I live on the lower garden floor of a high rise. Residents above me are unaware of the anger I feel against them when debris is thrown out of their balconies down to my garden.

It is a privilege having a garden when living smack in the center of any financial district. Having a garden in an urban center is a luxury anywhere in the world. This luxury of a garden in a metropolis is cause for joy.

But not when every morning, I find debris in my garden, garbage thrown out from my Filipino neighbors above me. I've lived in high rises in other countries, but only in the Philippines have I experienced the thoughtlessness of residents who throw debris out of their balconies.

The sources are almost untraceable-could have come from the 4th floor, or 7th, or 12th, or 18th. How can one find out without knocking at every door? And how does one get the guilty, even when confronted, to admit to the crime?

An unbelievable variety is thrown out of the balconies of the units above me. From these high-rise balconies of this supposedly expensive residences, drop items like cigarette butts, lots of them, landing in my flower pots; used cotton tips; baby diapers clean and used; gift wrappers, and definitely candy and food foils; peanut shells, fruit peelings of lanzones and poncams, and seeds of sampalok and champoy.

I'm normal, so I fuss and inwardly fume as I clean up all of the debris thrown out by the people above me. These Filipinos, mostly superstitious, ought to know that their thoughtlessness cause others ill feelings directed at them. Don't these litterbugs fear that others cussing them will bring bad karma? Superstitious people believe that others' ill wishes affect them. These litterbugs should be told that someone is wishing them ill. What if the recipient of all these debris were a mangkukulam? These litterbugs would be suffering from voodoo pin-pricks in their butts.

Karma is very real to the superstitious Filipinos. If you know of people who throw garbage out of balconies, remind them of the fury sent their way by the recipient of the garbage. Remind this person that every morning, the recipient of the garbage is muttering bad words and ill wishes against the litterbugs. That cigarette butts thrown outside their balcony, earn them bad luck all day. That is really scary karma. Bad luck plus all sorts of unfortunate things are the sumpa, a curse, that is wished your way when you're a litterbug.

The moral of all these is: If you don't want this type of karma on you all day, don't throw garbage out of your high-rise. You do that, and the person below who must clean up your debris will be making mura at you. All day, all week long, bad things will happen to you because someone has leveled a sumpa against you-that's bad karma.

The litterbug victim might force the high rise administration to write a Dear Everybody letter imposing a fine on anyone caught the throwing garbage out of balconies.

A beautiful 1-bedroom, 40 sqm is available, with balcony overlooking the recreation area on the 3rd floor of a brand-new high rise in Alabang, Muntinlupa across from Festival Mall. It's a rush sale so I can pay for this new condo with the garden. I hear that Malaya gets a million hits from OFWs, and someone in that million may be looking for just this bargain condo.