By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
From the ancient and towering mountains of Sagada, down to the ever growing city of Baguio, public transportation has made it possible to go from one cold place to another. You can eat breakfast at McDonald’s in the morning and make it in time to see the sights of Sagada just before the sun sets. Or whether you feel a sudden burgeoning of national pride and visit Calamba, to suck in the same air that Rizal once did. Save a little bit of money and we can even go to Boracay.
After having experienced 8-9 hours of bus rides, I hold high admiration to all drivers. To the blood that keeps the country running, and delivers all people to their destinations. Sitting down for hours straight sounds easy, but harder to endure. It had not been an easy couple of months to all people, more so to our drivers, gas prices are stubbornly holding on to the current staggering levels.
Even so, swimming on the beach tomorrow is possible, whether by bus or by plane, we can take a break to swim in cold water, to walk on the white sands of Boracay. And to the people whose jobs involve a lot of travelling, I can only imagine the importance of the buses that go in and out of the city every couple of minutes.
Although the long roads can bore any mind into a lullaby, they can force you into thinking a lot of issues that won’t come out in our daily lives. Through the metropolis of Manila, and the outlying towns, one can see the glaring issues that still plague us as a nation.
We have been blessed with public transportation that connects us to other great regions of the country. Allowing us to visit relatives anytime of the week and during the holidays. Yet, we still have a long way to go.
A bus contains different peoples with diverse occupations and situations in life. The destination may be the same, but others will get off at different places. And the bus moves on, picking up new passengers along the way. New faces and a new crowd now sit beside you. Until eventually, the final destination arrives. And you leave the people you will likely never see again.
As a nation with unique ideals, though we pride ourselves with our local cultures, we put our right hand on our chests for the same flag. Pledge allegiance to the same creed, and live under one banner. During times of uncertainties, there will be times where we must huddle up close together, like a group of people in a bus until we are ready to go once again, drop off to reality and go on.
We all separate to our different paths, but the solidarity will always remain, until we must all come together again and heal or progress as one.
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