Ilonggos not giving up on Christmas
When the coronavirus began its march from East to West this year, people were all thrown into a wilderness of unknowns.
The unthinkable — closed schools, empty office buildings, canceled sports events, loved ones locked in homes — became the new normal.
The virus changed how people interacted and how they thought about interaction. People isolated to stay healthy and then worried about what isolation was doing to their health. Everyone struggled to adjust.
As 2020 inches to its end, there is only one thing everyone is looking forward to – Christmas Day. But even this would still be a big compromise.
Panay News gathered stories of people who kept their hopes alive this Christmas amid the pandemic.
In Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz district, Iloilo City, one of the virus-hit villages, residents were shut off from the outside world for months in an effort to protect them.
One resident, Evelyn Barbecho, often woke up at night crying.
A recurring thought was making the unemployed mother desperate: That her kids could go hungry.
There was also fear of contracting the virus, which has disproportionately hit low-income families like hers.
Evelyn’s husband, Eddon, works as pedicab driver. He has been pedaling his trisikad for more than half of his life just to support their family.
For the past 40 years, this has been Eddon’s main source of income and they were able to send their seven children to school.
“Kung maayo ang biyahe kis-a asta P500 or P400 pero subong P100 na lang. Ginabakal na lamang namon bugas kag sud-an. Kon aga nagapangayo ang kabataan sang gatas kag tinapay. Amo na ang ginapakaon kag ginapa-inum namon kada aga. Kis-a kon wala ti wala man sila naga-inum sang gatas kag nagakaon sang tinapay,” said Evelyn.
Every Christmas eve, Evelyn and Eddon usually prepare a Noche Buena feast and take their kids to a holiday lights display at the plaza.
That’s not happening this year.
“Subong nga Christmas bisan gamay lang ang amon handa basta kumpleto kag sadya lang kami diri sa amon balay,” said Evelyn.
Her family, she said, still feel fortunate that none of them got infected with the viral illness.
And as for her Christmas wish, Evelyn said, “Isa lang akon ginapangamuyo nga hatagan ako kag ang akon pamilya sang maayo nga lawas.”
Evelyn is not alone in struggling to put food on the table in this historically tumultuous year.
For the past 14 years, Aldrin Lindong, 45, of Pototan, Iloilo looked forward to the holiday season with hope for extra income from selling Christmas lanterns.
This year, that hope looks dim.
In his town where holiday lights are the main attraction during December, authorities decided to scrap the usual spectacular lights presentation to avoid massive gatherings that increase the risk of virus transmission.
Lindong, like before, has already loaned a small capital and bought materials for his parols, which he sell in his shop for P2,800 to P20,000 as early as September.
Now, he is lamenting the slow crawl of sales.
“Apektado gid kami katama. Ang kita namun tama ka gamay tungod sang pandemic. Kis-a indi kami mabaklan sa isa ka adlaw. Sa isa ka semana, mabaklan man ka tatlo lang ka beses. Last year, makabaligya kami sa isa ka adlaw five to 10 ka items,” Lindong said.
He understands the direness of the situation but cannot help lamenting the loss of what he could have earned from the special occasion.
This Christmas, Lindong said “Bisan gamay lang ma-celebrate man kita, maski gamay lang at least mabatyagan man naton ang paskwa.”
The pandemic may have changed the way people celebrate this special occasion, the parol maker hopes each lantern he made would symbolize hope amid these challenging times.
And his wish for Christmas?
“Dapat may vaccine na ta para mabalik na ta sa normal,” said Lindong./PN
