Ladies and Gentlemen today we have a debate...

     “Gabby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

     Ito nanaman tayo.

     “Anong ginawa mo sa phone?! Ba’t ayaw nang gumana?!”

     “Ha?”

     Tinitigan ko yung wireless namin. Ayoko munang sumagot.

     “Hindi ko sanabing tingnan mo! Tinatanong kita!”

     “Ha? Ahhhh, nabagsak ko kasi kagabi eh.”

     Gano’n. Yung lang yon. Siyempre kailangan muna niyang sumabog bago niya makalimutan yung nagawa ko, at dahil siya yung tatay, kailangan makinig ako.

     “Ano ka ba!” bulyaw niya “Wala ka nang nagawang matino!”

     “Sorry po”

     Kung pinagagalitan ka, kailangan magmukha kang kawawa, gusto nila yon.  Dapat yung tipong natatakot ka, tumingin ka sa kanya pero huwag mo siyang mamatahin.  Dapat cool, calm, but remorseful.  Pero pagkatapos ng mga sampung minuto, dapat looking-bored ka na, dahil malamang siya rin, napapaos na.

     It’s imperative na magmistulang bored ka, kasi tatay yan eh.  Kung akala niyang makikinig ka, hanggang bukas nakatayo pa rin kayo.

     “Ano bang gagawin ko sa `yo!”
 

     Wala pang ten minutes.

     “Lahat na lang bagay dito sa bahay, sinisira mo!”

     Aba!   “Hindi naman eh!”

     Kung totoo, mangangatwiran ka, kasi totoo yon eh, hindi ka lang sasagot.

     “Anong hindi!  Yung remote, yung radyo, pati yung pinto!”

     Mali, nasira.

     Ewan ko ba kung bakit hindi nila makuha yung pag-kakaiba.  Nasira ko, hindi ko sinira.  Ayaw kong mangyari, yung isa sadya. Tagalog, di ba? Akala kasi nila, umiikot ako ng bahay at naghahanap ng mababali.

     “Do’n ka na lang sa kuwarto mo!  Dali!”

     Ten minutes.

     We are presented with the motion “That the Catholic Church should accept woment priests...”
 

     “Pinagalitan ka raw?”

     Galing.

     “Medyo, nasira ko kasi yung wireless, eh”

     Umikot ako sa upuan, mahabang diskusyon to.  Hindi kasi kami madalas magkita ni Justin eh.

     “Ah, okey.  Napanood mo ba yung nasa Spanish channel kagabi?”

     “Alin do’n?”

    “Yung movie ng eight o’clock?  Yung tungkol sa gera?”

     “Ah, yon.  Oo naman.  May pagka-weird nga eh, hindi ko akalain na ganoon pala kasama.”

     “Dubbed yon, pinalabas na yan dati sa French channel.  Pero weird nung mga tao, brutal, grabe.  Pero ang cute nung officer na nang-rape du’n sa babae!”

     Yun ang weird.  “Okay ka lang, ang haba nga ng baba eh, palito pa!”

     “Hindi yon, yung pangalawa, yung blonde hair.”

     “May isa pa???”

     “Akala ko ba napanood mo, ba’t hindi mo alam”

     “Ha? Kasi, pinatakpan ng mommy ko yung mga mata ko du’n sa mga sex scenes eh.”

     “Pinatatakpan pa rin mommy mo yung mga mata mo kapag may sex scenes?!”

     “Yung auntie ko nga, kissing scene eh”

     Sa totoo lang, sa tingin ko nakalimutan na nila kung ilang taon na ako.  Last year pa akong puwedeng pumasok sa mga rated-R na movies (pero hindi ako pumapasok, legal age na ako eh), tapos ilang beses na rin akong nakanood ng porn.

     Kung sila natatakot na gawin ko yon, mas natatakot ako, dahil sa mga napapanood ko...parang gusto ko na lang mag-madre.

     “Bakit mo nga ba pinanood yung mga VHS na yon?”  tanong no Justin

     “Kasi sabi nila `wag ko raw panoorin.”

     First of all, I am not crazy.  Hindi ko naman laging ginagawa yung opposite ng sinasabi nila sa akin.

     Nung pinagbawalan kasi nila ako, 17 na ako,college na, at tatlong taon na nandoon yung mga tapes na yon, totally accessable.  Ang dami-dami nang oppurtunities na panoorin yun dati, pero hindi ko ginagawa, kasi good girl ako.  Nababasa ko rin naman yung titles, dati pa,  pero kung bakit ba naman nung medyo matanda na ako pinagsabihan.  Nakakainsulto na yon.

     Pero if you ask me, kung gusto mong magpakabait yung anak mo, dapat ipapanood mo ng hard porn, kung hindi ba naman nalula at nasuka.

     Providing, of course na babae.  Kung lalake, aba eh itali mo na lang.

     If the Catholic church wants to survive into the next millenium, then it should look upon this matter.  Already, social unrest has been spreading among it’s followers as the clamor for women allowed into priesthood....

     2.25

     Okay lang, hindi naman ako nag-aaral sa subject na to, isa lang nga yata yung ipinasao kung test eh.

     “Miss Ramos...”

     Prof ko.

     “Yes, miss?”

     “Are you surprised with your grade?”

     Yes ma’am...ba’t ako pumasa?!

     “No, miss.”

     Madalian dapat to.  Puppy face, tapos looking-bored agad.  Kung hindi mo ginawa to, baka hindi ka na maka-graduate.

     “You know, you could have done better.” Malungkot siya, puppy face rin.  “I have been observing you during class discussions, and you seem to have a lot of knowledge on the subject.”

     “Po?”

     Flattery only extends the time, umiyak ka na lang!

     The demand for priests simply does not match number of men coming out of the seminaries, and there is nothing in the bible that says that women are not allowed to become priests..

     “I’m always impressed with your inputs, your analysis of the topics are of Masteral level.  Nagtataka ako kung bakit yung mga tests mo ganoon kababa”

     Mababa? Bagsak!

     “You barely passed the prelim, but your final essay and your oral report were exemplary.  Is there something wrong?”

     Actually, meron.  The name of the subject is Theories of Personality, Psych 6, at hindi Memorization 200.

     “That’s also the case with Mrs. Anggara’s class”

     Memorization 200, lab.

     “You failed most of your tests, pero you seemed to have a deep analysis of the subject matter.”

     “Stress lang siguro, miss”

     Kasi akala ko Psych major ako, hindi BS Lobotomy.
 

     If, hundreds of years ago, the Chruch was able to accept that the world was round, and was able to come up with the Vatican II years ago, then it can afford yet another change...
 

     “Kumusta grades mo?”

     “Okay lang, pasa lahat.”

     “Pasa lang?”

     Si Jake.  Two years na kami, pero hindi ko pa rin alam kung bakit puro uno yung grades niyan.  Minsan naka-dos yan, minor subject, dalawang buwan kaming halos hindi nagkita.  Wala naman sa akin yon, i’m not demanding, pero Hum II?

     So, nag-aaral siya. Big deal. Pag tinatanong ko pa rin siya tungkol sa major niya (Med Tech.  MD yan eh, Magiging Doctor), minsan napapansin kong he has no idea on  what he’s saying.

     The retina has this, blah blah.  The blah muscle in the femur has blah blah blah...wala, ayokong maalala.  Laging may sagot, pero lagi ding gano’n.  Sayang, he’s so smart.

     “Sayang, Gabs, you’re really smart.  You always have this deep analysis on things”

     Sa’n ko ba narining yon?

     “Wala lang, disappointed lang ako sa mga subjects ko.  If I knew that most of the subjects were like these, then sana hindi na lang ako pumasok at nagbasa na lang ako.  Nagsayang lang ako ng pagod.”

     “Hey, cool ka lang, you know how important it is to study.”

     Yeah, right.

     “Balita ko napagalitan ka raw”

     Okay, winner.

     First time lang ba ‘to?  Wala bang nagsasawa?  Ako sawa na!

     “Sinira mo raw yung wireless.”

     Isa pa `to.

     “Nasira ko.  Nahulog ko sa kama.”

     Napatawa na lang siya.  Kung hindi lang ba `to telepono eh di sana sinipa ko na siya.

     “K.  Last week naman, na-jam mo yung pinto.”

     Suntok, batok, atbp.

     “Tapos na ba?”  nakakainis na eh. “I can’t talk long, I have to clean my room”

     “Hey! Ikaw naman oh, joke lang yon.”

     Just because Jesus Christ was a man, then it doesn’t mean that the rest of His successors were supposed to be men.  What’s important is that the people who were going to follow His path were capabale of spreading God’s words...

     “No really, I have to clean my room.  I have to help in cooking, too”

     “Aba, what’s with this sudden domestic turn?”

     “Wala lang, sabi kasi nila, dapat matuto na raw akong mag-luto.  Nakakahiya raw, exclusive school pa naman daw ako nung high school, and I can’t cook.”

     Actually, marunong akong mag-luto, hindi nga lang lutong bahay.  Puro foreign cuisines nga lang ang alam ko, kasi tuwing nasa Filipino dishes kami nung high school, laging desert ang natatapat sa akin.  Bibingka.  Palitaw. Ginatan.  Marunong din akong mag-bake, pero masyado kasing maliit yung oven dito sa bahay, tsaka ang mamahal  pa ng ingredients.

     Kaya ngayon kailangan kong matuto.

     “Wow, bakit naisipan ng mommy mo yan?”

     “I dunno, we were watching TV, then she suddenly came up with that loony idea.  Launched into hysterics, hindi raw ako makakapag-asawa kapag hindi ako magaling magluto at maglinis.”

     Funny, no, na nasabi nila yon.  Hindi naman ako actually magulo, or tagilid ang taste buds, pero according to them, hindi nga ako magaling.  Kailangan magaling, kung hindi, hihiwalayan daw ako ng asawa ko.

     In truth, baka siya ang  hiwalayan ko, for thinking that way.

     Women are, in every way, more than capable of performing a priests duties.  Missionary nuns from distant parts of the world are already given the right to perform some sacraments, why not all?

     “Don’t worry, I’ll marry you.”

     Whoa.

     “I like you’re cooking.”

     “Just when have you tasted my cooking?”

     “Party dati kina Cynthia, nagluto ka ng lasagna. I’d marry you for that.”

     ----------------------------

     ----------------------------

     “O, ba’t nanahimik ka?”

     “Wala lang. Ikaw, grades mo, kamusta?”

     “Ha, ha!  Sudden change of topics, why, aren’t you comfortable with the fact that I want to marry you?”

     NO.

     Siguro ako lang `to, pero akala kasi ng mga yan porque binanggit na nila yung word na “marry” tsaka “you” sa isang hininga eh magtatatalon na kami sa tuwa.

     I want to marry you.

     Eh, pa’no if I don’t want to marry you?

     Women priests should also be allowed to perfom the sacrament of marriage...

     “Not really, I just don’t think about those things yet.  Maybe not until after Law School.”

     “Whoa.  Okay, okay, switch tops.  So, what’s with the grades?”

     “`kala ko ba we were on your grades?”

     “I hate to say this babe, but nothing wrong with my grades.”

     HA! Babe, there is always nothing wrong with your grades.

     “What’s with the addition of 3.00s?”

     “Dalawa lang!”

     “Yeah, pero the rest are 2.00s and 2.25s!  You can do better, I know that.”

     Tatandaan ko `tong usapan na to after law school.

     “I dunno, it’s just all these stuff I guess.”

     “Stuff?”

     Hindi niya kasi makuha.

     Ayoko ng puro saulo lang, ayoko ng puro basa o kaya dada.  Oral report na walang nakikinig, term paper na walang may gustong umintindi.

     Pumapasok ako para matuto, hindi para mag-aral.

     Tulad ngayon, yung mga uno kong classmates, mga MD rin, hindi pa rin lubos na kilala si Frued, o si Brunner.  O yung stages of development.

     Wala pa ring nagtatanong kung bakit.

     Bakit gano’n, kailangan ba na laging ganito ang nangyayari, may iba pa bang paraan?

     “-----And so my classmate decided that I should probably switch servers, because I have a 56k and my modem isn’t the problem--”

     “uh-huh, we’re still going to talk about your grades you know”

     “Oo na...in any case, have you seen the new I-mac?  Cute no?  Na-demo ko yon dati sa USTe, ang cool nga ng keyboard tsaka ng mouse.  The Wall Street Journal says that it’s climbing up the sales ladder, kaya malamang Dell and--”

     “Gabs” sabay buntong hininga “May patutunguhan ba `tong pinagsasabi mo?”

     Isip.  Isip ka muna.  Mas madali yon kaysa magsalita.  Sandali lang.

     “Malamang wala.” Sinabi ko

     Wala.

     Such arguments, Ladies and gentlemen...We from the negative side believe..........