No Sticker No Entry

When I first arrived back in the old hometown, our private subdivision undertook some sprucing up, a bit of image building to some service areas which had gone to pasture in quiet disrepair. Like the guardhouses and the gates for entry and egress. Some minor construction work and a liberal use of paint and the overall result was one of considerable pride knowing that the subdivision looks presentably decent, at least looking from the gates and entrances. But more importantly, implemented were stricter compliance of certain basic subdivision rules historically known more for their being overlooked or flouted by both residents and visitors.

(The association should however do something about that Agoho Drive access road. Be reminded that since the start of the subdivision way back in the 70’s, only half of the road has been concreted. To this day, while the concreted portion continues to slide to non-maintenance hell, the other half has been quietly claimed by weeds, and close to the highway, by garbage throwers.)

One such basic rule was the need for all vehicles of residents to carry the subdivision’s sticker on the front windshield of four-wheeled vehicles and in convenient places for two-wheeled vehicles. Obviously, for easy and quick identification at the guardhouse, all in the name of basic security. During these times, one cannot afford to overlook such elemental security measures. That’s one of the primary reason guards are hired.

Thus, standing as quiet and mindful sentinel at the entrances is this strictly business painted sign;

No sticker, no entry.

Such easy simplicity, one would think.

But, no. As I pass through the gates I continue to see vehicles without the required sticker. When asked, guards can only squirm and declare that indeed a good number of residents are adamant and hard put to follow such an easy requirement.

It does involve some cost, but very nominal at best. 150 pesos for one sticker and I believe a little lower for your other vehicles.

This afternoon, a quick drive through some subdivision streets revealed a good number of vehicles sans stickers outside some residences. Of course, a number of them could have been those of visitors. Was tempted to take pictures, but held back for very obvious reasons.

Hoping this little heads-up makes non-compliers realize that some residents are watchful.

On the Street Where We Used To Live

Growing up in a sleepy town of 50,000 inhabitants (though it was already a chartered city even then), we resided on an A-frame timber building nestled flushed to the corner of two main streets aptly named then, Del Mar and Victoria. The former leading straight to the pier area some three kilometers due north, and the latter purportedly because it originated from City Hall, two blocks to the west.

Decades later, the immediate neighborhood has more than undergone changes to the street names. Del Mar is now known as A. Velez St, while Victoria is now Arch. J. Hayes, both named after prominent residents of a celebrated bygone area.

The more visible and drastic metamorphosis has been in its usage, from decidedly residential to a mish-mash of commercial establishments ranging from eating places of various orientation, to laundry places, to noisy disco places, and include there, to itinerant hawkers populating some sidewalks.

And Hayes St. has now also become a busy jeepney route, for destinations bound to the western part of the now thickly-populated city of maybe a million inhabitants.

Needless to say, the streets are abuzz daily with people and vehicles assaulting one’s senses to at times uneasy frustration and disquiet.

From the quiet familiarity and comfort one then felt as a child gravitating around the welcoming nooks and crannies of our little haven, we are now daily contending with the messy hustle and bustle of an unfamiliar and isolating environment. At times feeling like one is sleepwalking through a place now only vaguely familiar. Reminded by its past and floods of old memories upon sight of recognizable old structures engulfed and overwhelmed by ugly cosmetic face-lifting undertaken to accommodate their new more profitable uses.

Thus at regular intervals as some form of cathartic exercise, I prod tired feet to climb challenging and punishing stairs spiraling through five levels of a commercial building. And in the solitude and breezy comfort of my “observation deck”, I survey a city that I used to know and hold dear, and pretend to be transported back to the idyllic times of youth. And there are still enough familiar structures and roads to facilitate the pained recollection.

Time marches on I know. But old remembered memories are hard to simply drop by the wayside. Besides, old memories are so safe, uncomplicated, and uncluttered. With no dangers of going wrong and thus, resulting in accountabilities to be shouldered and suffered through. Again.

So easy and effortless to dismiss or set aside, as climbing down the stairs when one is done “observing”.

UPDATE:

This is the old house that sat at the corner of Del Mar and Victoria Sts. It was demolished in 1989, but the house next to it along Victoria St. still stands to this day. Both were built in the late 1940's. Notice that in the first picture the lot across the street is still vacant. This is the site of Pet Hong Trading.