Early this morning I drove to the office of my sister in Bo. Obrero. It was their Christmas Party. The party was a day-long activity starting with a breakfast. I brought with me ibos, huwad-huwad, and ripe mangoes for their breakfast.
Driving from our house in Jaro to Bo. Obrero, passing by Lapaz to Lapuz without crossing the Iloilo River, was a so-so experience - especially the trip through the Lapuz area. It was just one of those forgettable trips, so humdrum it was over before I even thought about it. The place was very impersonal, with the buildings either closed or occupied as warehouses or depots, and populated by half-clothed cargadors and other daily wagers carrying sacks of produce.
On my way back, I changed my route just to brighten up the trip. When I reached the Rizal rotunda, I turned left to cross the Iloilo River via the Quirino Lopez Bridge. Across the river, I could see the new Provincial Capitol Building, The Atrium, the old Iloilo Prison, the Hall of Justice Building, and far to my left is the turn of the century Aduana Building.
And as I got near the other side of the Iloilo River, I was face-to-face with the Arroyo Fountain, that famous landmark in front of the old Provincial Capitol Building.
The Arroyo Fountain is also known as Kilometer Zero in the island of Panay. And I think all Ilonggos must know this – that all kilometer readings beside the highways all throughout Panay were measured from the Arroyo Fountain. It was named after an Ilonggo Senator, the late Jose Maria Arroyo. He was the grandfather of the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, infamous for being linked to the many scandals and anomalies in the administration of President Gloria Arroyo. (Now, Ilonggos must be aware that the person they love to hate is just a fellow Ilonggo.) The fountain features four women carrying a basin over their head. When I was in high school, I was one of the few students tapped by the Department of Tourism to help in their tourism promotion campaigns. We were given briefings as regards attractions in Iloilo City. I remember that we were informed that the four women in the Arroyo fountain were originally naked. But the conservative attitude of the Ilonggos, made the government decide to cover the women with Grecian garbs.
And I was reminded of the original nakedness of the stone women when I passed by the fountain two weeks ago.
It was a Tuesday, about 9:00 am. I was driving to Calle Real for some errands. The streets were busy with pedestrians and traffic. It seemed a normal day. Just like the other days before. But something unusual happened.
As I approached the Arroyo Fountain, I saw this unusual sight – a voluptuous near-naked woman, a pale orange gumamela tucked behind her ear, was dancing on the street level ledge of the fountain. No, I was not hallucinating. It was not one of the four stone women turning to life, possibly because of some enchanted kiss of a prince charming in the guise of a taong grasa. The woman was real flesh and blood. She was doing a sexy dance while circling the fountain like she was in a bar - gyrating and grinding her pelvis, swinging her exposed breasts, and taunting the passersby with the most luscious lips. From afar, her morena features would easily make her just another buang or babaeng grasa na nakakadiri. But as I got near, I could see she was not the usual streetside buang. Her body was well maintained and she could pass for a high-prized GRO. Her auburn hair could have been from a parlor. Her bras were pulled up. Her tits were dark but she had perfect skin. And her scandalous performance seemed choreographed.
But, alas, as I passed in front of her, I failed to see her face. I failed to see if she was really still wearing panties.
When I passed in front of her, I was concerned more of the reactions of the many minors and students who passed by the area. I was concerned more of whether there were policemen around and what they were doing. I was more like a scandalized Ilonggo of old prodding my government to put stone clothes on the statues that may cover the stony outlines of their nubile womanhood.
No, there were no policemen. I could see two uniformed traffic enforcers about twenty meters away with some scandalized old ladies. Surely, the dancing lady did not commit any traffic violation. The traffic enforcers were looking helplessly at the live performance they could have longed to see but could not because of their meager salaries. But in the presence of the manangs, they were in a quandary of whether to stop the indecent performance or to flag down their libido from producing a raging hard on in broad daylight. Accidents too might happen as drivers may think they were at the ringside of a go-go bar and not at the driver’s side of a vehicle.
Then I was far away. I didn’t like to look back as I may be the one to cause an accident.
When I reached home, I immediately narrated the incident to the carpenters doing some renovation in my house. We had a good laugh. One panday told us that, in the past days, he had been hearing over the radio the same incident. According to radio reports, the lady was not buang but possibly high on drugs or could have bouts of depression.
Anyway, for you my cyberfriends, I didn’t just fail to see the face of the dancing lady, but I also failed to take a pic of her even with my cellphone. Bitin? Just pray I could again witness her next free performance. And hope that my cellphone is not lowbatt.
But look at the photo of the Arroyo Fountain. Can you imagine how the stone women looked originally? @
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