AT LEAST in the country, the end of August signals the entry, not only of what is obviously September, but the beginning of our three and a half months’ love affair with what bemused foreigners dub as the Philippine Christmas season.
In our usual stoic response, Pinoys, unperturbed, still go ahead as if to defiantly declare to all the world: don’t burst our bubble…or what could be more accurate in the dialect: “Walang basagan ng trip!” For all its worth, what do they care anyway? As if they, too, haven’t known already, we like to drink our beer in a mug with lots of ice and more importantly, we’ve absolutely no qualms about putting pineapple on our pizza (sorry Italians).
It’s a yearly thing, this love affair. For businesses, it’s an extra time to make money. While the months of September and October are pegged for unloading to eager consumers the year-old stocks (cleverly sold at discount), the rest of November and December will purely run on holiday spirit alone to make that yearend profit. In a nutshell, that’s a lot of hay making, four months of “sun.”
On the other hand, for everyone else, there’s generally the creeping festive air that injects an undeniably calming, if not Tiger-balming effect, on the psyche, and it plainly spells pit stop.
Work all year but starting this month of September, respite at the end is in sight. So, while workers will expect their extra holiday wages i.e., their 13th-month pay or bonuses, their dependents look forward to these and whatever the extended holiday season will bring.
While that may be the general scenario that aptly describes our yearly affection with September and what it ushers in, just like what any leading coffee-making franchise has done, too many add-ons spoil the flavor. Several factors, some tangible and some not so, make for a doubtful fete we’ve been used to expecting.
For one, the political climate, with its constant manipulations and maneuvering for power by all well-meaning actors, has continued to polarize people. Thus, it remains hanging like a lingering dark cloud threatening hard rain. On a more tangible side, God’s gift of rain has all but exposed the true depth of what corruption is like. A case in point is the purported involvement of people in some government agencies, along with their private contractors, on flood control projects meant specifically to ease the public in times of severe flooding. These have become severely compromised because funds for them have reportedly been siphoned off to fill the palms of unseen hands. What’s the promise of September for the victims of flooding, while the thieves ride comfortably in their luxury vehicles, safe from rising waters, I wonder?
Every year at this time, I have become used to seeing the iconic singer, Jose Mari Chan back once again to sing his hit Christmas song. A recent image of him on social media shows a crying face, all because another was mutilating his song. I thought, that should have been the least of his worries.
