Barrio Stories and Other Tales

Barrio

Sinsero Cutud



I was so busy I thought I'd never have the opportunity to update my websites. School and work are still my priorities and I was carried away by Linux Apache CGI/PERL programming. I'm so into MySQL database on my spare time, nowadays.

I'm learning all these on my own. Schools aren't as comprehensive as I thought them to be.

It is all so exciting, so new, so wonderful to me.

Not as boring as the soap opera we have in the Pinoy land. I don't know about you guys but every time I read or listen to any news coming from PI, I just start yawning like crazy. I mean, isn't there anyone there who can say the line, "GOING FORWARD, WHAT'S DONE IS DONE, FORGETTING THE PAST, LETS TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT"?

It's just probably me, but I can assure you I wasn't born to talk and listen about a few politicians only. AND those Southern lunatics who think beheading their captives is world-captivating can kiss my ass, they are just as boring as the politicians. The world would not stop revolving because the Philippine ex-President is being tried. And I will certainly NOT waste my time talking about a country that keeps resurrecting its old story plots like a song that has only one tune.

Because I'm always inspired by the Pinoy named Sinsero Cutud.

He returned one day to the Philippines after many years of working in America. Why he returned was because he got sick of hearing his acquaintances in America talk about how bad the Philippines is. There was this old American who said she's a well traveled lady and reached even the countries of most abject poverty but only in Manila was where she got robbed.

Sinsero Cutud said, "You must have not seen New York yet . I've lived all my life in the worst corners of Manila but only in New York was I gotten robbed."

Sinsero, no matter how lightly he pretends to take all the bad comments about his country, feels pain in his heart. He has reservations and bad comments about other countries too but it's different when someone badmouths his own country.

So he went home.

Left everything he got in America and came home.

Upon landing in Manila, he knew instantly the problem why the Philippines is seen badly under the microscope of the world. He found his country not dirty, not crime-infested, not polluted, not unstable. He found his country too fatigued. What else do you expect from a country that is subjected to an endless political drama? What do you expect from a country always on the verge of collapse? It ends up with people drained of energy and enthusiasm; people who no longer see a light at the end of the tunnel. Their only goal is to break out of the tunnel and be somewhere else.

The enthusiasm is lost - Sinsero realized this truth upon landing on his country. He stayed briefly in his house in Cavite and after sleeping his jet lag away, he went directly to his favorite place in Manila, the place where he began his Manila life and where he hopes to end it - Luneta and Manila Bay. The moment he stepped into Luneta he felt a strange sensation: a total darkness enveloped his soul, like a cloud of gray smoke through which everything he saw was sad. In Manila, he thought, there is no more clear view left. Everything is polluted, the fragrance of sampaguita is nowhere smelled instead, it's overtaken by the odor of decomposing fish and dead bodies of people killed by kidnappers and criminals. There is not a new edifice of grandiose beauty but old dilapidated shanties boarded by homeless, food-less people. Oh God, he cried. What happened to my land.

He went directly to the statue of Rizal - Sinsero Cutud is the only Pinoy who can summon statues to move and talk. Wiping tears from his eyes, he shouted : "Rizal, I command you to answer me. What has happened to this country and what did you do to stop her downward fall? Rizal, you must give me an answer now, I want you to move and speak and explain to me what happened!"

Rizal's statue did not move.

"You too Rizal? Why you too... even you Rizal refuse to wake up to this horrible, horrible place we call home!"

Sinsero Cutud wept bitterly. Then he heard his cell phone ring.

It was Rizal calling . Rizal said, "I was intending to text you but you American-cultured Filipinos are so backward when it comes to 'cheap' communication."

Oh excuuuuse me, Sinsero replied.

"Anyway," Rizal continued, "What the hell are you hollering at me for, like some Jesus Christ commanding me to walk? What's wrong with you, man?"

Sinsero broke into period-less, pause-less sentences. ....Like, duh, what happened to the Ever Loyal City of Manila, who the fuck caused this smelly, slimy stuff swimming in Manila Bay, who the hell started kidnapping people like it's the only goddamn viable business, where the fuck are the youth of tomorrow and the Philippines a Century Hence....

"Oh just shut up, Sinsero. Who else is to be blamed for these but you!"

Rizal's interjection so fumed Sinsero Cutud. "ME? Why the hell should I be blamed for all this mess?"

Rizal replied, "First, I am dead ain't I? I can't do material shit anymore. Second, you're the living Filipino who can do material shit. What are you doing amidst this mess? Aren't you ashamed calling my spirit like I caused all this? Be sensible Sinsero. You spent your entire youth in this city, did you do anything to clean it up, to make it smell like a fragrant sampaguita? You want the water of Manila Bay be pure, so - what did you do to achieve that? Your mistake is this - you stand beside the city and pontificate about it, that's all you do. You weave these words as if the entire earth will read you and listen to you. Sinsero, they will never listen to you because they are all very much like you, pontificating. They expect you to listen to them as you expect them to listen to you. In the end nobody hears anything. "

"Oh, and now it's my fault," Sinsero protested.

"Yes, it's all of you living Filipinos' fault. How on earth did you become this complacent, this cynical, possessed by blame-the-world-and-others mentality? If only you start thinking with sincerity, if only you start thinking of this country and people first, if only....oh now I sound pontificating myself...I hate doing this. But you got my drift Sinsero?"

"I have my own opinions on things like these Rizal, but you're the hero. I need to listern. To dead heroes especially. You might have a different way of looking at things. Now, lets cut the chase, what should I do?"

"First, just shut up and think positive. As long as this nation remains pessimistic , everything will be seen in the darkness. Bring the sun on the land. Brighten the country. Give it action. Keep the heat and passion and love of country alive. "

"Yeah, those are so abstract - like - be happy. Rizal, be specific here. I don't understand the abstracts you're giving me. I'm no Picasso."

"Sinsero, look over there." Rizal pointed out a child selling peanuts in the far corner of the Luneta. "See that child? Tell me, what do you think of that child when you see him."

"He's poor Rizal. And he's probably helping his family out."

"Yeah, you're right. He is. But you stop there. Even if you'd see that child everyday, you'd sweep his image away after staring at him. You'd go on and let the view and the thought go on. Observing and commenting, and sometimes sympathizing. But that's all there is to it.

"Close your eyes, Sinsero. Go beyond observing. What if that boy is your son - what will you tell him? If that boy were your younger brother, what will you do for him? And if he's our land, how will you treat him? That boy selling peanuts IS our country Sinsero. If you want to build this country, you must begin building her people first. And if you want to build our people, you must begin with that single one, that boy selling peanuts.

"This is our country Sinsero, this park is ours, the people visiting here are our family. Start taking care of this little place and its people and you'll manifest true humanism and love of country, and yeah, true Christianity.

"Sinsero, I cannot do anything here. Please do not come to me calling my spirit every time you wanna color this country gray and black. This country is colored rainbow - you better believe that. And once you see the brightness of its future, the malaise will vanish. The social cancer will be excised. But it begins with you, and all of you.

"Goodbye Sinsero, I'm afraid dead heroes cannot save this country. This country want them heroes alive and kicking. And don't bother my sleep asking me what you should do. You know what you should do."

Sinsero Cutud one day picked up a plastic bag and began running from Luneta Grandstand to CCP, people thought he was a jogger at first, until he opened his plastic bag and began picking up the garbage left by people on the Luneta and Manila Bay. People thought he was crazy. He surprised them further when he started carrying children's books during the afternoons and gathered children and read to them. He did this day in and day out until he acquired the name Luneta Guardian. But what was so magical about it was - every Filipino who visited the park became extra careful not to throw garbage so this would save Sinsero Cutud time that he could spend more reading to kids. And the kids learned to read and write and went to school, through Sinsero.

At nights, these pupils come to Manila Bay to say goodnight to Sinsero Cutud. He is old now, he is very old. I return to the Philippines every now and then to pay my respects to him. Being the boy who sold peanuts, I am grateful to him. I never stopped learning since the day Sinsero Cutud, came to me and asked, "Do you want to hear the story about Rizal?"

Alex Maskara

Barrio Tales