YEPS, I watched that. But sorry, just that. We were having our lechon binge and that was what was on TV. (And no, we may binge, but not all the time, and yes, we stop when we are full. So… back off with your comments of hinay-hinay because if we are to count my bad cholesterol against your bad cholesterol, yours will surpass mine anytime. It’s the eating habit, not the occasional food).
Now back to the lechon and the show…
The episode ended with Maya I mean, Amor, vowing revenge. “Matitikman ninyo ang batas ng isang api!” she shouted while clutching at whatever it was she was clutching. (I was busy picking on lechon bones, sorry).
But I did pick up that line, as millions apparently did because by the time I went home, ABS-CBN was already crowing about the number of tweets this line had.
Now… what is the batas ng isang api?
Yeps, true. In this imperfect world we live in, where elected officials can be found to be squirreling off billions of pesos in several bank accounts and a secretary can have more than a billion in hers as well, there are two laws.
The Bilibid caper showed that to all and sundry. Serving life sentences for drugs and murder and what-have-you, the rich ones have turned Bilibid into their private resorts where they get to enjoy all that they have enjoyed in the free world, but with a big difference – government is paying people to guard them while they do all these.
Then we ponder further. Why is there an “api”?
Hmmm… my answer will not sit well with many, but it’s really because, there are those who allow themselves to be “api”.
As this telenovela Pangako sa ‘Yo is a remake, we know that Amor will return as a rich and powerful woman full of vengeance, but Claudia will be even more evil. Still, we get the idea. The only way to be able to wield the “batas ng isang api” is to rise up from where you are, sans any help from our justice system, and return oozing with wealth.
We can say that Amor is lucky. Lucky, because she was given a jolt in her life that spurred her off the self-pitying mode the poor often don. The self-pity manifested in words like “Nanluod”, “Nanghiubos”, and similar words all saying that somebody has taken offense and feels downtrodden. Yes, it’s not just about taking offense, it’s the feeling of being downtrodden that follows. That is the language of the poor.
Am I rich in order to say that? No. But I am not poor. I have the power to assert because I claimed that power to assert, and I get freebies from friends as well, like the lechon bones I was nibbling on while pondering on what the “batas ng isang api” really means.
For those who have not been “api-ed” but are wallowing in helplessness and hopelessness, stop wallowing and do something about it. No presidentiable can ever get you out of the wallow you are in; not even if he shares a boodle fight with you every day.
Bottomline? There is no batas ng isang api if you remain down there, not in this country called the Philippines. Reality bites.
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saestremera@yahoo.com