What's Your Poison? PALM WINE was the alcoholic beverage of choice of the people who greeted Ferdinand Magellan and his fellow explorers when they landed on these islands in 1521. But while many Filipinos in the provinces still imbibe native alcoholic drinks like tuba, basi, and lambanog, it is a foreign concoction that has been making scores more happy during, well, happy hour. In the 2001 joint study by the University of the Philippines and the Department of Health, beer emerged as the most popular drink among the respondents, 78 percent of whom put it on top of their list. Even the youth say beer is their favorite alcoholic drink, according to a 2003 study of the health department's National Epidemiology Center. At least the maker of the most popular beer remains Filipino. San Miguel Corporation, the food-and-beverage conglomerate that made its name from its pale pilsen, says that last year, the revenues of its local beer division grew to 10 percent or P40.5 billion from 2004, in spite of the 20-percent excise tax hike. Its flagship San Miguel Pale Pilsen brand remains the market leader, dictating the retail price of beer in the Philippines. And its other beer brands, the stronger (but cheaper) Red Horse and San Mig Light aren't doing too bad either, posting impressive sales volumes in their respective categories. Surprisingly enough, gin — considered by many as the poor man's drink — hasn't been holding up as well as beer among Filipino drinkers. In fact, it is brandy that is lording over the spirits category, which includes rum, whisky, and the native coconut liquor lambanog. If only Filipinos weren't chugalugging too many bottles of beer in one sitting, perhaps toxicologists like Dr. Lynn Panganiban of the National Poison Management and Control Center of the Philippine General Hospital would be less worried. After all, a bottle of beer contains just four to six percent alcohol, far less than gin or brandy, which weigh in at having about 40 percent alcohol each. The problem, say observers, is that commercials for alcoholic beverages try to convince you that the more you drink, the merrier you get. In fact, says sociologist Manuel Bonifacio, many of the ads have barkadas raising mugs and having toasts over what look like several empty beer bottles. The message, he says, is: "Not only can we afford it, we can take (as much beer as we want)." He also rues ads that equate drinking with generosity, singling out the beer commercial starring Pinoy boxing pride Manny Pacquiao, who is shown being goaded into treating friends and strangers alike to rounds of drinks. "The idea of 'pa-inom ka naman (treat us to a round)' is not social drinking," says Bonifacio. "You really have to get drunk." Perhaps Bonfacio could take a bit of comfort in the fact that the enterprising yuppies who have jazzed up lambanog to sell to the jet set have yet to come up with similar marketing strategies. At 160 proof or an alcohol content of 80 percent, indigenous brews could pickle one's brains with far less amounts compared to beverages from the West. Magellan and his crew learned that the hard way. Coming from wine-drinking countries, the Portuguese explorer and his men probably thought nothing of accepting the palm wine offered by native king Humabon in Cebu. But writer Ramon Almario Jr. theorizes that Magellan and company were still nursing hangovers days after, when they encountered Lapu-Lapu and were subsequently slaughtered. Humabon then called for another drinking spree with Magellan's fellow explorer Duarte de Barbosa and other ranking officers — and then killed them as well when they were all good and drunk. — Avigail Olarte

MON SAYS that in his barangay, where he represents the law, weekends are made noisier and messier by drinkers in the area, most of them construction workers home after a week away at a jobsite. A sari-sari storeowner there says she makes a killing every weekend, averaging gross earnings of about P2,000 a night just on drinks alone. Another P500 in profit comes from videoke, where each song costs P5. In that community, men — and some women — have two favorite pastimes. One is drinking. The other is drinking and singing.

Mon says his team gets about five to six calls on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, all of them complaints about rowdy drinkers. They would probably get more calls if not for an 11:30 curfew imposed by the barangay authorities. But no one gets hauled off to jail for drinking excessively, says Mon, except of course if the person causes injury or harm to others.

The head of the women's desk at the police detachment there says that of the cases they have recorded and investigated this year, almost all those charged were under the influence of alcohol when they committed their crimes. These include robbery, hold-up, and snatching, homicide, and illegal possession of firearms. Overall, 90 percent of the alcohol-related cases are from the area patrolled by Mon and his men. Half of the 78 cases of wife battery recorded at the detachment since January also come from Mon's turf.

The women's desk head says one alcoholic repeatedly raped his four nieces and his goddaughter. The girls were only nine, 10, 11, 12, and 14. The eldest was raped 45 times. The man is now behind bars.

"If you put it in moral terms," says sociologist Bonifacio, "what's (dangerous) about alcohol is it can lead to deviance, to violence…to the termination of life."

This, by the way, is no secret to Mon, and not just because of what he has seen during his nightly rounds. Just this July, he lost his own son to alcoholism. The eldest of three children, Mon's son died at age 36 due to liver cancer. Mon's wife says their son used to tote a bottle of Emperador while selling bottled water to commuters. She says that just like Mon, he had started drinking in his teens, with his barkada. Eventually, he drank even when he was just by himself.

Mon may not say it, but his beloved brandy may be dulling not only the pain in his gangrenous foot, which for some reason he has wrapped in plastic, but also the pain of losing his son. He knows, too, that he may well end up like his boy — who left two of his children with Mon and his wife — if he doesn't stop drinking.

Mon argues, however, that putting aside the bottle is no guarantee that he will not end up six feet under soon after. He says, almost defensively, "I will die of pain without it."

The CAGE Quiz The CAGE (cut-annoyed-guilty-eye) questionnaire is a simple four-question test which may help a person become more aware of his or her use or abuse of alcohol. This widely used assessment instrument was developed by Dr. John Ewing, founding director of the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina. Take the Quiz Note: This test will only be scored correctly if you answer each one of the questions. 1. Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking? Yes No 2. Have people annoyed you by criticising your drinking? Yes No 3. Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking? Yes No 4. Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover (eye-opener)? Yes No Scoring: Alcohol dependence is likely if a person gives two or more positive answers. Or the take the quiz online.