‘Wala-wala’

Ben Contreras .

WHEN I was holding office at Osmeña, PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telecommunication) offered a program with a telephone line and a good internet connection for more than two thousand pesos. Indeed, the internet was good but lasted only a few weeks and the trouble began. I thought their response to complaints would be as fast as they cut your line when you’re late in the payment, but I was wrong. So, we just had to contend with “wala-wala” internet of the great PLDT.

At home, my son was also offered the same if I am not mistaken. Initially, the signal was good. Later on, the typical PLDT problem happened. Wala-wala internet.

Our water supply is now controlled by Cobi (whatever it means) and the agreement with the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) is that Cobi will increase the supply by another 40 million liters a day after a certain period. If I am not mistaken, the additional supply came late. Anyway, the day it announced the additional supply, we seemed to be enjoying water supply 24/7. But it didn’t last long. Lately, we only get water late in the afternoon or evening. That’s when we fill up our plastic containers.

Why “wala-wala”? I think it’s typical of the Manny V. Pangilinan business. So, while we suffer, they and some of their… you know… make money.

Suckers, that’s what we are, right?

***

My smart TV has been my constant companion when I am at home. It provides me the entertainment I need after my daily chores. Of course, my favorite is Youtube which allows me to watch many things from educational to informative, from documentaries to movies and my favorite, the conspiracy theories illustrations.

Talking of movies, there is one that I ignored quite some time despite its frequent appearances: The Pilot’s Wife. I thought, maybe this time around, I have to watch it to the end. Surprisingly, there was this scene which I can relate with completely. In fact, I predicted accurately what the wife would do when she asked the fisherman to bring her to the exact place in the sea where the plane her husband piloted crashed. When they reached the spot, she removed her gloves, pulled off her wedding ring and threw it to the sea. I did the same but not into the sea. I just threw it away.

The plot is not something special. It is a kind of life that we all live, experience and perhaps, go through. When the plane blew up in the air, the wife was intrigued by the kind of investigation conducted by a few government agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Women intuition compelled her to conduct her own investigation and led her to somebody, the other woman in her husband’s life who bore her two children (a girl and a boy). The woman’s connection to the Irish terror group was the reason for such investigation.

I leave the rest to your imagination or, why not watch it yourself. It’s entertaining.

***

Do you agree that the sins of the father are the sins of the children? I posed this question on Facebook and drew varied reactions. It was, of course, a mature exchange of thoughts.

One thing was very evident. Without even mentioning names, some of the reactions point to the Marcoses as if the saying has become closely associated to the Marcos family. We seem to have allowed ourselves to be held hostage by the ghost of Marcos by playing blind and deaf to the sins committed by the leaders after him. If we accept the saying as true, then I think we are all sinners by the same virtue.

Why do we always see the Marcoses and not the Aquinos, the Estradas, the Ramoses, the Arroyos and perhaps, the Dutertes when it’s time for history to judge them? Is it because it’s more convenient to blame the Marcoses than the Presidents after Duterte? Or, we seem to ignore articles about the sins of others and simply lump up everything evil on the laps of the Marcoses.

Yeah, it’s all about our biases.