PARENTHESES

Ala-ala ito ng mga luha, ala-ala ito ng nagbabagang lupa…

33 years ago today, on September 21, 1972 President Marcos officially became Dictator of the Philippines by issuing Proclamation 1081 placing the entire country under Martial Law.

Although I was still in grade school the day Martial Law was declared but I grew up to witness and experience its aftermath 14 years thence.

I remember as a kid we were required to sing the Bagong Lipunan Hymn everyday during flag ceremonies after the National Anthem and the Panatang Makabayan. I can still sing the Bagong Lipunan hymn in memory:

“may bagong silang, may bago nang buhay, bagong bansa, bagong galaw, sa bagong lipunan. magbabago ang lahat, tungo sa pag-unlad, at ating itanghal, bagong lipunan!”

During this period, war was raging in Mindanao so our schools were supplied with relief goods courtesy of the USAID. We get rations of Skimmed Milk, canned potatoes and of course the Nutribuns which we use as ersatz gloves for our made-up boxing matches.

But such carefree and playful memories of my chidhood was overshadowed by the sad realities of time.

Growing up in a war-torn land under Martial Law made me witness on how it is to be ruled by the military. Everything was controlled by the military; check points were set up at every street corner, curfew was imposed, random house searches were conducted deliberately, rampant illegal arrests, etc. There’s no day that passed without a news or two about arrests, massacres, salvagings and ambuscades. It was a period of living dangerously.

What I have only witnessed during my childhood became a living reality for me when I eventually joined the struggle against the Marcos Dictatorship during my teens. It was during this period that I experienced first hand the ruthlessness of the fascist Dicatatorship. During those trying times, we would consider ourselves lucky enough to survive arrest and torture. At least one can still live to tell tale of horrors. But many had the misfortune of a grimmer consequnce by being made to become permanently invisible or liquidated by the fascists.

Like many of those who have endured, the memory of friends and comrades who disappeared or perished in the struggle and to the thousands of faceless and nameless victims will forever remind us about Martial Law. A constant reminder for us to continously resist any attempts to revive Martial Law under a new name or form and to prevent it from ever happening again.

Never Again, Never Again..

Andres Bonifacio, Ama ng Rebolusyong Pilipino, tagapagtatag ng Katipunan, bayaning Pilipino; batang Tondo at may monumento sa Caloocan.

Malamang kesa hindi, sa ganitong mga kataga na lang natin naaalala ang isa sa pinaka dakilang bayani ng ating bansa. Malamang kesa hindi rin, wala tayong pakialam kung hanggang ganito lang ang nalalaman natin tungkol kay Mang Andres.

Sino nga ba ang magkaka-interes kung mismong ang Gobyerno natin ang siyang nagpapawalang halaga sa pag-gunita sa buhay at pakikibaka ng taong kinalala bilang Ama ng Rebolusyong Pilipino. Sino nga ba ang magkaka-interes malaman kung nagkaroon ba nang katarungan ang kanyang pagkamatay kung mismong ang Gobyerno natin ay patuloy na pinapatay maging ang kanyang ala-ala. Read more…

The present Political crisis besetting our country brings out the brightest and the dumbest comments you can get from people. I agree that everybody has the right to express his or her opinion, but getting opinions that are few bricks shy of a load can really flip my lid.

One already gets a daily dose of stupid opinions from TV and the newspapers. But take a stroll round bloggosphere and you get an additional dose of such stupidity.

I can’t help getting upset when I read posts or comments like:

“dapat itigil na ang mga rali nakaka-istorbo lang sa traffic”
“Huwag nang mag-people power gulo lang yan at nagsasayang lang ng panahon”
“let’s move on with our lives”
“kami dapat ang mas may karapatan dahil nagbabayad kami ng tax hindi yang mga maiingay na nagrarali na wala namang mga trabaho’t hindi nagbabayad ng tax”
“hindi na tayo umaasenso rali pa ng rali”
“etc..etc…”

To hear comments like these coming from Mike Defensor, Toting Bunye, Chavit Singson, Raul Gonzales, The Prospero’s Pichay and Nograles, Joe de Venecia, FVR and the rest of the GMA cabal, is at least tolerable because it’s their job. They’re being paid for their natural talents of being stupid to defend their Queen. Or from businessmen who doesn’t really care if the President is a SOB or the bitch herself, as long as the President is their SOB, or their bitch.

But it’s sickening to hear such comments from average individuals who consider themselves “educated”. From stuck-ups who suddenly loves GMA because he got caught in a traffic at EDSA caused by an anti-GMA rally. As if traffic is not a daily calamity in Metro Manila. From people who suddenly felt they’re above the rest simply because they pay taxes. As if they’ll pay taxes voluntarily if it’s not automatically deducted from their salaries. Besides, don’t they realize that even if one doesn’t pay his individual tax, like everyone else, one is still taxed by the Government in many other ways? From people who think that the reason for all these mess are the rallies and not GMA. As if it was not through a Peoples Power that GMA was able to grab the Presidency. As if it was not due to Peoples Power that we enjoy our freedom today.

I don’t know if this is just a display of utter hypocrisy or naivete. Perhaps it’s just plain and simple stupidity. In our country you can get elected to anything, as long as you get all the fools on your side. That’s why we dont run short of stupid politicians because there are more fools in our country than there are people.

“As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it, so reasonable arguments, challenges to magnanimity, and appeals to sympathy or justice, are folly when we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa-constrictors.” – William James (1842–1910)

Scientific name: homo crocodylus
Scientific name: homo boa constrictor imperator

Their various local/common names are:

Abalos, Abante, Abayon, Ablan, Abubakar, Albano, Alfelor, Almario, Alvarez (Antonio), Alvarez (Genaro), Amante, Amatong, Amin, Andaya, Antonino, Apostol, Aquino (Rey), Arbison, Arroyo (Iggy), Badelles, Banaag, Barinaga, Baterina, Bersamin, Bondoc, Bravo, Bueser, Bulut, Cabilao, Cagas, Cajes, Cari, Carlos, Carmona, Castelo-Daza, Castro, Celeste, Cerilles, Chatto, Chavez, Chungalao, Clarete, Codilla, Cua (Guillermo), Cua (Junie), Cuenco, Dadivas, Dangwa, Datumanong, De Guzman, de Venecia, Defensor (Arthur), Defensor (Matias), del Mar, Diaz, Dimaporo, Dominguez, Domogan, Duavit, Dumarpa, Dumpit, Durano, Dy (Consuelo), Dy (Faustino), Ecleo, Ermita-Buhain, Espina, Espino, Espinosa (Edgar), Espinosa (Emilio), Estrella, Falcon, Figueroa, Firmalo, Floirendo, Fua, Garcia (Albert), Garcia (Vincent), Gidaya, Gonzalez, Gozos, Gullas, Hizon, Ipong, Jala, Jalosjos-Carreon (Cecilia), Jalosjos (Cesar), Jaraula, Javier, Joaquin, Joson, Kintanar, Lacson, Lagbas, Lagman, Lapus, Libanan, Macarambon, Madamba, Magsaysay (Eulogio), Magsaysay (Ma. Milagros), Malanyaon, Mangudadatu, Marañon, Mercado, Miranda, Mitra, Nantes, Nepomuceno, Nicolas, Nieva, Nograles, Olaño, Ortega, Pablo, Pichay, Puentevella, Puno, Ramiro, Real, Remulla (Jesus Crispin), Rodriguez, Roces, Romualdo, Roquero, Salapuddin, Salceda, Sandoval, Seachon-Lanete, Silverio, Singson, Solis, Soon-Ruiz, Suarez, Sumulong, Susano, Sy-Alvarado, Syjuco, Taliño-Santos, Teodoro, Teves, Tomawis, Tulagan, Unico, Umali (Aurelio), Uy (Edwin), Valdez, Valencia, Vargas, Velarde, Veloso, Villafuerte, Villarosa, Violago, Wacnang, Zamora (Manuel), Zalcita, and Zubiri.

Malacanang hailed the outcome of the Congress plenary as a demonstration of our political maturity. Indeed, our “honorable” Congressmen and women has shown us how they matured from being crooks into human crocodiles and boa constrictors. Congress showed us how it can smother truth by twisting law and manipulating numbers. How it can preserve the will and power of a tyrant not by pieces but wholesale. How it can justify a lie and make crime an exemplary deed for good governance. For Malacanang it is a sign of political maturity when lies become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State.

We saw how GMA allies one after the other recited their mantra, ad nauseam: rule of law, majority rule, flimsy arguments about conspiracy to oust GMA, putting an end to division, political bickering and moving on to economic recovery. And they casted their votes, 158 of them junking the impeachment complaints against GMA. All 158 of them never saw any reason why GMA should be impeached. All 158 of them believed GMA never cheated. All 158 of them believed that by absolving GMA unity will be achieved and the political and economic crisis of our country will be solved. Instead of giving GMA her day in an impeachment court, these “honorable” men and women opted to immediately absolve her by scrapping the impeachment complaints on grounds of technical insufficiency.

They have presented flamboyant legalese, exercising elocutions by abusing latin maxims and inventing even new words like “dinkyfied” and introducing alien concepts like “prejudicial questions”. But not one among the 158 “honorable” men and women has the faculty of understanding things by using common sense. You have a President admitting a lapse in judgment, an act that most likely can result to a criminal offense. You have Garcillano fleeing and hiding, an act that can only be interpreted simply as running away from guilt. You have the tape that says it all, even if it is not, by law, acceptable as evidence in court. But this is not a matter of legal procedures, it is a political question anchored upon moral grounds. How can they not see these? Their common sense must have went ahead of them to a vacation abroad courtesy of Malacanang.

Congress has finally interred the impeachment case against GMA. Together with it they have buried truth and all that is left of my faith in our system and its institutions. What can we expect from the government now? The very body that is tasked to make laws are the ones twisting the law to hide the truth and deny justice. According to Gloria Steinem, “Law and justice are not always the same. When they aren’t, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it.” This might just be what’s going to happen next.

Here’s the Unity Statement of the Bukluran para sa Katotohanan forwarded to me by fellow blogger MLQIII. I’m posting it here to manifest my agreement and solidarity.I enjoin my countrymen who can read this to do the same.

Starting Monday, September 5, 2005 when Congress deliberates the impeachment of GMA till GMA steps down, let us unite, stand and struggle for truth.

Your stand can make a difference.

“The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is for Good Men to Do Nothing” –Edmund Burke

We come from all walks of life, from different political, cultural, and economic persuasions, different points of view. But in diversity, we find a cause for unity. That cause for unity is our common objective to secure the truth.

We all seek the truth. We want the truth to come out. And yet every means for seeking the truth has been frustrated; every avenue for arriving at the truth has been blocked; and every opportunity to find the truth is being closed.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s response to our call for the truth has been to suppress evidence, hide her accomplices, engage in a grand cover-up, sow fear, foment distrust and use every instrument at her disposal to encourage division among our people.

We will not be divided in these critical times.

We say with one voice, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must go. For the good of the country, she must go. For the sake of our nation’s future, she must go. For the preservation of hope as a motive force in our national life, she must go.

We are united by the belief that this crisis must be resolved in a manner that is peaceful and democratic. Without the truth, there cannot be peace; without the truth, there is no genuine democracy. The truth must set our nation free.

Unite for the truth. Demand the truth. Defend the truth.

Kami ay ang Bukluran Para sa Katotohanan.

AKBAYAN Citizen’s Action Party,Ateneo Concerned Faculty and Youth,Bangon Pilipinas, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Be Not Afraid, Black & White Movement, Citizens for TRUTH (Transparency, Responsibility, Unity, Trust, Hope), Citizens for Truth, Resignation, Impeachment, or Ouster (C4T), Coalition for National Solidarity,Counsels for the Defense of Civil Liberties (CODAL), De La Salle, FPJP Movement, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Interfaith Movement for Truth, Justice and Genuine Change (IFM), Kilusan ng Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME), Laban ng Masa, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Peoples Assembly for Genuine Alternatives to Social Apathy (PAG-ASA), Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), Reporma, Union of Muslims for Morality and Truth (UMMAT), United Opposition (UNO), Unity for Truth and Justice, UP AWARE, UP Diliman Student Council (UPD USC), White Ribbon Movement, Women March, Youth DARE

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