Friends call him Doodle.
He was at Rizal Park one night to sober up. He sat on the bench fronting the
statue of the national hero. He was taking his time before going home to the
barrio. The park was well lighted but everything around him was blurry. The
Tanduay he consumed from the nearby restaurant could have affected his vision.
He drank a little too much with friends by spending all the money they earned
from yesterday's election.
The final counting of votes at city hall was to resume in the morning. His
candidate was ahead a thousand votes. Well, he was not really his candidate. In
truth, he despised this man. He just voted for him to return a favor. Yes, he
sold his vote. And why not? Almost everyone in the barrio did it. For five
hundred pesos more, he could have given up his soul too. He just didn't care.
He looked at the face of the statue. Something strange happened. It began to
move. The statue's eyes were burning. Rizal was very angry. He pointed an
accusing finger and with deep threatening voice put the inebriated man in the
state of shock.
"You!" the statue yelled from up the pedestal.
He froze. He can't move a muscle. He was helplessly plastered on the bench. He
was thinking that the statue would come down to do him harm. He curled his body
in fear and heard loudly every word the statue said.
"Ikaw ang dautang sanglitanan sa katawhan, maluibon sa nasud ug mabudhi-on sa
mga lungsuranon. Nasayud ikaw kong unsaon pagpili ang maayong punoan sa
lungsud. Apan wala ka manumbaling. Gisunod mo ang kahakog sa kaugalingon.
Nahaylo ikaw sa salapi. Gisubasta mo ang katungod. Gibaligya mo ang balota.
Kini gihimo mo usab sa nangaging mga piliay.
May mga panahon nga ikaw nagmahay sa mga dautang kahimoan sa mga napiling
opisyales. Kining tanan ang sumbalik sa imong kadanghag. Mao kini ang ani sa
imong pagpasagad. Walay laing basulon kon dili ikaw.
Panahon na ang pagbag-o. Idumili ang pag-uban sa limbong. Panalipdi ang
paglaum. Gihalad sa imong mga ginikanan ang luha ug dugo sa pagtu-o nga sa
umaabut nga mga adlaw matuman ang ilang mga pangandoy.
Ang kaluwasan sa nasud ga-agad lamang sa pagpanalipod sa katungod. Ang
bala-anong balota mao ang sukaranan sa kagawasan. Wala'y igong salapi nga
ikabaylo sa kaugmaon sa mga anak. Ayaw itugot nga mapukan ang baruganan sa
kaliwat gumikan lamang sa diyutay nga kantidad.
Gisampit and pagtagad ug gihangyo ang pagduyog. Igasa ang kaligdong sa paglikay
sa mga buktot nga buluhaton. Ang nasud nag-antus sa kapit-us. May mga gutlo nga
ang pagbangon sa kabuntagon sapnayon sa paningkamot. Apan sugo sa kinaiya nga
magpabilin ang kaputli sa garbo nga walay mansa sa kalag ug sa pangisip.
Ang kasilud sa panginabuhi ang nagsugyot kanimo. Moingon ikaw nga wala nay
laing paagi kon dili pahimuslan ang higayon. Ang imong katarungan mao ang dalan
ngadto sa kaparutan.
Hatagi sa igong panahon ang paglantaw sa matuod. Ang kuarta nga gikan sa
pagbaligya sa boto dili makauswag sa kahimtang. Hino-on, ang samputanan mao
nga ikaw mawad-an pa ug bili sa kaugalingon, kay supak man kini sa balaod sa
yuta ug sa kahitas-an.
Sa mga kamot mo nakapiyal ang kaugmaon. Ayaw patonto sa kaubanan nga sukwahi
ang kalihukan. Salig sa matarong ug iwakli ang mga panulay. Dangop sa paglaum
nga sa tukmang pagdumala sa kagamhanan ug sa panglimbasug sa tawong lungsod,
moabut gihapon kanimo ang utlanan sa kasakit ug ang katapusan sa pag-antus.
Kining tanan makawang kon dili mo itahod ang gahum sa pagpili"
It was already late in the night when he regained consciousness. He was not
aware how long he passed out. He was sober enough to go home. He got up from
the bench and walked toward Curato Street to flag a ride. But before he boarded
the tricycle, he looked back to the statue of Rizal. It still was up there
standing motionless in lifeless cement. There was no change.
But the change was in his heart. Inside the tricycle, he felt so ashamed. He
seemed to shrink in size to have realized the wrong he did. He was elected
kapilya kagawad lately and was presumed by barrio folks to be uprightly
righteous. He heard a number of pulpit preaching about the evil of vote
selling. But no one ever took it seriously. It's long been practiced that
people already deemed it as morally acceptable. It's difficult for anyone to
counter the already established way of life.
The morning after, he went to the house of Mana Felina, the kapilya president.
He handed his resignation and related his experience in the park.
"I don't deserve the position," he concluded.
"Stay on," the kapilya president insisted. "There are two of us now and we have
a long way to go."
