takatak lolo

dito ko nakita yong mukha ng kahirapan. hindi ibig sabihin na walang mahirap sa aming lugar o sa probinsya na aking nakagisnan. sa totoo lang naman basta wala tayong pantawid ng gutom ay mahirap tayo. yon ang definition ko ng mahirap. as long as nakakain tayo, meron tayong damit at bahay na natutulugan ay dapat magpasalamat tayo sapagkat hindi tayo ay mahirap.

isang taon na ako dito sa kanlurang bahagi ng mindanao. sa isang highly urbanized na syudad. dito ko namamasdan yong kahirapan na may iba’t-bang mukha. merong nakakatawa at meron namang nakakaawa talaga. marami ang nagsisinungaling na mahirap sila. marami ang gumagawa ng “pekeng kahirapan”. yon ang pinakawalang-hiya, walang puso, walang balon-balunan, walang atay, etc na gawain dito.

hindi ko alam bakit nagpapanggap sila na mahirap at nakakaawa na meron naman silang pwedeng gawin.

araw-araw na pumapasok ako sa opisina ay aking napupuna ang hanggang lima na tao na namamalimos sa kalsada. diyan banda sa may c.m. recto avenue dito sa cagayan de oro. meron din akong nakikita na isang lolo na may dala-dalang paninda. isang takatak lolo. karamihan kasi takatak boys lang ang nakikita natin.

noong una ay naawa ako sa mga tao na nagpapalimos. binigyan ko ng pera. pero nakakainis na kasi dahil sa  isang taon ko na pamamalagi dito ay araw-araw na lang tuwing may pasok ako ay parehong tao ang nakikita ko na humihingi ng limos sa mga pasahero. sa ngayon ay hindi na ako nagbibigay ng kahit bente-singko sentimos. ginagawa na kasi nilang kalakal at hanap-buhay ang humingi ng pera.

ang lalakas pa naman ng katawan. minsan nga ay tinangka na banggain ng tsuper, tapos ang bilis makaiwas. pero kung humihingi ng pera ay para talagang walang nakakain at kaawa-awa. magaling lang talaga umarte, pang best actor na talaga sa PAMAS at URIAN Awards ang mga kutong na ito. 

naiinis ako dahil mas malakas pa yong katawan at mas maliksi pa sila sa lolo na may karga-kargang kahon na puno ng paninda na inaalok sa mga pasahero ng jeep. bakit hindi kaya nila gayahin si takatak lolo kaysa magpapalimos na lang sila ng tuluyan sa daan.

mas gugustuhin ko pang bumili ng isang kendi kay lolo kahit bayaran ko pa ng limang piso bawat kendi kaysa magbigay ng barya na may butas sa gitna sa kanila. hindi sila kaawa-awa. mas nakakaawa yong lolong naghahanap-buhay kahit sa ganoong edad na. mas kaawa-awa yong mga taong may kapansanan kaysa kanila na kumpleto naman ang parte ng katawan nila.

hindi ibig sabihin na wala talaga akong awa; na ako ay isang kampon ng kasamaan; na ako ay walang puso, balon-balunan lang at atay ang nasa loob ng aking katawan. naaawa lang ako sa taong nakikita ko na nagsisikap din para sila ay guminhawa. hindi  ako naaawa sa mga taong patuloy na nanghihingi lang sa iba para mabuhay. hindi po tayo baboy na umaasa na pakainin ng ating amo. tayo po ay tao. 

maria cristina falls, how majestic!

it was not in my dream that i’ll be able to visit for FREE the place where the book-featured maria cristina falls resides. when you enter school at the early age, your mind will be opened to the natural wonders of the philippines. when you talk about picturesque water falls that our country possessed, most textbooks in school will point us to the infamous pagsanjan falls in luzon and maria cristina falls in mindanao.

it was my wish before to visit maria cristina falls one day since i was curious how would it look like in the real world. all the information i have then were from textbooks, features in televisions and magazines. many of my friends, of course, who had been there had talked beautiful things about it.

i am also curious how this majestic water falls is able to produce electricity. i surmise that what made this falls so prominent is because it powers the hydro-electric power plant of NAPOCOR. it became the benchmark of other hydro-electric power plants in the country. aside from the electric plant, its majesty also draws curious crowds to the place.

i was so inggit with some of my high school teachers who went on tour to northern mindanao and was able to visit maria cristina falls. you will really feel inggit looking at their pictures. it’s a fact that every school boy and girl knows this beautiful creation, however, only few have the chance to witness it in its full strength.

since currently i am assigned in northern mindanao by our company, i am excited to visit it. i made plans that maybe next year  i’ll have the financial strength to fulfill my childhood dream.

i also presumed that its nestled at the center of a dense jungle in lanao del norte where some of the bandits are seeking refuge from the assault of the armed foces of the philippines making it more risky even for local tourist to be there. i was amazed that it’s only three (3) kilometers away from the city center of iligan city. exactly it rests in one of the barangay in the city - barangay maria cristina. maybe the name maria cristina falls was culled from the barrio where it is located. it’s a kilometer away from the main or national highway.  it’s even nearer than the timoga pools, another attraction in lanao del norte.

i was told by a friend from NAPOCOR, ms. mabel diana murro, that it’s best to visit the place when NAPOCOR will open the dam. it is on these occassions that you’ll experience the full force of the water falls and you’ll be able to witness the total width of water that curtains the mountain rocks. only twice a week will NAPOCOR fully open the dam - thursday and saturday.  she also advised that it would be better if you bring a car or hire a van in going there than to use a public transportation. that is for your convenience, of course.

True to what she said, NAPOCOR had already built a picnic cottages where visitors can eat. so it’s advised to bring food and drinks since they don’t have a canteen at the site. you’ll only see the water falls naturally doing its wonders and the machineries of the hydro-electric plant doing its work.

i am so fortunate that i was able to visit the place all expenses paid. more than fortunate because we went there on a thursday and NAPOCOR opens the whole dam. mists were all over  us. it was like you’re treated in cold mists courtesy of nature’s, not a commercial, spa. we even threw joke of using the goat’s milk soap we harvested from the farm in Naawan, Misamis Oriental.

aside from those, we were only treated with a sumptuous lunch at the NAPOCOR Picnic Cottage where the Maria Cristina Falls serves as the backdrop. sumptuous lunch because it was just a lechon-baboy from iligan. many people claimed that the savory and crispiest lechon-baboy in the philippines can only be found in iligan city. so ironic since iligan city residents are mixed christians and muslims.

the dam doors at the top of the water falls are a sore eye. anyway, that is only my observation.