and it was impossible to find a wall along the road without their faces.

The stretch of the highway from Tarlac to Pangasinan was likewise littered with campaign posters. Sadly, tree trunks were not spared. Posters were nailed to them, including posters of someone who claims to be a staunch environmentalist.

As we went further north, I noticed that posters of Bongbong Marcos increased in number. In an area near the border of La Union and Pangasinan, I did not see any posters except his. Classmates in an anthropology class had discussed how “regionalistic” Filipinos were. People from a particular province or region would vote for a candidate for a national post solely because that candidate is from the same region.

One of my classmates theorized that the reason for this was not regional or ethnic pride but something more pragmatic. People believe that only someone from the same province or region would show concern for a place (and bring in government projects) because he or she could benefit directly from it.

Congressmen and regional officers of government agencies are supposed to be the voices of people in a particular region. The President, senators, and officials of national agencies are supposed to take care of the national interest or be the voice everybody in the country. That national officials have the national interest in mind and look after all Filipinos is a theory that seems to find little application in reality.

As we climbed up Kennon Road, we were awed by the massiveness of the mountains of the Cordillera and the piles of rock and soil that served as grim reminders of previous landslides. We were also amazed by the efforts exerted by supporters of a presidential candidate who managed to paint his name on the steepest mountainsides. Boulders along the road were not spared from political graffiti. Defacing nature seemed to be the in thing along Kennon.

It was past one in the afternoon by the time we reached Baguio. We went straight to Bliss, my favorite vegetarian restaurant, and were soothed by its indoor fountains. The strawberries in my salad reminded me that the trip was a rare chance to have strawberries in almost everything I wanted. That weekend, I had more salads with strawberries, strawberry lassi, a strawberry muffin, chocolate-covered strawberries, and a kilo of fresh strawberries that I was happy to just stare at.

Except for a trip to the Bencab Museum and the market, we stayed inside Camp John Hay and skipped the famous landmarks. Evening walks under the stars and early morning walks with nothing but the birds and pine trees to keep me company made me forget about the elections temporarily.

Things will probably get crazier as May 10 gets closer. I just hope that we will elect people who cherish forests so that we will still have woods to get lost in by this time next year.

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