Playing with Fire

By January 5, 2010Archives, Opinion

Revive dress code in our baile

Gonz Duque

By Gonzalo Duque

UNIVERSITY of Luzon president Macky Samson and the unsinkable Boy Rayos of the old UPang were overheard expressing disgust over the low level protocol has plummeted into during the city’s observance of its annual fiesta.

Unlike in the days of yore, the two guys recalled, and joined in by regular guy Boy Balingit, our guests and family members would enter the city plaza in their best dresses or formal attires. Today, well, the New Year forbids us from mouthing bad words.

The sentiment was voiced by the trio to hizzoner Al Fernandez who we think could not agree more.

Maybe, the new generation has no idea of the grandeur of the past. But most of those we had discussed the matter with agreed with Macky’s group. Probably, the problem lies in the new  “relax ka lang” attitude of the new generation. We don’t know. Maybe, our problem is our aging self. But we really miss the old culture when everybody would come in their best party dresses during a public ball.  Have our young lost their appreciation of their parents’ handsome culture?

Maybe, our mayor or anyone who will be in the saddle of the city government could impose, or, in deference to our democracy-bent young, encourage an observance of a dress code during public bailes.

By the way, during the conversation, Macky was mumbling, “ok sanang suportahan natin si Benjie ano, kaya lang barkada natin si Al e. That was said with candor, but it has a lot of implications. Asikasom iratay beerkadam, Mayor Al. ”

* * * *

We are not a doctor. Unlike Papang and Pingkoy, who have notched great names in the country’s public health, we are a simple lawyer.

But we have our oido wisdom on personal health and wellness. We are not the type who easily scream at the sight of their children getting dirty while they play on the backyard. But we have seen many of these overly protected kids grow to be weaklings, prone to sickness and regular patients of hospitals. As they say “too much virtue is vice.”

We recall this in fond memory of Papang when a protective friend Jun Velasco was bringing us to a water hose to clean our dirty body when then Governor Paco arrived and admonished our friend (our neighbor columnist) not to mind the dirt on our body because he said it’s part of immunizing us from sickness.

Go to any hospital records.  Most of the patients come from rich families who are overprotective of their children. And the “Dirty Harries” has grown up in tiptop wellness.

We think brod Pingkoy, the health secretary, shares our point of view although these days he is more preoccupied with firecrackers —keeping the public safe from fire crackers.

Do not be surprised of you see him rounding up hospitals after the New Year’s Eve, extending medical care, including stitching a kid who lost an ear. Ay naku, people don’t learn their lessons.

* * * *

We heard Mayor Al and Manay Gina went to the table of former Mayor Benjie Lim and his wife Celia during the Dagupan City National High School alumni nite. The foursome exchanged pleasantries.

Yan ang maganda, nagmamahalan  ang  magkalaban sa pulitika. Ano ba naman yang  pulitika, temporary lang yan, mga igan; what matters is  our being brothers and sisters under Christ.

You know, this columnist’s job, or is it jab?, is a thankless thing. The people you’d want to shake hands will glare at you with a frown because at one time or another, you wrote something na dinamdam nila. This is the hazard of the newspaper column-writing game.

Magakakaroon ka ng kalaban na wala kang kaalamalam. But ok lang, ika nga, so long as you know that you have done it with the intention of serving the public weal.

Ganyan lang naman ang buhay e, you can’t please everyone all the time. As the year winds up, we wish to thank you all for keeping us company, that is, your faithful reading habit to our paper, the Punch, and our column. Happy New Year!

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