By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
Got off the bus at midnight last night. To a driving rain with howling winds. I fished out the folding umbrella from my bag. A cellophane wrapped my cellphone and was dry inside my pant’s pocket. In that respect, I was prepared for the gunfight. I didn’t just bring the proverbial knife.
It was freezing cold. Climbing the 200 meter steep road to our house from the highway was a big struggle. Had to battle the force of the wind pushing back the umbrella. And the road was like a river gone wild.
Panting, rather gasping for breath, for every small step, cringing every time, ”Oh, God! My beautiful shoes (yes, wagwag can be beautiful), as water ran over them.” Finally, heard our dogs barking while coming out of the holes through the fence. I was home, for the expected hot bath.
It was also rainy the midnight before when I boarded a bus to Cubao. The aircon really froze me, deep into my bones. My hooded thick jacket over a t-shirt and a thin sweater were enough for my upper body. It was my legs that froze for I did not bring a blanket. I relied on my jeans which turned out to be so deficient. In that respect, as if I brought a plastic knife to the gunfight.
The bus was half-filled. Arriving at the Victory Liner station at Cubao, as if I arrived at a war zone. There were no stores inside the station, the bustling fast foods and stores outside were just closed doors, appearing abandoned for years, since the declaration of the pandemic. There were only a few people at the station waiting for buses towards various destinations.
The economy was still dead. Perhaps a few months are needed for it to reach a half-awake stage.
I just sat there trying to gain some heat in my body. While it was rainy all the way, Metro Manila seemed cloudy but dry.
At about 3:00 a.m. I walked the 50 meter distance to the station of HM Bus whose routes passed by Los Banos. At 4:00 a.m. the bus for Sta. Cruz that I rode which was almost full was rolling down EDSA. After an hour and fifteen minutes it stopped at Calamba to disgorge about half of its passengers.
I texted my friend I would be there at his house’s vicinity in Los Banos in 15 minutes. It was still dark with a light drizzle when I spotted him at the side of the highway in Crossing. His place was just 50 meters away. He fed me oats, baked beans, tofu and hot green tea. Heaven, as we traded laughter and jokes while exchanging notes on how we got through the pandemic. It was hard for him as his consultancy hobs were all stopped. In a way it must have been consoling for him to hear me say, everybody suffered aside from pensioners and government employees.
Before we knew it, it was 7:45 a.m. Time to move to go and meet our common friend at UPLB.
Los Banos was bustling with businesses but the UP campus was deserted. It was still on lockdown. Some jeepneys are allowed entry early mornings to bring in workers and also at 5:00 p.m. to get them home. As we drove through the gates, clearly, it was not the UPLB we once knew.
At our common friend’s office, over cups of coffee, we talked about the document my son received through his email: “Welcome to the UPLB Community” (College of Forestry) with his student number and some instructions to follow.
Then we went to confirm his dorm reservation at the YMCA. My friend got the best room, good only for two. Above YMCA is a new dorm, four students to a room with air-conditioning, but the rooms are smaller. I opted for the YMCA dorm. Aircon is not really great for health, much less to the environment.
We then drove up to the College of Forestry to check on my former classmate 50 years ago. He is not anymore the dean but I was informed he is still connected with the college. We passed by the dorm there where my friend was informed there were no more vacancies. But we were informed 4 students retracted their reservations the day before. I refused the offer though as, being on a lockdown, the place looked like a monastery without the monks. The figures you could see are only the silhouettes of the trees.
Passing through the infirmary on our way down brought back memories. We GMC and APO guys used to be regular customers there. When we were not prepared for exams, we would feign all sorts of illnesses to get prescriptions and then after a day or two we would go back to get medical certificates so we would be allowed to take special exams. Perhaps the only sickness we did not fake are those exclusive to girls.
Then it was time for lunch as my friend informed me, there are a lot of vegetarian restaurants in LB but only one was opening during the lockdown. It is in addition to International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI’s) canteen that has vegan entrees in their menu for their foreigner scientists.
Another information I got was there are a lot of Koreans now in LB. They operate all sorts of businesses. Just like what they did in Baguio.
You might be wondering regarding the offer of UP Tacloban to admit my son in the College of Business. He chickened out when I was about to go and buy plane tickets for us to fly there. He was also offered a slot at the CLSU College of DevCom but he declined.
Obviously, he is reluctant to leave the comforts of home. Well, a home is a home no matter how humble.
After lunch, I boarded a bus (they are all air-conditioned now) for Cubao. At around midnight, I was getting down at the vicinity of our place as I related above. It was really stormy.**
