Money Flourished in Limay for 2 Days

It was like New Year’s Eve in May. People were all around town buying everything, eating out, shopping...in short, they are spending money...and in big currencies, 1000 and 500 peso denominations.
As a testament to this, my wife’s modest shop, Cuplinx Internet Cafe’ (some advertisement here), had the biggest daily sales for the year last election eve. They all have their hands full that I have to assist in the washing of dishes. Their food ingredients and raw materials, which usually last for 2 to 3 days, were all consumed that night.
On Election Day, people are everywhere, not only in the polling places but even in the market, groceries, shops, etc. The scene is no different to New Year’s Eve, when everybody is rushing to buy last minute groceries for Media Noche. The next day, there was shortage of goods from the market and even from the biggest supermarket in town, so my wife had to buy from Balanga City.
What could have caused all of these? Was it because of the massive vote-buying that was perpetrated by politicians to ensure their victory? According to reliable sources, leaders of two opposing candidates gave out envelops with cash ranging from a minimum of P1000 to as high as P2000. One candidate undertook, what local folks call as “Gapang”, and instructed his leaders, in the wee hours of midnight, to buy out hard-core loyalists of his opponent by an imaginable amount of P3,500 per voter and even placed indelible ink on their fingers as guarantee that they could no longer vote for his opponent. Imagine, for a small family of four voters, that would easily sum up to P14,000! And for a middle income earner, this amount could easily demolish one’s loyalty to a candidate or adherence to principle.
Until we improve the lives of people of the lowest class, which is the majority, vote buying will always be the norm in every election, where the highest bidders are declared winners. The need to satisfy these poor people’s hunger, tend to cut their memories short, as they tend to forget the sins of candidates in the past.
Let us hope and pray that with the looming leadership of Senator Noynoy Aquino, and the strength of the Filipino people, we could finally put an end to all these forms of corruption.

The Venerable Hwarang

I simply cannot let this pass without sharing just a short blog about last night's episode of GMA-7's Koreanovela, Queen Seon Deok. That was by far the best episode that characterizes the honorable traits of the Hwarangs, knights of Silla (One of the three Ancient Kingdoms of Korea).
It showed the courageous stand of Hwarang Yushin who fought with his last strength, and was ready to die for honor.
At one single moment, I admired Hwarang Bojong, that despite being Yushin Rang's chief adversary, he was first to give encouragement to Yushin Rang, to endure and finish the fight to claim honor for all Hwarangs.
I also had high esteem for the chief henchman of Lady Mishil, Hwarang Chilsuk, when he conceded defeat and declared Hwarang Yushin as the winner of their fight.
If only our leaders of today would have just a small ounce of these respectable traits of the Hwarangs, then our country would be a better place to live in.
I have attached the links to two parts of the episode in Korean but with English subtitles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbCjjEWWN00&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jp4KLc02o4&NR=1

Happy Viewing!!

Ang Pagbubunyi 2010

The Santacruzan Season has already started! Here in Limay, the Santacruzan is quite extra-ordinary, and it’s called “Pagbubunyi”. It’s a yearly event organized by the Limay Tourism Council.

What makes it different from the rest is that it literally dramatizes how the Santacruzan originated more than 1600 years ago, in celebration of the triumph of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor, and his mother Helena in the search of the Holy Cross. It begins with a play that starts at the municipal grounds and ends with a battle for the Holy Cross at the market grounds.

After the play, the procession begins with Roman flag bearers and soldiers with Constantine on a chariot. Then followed by muslim captives of Constantine. The procession also includes Roman gods and demi-gods of Roman Mythology, which was their religion before Constantine converted the Roman Empire to Christianity. Then followed by Biblical and symbolic characters like Methuselah, San Macario, Samaritana, Veronica, Reyna Infante and Judith (with the head of one of her adversaries), Reyna Sheba, Reyna Esther, Reyna Baderada, Reyna Justicia, Reyna delos Angeles, Reyna del Mar, Reyna dela Paz, Reyna del Sol, and Reyna delos Flores, ( I hope I did not miss one) all with complete costumes. Even the arch bearers have their own costumes. At the end is Reyna Emperatriz (Constantine’s Wife), Reyna Elena, and finally the carriage of the replica of the Holy Cross.

Pagbubunyi was featured in 2007 in the GMA 7 News. Herewith is the link:

http://www.gmanews.tv/video/7096/Pinagmulan-ng-Santacruzan

Today, the Santacruzan has gradually lost its significance and has become a parade of beauties rather than a procession for the devotees to pay homage to the Holy Cross. Being chosen as the Reyna Elena becomes more of a prestige to beautiful women, as this is like winning a grand beauty pageant. It has also become a parade of beautiful and expensive gowns where costumes have become immaterial. Some have added male escorts (who are actually insignificant) as essential characters in the parade. And if organizers have enough funding, they would get famous actresses even sexy stars to pose as Reyna Elena to attract more attention from onlookers.

Herewith are pictures of the parade, happy viewing!