Ms. Necessity…My Best Teacher, Ever!

Ms. Necessity…My Best Teacher, Ever!

by Apolinario Villalobos

 

Each of us has one teacher in our lifetime that stands out. While others consider their Math teacher as the best, some consider their English teacher as one. Mine, is Ms. Necessity…my best teacher…ever!

 

Born without the proverbial silver spoon in my mouth since childhood, struggle has become synonymous with my life…but Ms. Necessity was always just a few feet ahead of me to show the way. For my thirst for knowledge at an early age, Ms. Necessity made me collect old newspapers that lined the inside of boxes of dried fishes that my parents sold in the market. For doing so, I earned not only bouts of pinches from my elder sister but ear- twitching, as well, because the bundles of papers that I brought home made them pinch their nose. I had to keep them under a bed and would bring them out when I was alone to admire the big letters that I would copy on our dusty yard. Every space of our yard would be filled with words copied from newspapers that smelled of dried fish…and so was I, too, at the end of the day.

 

When I finally entered a school room as a “visitor” (equivalent of the prep today), Ms. Necessity told me to use discarded plastic bags found in a dump beside a bakery near our home for my “school bag”, so I went there and gathered as many sturdy bags as I could find. I got me plenty of “school bags”, some of which I kept as spare. Our parents could not afford to buy us real school bags which during the time were considered as novelties that only the rich in our town could afford. Ms. Necessity also told me to make my own raincoat out of the discarded plastic bags. Not only was I able to make one for me, but also another one for an elder brother.

 

For school allowance, Ms. Necessity told me to sell ripe fruits of our star apple in the market on Saturdays and Sundays. Ms. Necessity also told me to ask our neighbor for their fallen ripe tamarind fruits so that I could sell them in school. Due to the abundance of bulgur wheat and oatmeal doled out by American missionaries in our school that I and my brothers brought home, Ms. Necessity told us to persevere on them for breakfast and lunch rather than go to school with empty stomach. Some months, the school was also given yellow corn meal that the Home Economics teacher cooked and given to the children during recess period. Ms. Necessity told me to fashion a cup out of pad paper to hold the gruel cooked into thick and sticky consistency that I slurped down without the use of spoon as I had none. The rest of the pupils brought cup or saucer and spoon. Those were my colorful elementary days, with Ms. Necessity beside me.

 

Later in life, after overcoming the pains of loss of loved ones and consistent wants, Ms. Necessity told me to persist and just go ahead in following my dreams which I did. She made me accept things as they were without any regret or complaint. Ms. Necessity told me that despite the vastness of life, it was brimming with opportunities for those who were not finicky and could be grabbed by dint of hard work. Many times did she remind me about it…that I proved to be just true.

 

What is nice about Ms. Necessity is that she never leaves me until now. I thank God, for giving me such a great teacher as Ms. Necessity!

 

 

Man is not Alone in Facing the Odds

Man is not Alone in Facing the Odds

By Apolinario Villalobos

 

It pays to always remember to take everything with a grain of salt. Life is not always as rosy as any positivist wants to look at it that way. There are always kinks along the way. And, the best way not to lose patience is by taking life not so seriously, but of course, with some reservations. In order to maintain our sanity in this world, we have to be in synch with the realities of life.

 

Even the filthy rich have their own problems, tons of them! One is how not to pay the appropriate tax so that they can add the savings to their already fat bank accounts. Another is how to surpass the wealth of others so that they are assured of at least any of the first five slots in the annual list of the richest people on earth. Still, another is how to find a bank that could assure them of utmost secrecy about their accumulated wealth. And, there are many more….

 

At the other end of the scale, are denizens of the slums, and who are faced with problems where to get another handful of rice to be cooked into gruel for their starving children. There are kids who can’t sleep nights in thinking of ways to augment their earnings from selling scrap, so that they can buy another school bag and a pair of slippers or shoes. Still others are teachers who cry to heavens for help so that they can redeem their ATM cards from the hands of loan sharks.

 

If only the trees can talk and scream, even them, would loudly protest the indiscriminate toppling of their kind by greedy big-time loggers who gag the mouth of equally greedy local officials, and agency officials with wads of peso bills. If only the earth could just even belch in protest, they would be groaning in pain as illegal miners continue to abuse them for their mineral deposits.

 

Yes, man is not alone in facing the odds…

 

 

 

Ipagdasal Daw ang Mga Sangkot…sabi ng isang “banal”

Ipagdasal Daw ang Mga Sangkot

Sa PDAF Anomaly…sabi ng isang “banal”

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

 

May isang Fr. Delfin Castro na nagbitaw ng mga salitang hindi yata niya inisip muna. Sabihin ba namang ipagdasal daw ang mga sangkot sa eskandalo ng PDAF. Pari ng simbahang Katoliko ang nagbitaw ng mga ganoong pahayag. Para na niyang sinabi na kawawa naman ang mga sangkot dahil wala silang ginawang masama. Bulag yata siya, o isa sa mga naambunan ng “grasya”, isang bagay na inamin na ng mga kasama niyang nakasotana. Kung hindi rin lang sila nakakatulong sa mga kaso ng anomalya sa gobyerno, dapat tumahimik na lang ang mga katulad niyang “pari”. Dapat ituon na lang nila ang kanilang panahon sa pagtulong sa mga taong sa bangketa nakatira, mga batang namumulot ng plastik at bote upang may pambaon sa eskwela, mga namamalimos na Badjao, at iba pang dapat tulungan. Ang mga paring tulad niya ang nakakasira sa simbahang Romano Katoliko.

 

Isang kapwa niya pari ang sumalo sa kanya sa pagsabi na ang sinabi daw ng Fr. Castro ay hindi pahayag ng simbahang Katoliko. Ganoon sila. Kung may bulilyaso, kanya-kanyang hugas ng kamay. Dapat lahat ng pari, bigyan ng instruction na bago magsalita tungkol sa mga bagay na walang kinalaman sa simbahan, unahan nila ng: “This is my own opinion, o sarili ko itong pananaw, bahala na ang Diyos sa akin…” Ang hirap kasi sa mga ito, dahil nakasuot sila ng abito o sotana, akala mo otoridad na sila sa lahat ng bagay dahil sila ay “maka-Diyos”…kaya?

 

Dapat pagsabihan ng pinakamataas na Obispo ng Pilipinas na gayahin na lang ng mga pari ang mga aksiyon o ginagawa ng bagong Santo Papa na umiikot sa mga taong masa, mga nangangailangan ng mga bagay na hindi lang material kundi pati na rin ispiritwal. Ilan na ba sa mga pari ang pumunta sa mga lugar ng iskwater? Mabuti pa yong isang pari o Obispo ng simbahang Aglipay na ang simbahan ay nasa pusod ng isang squatter’s area sa Malumot, Barangay ng Real 2, Bacoor. Diretso sa mga taong nangangailangan ang kanyang pagsisilbi. Hindi na kailangan pang pumunta sa malayo ng mga tao upang makinig ng mga salita ng Diyos. Simple lang din ang pamumuhay niya…na paulit-ulit na panawagan ng bagong Santo Papa sa lahat ng kaparian.

 

Huwag magmaang-mangan na matalino at kayang magbitaw ng mga salitang tulad ng bagong Santo Papa, ang ibang paring Katoliko, lalo na sa mga isyung nangyayari ngayon sa Pilipinas dahil nakakagulo lamang sila. Tama na yong may umamin na naambunan nga ng “grasya” ng pork barrel. At least, honest yong umamin, dahil bandang huli na lang niya nalaman, kaya lumalabas inosente siya. At, malamang nagamit din niya sa tamang paraan.

 

May isa pa ring pari na pinaniniwalaang “nakakagamot” daw. Dahil sa paniwalang ito ng ilang “nagamot” daw, nag-take chance naman ang pari. Nag-fund raising na animo ay pulitiko na naghahanda sa eleksiyon. Ang pera daw ay gagamitin sa pagpapatayo ng “shrine”. Subali’t natuklasan na marami pala siyang perang natanggap at hindi niya nire-remit sa “foundation” na in-charge sa project. Nagbago pa ang lifestyle niya. Sa kabila ng lahat na nadiskubre, ayaw pa ring umamin. Yong pera na hindi ni-remit, kanya daw dahil pangalan niya ang nakalagay sa sobre. Paanong hindi lagyan ng ng pangalan niya, eh, siya ang namumuno sa fund raising? Akala niya ay birthday o Christmas gift para sa kanya! Yong tungkol sa mga dibersiyon niya, tao lang naman daw siya! Nang makita sa TV ang mukha niyang nakangisi habang iniinterbyu ng isang may edad nang babae, ang nakita ay parang mukha ng demonyo na nakangisi! Malamang sa bagong parokyang pinaglipatan sa kanya ay gumagawa na naman siya ng mga “milagro”. Marami siyang maloloko doon dahil maraming mga katutubo.

 

Ang mga pulitikong nakasuhan dahil sa mga ebidensiya at ang paring “nagmimilagro” ay alam ang kanilang ginagawa at nagkubli pa sa lambong ng panlillinlang. Deserved ba nila na sila ay ipagdasal? Aminin muna nila ang kanilang pagkakamali, at tutulungan sila ng mga dasal, dahil kung sila mismo ay nagpipilit na wala silang kasalanan…walang dahilan na sila ay ipagdasal. Ganoon lang kasimple! Hindi na kailangang maging pari o graduate ng kung anong prestihiyosong unibersidad para maunawaan ang ganoong bagay. Ibig sabihin…ano ang gagamutin, eh, wala namang sugat!