Urban Filipino, Modern Hero.

Take a look at this clip that I found on one of the Philippines' leading national newspaper websites: (If Mozilla blocks playback, try Internet Explorer)


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It shows you how two men, middle-aged, most probably unemployed. How did I come to that conclusion?

Throughout the interview, Mang Eddie (the guy in the Yankees cap) and Mang Nestor (green shirt) tells us how they go about spending their lazy afternoons in the urban jungle that is Pasig.

Now Pasig is an area where cars are abundant, mainly because it is a main route to Makati, the financial capital of Metro Manila. And yet, at the heart of this network of roads is a national symbol, the Pasig River. Indeed, heroes of the past have chronicled how they plodded through the once-crystal clear waters of the Pasig River. But now, all it has become is a body of polluted garbage-water.

So yes, Mang Eddie and Mang Nestor. They spend their days fishing in this river. They claim that hito (catfish) and dalag (mudfish), among other types of fish, are "abundant" in these waters. How so? they catch an estimate of 4 or 5 in half a day.

Half a day.

And they even have the guts to try selling it in the nearby market. Then at night, if the frustration of not being able to have a "bountiful" catch gets into them, they wash it all away by drinking beer, then jumping into the muddy waters.

Well, anyways, this was never intended to become an intellectual piece. It was actually to be a mind-breather for me. But what grabbed my attention the MOST is how rockin' cool this Mang Eddie is. Look, middle-age, unemployed (again, an inferred assumption), fishing under the overpass, with all the buses and cars roaring past.

And he wears a New Era, New York Yankees cap. Retail Price: $28. About Php 1,200. And I don't think it's fake, cos I've seen fake ones, and nobody in the Philippines would even bother to fake these.

So in fact, Mang Eddie either has relatives in the US, or has been himself, or whatever, but he dons this rather exquisite cap while fishing under the bridge! Now that's somebody who knows how to dress properly for the occasion!

And Mang Eddie even has the audacity to talk about the wet season affecting his catch! In the interview he speaks of how the rain washes the dirty water down the channel, and so on and so forth.

Again, the resilience of the Filipino urban fisherman.

And not that I'm approving of it. I'm not. I'm just fascinated.

It's one of those things that make me go:
"Yeah, I'm a Filipino. Got a problem with that???"

Pardon the tired 12:30AM mind. Rambles a bit.

I'M OUT!!!