Street unwise

Streets hold a high level of significance in our lives, literally and figuratively.

Literally, they are the paths we tread upon everyday to get to our daily destinations—work, school, calling, responsibilities, home. We need them to realize our directions; to go to places we like or to escape from whatever we want to get rid of.

Figuratively, they are the symbols of social aspirations. It is in the streets where we fight for our rights; where we voice our collective opinions; where we listen to each other; where we evaluate aspiring leaders and representatives.

Thus, streets are not just receptacles of dirt, stones, asphalt, cement—and sometimes, garbage—they are the skeletal system of the society. Nation building is conceived, born and developed through the generosity of the streets.

Streets, therefore, deserve a level of respect from us—not necessarily in the boundaries of reverence, but at least in the spirit of gratefulness. True, it is hard to think of ways of showing gratefulness to streets the fact that being trampled upon is a part of their essence.

But, maybe, we can start showing our respect to streets by treating their street names properly. We must write them correctly. We must post them properly. And we must not use street posts for our own personal interests. Remember: Most street names are names of people who sacrificed a lot for our country—therefore, using them for our selfish interests is simply unethical.

For example, in some posts intended for street names, the name of a barangay official is boldly written. In some instances, the official’s name is even written in letters much larger than the street name itself. This is a display of abysmal poor taste—a high degree “epal”.

Also, many street names are disastrously misspelled. In one street in Laoag City, the street name is spelled as GUMBORZA, instead of GOMBURZA. Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were martyred for the sake of our independence, yet we can’t even spell their names correctly.

Can’t our local officials do something to correct matters like these? Or do they understand their deeper implications despite their seemingly shallow appearance? For sure, many officials will again blur the issue with the premises of jurisdiction, job description, administration priority and triviality.

Well, let’s just hope that some government officials and agencies will spare even just a small portion of their precious time to check this problem. It may not be as big and controversial as the BBL debate or the Napoles wealth or the Spratly heat or the tuition fee hike worries.

But then, it still deserves attention and rectification. True concern is not exclusively for hot issues. It is also open to small matters which hold the potential to encroach into larger predicaments of the society.

Let’s not forget that even the most ravenous cancer started as a seemingly insignificant infection.

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BARD NOTES: Happy bard-reading to Mayor Chevylle Farinas, Vice Mayor Michael V. Farinas, Provincial Treasurer Josephine Calajate, INWD General Manager John Teodoro, Dr. Miramar Bumanglag and PNB Laoag Branch Manager Metty V. Guerrero.