All Sto. Niño icons are fake

The news says that the P1.5 trillion national budget is laden with pork. By the barrels?

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P1.5 trillion. How much is that in terms of millions? I asked someone who’s good in math. She gave me a pocket calculator and said: “Use this to find out.”

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Our national government’s debt is, according to the papers, P5 trillion. The next President will inherit this. Luckily for him or her this is free from inheritance tax.

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A senior citizen said to me the Sto. Niño icon she bought was peke or fake. All Sto. Niño statues are fake. There’s only one genuine Sto. Niño icon — the one on the altar of the basilica.

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During the celebration of Pista Senyor, friends greet friends with “Pit Senyor!” Just like “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year.” Before the war and before the emergence of the Sinulog festival, “Pit Senyor” was not used as a greeting by friends to friends. It was only addressed to the Sto. Niño.

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Today, you hear friends greeting friends with “Pit Senyor” during the Sinulog season. Who started it? I like to believe that it was the group of journalist Maning Satorre Jr. and Sinulog prime-mover Dodong Aquino who made the “Pit Senyor” greeting popular. Maning was the first person to greet me “Pit Senyor” as we bumped into each other somewhere in Colon. Truth to tell, I felt awkward as I returned his greeting.

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Cebuano Randy Alegre of Baltimore, U.S.A. e-mailed me again, this time about a bigger venue for the Sinulog: “Since the sports center grandstand has become too small for the mounting size of Sinulog spectators, why not build a giant stadium at Tommy O’s SRP? You know, a stadium like the football stadiums in the US. The bleachers are roofed while the playing area is open. Football stadiums in the US can accommodate even 100,000 people.”

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