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Netnet Camomot .

THIRTY years from now, fishing may no longer be possible. Fishing for fish, that is. Fishing for compliments—that can still go on and on, to infinity and beyond.

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The United Nations’ report cited climate change, pollution, and the destruction of coral reefs as some of the causes of this grim possibility.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer piece on that report—“Favorite Pinoy breakfast at risk”—began with this scenario: “Dried fish for breakfast, fried to a crisp with a splash of spiced vinegar, garlic fried rice and a runny egg yolk, is the kind of breakfast that Filipinos crave.” Yum! Aren’t you hungry yet?

But imagine a Pinas without bulad. The non-Pinoy who can’t stand its smell will, of course, welcome that with all his heart and soul, the way he looks forward to the absolute annihilation of durian.

Or imagine a Pinas without ginamos, escabeche, inun-unan, tinolang isda with malunggay, tortang bulinaw. Darn.

For one—moi—whose chosen diet is now reduced to fish, veggies, fruits, nuts and water, a world with no fish may further lessen food choices to veggies, fruits, nuts and water. What a boring life that will be. The temporary diet is in preparation for the Christmas parties that already began last Friday—diet at home, indulge outside. Otherwise, the body weight will also go on and on to infinity and beyond.

Weighing daily is not advised by wellness gurus for its tendency to depress the weigh-er who now has to carry the burden of knowing that he has gained weight again. A weight loss, though, is always good news but it may reward him with the false belief that he can eat anything he wants without gaining an ounce.

People who made weight loss as their New Year’s resolution and have been trying to lose weight since Jan. 1, 2018, are probably scratching their six-pack spare tires now as they contemplate on where that resolution has led them to.

It’s 20-percent exercise and 80-percent food. Eating before, during and after each exercise may even result to a weight gain.

Deprivation has never been an effective diet strategy, that’s why moderation is the better option, if only the dieter can moderate his food intake.

Christmas, however, is the worst time to start a diet, with all the parties and reunions. Thus, there’s the New Year’s resolution which one should etch on the refrigerator, stove, oven, kitchen cupboard and pantry.

The wannabe dieter’s urong-sulong behavior is much like that of President Rody Duterte who recently said, “nagma-marijuana ako eh para magising.” Only to explain later, as usual, that he was joking: “Alam mo naman ako, nagpapatawa talaga.” If he were not the country’s president bent on continuing his war on drugs, the Philippine National Police (PNP) could have used his admission of using marijuana as proof that he also deserves to be a Tokhang surrenderee.

But the PNP could be too busy to notice now that its focus continues to shift to “Ang Probinsyano” to ensure that the fictional teleserye will only show the “true-to-life” story of Pinoy cops.

PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde said that “true-to-life” means “Filipino police officers imbued with the finest tradition of valor, service and sacrifice for God, country and people.” There’s at least one Pinoy who may disagree with that, especially if one of his family members or friends has become an extrajudicial-killing victim.

Sen. Grace Poe, whose father, Fernando Poe Jr., starred in the 1997 movie which “Ang Probinsyano” is based on, has continued to support the teleserye, saying, “I don’t want to change the story just to please those who are in power… It’s just like real life. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. So let’s be patient with the whole story.”

Anyone assessing how his own 2018 unfolded may also say the same thing—sometimes good, sometimes bad. A friend used to give me this advice: Trust the process. That could be the same thing Poe meant with being patient.

The Christmas shopper also needs patience as he squeezes himself into the throng of other holiday bargain hunters.

In the United States, Christmas shopping began on Black Friday which Urban Dictionary describes as a “shopping day when retailers are more than happy to dispose of their partially defective goods, near-expiry items, and unsold or unwanted products” or the “day after Thanksgiving where after we spent a day thanking for all we have and s**t, immediately wake up early in the morning and line up outside stores and be greedy little bastards and try to buy everything that we can that’s on sale. How ironic.”

In Pinas, Christmas began on Sept. 1. But I’m a fan of last-minute shopping for gifts. By Dec. 24, I’ll still be roaming aimlessly around inside a mall, regretting why I didn’t order 100 loaves of fruitcake.

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