March 29, 2024

Dear Manang,
I borrowed some capital in January to prepare for Panagbenga and the Holy Week season. I was sure that the tourists for the two seasons would allow me to pay back the loan with a reasonable interest and give me travel money for my family this December. With the quarantine and the suspension of Panagbenga and no more Holy Week, I don’t know where to earn money to pay back the loan. The stocks of soda and novelty items are still in my garage. The cooperative I loaned the money from has suspended my payments until October but I don’t know how I will turn the stocks into cash.
Jenet of Sta. Escholastica, Baguio City

Dear Jenet,
I admire you because you are enterprising. It will be a long haul until this Covid-19 quarantine will end. You must brace for a longer economic crisis. Perhaps, you can consign some of your soda with small stores so you can dispose of them slowly. Online sales are brisk, why not try to repackage the novelty items and recreate a need for them. You have until October so that’s some months away. There are ways to recover.
You can do it,
Manang

Dear Manang,
My girlfriend has become annoying. I seem to have lost my affections because I have seen how arrogant and bad mouthed she is when she gets jealous over nothing. She cracked my cellphone when she threw it on the floor when she reads a message from a cousin mistaking her as a girlfriend. This is what they refer to as loss of respect. She nags for weeks about it and I don’t want to apologize because I haven’t done anything wrong. I want her to leave my house but, in this quarantine, there are no interprovincial transportation yet. I am suffering.
Gerry of Gladiola St., Baguio City

Dear Gerry,
I can commiserate with you. The best thing that could happen to you is for the quarantine to end. I still think that you should take the opportunity to settle or talk about the situation calmly. I know how jealousy is the cause of many crimes of passion and is irrational. Maybe you can catch a moment of gentleness to resolve this. It seems like you haven’t found her most vulnerable or weakest moments. Maybe ice cream or cake can make her happy and you can explain how you feel about her jealous tantrums. God is giving you the time to settle things. If you do part let it be amicable.
Talk it over,
Manang