To each their own

WHEN some young ones were jumping off Cagayan de Oro’s Maharlika Bridge, there were Facebook posts advising on prayers as one tool for suicide prevention. But the cure is never as simple as that. It requires discovering what works for a particular person, with medical intervention as the first priority.

Each person somehow experiences the blues. But depression is definitely another story. It cannot be cured through happy thoughts, travel, shopping, malling, eating, alcohol, drugs, making muni-muni at islands, beaches, and mountains. I don’t know if a depressed person will even feel the euphoria that these temporary reliefs may provide.

Even in our low-carb community, healing is still to each their own although the foundation is, of course, to stay low-carb, which helps me write.

I’m writing this column on September 21, but it will be published on October 25 puhon, more than a month from now. Advance pa rin ako mag-isip.

Yeah, I should be writing about Martial Law since today is September 21, but by October 25, will you still care? Besides, former President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, so long ago, I need a calculator to calculate the number of years since then: 51 years.

The Pinoy has already forgotten about People Power which was in 1986, 37 years ago. Don’t expect him to remember what happened 51 years ago. He needs Philippine History for both.

And as if the Pinoy needs proof of his selective amnesia, he voted for BBM, making him PBBM. He voted for Marcos’ unico hijo who promised to lower the price of rice to P20 per kilo, a promise that has become elusive as that price continues to rise, seemingly aspiring for senior citizenship: 60.

One thing I’m pleasantly surprised with, the Marcoses are not lording it over the news and social media. When Ferdinand Senior was president, the banner news was always about them. Most probably because the media was controlled then, no thanks to Martial Law.

The low-carber is more concerned about the prices of beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, and water, but not of rice and other grains, veggies, and fruits. But he still can relate with the complaints against the rising price of rice since usually he’s the only family member who doesn’t eat rice. He’s still affected by the price increase.

Rice is a food staple in Asia. Even foreigners married to Asians have learned to eat rice. But Pinas is not planting rice anymore because, as the Pinoy song goes, “Planting rice is never fun.” So, rice fields have morphed into subdivisions, golf courses, commercial areas, and industrial zones. And Pinas is now importing rice from other Asian countries.

Any Pinoy who has travelled abroad would always say, Kawawa ang Pinas, upon arriving home. Because he now has a basis of comparison—the foreign country he visited. If the ordinary citizen could see the difference, perhaps Pinas’ president could observe more since he has the chance to talk with the presidents and leaders of other countries, and that’s with a red-carpet welcome.