Vol.1 No.1 - Editorial

We are back!

By the Stoplight

Jo Martinez-Clemente

Finally, after hundreds, nay, even thousands of years, we ponder at the crossroads laid before us. Which corner should we take? Must we walk through or cross when the red light flashes? And so, by stoplight we pause.

In Iloilo City, this stoplight could be any which one that hang in its mid-streets. But not so. In this community, there is only “the stoplight” and this is the one that beams over four street corners with four different names: Infante, Gen. Luna, M.H. del Pilar and Diversion.

What makes this stoplight pretty interesting is that it has become more of a landmark than the structures that surround it. And what makes it special is the fact that when someone refers to a stoplight, this is the one that sticks out like a sore thumb in the minds, even in the hearts of the residents.

Whatever made that is similar to whatever made the legend of the Bornean Datus rest in the heart of Panay and in the consciousness of its people.

The historical anecdote, true or not, sits at the very core of the region as this is the one that makes Western Visayas distinct from the rest of the regions in the country. It is this unique story told and retold through the centuries that gives credence to Panay’s claim that it is the cradle of Philippine’s civilization.

Yet, even as we grow and mature as a community, the stoplight never cease to flash its red light. So that now, we say “lugar lang,” and we pause and ponder anew.

We stop looking at what hangs and beams above us and at the crossroads lain before us.

Instead, we look back, more intently this time, because we want to move ahead with more defined steps. But still, we are thankful for out stoplight and the legend we grew up with because it is these common experiences that gave us a more defining sense of self.

Today, we are taking charge, ready to rewrite our own history as we know ourselves to be.

WV Magazine, Volume 1, No. 1, May 2005

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