15th Asian Games

A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO all.

And kindly make it truly merry for your family, and for those who truly care for you, by keeping healthy despite the perils that lurk over the holiday table.

To jump-start this busy, exciting day, here’s a timely holiday reminder from my private Santa, Richard Merk, jazz’s gift to the music world: “Good morning! Thank You, GOD, for another day. Short lang message ko for today: Hinay-hinay lang sa lechon, ha! Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon sa iyo Kaibigan.”

That’s not a mere reminder, of course.

That’s a loving warning from a loving friend.

***

Mr. Merk was direct to the point.

Pork could be both sweet and deadly.

For proof: we attended last night the wake for an old friend in the barrio next to our village in riverside Mandaluyong.

Cesar Flores, a big-hearted cousin of four-time Olympian Narciso Bernardo, had looked in perfect health.

He was, as usual, his outgoing, helpful self.

Then he dropped his guard.

Teta decided to slug it out with a tray full of lechon during a Christmas party at the Namayan Park.

His BP sizzled and soared, he got KO’d for good.

***

What a loss.

The jolly good fellow, a great fan of the game of basketball, was always there to lend a hand to whoever needed help.

Yes, there will never be another one like him.

Knowing Teta, it’s not farfetched to surmise he had decided to do duel with lechon to properly warn friends about their dumb diet.

At least, those who have heard about Teta’s fate now think twice before running to the market for a kilo or two of pork.

They have suddenly agreed that pork could be as fatal as poison if improperly handled.

These people have also started considering healthier dinner alternatives.

***

The perils of pork, in case you’ve decided to look the other way, lurk in myriad other dishes like menudo, mechado, cucido, embotido, adodo, igado, to name only a few.

Now, lest the pork dealers of the Philippine started lobbying against this column, let me assure them that pork dishes are always worth a try.

But, to repeat, the perfect password for the season should be: RESTRAINT.

Why? Because, at this part of the party, you are bound to, again, get carried away.

Your appetite, take heed, could send you soaring past the happy holiday streets, en route to clogged arteries, all the way into the dark, joyless dead-end.

So, JOY being the message of this day, the call is: Don’t get carried away.

Yes, one good round of lechon doesn’t deserve another.

Unlike with the Asian Games gold medals brought home by our athletes, more lechon is not merrier.

For one, lechon or ham, unlike RP’s Asiad golds, can never be used as cure-all by overjoyed gourmets in the national sports hierarchy.