Sticky Like a Gecko

The Tokay Gecko is a nocturnal arboreal gecko, ranging from northeast India and Bangladesh, throughout Southeast Asia, Philippines to Indonesia and western New Guinea. Its native habitat is rain-forest trees and cliffs, and it also frequently adapts to rural human habitations, roaming walls and ceilings at night in search of insect prey. The Tokay Gecko is known as a Tuko or Toko in the Philippines, Tokek in Indonesian/Javanese, and tắc kè in Vietnamese, for its characteristic vocalizations. People have mixed feelings about it ranging from terror of the belief that its feet can tear your skin off to admiration for its entertaining vocalizations; in the Philippines, most people respect it and value it because it eats dangerous pests such as scorpions and giant centipedes.[

When the Tokay bites, they often won't let go for a few minutes or even up to an hour or more, and it is very difficult to remove without causing harm to the gecko. Submerging it partially in water may settle it down, encouraging the lizard to let go, but it causes harm and stress. A less stressful method is to simply put a drop of vinegar on the gecko's nose, which sometimes makes them let go. Its bite is very powerful. For this reason, it is considered to be best as an ornamental animal for experienced reptile owners.


The Tokay Gecko or Toko is quickly becoming a threatened species in The Philippines because of indiscriminate hunting. Collecting, transporting and trading geckos without a license can be punishable by up to twelve years in jail and a fine of up to 1,000,000 pesos under Republic Act 9147 in addition to other applicable international laws. Chinese buyers and other foreign nationals are rumored to pay thousands of dollars for large specimens, reportedly because of their alleged medicinal value or as commodities in the illegal wildlife trade. -WIKIPEDIA



The Gecko Politicians and Powerful People of the Philippines.

The sticky attitude, greediness, and lack of delicadeza (decency) of some powerful people in the Philippines, specially of some politicians; paved way to a Filipino maxim, "Kapit Tuko", which means to stick like a Gecko. And some of those considered to be very prominent sticky gecko individuals are; the late dictator, former President Ferdinand Marcos; former President and now lower house Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; and now, the under impeachment trial Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. 

Some popular "Geckos" are less sticky, more subtle, less courageous, somehow wiser, or maybe (hopefully) soft-hear-ted; some of them had tried but were not as persistent. Therefore,  because of that, I need not have to mention their names. Nonetheless, like their animal counterparts, human geckos are everywhere in the Philippines; and it is a sad reality that they are accepted as part of our culture. And it is very unfortunate that unlike the tokay gecko , the human gecko has no medicinal value; rather, they are society's malignant tumor. Moreover, unlike tumor, they are corrupting, malignant, and contagious; and they have no care contaminating their own family with their disease. That is why in the Philippines, families of gecko politicians  are everywhere: from Presidency to the Senate, to the Lower House of Representatives; from Governors to Mayors, up to Barangay Captains, even up to the Kabataang Barangay Chairman.  

These Gecko Politicians not only are sticky, they are also cunning and callous, like crocodiles their skin are thick, their faces are hard, and their jaws and fangs are solid. They are less grossly horrifying than crocodiles but they are more greedy, more damaging, and more dangerous. Moreover, their lust for power is insatiable; and they will not stop. Their legacy is greed, which they willingly passed on to their children's children.