Boastful Pedrito

(Maximo tiptoes, then sees something moving, appears aghast )

Soledad : Maximo, my son, you can never mistook your brother. He

has a red mark on his back.

Narrator : What his mother said reverberates in Maximo’s ears. He

has to see that red mark.

-oOo-

Maximo : (Sighs; takes deep breath) Oh, gosh! It was just a rat! I
thought...

Pedrito : What are you doing here? Why do you look afraid and
pale? Trying to steal something from my room?

Maximo : No, Pedrito, I just wanted to see your back.

Pedrito : My back? What about my back? My naked back (sounds

like a gay) Hah, Maximo... no, sorry, it’s Miss Maxima Olivares desiring to see my back!

Maximo : I am not Maxima! I am Maximo and I do not desire you

because I am not a gay!

Pedrito : And what about my back? It is unlike your ugly mother’s

back! Her back is like a camel’s! She’s a hunchback, an ugly stinking hunchback!
(Laughs)

Narrator : In school one day...

Boy (Hare-lipped) : Pedrito, you look like that Bukidnon in our history book!

Pedrito : (Holds classmate by the collar ) Do you want me to wring

your neck? Or, do you want me to widen the slit of your dreadful lips, you hare-lipped?

Boy : No! No! Pedrito, don’t!

-oOo-

Pedrito : Dad, my classmates laughed when they saw the picture of

a Bukidnon in our history book. They said I look like that Bukidnon.
 Dad : My son, you don’t look like that Bukidnon. You look like the
heir to my business empire. Soledad and Maximo are Bukidnons. Not you.

Narrator : That evening...

Soledad : Good spirits of my ancestors and departed husband, I offer

you tonight my dance, asking for your continued guidance. ( Performs a ritual dance as
she chants) Olale kud ya pe. Olale tra le le. One candle for my soul, one candle for my
son Maximo, and one candle for Pedrito! Olale olale kud ya pe!

Pedrito : (Aghast) Oh! So, it’s true, Soledad is a witch! (Runs) Dad!
Dad! Mom! Mom! Wake up! Wake up! I saw Soledad dancing and chanting at the
backyard. She’s a witch!

Dad : Oh, Pedrito, don’t mind Soledad. That Bukidnon may be

praying again to their anitos and spirits of their ancestors.

Narrator : The following morning...

Pedrito : Soledad, I saw you danced and chanted last night.

Soledad : I prayed to the spirits of my ancestors and my dead

huband to guide and help me and Maximo and you.

Pedrito : And why including me?

Soledad : Ahhh, because... because...

Pedrito : Because you like me! Tell me the truth, you witch
pedophile! I saw you kissing the picture of a little boy!

Soledad : (Looks terribly terrified) Hah...hah...hah...

Pedrito : So, you’re indeed a pervert! Ugly hunchback pervert! Ugly

hunchback pervert! (Laughs)

Maximo : Pedrito!

Pedrito : (Sounding like a gay) Yes, Maxima?

Maximo : I am not Maxima! I am Maximo! I am not Maximo Olivares,

the gay boy in the movie! I am... I am... your...

Pedrito : Your what?

 Maximo : I saw the red mark on your back. Indeed you are my...

Soledad : Maximo, no! Pedrito, don’t believe in him!

Maximo : You boastful Pedrito, I am... I am... I am... yourrrrr...

servant!

Narrator : And Maximo ran.

Pedrito : Oh, you ugly creatures, you look like the Bukidnons in our
history book!

Soledad : And you look exactly like us!

Pedrito : Stop it, you ugly hunchback! I don’t look like a Bukidnon!
Get out, you stinking Bukidnon!

Soledad : Pedrito, remember, even if you use those expensive

perfumes, you still smell like me, a Bukidnon. You will always smell like me!

Pedrito : Stop it! Stop it! I am not a Bukidnon!

Narrator : And Pedrito pushed hard Soledad.

Soledad : Aagghh... ahhhh...

Narrator : Soledad was buried. Days passed, as Pedrito sat alone at

the school yard, boys sang and laughed.

Boys : (Sing and clap) O, Bukidnon of the mountain what kind of

food do you eat, what kind of smell do you have, O, Bukidnon of the mountain! ( Laugh)

Narrator : Pedrito wanted to shout. He wanted to run. But he could

not escape from the truth. Then he felt a hand, holding his. It was Maximo’s.

Maximo : Pedrito, my brother, let’s go home. It’s about to rain.

Narrator : Lightning struck, then a thunder. Pedrito looked up to the

sky, and with outstretched hands, he shouted –

Pedrito : Mother! Mother! Forgive me, Mother!

 Death in the Chicharon Factory

Narrator : I could cleave a rock with it. It was not an accident. It was
murder. Yes, a murder! It is the iron truth.

They killed Father because he wanted to speak the truth. I

also wanted to speak the truth. I was a prisoner in that high-walled building. I and
several other teen-agers and children were not workers of that chicharon factory. We
were slaves; we were prisoners of Ang Ching Tek.

-oOo-

Rosalie : Mother, don’t worry about me. I am already 14 years old, I

can manage. Just take care of Tikboy. You can now make partial payments to the
funeral parlor and to Tiya Carlota. She always gossips about your debts in her sari-sari
store.

Mother : Take care of yourself, Rosalie. That Chinaman is a wolf!

Your father died in that chicharon factory.

Rosalie : Of accident?

Mother : Yes. His foot slipped from the wet plank and he fell into the
boiling oil.

Rosalie : Was it, Mother? That his foot slipped? Or somebody

pushed him?

-oOo-

Ang Ching Tek : (In Chinese intonation) Work faster! Work faster! You work
like turtle. Slow worker! You want no eat? You get hungry! You want enter that room?

Rosalie : No, no, Ang Ching Tek, I’ll work faster. (Murmuring to
herself) You’ll have your time bow-legged pig!

Narrator : That evening, when all were asleep on the concrete floor,
without pillows, only rolled old sacks; without mats, only flattened cigarette boxes...

Rosalie : Who’s that crying? It’s from inside that room, that room
which Ang Ching Tek said I’d be in if I work slow. (Looks around) Nobody’s awake. I’ll
open the door. (Sound of creaking door) It’s very dark. Where are you? Who are you?
 Girl : (Cries) Help me. Help me. I’m very hungry. I have not
eaten for two days now. Ang Ching Tek is punishing me. I attempted to escape. The
guard saw me. Look, I’m chained. (Cries)

Rosalie : Shhh. Be quiet. Ang Ching Tek is coming. I’ll return to

where I’m sleeping. I’ll help you. I promise.

Narrator : Rosalie felt something creeping on her legs, then up to her

thighs. She opened her eyes. It’s Ang Ching Tek, like a salivating vulture!

Rosalie : (Trembling) No, Ang Ching Tek, no!

Ang Ching Tek : I’ll give you much money.

Rosalie : No! Stop it, or I’ll shout.

Ang Ching Tek : Shout or Ill slit your throat!

Narrator : Like a little frightened mouse seeing a monstrous cat,

Rosalie jumped up of the floor and ran.

Ang Ching Tek : You can’t go out. The door is locked!

Narrator : The Chinaman walked slowly towards Rosalie, spreading

his arms, ready to engulf the trembling girl.

Rosalie : Help! Help!

Narrator : Ang Ching Tek heard footfalls. He looked behind him. He

saw the fierce eyes of his prisoners. He saw anger in the faces of his slaves. He saw
death in their clenched fists and steel rods and wood. The once helpless teen-agers and
children were now ready to help. The once voiceless young people heard Rosalie’s
voice!

Ang Ching Tek : Ahah! Wait here you, fools! I’ll get my pistol!

Narrator : Ang Ching Tek ran upstairs for his pistol. Suddenly his foot
slipped from the plank.

Ang Ching Tek : Ahhhhhh!!!!!!

Narrator : The Chinaman disappeared in the boiling oil.

Rosalie : Father! Father! The beast is dead! Justice is now yours!

 (Sound of siren)

Girl : Rosalie, the police. We are saved!

Narrator : Friends, that happened not so long ago. I can now heave a
sigh of relief. Father’s voice was heard.

Indeed, God listens to the voice of truth!

 Blackie

Cindy : Believe me, Grace, Lourdes is an illegitimate child!

Grace : And her mother is a washerwoman.

Cindy : Oh, Grace, not just a washerwoman! Her mother was a whore!
Look at the skin of Lourdes! And she has kinky hair!

Grace : She looks like a Nigger! Do you agree with me, Cindy?

Cindy : Yes! Yes! For she’s a daughter of a Negro, a serviceman at the

naval base! Hey, Grace, there’s Lourdes coming.

Grace : Hello there beautiful! Don’t walk too much under the sun,
Lourdes, you’ll get no bleach!

Cindy : Lourdes, can’t you hear us? Hey, Lourdes, Blackie ( sounds like
calling a dog). Blackie... Blackie...

Narrator : Lourdes just walked straight. She wanted to fly, to run away from
people’s talks, from her classmates’ demeaning words.

-oOo-

Lourdes : Please tell me, Grandma, where’s my father?

Grandma : He’s dead! No use asking about him.

Lourdes : Cindy and Grace said Mother was a whore! My classmates are
laughing at me, at Mother!

Grandma : Your mother is now working like a carabao so that you can finish
your studies; so that you can’t experience her painful past.

Lourdes : Painful past? So you’re admitting, Grandma, that Mother was a

whore and I am an illegitimate child of a Negros at the naval base?

Grandma : What’s important is that your mother loves you. She’s sacrificing
for you.

Lourdes : Sacrificing for me? I would have been happy if she aborted me!
Now, look, Grandma, I was born to be laughed at! They are calling me Blackie. They’re
calling me as if I’m a dog!
 -oOo-

Aling Sayong : Lourdes, Mother, what’s it all about, any problem?

Lourdes : Mother, who’s my father? And what was your job before you gave
me birth? Entertaining servicemen at the naval base?

Aling Sayong : What are you talking about, Lourdes?

Lourdes : My classmates are laughing at me! For them, I am “Blackie,” a

black puppy of a dog! What do you call a female dog, Mother?

Aling Sayong : Lourdes, I don’t like your words!

Lourdes : You don’t like them because they haunt you of your past in
Olongapo City? Right, Mother?

Aling Sayong : Yes, I worked in Olongapo, Lourdes. I was a housemaid!

Lourdes : Worked as a maid? Or, you worked making a Negro happy? I am

an illegitimate child because you were a whore!

Aling Sayong : Lourdes! You’re too much! Yes, you are an illegitimate child but I
was not a whore!

Narrator : Everything turned dark for Aling Sayong. She slapped Lourdes.

-oOo-

Aunt : Sayong slapped you? Why? She wouldn’t allow even a small
housefly to alight on your skin. And now, she slapped you? I think you did something
terribly wrong.

Lourdes : I only asked for my father. And about her before...

Aunt : Why? What about your dead father? What about Sayong before?
You mean her work?

Lourdes : My classmates are laughing at me! I hate the world, Aunt Matilda!
I hate my father whoever he is! I hate my mother! I hate her! I hate her!

Aunt : You hate your mother? Now, look, Lourdes. I think it is high time
you must know. Sayong is a great mother although she need not sacrifice too much for
you.
Lourdes : What do you mean, Aunt Matilda?

Aunt : How can Sayong be your mother and you her daughter when
she’s a virgin spinster!

Lourdes : Lies! Lies! You’re lying, Aunt Matilda!

Aunt : I am not lying because there’s nothing to lie about.

Lourdes : If you were in my shoes, you would die of shame, Aunt Matilda!

Aunt : Die of shame? You must be ashamed of yourself!

Lourdes : I am not ashamed of myself. I feel ashamed that she’s my

Mother!

Aunt : You’re indeed a great shame, Lourdes. You are ashamed of a

woman who sacrificed so that you would live! You are ashamed of a woman who
accepted you from your prostitute mother!

Narrator : Then knocks were heard.

Lourdes : Grandma! Are you here to fetch me to go home? Grandma, I am

really very sorry. I know everything now. I must ask Mother’s forgiveness.

Grandma : Forgiveness? And who will forgive you? She’s gone!

Lourdes : Grandma, do you mean...

Grandma : Sayong had a heart attack. It was because of you! I don’t know
what to call you!

Lourdes : My God! My God! Please forgive me. Please bring my Mother

Sayong back!

Narrator : And the words of her Aunt Matilda exploded like a dreadful
thunder into her ears –

Aunt Matilda : She was not your mother, you black dog!!!
 Seasons of Life

Mother : Why won’t you avail of the scholarship at Lyceum de Bacolod? It’s
a hundred percent free tuition, with book allowance and a monthly stipend. You are
ignoring such rare opportunity!

Celeste : I don’t want to leave this place. I prefer studying here in

Kabankalan.

Mother : Your Tito Ben did all efforts so that you can avail of the
scholarship. He will feel frustrated.

Celeste : Even if he gets angry at me, I will never care. I have fixed my
mind. I will pursue my dream of becoming an accountant here at Kabankalan City
College.

Mother : Celeste, what will your Tito Ben say?

Celeste : I’m fed up of (with sarcasm) “Tito Ben, Tito Ben…” Why? Is he
my uncle?

Mother : Celeste, he is a family friend.

Celeste : Family friend?! He is YOUR friend, not mine! Mother, pardon me,
but I will never leave this place. I will never be far from home. I will never leave Dad!

Mother : But your Dad had been dead for five years now.

Celeste : Yes, he is dead for you! But never for me! I will never stop
visiting his tomb every afternoon. For me, he is fully alive. I can speak my heart out
every time I visit him. You no longer have time for me. You are so engrossed
(sarcasm) talking sweetly with that Ben!

Mother : Celeste, I have moved on. Have you not?

Celeste : Mother, it is very easy for you to move on… so easy… very, very
easy because you no longer love Dad! You love that Ben with a bloated belly! What is in
him that you love so dearly, his pug nose? He is a bow-legged kangaroo!

Mother : What happened to you? You were never like that. What’s wrong
with Ben befriending us?
Celeste : It’s not only wrong, Mom! I’m flaring up like hell every time I hear
his name! I can picture out the dread of a holocaust every time I see his face! Every
man who tries to replace Dad is my worst enemy!

Narrator : And Celeste ran. Her anger provided wings to her feet! As usual
she proceeded to her Grandmother’s house.

Celeste : Grandma, I will never go home if Mom insists that I will study
college in Bacolod. I will never leave Dad. (Cries)

Grandma : But Renato had long been dead. Let your father rest in peace, my
dear.

Celeste : Rest in peace?! Do you think Dad can rest in peace? No, Grandma
(cries) he can never rest in peace.

Grandma : He is in heaven now, living in peace with the Lord. He no longer

feels the pain. How he suffered due to cancer… Oh, (cries) I miss Renato.

Celeste : He is not at peace, Grandma. I can feel that he is revolting. He

will never allow somebody to take his place in our home, in mother’s heart! He will
never allow that pug-nosed Ben to replace him!

Grandma : Ben? Your mother’s friend?

Celeste : More than a friend, Grandma. (Cries) Grandma, please tell that
man not to be so ambitious to replace Dad?

Grandma : Ahhh, I know what you are thinking, Celeste. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk
(Laughs) He will not, my dear. Don’t you know that he is your mother’s childhood
friend?

Celeste : And now her sweetheart?! No! No! No! (Cries) No, Grandma, Dad
is revolting in heaven!

Grandma : Celeste, Ben will never desire to marry a woman. He is not the
marrying type… you see, my dear, he is…

Celeste : A priest?

Grandma : No…

Celeste : Then what?

Grandma : He likes boys… (Laughs)

Celeste : Ha?! You mean…

Narrator : And Celeste’s mother who had been listening by the door added…

Mother : Yes, my dear, we are just friends, you know, like sisters…
(Laughs) Now, prepare yourself to study accountancy in the big city!

Celeste : Yes, Mother. Dad is at eternal rest, I should not disturb him. I
have to pursue what I had promised him, to be a certified public accountant. By the
way, Mom, where’s Tito Ben?

Narrator : My friends, let us remember that in everything there is a season.

There’s a season with somebody we love but there’s also a season for us to pursue our
dreams, and as said in the Ecclesiastes – To enjoy our youth!
 The Boy Named Noynoy

Teacher : Class, what do you want to become in the future and why? You,
Christian?

Christian : Sir, I want to become an engineer. I want to build a megamall.

Teacher : Wow! That’s nice! How about you, Noel?

Noel : Sir, I want to become the president of our country because I want
to fight corruption.

Christian : (Laughs loudly and sarcastically ) President of our country?!

(Laughs again) And fight corruption? (Laughs once more)

Teacher : What’s funny, Christian?

Christian : Nothing, sir. It was like a big joke! Hmmp! The son of a corrupt
will fight corruption! Classmates, Noel will fight his father because his father is corrupt!

Teacher : Stop it, Christian! I don’t like that!

Christian : But that is the truth, sir. I have seen his father in TV — jailed for
malversation of public funds! How can Noel become a president of this country when
his father is a thief?

Teacher : I’ve said – stop it!

Narrator : Noel who is nicknamed Noynoy felt like a pent-up volcano. He

was about to erupt, to explode and burst with fire burning Christian. But he
remembered what his Lolo Teban has been telling him.

Grandpa : Noel, just ignore what people are talking about. Remember, your
father is not a thief. He would never steal. I did not raise him up to become a thief.

Noel : But Grandpa, my classmates are laughing at me. ( Sounding like

about to cry) They would no longer make friends with me because father is in jail. Even
our neighbors are laughing.

Grandpa : Let them laugh! Never place justice in your hands. Always
remember, Noel, the truth will set your father free.

Noel : But when? Sometimes (Cries) I feel like quitting school.

Narrator : After class…

Christian : Boys, look who’s coming, the future president of the country –
President Noel “Noynoy” De Jesus! We will have a holy president – De Jesus! ( Laughs)

Classmate 1 : And Christian, Noel will become a very honest president because
he has a corrupt father! (Laughs)

Classmate 2 : And you know, boys, when he becomes president-- no more lotto.
We will have jueteng! (Laughs) Christian, call Mr. President.

Christian : Hey, Mr. President! Are you sick of depression? Do you look so
sad because your father is in jail? Well, that’s the prize of being a thief!

Noel : No, my father is not a thief! My father is not corrupt! He would

never steal!

Narrator : Noel clinched his fist. He gave Christian a dagger look.

Christian : Ah, don’t get mad, Mr. President because if you do, you will have
this also (Shows Noel a clinched fist) Stop dreaming of the impossible dream, Noel.
Ambitious! Pwe! A guava tree will never bear an apple fruit! A thief begets a thief! Let’s
go, boys, before Noel steals my fifty-peso bill! Bye thief! (Laughs)

Narrator : And Christian and company ran laughing.

Noel : No! No! No! I am not a thief! (Cries / sounding like about to
explode) I will never be a thief! Father, Father, show to them that you are not a thief!
Please father, prove to them that you are not corrupt. (Cries / squats/ holding hair)
Prove to them!!!

Narrator : Noel felt a hand. It was his teacher’s.

Teacher : Noel, I sympathize with you. I also don’t believe that your father
had malversed government funds. I know he is an honest man. I pray that justice will
be in your father’s favor.

Noel : Sir, is life really this bitter? I have never had any happy day since
father was jailed. Mother is dead. Grandfather is too old. Soon I will be alone.

Teacher : Noel, I am your teacher. I am your second father. You will never
be alone. Pray and it will be answered.

Narrator : The following week, the Department of Education launched the

program “Five Minutes Call to P-Noy” participated by elementary pupils. Noel was one
of the lucky callers selected by DepEd Region Six.
Noel : Good morning, Mr. President. I am Noel De Jesus of Isio Private
Academy in Cauayan, Negros Occidental. My parents gave me the best nickname.

President Aquino : What is it, Noel?

Noel : Noynoy!

President Aquino : We are namesake! (Laughs) I am very happy to hear that! What’s
your dream in life, Noel?

Noel : To become president of our country, like you, President Aquino.

You are very fortunate, sir. Your father was a martyr. Your mother was the icon of
democracy. While my father is in jail (Cries) and my mother is dead. But sir, I believe
my father did not malverse government funds.

President Aquino : Noel, are you crying? Please don’t. Just pray. I will instruct
Justice Secretary De Lima to help your father. And Noel never stop dreaming. I will help
you achieve your dream!

Narrator : The whole school was listening to the radio. After that memorable
call, Christian approached Noel.

Christian : I am sorry, Noel. Please remember me when you become

president. I am serious.

Noel : Christian, you will be my vice-president!

Narrator : And they both laughed as they held hands, walking towards their
classroom and their bright future ahead.
 The Scent of Papayas

Charlotte : I like the taste of papayas, so marvellous! How I wish we have

two or three papaya plants at home in the city.

Sheila : Marvellous taste? Charlotte, my nostrils abhor papayas! My taste

buds despise papayas! I wonder how to escape from this stinking world of papayas!
Charlotte, I better go with you when you go back home in the city. I love the lights at
the boulevard during evenings. The supermarket overflows with apples and grapes!

Narrator : After supper...

Sheila : Mother, I want to go with Charlotte when she goes home to the
city. Please permit me.

Mother : And who will help me here, Sheila? Only the two of us are left.

Sheila : Mother, there’s no hope in this barrio. What would happen to me

here, be like those idle mothers breastfeeding their babies as they gossip about other
people’s lives? I want fly away from this papaya-smelling place. The smell of papayas is
suffocating me!

Mother : You are now in high school, Sheila, and you have reached this far
because of the papayas your nostrils hate! These papayas give us life! Have you ever
wondered what had happened to us, to you, without those papaya trees around us?

Sheila : But planting and selling papayas are not the only way to survive,
Mother.

Mother : Then what, Sheila? Tell me what else can give us rice and viand?
What else can pay your tuition fees and provide your school needs? I can’t support your
schooling in the city. I can’t afford as of now. But I promise you, Sheila, you will
become nurse. You will be the first nurse in our barrio. These papayas will make you a
nurse!

Sheila : It’s hopeless, Mother. Like those rotten papayas at the pigsty, I’ll
have broken dreams. I will rot in this place! Tiya Milagring promised to send me to a
private school in the city.

Mother : If only your father is alive.

Sheila : Mother, let’s not talk about Father.

Mother : Why not, Sheila? Because you hate thinking that he left us only
this small house, those papaya trees, this one hectare lot? You hate thinking that he left
us no bungalow, no car, no refrigerator filled with apples and grapes and chocolates?

Narrator : Her mother’s tears could not stop Sheila from going to the city,
from escaping from the stinking rotten papayas.

Tiya Milagring : Are you dumb, Sheila? Can’t you understand this simple
instruction -- never to use pointed objects in taking out frozen foods from the
refrigerator? Now, look, you’ve destroyed the freezer!

Sheila : I’m very sorry, Tiya Milagring.

Tiya Milagring : Sorry? You can’t repair this with a simple “sorry”! You’re simply
dumb like your papaya-smelling mother! Indeed, the two of you are like rotten
papayas!

Sheila : Ahhh... ahhh... Tiya Milagring, it hurts. Please, it hurts. ( Cries)

Tiya Milagring : Twisting your ears and pinching your thighs hurt! So that you will
understand what I want in this house!

Narrator : Few days before the opening of classes...

Tiya Milagring : You dumb country mouse, you can’t study in a private school, you
will just put me to shame there with your terrible ignorance! I don’t know what love
potion your father had taken that he felt in love with your papaya-eating monkey
mother! And yes, naturally, he begot a monkey for a daughter, a papaya-eating
monkey daughter! Oh, poor brother of mine may his papaya-loving soul rest in peace.

Narrator : Sheila’s tears rolled down like a never-ending stream as she ate
her supper of dried fish and rice at the dirty kitchen as her cousins and aunt devoured
huge chunks of fried chicken at the dining room. Before going to bed that night, Sheila
clasped her palms and closed her eyes. She let her thoughts flew high, so high they
reached the gate of heaven.

Sheila : My God, My Lord, I am very sorry. Please forgive me. I’ll go home
to Mother, home where the papayas grow.

Narrator : The following morning...

Tiya Milagring : What? You want to go home and you’re asking for fare back
home? Be our maid for one week!
Sheila : But I was your maid for two months already. You’ve never given
me a single cent, Tiya Milagring.

Tiya Milagring : What about the food you ate?

Sheila : The dried dilis and dried galunggong?

Tiya Milagring : I did not get them from the market for free! And how about those
three dresses and a pair of Levi’s jeans I’ve given you?

Sheila : Those were old dresses and jeans of Charlotte.

Tiya Milagring : Did I get them from the boutique for free? Now be our maid for
one week if you want a fare back home!

Charlotte : That’s enough, Mom. Please give Sheila even just a little amount
of pity. Sheila, I’m giving you some of my savings for your fare. And buy bread and
pastries for Tiya Soleng.

Tiya Milagring : Oh, Charlotte, do you now also smell of papayas?

Charlotte : Yes, Mom, and next summer I will visit Sheila and I will eat lots
and lots of marvellous papayas!

Narrator : As Sheila alighted from the tricycle, the scent of ripe papayas
floated into her nostrils. And she ran, shouting –

Sheila : Mother, Mother, I’m home. I’ve been missing the papayas!
 Daughter of a Hunchback

Girl : Your mother is a witch! Your mother is a witch!

Rosalie : (Blind, trying to find her way) No! My mother is not a witch!

Girl : No, Rosalie, your mother is a witch! Look at her face, a deformed
face! Have you seen her back? She’s carrying a mountain on her back! ( Laughs)

Narrator : That’s always what Rosalie heard, that her mother is a witch
because she’s very ugly and is a hunchback.

-oOo-

Rosalie : Why are other girls so mean, Grandma? (Cries) Mother does not
do them harm but they are calling her a witch?

Grandma : Don’t mind them, Rosalie. Don’t listen to them.

Rosalie : They say Mother is ugly. But no, she’s beautiful. She’s beautiful
because she loves me. (Cries) Grandma, is being a hunchback makes one ugly? Does it
make someone a witch?

Grandma : Rosalie, your mother is not a witch. Being ugly does not make
one less of a mother.

Rosalie : If only I’m not blind... but even if I haven’t seen mother’s face I
know she’s not ugly because I can feel it. My heart tells me that she’s beautiful.

Grandma : Pray that someday you’ll be able to see.

Mother : That’s useless, Mother!

Grandma : Oh, Lucia, so there you are. Rosalie cried again. Those girls
teased her again.

Mother : That I am ugly, a hunchback? That I am a witch? They’re right,

Rosalie, that’s why I hate life! I hate for having been born! I don’t think there’s God.
And if there’s really a God, I don’t think He’s a merciful God!

Grandma : Fear the heavens, Lucia!

Mother : Fear the heavens? Mother, why should I fear? Whom shall I fear?
(Cries) Did God listen to my cries? Did He answer my prayers and supplications? ( Cries)
Grandma : Shhh, Lucia, somebody’s knocking. Wait here. Rosalie, comfort
your mother.

Woman : Good morning. I am Mrs. Gloria De Castro from the City Social
Welfare and Development Office. We’re listing down blind people for possible operation
under the Sight Saver Program of Lions Club International. Specialists from the States
will be coming. We were told there’s a blind girl here named Rosalie.

Narrator : The days that followed were full of hope. For Rosalie it was the
beginning of her journey to a beautiful life of seeing the beauty of life.

Grandma : Lucia, why are you packing up your clothes?

Mother : I don’t want my daughter to see how ugly I am. I don’t want her
to hate me. She will detest my back!

Grandma : Lucia, are you out of your mind?

Mother : Yes, I am out of my mind because fear is now engulfing me! Soon
Rosalie will be brought here by the social workers and the Lions. I have to be away
before she arrives.

Grandma : You know, Lucia, if you go, you will bring great sadness to your
daughter. She dreamt of being able to see so that you two could enjoy life together.

Mother : Enjoy life? How could she enjoy life when she now could see how
dreadful-looking is her mother? How could we enjoy life when people mock us? Despise
us? How could we enjoy life when we are the worst wretches of this earth?

Grandma : Oh, sound of car... Maybe, it’s the social workers. Rosalie’s here.

Mother : I have to go! Mother, please take care of Rosalie. I don’t want my
daughter to see my face... my back!

Grandma : Rosalie, your mother... Lucia, come back! Rosalie, your mother
will go away. She does not want you to see her face and back.

Rosalie : Mother, please don’t go. I can see now. But without you, I would
prefer to be blind again. I won’t let you go! (Blocks her mother)

Mother : Let me go! Do you want to suffer because of me? Do you want
people to mock you forever because (Cries) because of this face... because of this
back? Am I not horrible?
Rosalie : Mother, you are beautiful. I have already seen how beautiful you
are when I was still blind.

Mother : Fool! You are a fool, Rosalie! And don’t fool me because I am the
ugliest creature! (Laughs) Am I beautiful? Rosalie, I think you are still blind! Mrs. De
Castro, I think my daughter is still blind. And her blindness has become worst! Mrs. De
Castro, is this face beautiful? Is being a hunchback beautiful?

Rosalie : Mother, my heart tells me you are!

Mother : And I must tell that foolish heart of yours that I am not! Later,
Rosalie, when you could no longer stand the miseries because of your mother’s
ugliness, then you would want a beautiful mother, one who is not a hunchback!

Rosalie : Mother, I have memorized by heart what you’ve been reciting to

me before we went to bed. Remember the words of the Twenty-Third Psalm?

Mother : Useless words, Rosalie!

Rosalie : Mother, listen –

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (Cries)

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul (Cries),

He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name sake.” (Cries)

Mother, Mother, let us dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Mother, please look at me. Please look at my eyes. I am no longer

blind, Mother. And believe me! You’re beautiful because you’ve given me the greatest
love. I want nothing because there’s Grandma and you and our Lord with me.

Mother : Rosalie, my child, thank you. “Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow us all the days of our lives.”

Narrator : My friends, indeed the beauty of a person is not on the face; it is

in the heart. A hunchback like Rosalie’s mother can be the most beautiful. By the way,
you may wonder why I know so much about Rosalie. Well, you see, I am Rosalie!
 The Bitter Fruit of the Vine

Charlotte : You know, Tiya Saleng, I promised to be respectful to old people.

Mom and Dad keep bombarding me – “Respect the old people, Charlotte.” But Look
what you did to my white uniform! Look at this stain!

Saleng : I am very sorry, Charlotte, I’m very sorry. I’ll wash it again.

Narrator : Tiya Saleng’s hands were trembling. She feared Charlotte, the
only child of Dr. and Mrs. Carlos Valderrama.

Charlotte : Never mind, Tiya Saleng. I’ll tell Mom to look for a better
laundrywoman. You better take charge of the cats and the dogs! Or else, all my white
uniforms will urn yellowish and stained!

Dr. Valderrama : Charlotte, what’s the commotion?

Charlotte : Oh, Dad, look at what Tiya Saleng did to my uniform. See this
stain? You better let her take charge of the cats and the dogs instead of washing
clothes. The clothes become as dirty as she!

Dr. Valderrama : Charlotte!

Charlotte : Dad, it’s enough. Please stop defending her. Enough is enough. I
tell you, Dad, her mere presence makes me boil! We can look for a better
laundrywoman. Why? Is she indispensable? Hah, Dad, is this ugly woman indispensable
in this house?

Dr. Valderrama : You’re too much, Charlotte! (About to slap Charlotte)

Charlotte : Okay, slap me, Dad! And you ugly woman, go away! I don’t need
your help!

Dr. Valderrama : That mouth of yours is worse than the dirt of pigs!

Charlotte : Okay, protect that woman! Protect that ugly pig!

Narrator : Charlotte ran to her room and banged the door close.

Saleng : Dr. Valderrama (Cries), is this a punishment of God for attempting

to kill an innocent life of an unborn child? (Cries)

Narrator : One late afternoon, it rained so hard. The winds howled.

Charlotte : Tiya Saleng, get my beach ball at the playground. Over there!
Can you see it?

Saleng : Yes, Charlotte, yes. I’ll get an umbrella.

Charlotte : Don’t delay! Get it now! Why get an umbrella? Are you a goat
afraid of rain?

Narrator : Charlotte opened the door for Tiya Saleng.

Charlotte : Now, look, I’m opening the door for you, special servant.

Narrator : When Tiya Saleng went out, Charlotte immediately slammed the
door close.

Charlotte : (Laughs loudly) Let us see if that ugly woman wouldn’t freeze in
the cold! (Laughs)

Saleng : Charlotte, Charlotte, please open the door. I’m wet. It’s so cold
here outside. Please open the door. Please open the door.

Charlotte : All of you inside this house, all of you servants, don’t open the
door!

(Sound of telephone ringing)

Charlotte : Hello. Valderrama’s residence. Oh, Mom! You and Dad are coming
home now? Hah? Within an hour? Who? Tiya Saleng? Ah...aahhh... Tiya Saleng left.
She transferred to another residence in the next subdivision, where the salary is higher.
Hah?! You’ll go home now to look for Tiya Saleng? Hello? Hello? God, what has
happened to that ugly woman? Hmmp! Her fever would not kill her when she’s soaked
in rain!

Narrator : Charlotte rushed outside.

Charlotte : Oh, what happened to her? Tiya Saleng, Tiya Saleng, you stand
up and get inside the house.

Narrator : No answer from Tiya Saleng. She lied still by the door. Dr. and
Mrs. Valderrama arrived.

Mrs. Valderrama : Charlotte, what happened to Saleng? Why is she lying there? And
she’s so wet!
Narrator : Charlotte only bowed her head. Her knees trembled. Her lips
quivered. Dr. Valderrama felt Tiya Saleng’s pulse.

Dr. Valderrama : Charlotte, what did you do to Saleng? Charlotte, answer me!

Narrator : The next words of Dr. Valderrama were like a bitter juice of a
bitter fruit.

Dr. Valderrama : Charlotte, 13 years ago we did not expect we adopted a heartless
girl. Look at Saleng! Look at what you did to your mother!

Narrator : Charlotte was stunned. She froze.

Charlotte : (Softly) Mo...Mo... Mother? Mo... Mother?

Narrator : She looked at Tiya Saleng being carried by Dr. Valderrama.

Charlotte : (Begging) Dad, Dad, let’s bring her to the hospital.

Dr. Valderrama : Too late, Charlotte, it’s too late.

Narrator : Dr. Valderrama shook his head as he carried Tiya Saleng’s lifeless
body – the vine of the bitter fruit.
 Monster Girl

Girl : Friends, hide! The monster girl is coming! Run for your lives! She
will eat you, limbs and all!

Narrator : Celeste ran towards the alley of their congested neighborhood.

She saw Soledad walking, with head bowed. Dogs were barking. Then Celeste heard a
little child crying in fear. (Cries with fright.)

Woman : Soledad! You witch-looking girl! Pass the other alley! You are
frightening my daughter! If she gets sick, I’ll burn you in the stake!

Narrator : Soledad just continued walking, as if hearing nothing. She had

become stone-deaf to people’s mocks and insults. Diablo, the neighborhood bully hurled
a stone at Soledad. She ran, covering her head.

Celeste : Why did you hurl a stone at Soledad? Has she done you any
wrong?

Narrator : Celeste faced Diablo.

Diablo : So you want to defend the monster? She’s frightening little

children in the neighborhood. She’s a monster! Befriend that monster and become as
ugly as she! Why? (Sarcastic) Do you also plan to eat human flesh when the moon is
full? (Laughs)

Celeste : Your character fits to your name – Diablo! Devil!

Diablo : What did you say defender of the monster?

Celeste : You did not hear it? Pray for your soul, deaf devil!

Narrator : Soledad had quit school because many boys were bullying her.
School children were mocking her. Most of them called her “Monster Girl.” Soledad had
experienced the worst and the meanest treatment. The day before Soledad decided to
quit school, their classroom was eerily silent. As if there was something to happen,
something to explode! Soledad opened her bag.

Soledad : Ahhhh!!! (Terribly frightened.) Ahhhh!!!! (Cries, trembling.)

Narrator : Soledad trembled, her face turned white. She was in great fright.
Something terribly horrendous was inside her bag!
Bully Boy : Hey! (Sarcastic) Beautiful Soledad, how dramatic can you get! It’s
only a dead snake! So, you are afraid of a dead snake but you are not afraid of your
face! (Laughs) You look worse than a dead snake! Your face is like a bloated face of a
toad about to be dissected! (Laughs mockingly)

Narrator : Even Celeste’s mother did not like her befriending Soledad.

Celeste’s Mother : Celeste, you stop going with that Soledad. I don’t know why you
are fond of that monster-looking girl. Are you not frightened of her looks? I can feel
she’s a bringer of a plague. Avoid her before something dreadful happens to you! I’m
not advising you. I am ordering you, so better take heed!

Celeste : I’m her only friend, Mother. How I pity her. Everybody’s mocking
her, maltreating her.

Celeste’s Mother : It’s not pity, Celeste. It’s foolishness! Do you want to be called
among the minions of the monster?

Celeste : Mother, how come you are always kneeling inside the church?
How come you are always praying but do not have even an ounce of pity to Soledad?

Celeste’s Mother : Pity? Why should I when she’s the rotten fruit of my wrath?! I
prayed for her death! But she came out of that harlot’s womb alive! I despise her
mother! I abhor that monstrous-looking Soledad! You better avoid her because she
does not belong to the world of men. A monster like her mother, a monster like that
Soledad belongs to the pits of hell!

Celeste : Pardon me to say this, but Mother useless is your kneeling;

worthless are your prayers when you are spiteful.

Celeste’s Mother : (Sarcastically) Oh, behold you the good girl! But, Celeste, never
insult me with that. You do not know the pain her man-grabbing mother inflicted in me.
Her vile mother ruined my life! That’s why you grew up without a father. But my one
consolation, that drug-addict woman gave birth to a monster!

Grandmother : Alona, don’t involve your daughter. Don’t mess up her mind.

Celeste’s Mother : Mess up? Does the truth messes up her mind? Celeste is a bright
girl. Her brain is like mine. Unlike her father’s, a brain wallowing in the dirt of the pigs!

Celeste : Is Soledad my sister?

Celeste’s Mother : No! She’s a monster! You are not! How can you be sisters?!
Narrator : But Celeste could feel it. Her heart told her so. She then swiftly
ran, so fast her feet seemed to have wings. It was raining hard. Lightning flashed.
Thunders roared. She reached the dilapidated house where Soledad and her
grandmother lived. Soledad was crying, embracing her grandmother. Celeste embraced
Soledad.

Celeste : Soledad you can cry all your pains out. But there is an end to all
your pains. People see only your face. But they haven’t seen your heart. Just remain as
a good girl. And can I call you Sister?

Soledad : (Still sobbing) People will laugh at you for having a monster for a
sister.

Soledad’s Grandmother : Celeste, do you already know?

Narrator : Celeste just smiled and winked at Soledad’s grandmother. And

Celeste held Soledad’s hand.

Celeste : Soledad, return to school. We are now in Grade Eight. Two years
more and we’ll be in senior high school. We’ll go to school together. Don’t worry about
the bullies. Just feel safe when you are with your Big Sister.

Soledad : Thank you, Celeste, thank you. I’ll pretend that even if I’m the
monster girl, I have a beautiful Big Sister.

Soledad’s Grandmother : Soledad, my dear, you don’t have to pretend. (Laughs). I’m
so happy, Celeste. The beautiful day has come!

Celeste : Soledad, the rain has stopped. And look at that – a rainbow!

Soledad : Celeste, we will climb over the rainbow together.

Celeste : Yes, my sister, yes! Together!

 The General’s Daughter

Aunt Sofia : You look fine now, Alfonso.

General Dela Paz : Just looking fine. But deep inside my blood still boils!

Aunt Sofia : Time to move on, Alfonso. I’ve heard you are on leave. It’s good
so that you can be with Margaret Rose. She needs a general to ward off the wolves!

General Dela Paz : Wait for a minute. (Three short whistles).

Narrator : Matilda, the maid appeared.

Matilda : (Salutes). Yes, General. What’s your order? Coffee, tea or...

Narrator : Aunt Sofia interrupted.

Aunt Sofia : Coffee, tea or me? (Laughs)

General Dela Paz : Bring us lemon juice and two slices of cinnamon loaf. And erase
that red lipstick from your lips. You look like a faggot! And why is your skirt so short?
Are you tempting our German shepherd dog??!! Go!

Aunt Sofia : It was ridiculous, Alfonso.

General Dela Paz : (Grunts) Say what you want, Sofia. I just want strict discipline
inside this house.

Aunt Sofia : Oh, where’s my beautiful niece Margaret Rose, Alfonso?

General Dela Paz : I’ll call her. (One long and two short whistles)

Narrator : The general’s daughter appeared.

Aunt Sofia : Oh! My dear, why did you crop your hair short? You looked pretty
with your long wavy tresses before. You’re not sexy with that bob-cut!

Margaret Rose : It’s the general’s order. No complaint.

General Dela Paz : I’m just protecting her. If she beautifies herself she may look like
a temptress! Wolves would run after her. They already got my wife. They did not just
devour her! Not satisfied, those ruthless shabu-inhaling beasts killed her! I’ve filed a
terminal leave to watch over my daughter!
Aunt Sofia : But the criminals are now in the national penitentiary for life.

General Dela Paz : That does not give justice to my wife’s death! I want to bore a
bullet in-between their eyes!

Aunt Sofia : Alfonso, fear the Lord. By the way, my dear niece, how are your
ballet and piano lessons? (Dreamily) I just imagine you dancing like Lisa Macuja,
playing a concerto like Cecile Licad.

General Dela Paz : Those are worthless endeavors! Only for the fragile and the
weakling! She’s taking taekwondo and boxing training for self-protection. By the way,
I’ll go now. General Almonte and I will play golf. Stay for dinner.

Narrator : When the general left, Margaret Rose slumped on the sofa and
burst a painful cry.

Margaret Rose : (Cries while talking.) It’s terribly too much, Aunt Sofia. I’m not
deserving of this! It’s very suffocating! I can’t breathe. I want to yell! I want to shout!
But I can’t. My chest seemed to burst! If only suicide is not a sin!

Aunt Sofia : Oh! No! No! Never do that! Never end your life! Fight! Be brave!

Margaret Rose : Fight the general? Be brave to defy the general?

Aunt Sofia : No, no, that’s not what I meant. I want you to surmount the
challenges. You have to be brave in pursuing your goals. Just ignore your Dad. He is in
his boiling period. Full of hatred! Full of anger! But it will pass.

Margaret Rose : Yes, he is still hurting because of Mom’s death. But he should not
include me in his fury! Putting me in the military academy after high school will not
resurrect Mom!

Aunt Sofia : Ha?! Enter the military academy? Is it not that your dream to
become a broadcast journalist?

Margaret Rose : Dreaming under the shadow of the general is having a nightmare!
I would rather welcome with open arms a bullet from an assassin’s gun than living with
him. I feel that he has turned into a heartless stranger.

Aunt Sofia : My dear, your Dad just wants to protect you. He would die if
something happens to you. You are his only happiness left. Please understand him. He
would mellow in due time.
Narrator : Margaret Rose stood and hurriedly went into his father’s
bedroom. When she returned, her Aunt Sofia trembled!

Aunt Sofia : Margaret! Don’t do that! It’s not the solution! Return that gun!
Fear the Lord! Please, I’m begging.

Narrator : Margaret Rose raised the gun, examined it, she touched the
trigger. Tears covered her face.

Margaret Rose : Aunt Sofia, if I end my life with this gun, what would Dad do?

Aunt Sofia : (Panics) I don’t know... (Catches her breath) He would also shoot
himself to death! No! No! Please, throw that gun away! Fear the Lord! Fear the Lord!

Margaret Rose : If I point the barrel to my heart like this, would it make a
difference to Dad? Would he change the way he treats me now? I’m not the son he
wanted to have! I am his daughter – who wants to dance, who wants to play the piano,
who wants to look beautiful! But I think I need to – (Cries loudly)

Aunt Sofia : Need to what? To shoot yourself??!! No! No! Don’t do that!
Taking away your life is defying God’s command! (Trembling, crying)

Margaret Rose : Aunt Sofia, I don’t have any intention of ending my life with this
gun. I just want to know what Dad would do if I end my life with it.

Narrator : When the general arrived –

General Dela Paz : It was so relaxing playing golf. My conversation with General
Almonte opened my eyes. My dear, Margaret, I’m sorry. You don’t deserve a harsh
treatment. How I wish your hair will get long by tomorrow. By the way, please tell
Matilda to bring here lemon juice and cinnamon loaf.

Margaret Rose : You can just whistle her, Dad. Three short whistles.

General Dela Paz : (Laughs) No need of a whistle. I will throw it away. (Laughs) And
please, my dear, can you play in the piano my favourite “Etude in E” by Chopin.

Margaret Rose : The “No Other Love” piece?

General Dela Paz : Yes, yes, play it, my dear, there’s no other love for my daughter
who will become a broadcast journalist!

Margaret Rose : And no other love too for my Dad, the general!
Narrator : And if only Margaret Rose saw her Dad’s face as she plays the
piano – tears streamed the general’s face, but he was smiling. His was a face of calm
and peace.
 Mother X

Aunt Matilda : Mercy, do you have any idea that your mother’s sari-sari store is
only a front? She’s actually selling something dangerous!

Mercy : Aunt Matilda, I see nothing dangerous with candies and

cigarettes, bread and 3-in-1 coffee, detergents and cooking ingredients. There’s nothing
spoiled, nothing blue with molds, nothing to poison the buying people.

Aunt Matilda : Oh, Mercy! May God have mercy on your innocent spirit! And
what is that I have gathered from the native coffee stall of Floring – that the receiving
area in your house would be converted into a billiard hall?

Mercy : The native coffee stall of Tia Floring, the grapevine of the village?
I think and I am very certain, Aunt Matilda, that those wagging tongues are simply
envious of Mother!

Aunt Matilda : Envious? No! No! No! No! Mercy! They are concerned of you!
Imagine, those thugs smelling of cheap rum, their eyes blood-shot, obscenity playing in
their heads! What about if they would gang-rape you?! They who are your mother’s
loyal clients? Is there no ounce of fear in your mother’s vein? You and your mother are
both living dangerously!

Mercy : Aunt Matilda, it’s getting late. Mother might be getting worried.

Aunt Matilda : Yes, you better go home, it’s indeed getting late. But I would
never agree that your mother is worried. She’s not even worried that anytime soon the
police would swoop into your house and haul her to jail!!!!

Mercy : Police? Haul mother to jail? What do you mean, Aunt Matilda?

Aunt Matilda : Don’t ask me. Ask your mother if she could muster to tell you the
iron truth.

Narrator : When Mercy arrived at their sari-sari store fronting their house,
there were several men, adolescent out-of-school boys, and thugs seated on benches.
Some drinking cheap rum, all of them puffing cigarettes, the smoke swirling and circling
all over, no Dengue or Zika-carrying mosquito could ever penetrate. Mercy covered her
nose, the pathway wricking with urine. She immediately confronted her mother.

Mercy : Mother, Aunt Matilda warned me that you are selling something
dangerous! What is that, Mother?
Mother : Something dangerous?! Oh, it’s not, my dear daughter. Is this
what she meant? This is “tawas”! I can give her several sachets to whiten her charcoal-
dark armpits!

Man 1 : Mother X, is that Matilda envious of your flourishing business of

super-special “tawas”? (Laughs)

Thug 1 : That lonely spinster! I can bring her to Cloud Nine with a sniff of
the super-special “tawas”! (Laughs)

Man 2 : Stop it! Stop it! You shabu addicts! I have urinated in my pants!
(Laughs)

Man 1 : Next time use pampers! (Laughs) The giant size! (Laughs)

Narrator : Everybody laughed, except Mercy who looked at the hanging

sachets of “tawas,” thinking what danger is there. Her Mother Soledad was busy
attending to a customer.

Mercy : (Talking to herself) What is that man buying? Why there in the
dark? I can smell something dangerously fishy!

Man 1 : Run! The police patrol car!

Mother : Hah?! What is that? Sound of a siren? The police! And you! You
idiot! Why handcuff me?

Narrator : Mercy’s mother strongly kicked the man between the legs, who
writhed in much pain.

Mother : And here’s more! Don’t meddle with my business! I am Mother X,

no Duterte could ever stop me! To finish you off!

Narrator : Mother X, the dealer of methamphetamine or shabu in slang, got

a wooden stall, raised it high to smash the head of the man. In the dark, her eyes could
be seen, horrendously flaring, fiery with anger.

Mother : So that you’d stop interfering in my business because I don’t

mess in yours!

Narrator : Her hatred blinded her. The veins in her hand trembling, pulsating
with angry blood, about to burst to kill the man!

Mother : Here’s for you, meddler!

Narrator : But before she could hit the man, a blinding light illuminated all
over, Mother X was like the lead actress in a movie, the light all focused at her, the light
of the police patrol car. Her hands were gripped by two police officers. She was
handcuffed. Several other policemen surrounded her, while others run after the shabu
users and addicts, all loyal customers of Mother X.

Police Officer 1 : Stop running or I’ll shoot!

Police Officer 2 : Ahh, so you are here, you addict-rapist! It’s good! Hitting two
birds with one stone!

Mother : Sir, please, please, I don’t sell shabu, it’s “tawas.” Please, please,
don’t jail me.

Police Officer 1 : Stop that baloney, Soledad. Now, you will be living in solitude, all
alone, like the meaning of your name. Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot, it’s not Soledad. It’s
Mother X, the great, the elusive, the slimy, the uncatchable, Mother X. It’s the jail,
Mother X! No other place befitting your name!
 The Poisonous Pork

Ann : Mother, our teacher said eating pork should be done in

moderation. Pork brings many ailments.

Mother : Fallacy! Pork does not bring ailments. Having no money to buy
even one-fourth kilo of pork is what will kill us – no money for the medicines, no money
for the hospital! My PhilHealth card is useless. My name was misspelled! I’m sure it was
the fault of that cross-eyed barangay secretary!

Ann : Anyway, I’m not bothered whether we eat pork or not. With
father no longer with us, I have learned to love eating galunggong and tabagak.

Mother : Oh, my dear, no longer now. I have cooked for lunch pork adobo,
pork with white beans and potatoes, pork Hawaiian – with lots of pineapple chunks!

Ann : Where did you get the money to buy pork and all those
ingredients?

Mother : Oh, I forgot to inform you. Your mother is now the president of
Pambansang Samahanan ng Mga Kababaihan Para sa Kaunlaran. It’s PASAKAKA for
short.

Ann : And what is that? Another lending organization?

Mother : It is a foundation. We have millions! Now, where are those

women who have college degrees? Your mother finished Grade VI only. But look! I am
now the president of a foundation called PASAKAKA. Juanita Ginpulis is the prime
mover of more than 20 foundations. She trusted me. She gave me Ten Thousand Pesos
this morning just to sign the papers that I have received the Ten Million Pesos for the
projects of our foundation. See, just signing papers I immediately earned Ten Thousand
Pesos. So, easy if you are the president of a foundation organized by Mrs. Ginpulis!

Narrator : So for the whole week, Ann’s mother cooked several recipes of
pork dishes. For her it is a status symbol. Rich people eat pork. Poor people subsist
with galunggong and tabagak! Another week has passed.

Ann : Mother! Mother! It’s in the TV! Mrs. Juanita Ginpulis is haunted by
the NBI! She is tagged as the mastermind in the pork barrel scam! Mother! My God!

Mother : And why do you panic like a rat chased by a cat!

Ann : Your foundation – the PASAKAKA is a fake. And the Ten Million
Pesos is gone!

Voice : Anybody home? Mrs. Nadaya?

Mother : For a while. And who are these mammals paying a visit at this
hour of the day. Ann, you prepare the table, we’ll eat lunch. Place the pork adobo in the
new Tupperware bowl.

Narrator : When Ann’s mother opened the door, she gasped and
immediately slammed it close. She closed her eyes and clasped her chest!

Ann : Why Mother? Who are those people outside?

Mother : There is a woman… (Catches her breath) And there are two…
(Catches her breath) two… (She seems unable to utter the words due to fear) two
men... they might be policemen… My God, Ann, they might jail me. I did not steal.
Why jail me?

Voice : Mrs. Nadaya? Please let us in.

Mother : No! No! I did not steal! I am the president of the foundation but I
have not received the millions! You look for Mrs. Ginpulis! Not me! Not me! I am only a
laundrywoman! (Panics) I have stopped receiving STL bets! (Panics) My God! What is
this? My God!

Narrator : The knocks continued. Ann’s mother slumped down the floor
wailing! Ann rushed towards the door.

Mother : Don’t open it! Nooo!!! Don’t open it! There are two policemen!
They will jail me!

Narrator : But Ann has already opened the door.

Mother : Noooo!!!! Don’t jail me! I’m not a thief! Mrs. Ginpulis just gave me
Ten Thousand Pesos to sign the papers! (Wailing) Please let me just wash your dirty
clothes until I have paid the Ten Thousand Pesos.

Ann : Please don’t jail my mother.

Woman : I am Mrs. Clarisa Tan from the Commission on Audit.

Man : And I am NBI Agent William Pascual and that’s SPO2 Franco
Rosales from the PNP. We are here to interview you. Just tell us what really happened.
Through your cooperation we will be able to catch the mastermind.

Narrator : The woman added.

Woman : Mrs. Nadaya, you are only a victim of the pork barrel scam.

Ann : That was a few months ago. According to Justice Secretary Leila
de Lima, my mother will become a state witness. She is now under the government’s
witness protection program. I better end now, DILG Sec. Mar Roxas told me – “Never
talk too much to strangers! And never be in places with many people.” I told him, Mr.
Secretary, so pork is really poisonous! And he laughed! I’m sure he will tell Korina
Sanchez of what I’ve said.
 The Bloated Nose with Flared Nostrils

Narrator : It was a few minutes before the start of the afternoon class.
Solomon’s classmates were all at the school yard playing. He did not feel like playing
but decided to sit inside the classroom instead.

Solomon : Oh! A hummingbird perched on the teacher’s table! I’ll catch that
hummingbird!

Narrator : Solomon tiptoed towards the teacher’s table. He tiptoed as silent

as a cat trying to catch a mouse. He controlled his breath. His eyes focused at the
chirping bird. But he stepped on a marble. Then he slumped at the table and the
porcelain flower vase crashed down the floor. And the hummingbird flew away!

Solomon : My God! The porcelain flower vase was broken into pieces! Ma’am
Oyos will get angry! (Trembles and gasps for breath; then looks around to see if
anybody has seen him.) Good, nobody’s around; I will throw the broken pieces out of
the window.

Dennis : What’s that? There was a sound of something breaking into

pieces.

Solomon : (Panicking) Dennis, you heard nothing! You saw nothing!

Dennis : Solomon, you broke Ma’am Oyos’ porcelain flower vase!

Solomon : I did not! The wind did! No, no, it was the hummingbird! Yes, the
hummingbird kicked the vase!

Narrator : Later…

Ma’am Oyos : Solomon, please tell the truth. A good boy like you does not tell a
lie.

Solomon : I am telling the truth, Ma’am. I did not break the vase. Please
don’t believe in Dennis. He is cross-eyed, Ma’am. What he saw was something else.

Ma’am Oyos : Solomon, do you know the story of Pinocchio?

Solomon : Do you mean my nose will grow longer every time I tell a lie?

Ma’am Oyos : Maybe, Solomon, maybe.

Narrator : When Solomon was walking towards home that afternoon, the
children were looking at him, pointing at his nose –
Boy 1 : Look at Solomon’s nose! It’s like a huge red tomato! The nostrils
are too big about to swallow you and me!

Narrator : Solomon stood still and felt his nose. The dogs were barking at
him –

Dogs : Arf! Arf! Arf! You liar boy! Arf! Arf! Arf! You liar boy!

Solomon : Hah?! The dogs are talking -- That I am a liar!

Cats : Meowwww!!!! Meowwww!!!! Run away from that boy, fellow cats!
That boy is a liar! Meowwww!!! Look at his bloated nose with flared nostrils! The
symbol of a liar! Meowwww!!!!!

Solomon : This is no longer an Aesop’s fable! This is reality!

Narrator : And Solomon ran fast home. He then looked at himself before the
mirror. Yes, his nose got bloated with flared nostrils. And he cried.

Solomon : Dear Jesus, I am sorry. (Cries) I will never tell a lie again. Never,
never, never again! I promise! (Cries) Please, dear Jesus.

Narrator : Solomon’s tears flowed down his nose. And he heard a voice:

Voice : Solomon, my friend, every child is a treasure. Shine by telling the

truth at all times. Remember, I am your friend until eternity and I am the Way, the
Truth and the Life.

Narrator : My friends, I am Solomon. Look at my nose now; no longer

bloated and without flared nostrils. No need for me to write the “Songs” just like in the
Bible to be wise. Just be truthful. And this is my friendly advice – Be honest at all times!
 The Sea Goddess

Ceres : You are crying again, Athena. Did those crazy boys tease you again? I
have been telling you not to mind them.

Athena : Ceres, do I look so ugly? Sometimes, I feel that I do not belong to this
world. Sometimes, I feel I am not a human being. Many people laugh at me, some
children are afraid of me because their mothers tell them I am a witch.

Narrator : I am Ceres and my friend Athena was not a witch. Her nose curbed like
that of the witch in the horror comics. She walked with a limp and her left arm crooked
and dangled. Her face was like a triangle with the forehead so wide and her thick lips
seemed at her chin. People found her ugly. But for me, she was beautiful because her
heart did not know hatred and anger. She was my best friend. She became a goddess.
O, my friends, do not laugh at me or raise your eyebrows in disbelief. I am telling you
the truth, as true as the cascading of the sea waves silvered by the full moon. Yes, it
was a full moon when I found Athena standing alone by the sea shore. She was alone
but I heard her talking and laughing…

Ceres : Athena! Athena! I have been looking for you. By the way, whom are you
talking to and laughing with?

Athena : Hah?! Oh, nobody… there’s nobody here…

Ceres : But I heard you talking and laughing…

Athena : Hah?! Did I? I mean did you hear me? Oh, I mean… Oh, maybe, it was
the wind. Yes, the wind.

Ceres : Come. Let’s watch TV at my grandmother’s house. Anyway, it’s

Saturday tomorrow.

Athena : I’ll just stay here. I want to be alone… here, nobody mocks me. They
find me beautiful here.

Ceres : They? Who are they? O, my friend. It’s dangerous to be alone here. It’s
a full moon and mermen may rise from the sea and bring you to Poseidon! ( Laughs)

Athena : To Poseidon? He was over there in Greece during ancient times. He is

alive only in Greek mythology. There are other gods and goddesses in our midst, in our
forests, in this sea.

Ceres : Hah?! Athena!!! Look! Ahhhhh!!!! Run, Athena, runnnnn!!!!!

Narrator : I ran as fast as I could. When I reached our home I realized Athena did
not follow. She did not run. The following day…

Ceres : Athena, why did you not run? Good that huge sea creature did not
devour you. I have never seen such horrendous looking creature. It rose from the
water and instantly disappeared. The eyes were as huge as plates and the head was
filled with long fins. The large scales glittered and the mouth was so wide you could
easily fit into it!

Athena : You must have been imagining things… too much of your reading of
fantasy, myth, folklore and magic realism.

Ceres : I did not imagine things! I really saw it.

Athena : Maybe, that creature was there to guard me from those people who
have been mocking me! (Laughs)

Ceres : Athena? What do you mean?

Athena : Forget it. But I no longer care if people are afraid of my looks, or mock
my ugliness. I feel beautiful… I really feel sooooo beautiful!

Narrator : Athena always went to the sea during nighttime. She told me it was the
only place where she found peace and where she was loved. Weeks passed and then
months…

Ceres : Athena, what happened to your skin? Let me feel it… It has become so
coarse. It seems to have scales. Maybe, it is caused by overstaying in the seashore, by
the salt from the sea, salt mingling in the wind…

Athena : But is it not fitted to my looks? Scales are beautiful especially when they
glisten under the full moon.

Ceres : Athena, I am afraid there is something mysterious happening! Will you

please stop going to the seashore especially during nighttime? If you consider me your
friend, please, Athena, listen to me. I have fears…

Narrator : That evening the moon was like a huge silver ball; then it became
golden. I could not sleep as I watched the moon rising to the center of the sky. It
became a giant globe of fire. Then the wind howled and howled. And all my bones
trembled, my lips quivered. With the howling of the wind was the voice calling –
Athena… Athena… I covered myself with a blanket. I was so scared!!! I feared for
Athena! Then I heard the sound of the sea waves, like music. And then silence…
Male Voice : A girl was found dead at the seashore!!!

Ceres : My God, it might be Athena.

Narrator : I ran to the seashore. There were so many people. I heard what they
were talking.

Male Voice : She’s so beautiful. Look at her skin so smooth and milky.

Female Voice : What a perfect face. She looks like a goddess, a very beautiful
goddess!

Male Voice : But who is she? Where is she from?

Narrator : I elbowed myself until I managed to see the dead girl… She was wearing
a necklace… I looked at the pendant of the necklace. It was my gift during Athena’s
birthday.

Ceres : (Cries) Athena!!! Athena!!!! Why did you answer the call of the sea????
And you good-looking people, do you now find this girl beautiful? She is Athena, the girl
you mocked! The girl you despised! The girl you were afraid of because of her ugliness!
Now, you find her beautiful? The sea claimed her where she will be adored as a
goddess because here on this land you people did not consider her a human being.
That body is not of Athena’s! She is now the goddess of the sea! That body is only a
reminder of how ugly is your human soul!
 The Beautiful Lady and the Skyflakes

Narrator : Celia always had a pack of Skyflakes biscuits in her bag. Her
mother said it is better than Fita. Let me tell you a story about Celia’s Skyflakes biscuits.
Celia and her friend Ana were walking home from school that afternoon when Ana
suddenly cried in terror.

Ana : Hah! My God!

Celia : Why, Ana? What happened?

Ana : See that old woman across the street? She’s looking at us! Run,
Celia, run! It’s Consing Banug! She’s a witch!

Celia : Hah?! Witch? Oh, no! Ana! Ana! Wait for me!

Narrator : Celia ran as fast as the wind. But then she stopped, then slowly
looked back to see the old woman. And how ugly she was! “Aaaahhhh!!! No! No!” she
shouted. She was so afraid.

When Celia arrived home...

Mother : Celia, You look so terrified.

Celia : Mother, I saw a witch! I saw Consing Banug!

Mother : Oh, Celia, who said Consing Banug is a witch?

Celia : But she looks like a witch!

Mother : Have you seen her eating a human flesh?

Celia : (Softly) No.

Mother : Celia, Consing Banug is just an old ugly woman. But she is not a
witch.

Celia : But, Mother, her body seems mangled, seems twisted. Why?

Mother : That’s what we do not know. What we know is – she’s a person

who needs help and understanding.

Narrator : One Sunday afternoon...

Celia : Ana, I saw Consing Banug going to the river; maybe she’ll take a
bath.

Ana : So, do you want to scrub her back? (Laughs)

Celia : No. Let’s see what’s inside her house near the huge Balete tree.

Ana : And?? How about if we see monsters? Walking skeletons? Skulls

with bulging eyes?

Narrator : But Celia managed to persuade Ana. When they were near the
huge Balete tree...

Ana : (Trembling) Celia, I just leave here. I am so afraid.

But Celia pulled Ana’s arm. Both of them tip-toed towards the huge Balete tree.

Celia : Shhh, Ana, there’s something moving near the sack of firewood.

Ana : Celia, looked! There’s something… black! (Covers her eyes)

Narrator : Then that something black jumped!

Cat : Meowww!!!

Ana : AAAhhhhh!!!!

Celia : Hey! Quiet! It’s only a cat! Let’s get inside. The door is open.

Narrator : But when the two girls entered the door suddenly shut close.

Ana : My God! Celia, the witch might eat us!

Narrator : But suddenly there was a beautiful music and when they looked
around –

Celia : Ana, look, this is a palace! But did we not enter the nipa hut of
Consing Banug?

Narrator : There was a table with lots of fruits. The fruits shone and
sparkled like rhinestones. And Celia saw the pack of Skyflakes biscuits.

Celia : Ana, look! It’s the pack of Skyflakes biscuits I gave to Consing
Banug last week.
Ana : Celia, there’s so many Skyflakes biscuits.

Celia : But I can feel it. It’s the pack of Skyflakes biscuits I’ve given her.
That Monday morning she approached me. I got so scared seeing her mangled face,
her twisted arms and legs. But she said she was very hungry. I know, it’s the pack of
Skyflakes biscuits I gave Consing Banug.

Narrator : Then suddenly, a beautiful lady appeared.

Lady : You are right, Celia, it’s the pack of Skyflakes biscuits you gave to
the ugly Consing Banug.

Celia : Who are you?

Lady : It won’t matter. What’s important is having known you.

Narrator : Then the lady suddenly disappeared. And Celia and Ana saw
themselves standing outside the nipa hut of Consing Banug. Two burly men appeared.

Man 1 : Aha! Two beautiful girls! (Laughs) During the full moon witches
no longer appear, only beautiful girls!

Celia : No! No! Rapists! Help! Rapists!

Man 2 : Shut up! Or I’ll chop you into pieces! We are not rapists!

Man 1 : Yes, we are not rapists! We are businessmen. We will sell the two
of you to Chung Lee, the oil factory owner in the city.

Ana : No! No! Father! Father! Help!!!!

Narrator : Then a blinding light flashed. The beautiful lady appeared.

Lady : (Booming) Away you two monsters! Leave the girls! Go!

Narrator : The two men scampered in fear!

Celia : Thank you for helping us.

Lady : Celia, a good deed is always rewarded. Please accept this gift.

Narrator : The lady gave Celia a box with a note, and disappeared. Celia
read the note. “Celia, thank you for the pack of Skyflakes biscuits. Please accept my gift
of a box of gold. Your friend forever, Consing Banug.”
Celia : (Exclaims) So, the fairy was Consing Banug!

Narrator : What happened to the nipa hut? It was gone. And Consing Banug
was never seen again. Maybe, she’s in another place to look for other kind-hearted girls
like Celia.

Narrator : My friends, kindness is for everyone. Remember this always.

 The Little House of Hope

Liza : What a beautiful doll house, Grandma! This is the most beautiful
doll house I’ve ever seen!

Grandma : A good girl deserves the best, Liza. Invite your friends to see it.

Liza : I’ll invite Alicia and Anita.

Aunt Matilda : Those daughters of that dirty and ugly washerwoman?

Liza : Is there anything wrong if their mother washes clothes for other
people, Aunt Matilda?

Aunt Matilda : Nothing. They are just.... oh, (Growls) I don’t want to smell them!
They smell like the dried fish they are eating!

Liza : Aunt Matilda, what’s wrong if I play with Alicia and Anita?

Aunt Matilda : They are daughters of a witch! Sayong is a witch! Do you know
that? Stop playing with little witches!

Liza : Aunt Matilda, they are not witches! Their mother is not a witch!

Aunt Matilda : Believe in your foolish idea! But let me tell you, I will lock you
inside that dog house if you insist on playing with those smelling garbage!

Narrator : Liza ran to her room. She cried and cried.

Grandma : You are becoming irrational, Matilda.

Aunt Matilda : You’re right, Mother, I’m becoming irrational because I hate
them! I don’t want to see them in this house, in the yard! I’ll have Sputnik devour
them!

Grandma : Fear the heavens, Matilda! If you can love and take good care of
Sputnik, a dog, why can’t you give even a little amount of love to the poor, like Sayong
and her daughters?

Narrator : Inside her bedroom Liza was crying as she prayed.

Liza : (Sobs as she prays) Dear God, why is Aunt Matilda like that? She
said she loves me, but she does not want me to play with my friends Alicia and Anita.
Dear Lord, please give me a mother like Tiya Sayong. I don’t mind if she’s a
washerwoman. She’s a very loving mother.
Narrator : The following day, Liza’s Aunt Matilda went to the sugar farm.
Liza called Alicia and Anita to show them the doll house.

Anita : (Utters so merrily) Wow! Alicia, what a beautiful doll house! I

hope and pray we can live in a house as beautiful as this one someday.

Alicia : Maybe we can, Anita, maybe. We need to study well, finish our
studies, then work and save.

Anita : And always pray, Alicia. Ma’am Filamo told us, prayers can move
mountains.

Narrator : Suddenly terror gripped the three girls. There was Liza’s Aunt
Matilda.

Aunt Matilda : Why are you here, garbage? Liza, why are these little witches
here? Sputnik bite them! Go!

Anita : (Trembling, quivering) No, please, no! Have pity on us!

Narrator : Anita and Alicia ran.

Sputnik : Arf! Arf! Arf!

Alicia : Run faster, Anita, run faster!

Anita : Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!! Alicia! Alicia! The dog is biting me!

Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!

Liza : Aunt Matilda, stop Sputnik! Sputnik will kill Anita! Ah! There’s a
steel pipe.

Narrator : Liza got the steel pipe and with all her force lashed it at Sputnik’s
head.

Liza : Get away from Anita! Get away from Anita!

Narrator : Sputnik fell on the ground. Anita had many bites. The family
driver and the housemaid rushed Anita to the hospital. Liza faced her Aunt Matilda.

Liza : Aunt Matilda, pardon me if I say this -- You are a mad dog! You
don’t have a heart! They are not witches. You are!

Aunt Matilda : You good for nothing wrenched! You are really like your dirty
mother and smelling sisters!

Liza : Mother? Sisters?

Narrator : Tiya Sayong arrived.

Tiya Sayong : Matilda, what did you do to Anita? You got Liza because of our
huge debt and now you had Anita bitten by your dog! If you are not a devil, Matilda,
what are you?

Grandma : Matilda, heavens’ wrath will befall upon you!

Liza : (Crying) Aunt Matilda, if you love me, why?

Narrator : Lisa’s Aunt Matilda kicked strongly the little house of hope and
rammed it with the steel pipe. She ran towards the dead Sputnik and with all her
strength lashed it with a steel pipe, again and again and again! She raised her hands
heavenward –

Aunt Matilda : My God, my God, please forgive me. Let your lightning hit me
now!

Grandma : Sayong, Sputnik was injected with anti-rabies vaccine. But Anita
still needs all the medications needed. Don’t worry I’ll take care of everything. I’ll have
the house annex furnished for you and your daughters.

Narrator : Days later, Liza, Alicia and Anita were playing with a new doll
house. Then it rained so hard. The three girls saw a woman standing so still in the
middle of the road, under the heavy rains. Amid the thunderclaps, they heard the
woman crying – “My God, please forgive me!” It was the repentant Matilda!

My friends, we are all God’s children. We should love one another. More
than bread and water, the poor need our love.
 The Big Bad Wolf

Celeste : Mother, my classmates are always teasing me that I came from a

bamboo which split open because I don’t have a father.

Mother : They are right, Celeste. You don’t have a father.

Celeste : Mother, you are just evading again to tell me who my father is
that’s why you just agree that my classmates are right – that I came from a bamboo
which split open.

Mother : Okay, okay. So not from the bamboo which split open. You have
a big bad wolf for a father!

Celeste : Big bad wolf? Like that in the story “The Three Little Pigs” or in
“Little Red Riding Hood”?

Mother : Yes, like the wolf in those stories. So, don’t ever go near the big
bad wolf when it knocks at our door. That beast will eat you head and all! That
spineless wolf does not deserve to be called a father!

Celeste : Even if I don’t believe that my father is a big bad wolf, please just
tell me, Mother, what is the name of that wolf.

Mother : That wolf does not have a name. Evils don’t have names! And will
you please stop thinking about worthless things, Celeste? Concentrate on your studies if
you want to graduate at the top of your class then get a scholarship in high school.

Narrator : Her mother’s theory about the big bad wolf father penetrated
deep in Celeste’s mind. It stayed in her mind all the time, wherever she is, whatever
she does, even in her sleep.

Celeste : (Quivering, trembling) Hah! The big bad wolf! It’s coming nearer
and nearer. Help! Help! It is opening its huge mouth. Its fangs like sharp daggers! It
will devour me head and all! Mother, help!

Mother : See? I told you never to think about that big bad wolf. But you
still think of that beast so it came in your dream!

Narrator : Celeste tried her best never to think about the big bad wolf. It’s
just a product of a child’s story. But the following evening it came again.

Celeste : There you are again, you big bad wolf! Go away!
Big Bad Wolf : I’m sorry, Celeste. I’m sorry for being an irresponsible father.

Celeste : (Trembling) I don’t trust you. You always appear because you
want to eat me. I’m not one of the three little pigs and I’m not Little Red Riding Hood’s
grandmother. So, go away!

Big Bad Wolf : Look at me not with your eyes. Use your heart.

Celeste : You are smiling. And you don’t have fangs as sharp as daggers!
You are shedding your wolf’s skin. And oh! You’re a man, not a beast! But I cannot see
your face! Please let me see your face.

Narrator : Celeste told her mother about her dream.

Mother : Oh, Celeste, a dream is the opposite of reality. You may never
wake up! So beware of that wolf!

Narrator : A day before graduation, Celeste saw her mother and Anton
Madrigal talking. It seemed the sole heir of Don Felipe Madrigal, who died recently, was
explaining then begging then crying. Celeste was confused.

Celeste : (Talking to herself) Where is mother? Who will lace me my

valedictorian’s medal?

Master of Ceremonies: Class Valedictorian – Celeste Marie M. Jaranilla.

Celeste : (Talking to herself) Mother, where are you? Hah? Why is Anton
Madrigal coming up the stage?

Anton Madrigal : Congratulations, my dear daughter. I’m very proud of you.

Starting today we will be together.

Narrator : Celeste froze. After lacing the valedictorian’s medal, Anton

Madrigal embraced tightly Celeste. Her mother joined them. All school administrators,
the faculty and the graduates gave them a standing ovation and a round of applause.

Celeste and her fellow elementary graduates were singing the last
strain of their graduation song, with the lyrics –

“Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,

Thanks for heav’nly peace with Thee!

Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,

 Thanks through all eternity!”

Celeste could not utter the lyrics. Her heart burst of joy. Her mother and her
father who’s not a big bad wolf after all were smiling at her.

Narrator : During the pictorials –

Celeste : Classmates, I did not come from bamboo which split open!
(Laughs) My father is Anton Madrigal! He’s not a big bad wolf!

Anton Madrigal : Soon the world will call you Celeste Marie J. Madrigal, the bright
daughter of Mr. Anton Montinola Madrigal and Mrs. Celestina Jaranilla Madrigal.

Narrator : Celeste flew towards her father and embraced him so tightly.
Celeste could feel her father’s heartbeat. It has a wondrous rhythm of love!
 Climb Every Mountain

Celeste : (Singing) Climb every mountain / Search high and low/ Follow
every byway/ Every path you know...

Aunt Matilda : Celeste, all the gods are still asleep! Too early for the roosters to
crow! The vampires are still roaming around! Can you please stop singing and give me
the peace of silence?

Narrator : It seemed Celeste heard nothing from her Aunt Matilda. She
continued singing –

Celeste : (Singing) Climb every mountain / Ford every stream/ Follow every
rainbow / Till you’ve found your dream...

Aunt Matilda : Stop it! Are you deaf? It’s always “Climb every mountain”! “Climb
every mountain”! “Climb every mountain”! My eardrums are already revolting hearing
that song again and again! Are you dreaming to climb a mountain? ( Laughs) Ambitious!
You can’t even climb the mound of the termites! How can you when you are a limp!

Celeste : Aunt Matilda, that’s why I am studying real hard so that I can
climb the highest mountain and find my dream.

Aunt Matilda : There we go again, studying real hard. Like what your mother
Melinda said.

Grandmother : Matilda, I’ve observed that you are sounding irrational lately. And
why include Melinda in your very early morning sermon? Let her rest in peace!

Aunt Matilda : Yes, I have become irrational because I hate thinking that
because of Melinda I finished only high school. You always told me – “Matilda, just wait
until Melinda finished college, has become a teacher, and she will help you in college.”
What happened? Answer me, Mother, so that this limp Celeste will know!

Grandmother : Please, please, Matilda, don’t recall the painful past?

Aunt Matilda : Painful past? So, you don’t want to remember that day when
Melinda came home? And you, Celeste, listen! Your mother came home without a
degree but with a bloated belly! She brought home NO diploma but you inside her! Was
it not injustice on my part? Just in the waiting list – because Melinda was a bright girl.
That’s why I hate you Celeste! You and your mother destroyed my future. Because of
you and your mother, here I am cooking and selling palitaw and becho-becho to earn a
few pesos!
Grandmother : Matilda, why include Celeste? Spare the child!

Aunt Matilda : Spare her? Okay, okay. But, you, Celeste, listen to me. Get out of
my sight and stop singing that irritating song because you can never climb a mountain,
you will never find your dream. You will find monsters in your nightmare!

Narrator : It was almost midnight. Everything was still except the sounds of
crickets and croaking of frogs. Then a shout was heard –

Man’s Voice : Matilda, Matilda your kitchen is on fire!

Celeste : (Coughs due to smoke. In fear and panic) Lola Soleng, Lola
Soleng, wake up, wake up, the kitchen is burning! We have to get out of the house!

Narrator : There were so many people outside. Men threw pails of water.
But the fire got bigger and bigger. The firetruck arrived.

Celeste : Lola Soleng, Aunt Matilda is not here. She might be trapped
inside.

Grandmother : Hah?! My God! Oh, Matilda! (To the fireman) Mr. Fireman, my
daughter Matilda is still inside. Please rescue her! (Looks around) Celeste, where are
you? Celeste! Celeste!

-oOo-

Celeste : (Coughs) Aunt Matilda, Aunt Matilda, where are you? (Sees the
aunt lying unconscious) Oh, thanks God! There’s Aunt Matilda. She’s unconscious. I
have to drag her outside before the fire engulfed the two of us. Oopp, oopp, too heavy.
My Lord and Savior, please give me strength to drag Aunt Matilda outside. My Lord,
please help us.

Narrator : Celeste could no longer see anything because of the thick smoke.
It was very hot! She seemed to have lost strength.

Celeste : (Catching her breath) My Lord, my Lord, I leave everything to

you. Please bring me your angels. Oopp... oopp... (Pulling her aunt)

Narrator : Then Celeste felt arms carrying her.

Celeste : My Aunt Matilda, my Aunt Matilda, she’s unconscious. She might

get burned.

Man’s Voice : I have her. I’m carrying her.

Narrator : The firemen rescued Celeste and her Aunt Matilda. They were the
angels Celeste asked God for. Both were brought to the hospital for treatment of a few
first degree burns.

Aunt Matilda : Celeste, my niece, thank you for saving my life. I’m very sorry for
not treating you well.

Celeste : Aunt Matilda, I have to save you because you are my mother’s
sister. And Aunt Matilda, can I sing again?

Aunt Matilda : Yes, yes, please sing.

Celeste : (Sings the last strains of the song “Climb Every Mountain” ) A
dream that will need / All the love you can give / Every day of your life / For as long as
you live...

Grandmother : Matilda, Celeste, this is my happiest moment.

Celeste : That happened a year ago. My Aunt Matilda has now a stall
selling kakanin at the City Mall. And I’m inviting you to watch Maalaala Mo Kaya next
Saturday, about the story of a limping girl whose heroism was recognized by the city
government of Kabankalan.
 Goodbye, Candy

Parrot : Good morning, good morning.

Lourdes : Good morning, too, Candy. Here, I have a sweet banana for you.
You’re so beautiful, Candy, and how you make my days always bright!

Aunt : Lourdes, Lourdes...

Lourdes : Oh, Aunt Matilda is looking for me. Candy, just eat your banana.
I’ll be back soon with fresh water. Okay?

Parrot : Okay! Okay! Okay!

Aunt : There you are again so early in the morning. Get the stick broom
and sweep the yard. Gather the dried leaves under the Mango tree. Burn them. The
smoke will help hasten the tree to bear fruits.

Parrot : Good morning! Good morning!

Aunt : Shut up! This morning is not good! All my mornings have become
bad since Lourdes and you came to this house!

Grandmother : Matilda, what is that you’re angry about in this early hour of the
morning?

Aunt : Oh, Mother, it’s already 7 o’clock. And that girl has not done her
very simple morning chore of sweeping the yard of dried leaves.

Grandmother : Sweep the yard? Lourdes might get late for school.

Aunt : (Murmurs and scratches her head) Oh, my old mother has
forgotten that it’s Saturday. (Sighs)

Lourdes : I’ll leave you now, Candy. I still have to work to do. See you!

Parrot : See you! See you!

Aunt : (Points at Candy) This Parrot seems like a prima donna. And
English speaking. Hey, Parrot, you’re not Lea Salonga! So, stop speaking English! Tse!

Parrot : Tse!

Aunt : (Sounds very irritated) Tse! Tse! Tse!

Parrot : Tse! Tse! Tse!

Grandmother : Matilda, never deal with a parrot!

Aunt : (Growls in much irritation) Grrrrrrr!!!!!

Narrator : Lourdes gathered the leaves not under the Mango tree but under
the Bangkal tree at the back of the house.

Aunt : Lourdes, you’re indeed hard-headed. Why did you burn the dried
leaves under the Bangkal tree. Would you like to eat the Bangkal fruits?

Lourdes : Aunt Matilda, the Mango tree is near the window where Candy’s
cage is. Candy will die of smoke.

Aunt : Oh, so you prefer that useless parrot than the Mango fruits which
we can sell! Wait, I’ll chop off the neck of that parrot!

Lourdes : No, please no, Aunt Matilda. Candy is my only friend, my only joy
since Papa and Mama died from the car accident. Please have pity on Candy. Please
have pity on me.

Aunt : Candy? Hey, Lourdes, you’re over-acting! Candy, the Parrot? You
better change its name to “Fried.” Starting this moment call your parrot “Fried” because
by seven o’clock tomorrow morning I’ll dip it in boiling water, dress it, and fry it in
cooking oil!

Lourdes : Fry Candy in cooking oil? No, please, no, don’t kill Candy!

Aunt : I am the owner of this house. Nobody can stop me from doing
what I want! Tomorrow morning let’s have fried parrot for breakfast. And you, English-
speaking parrot, see you inside my stomach!

Narrator : At five o’clock the following morning, Lourdes woke up. With tears
welling down her cheeks, she talked to Candy.

Lourdes : Dear Candy, I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want you killed and
friend. (Sobs) I have opened your cage. Fly now, Candy, fly before it’s seven o’clock.

Narrator : Candy flew. Lourdes’ heart sunk. She was drowned in deep grief.
When she could no longer see even the smallest glimpse of Candy, she went back to
bed. By seven o’clock, Lourdes heard her Aunt Matilda laughing.

Aunt : (Laughs) Good! Good! The parrot flew away. That foolish Lourdes
will cry. No more parents. No more parrot.
Narrator : But was Lourdes really sad? That very moment by the window of
the bedroom of Lourdes, Candy was dear perched on her dear friend’s shoulder. It just
woke up Lourdes by saying, “Good morning, good morning” near her ears.

Every morning thereafter Candy visited Lourdes inside her

bedroom. And Lourdes made it sure, there’s always a sweet banana for her friend and
joy Candy!
 The Sampaguita Necklace

Lorena : Sir, Sir, please buy my Sampaguita necklace. Your wife

will love it.

Man : I don’t have a wife. She’s dead!

Lorena : Oh, I’m sorry, sir. (Turns to another passerby) Ma’am,

Ma’am, Sampaguita for you to make you more fragrant and beautiful.

Woman : No, I don’ want to smell like the Nazareno in Quiapo. And I
have my Paco Rabanne.

Lorena : What’s that?

Woman : Never mind!

Lorena : Oh, my God, it’s another unlucky day. I have to sell these
five remaining