Philippine Travel Notes

Uh huh, when there's a road accident.., what do (we) Filipinos do? Ninety-nine point ninety nine percent (99.99%) of the time.., we try to go as near the incident or scene as possible, do nothing but gawk, gawp or gape, with no intention, at all, whatsoever, to lend any help! Other than probably animatedly tell others there has been an accident - even if we don't know details! Aminin yan! Osyoso, usisero, uzi! Well, things changed a little bit in the 21st century. We all are now armed with gadgets of many kinds, that we use to take pictures, videos, even selfies of/at the scene and/or the personalities involved, be they known, unknown, popular or not, without care if we get in the way of responders to the accident! Aminin! It happened to me! Here's the story.., On the way from Tacloban to Catbalogan, after I had fun watching kids jump from the Balugo Bridge .., we were nearing Jiabong town center, and strangely, traffic (on the national highway) literally stopp...

Pronounce that as "hya-bong". Well okay, some folks make it easier by saying "ya-bong". Both are fine, but it has never been "dya-bong" or "jiya-bong"! It's Hispanized, remember? 300 years of Spanish rule! This town is next to Catbalogan, just some 9 or 10 kilometers away, on your way to Tacloban. And this is that town they call the "Tahong (Mussel) Capital" of the province, even of the whole region 8, I think. I've been passing thru this town since exactly 50 years ago ('wag na magtanong paano nangyari yan)! But it had always been just by the highway that passes through this town. I remember I even passed this way on a morning jog during my highschool years! Yet, never have I seen Jiabong's central area. This time, this thing called "work" needed me to check on something 'in there'. An opportunity, yeah! That red-roofed thing is their municipal hall. I first went to see it up close! Mamaya na y...