THE ESSENTIAL FILIPINO

[Mike's Lucy 14]

THE ESSENTIAL FILIPINO

discovering dreams

-

a British journalist breezed into manila

with an assignment to write

about ‘the essential Filipino’

he smiled confidently over his easy assignment

relishing the free tour as complementary reward

-

for three days, he ran around searching

he rejected the business district of makati

which reminded him of cold and calculating london

he went to historical places in intramuros

but saw only a glimpse of the past not the present

-

next he tried the native cuisine at market market

delicious yes, but nothing on the essential filipino

he was getting not only tired but also nervous

that he has not found his ‘easy’ story yet

time was running out, he had to go back in two days

-

he wasted the next day on inconsequential probes

into malls, churches, monuments

on his last day, he wrote his editor saying that

no one can possibly write about the essential filipino

in so short time, he asked for an extension

-

he was expecting a week, the editor was kind

but he was given only one lousy day extension

in desperation and panic, on his last day

he took a wild stab at marketplaces

in singalong, he sat on a curb too tired to think

-

then he realized his mistake

he was looking for places not people

the thought hit him like a terrorist’s bomb

the essential filipino was a person not a place

how stupid could he be, he thought

-

sitting on the curb in exasperation

he began looking at faces that passed by

he noticed a boy selling fishballs from a rolling cart

he had a torn shirt and was barefoot

what attracted him was not the fishballs

-

the boy gyrated like michael jackson

unmindful of the noisy crowd around him

the journalist approached him

noticing the earphones he wore

he instantly realized it was loud music

-

music that drowned the noise

and transported the boy into his inner garden

the journalist had to scream

in order to bring him back into the real world

the boy removed the earphones

-

*****************

-

JOURNALIST

Hey, what are you doing?

-

BOY

Fishballs, sir, wanna buy?

-

JOURNALIST

Nice earphones, huh?

-

THE BOY GIVES THE EARPHONES TO THE JOURNALIST, WHO PUTS THEM ON. HE INSTANTLY REMOVES IT, ALMOST FALLING FROM THE DEFEANING ROCK MUSIC. THE BOY SMILES AND PUTS THEM BACK ON.

-

JOURNALIST

Hey, wait, we’re talking.

-

THE BOY REMOVES THE EARPHONES AND HANDS HIM THE TINY MP3 PLAYER FROM HIS POCKET. THE JOURNALIST EXAMINES IT.

-

JOURNALIST

Where did you get this? This is expensive, first-class mp3 player with first-class earphones. They don’t match your air-conditioned shirt.

-

HE FLICKS THE HOLE IN HIS SHIRT.

-

BOY

I saved income from selling fishballs for one whole year just to buy that. Nice huh?

-

JOURNALIST

Why don’t you buy a new shirt and shoes?

-

BOY

No need. Not important. Waste of hard earned money. Clothes don’t make me happy, only music.

-

JOURNALIST

You kill yourself selling fishballs the whole day for a year just to buy those?

-

BOY

Why not? What would you buy? What is your dream? Me, this is my dream, but it is no longer a dream. It’s real now. I don’t need shirts and shoes, just a dream of dancing to music. What is your dream anyway?

-

AT FIRST, THE JOURNALIST IS AT A LOSS FOR WORDS BECAUSE HE REALLY HAS NO ‘DREAM’ IN MIND, OR PERHAPS HIS DREAM IS TO FILE A STORY, THAT IS ALL, BUT THAT IS NOT REALLY A ‘DREAM’. A DREAM MUST BE SPIRITUAL AND FOREVER, AS IMPLIED IN THE BOY’S WORDS.

-

JOURNALIST

I guess I have no dream. Or yes I have a dream but it is not a good dream.

-

BOY

Too bad. You must be very sad. Buy yourself an mp3.

-

JOURNALIST

But that is not my dream.

-

BOY

So what is your real dream. There must be something you really really like.

-

JOURNALIST

I have been working so hard to survive that I forget what I really really like. My life is work work work.

-

BOY

But I also work work work. You must find your true dream and go for it.

-

******************

-

and so the british journalist

was beginning to discern the essential filipino

he was amazed how in his dire poverty

the boy rejected the very materialism

that was gradually destroying affluent society

-

the essential filipino was a free spirit

who was poor and happy all at once

perhaps it came from his insular environment

or from his distant past, his austronesian roots

of nomads in tiny boats roaming the vast seas

-

the journalist took out a notebook

and started writing frantically

the boy peered into his writing, trying to read

and said aloud ‘essential filipino … free spirit

spiritual dreams … nomadic boat people …

-

*****************

-

BOY

(Grabbing the notebook.) I know this is your dream. You just don’t know it. What you write here is your dream.

-

JOURNALIST

(Stunned at the boy’s perception.) I … I … I guess so.

-

BOY

It is not a guess. You know it. Once you know your dream, you must go for it, or else you will be very sad and soon you will die because you know you have no more reason to live for. You must go for a dream or die. You cannot live just to live, can you?

-

JOURNALIST

Guess not. Thank you for telling me my dream.

-

ALMOST IN TEARS, THE JOURNALIST HUGS THE BOY AND GIVES HIM A HUNDRED PESO BILL. THE BOY IS STUNNED.

-

BOY

What for?

-

JOURNALIST

Because you help me find my dream that was right in front of my nose all this while.

-

BOY

Yes, you cannot see things that are too near. You have to move back to see.

-

JOURNALIST

Go, buy yourself more music.

-

**********************

-

it took thirty minutes for the journalist

to write his story at his hotel

in ten electronic milliseconds

the story was at the editor’s desk

the editor replied

-

‘this is the best story yet for a long time

our staff writers write about absurd things

what you wrote is an important wisdom

for the affluent world from the impoverished world

stay there for a month and write me more’

-

the journalist had a field day

his dream, like the boy, was now a reality

he would hang around with street vendors

later, he moved to the countryside

and wrote about the wisdom of farmers and fishermen

-

he immersed himself in the essential filipino

poor, happy, equipped with a different kind of wisdom

unknown in the affluent world

he married a kalinga native and wrote a book

a best seller entitled ‘discovering dreams’

-

it was a poorlittlerichboy

selling sticks of fishballs for six US cents each

which ignited his soul

the essential filipino whose ancient wisdom

was hard to find in civilized places he knew

-

eastwind

-

_________________________________________

where goodness abounds

there also is evil lurking

to sow confusion and hatred

-

where evil abounds

there also is virtue lurking

to sow harmony and peace

-

the tension between good and evil is everywhere

we perpetrate one or the other

the destiny of the world is up to each of us

-

_________________________________________

mahatma gandhi’s principle of non-violence

revolves around the concept that –

-

peace is a more powerful weapon than war

a smile is more powerful than a sneer

a whisper is louder than a scream

the calm is in the eye of the storm

and total darkness recedes

when a single candlelight glows

-

_________________________________________

we pedestal great men, creating semi-gods

like michael jackson and john lennon

not knowing the fame and fortune we bestow

would devour their spirits and consume them totally

-

of what use is the tall pedestal

men tell us to scale

when we would grow into giants

and fall with a resounding crash

-

better to be a happy unknown ant

than a sad noted giant

there is virtue in anonymity

and folly in popularity

[sweet angel 5]

Thank u for sharing...really touches one's heart. True that the grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Godbless!

[DoakAdams 0]

hi, saan ka dito sa Texas?

[luckymom 0]

That was very good!!!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

This is obviously some kind of spam email based on the formatting and therefore most likely an exaggerated, anecdotal story.

While you may find some very poor Filipinos with expensive mp3 players, you'll also find them with expensive shoes, clothing, sunglasses....just about anything that is regarded as western symbols of material wealth. They are in fact fascinated and drawn to our western culture of consumerism. And most often, they get these very expensive items from relatives living abroad.

This journalist didn't venture very far...he could have just gone to a local church during Sunday Mass and looked at the parking lot filled expensive cars that contrast against the many poor who ride in jeepney's or hubble-hubble to get around in. The disparity between the rich and poor in the Philippines is not a model that any other country, especially a developed country should ever aspire to. Yes, you will find many poor Filipinos who are happy, but you're kidding yourself if you believe that they don't want the same things that you want, or for that matter possess.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Galt's gallstones

[DARUMA07 25]

This is obviously some kind of spam email based on the formatting and therefore most likely an exaggerated, anecdotal story.

While you may find some very poor Filipinos with expensive mp3 players, you'll also find them with expensive shoes, clothing, sunglasses....just about anything that is regarded as western symbols of material wealth. They are in fact fascinated and drawn to our western culture of consumerism. And most often, they get these very expensive items from relatives living abroad.

This journalist didn't venture very far...he could have just gone to a local church during Sunday Mass and look at the parking lot filled expensive cars that contrast against the many poor who ride in jeepney's or hubble-hubble to get around in. The disparity between the rich and poor in the Philippines is not a model that any other country, especially a developed country should ever aspire to. Yes, you will find many poor Filipinos who are happy, but you're kidding yourself if don't think that they don't want the same things that you want, or for that matter possess.

....Could not agree more!