Sulagmang Bayani

Sugilanon ni SATUR P. APOYON
Ilustrasyon ni Max Merto

Frame 1 -- (I.G.) Pleasant morning. Abloy, about 16, long hair seemingly running away from a barber, shabby and smelly, limps his way to the poblacion of Santa Cruz, a coastal town beneath a towering mountain whose peripheral base is still thickly forested somewhere in Southeastern Mindanao. He is partially disabled in the left foot. He is talking to himself and interspersed with laughter.

Caption: Niining buntaga...
Abloy: (self) Uy, dako ba’y… aw, simbahan ngali na?

Frame 2 -- (I.G.) He continues his wandering until he reaches at the seam of the high tide that is lapping the shoreline near the town wharf and the mouth of a big river beyond the southwestern edge of the old municipality.

Abloy: Aha… taob… klami dagat…ligo ngali ko?

Frame 3 -- (I.G.) Toward midday, Abloy approaches a small carinderia between the wharf and the municipal building.

Caption: Sa kaudtohon na…
Abloy: Kutoy na tiyan ko… lami na kaon…

Frame 4-- (I.G.) A fat woman owner of the carenderia angrily and insultingly asks Abloy what he wants.

Fat Woman: Unsay ato?
Abloy: Ako Abloy, tawong kaluluoy, ngayo lang makaon… bisan bahaw!
Fat Woman: Ngayo lang? O, sige pustan ta ka. Pero lakaw dayon, ha?
Abloy: Slamat tawon…

Frame 5 -- (When night comes, Abloy is driven out of the premises of the steel gate by the owner, a rich widow. An elderly house servant at her side. The pergola bulb provides a pale light.)

Caption: Si Abloy nga nahitagpilaw na unta ...
Widow: Hoy, nganong di ka man patuo sa sugo ko nga mopahawa ka dinhi?
Abloy: Sandig lang bitaw ko dinhi, N-nyora, kay kapoy na ko ayo!
Widow: Ay, di ko gusto! Adto sa laing lugar!

Frame 6-- Abloy walks away reluctantly toward the church portal some three blocks away. The weather is getting balmy and threatening with rain. From a distance, thunder claps.)

Caption: Mipalayo na lang si Abloy sa igihan kaayong biyuda…
Abloy: (self) Diha lang ko ngita ksandigan ana dako ba’y.

Frame 7-- (As Noy Ignoy, the old church utility cum bell ringer, is about to close the belfry steel door, the rain falls. Abloy runs toward him.)

Abloy: M-manoy…Noy, psilonga ko!
Ignoy: Kinsa ka man, Dong?
Abloy: Ako Abloy-Libodsuroy, Noy.
Ignoy: Diay ba? Na, sige…su’d ngari.

Frame 8 -- (The rain turns stronger and heavier. But the floodwater is stronger, billowing like mad waves.)

Abloy: Hala…hala baha! Baha!
Ignoy: Saka tas kampanaryo, Bloy!

Frame 9 -- (Ignoy rings the biggest among three bells in the belfry to warn the towspeople of the unfolding disaster. But he fails to continue the ringing because he tangles his right leg by the bell ropes, hurting him badly. He commands Abloy to do his unfinished task.)

Ignoy: Kinahanglan magisong ang tanan! Opss! Araaay!
Abloy: Uy, tikangkang ka, Noy?
Ignoy: Sakitas bat-ang ko! Ahhh! Ipadayon ang pagbagting sa duha ka lingganay nga madaog mo!

Frame10 -- (Ignoy sees Abloy doing a good job as the flood waters inundate the town now enveloped by eerie blackness of the night. Two-third portion of the frame is a CUTAWAY of some people in the vicinity of the church and municipal building roused by the ringing of the church bells. Thunder & lightning helps to view the scene. )

Ignoy: Salamat natapnas ka…
Abloy: Nahan man ko yugyog kampana, Noy. Hehe!

Frame 11 -- (A week after the flood, the mayor and the parish priest jointly hold a thanksgiving mass, program and awarding of plaques of apprection for little heroes and heroines in the recent disaster. Ignoy is just in the vicinity of the stage.)

Caption: Usa ka semana human sa buhawi, nagpasiugda ang alkalde og pasalamat nga misa ug pasidungog...

Mayor: Ug sa kataposan, ang kinadak-ang bayani sa tanan nga nakaluwas sa kadaghanan ilabi na sa akong banay mao ang kampanero, si Ginong Benigno Limbo!
Padre: Noy Ignoy, saka na sa tablado.

Frame 12 -- (Ignoy, on crutches in his right shoulder, speaks before the microphone in the makeshift stage in front of the municipal building. The crowd looks up to him in varied reactions with his revelation vis-à-vis the award for heroism.)

Caption: Apan …
Ignoy: Gikasubo ko nga di ko madawat ang pasidungog. Di man ako ang mipadayon sa pagtulimbang sa mga lingganay.

Frame13 -- (Abloy, still in his original attire and odor, is presented by Ignoy in the stage. The most surprised and remorseful in the crowd are the widow and the carinderia owner. But majority in the audience applauded Abloy.)

Caption: Ug …
Ignoy: Siya… si Abloy, ang tinuod nga manluluwas sa poblasyon sa pagbuhagay sa buhawi ug baha pinaagi sa iyang way puas nga pagbagting sa lingganay!
Widow and Carenderia owner (Bubbles): Ha?!
People in the audience
thunder a deafening
applause : Mabuhi ka, Abloy! Mabuhi ka!!!

(HUMAN)