Blog Action Day—Of Gods and Dung

This post is in unity with the Blog Action Day Movement!, millions of bloggers’ attempt to share their voice in one day, all for the sake of our environment.

Of Gods and Dung

“Our problem with filth scattered all over town is getting worse, Kapitan Tano.” Roy told the town’s head.

“I know that, son. That’s the reason why I have ordered our tanods to capture wandering animals especially at night. We cannot risk anyone getting sick because some uncivilized citizen forgot to chain his pet.”

These were Kapitan Tano’s strong words before the plague began hitting the town of Pembo. Everyday, there would be a new set of animal dung scattered around the town’s grounds. The unsanitary condition inevitably caused many of the townspeople to be sick, reaching a quota that resembles an outbreak.

“We have done everything, Kapitan Tano. Almost all of the animals which populate our place are detained in the capitol’s slaughter house; still our problem with filth remains unresolved.” Said one tanod.

“What would you say if tomorrow night, we all go on a crusade? We will not sleep until we find out what’s causing this.” Kapitan Tano replied.

“Anything for our family’s sake, Kapitan.” Retorted the tanods in unison.

Come the crusade night, Kapitan Tano and his men set out with a bolo in their right hand and a lighted torch in their left. Kapitan Tano himself divided his men to make sure that they get the place covered. Kapitan then hopped from one vicinity to another to check out for himself the goings on in their town after the sun has set and after majority the people have retired to their beds.

Aside from the few men he saw dumping their day’s accumulated rubbish to the riverside, he did not notice anything unusual. Although from afar he could hear reverberating sounds followed by a masked thump of a solid body hitting the ground.
“Illegal loggers,” one of Kapitan’s tanods whispered. “They usually come out at night to do their business. They think no one can hear them, but we do.”

Kapitan Tano couldn’t help but scratch his head. “When will they ever stop?" he thought.

While making their rounds, Kapitan Tano and some of his tanods reached the newly opened midnight bar located at the least remote area of his jurisdiction. Since he was tired, he decided to enter the establishment to get some refreshment.

Upon penetrating the blinking lights and deafening sound the place initially offers, he noticed that the place is packed. The people in there were very much alive, too. They were dancing, drinking, and performing private activities in the “publicness” of the place. It was an ultimate rave party in there. Everyone was happy as they engage their own form of orgy.

Kapitan Tano could not stand the aura of the sinful house. Without further ado, he left the place. He could not help but wonder how such establishment prospered in his town, in his jurisdiction. The next morning he ordered that the establishment be closed.

“Kapitan, that is not our concern right now. We have a problem with filth, remember? Why don’t we concentrate on it first?” reacted one of Kapitan Tano’s subjects.

“Don’t you want us to clean up our town? Isn’t shutting down a house of sin a way of cleansing our town? And while were at it, why don’t we prohibit our people from discarding their trash irresponsibly?” Kapitan Tano insisted. “Starting today, too, I myself will make sure that those illegal loggers who rape our forests will put a stop to their abuse.”

The tanods had no choice but to obey the kapitan’s instructions. They raided the establishment and had it closed. They also reprimanded those who treated nature as a one big dumpsite. On the other hand, those who hid in the dark while exploiting their forests were put behind bars. They did all these in one night.

The next morning, the filth was gone. The mysterious lumps of dung scattered around suddenly disappeared.

“We did it.” Kapitan Tano said. “We have cleansed our town. We have appeased the gods who are giving us back the filth our townspeople created by engaging in their evil ways. Our problem is now over.”

With that the town regained its former vitality as the plague subsided and the dung vanished.

We disrespect nature and we disrespect ourselves. Let’s put an end to this now. Otherwise nature may soon get back at us. When that time comes, we will all lose this dirty game we seem to love to play.