Remember Rico J. Puno’s almost-immortal song, where he declares he can afford only a Christmas card and a stroll around Luneta Park to give his sweetheart?

Well, recalling that song and wanting to check out Hallmark’s 2025 Christmas cards collection, I went to the bookstore, only to find that there were no cards on sale as yet (this was last week); the only cards displayed were for birthdays and wedding anniversaries.

A Christmas without Christmas cards? Blame the age of cellphones and text messaging? But then, how many postmen are left? Where I live, the post office was closed down weeks, maybe months ago; now we have to take a ride to go to another post office. (I received a card from Canada and paid nearly P300 for the service.)

If this is progress, I should ask my children if their children know what a Christmas card looks like, or if they have ever received or sent one.

I should also ask parents if their kids can write in longhand. “Yes, Miguelito does, but his handwriting is horrible,” said the mother of a 10-year-old boy, who is in grade 5 in a private school. If he doesn’t mind, I’d like to see samples of his “sent” text messages! (At least, said his mother, this kid can tell time by looking at an old-fashioned clock, the one with a long hand and a short hand.)

What should worry our teachers and DepEd is not just a grader’s ability to read but also how well they comprehend what they’re reading. A recent survey puts at 85 percent the number of graders who “struggle” to read – only 15 percent of them in grades one to three show some degree of reading proficiency.

Alas, the report does not include data on their writing skills: How well do the children compose their thoughts to put them down in writing?

 I have yet to meet a teacher who can explain in one paragraph how the human brain works, in such a way that if you cannot read, you cannot write.