Brrrrrr.as we went to press, a wicked bone-chilling deep freeze is enveloping the Greater Toronto area. An extreme cold alert, usually the norm when temperature dip at this time of the season is in effect.
The rites of winter, which include the blahs or depression is a dreadful one especially from someone like us of tropical origins.
But come to think of it there is an upside to winter, aside from the immaculately white postcard –like scenery of snow.
There is, after all something to be thankful for the changing seasons of the year, something to look forward and yearn after the winter-weary months. like welcoming the blossoming of flowers and greenery, of the thawing of the white stuff in preparation for glorious spring.
It’s a miracle of nature. from hibernation to coming to life. A sort of resurrection. Winter is a necessity of nature, a cleansing of the environment and of the human soul .
Being cold, therefore is not that bad, after all, we are Canadians.
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WHAT’S HOT ? Back in Pinas, the weather is wreaking havoc on parts of the country not usually visited by the wet season, an abnormality at this time of year. January is supposed to be cool and dry, but the Visayas and Mindanao or parts of its are under water. Floods brought by consistent rainfall have hard hit Cagayan de Oro, a high coastal area .
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RICH BOYS OF ALABANG: The hottest news in Metro Manila was the arrest of three young suspects, allegedly pushers of high-end drugs, and all scions of wealthy families residing in Alabang, hence the moniker
“Alabang Boys “.
The national furor over this boys emanated from an alleged bribery attempt by some of their family members so authorities will release them from jail where they are kept since December of last year.
A head of the arresting team, called the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)a spin-off agency similar to the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), reported that a P50 million bribe offer was made to them by somebody and that another government agency involved, the department of Justice DOJ) prosecutor’s office made an attempt to free the three young men as a result of the bribe offer.
The brouhaha created not only a deep schism and enmity among agencies involved in the national drug abuse campaign, but exposed into the open what everybody had long suspected for a long time: That there is not only corruption in the anti-drug abuse campaign but also “narcopolitics “in existence.
It’s a well known fact that some politicians in higher places, the police and military and as well as other officials are deeply involved in the illicit trade whether as protectors, coddlers, capitalists and even mastermind.
Even official figures are confusing, a private, neutral survey showed there are now an estimated 9million drug users while a government statistic places it at between one million to only 6 million users.
In the meantime, residents of Alabang, including those in posh and exclusive villages, protested the branding of the suspects as “Alabang Boys “just because they are residents of the place but said its gives a bad name and reputation to the whole area.
From a vast cogonal tract of land in what was then rural Muntinlupa in the 1950s, Alabang was transformed in the 1980s into a premier town, popularly known as the enclave of the rich and powerful where the who’s who in Philippine society have taken domicile.
With the “Alabang Boys “ episode, will it become the drug town of the country ?
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QUIAPO RITES OF JANUARY: For a day of every year on January 9, pickpockets, thieves, dishonest shopkeepers and merchants and other criminals, petty or big time cease and stop their illegal activities to pay homage and in deference to a dark-coloured image of Christ popularly known as the Black Nazarene .
Said to be miraculous, the image commands a mystifying hold on millions of Filipinos who come as far as Mindanao just to touch the wooden image on every January 9 in a massive traditional parade marked by devotees who walk barefooted, with a white towel strung over neck (this one to use to wipe the image)and enduring long hours of sweat-filled rituals.
The Basilica of Quiapo, where the image is enshrined ,had been destroyed
In great fires in 1791 and 1929, in great earthquakes of 1645 and 1863 and as well as the bombing of Manila in World War II in 1945, but the original image of the Black Nazarene always survived.
All year round, the Quiapo basilica and the Black Nazarene are being visited by all kind of people and devotees, the sick and terminally ill, the disabled, the hopeless in love, childless couples, jobless. all of them seeking the intercession of the Black Nazarene to help them resolve their problems and grant wishes.
The miraculous powers of the image cannot be underestimated among its devotees and in general among Catholics.
There is a saying among Filipinos that to ease your troubles in life “Lumakad ka ng paluhod sa Quiapo at magdasal sa Nazareno “.
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TRANSITIONS AND MILESTONES: This column offers its condolences to former President Joseph “Erap “ Estrada and family on the demise of their mother Dona Mary Ejercito, January 12. We remember Erap, in our weekly
lunch cum press briefings at his residence at his P. Guevarra home , often boast of her mother’s cooking whenever he spends dinner at their ancestral home. Sometimes, Erap would let us sample the “puchero “ of her Mom.
It was a dish reminiscent of the olden days of old-fashioned cooking.
Puchero, by the way, consists of beef stewed in its natural juice with tomatoes, chorizo bilbao, onions, chickpeas,tomato sauce and other spices
Like pimento. For variety you can either mix chicken beef or pork (liempo).
Birthdays: felicitations on their natal day. Nila P.Soriano (Jan.17) Eugene Soriano (Jan.11), Ricky Caluen of Manila Media Monitor (Jan.23) .