Rain

When President Arroyo delivered her State of the Nation Address last July 27, it rained so hard her critics claimed the heavens cried to show God’s displeasure. When former president Cory Aquino was buried last August 5, it too rained hard but the critics were silent this time.

Like everything else, rain can have many meanings and it is not always wise to ascribe something to that which you have absolutely no knowledge of. Yet this is the ploy resorted to quite often by the critics of the administration.

Even God, in the case of rain, has not been spared by the critics. They talk of things that are otherwise solely within the realm of God’s will as if they are on to it, as if they are actually neighbors with God and overheard Him venting His wrath by way of rain.

So, as rain can have as many meanings as there are people who get wet by it, there will be those who love it and some who hate it. And there are those who just do not give a damn. On the whole, however, with the notable exception of farmers, I believe Filipinos hate rain.

There is a question that, for years, I have been asking myself and anybody who would care to listen. And it is a question that I have kept asking because no one, not even myself, had been able to provide a satisfactory answer.

The question is why traffic always gets heavy when it rains. Some say the rains bring out the private cars to fetch those who otherwise would have opten to take public transport. Others say everybody suddenly wants to go home, thereby clogging up the streets.

Still others say flashfloods either stop or slow down vehicles. And then there are those who insist it’s just the way it is. Actually there are more answers than I would care to enumerate, ranging from the non sequitor to the outrightly ridiculous, like cats purring kuno.

Whatever the answer, though, I would like to point out a piece of personal observation — that Filipinos hate rain, or at least dislike it to the point of wanting to avoid it by any means if they can.

One time I stood under an awning on a streetcorner next to what I believe was an American man. It was raining like hell and we were both poised to make that inevitable dash across the street.

By coincidence, each of us had a pocketbook in hand. I opened my pocketbook right down the middle, placed in over my head as flimsy protection against the rain, and made my dash. The American put his book under his shirt, curled his body to protect it, and followed after me.

My unscientific conclusion from that incident was that Americans value knowledge over their health while the reverse is true for Filipinos, if my poor self can pass for sufficient representation of my countrymen.

Anyway, proceeding from the theory that most Filipinos hate rain, how can it then be said that when the heavens fell on the day of the SONA, it was one way of God showing His disdain. Wasn’t the rains instead made to fall to keep Filipinos who hate rain in check?

Maybe God has grown tired of all these rallies, which give vent to so much anger and hate and yet produce absolutely nothing worthwhile and of lasting benefit. Maybe God makes it rain to cool our heads.

The same with Cory’s funeral. Maybe God simply wanted people to go home immediately afterward and not create any more trouble for this country. If there is anyone who knows we have had enough of upheavals, it is God.