MINIATURES

  Chances are if one hasn't been in the 1970s, there is a big possibility that one might conclude the photo was taken a few years ago. Nope, the image is more than 40 years old. The most striking in the scene perhaps are the sidewalks, gutters as we know them, our only connection to foot travel in the Metro -- And they haven't really changed. But lo, I must say the street sweeper takes center stage right away. Don't you think so? Aling Otik? Who remembers Aling Otik? That comic strip character of a "Mangwawalis"- Whose true essence, many say is masked in that perfumed term "Metro Manila Aide", a regime trying to put all the dirt under the carpet. I remember its creator Nonoy Marcelo whom I felt struggled to put his social critique in those strips. Often becoming too ironic. But I like it. Remember the motto, Metro Manila City of Man? Once a storm with names such as: Cedeng, Ebeng, Asing, Kading whatever raged for days, roads were devastated-- Metro Ma