Barrio Stories and Other Tales

Barrio

Souls of the Dead



There was once a leader in a far away country who fooled the people by playing with their ignorance until they placed him in the highest Office of the land. He used fantastic and emotional promises to make them forget how crooked he was - he took many wives, spawned many children, drank a lot, took a lot of bribes. Being an actor gave him an edge on wading his way to the hearts of the people. He used cinematic dramas to mislead the gullible and mostly stupid people.

His leadership was so horrific the country's economy spiraled downward. So many of the people lost their jobs; lost their businesses. The people died because they could not afford doctors and medicines. Many children died because of starvation. He allowed and encouraged so much immorality in the government nobody trusted the government anymore. Under his leadership, the country stank so much the world's countries covered their noses every time they smelled this country. There was so much kidnappings. There was so much salvaging. Worse, this leader used his office to promote execution of criminals - he said - "The Justice of the nation is so good I'd like to execute anyone this Justice deem worthy of execution".

The souls of the dead flew up to heaven and demanded God that He do something about this leader. God did. And He did it with sweeping rapidity. This leader was finally convicted, evicted and jailed.

This now ex-leader shut his mouth up for a while and tried to circumvent the laws of the land. He was so wealthy thanks to his crook-days that he could afford so many top caliber lawyers. He demanded that everybody pay attention only to his needs. He was so confident in his acting abilities he thought he could appear as one of the oppressed and the poor. Actually, people believed him...for a while.

But the souls of the dead kept pounding on the gates of heaven. They demanded that the truth be revealed in spectacular obviousness. And God heeded their requests and made sure this ex-leader learned his lesson.

This ex-leader demanded that he be given justice - and used the most expensive lawyers - while the poor convicts could not even afford to buy clothes to face the courts. He demanded that all his surgeries be done in the USA while the poor people could not even afford to get their diseases diagnosed. Their knees are so arthritic and so broken the only things they could afford are local ingenious materials. This ex-leader wanted to have all the amenities a wealthy person could have while the poor could not even afford a decent meal, a decent house, a decent education.

And now this leader had committed the worst insult to the poor people of his land. He called on them to defend and protect him - use them to destroy everything his country stands and fights for - until his personal demands are met.

What he wants is to destroy the political system of his country - so his country would run into chaos. He wants the economy to break so more people would lose jobs. He wants the military to get agitated to create fear in the hearts of his people.

God, in the name of Justice, would make him tremble.

The heavens announce: "Only when he finds himself dirt poor will he understand the true meaning of poverty. Only when he discovers the slowness of justice will he understand the type of justice meted to the poor. Only when he discovers the pain of unhealthy heart and the osteoporosis of sedentary life will he understand the meaning of healthy lifestyle. Only when he is abandoned by all his friends will he understand the loneliness of the Filipinos who left everything to work abroad so they could save their families and country.

"Only when he truly understands these will I embrace him as the man of the poor. "

Because if a Filipino understands what Filipino poverty is all about - he will do all he can to erase that poverty - even if it means self-sacrifice. This ex-leader underestimates the patriotic Filipinos who, in their early days, have witnessed and experienced poverty and promised themselves to do everything they could to lift their nation and people from it. These patriotic Filipinos never focus the limelight on themselves. Their happiness depend on how their country builds itself up and how the people receive the fruits of progress and stability.

And they no longer listen to this ex-leader and his friends. The only thing that matters to them now is the Filipino future and how they could pacify the souls of the dead who won't rest in peace until true Filipino justice is served.

Alex Maskara

Barrio Tales