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CODE

 

For the Weekly Photo Challenge: Lines

   blue

   shoreline

   blues

   at 

Lines

      Boracay is closed starting midnight tonight (i understand  there was a “last sunset” ceremony with violins and a cello and teary farewell parties) and will be closed for the next six months without substantial regard for the workers who are suddenly displaced,  the blockade being based on a speech and press statement of President Duterte sans executive order, publication requirements notwithstanding.

      A lawyer-friend quipped to  me: Didn’t you know? — we live in an informal monarchy — hari iyon, hindi presidente (he sits like a king, not as president) — didn’t you get the informal memo?

        Legally, you can characterize the Boracay shutdown as an “inverse quarantine” : people have to leave and can not get in — kaya siguro hindi makapaglabas ng executive order (why do you think there’s no written order), hindi alam ang isusulat (they don’t know what to write)  (i can ghostwrite it for you guys… lemme know)

      Other beaches will have to do for now for sunworshippers.

    Like this.       This is no Boracay but the sanitation and safety standards are strictly observed. There are absolutely no structures on the beach, not even a coffeeshop stall or a snack stand — not even a bench. The only structure allowed is the Baywatch Lifeguards Post (structures are prohibited because it will block   the view and the running course way of the Baywatch lifeguards). Lifeguards ply  every ten meters in addition to dozens of accredited surf instructors in a 1:1 ratio per surf student. When the waves are strong, or the tide is high, the siren alarms, everybody has to get out of the water, lifeguards approach, Baywatch helicopters hover; anyone who doesn’t leave the water will be physically “swim-escorted” by a Baywatch lifeguard. The restrooms are more than a hundred meters away, on the wide cemented sidewalk across the road and the parking lot, followed by more than 200 meters of a parking lot, all hosted by a nearby city of luxury hotels, restaurants, department stores, fashion houses, surfing and beach shops — even ferris wheels on the pier!

     Of course, it is no Boracay — the sand isn’t flour-fine  (the beach in Boracay is literally baby-powder-fine  pinkish-white, it’s not a metaphor, they’re not gravel sand but tons of coral  pixie dust :     So… tell me, would you rather run safe and sound — or bask in silken soft coral powder linen-land?

      (Walang gustong magsulat ng executive order! ipagawa nyo kay Siri (app) ) (No one wants to write the executive order! Ask Siri (app) )

Photo i-Phone-shot by Myra Lambino on Santa Monica Beach; our swim tops are from the nearby grocery (one is from U.P. Town Center picked up two days before the flight, i’m low maintenance and will wear anything that fits), this one purchased from the local mall on the way home the night before driving out, busy kami —  (Many thanks, Myra and J, for the beach!)