WINDOWS
By Gabriel L. Cardinoza

WHILE walking along the tiled pavement fronting the CSI Square one midday, I saw a blind man on his knees facing the smooth walls of one corner of the elevated decorative flower boxes just a few meters away from the fountain and the pedestrian lane at the corner of Galvan St..

From a distance, one can immediately make out what the man was doing: he wasn’t praying; he was peeing! As a young woman ahead of me walked past him, she pulled out a handkerchief and covered her nose. No, it wasn’t because of the stench of the uncovered manhole near that area; it was because, I realized later on reaching the spot, a good stretch of that beautiful sidewalk reeked of urine.

Why the walls of the flower boxes became virtual urinals puzzles me. First, the place is not isolated; it is in fact one of the busiest sections of the downtown area day and night. Second, it’s just a stone’s throw away from the city hall and anyone who urinates in that area cannot escape the eyes of law enforcers and city hall personnel in the vicinity. Third, the area is lighted and night guards at the city hall and at the CSI Square should easily spot anybody urinating in the place.

But problem is, even if authorities see these people, they choose to turn their heads the other way and just allow them to do their thing. We won’t send them to jail anyway; much less, fine them, they’d say.

This attitude, without their knowing it, precisely pushes people to continue this unhygienic practice. At the back of their minds, they know that it is prohibited to urinate in such a public place but they also know that no one will mind them, not even law enforcers.

Could this be the reason Metro Manila Development Authority chief Bayani Fernando built the controversial pink urinals along major streets in Metro Manila? I am not suggesting that we do the same in Dagupan City because we don’t have spacious sidewalks. What I’m suggesting here is for the authorities to deal with problem decisively.

No, calling the firemen to spray the area with a truckful of water will not help.

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This week, my hometown Villasis made it to the pages of national broadsheets and to primetime television shows for its staging of the Talong Festival as part of this year’s town fiesta. This may have been the single most publicized event in the town since time immemorial. Thanks to Eva, Yolly, Cesar and Ray and other media practitioners for seeing the human interest angle of the event.

It was actually Eva who first broke the story – about two weeks into the event. And it was this Philippine Star advancer that caught the attention of prime time television shows researchers (who scan newspaper pages nonstop for human interest articles) that in turn prompted producers to send their crews to the town.

From what I’ve been hearing from my townmates, more than the celebration, it was a day of pride for everybody because of the newly-attained national and international prominence of the town. This may be the same feeling that Mayor Benjie Lim and most Dagupenos had when the city made it to the Guinness World Records for creating the world’s longest barbecue.

I will not be surprised if next year, when Villasis finally bids for the world’s longest barbecue record, many Villasinians who have found new homes in countries all over the world, will come home to take part in the event.

Finally, it is also worth mentioning here that other journalists who call the town home like me and who are equally proud of the town’s feat are Ding Micua, bureau chief of the Philippines News Agency in Dagupan City; Inquirer Pangasinan correspondent Ray Zambrano and PDI chief photographer Ernie Sarmiento.