Lenten Break 033018

Lenten Break (033118)

The Lenten break arrived a little bit early this year, usually the season happens around April, but since the basis a lunar calendar instead of the usual solar calendar, the break, as I said arrived earlier.

I tried driving around the city during this break and believe you me, there was virtually no traffic.  Almost everyone who is not important or needed in the city, left the city, to spend their Lenten break somewhere else.  I got to savor, the absence of traffic, because in case the government have not figured it out, lesser people means lesser traffic.  That is why if you want to lighten the traffic, you lessen the people on the road by reducing their reason of being on the road.

Driving around the city was a breeze.  How I wish that such a situation could last a little bit longer, unfortunately, such is not the case.  By tomorrow, there will be a massive influx of people who would be trekking back to Manila, to begin another grind of a workweek.  Somehow, people would be lesser since the start of summer is upon us, and students which is 50% of the reason why there is a colossal traffic in the city, would commence with their summer break.

But seriously, if you are really bent on reducing traffic, you reduce people on the road.  The world doesn’t have to coincide with the 8 to 5/9 to 6 schedule.  Business hours could be adjusted.  School schedules could be adjusted, to lessen the number of people on the road.  They say that the Philippines is losing 2 billion pesos a day because of traffic, I say that such could be reduced when we adjust the schedule of students in the city.  Just in the city only, it doesn’t have to be in the entire Philippines scenario.  An adjustment of school schedule in the capital would lead to a billion pesos a day savings for the country.

School doesn’t have to open at 7 am.  They could open at 5 am.  I could move as early as 4 am but for other consideration, a 5 am school schedule would suffice.  An earlier start means an earlier end of classes, freeing the road for other industries later on, leading a more manageable traffic flow.

The Lenten season is supposed to be a time of reflection on the ultimate sacrifice of the savior.  With the current rate of hedonism happening in the country, the reason for reflection is lost – cheapening and further devaluing the holy week.

People are in and around the beach, welcoming and savoring the start of the summer, forgetting the principal reason of the Lenten season.  By any other definition, that is hedonism by any other name.  But for this exercise, let us christened the yearly phenomenon as Lenten Hedonism.

Let us all drink, eat and fornicate, for tomorrow, we are all going to die and we might as well take advantage of the opportunity today and as often as we can.  Because the opportunity might not present itself again tomorrow.

Death is certain, the opportunity is not.  And while there is nothing wrong with this philosophy, there is something wrong with our hypocrisy.  Let us all call spade a spade and just come out in the open.  Let us not sugar coat our collective hypocrisy any longer.

From this day forward, it is Lenten Hedonism for the Philippines.