My daily agony

While writing about Baguio City a week ago, a story that got left behind was about my one-hour walk with the horsemen of Camp John Hay. It is both a story with hope and dismay.

In my effort to get some exercise while in Baguio, I decided to walk alongside a “horseman” who was going for an hour ride on the John Hay “bridle path”. Wearing running shoes, I began to wonder if I made the right decision since the trail was so steep, soggy and muddy.

As we got into the trail the first thing I realized was that the native Igorot “horseman” spoke good English with casual confidence. I even wondered why he chose to rent out ponies instead of working in a call center? Being in a seasonal trade and dependent on tourists, I know from experience that his income source did not make for an easy life.

I can only guess that he is still very much part of the proud Igorot culture that is fiercely independent and hard working and someone who valued education. What helped me discover this was my silence.

I simply walked alongside the “horseman” while a young girl engaged him in an unending exchange of questions and answers presuming he was an “English speaker”. Soon I discovered that the “horseman” was one of those rare individuals who knew his trade and was proud of it. He understood horses, the trade, the prices, how to care for them and the perils of the horseback riding business.

Having been given the opportunity to share his world with an innocent and listening audience, the “horseman” showed us their way of life in one hour. It was at that point that I began to notice patches of concrete and hill stones in what was a crude attempt to make a concrete walkway. In a way the “Imperfect path” did not seem too out of place from the natural setting.

The “horseman” explained that the “Imperfect path” was their project so that the horses could walk on more stable “ground”, instead of sink-holes. All the materials were bought with their own money and they take turns as free labor as the work continues. When poor people have to pay for maintaining the bridle path inside the John Hay Development, you know that things are far from perfect.

The “Imperfect path” or a bridle path may not be on the list of priorities of the John Hay Development Corporation, but if some people did the homework, they would agree that the “Imperfect Path” should be a priority.

The horse trail can easily be built up as the company’s project for Corporate Social Responsibility, bridle paths are very good mix-use projects that can be used by riders, runners and strollers, and the “Imperfect path” is a tale waiting to be written.

The story can be about Corporate Social Responsibility and building memories or it can be about corporate indifference and how a company ignored a chance to be part of building memories for generations of visitors to Camp John Hay.

* * *

As a former 2-packs a day smoker, who began the filthy habit at 16 years old, the most painful sight for me to see are young boys and girls doing what I once did with no idea of the damage cigarette smoking will eventually do to their bodies, their minds and to their finances.

Every school day I pass by high school students who stand right in front of the Rizal High School inside Barrio Kapitolyo in Pasig City. They stand no more than 50 meters in front of the school with no cause for concern or fear that a teacher or the school principal would see them.

They puff away, both boys and girls, in front of their schoolmates, unafraid of being suspended or expelled for smoking in public and right in front of the school. I don’t know what has happened to the rules and the Dep-Ed but it seems that school authorities no longer take action regarding this blatant health risk and violation of laws concerning minors.

I hope Mayor Bobby Eusebio can make time to observe this personally.

Right across the street, stores and vendors sell cigarettes and they make no distinctions between adults and minors. During our time, our biggest worry was about being seen, reported or caught by a teacher or another parent who would rat on us or cause our expulsion as rule breakers.

It is tragic when I hear how the Alliance of Concerned Teachers or ACT goes out of bounds to file a case against Congressman Mikey Arroyo regarding his California abode, but the same organization does nothing to ban and block cigarette sales near schools.

I wish that the brave members of the various leftist organizations such as the LFS as well as the Christian youth groups would do something about lobbying for the strict implementation of laws that prohibit the sale of cigarettes to minors instead of trespassing into Malacañang for publicity’s sake.

While there is still time, I personally appeal to Congressmen Joel Villanueva, Ruffy Biazon, Teddy Casino, Liza Masa to please do something. Whether the problem is about legislation or implementation of the law, it is clear that the DILG and the Dep-Ed need to be interrogated about their lack of intensity and purpose in protecting minors from cigarettes.

I have always believed in the youth as change agents of society. But at the moment, they should start thinking in terms of immediate threats and malicious intents of cigarette companies who have targeted them as the sacrificial cash cows and the emerging market of the new century.