Prelude to Danger
by: Kim De Leon
“Good
Morning” is an expression of what is at hand. It is a totality that another day
had passed and a new one will jump-start the upcoming day. A greeting to a
brighter sun – a sun that gloriously shines, flowers that bloom to spread its
scents of goodness, and a warm morning breeze that passes through the walls and
corridors of these precious bakeries of Sariaya Quezon.
Oh
Hail to you, beloved Sariaya! For you are blessed to own these bakeries as gems
of yours that produces bread of hope which satisfies those in need. Your
crystal talc which sprawls in every pint of your yeast – Yeast that touches our
buds of senses and say “Yes, it is a genuine PINAGONG of SARIAYA.”
“Pinagong Sariaya! Pinagong Sariaya!”
As shouted by these vendors in a passionate manner with pride, but in a moment;
a delicacy may turn into a bitter cruelty. Not in the darkness of the night nor
in the absence of our sights, not in a secret cemetery nor in a lame slaughter-house.
Hence, during the height of the day and presence of all along the way, a
terrible crime was executed and in a wink of an eye – A life of the one who has
been a father, brother, and a friend has come to an end.
How
will we ever say “Good Morning” to one another when we all knew that this point
might be a “Prelude to danger?” – Danger turned to tragedy by the end of
the day. Are we still able to get a whiff of aroma in sweet fragrance of a
baker’s flour while a barren grave is at wait to complete the recipe of a
murderer’s plot? Will we ever dare to share a smile in a “jeepney ride” uncertain of that safety - that anyone might be laid
back in a swamp of blood.
Many
of us may think “Are we still safe in a community that we’re living in? Is
there justice among the injustices? What does “PINAGONG” implies?
Hear
Ye, men of Sariaya! Let us not just be “pagongs” which crawl slowly and sleep
quietly beside the shores of Guis-guis
down the east coasts of Talaan and Castañas. This horrible scenario must
be seen as a turbulent lightning and heard as a wild roaring thunder that will
blight us all from being far asleep along the seashores of fear and mediocrity.
Here
we stand shoulders unto shoulders with our households, - men and women, young
and olds, sons and daughters with the rest of our families and belongings, - We
are all at stake. Everyone is at stake! Yesterday, our “Brother Nanding” is just
one of us but now in reality he’s a victim of man’s brutality. Oh, what
a dreadful fight against the abomination of humanity! But in this journey, let
us appeal to one another to be vigilant enough and keep an eye for any
mischievous deeds. More so, let us beseech to the arms of the authorities –
knock their doors, call to their gates and plead to their courts. It is high-time for you to emancipate the very promise of
good governance and society, peaceful community, and safe neighborhood long
before we approach the 10th day of May the same year.
Let
us have the peace we deserve and justice that we own, for life must be lived in
equality not in imparity. If then, morning will be bright mornings, not anymore
a gloomy-bloody dawn, for hope is sometimes loosing but not ever
dying. There is one hope that will expunge the turmoil and turbulence
of reality – He is the one who was crucified and died at the cross, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For
the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the
voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ
shall rise first (I Thess 4:16). And this will be a great and glorious event
for a mankind to greet one another, share one faith, grab our love ones and
convey “Good Morning, have a wonderful victorious day.” Amen.
LSDeLeon
18.07.10.0241.SQ