Mang Kulas

I met a family man called in my neighborhood as Mang Kulas. He is a father of three children and his wife is not working because of lack of education. Mang Kulas is a carpenter and a skilled one. He earns P300 per day and his earnings are erratic. Sometimes he earns P6000 a month especially during summer and there are times he earns nothing. Everytime we meet in the neighborhood he always flashes his toothless smile and at first glance strangers may say he has no problem at all.
One day I saw him in the mall and as I watched him he keep on glancing on the people eating at Chowking. I notice his daughter, about the age of 5, pleading that they eat also at Chowking. He never answers his daughter. As he walked away I called him and say kumusta and he answer ok lang sir pauwi na. As he talked to me I noticed that his body is shaking. His daughter innocently told me that they have not yet any meal since yesterday. I bought them food from Jollibee and accompany them in their home.
As I glance around the house of Mang Kulas, there is no appliance at all. A long chair made of bamboo, the flooring is not concrete but loam soil, a roof made of old g.i. sheet which are full of holes and a small table maybe use for eating, studying or even sitting.
When I leaved the house of Mang Kulas, I kept on asking myself how he managed to survived the onslaught of high prices of all commodioties and utilities. As a mathematician in me I compute it in my head:
Monthly Earning of Mang Kulas...............P6,000
Expenses:
Food Fish P140 kilo/day x 30 days........... 4,200
Jeepney fare P7.50 x 2 x 4 persons x 30..... 1,800
Electricity.................................. 150
Water.........................................130
Balance (negative).......................... -280
Imagine if Mang Kulas has no carpentry job. Where will he get the money to feed his family?.
This is new cancer that attacks our poor countrymen. The cancer that brings hopelessness, that brings crime and even death.
Everytime I see artistas showing off their new cars, new houses and even new nose I really get angry.When politicians distribute or receive corrupt money my blood hits in the boiling point. They are insensitive to the plight of the poor. The Pinoy Big brother is a big joke because his house is made of illusion. The real life and the real house we can find it in Mang Kulas. But the TV network will not even try to house celebrities in Mang Kulas house because they know they will not earn any money from it. The jokes are on us and damn it we laugh on it.