"Wala Lang" 1st ed.: English translation

Kung ikaw ay Pinoy, basahin mo na lamang ang Tagalog version ng "Wala Lang". Pero kung ikaw ay hindi marunong mag-Tagalog, heto ang English translation. Pasensya na sa English ko ha.

For non-Tagalog readers, here's the English translation of the first edition of "Wala Lang". For non-English readers, kindly click on the translation widget. Thank you.

“Wala Lang.” Whether we admit it or not, we Filipinos do not like confrontation because we are emotionally sensitive and insecure. It is better for us to keep things to ourselves and stay quiet instead of speaking out. Because of the force of evolution, our ancestors (like Piolo Pascual, or probably those who existed earlier) were able to come up with a discreet way of expressing their feelings without getting hurt. The phrase “wala lang” (wala= none, lang= just/only, wala lang= nothing) is uttered at the end of a statement.

I started to write “Wala Lang” out of my desire to post comments on selected articles found on the Siyanga Naman blog by Monsignor Ruben Dimaculangan. My high regard for Monsi’s writings made me feel that my comments are not worth to be posted. Because of this, I included the phrase “wala lang” at the end of each comment I made to express the following message: “This comment is from me, someone with a simple mind, but here I am, giving my personal insights. Read me.”

To continue my story about the short history of “Wala Lang”…

One day, when I woke up from a beautiful dream, I decided to write more seriously (write more seriously=write longer than one sentence). So here is the first edition of “Wala Lang”. I hope you will like it and acquire little wisdom from it.



Nanny Diaries. “Nanny Diaries” is not a story of a girl during the time of Hitler just like Ann Frank. This is about a fictional character named Annie Braddock. She turned down her mother’s ambition for her to be able to work in a firm in the field of finance. Instead, she chose to work as a nanny in the Upper East Side of New York. The part that I will never forget was when her best friend Lynette delivered the words: “You know the path of least resistance? Sometimes they can lead to a minefield.”

Many of us evade the dirt road. We become afraid whenever we become vulnerable. It doesn’t matter if we miss an opportunity as long as we don’t stumble and get hurt. Is it right to manifest this kind of attitude towards life? I think not. Let us do things with our utmost abilities and learn to trust in God’s plan for us. As stated in Psalms 56:11-12, “God I praise your promise; in you I trust, I do not fear. What can mere mortals do to me?”

Let us not get too busy searching for the path of least resistance. Let us accept the road that God is offering us for, in our obedience, we will be transformed. This renewal will give us the satisfaction that is beyond compare to any wealth in the world. Wala lang.



Parallel Synchronized Randomness. The term Parallel Synchronized Randomness (PSR) was mentioned in an interesting film called ‘Science of Sleep’. PSR occurs when two people who do not know each other comes up with the same decision at the same time. Just like what happens when we end up dancing ‘cha cha’ to those whom we bump into on the streets.

Two people walking. They meet face to face. They collide.
Both will step to the side. One will go to the left, and one will go to the right.
They will look at each other. And realize they are still on each other’s way.
Again they will make a step.
Still they are face to face.
The process will repeat itself again and again. Again and again.

PSR is interesting because the process is a bit like when we meet someone we feel comfortable with. Two strangers will bump onto each other. They will make a decision at the same moment and their decision is parallel to the decision of the other until they are unable to part from each other.

But PSR moments do not go on forever just as we cannot keep the special people whom we have discovered. In life, each person will find a way to go on walking and reach their intended destination. It also happens rarely, so we have to savor our “PSR moments”. Let us learn to value the people we meet and learn to cherish the times we spend with the special people in our lives. Wala lang.



Solitaire. One night, I thought about playing the game of solitaire installed in my pocket PC. Before I started playing, I began thinking about my deceased grandmother who likes playing this card game. Before she starts a game, she would silently think of one wish. If she wins a game, it would mean that her wish would be granted. That night when I played the game, I didn’t think of a wish before each game. Instead, I thought of one question per game. The mechanics goes as: if I will win a game means the answer to my question is a YES, if I lose a game it means that the answer to my question is a NO.

Questions like: “Will I pass the board exam?” and “Does [censored] love me?” played on my mind. I lost. Every game I lost. And because of this, I ended up with more questions… hoping I will win. But I lost every game.

Sometimes because of the uncertainty of life, we are able to do things that no sane person would ever do. What I did was silly. The YES and NO’s of life should not depend on the game of solitaire. Before I let go of my pocket PC, I thought about asking one last question. “Pampalubag loob [Just to make myself feel better]" I said to myself. I won. At last, the answer was YES.”

Oh by the way, the last question I asked was: “Does God love me?”

Wala lang.



Prof. Flatulence. [I wasn’t around when this happened, but this is based on a true event.] One of the unforgettable stories my schoolmates told me in high school is the one about our teacher who farted while giving a lecture. After releasing the lethal gas from his system, he turned and told the class, “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

I would laugh every time I remember this story. But there exists two moral lessons in this story. First, when we bother or hurt others, the right thing to say is, “I’m sorry” (Okay when one farts, we all know that “excuse me” is not enough). Second, when we bother or hurt others, the self doesn’t come first. Let us learn to be concerned about others and say, “Are you okay? Are you okay?”

Wala Lang.