The sigbin is a creature of the dark, in Bisaya described under the category of creatures: "dili ingon nato", meaning "unlike us". It is a creature which hides in shadows. It is not invisible but it will show itself only to its owner. It is a creature not of intelligence but of a strong peculiar obedience. It eats only charcoal and calabasa. It must be fed or it can bite people if it gets hungry and wanders away at night. It cannot die. Neither can its owner.

This does not mean the owner will not sicken and age and suffer as consequence. It just means the owner will not die unless he or she gives it away. It is given away by a touch which must be accompanied by a clear, verbal statement from the owner to the effect of transferring ownership.

It has the sole power of transporting its owner anywhere. It is merely a vehicle like a supernatural horse though it looks more like a dog with the hind legs of a kangaroo. It flies. It is argued whether it has a tail or not but the arguments favor a tail for reasons of aesthetics and the required mechanics of anatomical locomotion. Only Congressman Ysmael Bukad can know for sure. For everyone else, the sigbin is only a creature of myth and legend. It is advantageous for the sigbin owner to keep secret the creature and the power it gives. It follows that in time, the sigbin owner must master the art of disguise.

Which was why Congressman Bukad was selling boiled peanuts one Friday at the gates of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas Cebu College. There is a gathering of protestors who want to meet officials of the school over its act of fencing a section of burned houses alleged to be squatting on school property. They want to get it back.

"Immoral!" cried the protestors. They claim it would set a precedent for other owners of lands occupied by squatters to simply burn down communities in order to evict illegal settlers.

The arguments are of course thick on both poles of this argument. What supersedes? The rights of residents or the rights of the landowners? You can argue it anyway you like. The courts will most likely favor the landowner. But the landowner in this case is UP, the university of "iskolar ng bayan", who in times past had represented the national struggle of the masses against poverty and oppression. The very vision of it evicting squatters after their houses burned down does seem to leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Some will argue that the issue is caught up in politics. Indeed, politicians from opposing camps in the city were there to support the fire victims. The issue was truly heavily politicized. But this is inevitable. One must not forget the true meaning of politics. Politics is the dynamics of power between people. The act of fencing a neighborhood is inevitably a political act. The only reaction to oppose it must inevitably be political. Which explains the political nature of the drama which followed after the act.

Ysmael Bukad, the peanut vendor, was feeling quite entertained by the all that transpired. He went about in search of the Maker who was nowhere in sight. Finally he found him hard at work over his computer but not at his office. He asked, "Are you running away from this adventure?"

"Running? No I am not running. I have been pushed out from everything. I am a potential security breach for both sides in this debacle." The Maker explained how his older brother Bimbo was practically directing the protests against UP, in this case, the heartless fencer. At the other extreme, the Maker was a member of the executive committee of the school. Nobody was telling him anything. "And so you are an innocent bystander?" Bukad asked.

"Mere observer," was what the Maker replied.

"So who is wrong here? Who is the villain?" Congressman Bukad finally asked.

"No one and everyone," The Maker explained. "It is a Greek tragedy, with neither heroes nor villains."

You cannot blame UP Cebu. They cannot make decisions here. They can only recommend actions. The decisions are made in Iloilo and in Quezon City. If they do not try to fence, they will be accused by their superiors of not acting in defense of university interests, of being negligent in their duties. On the other hand, the protestors are right to protest because if they don't, the residents will surely be driven out of their homes, and in the end, uselessly. UP Cebu cannot conceivably make productive use of this small triangle of burned land. Better concentrate on their five hectares of reclaimed land at the South Road Properties (SRP) donated by City Hall, in this case, the protestors. But there is surely a lesson to be learned here. UP Cebu should as soon as possible be made autonomous. Here is an example of a local government school having to account to its public for its acts even though it has hardly any powers at all to affect its own decisions.

"In the end it is a mere pawn in the game of life, as the saying goes. We should get a good laugh out of this. But whatever got into your head that you should now go around as a peanut vendor?" the Maker asked, smiling to be sure derisively.

"Ay, Its a long story." And with that Congressman Ysmael Bukad disappeared into the shadows.