o daba? pamatay itong si LEMUEL AT NORMA BUNALOS! hanep! wla silang pakialam kung anong oras sila magpapatugtog, BASTA magpapatugtog sila - at required talaga na malakas. Kahit (putek!) 5:22 ng umaga! Ang nakakayamot pa dito, pilit nilang sinasabi na ROCKER daw kasi si LEMUEL BUNALOS (a.k.a. STUPID PRICK OF A NEIGHBOR or SPN) kaya di nila kayang magpatugtog ng tahimik.

I just want to point out that there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between ROCKER AND HIPPIE. And sa pagkaka-alam ko, parehong hindi si LEMUEL SPN BUNALOS. He is just one heck of an inconsidereate, uneducated, fugly bastard.

This is the second “hearing” I had to face in my entire life. The first one was just last September 11, 2009. I would so love to claim that this scenario was held in front of a judge, and that were slick lawyers sparring with words. But the painful truth is: my hearing was held in front of a kagawad, an officer of the barangay: which is the smallest unit of government here in the Philippines.

I filed my first complaint because my stupid prick of a neighbor keeps blasting out his stereo at all hours of the day. The first case was considered “close” when stupid prick of a neighbor (whom we will not henceforth call as SPN) agreed to tone down the volume of his stupid machine. I was given the assurance that when something like this happens again, warnings will be issued and that the darn sound system would be confiscated.

17 days later, SPN is at it again… and this time with a vengeance. Despite the evidences I have gathered, NO ONE DOES ANYTHING! I had no other choice than to file second complaint and wait until the second hearing.

And this is where it gets hairy. SPN and his stupid bitch of a wife (henceforth will be referred to as SBW) insisted that they WERE NOT HOME on September 28 and 29, 2009, and that no loud music came out of their house. They did admit to playing loud music on the two past Sundays prior to that (starting at 5:30 am and 6:10 am respectively,) but they vehemently denied any other days.

Okay, during the first hearing, THEY AGREED that they will NOT play any loud music, regardless of what day it may be between 11 pm to 4 pm… which is my usual work schedule. Hello? 5:30 am and 6:10 am? Hello? Hello? Who in their right minds would turn on their radios that loud that early… and did they not realize that they just broke the signed agreement not to play any loud music DURING my work hours?

When the kagawad asked what time SPN was usually home on workdays, he HONESTLY said he gets home at 4 pm. The kagawad pointed out that if he was working for the government (SPN claims he feeds cows at the Bureau of Animal Industry) he should be clocking out at 5 pm, and not at 4. And then I pointed out VERY HAPPILY that SPN was usually home at 8:30 am until past 10:30 in the morning, and then he would be playing the radio at full volume again at 1:47 until past 2:30 pm. EVERY DAY.

This had an undesirable result. All of the sudden SPN and SBW claimed that no one was home during Sept. 28 and Sept. 29, because they were both at work. Fortunately, I DO HAVE VIDEOS that show that they were playing very loud music on the said dates.

SBW backtracked and said she was home after all, but she remembered playing very soft music lang. (Soft music, my a$$! my teeth were rolling in their sockets from the intensity of your bass system.)

Finally, we agreed that the best way to gauge how LOUD their noise was was to actually go to my home while they pump up their sound system. Once we got there, the kagawad said, “Kusog na kusog nga!”(rough translation: it is very loud.)

I also pointed out the fact that on Sept. 25, 2009, SPN had a drinking session with his buddies and they turned on their sound system at 12:30 am until just before 3. The kagawad said that the curfew for such activities was supposed to be at 10 pm only. But SPN claimed that that was an isolated case… and he only did that because one of his friends celebrated his birthday.

Fortunately, LFH (god bless her for having some use) was there, and said that SPN also did that during his birthday and any other day his friends drop by. And that they drop by regularly per week.

We were invited back to the barangay hall where the kagawad was trying to “make” things work out between us by suggesting that I let them play their radio loudly on Sundays and on SPN’s days off! AND I SAID NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Three times a week of suffering from their incessant noise is too much to bear.

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! I finally agreed that Sunday would be their time, but only on Sundays… which I am still NOT happy about! But the REST OF THE WEEK SHOULD BE NOISE FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

And then, SPN wanted to play his loud music on special days and national holidays too and would not sign the paper unless I said yes. To which the kagawad points out that he can be allowed to do that BUT ONLY AFTER WORKING HOURS since most celebrations ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HELD at night.

And then LFH (she has her use, people) suddenly says in Filipino: pero wag mo naman ding abusuhin lahat ng holidays. Magpatugtog ka pero wag mo kaming gambalaing mga kapitbahay mo kasi nakaka istorbo ka talaga. (rough translation: … but don’t misuse this privilege. You can play your radio but try not to disturb your neighbors because you are really a nuisance.)

When the kagawad asked LFH why she never filed a complaint before, LFH said that she did not want any trouble, and that she did not know that she can file a complaint like this to the authorities.

So we signed another agreement that states that SPN and SBW are to tone down the volume of their radio, (WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT, WAS WHAT WE AGREED ON WITH THE FIRST HEARING,) but now I have to allow them to play very loudly on Sundays and other celebrations. (WHY DO I FEEL LIKE I AM BEING PUNISHED FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT A NUISANCE NEIGHBOR?)

As a parting shot, I asked the kagawad what I could do if SPN and SBW break this agreement, and she said, “File another complaint.” And that was when I started pulling things out of my ass. I was so angry that I remember saying, and yeah, I was so angry I said this in English, (at this moment I did not care if SPN and SBW knew how to speak in English) “After this, why can’t I call the police? Can I have this PATOLA (gourd) picked up? If this happens again, that would be 2 signed agreements that they did not follow. They are going against the anti-nuisance law, and I think I can file for harassment in my place of work.”

The kagawad looked at me like I have lost my mind. But at that moment, I DID NOT CARE. Trust me, I felt a world of helplessness at that time that was so overpowering, that I just wanted to kill everyone in that room.

FYI: the only reason why I am fighting hand and tooth with this is because I know I’m right. And that this feeling of being victimized over and over by an inconsiderate neighbor is galling. Plus, I feel severely let down that the kagawad who presided over my first hearing did not push through with her promise of confiscating the stupid sound system after issuing warnings.

I know it is a waste of time, but I am thinking of sending out letters to as many Davaoeño politicians out there who might be able to help me. Do I also not have the right to live in peace in the land I now call my home?

And in case you are wondering, SPN is known here for a series of misdemeanors. The latest of which was from a woman who filed a complaint after she was slapped several times by SPN by joking that the prick was ander da saya (henpecked.) There were also stories of two of his barkada or friends being stabbed in their house after a long night of drinking.

Fuck this. To Lemuel and Norma Bunalos of Barangay Mintal you are sorry excuses for living molecules! Lemuel Bunalos, you are an uneducated piece of crap who thinks that the MACHO thing to do is to harass your neighbors, slap women around and hurt other people. Well, I have news for you. MACHO is truly a fitting description for you because you are half MAtsing and half CHOnggo! Gago!

Norma Bunalos, tang ang inumin mo! You are playing the role of the faithful but totally clueless wife who will not face facts – not even if it bit you on your pug-looking nose.