While chilling out in the office today, I discovered some eyecatching pictures in our photo library depicting the beauty of the Philippine countryside. One is the picture above of a farmer going about his everyday duties with a water buffalo or carabao, a creature often associated with the Philippines as seen in those postcards and native souvenirs.
Until I checked this website, I didn’t know that there are 3.12 million carabaos in the Philippines. Despite the growing popularity of modern tractors, the carabao remains the farmer’s best friend. With modernization though, expect us to develop other uses for the carabao such as for meat and milk processing.
Anyway I like this picture – which we took during a trip to Negros Occidental last year – because the farmer looked so jolly. The same can be said of the other folks I have met who are the poorest of the poor and yet do not seem to have any evil thought or mean bone in their body. They have been deprived of life’s precious luxuries and even basic necessities like TVs and computers and yet, the fact that they do not know of any comfort has made them so content. What a way to live!
Being in a tourist spot, even if it’s in the so-called “remote province,” cannot compare to the sheer joy of stumbling into the quaint and rustic countryside. The former is contrived with its rows of shops selling expensive memorabilia (think Boracay!) while the latter is nature in all its splendor, pretty much like an Amorsolo painting or a woman’s glow upon waking up in the morning 😉
Most of all, while Manila is an eyesore with the sight of those homeless people, uncollected garbage and squatter settlements, the countryside takes pride in its rolling terrains and acres upon acres of greenery.
So why is everyone leaving the country?
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