WHAT to do on Independence Day? Oh. Take advantage of the non-working holiday by not working at all. Independence from working by reading books the whole day. That’s how a holiday should be spent: staying home, sleeping, eating, reading, the same sked I prefer for weekends.
What to read on Independence Day? A Philippine History book would be most appropriate. But History as a school subject always bored me. I could have been better off taste-testing the puto that was assembled as the Philippine flag at an Independence Day celebration.
No one is ever truly independent, by the way. This is evident in Amanda Palmer’s book “The Art of Asking or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help.” Which makes me wonder if she asked Neil Gaiman to help her write it. Gaiman was her husband when that book was published.
“It takes a village to raise a child,” as the African proverb goes. And surviving in this world does require the help of many people even after childhood. That’s why there’s the barangay, the neighborhood where you live and where you can hopefully ask for salt from the next-door neighbor if you forgot to restock the cupboard.
If you’re now the barangay captain or barangay kagawad, the more you can rely on the neighbor’s help. But what if you live in a particular barangay but run for a barangay position in another barangay? Hmmm. Awkward. Especially if some people are now looking for you at the barangay hall and the staff there is telling them to please wait because you’re still home. They would then decide to wait for you, thinking your house is nearby.
But two hours later, they’re still waiting. The staff now has to inform them that your house is located not only in another barangay but in another city. So, how were you able to establish residency? Through a magic carpet ride?
The barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections will be on December 1, 2025. Ilang tulog na lang. Okay, that’s about five months of tulog. But the barangay and SK candidates are now losing sleep as they choose whom to ask for help from among the May 12 mid-term election winners. As for the losers there, they can try again on December 1. Try and try until they sakses.
The Pinoy is so obsessed with the elections as he keeps hoping for good governance, and as he looks forward to the ulan-ulan. Having two elections this year is giving him more chances of receiving what he believes is easy money. But it’s not easy money at all. He will have to repay for it through the substandard government services and public infrastructure that are affected by graft and corruption.
Try visiting government offices and buildings, even the new ones now have restrooms that have no water and with cubicles that already need repairs. The new buildings’ facades are still Instagrammable, though.
On Independence Day, the question should have been, Independent from what? For the carnivore, that’s independent of carbs. But with the puto assembled as the Philippine flag, the carnivore might have become dependent on carbs again.
