N.B. - This was published in Vol. 7, No. 16 (April 30-May 6, 2008) of Pinoy Weekly (p. 5), the full text of which may also be retrieved from http://pinoyweekly.org/cms/2008/04/pangako-sa-aming-magiging-anak.

May matindi mang kalungkutan sa bawat trahedya, hindi tayo dapat mawalan ng pag-asa.

Hanggang ngayon, malaking emosyonal na bagahe para sa amin ni Joy ang pagkawala ng sana’y una naming anak noong Mayo 3, 2005, eksaktong isang taon ang nakalipas nang pumunta si Joy sa aking opisina sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (UP) para magkita kami sa unang pagkakataon. (Isa ring pambihirang pagkakataon na ang Mayo 3 ay World Press Freedom Day!)

Sabi ng doktor, ectopic pregnancy daw ang dahilan at kinailangan ang madaliang operasyon ni Joy. Ito pala ang dahilan ng kanyang panaka-nakang pagsakit ng tiyan sa una’t ikalawang buwan ng pagbubuntis na akala namin ay normal lang.

Kung anong ligaya ang nadama namin noong malaman naming positibo ang resulta sa binili niyang pregnancy test kit ay siya namang lungkot namin pagkatapos ng operasyon. Sa sobrang depresyon, hindi na namin inalam pa kung saan inilibing ang anak naming kinuha sa kanyang sinapupunan nang napakaaga at walang hininga.

Marami sana kaming plano para sa aming magiging anak. May pangako kami sa bawat isa na magiging responsableng magulang at gagawin ang lahat para sa kanya.

Tuturuan ni Joy, halimbawa, ng tama’t mali ang aming anak. Ipapakita rin niya sa kanya ang kahalagahan ng gawaing bahay sa murang edad, isang bagay na hindi ko masyadong nakasanayan noong bata pa ako.

Ikikintal ko naman sa kanyang isipan ang kahalagahan ng pagbabasa, at nangako akong maglalaan ng panahon para lubusan niyang maintindihan ang mga librong ibibigay ko sa kanya.

Pauunlarin namin ang kanyang kaalaman hindi lang sa teorya kundi maging sa praktika. Ibibigay namin sa kanya ang lahat ng oportunidad para mag-aral, hindi lang sa loob ng silid-aralan kundi maging sa labas nito.

Mahusay si Joy sa pagdidisiplina, at sigurado akong magiging masunurin siyang anak. Pero ang pagiging masunurin ay hindi dapat mangahulugan ng bulag na pagtalima sa awtoridad kundi ng kritikal na pagsusuri sa dahilan ng mga kailangan niyang gampanan. Dahil komunikasyon ang aking larangan, malinaw sa usapan namin ni Joy na handa kaming magbigay ng kahit na mahabang paliwanag para maintindihan ng magiging anak namin ang klase ng pagpapalaking pinagdaraanan niya.

Igagalang namin siya tulad ng paggalang niya sa amin. Papagalitan kung kinakailangan, pero pupurihin kung may batayan.

Nasa kanya ang desisyon kung anong larangan ang papasukin niya, bagama’t ipapakita namin ni Joy ang aming magkaibang “mundo” – ako sa pamamahayag at pagtuturo, siya sa pagnenegosyo’t pagbabangko.

Tulad ng iba pang mag-asawang nais na magkaroon ng anak, marami na kaming paghahanda para sa sana’y magiging anak namin: Ang aming bahay sa Marikina ay may dalawang kuwarto, at malinaw na ang isa sa mga ito ay para sa kanya. May motorsiklo’t kotse kami para sa kanyang mas mainam na pagbiyahe. Marami nang halaman sa loob at labas ng bahay para sa kanyang paglanghap ng sariwang hangin.

Kumpleto na sa gamit, anak na lang ang kulang. Patuloy naming hinihintay ang kanyang pagdating.

May matindi mang kalungkutan sa bawat trahedya, hindi tayo dapat mawalan ng pag-asa. Kailangan nating isiping may katuparan para sa mga taong patuloy na nakikibaka at ginagawa ang lahat para matupad ang kanilang haraya.

Para makipag-ugnayan sa awtor, pumunta sa www.dannyarao.com.

For this installment of funny signs, let’s differentiate between the not-so-obvious errors and the glaring ones.

Arriving earlier than expected at a bus station in Cubao yesterday (April 10), a relative who was scheduled to take the night trip to Bicol went with me to a popular mall. But before going there, I can’t help but take a picture of a sign hanging on the door of a bus company.

The spelling of Naga, Ligao, Daraga and Tabaco (all of them in Bicol) is correct. What about the remaining one? The correct spelling should be Legazpi. I have to concede, however, that there are those who are wont to replace the “z” with an “s” in referring to this city, also in Bicol. Please note that this is wrong.

Inside a popular mall in Cubao, I noticed this summer promo at a retail outlet.

That the word “summer” was capitalized below is very minor. What proves to be unacceptable in English grammar is putting the letter “s” after the word “gear” which, in this particular case, is used as a collective noun.

The word “gears,” however, can be used when referring to the mechanism used to transmit and control motion from an engine. For example, our Honda Wave 125 has four gears. Our old-model Suzuki Vitara has automatic transmission with Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, 2 (second) and Low gears. (Hope you’re not thinking that I’m just using this post to link to my motorcycling and driving-related posts. Then again, I can’t blame you if you think that way.)

As regards our Vitara, I waited for my wife to arrive to consult her on the possibility of buying a cover for it. Even if expensive, we decided to buy one. When we arrived at our house, we were surprised by what we read on the label. Aside from the Vitara, other vehicles can use the cover, apparently even a misspelled one.

I am well aware that the series model of vehicles go by different names. What is known as Vitara in the Philippines, for example, is called Sidekick and Escudo in others. But the make (in this case Suzuki) never changes.

The same case holds for the Toyota. The current dry spell in the Philippines shouldn’t prompt us to rename it to Toyuta or Tuyota (tuyot, ah!). (For those who don’t know Filipino and don’t get the joke, tuyot means dry.)

Our last funny sign (definitely not from Cubao) was emailed by a former student, Julie Aurelio, who now works for one of the country’s leading broadsheets. She said that this was just forwarded to her by a reporter from another broadsheet, so I do not know who took this picture.

In any case, I think my earlier promise of ending with glaring errors has been fulfilled by this. Read it and try not to weep!

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!

N.B. - This was published in Vol. 7, No. 3 (January 23-29, 2008) of Pinoy Weekly (p. 5), the full text of which may also be retrieved from http://www.pinoyweekly.org/cms/2008/01/pulitika-peligro-ng-agresibong-pagmamaneho.

Madalas pag-awayan naming mag-asawa ang paraan ng aking pagmamaneho.

Mahirap mang aminin, may dahilan naman para magalit siya sa akin: Kung saan kasi ang lubak, doon ako napapadpad. Dahil masunurin ako sa mga markadong daan sa mga lansangan, hindi ako basta-basta lumilipat ng lane na siyang dahilan ng pagkaantala ng aming biyahe kung mabagal ang sasakyang nasa harapan ko.

Hindi ko rin gustong mag-eksperimento sa mga ruta na ikinagagalit din ng aking asawa, lalo na kung nagmamadali kami. Napansin ko kasing may mga kalyeng one way na walang nakalagay na marka, at bigla ka na lang huhulihin dahil sa isang kasalanang hindi mo naman alam. May mga kalye ring bigla na lang kumikipot o nagsasara dahil sa mga nagbebenta ng kung anu-ano. Para sa akin, hindi bale nang mahaba ang ruta, basta’t sigurado ka sa direksiyong pupuntahan. Sabihin mo nang aksaya ito sa gasolina, pero sa tingin ko’y mas ligtas ka namang makakarating sa patutunguhan.

Alam ko na ang sasabihin mo: Bago pa lang kasi akong nagmamaneho. Kahit na sabihin mong ilang beses na akong nakapagmaneho mula Maynila hanggang Cavite, Tagaytay, Lucena at kahit Camarines Norte, wala pa akong isang taong gumagamit ng sasakyan. Totoo, marami pa akong kakaining bigas kumpara sa mga beteranong drayber.

Pero kung anuman ang limitasyon ng aking karanasan, pinipilit kong punan ng praktikal na kaalaman. Bago pa man ako humawak ng manibela, nagbasa ako ng mga libro tungkol sa epektibong pagmamaneho. Siyempre pa, binasa ko nang buo ang manwal na kasama sa sasakyang binili namin. (Gusto ko mang kumuha ng pormal na pagsasanay sa pagmamaneho, napakamahal naman ng bayarin. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit pinakiusapan na lang ng aking asawa ang kanyang pinsan para turuan ako.)

Isinakonteksto ko rin ang sitwasyon sa lansangan, partikular ang mga estadistika tungkol sa mga aksidente na nakuha ko mula sa Philippine National Police Traffic Management Group (PNP-TMG). Alam mo bang noong 2006, nagkaroon ng 15,064 aksidente sa lansangan, o 41 bawat araw? Lumalabas na ang 4,182 aksidente ay dahil sa pagkakamali ng drayber. Ang iba pang pangunahing dahilan ng mga aksidente ay mekanikal na depekto (2,388), masyadong mabilis na pagpapatakbo (1,956), sariling aksidente (1,115), maling overtaking (1,067) at depekto sa mga lansangan (1,021).

Nagresulta ang mga aksidenteng ito sa pagkamatay ng 674 katao at pagkasugat ng 3,767. Nagkaroon din ng 10,623 kaso ng pagkasira sa ari-arian.

Akala ko noon, karamihan ng mga aksidente ay nangyayari sa gabi at karamihan sa mga ito’y kinasangkutan ng motorsiklo. Pero lumalabas sa opisyal na estadistika na noong 2006, 9,102 aksidente o 60 porsiyento ay nangyari sa araw na kung saan mas maraming sasakyan at mas matindi ang trapiko. At kung susuriin an gang pagkakahati ng mga aksidente ayon sa tipo ng sasakyan, pinakamarami ang mga aksidenteng kinasangkutan ng kotse (27 porsiyento) na sinundan ng motorsiklo (20.7 porsiyento), dyip (19.2 porsiyento), trak (11 porsiyento), traysikel (10.9 porsiyento), bus (7.6 porsiyento) at iba pa (3.6 porsiyento).

Ipinapakita ng mga estadistikang ito ang peligro ng agresibong pagmamaneho. Pero dapat tandaang may obhetibong batayan sa ganitong ugali at hindi lang ito basta-basta maiuugat sa “likas na masamang ugali” ng isang tao. Bakit nga naman dadaan sa peligro ang isang taong nasa matinong pag-iisip? Sino ba naman ang may gustong maaksidente?

Sa kaso ng mga taksi, dyip, traysikel at iba pang pampublikong sasakyan, parati silang may hinahabol na oras para makarami ng pasahero. Malaking bagahe para sa kanila ang trapiko sa lansangan, kaya ginagawa nila ang lahat para umiwas sa pagkakabuhol-buhol ng trapiko. Pero hindi ba’t madalas na ang mga kapwa nila drayber din ang kadalasang sanhi ng mga ito dahil sa kanilang basta-bastang pagpapasakay at pagpapababa ng kanilang pasahero?

Hindi man katanggap-tanggap ang klase ng pagmamanehong maaaring makaabala o makadisgrasya sa iba, kailangan ding isaisip ang panlipunang kalagayang nagtutulak sa mga drayber na gawin ang sa tingin nila’y nararapat para lang kumita.

Sa madaling salita, may konteksto ang anarkiyang nakikita sa mga lansangan, at may dahilan ang desperasyong nakikita sa agresibong paghawak sa manibela.

Kung susuriin mo ang aking pagmamaneho, mapapansin mong ako na mismo ang umiiwas sa mga pampasaherong sasakyan dahil alam kong maaaring maging walang pakundangan ang kanilang pagmamaneho. Hangga’t maaari, iniiwasan ko rin ang mga pangunahing lansangan tulad ng EDSA at C-5 at dinaraanan ko na lang ang mga kalyeng walang masyadong trapiko. (Buti na lang at maraming alternatibong ruta mula sa aming bahay sa Marikina hanggang sa UP Diliman!)

Tunay na ang anarkiya sa mga lansangan ay repleksiyon ng kaguluhang nangyayari sa ating lipunan. May malalim na dahilan sa agresibong pagmamaneho ng ating mga kababayan na hindi kayang lutasin ng kung anumang polisiyang ipapatupad.

Kaya kung gusto nating baguhin ang kalagayan ng ating lansangan, may mas malaking “bagay” tayong dapat baguhin na puwede mong sabihing dapat magsimula sa katagang “Patalsikin!”

Para makipag-ugnayan sa awtor, pumunta sa www.dannyarao.com.

What I earned last summer is big enough to fit in our garage!

Yes, you’re looking at a second-hand but well-maintained Suzuki Vitara 1996. Most of the students, faculty and staff of the UP CMC know that this used to be one of two vehicles of a senior faculty member who has recently retired. He decided to sell this to me at a very, very low price. Our “friendly deal” actually became a take-off point in a column article I wrote on activism titled “Palibhasa, aktibista.” (What does this have to with activism? Please read the article.)

We signed the deed of absolute sale in the middle of June. The day after the sale, I immediately did some practice driving with the help of my in-laws.

Look at me guarding the SUV with my life!

Right now, Joy and I are taking good care of the Vitara.

I consider the summer of 2007 as the most ”productive” in terms of additional income I earned from the various research projects, consultancies, television appearances and workshops I did over a two-month period. It was just by strange coincidence that the senior faculty member’s offer to sell his SUV came at a time when Joy and I can afford it.

Of course, my motorcycle will now have to be parked on our front yard. I think I will be using the motorcycle for short travels from now on.

In any case, I guess you can now say that I have been “promoted” from professional commuter to motorcycle rider to SUV driver!

Summer tends to bring back happy memories of loving, living and struggling.

Want to know the second most memorable summer experience for me? I learned how to ride a bike at the age of seven, thanks to my playmates who had enough patience to teach me for one whole day during summer. I then had a butterfly bicycle with a foot brake. If I remember right, I did not like it that much because it was rusty and not much of a head-turner. My mother, I think, bought it second-hand.

About five years later, my parents had enough money to buy me a 10-speed blue Motocross bicycle which, at one point, I used in going to school. I was the envy of my classmates, as well as other children, as there were only a few bicycles then that can shift gears. Unlike my old bicycle, most pedestrians and motorists would take a second look at me as I braved the streets of Caloocan City where we used to live.

I was already in high school when we moved to Novaliches, Quezon City. My interest in biking somehow waned as I became more preoccupied with academics and other school-related activities. I think there came a time when the blue bicycle I used to love became as rusty as the first due to my failure to properly maintain it. I don’t remember feeling depressed when, one morning, my mother told me the “sad” news that a thief somehow managed to go over our fence to steal my blue bicycle.

Fast forward to college, circa 1986. For my birthday, my mother gave me a very unusual gift: A black Honda 350-cc, 4-cylinder motorcycle which she bought from a neighbor. I became immediately hooked to biking again, this time with an engine that roars!

Never mind if it was second-hand. Never mind if, at that time, I could only ride around the subdivision — and some nearby streets before reaching the national highway — since I did not have a license. This motorcycle was a total head-turner and I was attracting a lot of attention by just simply standing beside it.

Trust me, this black motorcycle was such a beauty! Want proof? Look at the old, undated pictures below, both taken by my mother.

Riding without a helmet sometime in 1986! Yes, I wore jeans in the past!

That’s me posing, unsmiling as expected. Notice the broken left side mirror?
I took a spill as I tried to make a difficult turn.
How glad I was that only the side mirror was broken!

It did not take long, however, before we were forced to sell this motorcycle due to financial problems. This time, I really felt sad since I was deadset on getting a non-professional driver’s license so that I could ride my big bike to the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman where I studied.

That was more than 20 years (and 10 pounds) ago and, I have to admit, I longed for the day when I can have a motorcycle again. Thanks to Joy, we were able to buy one in time for my birthday in 2005 — less than 300 cc, but still a Honda. To be specific, a blue Honda Wave 125 MD. I think it was around this time that I was forced to apply for a student license so that I can ride our new motorcycle, subject to certain restrictions.

I actually got around to applying for a non-professional driver’s license at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Tabaco City. I even passed the written examination. However, my very busy schedule prevented me from taking the practical examination.

Small guy, big bike in the past; big guy, small bike now. Check out the pictures below, both taken by Joy.

 
That’s me in Tabaco City sometime in 2005. See, I’m now wearing a helmet!

That’s me holding the registration sticker sometime in 2006.
For security reasons, I erased the motorcycle’s plate number.

This motorcycle was bought in Bicol and we had to ship it to Manila in the latter part of 2006. I finally had some free time last February 20 so I went to the LTO — this time in Cainta which is nearest our house in Marikina City — to apply for a non-professional driver’s license. Unlike in Tabaco City where there were specific schedules for seminars and examinations, it only took me one day to get a drug test and medical exam; fill out the application form; attend the seminar; take the written and practical examinations; and get the license.

Of course, it wasn’t all that easy for others. There were more than 50 of us who applied that day for either a non-professional or professional driver’s license and only eight of us passed the written examination and were consequently allowed to take the practical driving test.

Since getting my license last February, I have been using the motorcycle to go around the metropolis. My riding experience in Tabaco City and Metro Manila actually prompted me to write two essays in Filipino on streets and motorcycling which were published in my column titled Konteksto in Pinoy Weekly. Do you remember “Lansangan bilang lunsaran” (February 28-March 6, 2007) and Diskarte at diskurso sa motorsiklo (March 7-13, 2007)?

Ah, the joys of motorcycle riding. Expect occasional posts about motorcycling in the days, months and years to come!

Incidentally, I cannot end without telling you my most memorable summer experience, although you should know this by now: It was the summer of 2005, my first summer as a married man!