You are a happy (or serious) netizen. Meaning, you are frequently online or connected to the Internet (and Facebook and Twitter) through your smartphone, laptop, or whatever gadget. Or at least you have access to the nearest Internet café.
If you are, you have probably never heard of, or are even remotely interested in, that old phrase, “Laki sa layaw, jeproks!”
That phrase was, of course, the meme of the 1970s, if that word applies.
Everyone picked it up from the lyrics of that rock music anthem written by perhaps the most jeproks of them all, Mike Hanopol, of the Juan de la Cruz Band. Your parents would know.
But what has Balagtas, or Francisco Baltazar Balagtas, that long-dead honorary member of the Filipino Dead Poets Society, got to do with jeproks and the Internet?
Come to think of it, if you are a serious netizen—that means, a Google-adept and an information junkie—you probably know who Balagtas is. And you are probably what might be called the info jeproks.
No, don’t mind the appellation because we all are, in one way or another, in this day and age.
And Balagtas has a lot to say to you or about you. But before all that, the most “orig” dead poet of them all, in our beloved Filipinas, will celebrate his 227th birthday on April 2. It is also the second day of the monthlong and newly declared Literature Month proclaimed by President Aquino under Presidential Proclamation No. 968.
Hanopol took his inspiration from the classic “Florante at Laura,” published by Balagtas in 1838, which our heroes Jose P. Rizal and Andres Bonifacio called a masterpiece.
Many of our historians also agree that it was one of the first allegories on the suffering of the Filipinos under Spanish rule.
“Jeproks” is, as everyone knows now, “a person from the Project,” the government housing projects. The word or syllable inversion somehow also twisted the meaning to refer to the Pinoy version of the hippie, an idler or istambay.
“Laki sa layaw,” of course, refers to a spoiled child. The 1970s meme is simply the chorus of the song repeated over and over.
But the better part of the song describes the spoiled child grown into a man as, “Lahat ng gusto niya, ibinigay na sa kanya/ Ngunit wala pa rin siyang kasiyahan … Kilala sa bayan/ Asal ay gahaman …”
“Meron pa kayang pag-asang magbago/ Ang taong lumaki sa layaw?” the song concludes.
Many would be thankful to Hanopol for reminding people what a spoiled child is or grows up into, by way of popular rock music.
But the “serious” info jeproks in you could perhaps do a little Googling of laki sa layaw and find that Balagtas has a lot more to say, in classic, beautiful Tagalog.
You will be surprised to find Hanopol’s inspiration from the famous lines that start with “Pag-ibig anaki’y aking nakilala/ ’di dapat palakhin ang bata sa saya …”
But here is where the 1970s meme comes from: “Ang laki sa layaw karaniwa’y hubad/ sa bait at muni’t sa hatol ay salat;/ masaklap na bunga ng maling paglingap,/ habag ng magulang sa irog na anak.”
Can you beat that, info jeproks? Does it remind you of your nervousness during class recitation? Or do you say “Aha!” because it simply means that the spoiled child grows up “naked” or defenseless against the harshness of the outside world? What kind of rearing and preparation does a poor child need?
How’s that for openers of the first Literature Month starting April 1? If you are a real info jeproks, or a serious netizen, watch for the announcement of the many activities lined up for Literature Month.
Visit www.kwf.gov.ph, or e-mail komfil.gov@gmail.com