Commentary 
Signs of the (Hard) Times

These are desperate times, but surprisingly, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stresses in her New Year’s Message that the economy improved greatly last year. Go figure.

By Alexander Martin Remollino 
Bulatlat.com

Knowing that we live in very desperate times doesn’t take much effort. One only needs to take public transportation and walk the streets from time to time to know the real score, so to speak.

On my first trip to Quezon City from San Pedro, Laguna early this year (January 2), I boarded the bus regretting that I had not left the house earlier. But during my trip, the national road of San Pedro was surprisingly spacious. I expected horrendous traffic, since I assumed that people would be trooping to Metro Manila from the provinces to return to their jobs.

Upon seeing how light the traffic was, I heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that I would reach my destination in just a little over an hour.

However, I would be proven wrong in just a matter of minutes. The driver and conductor stopped at almost every corner of the road, with the conductor alighting at every "stopover" and shouting to the world that the bus was headed for Cubao and that there were still many seats available. Such was the way the bus proceeded until we reached Susana Heights, one of the entry points to the South Luzon Expressway.

Thus, what could have been a one-hour-and fifteen-minute trip became a two-hour one.

This was similar to most of the trips I took in the past few weeks, particularly during the last Christmas season. Bus and jeepney drivers generally made it a habit to stop for passengers at every street corner and spend minutes waiting for people to step into their vehicles--seemingly having no regard for the other passengers who might arrive late for their meetings or classes.

There is a simple explanation for all this--the more passengers they get, the more they would earn for the day.

In my experience, the misfortune of boarding buses and jeepneys whose drivers and conductors resort to this tactic was more frequent in the past year than in any other year. More and more drivers and conductors seem more desperate about earning.

This kind of desperation is not just confined to drivers and conductors.

Last New Year's Eve, on some spot of the Pacita Complex Commercial Center, I saw two groups of people selling torotots (trumpets) not far from each other, shouting the prices of their wares, with each group bringing prices down whenever the other group mentions theirs.

I observed that the people around them were hesitant to buy, probably worried that they might be caught in a fight later on. If the passers-by really felt that way there is good reason, as by the tone of their voices, the two groups of vendors seemed on the verge of coming to blows.

For many years, the streets have been quiet on Christmas and New Year's Day since these are supposedly the times people have been known to stay home with their families. But I observed the recent ones were different, since early in the morning until about noon, one could hear pandesal, taho, and vegetable vendors peddling their wares.

All over, people seem desperate about earning a little extra money. These are clear signs of how badly money is needed these days. In her New Year message, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the economy improved greatly last year.

Go figure. Bulatlat.com

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