By Telly G. Ocampo

Banagbanag sa sayong kabuntagon

Banagbanag sa sayong kabuntagon are exactly the words used by my Lola Danday in describing the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. My Lola Danday spent formal school with the Escuelas de Niňas during the Spanish period.  Escuelas De Niňas was a training school for reading, writing and ‘rithmetic with emphasis on homecrafts at that particular era.  Girls then must be prepared for home making activities.  It was, then, the belief that women must stay at home and take care of the children.  And the husbands were the ones expected to provide for the family.

We were very fortunate to have our Lolo Ado and Lola Danday with us since my mother was an only child.  My mother concentrated on her work as a teacher.  And all household concerns were all taken care of by my grandparents. There were no ribbons and laces and roses for my Lola Danday since she married the famil muchacho who was handsome by the standard of her days.  They just had the basics in life to make us feel and live comfortably. There were no frills and fancies in our household, then. But everyday and despite all those, Lola Danday always encouraged us with the banagbanag sa sayong kabuntagon.

Why have I thought of Banagbanag sa sayong kabuntagon?  It’s because with our present situation, I could see a dawning of a new day, even if we have to live with the new normal sytle.  There’s already a clear indication that there is a flattening of the curve.  This means that even if Covid positive cases are increasing, the recovery rate is also increasing and there is a decline in death cases.

Today, businesses are slowly opening their doors to customers and little by little, people are starting to go back to work.  There has been a discussion of giving some stimulus package to businesses and industries.  But according to Joey Concepcion, the presidential adviser on entrepreneurship, a careful assessment has to be made before relief should be given.  Prudence is of utmost importance.  We have to consider the viability of the business after Covid.  Otherwise there is no sense in resuscitating it when the hope of viability is gone.

In other words we put business in intensive care when there is high hope for recovery.

Why prudence?  Let’s have to take a look at the way Philhealth dispensed with its funds.  At the rate Philhealth was going, it seemed that it was helping the pockets of the powers that be inside the institution.  Mura ug wa na gyuy uwawWala na diay nang gitawag nato ug “command responsibility”?  I remember the Estrada impeachment trial.  Mura man to ug wa moabot ug 100 million pesos ang kantidad nga gihisgutan.  And yet he was impeached!

The rest is presidential trust.

Let’s take a look at the distribution of the SAP – the special amelioration program. Daghan angay makadawat nga wala makadawat.  I hope filtering is made for the second release.

Despite all these, hearing Christmas songs in the air still perks up the spirit.  Moabot gyud diay ang Pasko. Muabot gyud ang Banagbanag sa sayong kabuntagon

This morning on television, the chief of the united states treasury was interviewed by David Rubenstein.   One of the questions asked of him was.  Where do you live?  And the answer was:  I live in the same house that we built when my salary was still P6,000 annually. I am talking about the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of a conglomerate and the chief of the U.S. treasury.  Naa pa gyud diay mga tawo nga banagbanag sa sayong kabuntagon.   Di ba we still have more reasons to hope and believe in people?  Naa gyud ng Messiah.

Anyway, in celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Light, my niece Janjan called up that the seedlings for aubergines are now ready for pick up with instructions on the proper way of planting.  Talong ra gud na pero pongpong ug bunga.  What a way to share the joy and will surely share a pot for my bff. Salamat sa mga higala na mao ang mga banagbanag sa akong kabuntagon!