Weird, even eerie title, right? Well, at least for me.
There are just many things around us that we take for granted. And I am proud to say, I owe it to my travels that I learned (and keep learning) so many other things about this country.
Take the case of our catholic ceremony or ritual (howsoever it is really called) before burying the dead. [A friend corrects me that it is called ‘mass celebration’ in the catholic church. Whatever, I just do not like associating the word "celebration" with the dead! And I do not think a ‘ceremony’ or ‘ritual’ is offensive anyway. Basta yes, the church activity just before the “kabaong” is brought to the “huling hantungan”.
I really all along thought those are done “individually”. I mean one complete mass service for an individual patay before or after the next. That is what I have seen in the decades of my life, so I just assumed it really is so. Many times I have encountered scenes where one hearse waits outside the church entrance while another inside is still in progress (process? whatever hehe). Same case with weddings and baptismals, right? I thought it really is like that!
Then again, oo nga naman, there are “mass weddings” or “mass baptismals”. [I am here, now, using the word "mass" in a different context - meaning the masses or a group of people]. I realized just recently there are also “mass burials”. The funny thing is that this realization started with me being pissed by a very slow-moving traffic on a Saturday afternoon!
Here’s the story…
I was running late for a Saturday-afternoon meet up with a client at a Mandaue mall. I just came from Liloan which is a 12-peso-ride away. The multicab I was riding (front seat of course) was crawling with so many vehicles when we reached the central area of Consolacion (town before Mandaue). I immediately thought there must have been another road accident. Unknowingly, I talked to myself (again) a bit loudly saying “tsk tsk tsk, sana walang namatay”.
To which (I was surprised) the driver answered with “patay lagi sir, daghan pa gyud”! Doubly surprised, I asked “ha, anong nangyari?”. His reply became a triple surprise to me when he said “ah, daghan ra na… sakit, drugs, gipusil, gidunggab…”. Confused at his reply and why he was grinning, I asked further saying “ano’ng ibig mong sabihin?”, to which he readily answered with “Sabado sir, misa ng mga patay” (yeah, in Tagalog). I got what he meant and I just said “ah, ana diay…”
The driver answered (to educate me) saying (in Tagalog) “ganun din naman kahit saan di ba?”. I wanted to disagree as this was first time for me to realize there is such a 'thing'. But, well, maybe I just did not notice, mass burials are probably already common everywhere in this country.
Traaaapiiik!
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