Lechon vs turkey

The Supreme Court has ruled: Hacienda Luisita, the ancestral turf of the Cojuangco family, to which President Noynoy Aquino also belongs, should be subject to agrarian reform, just like so many other landholdings that had already been cut up and distributed to other people, whether they are really workers of the hacienda or not.

* * *

I say that, because of our experience here in Negros where landowners, including those who willingly submitted their properties for reform, were dismayed later when many of those who got shares in the land had come from other places and were not even known to the owners. Worse, because of their connections with activist groups, the “strangers” even got the choice portions of the farms! Well, the President himself had nothing much to say except that the owners must comply. I am sure many were disappointed that he and his sisters have not made the fuss they expected.

* * *

What I fear, and I’m sure that many others who have seen what has happened to many of those properties apportioned to so-called beneficiaries is that, we may soon find out that those patches of land are not being tilled by those who got them, but have already been leased, or even sold under questionable terms by the ones to whom they had been granted. In the Luisita case, since it is largely sugar land, we have to see how this development will affect the sugar industry.

* * *

Meanwhile, I was relieved to see reports that even Malacañang is not supportive of the idea of renaming the historic Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, to Cory Aquino Avenue. A presidential spokesman said it sounds too self-serving, especially at this time with the late president’s son himself in office. I hope none of the sip-sips or psychopants there whisper in his ear that we have already the Diosdado Macapagal Highway, the Diosdado Macapagal Airport, and the Eva Macapagal Terminal, etcetera, etcetera. That was sensible of Nonoy, I think.

* * *

But not so sensible sounding is the comment of a palace spokesman expressing surprise at the way some reporters have called the results of the Southeast Asian Games a “debacle” for the Philippines. Edwin Lacierda was quoted as saying that Team PH did very well, even if it landed as sixth among eleven. He must be a Pollyanna sort of guy, then. It was amusing, though, to read about the views of sports officials who, as expected, claim that it was lack of funds that had caused the, er, debacle. But even when some funds were diverted, during the time the games were held in the Philippines, our athletes still managed to swing it. Another official quoted the unbelievable figure of P4.8 billion as the amount needed to improve the performance of our athletes!

* * *

Surprisingly, the beleaguered country of Myanmar, formerly Burma, has bidded for, and won the right to host the SEAG next year. Recall that Myanmar has long been sort of incommunicado to some countries because of the unacceptable form of government that is ruled by a military junta, and where their democratic-leaning leader, Aung Soon Su Kyi, had been on house arrest for years and years. But, probably upon the importuning of other states, the lady has been freed, and, would you believe? She is now angling for a political post in the country’s next election.

* * *

And that is the country that some of our sports leaders are now eyeing as the one that might upstage us in the next SEAG. As it is, Myanmar was, I think, seventh coming after our sixth place finish. Hometown pride and inspiration could easily prime them into working so hard so they can edge us out. And here we are, looking for P4.8 billion so we can get our players to move. Maybe we should concentrate nalang on training boxers. That way we train and send only one, and if he gets to be as successful as Manny Pacquiao, government will not have to spend even a million pesos.

* * *

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a tradition that began when the Pilgrims had adjusted themselves to the new country after escaping from England. It is quite a grand holiday in the U.S., and people really celebrate it almost as happily as they do Christmas. It is also a time for reunions, parties, and outings, with the turkey as the centerpiece of the preparations. I spent that holiday there two years ago with my cousins Danny and Meya Corral and our folks from both sides, at their beautiful New Jersey home, and my nieces became very nostalgic. We had both lechon and turkey, but the former had orange skin and was quite unlike our lechon here, so the turkey won, sort of.*

back to top