Kapit-Tuko

Someone asked me if we have a gecko at home because he will buy it for 2.5 million pesos. On instances like these, I would become speechless. Questions and facts would whirl inside my head it's like going crazy. (Have you experienced traveling on a bus for almost 10 hours and you got scared to realize that your thoughts are in disarray? This is similar to that experience.

First, what's with the gecko which we locally named TUKO? Someone said its blood and liver could cure cancer. Others theorized it is an additive for illegal substances. Then, scientific stuff was mentioned... Millions,too, were spoken...

This is my problem: Are the buyers authorized to buy such reptiles? Who are these buyers when in fact there is no company present in the region where signage of this business is conspicuous. We buy copra, we buy seaweeds, we buy nipa, we buy bayat and kinhason... but no We buy tuko.

I remembered one time when a person came to the former school where I was teaching. The guy announced that he is a talent scout of ABS-CBN. He was interested to "sign-up" a male student and the parents asked for advise from me (I was designated as the guidance coordinator that time). The talent scout then discussed without any stimulus about the talent fee. He talked 500 thousand starting fee and I blurted out: You're talking about money this big and yet you were only commuting using trisikad?

The point is this: If this is such a big business, who are these buyers who only come and go looking like thugs? They'd tell you about bank-to-bank transactions while dusting-off the "kaitan" they got from Noventa. Is there a permit of sorts from the DENR since geckos are exotic animals? If they're only interested on the blood and liver of the reptile then dump the tuko, would the animal-rights' advocates cry foul?(Then the whirlwind of thoughts then stop on the image of Cindy Crawford and the supermodels going naked than wearing fur!)

A teacher, full of conviction, told me about this. She said that we could retire from the education department and find geckos. I shushed her since we were on a hired van and other passengers might think that teaching is really a pathetic profession that we'd rather look for lizards than facilitate the learning process!

Indeed, we are motivated to have more possessions. I could not blame this to poverty since I saw a lot of people in the malls frequenting Marithe+Francois Girbaud and our so-called poor students are spending on cellphone loads than books. Our sanity will be blinded by the figures mentioned to us. When millions will be discussed we then forget to ask LAW: Is it Legal? Is it Accepted? Is it Worthwhile? That's why we sometimes swallow illegal drugs and become mules for a bigger fee.

But stories are yet to be told and reasons are still to be analyzed, qualified and accepted. We will not put this one to a dark light. It's just that we have to ask. If indeed geckos are worth millions, then so be it. But the facts must be clear. Since we already realized how expensive swallows nests, shark's fin and Beluga whales' liver could be...gecko's blood might be the next.

I might also try reviving that sigbin controversy since this alleged creature could cure AIDS!

(photo:pinoyexchange.com)