Dark roads
I love Cebu. Period. It has been my hometown and I was born here. However, unlike most the people here, I grew up in the city where the lights are bright. I woke up not to chirping birds and the fresh breeze but to the television set blaring about the news of the day. I am not accustomed to eating with my hands (although I could) but I was trained to use the spoon and fork for meals. I could not climb a tree, but I wish I could.
This is what makes a city girl and a probinsyana different -- the practices and the way of living are all very different. In the city, we are accustomed to using our cellphones and the Internet for communication. However, in the province, they seldom use such technology for the absence of it and the proximity of their area allow them to just mingle with one another.
Last Sunday, I was on my way to Dalaguete for a coverage and I could not help but look around. Yes, I was fascinated by province life but there was one thing that caught my attention: the lack of street lights along the national highway in the town of Sibonga.
I squinted my eyes a couple of times to cross-check. Maybe I was just dizzy from the trip or that the vehicle I was riding had too much tint on but no, there were really no lights on the streets. The only light I saw was of the vehicles that hurriedly passed by the road. Thank God, I was not able to witness any accidents.
As a city girl, I have no idea if this is a norm in this place or that the people here have been accustomed to having no street lights all their life. But regardless of whether or not this is a social practice, safety should always come first.
The lights that brighten up the street allow drivers to see who they are meeting from the other end. On another note, it adds to the view that the passersby are seeing such as the trees and the southern sea shore line. How can we appreciate all of these if there are no lights?
These dark roads can cause untoward incidents that we don't want to happen. More so, we don't want to point a finger at anyone for this very simple solution to a big problem. A national highway deserves lights. Even the smallest street in the metro is lighted up. There is no reason why a national highway could not be done so as well.
Things like this may be very meager but hold a big impact. According to the Buddhists, the light leads them to the path of the right direction. Without it, they will be terribly lost. That's why they give importance to the moon light through a festival.
But what about us? Have we reflected that as Christians, what are the things important to us? Our own possession? Or those that affect the greater good? This note is worth pondering especially now that our nation needs people who are actually concerned for the country and are willing to take action in any way.
On my way back, I bought home with me my heart full of love even more for Cebu as I got to explore another town that was not my own. If only that ownership could be deepened. If only we could learn to be concerned of the little things that affect the whole. If only we can learn to love Cebu more than our country one small step at a time.
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