Colors and Politics

 

AFTER many times trying, four times exactly at last the long plan vacation to the Philippines is going to happen. Because of the COVID 19, almost three years of self-quarantined, only going out the house when visiting a doctor or doing groceries, the vacation is much needed. My body expanded and my weight raised from sixty-three kilos to eighty-eight kilos; I am becoming a ball with my height of five feet and one inch.  

 

I am so excited and so Albert, my husband. We have a week to pack our suitcase and as most Filipinos knew it, the baggage was always a problem because Filipinos tend to load as much as they could. Of course, as a Filipina I do the same. My thirty kilos baggage allowance was not enough. My personal things, clothes and my laptop plus the weight of the suitcase was about eleven kilos so I have extra for ‘pasalubong’ (gifts) to the family. As ‘pasalubong,’ the chocolates topped above all. I am not exaggerated if I say that the thirty kilos baggage allowance of Albert also was consumed for ‘pasalubong’ for my big family.

 

Completing all of the requirements in entering the Philippines, complete Covid 19 vaccination plus the booster, we still must have a PCR test valid for 24 hours, all of these informations, must be noted in a ONE HEALTH PASS. Our flight would be on March 29, 2022, via the Turkish Airlines.

 

Well, I will not relate about our travel for what I have in my mind was about colors.

 

In my more than forty years living in abroad I am updated to what’s happening in the Philippines. I always followed the news.

 

DAY to travel. I decided to wear a jeans and my favorite yellow blouse; but with the upcoming election in the Philippines, I doubted. The color yellow was used by a political party and they were called the ‘Yellow Tards’ and it has a negative meaning for some, so I thought I will not wear my favorite yellow blouse because maybe some would think I am a ‘Yellow Tard’ or a Dilawan. My second choice was a beautiful pink cotton blouse but then I knew the ‘Yellow Tards’ did change their color into pink and they were called the ‘Pinklawan’ thus I also doubted resulted for me to not wear my pink blouse too.

 

I am not fond of politics although I have my own choice of candidates and always, I engaged myself in debating within my circle of friends as I do also with religion. All of us have our own meanings and likes but sometimes I cannot help myself to comments when someone became fanatic and were not using anymore their common sense.

 

The politicians or a party of politicians letting their identity be described by a color for my own opinion was not a good development. I believed colors were beautiful. Many tried to give meanings to colors like Black for mystery, evil or death; Blue for loyalty or stability; Red for willpower or danger; and so on. Of course, if a group wanted to be identified by colors it’s their right but then it became an established identification and I don’t like that.

 

Before anytime I will, I dressed myself with any color I liked, but now I always doubted because I do not want to be identified what the color represented politically.

 

I hope this development in the Philippines would not continue. If it will continue to exist, I can’t do nothing, only then I wonder, why there’s no political group identifying themselves with the color white? White at least stood for Purity. Purity in intention to serve the people and the country Philippines. ***The End***