Deferred retirement

Life in the suburbs of Sydney is almost idyllic. There is a lot of greenery around, and flowers are everywhere. The air is so clean and the sky so blue that on a clear day, you can see forever. Near the house, a man-made lake is host to ducks and geese who, when they aren’t quacking or honking, sail gracefully across the water in the late afternoon, causing only the slightest ripples.

Although summer is upon us, the heat is not yet oppressive, and residents can always expect a sudden change in the weather — from hot and sunny in the morning to rainy in the afternoon. Today, it was cloudy and balmy, perfect for walking in downtown Sydney. The transport system works efficiently. Buses and trains run on time, and seniors get a hefty discount on all modes of transportation.

I am in the midst of my family — we are complete at least once a year, and I bask in the love and company of my three grandchildren. I am eating well. Fruits and vegetables abound. Australian beef is superior to anything we have at home. I am happy cooking meals I don’t bother to prepare at home. And my daughter whips up the most wonderful cakes for dessert.

We watch movies and drama series on large flat-screen TVs, munching on fresh cherries, chocolates and chips. If this is what retirement is like, I should want more of it. And I do. It would be nice to have such a stress-free existence in my senior years.

However, every morning at 8:15, a local TV station replays the late night TV Patrol newscast from Manila. And whatever positive energy I have getting up in the morning after six or seven hours of restful sleep dissipates into sadness, depression, anger, despair. The strains of the intro to the newscast repel me, and the news from home, when I stop to listen, can really spoil my morning.

TV Patrol tells me there is nothing new at home.

Tokhang still tops the news. Daily, even at Christmas, impoverished men, women and children continue to be killed summarily in the streets, alleyways and shanties of the slums. The daily footage of bloody cadavers on the streets are numbing. Already, the pubic seems to simply shrug their shoulders and accept that the killings are part of life in the country and the summarily executed deserved to die.

The police are acting under cover of impunity that their commander-in-chief has cloaked them with. They allege that most of the killings are done by unknown assassins, but there is no effort to investigate the incidents and arrest the perpetrators. Meanwhile, the body count continues to rise. If it is true that on the night of the PNP Christmas party, there were no extrajudicial killings reported in the city, THAT is really disturbing.

The president’s mouth still rules the headlines. Since I left Manila in early December, he has insulted President Obama (again!), the United Nations (again!), the Catholic Church and even the Body of Christ, among others. He has gushed over Donald Trump and Putin, declared that he will share oil exploration in Scarborough Shoal with the Chinese, admitted the use of the killer drug Fentanyl for chronic pain, confessed to killing alleged drug pushers in Davao, and throwing people out of helicopters. He has also threatened to burn down the UN building in New York. But he has taken it all back and scolded the media for failing to distinguish between his supposed “jokes” from his supposedly serious pronouncements. Over and above his abominable language, his braggadocio and his patently unconstitutional actions, he has sounded the alarm over an alleged plot by the opposition and the US government to oust him from office.

Hello? With the way he had been behaving, I could swear he is asking for it.

And then, of course, there is the vicious campaign of Bongbong Marcos and his army of trolls to discredit and unseat Vice President Leni Robredo, which can only be done by the Supreme Court acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.

There is so much cause for alarm and I ask myself why I am even watching Philippine news. Isn’t this why I am taking an extended vacation in Australia, to get away from the toxic events at home?

But as a Filipino and a news junkie, I cannot stay away from the news from home. As much as it upsets me, I am compelled to listen to and assess every police report, and every bit of political news. I fret, I curse, I tremble at the possibilities, and I pray hard for my country and people.

I cannot wait to return to the ramparts. Retirement will have to wait.