Tata Selo: A Misfortuned Man

 

    Tata Selo, a character from Rogelio Sikat’s story, was depicted as a poor and lowly farmer with a wounded and swollen forehead, weeping eyes, and mud-caked feet, wearing a faded gray sweater with a slit on the elbow and grasping the jail rails tightly as he watches flocks of people whispering, eyeing him as if he were a caged animal. Tata Selo murdered a man who ejects him to work on a land he owned. The same man who took advantage of his poverty, and the same man who smacks him across the head with a cane. And that man is Kabesang Tano. If you were tata Selo, would you do the same?

    Tata Selo, a man who faced poverty and misfortunes in life. He was maltreated by the kabesa and was now caged. Even when he was caged, he still experienced abuse. Pity. The word that comes to our minds whenever we hear tata Selo’s story. Although it is clear to us that murder is a very serious crime, we can’t help but feel pity to the old man. We can’t help but wonder the real reason behind his actions. Is tata Selo telling the truth? Is the ejection from his land the reason? Or worse did the kabesa done something bad to his daughter?

    This work of fiction depicted a circle of injustices and misfortunes. It showed the usual poor vs. wealthy, murder, physical assaults of old men, or even rape. These things piled to produce a dramatic and enigmatic piece of fiction story that everyone can identify with since it is a reflection of possible and realistic disasters that you and I can encounter right now. I, as a young person, should be aware of these things and to not be like kabesa to tata Selo. And be sure to help and stand up for tata Selo.