Grabbers and others.

I'd been witness to and victim of land robbery (land grabbing). Can this really happen? Oh, yes, it can, Virginia.

First case: It had been easy for a professional swindler to obtain title to a sizeable piece of land he didn't own. All he needed were fake documents, bribe money and his pure greed. In this instance, the "crime" was discovered and some money was recovered.

Second scenario: A tenant of a titled property bilked the legal owner because as s/he claimed s/he'd lived there and helped cultivate the land for a number of years.

In another case, an illegal settler (a very close relative, at that) refuses to vacate a property unless he's paid for the cost of constructing his illegal residence.

Elsewhere, outside of the Philippines, cases such as the above also happens. I remember watching a TV documentary on how certain individuals lost their properties due to their identities being stolen. One Canadian discovered that he lost ownership of his house and lot because it had been sold by an "impostor."

People with criminal minds have no conscience, no guilt, no shit about what illegal things they do. Their minds are ruled by greed, by evil. You ask a convicted felon, and he'd say, " I didn't do it."

Justice grinds sooooo slowly in this part of Asia.

Impedimiento, cheese pimiento.

Wala ng impedimiento dito sa aking puso,
Uminom na kasi ako ng Lipitor o Crestor,
Taba ay natunaw, dugo ay dumaloy,
Huminga ng mahusay sa gabing walang sablay.

May oras na para pumangal ng lechong kawali,
Chicharong bituka o kropek na Oishi,
Tila nalimutan na din ang oatmeal at toast,
Ang itlog na puti, rice basmati at kiwi.

Kelan nga ba huling niluto ang paboritong calamari
O pinagsawaan ang klasadong red wine?
(Na di naman bagay sa sinigang o pinaupo)
Sa pridyider may Manila beer may basket puno ng Chippy,
Pag nagka-karaoke panay munch munch ko nire.

Bakyang bakya na daw pag tungtong ng NAIA,
Pag dagsa ng pasaherong galing kung saan saan,
Paghila sa maleta, pagdausdos sa daan,
Pagsakay sa sasakyan hanggang sa tirahan.

Akala ko'y squatter ang mga bahay na dinaanan,
Yun pala'y mga legal dilapidated nga lang,
Sa subdivision naman mini-upscale daw
Eh kita din may squatter bahay nga lang tinapalan.

Dios ko, dios mio pawis ay tumatagaktak,
Mainit man o tag ulan dito sa Manila't kabayanan,
Pag biyahe naman sa Bulacan, Laguna't Nueva Ecija
Bulsa'y butas agad sa karga ng gasolina.

Kumakaway na naman ang tawag ng dolyares,
Nararamdam din ang ihip ng autum wind
Nalalasahan na ang amoy ng bacon,
Ang anta ng persimon at tamis ng plantain.

Takot ba ito sa mga kalamidad
Ng mga Ondoy at Frank? Ng mga heart attack?
Pagka wala ng asset, panluluko ng trusted?
Pagka hopeless ng paligid, gobyierno, media't entertainment?

Strangers.

Last week as I was returning very early from a convenience store, I caught a glimpse of this woman, all heavy with a child walking with a wooden cane in the area about their house.

Then again another morning, I saw the same woman lying on a hammock hanging in a big tree in their front yard. These folks are not homeowners in the residential village - but illegal settlers - whose families lived in the area long before the subdivision was built.

Then over the start of the week, we heard that the woman died. And with her demise, the full term baby in her womb died, too. But according to the neighbourhood seamstress who repairs my pants, and who brought the news to our attention, the baby was apparently healthy, but the doctors were not able to save him.

Now, there's a huge post hanging in the rusted corrugated fence iron- courtesy of the funeral parlour overseeing the woman's burial. It says "in memory of the mother and baby boy."

I'd never seen this woman before. We learned later on that she had two other children. And the hearth breaking information that she took a bunch of Buscopan pills to relieve a stomach pain, just before she died.

Wasn't she aware that pain relievers and other medicines could be hazardous to her pregnancy and the health of the baby in her womb? Wasn't she suspicious that the stomach pain could be pre-labour pain?

I thought about this troubling scenario as I read again about the RH Bill and seen parts of a TV show debate about it. The woman in the real story is married to a labourer, with two other kids, and from what I saw and heard, lived a decent life.

I could only surmise that what caused her early demise was lack of proper health and pregnancy information. Which she could have easily obtained from any of the City's numerous health centres. Even at the local Parish which hosts a weekly health centre for free.

The RH Bill bats for the protection of the woman's health. It also encourages use of condoms and birth control pills, and other devices to prevent pregnancies. It wants sex education taught to grade V students. It promises to incarcerate those who would not help women and teens gain access to these systems.

Senator Lacson even wants to cap Philippine family size to two children, one more than the legal size in China whose population is more than a billion, and whose economy is continuously shooting farther than the West because of good management and leadership.

Instead of educating poor families and teens on how to have safe sex and on how not to get pregnant, why not teach those already married and pregnant how to take care of their pregnancies?

The woman in the real story obviously wanted to have a third child, but she didn't know the dangers of modern drugs. Instead of providing free condoms and IUDs, why not give regular health seminars to the poor? A mobile health centre that goes deep into the rural areas, into illegal settlers' quarters?

The church-based health centres and volunteers who oppose the RH Bill are the ones leading the campaign for better health services for the under privileged. My own sister and bro in law had donated a health centre in a rural area in Nueva Ecija and they are both active in their Seattle, Washington parish and in regular medical missions to the Philippines. And they are AGAINST the RH Bill, having seen the dangers of artificial birth controls and the rise of abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases because of the false safety these devices give.

The woman in the neighbourhood, although poor by society's standard, lived a decent life. Her husband works regularly to tend for his family's needs. They live within the confines of rusted corrugated fence iron, but they survived, and will.

Summer 0f 2011. Going..going..

The summer of 2011 is not yet half done, and I could already feel it's not going to be a a blister nor a baker's oven.

It's mild. Some afternoons, cool breeze is blowing. And mornings are even comfier.

But still, the air con is in full blast some other afternoons. And evenings.

I blame the constant use of air con to the house's artificial enclosure. There are big windows but these are screened to prevent mosquitoes and other insects from entering. And the big room's second window had been transformed into a decorative window, with glass-like tiles.

Last night, we had a small family gathering, and unlike other past events, we didn't use as many electric fans outside, where we did most of the activities. One bro in law commented on how breezy it was in our place.



















I envy people who have swimming pools in their houses. In Canada, I know of someone who transformed her residence into a resort-type cottage because according to her, "it's better than going to public pools or beaches." She was right because every weekend, her family could enjoy uninterrupted r & r without the nasty crowd.

Last Holy week, we trekked to Laguna for a refreshing summer dip. The resort we rented was Mediterranean-inspired with comfortable rooms, a cozy living room with a huge LCD, and a beautiful garden, a spacious dining and recreation area, and clean swimming pools. The bonus: there was a church within walking distance, so on Easter Sunday, we didn't have to miss the Mass.











As usual, we had pot luck. A sister assigned a dish/meal for each family to bring, and we got assigned to do breakfast.

What better way to wake up clammy stomachs after a night of swimming and singing, and parlour games? Longsilog!

Different types of longaniza: garlic, sweet, spicy, small and stout, long and thin. With eggs - either over-easy or omelet, and Davao-type bananas, "saguing na saba, " fried in olive oil and topped with muscovado-sugar. I was planning on doing pancakes for the tykes, but since it was labour-intensive, I gave up on the idea.







The kids had a blast going for the Easter egg hunt.