Pollution season
‘Tis the season to be rowdy. Imagine getting stuck in traffic on your way somewhere. You’re in a jeepney that’s not getting a Safety or Excellence Certification anytime soon. And while you compete with other commuters for backside real estate, a multi-cab that’s paid to play one song—and one song only—blasts the track as hard as the speakers can take it.
Problem is, the speakers were created to withstand the full force of the lo-fi audio. Our ears, on the other hand, can only take so much. What’s worst, the track is actually a campaign jingle; a chart-topper with its lyrics replaced with a candidate’s name sung over and over, and over again.
This happened to me, and it was excruciatingly annoying. And we’re not even talking about the “morals of politics” here: graft, corruption, mudslinging—the whole halo-halo. It was just one poorly recorded, poorly written, poorly mixed and mastered, poorly played and poorly blasted track.
And that’s just for this part of the city during rush hour...
If only cement walls could breathe.
Just as magically sudden as roadside clamping, the wall near our village’s entrance is now covered with a thousand faces. Alright, I’m exaggerating. Although, that’s what it feels like. A flood of smiles and promises. A few words too, reminding people of what these politicians have done for Cebu.
“That sucks,” a man said in Bisaya, albeit literally, because that wouldn’t make any sense. But the point is, he was far from encouraged. The people who were putting up the posters didn’t have any extra cash with them. They had sample ballots though. But that was all.
“What am going to do with this?” The man reacted, opening an envelope lacking a crisp 20 or 50. He laughed it away.
Well on the positive side, at least vote buying’s down. I wish most of the promises on the walls had “BRB” on them. Yes: Please clean this mess up after the elections...
The traffic these days is really, really bad. Besides the role of capitalism, the influx of vehicles and creative sales pitches, and the increased spending capacity of your regular Juans, there are these timely road repairs.
I used to think that a road repair was another election marketing strategy. After quite some time, I also realized that our nation’s elections are done during summertime. And what better season to pour liquid asphalt or cement on potholes, than during a day that’s perennially sunny. Yes, the entire city does feel a bit more dusty all around this month. But can you imagine fixing these roads in rainy July?
However, if it’s a perfectly good road, yet still suffers the fate of a gigantic jackhammer, well... it’s obvious that some of our leaders are out to make Tony Stark and company proud.
“Whatever it takes.”