Thank you for reading the first series of INTERNET ROMANCE: Love or Lust. Your comments greatly inspired me. For those who were touched by the similarities of their experiences with the incidents in that piece of literary work, like Dalisay, I hope it has healed the wound or at least gave anesthetics. For those who were adversely disturbed with guilt, like Ligaya, may you look beyond the pain that you have caused. For the many “Kenneths” out there, thank you for your apologies. For those who have suggested a sequel, I will attempt to quench your passion for lives real melodrama.

Here goes… the saga continuous…

                   Dalisay moved on and continued with her life. Her job has occupied most of her time. So, it was easy to forget the pain, the rejection, the humiliation and the deceit. In fact, the emotional trauma made her stronger. As one of Robin William’s famous punch line, “Trials are like washing machines; they twist us; spin us and knock us around but in the end we come out cleaner, fresh and better than before”.

          Dalisay continued chatting with friends in the internet but has erased the possibility of keeping in touch with the people who caused her so much anguish.  However, never did she expect, even in her sophisticated imagination that Ligaya’s obsession continued. Her stalking style modified and more covert, using her friends and relatives to peer into Dalisay’s profile in whatever website she is in. Dalisay on her part, consider this flattering and complimentary. She simply ignored the negative “shoutouts” of people whom she doesn’t know from Adam or Eve. “Mind your own business. He is mine now!” are suggestive “shoutouts” and therefore it should come from someone trying to reach out to Dalisay. Ligaya coundn’t deny the link, her photo would appear in those viewers photo albums and some of these viewers would admit to Dalisay the silly reason why they viewed her profile.

          Life went on normally until one prophetic day an unexpected email came. Dalisay received a message allegedly coming from Kenneth but obviously written by Ligaya. The tenor was the same. The taunt was still there. She couldn’t hide her spontaneous arrogance too. Ligaya was haunted by her own story that she read in Dalisay’s “blogs” and journals. Even if she insists that she has stopped stalking, the inconsistencies of her messages tell otherwise. For example, how would Ligaya know Dalisays’s list of friends if she didn’t browse her profile? How would she deliberate know the name of Dalisays admirer and the guy’s romantic comments for Dalisay, if she didn’t read Dalisay “comments section”?

Evidently, Ligaya is bothered by the fact that Dalisay has remained single in status considering the many male friends appearing in Dalisay’s profile. There was still this fear that Dalisay would creep into their lives for vendetta and revenge. Her guilt has consumed her system. Her taunts no longer affected Dalisay, it was a pathetic attempt to destroy Dalisays restored self esteem.  

As a Filipina, Dalisay has this to say for Ligaya, “Makarma ka sana. Wala kang iniisip kundi ganid at libog! Nakakahiya ka sa kapwa mo Filipina. Magkaroon ka naman ng maski konting konsensya. Bahala na ang Dios sa iyo!” (May the things that you did go back to you. What’s in your mind is only greed and lust! You put the Filipina to a lot of shame. I hope you will have at least a little conscience. Let God deal with you!).

On the other hand, if there was any consolation for the recent emails that Ligaya sent, it was her assailment that she is at present living with Kenneth. Hopefully she is telling the truth. However, since her previous marriage still subsists, absent any legal declaration of nullity of marriage, her cohabitation with Kenneth is illicit due to its adulterous nature. Adultery is a criminal act and punishable under the Penal Laws of the Philippines and Penal Laws transcend international boundaries. They can however hide in the Bahamas.

Dalisay’s advocacy, to protect a Filipina became more steadfast. Albeit, initially she wanted to ignore the email entirely, she felt the need to thresh out issues once and for all. She answered the notorious email and advised Ligaya to remove any pathetic doubt that she still loves Kenneth and just leave her alone. She has yet to know if Ligaya has heeded her advice.   

           Optimistically speaking though, the recent emails from Ligaya were benevolent… It paved way for this sequel… and so here goes, the INTERNET ROMANCE: Love, Lust or Greed?

Dalisay met Luningning in one of her church prayer meetings. During the testimonial sessions, Luninging, not her real name, a nurse working in one of the local hospitals in Metro Manila, shared an interest experience. This was the beginning of a new frontier in Dalisays life. The following day, Dalisay was introduced by Luninging to a certain Joseph, not his real name, middle aged, tall and extremely good looking Norwegian American. You would wonder whether he is a movie star, but his good looks can not hide exhaustion. There was certain sadness in his eyes. He was just discharged from the hospital after being confined for more than a week.

Joseph came to the Philippines to meet his fiancé, Diwata, whom he had been chatting for two years. Joseph has provided financial assistance for her family with the promise that they will marry in the Philippines. He was lured into Diwata’s passionate chatting style and of course the sensual teasing that fueled his carnal desires.  

As promised, Joseph came to the Philippines. He waited four hours at the airport but no Diwata came. He went to the address that Diwata had indicated in her text messages but nobody by that name and description exists. He wondered in the dark alleys of Manila, was mugged, beaten and robbed. So he landed in the hospital where Luningning works and they became friends. No where to go, Luningning invited Joseph to their family abode and was welcomed.

Upon Dalisay’s intervention and friends in the legal community, Joseph was given free legal service. Thanks for the tenacious job of local law enforcers; Diwata was located, arrested and detained without bail. Formal charges of Estafa and Swindling were filed against her, without prejudice of filing criminal charges of sexual solicitation through the internet or prostitution. Main time, her internet days are put to hold unless another “Kenneth” comes to her rescue.

Diwata is married and with the consent of her husband, she indulges in cyber-sex relations with men in the internet. Some of these men like Joseph became her regular chat mate and lover. Some guys simply wanted a good time for a meager pay. There is always a money transfer outlet that would facilitate the “fee”. The dollars that came supported her family of six. It was an easy job.

Joseph was relieved and was so thankful for Luningning, his “angel” who has given him comfort and security. Overwhelmed with that feeling, he offered her marriage and a good life in the states. It would have been a happy ending for a love story if Luningning accepted the proposition, but she politely declined. For Luningning, she is too young to settle down. With her nursing degree and training, it would be easy to go abroad. There is a growing demand for Filipino nurses and allied health professionals abroad. Joseph learned his lessons well and left for home alone.

The lesson of this story is: the Philippines, is not a country where one can do their wife shopping spree. Filipinas are not commodities. There may be irresponsible men or husbands who masterminded or served as accessories to their wives internet sex activities for dollars, which the majority of the populace just accepts with a shrug shoulder, there are also numerous decent Filipinas in this small archipelago.

Dalisay and Luningning are living activists against cyber-sex relationship. There maybe only a few of them in the world but if nobody stands up for what she believes in, even if it means standing alone… we will have nothing to lean on if the world falls apart.

Ligaya and Diwata hopefully will learn their lessons well. If they want to win the hearts of men through love or lust… it should not be at the expense of another Filipina or another woman. Sexuality is a sacred thing, not to be toyed around. Lust never last and greed is a bad deed.  

Although all seemed well when it ended well, the question still remains… the how’s and where’s of stopping the proliferation of virtual cyber-sex in the internet, in a country, whose favorite past time is the internet. Do we have to initiate a “No Internet Day” to dramatize anti-cyber sex? So absurd! Let our conscience kill and eradicate this social sex virus itself.

Recently, there were several arrest and closure of internet cafes being used as fronts for cyber-sex activities in Metro Manila and other provinces. Numerous girls of various ages, from matrons to teen-agers including gays were arrested and detained. We hope this continues as the government has already seen the evils this internet sex adventure will do to the moral fiber of our nation.

We do not want to resurrect “Maria Clara”, the timid Filipina of Dr. Jose Rizal’s (National Hero of the Philippines) novels, whose body is completely covered from neck to toe. We only wish that the Filipina herself will put pride in her being what she is… strong, firm, educated and uncompromising of her moral values.

The saga continuous…

 

Footnotes:

“Dalisay” – Pilipino (tagalog) female name that means purity.

“Ligaya” – Pilipino (tagalog) female name that means ecstasy.

“Luningning” – Pilipino (tagalog) female name mean brilliance.

“Diwata” – Pilipino (tagalog) female name mean goddess.

Kenneth – a masculine name that means handsome.

Joseph – a Hebrew Biblical name that means kindness.

 

Addendum;

Any similarities as to names, events and particularities are merely coincidental. This literary piece is a result of a compilation of data gathered from several Filipina’s experiences in their internet interaction with foreigners.