Last Monday, Ah Kong joined the National Economic and Development Authority – Cordillera Administrative Region (NEDA-CAR) and other Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and focused on three important issues that will shape re-organization of the Regional Development Council (RDC-CAR).
Fleshed out during the consultation was in-depth look of mechanisms allowing increase of CSO participation to the RDC, concerns and issues of CSO representatives and the process of electing representatives to the RDC as well as its committees.
As usual, NEDA-CAR regional director and RDC-CAR vice chair Milagros Rimando was present, steering the consultation to speedy progression, with robust participation of CSO representatives.
Looking at director Rimando last week, Ah couldn’t help smile knowing Rimando, in everything she does for NEDA-CAR and RDC, she does it sincerely in earnest to advance the interest of CAR by every possible means.
When you sit with meetings or consultations with Rimando, you’ll find she will whet and cultivate every instrument of goodness of participants, though it may not be cast in her own mold, or fashioned after her own pattern.
Rimando will never consider whether the form suits her own taste, but whether the instrument itself be calculated to accomplish the work at hand.
It is a test by which director Rimando is able to judge if the delight she feels at hearing of a meritorious action suffers no abatement because it was performed by participants who may differ with her.
Ah will give you an example to this candor mixed with smile by Rimando. That Monday, Ah joking asked if those CSO members wanting to be elected be given time to campaign and show their platform – just like COMELEC style, to the merriment of consultation participants.
Rimando informed this fool, Ah, that candidates are usually given about three minutes to express themselves. Ah asked if that time can be extended.
Sure enough, Rimando heartily responded, “Mabalin!” See, how she whets and cultivates instrument of goodness of participants.
Talking further of cultivation, many Herald Express readers reacted positively on the topic “A Clump of Soil Gardening.”
Many said they are retired but now engaged in agriculture; others are contemplating to cultivate the footsteps of Mayor Mauricio Domogan and city councilor Leandro Yangot – not necessarily as politicians – but as novice agriculturists.
Many said they also read in the Herald Express of senator Cynthia Villar’s plan to push agri-tourism in the countryside to lure the youth to engage in agriculture.
But two letter writers, Areston Linalop and Wilmer Naburas (both didn’t tell their ages and whether they’re Cordilleran or lowlander in their mails) perked Ah’s attention.
Both seemed puzzled why their will to cultivate their interest keep going awry.
Areston said, “Sir: How can you help me in cultivation of my mind to concentrate focusing on a little patch of land which my father gave me. I finished BS in Agriculture. Always, I tried to pursue other purposes and they got me nowhere, instead. . .”
On the other hand, Wilmer asked, “Sir, apay marigatan nak nga sucayen weno patanoren (cultivate) dagiti kayat ko nga aramiden. . .?”
C’mon now, fine readers. As Ah previously kept whining to you before, “Why you esking toooooo many questions in your letters, anyway eh? Why you enjoy giving me headaches, eh?”
Cultivation? Cultivation of the mind? Well, let’s see, now, Areston and Wilmer, . . . cultivation to attain fertile imagination of the mind?
Hey, you two guys, forcing this lazy Ah to think and use his head. You remind Ah the time he rode a van going to Asin Hot Springs, Baguio, one evening.
He was with friends, Balso, Maria and Lucia. The van reached the Asin Road tunnel. Since it was evening, the tunnel was completely dark.
Suddenly there was a kissing sound and a slap! The van came out of the tunnel.
They saw Balso bent over holding his face, which was red from an apparent slap. All of them remained diplomatic and nobody said anything.
Maria thought, “Balso must have tried to kiss Lucia in the tunnel and she slapped him.”
Lucia, on the other hand, thought, “Balso must have tried to kiss Sonia in the tunnel and she slapped him.”
Balso, who got slapped, thought, “Dammit, Ah must have tried to kiss either Maria and Lucia and as both tried to slap Ah, it was me who got hit.”
Ah thought, “If we return to this tunnel again in the dark, I will make another kissing sound and slap Balso.”
See! What cultivation does to attain a very fertile mind, No?
Anyway, where were we, seriously? Ah, yup, back to cultivation.
Now, Areston, Wilmer, dear fellows, understand there are cultivations of character bordering on the negative, as well as positive, and any who’s guiltless of cultivation in his/her bosom is alone guiltless.
Looking at a human being, one can rightly see that hair seems the only part of an individual which actually grows like a vegetable even without cultivation and watering.
Observe a lady who value their hair (all women do, anyway) and you’ll notice the principal part of the woman evolves from her hair and her face.
As any woman walks along, you will notice she would be conscious of her face and her hair.
Cut part of the hair of a lady without her consent, oh boy, shed yell bloody murder for it would require several months of cultivating her hair to grow to its previous state.
Or, she would be forced to go to the saloon to have her hair re-cultivated.
Now, we go to the men. On and off the street, one can discern that many love to cultivate propagating a big belly, a fashion started even when all of us have been born.
Areston, Wilmer: there are many ideas prevailing respecting cultivating the mind.
Sometimes, people say, “I would do this, do that, if I had the time.” Now, there is no condition in which the chance of doing any good is less than not doing it.
In short, any fully employing his hours by fruitfully cultivating these is able to gratify dispositions and fairly increases capacity of doing so.
This is owing to human nature called inactivity, but when one gets over it, everything’s fine.
Just so it is with Ah, the idle man who, not sometimes, but is always hit by refusing to go to work.
You all know that Ah works with Herald Express and one of his major functions is attending important government meetings.
Instead of doing so, he opted last week to attend the most unimportant meeting: meeting with Satan so Ah traveled to hell.
There, Ah found there’s a different hell for every part of the world. He goes to European hell and asks, “What do they do here?”
Satan said, “First, they put you in an electric chair for one day, then lay you on a bed of nails for one day. Then the Euro devil comes in and whip you for one day.”
Ah didn’t like the sound of it at all and moved on, checking the USA hell, the Russian hell, the Communist hell and many more. He discovered these more or less the same as European hell.
Then he came to Philippine hell and was amazed to see a long line of people from all colors, waiting to get in. He asked, “What do they do here?”
Satan said, “First, they put you in an electric chair for one day, then lay you on a bed of nails for one day. Then the Philippine devil comes in and whip you for one day.”
“But that’s exactly the same as the other hells,” Ah said.
Satan answered, “Because maintenance is so bad the electric chair doesn’t work, nails for the bed are bent, wood for the bed are rotten because of substandard materials and the Philippine devil is a former politician who comes in, signs the register and then goes out golfing, reason many like to come to Philippine hell.”
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Lastly, para sa mga ama ng tahanan na kasing tinik ng bangus, kasing dulas ng palos. Na kailanman ay hindi umaamin ng kasalanan: Belated Happy Father’s Day!
