THE MOUNTAINEER

Vanity fair (2)
EDISON L. BADDAL

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Had our officials had an iota of patriotism, they could have worn less expensive or semi-formal outfits during President Arroyos State of the Nation Address even if it was a formal one.
As high government officials, they should have had enough prudence and modesty to show solidarity with the sufferings of the masses by not flaunting expensive dresses way beyond what an ordinary Filipino could afford.

This is obligatory of them, though they may be barracudas in truth, in deference to the sufferings of their constituents. Or if they are wise, they should have donated a portion of the gargantuan amounts that went into their designer wear to the poorest of the poor who could barely make ends meet especially in these overly difficult times.

Just imagine the thousands of mouths that could have been fed by such massive expenses incurred for their designer wears. By the same token, the oodles of money spent for such clothes which are only a very minute portion of their financial trove anyway, could have been used to buy several boxes of school supplies for deprived school children, several pairs of slippers for barefoot school children as well as more chairs, tables and lots of classrooms.

It is thus that their sartorial elegance, which was actually outright arrogance, was no less an expression of vanity during the SONA. The SONA thus unfolded as a vanity fair for the high government officials and their kith and kin.

Meanwhile, that partylist congresswoman whose formal get-up was designed by a cancer-afflicted single mother should be appropriately commended. By her benevolent act, she helped the desperate woman meet some of her urgent needs. It would have been worth appreciating had the rest of the legislators, their wives and friends have had their elegant dresses designed by poor, desperate haberdashers and tailors. Such magnanimous act could have certainly raised their stature and even this cynic could have turned a blind eye to their wanton display of wealth during the SONA.

Nothing is farther from the truth that the more effective crucible of a person’s true character are his actuations and declarations in times of crisis such as what we are having at present. The worst thing is that, such expensive get-ups by the wearers could be hanging in their respective closet right now to add to an earlier collection. Rich people have the propensity to wear a priced outfit once then keep it as a souvenir later. ***
While I chafed at the flaunting of wealth by national legislators, their wives and their kith and kin in their the get-ups, a big, bulky, bemoustached man in a G-string casually walked naked and barefooted on the red carpet. He walked casually like as if the red carpet was the same dusty and rough road that he used to walk on in his milksop.

He wore a long red headband around his head to symbolize his exalted stature among his tribemates. The air of confidence, secureness and ethnic pride in his gait revealed a soul engulfed by nobility. His get-up was an antithesis to the sartorial arrogance of the national legislators and their kin even as it was an avuncular reminder that their expensive suits are nothing more than pieces of overpriced textiles. He seemed to profess that such textiles are only veneers for the rotten souls of the wearers. It is likewise a reminder that his scanty wear is no different from the expensive outfits of the legislators as all of them were born naked and all will return naked to the maker when their respective times are up.
***
The guy is no other than Mayor Rosario Camma of Nagtipunan, Quirino Province, a leader of the Bugkalot tribe in Central Luzon. Walking like a conquering hero indifferent to the curious and awestruck stares from curious onlookers, my vexation was suddenly transformed into approbation and appreciation at the bold and confident act of the ethnic man. My ethnic identification with him notwithstanding, I also appreciated the unaldulterated pride and ingenuous humility he portrayed while he hobnobbed with the high and the mighty in the halls of congress. For me, he is a socio-political and cultural hero and icon. May indigenous men like him increase.