Of Pets and Pests

We have one Siamese cat, named Yuni, courtesy of my sister. She bought the cat as a companion and stress-absorber for her husband. After spending years in Cebu, they decided to come home, when learned they got pregnant. They reckoned it is important to be around family when she gives birth. Yes, we Filipinos savor the closeness of family at times of uncertainty. And obviously they need all the support they can get. So, they moved back here bringing their beloved cat.

Coming from a country where nearly seventy five percent of the population live below the poverty line, I find it a little unnerving feeding a cat 300 peso cat food. Since, it did not come from my own pocket, fine by me. Yuni was also fed canned fish like tuna and her favorite salmon. Mind you, these are the ones you buy from the supermarket not under pet food section. That’s the unnerving part actually. I used to eat and love that same brand for Pete’s sake! It was my diet food together with crackers and coffee. I particularly loved it sautéed with garlic and onions and paired with steaming garlic rice. Now, my sweet life is ruined because of Yuni, and I’m sticking to the trusty pan de sal.

I actually tried eating canned tuna months before my sister gave birth, but, after being teased of eating “cat food”, I stopped altogether.

Yuni the cat, was immediately pregnant when she came to us (we have three male “pusakal” or to be politically correct “puspin” coming regularly to the house for free food/leftovers). They were named, Olen, Daddy Cat & Grandpa Cat. Until now we couldn’t pinpoint who the father was. After threemonths, she gave birth to five “puspin” all tiger-furred, looking very much like our three regular visitors. But for the purpose of giving Yuni’s kittens the dignity of having a father we pinpointed Olen as the culprit. They were named Saturn, Mercury, Juno, Phobos & Moon.

At about the same time of Yuni’s delivery, my sister also gave birth. So the pampering that Yuni was accustomed to began to diminish and totally evaporate. While my sister got busy with motherhood, her Siamese cat, is also getting used to eating, leftovers. Before, she waits until her food is poured on her bowl. Now, she follows you around and meows until she is fed. Well, she has five kittens draining the milk out of her, no wonder she eats a lot nowadays.

Having six cats is wreaking havoc in our house. They jump into your plate when you try to eat. They prance and jump around the sofa to my mother’s exasperation. Still, they act so adorable and that’s the only thing preventing us from giving them up for adoption with neighbors and whoever is willing.

Sometime after the Yuni gave birth, my mother adopted a stray dog and kept him inside a kennel (actually an empty rooster cage). She religiously fed it for two weeks without naming it. So I asked her to name the stray, lest we’ll grow to love it we will have a difficulty on which to call it. We pondered on “brownie”, “Ollie”, “odie”. To no avail, no one is too keen on those names apparently. Days went past and still no name. Until one day, I said, we need to name him already and since we cannot decide on a name, so I christened him “Nameless”.
Nameless stayed in the cage until my mother grew tired of him. After which, she opened the cage and let the stray go with the pack of neighborhood strays. (I swear they need to be contained, their brood is growing).

Two weeks ago I brought home a one-sixteenth -breed Doberman. With emphasis on the one-sixteenth. For no other reason that I’ve grown to love the dog, its mother having owned by my boss. Throwing in a hurricane into the existing havoc. So the new dog was welcomed with ohhs and ahhs.

So we have a dog, and we named him Mr. Bean, after much wrangling as to what name we call him, D suggested we name him, “Rover F. Fobo” complete with middle initial. We said, that’s too long, and why not call it “Bean” or “Mr. Bean” instead? He wouldn’t budge, so after almost a minute of rover-mr. bean-rover-mr. bean, D agreed on one condition, that we name it, “Mr. Bean the Destroyer”. Gone are the days where we name pets with such ease as “hanky”, “spanky”, “spot” & “whitey”. Mother complained that the name is so long and why not call the dog, “Jack”. I said that’s too generic, like calling him the new “Mr. 24”, or Jack the Ripper. Anyway, I reasoned if she gets angry with the dog, she can just call it “Bentot” for short.

We have since given away the two kittens, which leave us with four cats and a dog. Not to mention the cavalcade of strays (dogs and cats) that regularly visits the house for leftovers.

Heaven Forbid

The present political turmoil besetting my country does deserve to be commented on. Even by the most jaded of citizens. Just how jaded am I?

I was born during the Martial Law years (see http://www.mojolaw.com/defs/la034), when you’re thrust into something to which you don’t have any control whatsoever makes it your own. For me, that was the norm. It wasn’t dreadful and scary as written. They said there was curfew, funny I haven’t felt it that time. They said the whole country was ruled by the military, yet growing up I did not witness anything extraordinary to make me develop a sense if trepidation in the presence of men in uniform.

At school we were made to memorize the names of Ministers, such as Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile, Minister of Labor Blas Ople, Misnister of Information Francisco Tatad among others. Those were some of the people that ran the country and of course, who can forget Ferdinand E. Marcos? Television, Radio and other forms of information medium were regulated. No wonder the 70s was one of the most “free” years of my life.

But, of course it wasn’t the perfect world I thought it to be. Stories of demonstrations, social unrest, bombings, and the suspension of habeas corpus in 1971, arrest and detention of known political opposition (Benigno Aquino being one of them), students, labor activists, (see http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/marcos.html). The Snap Elections of 1986 opened the Pandora’s Box for me and the truth that was hidden for years spewed like hot molten lava. And my childhood, was forever taken from me. The aftermath of the Marcos dictatorship spews chilling stories of violation of human rights and the complete usurpation of democracy and freedom.

After Marcos fled on February 25, 1986 at the urging of the United States government to Hawaii, Corazon Aquino while a Justice of the Supreme Court swore Corazon Aquino as President of the Republic. What did we as Filipinos have to show for the six years if the new government? Let me see… Marcos left a foreign debt so humungous that even our children’s children are destined to be paying it for the rest of their lives. That’s US$26 billion baby. Land Reform was so ineffectual under Cory mainly for the reason that her family owns a 6,000-hectare hacienda named Luisita. The situation after Marcos fled was so polarized that Cory would have to take risk in further aggravating. That question was, was she prepared to take the risk? Feel free to google the answer. She survived two (2) coup attempts but was afraid ever since. There was constant threat of political instability. Fueled by the desires of a lot of people to take on where Marcos left off.

Fidel V. Ramos, Marco’s former Vice Chief of Staff took over in 1992. The GDP grew to .3% in 1992 up to 5.2 in 1997 Ramos’ last term but was marred by Ramos supporters pursuing a campaign for lifting a ban on 2nd term for the president. Of course it was said to have been fueled by the elitist dread of the likelihood of the then Vice-President Joseph Estrada becoming president. Of course Estrada did become President to the utter consternation of the elitist block. Of course the rest can be read here (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=antonioAbaya_jan17_2008).

After “democracy” was restored what do we have to show for it? That we Filipinos cannot handle freedom and self-governance, yet. One has only to watch the daily television news, newspaper reports, radio reports and commentaries and our immaturity in the political arena is evident. Constant bickering of our elected officials. Scandals left and right both true and fabricated, but mostly fabricated. And the sad part is, the media is always a willing victim by these clowns. Day in and day out. Are we really better off having another president at this time? I think not. Who would replace Gloria? De Venecia? Erap again? Or heaven forbid Lozada?

Come on my dear beloved countrymen, don’t you think it’s time to use another way out of this rut? We tried people power, the imperialists from Manila did it twice, Erap's minions did it once, and called it Edsa 3, we hold the patent already. Yet, are we better politically than say, twenty years ago? Have we eradicated the morally bankrupt, are we free from the clutches of the oligarchs? We haven’t, just watch the news. But, who says, growing up is an easy process? This is a long arduous task. One that needs years and lots of heartbreak as a nation to achieve.

But, my father used to say. There is in fact a way out. That is by terminating generations and starting anew. New breed of citizens born of morally unsoiled parents, espousing utopian philosophies if that exists.

I'm Keeping My Fingers Crossed

So this is it, my final home for writing nonsensical issues that affect may or may not affect my existence. I’m good at it, starting something and then slowly leaving the path I have started to walk on, to pursue other interests.

I’d like to make this my repository for anything under the sun, yes, this late in the game. I’ll try to be more open about happenings and events that I see everyday and more attentive to the sounds even way into the early hours of the morning.

Can I do that?

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.