ANTITUSSIVE

Updated 09:48am (Mla time) Jan 02, 2005
By Pam Pastor
Inquirer News Service

Editor's Note: Published on page C3 of the January 2, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

PLAZA Miranda was as busy as ever. Vendors were hawking colorful plastic bags and cheap toys and shoppers were rushing to climb into jeepneys, dodging the firecrackers set off by noisy children. Just a few steps away, lining one side of Quiapo church, was a row of fortunetellers. Some were old, some young; some were male, a lot were female, and those who weren't busy reading palms were calling out to passersby, offering a look into their future.

Madam Lita was younger than most of the Quiapo fortunetellers. She smiled as she whipped out her tarot cards.

"It's the Year of the Rooster, we need to work hard and pray because the crisis will continue," she said in the vernacular.

She said prices of commodities would continue to go up.

"There will be a lot of family problems, spouses cheating because of temptations. Judgment day is near, that's why temptations are all around," she added.

Dismal

Madam Lita continued laying down the cards. "There might be a volcanic eruption and an earthquake, but we would recover."

The predictions remained dismal. "There will be chaos. I pity the President, a lot of people will go against her. Members of the NPA will come out, prisoners will also cause trouble."

Madam Lita repeatedly talked about a continuing crisis but kept saying that prayers would help us get through it.

She kept stressing that people would rebel against President Arroyo. She also had negative predictions for Filipinos abroad.

"Some people abroad will be imprisoned," she continued, "and there will be Filipinos who will get hurt in disasters in other countries, in bombings and accidents. But people will remain stubborn. A lot of them will still go abroad."

There will be a shift in male-female roles in 2005, she said. "Women will become the breadwinners instead of men."

Celebrity couples will have a tough time next year, according to her. "Many celebrity couples will split up."

She said she also sees a lot of deaths in the coming year. Madam Lita continued stressing the importance of prayer in facing 2005.

She set all the cards down and leaned back, indicating that she was done. It was time to go back to the present, because Madam Lita, the clairvoyant, sure made the present seem so much brighter than tomorrow.

*** E-mail the author at ppastor@inquirer.com.ph

# posted by Resty Odon @ 7:40 AM