Think about it
Courage
By Jun Velasco
PROBABLY, due to its sheer length, our paragraph on fellow writer Jimmy Lucas, former trade and industry director of Pangasinan flew over the hump in the Punch’s last issue.
It was a dusky afternoon when we visited him at his Bonuan Boquig home, three days after he was reported to have died. The wife was not home then; only his nurse daughter who just planed in from Singapore. The whole city was without power, but the Bonuan air helped make our visit comfortable.
We first met Jimmy in Camp Aquino in l972 (that year!), when we were detained by Bung Ferdinand on suspicion that we were subverting the government. The Ilocano writer impressed us with his devotion to the propagation of the Iloko and Pangasinan languages.
It was Jimmy who first convinced us of the need for local writers to have a working knowledge and craft of their local tongue. Jimmy would say it’s up for the translators to do their job. The idea, he said, was for writers to express the soul of their native soil.
We were supposed to meet again to put a final dash on the long delayed publication of the late Bayardo Estrada’s poems before he died. In deference to Jimmy’s wish and that of Estrada’s son Ace who tragically died last year, we wish to turn over the poetic manuscripts to the Pangasinan Press Club headed by our neighbor Gonzalo Duque.
We remember those nervous nights Jimmy and Ilocos Norte’s the poet laureate Sammy Bangloy would visit us in our detention bed in Camp Aquino to discuss poetry and martial law which was then clamped on us, only to be terrorized by a cold point of a gun on our head ordering us to split up.
On his departure to the Great Beyond, we wish to remind the living that, as we posited here last week, life is short, and it may be best to echo an angel’s advice that we now do whatever good we could for our neighbor for we might not pass this way again.
Jimmy just did.
* * *
The latest we heard about Mayor Benjie Lim is that he finally “capitulated” to the Sangguniang Bayan’s pressure by agreeing finally to speak in their home turf.
We wish to remind those who describe his act as act of capitulation or surrender that what he did was an act of courage… because his act would serve the public interest. Now, we are able to put a cap to the wasteful clashes in the city government engendered by false pride.
A few years back, we saw two bikers along Edsa in Makati who collided head-on and fell. Suddenly, they put out their weapons, one with a steel chain, and the other a balisong. The spectacle caused some cars and buses to stop obviously to witness a “gladiators’ duel.” There was instant betting. After swapping blows, the one holding the balisong suddenly made an about turn and ran away. He was booed, and those who made their bet on him were cursed him. We told the spectators the man who ran was the brave one.
He fought his pride and narrow, shortsighted ego… for the fighting could have resulted in the death of one or both. What would that mean to their families? In our book, the one who ran was the winner. What did the Good Book say? Better to suffer for truth than prosper in falsehood.
In the senate, we see generals being unmasked for enriching themselves at the expense of the taxpayers. One of them killed himself, but it’s debatable if he did it for courage or cowardice because the charges against him have not been decided yet.
In our province, there’s a nasty talk about members of the provincial board acquiring an expensive Ford Everest each priced Pl.2 million. Will any member there have the courage to stand and say “mga kasama, huwag na lang because the nation is suffering.”
You know the familiar story about the two women fighting before King Solomon over the possession of a baby. When the king ordered that the baby would be divided by means of hacking, one of the women her claim to save his life. That woman displayed great moral courage.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
