MANILA, Philippines — The last of the 10 Commandments of God read by Moses from two stone tablets stated: Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife. So every Catholic must oblige.

But what I am more than grateful about was that in the 10 Commandments, nothing was stated: Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s car. If that was crafted as the 11th Commandment, I’ll probably be a hardened sinner by now.  Every morning when I wake up, I would stare at my neighbor’s Suzuki Swift without fail. Even if it often stands with an American SUV, two German luxury cars and a Japanese-made AUV in his garage, the Suzuki Swift still shines above all of them.

The Suzuki Swift never ceased to charm me with its petite looks. Almost round-shaped, this hatch-back brings the youthfulness from its occupants because of its highly-spirited aura.

The day came when I suddenly had the feeling that my neighbor’s eyes are now trained to my garage where new a Suzuki Swift in the color called “Ablaze Red Pearl” sat in front of my garage for a week of test drive.

With bolder, bigger headlamps, wider tires mounted on newly-designed mags, new grille styling, new front chin with fog lamps and new rear end look, my neighbor must be struck with jealousy by now seeing how the Swift grew into a more alluring sub-compact five-door hatchback.

The Swift also looked bigger with a new set of 16-inch alloys from its previous 14-inchers.

Without window tint, the body curves of the Swift are more defined and neat-looking. This is why I hate window tints.

Even the seats were changed from upholstery to black leather. The interior of the new Swift 1.4 A/T is sexier with two-tone combination of black and silver linings that connote a touch of elegance.

For a price of P769,000, you’ll be surprised to see audio controls on the three-spoke steering wheel. The meter clusters are also a combination of analog speedometer, and RPM gauges; and digital gear level, odometer, overdrive indicator and trip meter monitors.

Japanese auto engineering dictates smaller engine and bigger space. That is correct with the Swift’s 1.4-liter power plant that may be small in dimension but powerful with 130 horses under its bonnet.

Passenger ingress and egress are easy with big head room and leg space.

It may be the smallest in my neighbor’s brood of cars, but the Swift appears to be the busiest.  Easy to drive, fuel-efficient, and environment-friendly, my neighbor’s Swift is hardly seen parked in his garage.

If it’s not him driving the car everyday, it would be his wife. It’s so woman-friendly that even my 20-year-old daughter Tish volunteered to change its flat tire on the rear left – all by herself.

Light-bodied and agile, the new Swift swiftly speeds through SLEx with its aerodynamic shape. Round-shaped but wide track makes it stable in cornering.  Its four-speed A/T gearing is aptly spaced in between for smooth, seamless shifting.

One thing that turns me off about the Swift is its limited cargo space.  But if push comes to shove that I have to bring my mountain bike along, there’s the option to fold the rear seats flat to be able to accommodate it but with dismantled tires.

And why is there no reading lamp beside the rear view mirror?

Other than those, I have no other complaints.

After the car was pulled out, I was back to my old habit – desiring my neighbor’s car.