Home for the homeless

Some 890,000 sacks of NFA rice arrived recently from Vietnam. Did you know that those are products of Vietnamese farmers who learned how to plant rice in Los Banos, Phl?

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If you’re sick and your place is hit by a 14-hour (5 am to 7 pm) brownout, what would you do? Of course, nothing. Wait for the light to be back. It’s a sin to wish the power provider harm.

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That’s the length of  time we didn’t have power in our place last Sunday, Aug. 17. I was sick and literally tired and too powerless to rise and shout “Bunooo!”

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Amid a flickering candlelight I tried to keep my sanity intact by reading some Tagalog tabloids. And I came across two headlines that kind of reduced my stress: “Totoy kinatay ng beki” and “Totoy kinagat ng aso.”

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In some exotic eateries in Manila they serve salads made of flowers like gumamela and sampaguita. Now the flowers on your plate can be eaten. Remember that joke about a barrio man who was seen scraping the flower design on his dinner plate? Now the flowers are for real.

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Here are some more “superlatives” from my friend and media colleague Loy Jurado: The deadliest weapon is the tongue: the ugliest personality trait is selfishness, the greatest asset is faith, the most endangered species are the dedicated leaders, the most dangerous neighbor is a gossiper. Thanks again, Loy, for helping me fill up my space today.

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Commenting on the news story about the thousands — or maybe millions — of Filipinos still homeless, Mrs. Caridad Alano of Mandaue City said in an e-mail message: “Billions and billions of pesos are spent on the construction of multistoried residential buildings but not a room for our homeless.”

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She asked: “Is it not possible for our lawmakers to pass a law requiring builders of multistoried condominiums and other buildings to build as prerequisite residential houses no matter how simple for our poor homless citizens?”

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Thank you, Mrs. Caridad Alano, for your e-mail. Yes, Ma’am, I will try to send a copy of our communication to Congress. Your concern for our homeless “kaigsuonan” should also be the concern of everyone who is in the position to help. Like the honorable lawmaker.

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OVERHEARD. People continue to talk about PNoy’s political agenda. What’s his agenda? One observer said: “pulos lang tag-an tag-an unsay plano ni PNoy. Way klaro.” Said another kibitzer: “Gipaminaw pa ni PNoy ang huyop sa hangin. Another observer: “Ampo lang ta nga way dautan nga hangin ang mosud sa ulo ni Noy.”

nitzjab@yahoo.com

 

 

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