THE unpaved passageway into the interior of the Megaworld Village showed signs of rain the night before – wet and inundated in several depressions, some big enough to immobilize a trapped car wheel.

This bad condition of the passageway was the big reason why we parked our multicab a few meters into the area from the entrance and just walked the rest of the way to the south end, some 600 meters away.

We hoped to see in that south end of the village Mrs. Daisy Sanchez, president of the homeowners’ association here. We learned later, however, that two other homeowners’ associations sprouted up later, courtesy of the “political manipulation” of ICUPAO chief Roy Firmeza with support of Lanit Brgy. Capt. Simplicio Sagaldo, several residents here said.

Looking inward from the entrance, we saw that most of the homes of the over 100 families here are located on the right side of this passageway. The few others are located on the left side near and to the south end looming straight ahead.

The way the homes are built here so close to each other make them appear like sardines packed in a tin can at the supermarket. But while we may enjoy the sight of sardines on our hungry stomachs, we would not enjoy their sight, though. In fact, we greeted it with a depressed mood.

Seeing no other outlet to and from the area on our cautious walk inward, I imagined that the entrance we entered serves both as entrance and exit to dwellers here.

We did not only pass inundated depressions. There were also areas that, while they appeared leveled, they are not actually so, with only rice bran as filling materials. They sank with our weights as we passed over them, pushing up the water beneath to soak our soles at every step we made.

The area also gave me the impression that it is softlandia, being just a clearing in the surrounding ricefields, which hemmed in the area seemingly to distinguish it as a giant scarecrow to drive away plant pests, as it appeared to be so. Needless to say, indeed, with the artless arrangement of the structures of homes, electricity posts, conducting wires, and patchings here and there, unlike in well-planned resettlement areas.

Located in softlandia, the passageway is vulnerable to soil erosion. Such characteristic of the soil creates, when it rains, large and deep depressions, like what we found here, in more loose areas making them dangerous to low bottoms. There is also a dugout serving as water canal from the living area to the ricefield at the east wing, which a motorized vehicle has to cautiously cross on two planks. Missing it with one car wheel could bury the tire of the car, which might require a crane to pull it out.

We passed a nearly completed big two-storey concrete house with a sari-sari store on the floor. Well, I thought, we would pass by here to take some thirst-quenching liquid on our way out. On an open side, I saw a covered well. I imagined that it is a shallow well, not seeing a water pump beside it. I wondered if the residents here were using the well water for cooking. If they did, I told myself that it could be dangerous being very close to the surrounding ricefields whose poisonous pesticides can seep into it.

We asked several folks we passed by where to find Mrs. Sanchez. Of the four, one said he does not know her; another pointed to a house which turned out not to be hers. The other two knew her very well, as she is their association president.

Soon, we were face to face with Mrs. Sanchez, who was very enthusiastic about our purpose with her — which was to discuss with her their problems and what we may able to help them directly or by representation.

An old friend, Placido Cerdanio, joined us in the conversation, with another, a middle-aged woman.

My grade 5 daughter and I would board Placido’s trisikad from the junction to the old Iloilo Airport and the West Visayas Medical Center to home near the Panay News Compound at Podco, Brgy. Q. Abeto-Mirasol, about 10 minute away on foot.

This was before the trisikads were banned by traffic officers to make this trip, as they allegedly pose a problem to the flow of motorized vehicles on the main road to WVMC. (More, next issue)

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