Distancia Amingo Essay

It was mid-afternoon. I could see faces along the road. I knew they were Iskolar ng Bayan; I assumed. They are for sure coming from different Bicol provinces. I was in a hurry to cross the lane. I was nearly bumped by a jeepney. Ano, magpapakamatay ka na? The driver shouted. Aw nano na costumbre, I murmured. I did not know whether he got the right person or I got a wrong way, either. After I crossed the pedestrian lane, I stopped and thought it over. Suddenly, a tricyle passed by. Distancia Amingo, as I have read the inscription on the board of its back. Keep distance, I told myself. I, most of the times, was waiting for and taking a ride in a jeepney every time I am going to office, church, mall, and even bar hopping. Jeepney becomes a public transportation of Legazpenos and other neighboring places. We are comfortable to call it as dyip or jeep. Indeed, my previous experience constructs a new concept that helps me out to observe, describe, and take note its technical and cultural background. What can you say? Jeepneys are originally made from US military jeeps, which military left them behind after ended the World War II instead of paying to ship the vehicles to America. A jeepney is a 12- to 16-passenger vehicle fashioned from second-hand military Jeeps used in the Philippines as public transportation. The term comes from a combination of the words Jeep and jitney, meaning small bus following a flexible schedule that carries passengers on a regular route. Over the years, the jeepney has grown to become one of the most prevalent means of transportation in the Philippines,† said Jacob Hendriks, eHow contributing writer. Today, it becomes the most common means of public transportation among provinces in the Philippines. Indeed, its name tags the Filipinos culture. If you could notice before you step up there are some slogans down the stair. Take note; you will perhaps frown or laugh at after reading it. Basta driver, sweet lover, this is an authentic example. It is not doubtful if passengers got smile when they have pleased to seat on the tukawan, I connote. On the other hand, this slogan simply speaks of machismo. In contrast, drivers could be described as polygamous by nature aside from being gentlemen to passengers. Perhaps, the status of their employment would attest that in some cases they coincidentally found women at night while they went to driving. I don’t think if some of them got concubines, which could be the cause of love quarrel between him and his wife. I think this is the reason why some of them had encountered accident that is suicidal. Forgive me if I got the wrong concept. At the back of the driver seat, you can read, Barya lang po sa umaga. We cannot deny that many times we forgot to pay our fare using coins early in the morning. Dai akon sensilyo; that’s it when driver asked. We cannot deny that we never allow ourselves to follow this simple rule; yet, when we demand good services from the authority basically our blood pressure seems to explode. High blood? so to speak. On the other hand, there are drivers who cheat. When you handed him more than the expected fare sometimes they forgot or meant not to return your change. I did not say that they are all cheaters because there also some of them who are honest. The moment you forgot, they screeched their wheels back. I also did not say that they are not angry when passengers count their change. Maski arog ako kaini, dai ko kaya manluko nin tawo, one time a driver murmured towards me. Feeling close, my flirt mind commented. Fasten your seat belt; you can read this line when you sit beside the driver’s seat. Sometimes, it is written as, fasten your sit belt. At first, I was annoyed; but, at the end, I realized that this line is the result of linguistic imperialism. We should forgive the perpetrator. We should not point our fingers to the driver because the nature of his work does not qualify to plead him guilty instead we will blame his teacher. It could be his parents as first teachers at home. It could be his teachers in the school, where learning takes place. Exactly, his learning experience constructs meaning as influence of constructivism. The good side is; he is not just a driver, but a skilled worker. This is the real substance of education shaping a person to be productive developing his potential to a defined skill. I was already inside the jeepney where I listened to the song entitled, Jeepney by Spongecola. What a coincidence, I said. Hush. Listen to the song. Bumaba ako sa jeepney/Kung saan tayo’y dating magkatabi/Magkahalik ang pisngi nating dalawa. The verses describe how the lovers explicitly unveil their relationship. Public display affection (pda); they said. Yes, it is expected that this is between man and woman. It could possibly be a man with a queer wo(man). That’s true; we do not impose racism here. You can laugh, but do not judge. Just say; this is the law of extreme reality. Pues, I can’t bear the moment without looking into the trend of courtship nowadays. I tell you; I am not against with them. I really feel sad when I see lovers in the jeepney showing inhuman behavior. We cannot blame older than us if they can’t tolerate themselves to put them into gossip because they destroy our good tradition. So, it is not surprising if women are being brutalized and raped because they become motif of original sin. Si’isay su relihiyoso an padi o an drayber? It becomes a joke; but, if we look at it as new perspective, tambay or bystanders would answer us, of course, the driver. If you can observe; the driver will not drive the jeepney without signing a cross. Yes, I agree, but he cannot do it without prior knowledge about his religious ways without the priests. When we destroy our conscience, our faith will be at stake. Faith in our people and faith in God, said Sen. Benigno â€Å"Ninoy† Aguino, Sr. In front of the jeepney’s mirror, you can see a small altar with an image of Virgin Mary. It becomes the icon of their salvation. Sometimes, they hang above it a bunch of fresh and fragrant flower, sampaguita, which they bought three for ten pesos from the young vendors. These vendors could be young boys or girls who seemed to be unfortunate. No child shall be left behind, as envisioned by the DepEd. Yet, the more the children are unfortunate, the more they are not able to go to school. I am sure there is something wrong in their home. I am sure there is something wrong in the system of the government. Along the front window you can notice the driver’s prayer embroidered as, God bless our trip. With this, I can say that the driver is a symbolic for hard work and these four words represent for prayer. This entails that when we work we should never forget to pray. Ora et labora; in English means, pray and work. This simply reminds us that we should balance our material needs and our spiritual need. When I got down the stair another jeepney passed by. I could read the inscription, In God We Trust. I can’t imagine how Bicolanos survive amid scarcity as a result of natural calamity. I presume; Bicolanos’ ways of living unfold the profound relationship with God. Ancient times indeed reflect how our ancestors passed on our good culture that defines our Bicolano identity. So, we have no reasons to smile. Starting today, we will keep distance when jeepney stops, but we will never lose hope when sudden misfortune comes because God never keeps us apart. He is just in our heart.