In 1945, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) declared October 16 as “World Food Day.” Seventy-two years from such declaration, food remains elusive for millions of people worldwide, especially in countries that are colonies and neo-colonies like the Philippines.
A few days ago, I met a very young millennial named Maj who now works for the company of a friend as a marketing executive. She helps the young company grow with her genius ideas.
I saw on television an official of the PCOO distributing slippers and food packs to a poor community somewhere in the national capital region yesterday, and I thought, nothing has really changed. It’s the same old make-believe that we have seen the past administrations had done to show that they “care” for the poor.
I’d like to think that that love springs from, or lies somewhere in the tension between the emotive force of sentimentality and the energetic drive to push for something better. It lies somewhere between hair-raising risk and looking forward to a time when Filipinos no longer have to take any that are unnecessary and unforgiving.
October bears the suffix “-ber” as many of our folks would have it expressed as the Christmas season is fast approaching. In the Christian world, it is a time to enjoy the year-long hard-earned income for a time meant to be spent with family, friends and loved ones; and of course for many others, drinking buddies “beer-days.”