'Palm for Palm King'

Ngayon ay Palm Sunday na

O Linggo ng Palaspas,

Holy Week papasok na

Atin ‘tong pababasbas,

At sa panahong ito

Hindi po makaiwas

Bumalik sa lingkod n’yo

Ang isang nakalipas.

Nang minsan sa simbahan

Ay akin pong namalas

Isang may katandaan

Nag-i-Station Of The Cross,

Ngunit may mali yata

Punta n’ya ay paatras,

Istasyon n’yay pababa

Imbes pumaitaas.

Ako ay nag-alala

Gusto ko s’yang itumpak,

Kaya’t agad kay lola

Binulong ang taliwas,

Kanya lamang nasambit,

“Naku Amang salamat ...

Kaya pala si Kristo’y

Palakas nang palakas!”

* * *

When I was a young boy in Sampaloc in Manila, I used to make palaspas with the other boys for a certain Aling Chitang (korek, Starzan matagal na kilala Chitang!). I think we were paid 10 to 15 centavos for each finished and completely decorated palaspas. I remember weaving and working until early evening. And yes, I was one of the earliest victims of child labor abuse in the Philippines. Ngek!

In this case, I’m spearheading a campaign to protect the overworked young palaspas–makers called P.A.L.M. — Preventing the Abuse of Laboring Minors.

But kidding aside, I was one of the fastest palaspas- makers in our area that time, thanks to being gifted with very hard thumbnails. For those who are not familiar with assembling a palaspas, the thumb is a major tool to break open a slit on the blades of the palaspas for interweaving. Just ask your old folks about this. Putting the paper flowers as final embellishment was easy. Twisting the wires with your bare hands and fingers was quite tricky. Well, the strength of my thumbs also came from a lot of exercising, tossing and flipping “TEKS” — actually “text”, but we did not know that time. These were picture cards we young boys play and make ourselves or get from buying bubble gum. Again, ask your dads about this.

Oh yes, ako ang Hari ng Palaspas sa Calle Loreto sa Sampaloc sa Maynila noon. I was the Palm for Palm King! Ngek!

By the way, self-made “teks” or the playing cards of the poor boys or ‘yung mga walang pambili ng bubble gum, were made from cutting cigarette cartons to rectangular shapes about 2 to 2 by 3 inches, nearly the size of NBA cards, then pasting them on magazine or newspaper pictures. Ordinarily, the best pictures were taken from the comics section. Then the boys would select their pamato or the lead card. The old teks is now replaced by the real and correctly spelled “text”. Ang isang kaibahan lang — “teks” ay ini-STACK; ‘yung ngayon ay ini-SNATCH! Ngek!

* * *

(Kunwari tumatanggap ako ng Oscar or better yet, PALM D’OR like in Cannes, and this is part of my acceptance speech) — I would like to thank people like Aling Chitang for giving me a break to break some of the blades of their palaspas to show my artistic talents... Thank you na rin sa lahat ng mga naging employers ko, lalo na yung mga bossing na Nasa Itaas (ayun, pumasok din!) S’yanga pala, why don’t these awardees say, “ Salamat doon sa nasa kahit saan...” Hindi ba God is everywhere? Eniweyyy... And finally, thank you to myself for making the choice to work already at such a young age and learn the value of work and money which maybe, molded me to become what I am now — hardworking and still possessing those hard thumbnails. And may I say again — mas masarap matulog pag pagod. I thank you.

* * *

When we were visiting New York a few years ago, we were able to attend a Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament on West 71st. The palm leaves or their palaspas were just free for everyone. Kahit ilan ang kunin mo, pwede. These were just plain and undecorated blades of palm. Some churchgoers were very creative. While the Mass was going on, they were busy weaving these blades into different shapes and forms. The most common I saw were crosses. And as a former palaspas-maker myself, I definitely believe that it is an art. Well, it is called... Palmistry? Ngek!

* * *

Happy 85th birthday to my mom Emma. Na hanggang ngayon ang Pasyon ay binabasa. Iba ka!

I love you, Ma!