The City of Golden Friendster pt. 2

It has now been 20 days since ‘Sendong’ laid waste to half of my city, killing more than a thousand Kagay-anons in its wake. This nightmare of a tragedy has whipped us and brought us down to our knees. Slowly, the people are beginning to rise up once again, but the wounds are clearly far from being healed completely.

I have accused my city of complacency before. I can no longer claim to see it now. Everywhere I look, people from different walks of life come together and help out in any way they can. I have never seen this city teeming with so much exuberance, hope, and genuine empathy. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe God saw how smug we all were and decided to give us one helluva wake up call.

The people of this city have always been passionate, but that passion laid dormant for so very long. I guess now we have all had enough. I guess now we realize that we can no longer afford to take the backseat; that we need to get hold of the steering wheel to veer this city into the direction it should have been taking years ago.

It’s gonna sound morbid, but we have ‘Sendong’ to thank for all of this.

20 days after ‘Sendong’ and I see a new storm is coming. And it’s brought along with it the winds of change.



THIS CITY- the Escape Club
Swimming underwater/ Trying not to breathe/ Trying not to falter/ living in a dream

Swimming underwater/Like flying through the air/ Flying without freedom
Trying not to care/ Going nowhere

This city never stops

Living in this City/ Chained but free/ Like swimming underwater/ Trying not to breathe
Living without sleeping/ Living in a dream/ Swimming underwater

Trying not to scream/ Let me breathe

This city never stops

Give me some hope/ Give me some light/ Show me some love
Come on, come on, come on/ Set me free
Give me some hope/ Give me some light/ Show me some love
Come on, come on, come on/ Let me breathe

Swimming underwater/ Trying not to breathe/ Living in this city/ Like living in a dream
Swimming underwater/ Trying not to drown/ Step into the river now
Let it pull you down

The City of Golden Friendster

The City of Golden Friendster (September 17th, 2009)

My city used to be glad
Now it looks so sad
I hope it doesn’t go mad

I’m back in the city where I once belonged, meeting up with old friends, going to new places. Everything seems better on the outside; lots of infrastructures being built, business establishments sprouting here and there, and people having the buying power to purchase necessary goods and services, along with having the extra income to splurge on themselves.

That is how everything looks from the outside.

But meeting up with my friends, asking how they’re doing, I see little cracks in their smiles. I look around and observe the people in my city. They look okay, but they don’t look happy.

What has my city become?

This city used to be so optimistic, so exuberant, so full of life. Sure, life was harder back then; the place looked more like a province than a city. But back then, the smiles looked genuine.

My city’s going mad

It makes me so sad

What will make them glad?

I see vast improvements in its facade; four bridges now on the river. Roads are being expanded to accommodate the increasing number of private vehicles. The old sportscenter now has a rubberized oval amounting to P40 million. Amusingly, I count 10 Jollibee outlets within the city proper. Suffice to say, the quality of living has improved leaps and bounds, but not, it may seem, the quality of life. Its people, they don’t look content. They look complacent.

The difference between content and complacent: content means you are happy with what you have, complacent means you don’t care what you have. Being complacent means you know there’s something better out there, but you don’t have the will to search for it. Being complacent means your spirit was taken away from you.

Did my city sell its soul? Did the people of this city become smarter, richer, and prettier but in turn lose its passion? Did it prostitute itself to technology and societal maturity just to turn its back on the things that really matter such as love? Compassion? Selflessness? God?

My city looks so sad

It’s driving me mad

But still I’m glad

‘Cause it’s the only city I’ve ever had

I miss my city. I don’t like what it has become. But I love it nonetheless.