THERE used to be a daily newspaper column with the title “The Way I See It” (or As I See It) written by mom’s close friend and my godmother, Tinay Zuno.
It was the beginning of a learning curve for me, as mom had once mentioned, Ninang writes so simply, and I might learn a thing or two from her style.
The period had also been during the early times in Ponciano when we would often hear adults have grown-up discussions at the table, mostly about everyday issues. Many a time, the favorite closing after such would be “That’s just their opinion” or something like that. And that stuck with me.
Later on, growing up, when we’ve already studied and learned about laws and such, we began to understand that not everything is easily translatable according to one’s wishes, much less one’s opinion.
The laws, for example, could not merely be interpreted according to how we like to view them. “Dura Lex Sed Lex”, our prof would say. The law is hard, but it is still the law. (At the time, I remember Mama’s unbreakable food trays)
As such, even as I saw and respected my godmother’s views in her column as an outlet for her personal opinions, I’ve already understood that those were still subservient to existing truths and rules out there.
However, still in the everyday, big and small interpretations happen, and one cannot get used to the idea that people still hope to get away with transgressions. And some start innocently enough.
I once saw a dad and his little kid of about five walk down our street with their dog. Casually, the kid threw his drumstick wrapper in the open canal while the dad merely shrugged and maintained a mindful stance in case the boy fell in.
Right there could have been a fruitful beginning to a life lesson on littering and following rules. A few meters later, they again paused for a while so he could scoop what their dog had apparently deposited on the side of the street. I thought, one minute a lawbreaker and the next, a model of good behavior.
Moving on to bigger things, we only know so well that there are politicians who use their power and influence so that ordinances will favor their wishes. Among the tamest could be construction or improvement of public roads right near their properties and places of business.
Most often, and not innocently enough, this process deprives other areas that need them the most. I recall years ago in Metro Manila, my late sister was telling me how one long cemented straightaway was made possible so it could provide access to a big-time trapo’s real estate properties. As Erap would say, that’s only the tip of the ice cream. It seems that anywhere in the country, most especially at the present time, this just comes out naturally. The abuse and misuse of the law have become so commonplace, hardly anyone blinks an eye to them anymore.
While we still deliberate on what happened, let’s just call it what it is. Whether on a small or much bigger scale, there is, and will always be a different set of rules for us, and a different one for a privileged few. The lessons of childhood, learning about opinions, comes back like a ghost. You can almost hear lawbreakers whisper under their breath, I deem it so.