NOT SO MANY years ago, I witnessed a man in heated argument with his wife’s brother. A minute or two, same man was going to rush square with the still-talking brother-in-law. But
THE FATHER-IN-LAW rushed in between and said to the man: Barok, Ipagapum la kanyakon.. [Transl: “Son, (don’t..) for my sake..”]. And
THE MAN SUDDENLY stopped – then left the scene. Meanwhile, the brother-in-law was still talking and.. challenging(?).
[PLEASE TAKE NOTE: the man was no Ilokano; he was of a different tribe; though, he and his wife – together with the children, used Iluko, at home]. At a later time, he confided:
“I WAS GRIPED.. and taken aback by my father-in-law’s Ipagapum.. My first reaction was to say to myself: Yes, why not?
AFTER SOME SECONDS, said grip let me loose and I thought some more: “It’s a good thing, I was stopped.. by the old man’s Ipagapum.. Most likely, it would have been different – or less fortunate, had he used: “Don’t~!” – even “Don’t, please..” i.e. to calm me down.”
[I WAS NODDING.. and sort of agreeing, over his statements. When we parted, I still self-mused.. at intervals: ‘how really powerful that EXPR Ipagapum.. works.. do we have an ‘almost-equivalent’ EXPR – in our Cordi languages.. or even in Tagalog, or the National language.. para (or dahil) sa akin.. maybe? but that only translates: “for me..” No, it doesn’t capture, I supposed].
FOR REFLECTIONS AND Learning, let’s try its application in these Times of the Pandemic and the near-onset of the Election ‘Fever’ – Filing time is by October 1st, of this year, remember?
WHAT WE’RE TRYING to look closely into is the stark fact: that for some time now, we have been going through a series of crises – force majeurs, upheavals, etc., and the most trying and dangerous of which is ‘the Pandemic’ – so-called.
AND WE HAVE been witnesses to the ‘heroisms’, daring, and beyond-duty feats of quite many a man – who come and go by the varied references, for examples of: “frontliners”, “volunteers”, “heroes”, and so on. Now,
SINCE WE REALLY need that ‘breed’, ‘kind’, or ‘type’ of them, in these unremitting, trying Times, for the sake of all of us – most especially the ordinary, ungifted, unable, etc., citizens of our country, why don’t we encourage – and later support (and elect!) many or some more of them – this time.. onwards, to Election Day itself?
VERSIONED TO THE rather now-begun Election ‘Fever’, we may refer to them as PLEWSVA or ‘Potential Leaders’ endowed with the spirit of volunteerism atbp? For the sake of the less fortunate, less able, etc., in our midsts these critical times? Ipagapu tayo ti para amin tayo (Transl. “[Let’s do it] for all of us, ourselves”). What do you say? And
TO OUR WOULD-BE aspirants and contenders: [no ngai] ipagapu tayo – for the sake of us all, or mostly – let’s hand over the Filing to the PLEWSVA?
WE’RE ALL AWARE, that after some real, serious self-analysis and evaluation, one can say he/she has PLEWSVA attributes, and then he might file. And
IN CASE, THE attributes fall short, Ipagapuna laeng koman? His joining-of-the Contest shall always come – in better times, God-willing, di po ba? Ayuhh, yahh!
