COMING HOME 2012: NOSTALGIA AND SERENDIPITY

THE METAMORPHOSIS By Ernie D. Delfin COMING HOME 2012: NOSTALGIA AND SERENDIPITY (First in a series of articles) To go on a vacation, be away from one’s business, work and family and be free from the routine of daily living, has always been an exciting and colorful rich experience for me. It also adds fresh perspectives and meaning to what life is all about. My 5- week adventure in the Philippines last month was no exception. I went to a dozen of places, a few of them I have never been before, like Palawan and the Hundred Islands in Pangasinan, that added to the excitement. For a few days, I again visited for the 9th time (over a span of about 40 years in America) the barangay or barrio called ANIS, a farming village in the town of Manaoag, now a part of the newest town of Pangasinan, called LAOAC, Pangasinan. Instantaneously, the many years of my boyhood reappeared in my mind screen showing the countless events of my care free years through high school. Ahhh, those unpolluted memories filled with bitter-sweet experiences still make me happy and nostalgic. Above all, I feel quite grateful to that Somebody Up There for a very good journey, called LIFE, that I have had so far. This trip was probably one of the most memorable trips that I have made because many things happened without even planning it. Through a mysterious Hand, many call it Divine Providence, I was in places that I have not even planned, experienced a few things that made my over a month vacation quite different. A couple of examples: my sister Leticia, a Dominican nun who was vacationing in the Philippines from her current assignment in Guam, was stranded in Manila for over a month due to some kind of legal technicality: her U.S. visa not being stamped in her Philippine passport! When she responded to my email I learned that she was still in Manila, so I invited her to join me and my fellow Rotarian, Victor Nejal from Northern California, to our Palawan R & R trip which she happily did. Serendipitously, that trip allowed us to bond (again) for about 4 days! Through her positive encouragement and prayers, we might even have a “retirement home” in that island province, that is now getting world famous due to its Underground River that was just voted as one of the 8 Wonders of Nature in the World! Another unexpected occurrence happened at the Maxine By the Sea Resort Hotel in Hundred Islands. During one breakfast, as I always do a “small talk” to local people, including the hotel employees, about their place, business conditions etc, a Filipino woman in a group of Australian tourists overheard me when I mentioned I was also from Manaoag and now a part of Laoac, blurted out that she was from that place too! Lo and behold that started an unexpected animated conversation, that connected our families in the barrio as her mother as per her recollection was the exclusive hairdresser of my own mother decades ago! With that brief encounter I met Imelda Merlito, her Australian husband John and the family of Werner Schwendener, a manager of Sonic Innovations in Australia. (To my new Australian friends, I am seriously considering to accept your offer to visit you next year, as I will be semi-retired my then!) * * * * * “It’s more Fun in the Philippines” , the new Phil Department of Tourism motto is quite apropos in marketing this country of 7,100 islands. If you have been in many countries and see beyond the concrete buildings but simply observe the how the people live, their genuine hospitality in their normal simplicity, you will agree that there is more life and fun in the Philippines. Just watching the topography of the many islands with its many rivers, lakes and mountains, one cannot help but think that the Filipino is indeed uniquely blessed and especial people. Just compare the Philippines vs. many countries in Africa! For reaffirmation of this belief, I strongly recommend the latest book of a dear friend Atty. Alex Lacson, entitled “12 WONDERFUL THINGS about the Filipino & our Motherland”. (For a small donation to our “Foundation for Next Generation, I can send you a copy of this best-seller book, while supply lasts. Email me at ernie.delfin@gmail.com) People in the country can smile genuinely even with standstill traffic or despite incessant news of “bad news” on TV and in the papers. Foreigners even told me that it seems that Filipinos can smile even with no reason at all. Probably so, as it is one inexpensive coping mechanism to go through life. Sometimes it is better to smile or laugh, in order not to cry! Everywhere you go, the land is so fertile, making many varieties of plants and trees grow and become verdant green due to rains that come in overabundance. And the people are so friendly, simply happy (with what they have, unlike many of us in America who seem not happy nor contented for not having the advertised car, designer clothes or 5 bedroom house in an nice neighborhood) and seemingly very much contented with just having the most basic necessities of food, shelter and clothing. The vast majority of those in the lower economic strata in the country cannot even afford to send their children to high school, much more to college, making it a great challenge for them to escape poverty where they are born into. This great socio-economic divide of the very poor and the very rich is the greatest perennial challenge of the country’s leaders since the country has become independent from foreign invaders. As Pope Paul VI said, “there can be no lasting peace without social justice”. Our Filipino culture is also unique and different than the Western culture. Consider that in the Philippines, it is quite normal for a typical family will vacate a room for you, prepare the best food they can buy for you if you are their guest (of course, but must not be abused beyond a day or two as their guest!) Living in America for almost 40 years, I feel quite uncomfortable when a “poor” (for lack of a better adjective) family prepares unusually large quantity and variety of foods for me, especially now in my “senior” age when I can no longer consume as much nor eat meat as I did decades ago. Often, many members of the host family, by habit or tradition, may be, choose to eat later after the guests and the main hosts are finished with their meals! * * * * * Have you ever noticed that there is practically no meeting in the Philippines that is not centered on food, or drinks and merienda? It is said that it is quite easy to be loved or liked by any Filipino (male or female) by being genuinely interested in his culture that can be summarized by five F’s: family, faith (Catholic) food, fiesta and fun. To enjoy one’s adventure to the Philippines, it is not only important but imperative for any foreigner or a long-time balikbayan like me to have a new paradigm shift once he steps in the Philippines soil. From the time you land in the Manila International Airport, do not be scared when a person gives you a paper towel after you do your thing and even has the temerity to ask you, “How are you, sir or ma’am? Although I never dreamed to be a “Knight”, many people call me “SIR Ernie”! Only in the Philippines that you are given a title that you may not even deserve! Lest, the reader brands me that I live in utopia, that all is well and dandy in the country of my birth, I am not saying that. There are also many “things” that I strongly detest and wish that the so-called business leaders and public officials should address right away. It’s an urgent matter of life and death, I mean pride and shame! And yes, Anita Schon, I am referring to the shameful condition of public restrooms, aka Comfort Room or C.R. in the Philippines! It’s a common sight that a person is standing outside the entrance of many public comfort rooms waiting for the C.R. user to pay him some money as posted on the wall. Five pesos to use a stinky toilet per visit is absurd and sub-human! (To put in perspectives, a daily minimum wage in the Philippines ranges from P280 to P380 depending on the province or city; current exchange rate is about P42.00 per US$1.00) In my view, this is one area that the merchants, bus companies and all local businesses must contribute some money into a pool, like the “home owners association” dues in the USA, to maintain these public comfort rooms (restrooms) as a FREE public service to this very basic human need. A serious public-private initiative can easily solve this, if there is a will to do it. I am again recommending that the local governments MUST require all businesses that cater to the public to offer the use of CLEAN public comfort rooms for FREE! (Can we Overseas Filipinos especially the 3,000,000 Filipino Americans demand this basic right for everyone, from our so-called leaders, both in private and in public? The election season has started in the Philippines and it is a great opportunity to ask every candidate how they can solve this very undignified practice of “collecting” money from people for using public restrooms! Lastly, may I recommend to all Filipino American newspapers have a joint EDITORIAL on this very “shameful” practice that many of us, especially foreign tourists find detestable and abhor! COMMENTS, DEAR READERS? ** ** (TO BE CONTINUED. . . . More on People, Places and Politics, and our GK e-Rotary Club’s EDSA project in the homeland. Abangan! Email writer: ernie.gkerc@gmail.com or ernie.delfin@gmail.com,