Saturday, October 02, 2004

Dito Ba?

Mom called last night because I sent her a message asking if her application for a house has been approved. Sabi malalaman pa lang niya. Kuwentuah ng konti then she passed the phone to my Dad. As usual nagsusumbong ang Tatay ko sa mga ginagawa ng Nanay ko na hindi niya maintindihan, ganon din naman Nanay ko nagsusumbong din sa akin tungkol sa Tatay ko pero this time it was my Dad's turn. Dami namin napangusapan. Nalungkot akong bigla, na miss ko silang bigla. Pininigilan ko ang umiyak kasi ayaw kong marining ng Tatay ko na umiiyak ako at baka mahirapan siya at mapaiyak din. Masaya na rin naman ako na nandon sila sa Amerika. Kung tutuusin para silang bagong kasal ngayon, may bagong buhay sila at magagawa na nila gusto nila, mga bagay bagay na hindi nila nagawa simula noong ikinasal sila. My Dad is 60, my Mom is 55, they have jobs that would allow them to buy a house there, hulugan of course. It would even be hard for them to get decent paying jobs at their age here! But they have this chance in the US kaya take advantage sila. Malayo man sila sa mga mahal nila sa buhay, ginagawa na lang nila ito para sa kanila. Anyway matatanda na kaming mga anak nila, may pamilya na ang dalawa kong kapatid so wala na silang problema.

I'm not saying that life abroad is a lot better than here but if we are to be realistic, wala ka talagang patutunguan dito ngayon. Imagine my parents, at their they have decided to start their lives abroad because they don't have a "future" here. Kung single ka at medyo nakakasapat ang suweldo mo sa iyo, ok lang na mamalagi ka dito pero paano kung may asawa at anak ka na? Ang suweldo mong 25T magkakasya ba yan sa isang buwan? Kung 2 income family kayo at kinikita niyo ay umaabot na sa 40T puwede siguro lalo na kung 1 lang ang anak niyo. Paano kung 2 anak niyo? Paano kung nasa grade school na anak niyong pareho, syempre masmalaki na ang gastos. Maliit ang 70T sa isang exclusive school na medyo sossy dito sa Metro Manila. Kung hindi naman sossy at di rin exclusive baka 40T. Wala pang books, uniforms, and incidental expenses like pamasahe, meryenda money, lunch money, etc. Paano kung nagkasakit ang anak mo at kinakailangang ma ospital o kailangan ng gamot na P75/pill, 2 times a day for 2 weeks?

I'm sure Huseng Busabos, Tanggero, Kakang Pepe and Techguy know what I'm saying. Sigurado akong hindi naging madali para sa kanila ang umalis ng bansa. Masakit, mahirap pero kinakailangan gawin. Hindi komo't iniwan nila ang kanilang bayan ay hindi na nila mahal ito. Mas kinakailangan lang nilang bigyan prioridad ang mga needs ng pamilya nila. Malamang iniisip din nila na bumalik dito para mag retire. Possible kaya yon?

On that note I would like to end my post with Kuya Hussy's poem:

Inang Bayan
aking bayang iniwan, masakit man ang katwiran kailangan
kitang iwan, para sa aking kapakanan
sariwang damo doon sa kanluran
tinawagan ako, dahil sila'y nangangailangan

kakalitong sistema, pilit pinag aralan
upang maging normal sa bayang pinuntahansang
katerbang pasyalan, hindi kayang palitan
ang lungkot na nadarama, sa aking inang bayan

ala-ala'y dala dala, saan man aking kalagyan
kamot-kamot aking paa, pag ikay napaguusapan
darating ang panahon, ika'y babalikan
paglubog ng araw, ka-akbay nating pagmamasdan

7 comments:

HanAgiRL said...

I know what you're saying. we plan to leave din this country in a year or so and it's scaring the hell out of me. This is where I grew up. Manila is my comfort zone. But as much as we want to stay, there is no future here. We thought there was but, times have really changed. And us parents gotta do what we gotta do to ensure our kids' bright future. hay buhay.

Anonymous said...

Your parents are admirable considering their ages. I wish them good luck.

fionski said...

Life here in Pinas is laid back, you can gimmick every Friday, quit your job and still survive for months because you can always find someone to feed you and you can stay with relatives and friends till you find a job, this way you don't have to pay rent or utilities. Matipid ito. This kind of lifestyle would work if you're single and you dont have any plans of settling down or you don't plan to buy a house or plan a more stable future for yourself. Masarap dito kaso paano ang asenso?
I wish you luck Hanagirl!
Thanks for the comment Anonymous.
Techguy di mo alam bakit nasa Canada ka? Nawawala ka yata! Hehehe. Pagaling ka, nagkasakit ka pala.

Ate Sienna said...

si inang at itang ko nasa canada na rin pareho. enjoy si itang at inang kasi dun kahit na medyo olds na sila, may kumukuha pa rin sa kanila ng trabaho. si itang ko, for the longest time, retired na sa pinas, pero pagdating dun he still decided to work and it did him good kasi nabibili nya lahat ng gusto nya... mas pa nga kesa sa akin.

best of luck sa mom and dad mo. :)

fionski said...

Salamat sa pagdalaw sa blog ko Ate Sienna. Baka masundan ka pa kung lagi magkasama ang Inang at Itang mo. Hehehehe.

Huseng Busabos said...

What else can i say, Thank you for this posting.

fionski said...

Hi Vea. Thanks for dropping by my blog. Unfortunately I don't know her YM ID, I just saw her post there that says she chats on yahoo. Why don't you try checking out her other blog entries? I think you'll find her yahoo email address there. Try the post about friendster. chonamesomething@yahoo.com.

You're welcome Hussy na Busabos! Ay! Huseng Busabos pala! Hehehe!