The Two Worlds We Live In and the Imperative of Justice
Last week was quite a disturbing one. It had something to do with three scenes that I came across on the street. The first happened when I was on my way home, sitting in a parked jeepney that was waiting to fill up with passengers before leaving. Three little urchins came up – the oldest couldn’t have been more than ten – and started calling out to passers-by to ride the jeepney. “Sakay na!” (“Ride now!”) This is usually done by men called “barkers” who help the jeepney drivers to call for passengers, and get some coins in return. These boys, it turned out, had no money to pay the fare and so were doing this in the hopes of getting a free ride. When the jeepney was full, they clung onto the back of it and rode along. They were in high spirits and joking among themselves. I was amused by their carefree manner even as I felt guilty to be sitting comfortably in the jeepney, having paid the fare, with them hanging onto it from the outside. They looked confident and resourceful in the...