Serafin the Cat and Makmak the Aspiring Trapo

I don’t intend to blog tonight, except that two recent developments are bugging me. First, Serafin, the black and white cat that adapted our family was found dead, apparently a victim of hit and run.

Second, my bus ride home from Manila was littered by a new eyesore: Makmak Luancing, a political neophyte behaving like an old school trapo, plastering his silly grin all over Lipa while urging unregistered citizens to register NOW!  Well, the bus ride was just the final straw because even my drive and bike rides around Lipa have been disturbed by his mug shot.

Now I’m at a loss how to make a story out of two unrelated developments.

Serafin (a name that I just coined out of nowhere because the cat had none) was an expert rat hunter, and a sly thief of roastingMaliputo.  Nobody knew where he came from.  He just came to be; loitering around our yard until my Nanay began feeding him.

And that was it.  He found a home.

I was not really fond of him, at least not enough to call him my pet, but it still bothers me that a creature that once shared your home is gone, not just gone hiding, or looking for wayward felines out for a noisy lay, but gone – as in no longer breathing.  He must have been hit so badly that all his 9 lives were snuffed out simultaneously.  Which makes me sad even more, knowing how violent his death was.

Before passing away, Serafin has found a mate – probably his soul mate as she came in spots of black over white, like he did.  And he sired a litter, 3 little Serafins.

And I am sadder even more.  Serafin’s squeeze, let’s just call her Aida, is nowhere to be found.  And so are their kittens.  Aida must have moved them away because Serafin has moved on.  I want to move on as well.

Which brings me to Makmak Luancing, who is way ahead of his contemporaries in as far as showing signs of being a trapo is concerned.  I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he really wants to serve.  But that benefit is slim, to say the least.

I believe in the power of the youth when they do decide to serve.  After all, the youth to which Makmak belongs is the bastion of idealism.   But I also know a lot of former students who take bold initiatives to make a difference in the lives of others.  And they don’t need to call attention to themselves.  That’s leadership.

Serafin found a way to endear himself – he hunted vermins mercilessly.  And he did so without announcing his kills.  He became valuable that way.

I wonder what makes Makmak valuable?  Hopefully, that should be the foundation of his campaign.