March 29, 2024

LITERALLY, THIS NABALOI Opening Phrase may translate in English as: “at the lowest ebb is already the feeling yet..”
THIS IS USUALLY said by a person who is about to quit, almost giving up, in the brim of hopelessness, etc., yet.. someway
HE SPOTS A quick solution, a saving possibility, a thin but clear ray of hope – or sunshine, to help him get through the night or darkness – he is now presently in.
FOR CLARITY AND easier self-reflection, let’s cite you four (4) specific instance-examples using the same Opening Phrase n.l. Naikeweng mala y dekna eh.. So, here we go:
FIRST EXAMPLE: NAIKEWENG mala y dekna eh.. Egsha ladta pag an ano. (Transl: “OP (Opening Phrase), yet you/nobody/etc. cares”).
AN ILLUSTRATIVE SITUATION is when one is on a lonely highway – lost or separated from his co-crew of landslide-stranded passengers – who decidedly took different directions.. since earlier 2 p.m.
IT’S NOW ABOUT 6 p.m. and it is beginning to drizzle.. and he can’t see any waiting shed in the near, or far, distance. Wirray! Anybody there?
SECOND EXAMPLE. NAIKEWENG.. etc., Egmo noman kahyaten (Transl: “OP.. you don’t come to his/her rescue”)!
A SPECIFIC SITUATION example is when Lady Employee Desiree is abducted and held for Ransom by a local bandit group.
THE GROUP GOT wind that Ma’am Desiree’s family can’t afford the ransom amount of 55 million they’re asking. So,
THEY SHIFTED TARGET on whom to ask: the Chief Executive’s wife and co-owner of the company where Desiree is working. She is also an aunt of Desiree.. her mother’s sister or (MS). Woe!
THIRD EXAMPLE. OPENING Phrase (OP).. Ayshi kowan mo eh epasensia an mo (Transl: “you don’t even give him a reprieve”):
MACK EDSEL IS an almost-confirmed bachelor. He is handsome, but he is not rich, and has no permanent job. But
HE HAS AN uncle – Mr. Wadan Gameng, who’s very fond of him and who – twice or so, promised to spend for Mack’s wedding, especially the to-be-butchered ritual animals.
BUT SAID WEDDING plans did not materialize and people are saying it is Mack who should be faulted for the Impasse. One day, something ‘different’ was up:
MACK IS INSIDE his uncle Wadan’s living room. They’ve been chatting there for almost two hours now. When the two stood up to say ‘goodbyes’, Wadan’s voice was clear enough to be heard:
“I’M SORRY, AND I repeat: I can’t help you on that. Go find someone who can.. while you still got the time!”
THE WIFE WHO just arrived and who heard part of what were said, remarked:
“WHY, OP.. YOU didn’t give him any reprieve. How much was he asking, anyway? And for what?” The uncle replied:
‘SIXTY THOUSAND PESOS.. to pay some debts he ran into, while playing Casino and sometimes partying, so abruptly. He can’t seem to realize! What a pity. Sayang! I can’t help him this time!
OUR FOURTH EXAMPLE Naikeweng.. (OP) Egmo noman esalbar? (Transl: “you’re not, CONC, saving her”)?
WHEN STILL A student, Cherry M.T. (true initials) used a fake (someone else’s) Identification Card to enter the University premises.. and nobody knew that for sometime.
ONE DAY, A guard discovered her deed and she was brought to the Dean of Women’s office. Apart from the hard words she received, she was told that her case was ‘a serious offence and may result to Expulsion’. Meanwhile, she was given a preliminary 15-day Suspension.
IN THAT DURATION, she frequented the Dean’s Office to show her repentance and to beg for ‘a second chance’. At one point, she was asked if she knew ‘anybody from the University who could stand by her and her promised ‘re-formation’.
AN UNCLE OF hers – Dr. Julius Salerns (true Nom de plume) learned of Cherry’s problem from a relative.. but said: “Let her come herself.. to explain to me how those things reported, happened.”
A DAY OR two after this, one of Dr. Salern’s daughters said to him: “Papa, you need to ‘rescue’ cousin Cherry; she tried other avenues of help already, you are her only hope it seems.. she fears.. Naikeweng.. etc., isalbar mo noman, teh? (Transl: OP.. “Do save her CONC, please?”
AMIDST REPRIMANDS, AGREEMENTS, and expressions of hope, Cherry M.T. got ‘off the hook’ of Expulsion.
TO SHOW HER deep appreciation for her uncle-and-daughter’s assistance in the resolution of her case, she transferred and finished her HRM course in another University. This, she confessed on the Congratulations! Day. She was quick to add:
“I WAS INSPIRED how my cousin begged her father – my uncle Julius, saying: Naikeweng mala.. Truly, my feeling of hope that time was at its lowest ebb! What an instance I can’t ever forget!” Ayuhh!