Archive for category People
Death of Another Comrade
Posted by ayel in Blogging, Features, Leadership, People on March 10th, 2009
He lived to uphold the rights, especially of the weak, corrupted by the abusive rule
He lived to opposed oppression as caused by development aggression
He lived as an intelligent critic to all wicked
He lived to protect the environment
He lived to stand for what is right
He lived to value life
He lived
He was killed
— Lui –
WHEN I came home this afternoon the news on TVPatrol SocSKSarGen mentioned the name, Eliezer “Boy” Billanes and I my attention was glued on the report.
No, not again, I thought. He’s the nth activitist that has been killed in this country, another name in the long list of good men and women who had been killed because of their convictions.
I met Sir Boy at a multisectoral conference on various social issues back in college and in the mobilizations that followed. The people of South Cotabato is fortunate to have people like him who stands up for them.
He’s been active in the protests against large-scale copper and gold mining in Tampakan, South Cotabato.
He was shot dead at about 4:30PM yesterday, March 9, 2009 in Koronadal City, South Cotabato.
His death is a loss for the progressive community. But definitely, the fight will go on. This has just given his comrades all the more reason to stand up for justice.
*The photo above is from Kuya Lui’s blog
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Setting a Bad Example
LAST NIGHT, in this same internet shop, I happened to sit beside a middle-aged woman and a little boy. I figured they were chatting with somebody. I thought they were talking to the woman’s husband who might be working abroad. But I was wrong.
It was the child, about 12 years old, who was typing the messages for the woman. There were some English words that they couldn’t understand, which I volunteered to translate for them.
Later on, they received a message from the person on the other end of the line that said: “Show me your ass.”
They asked me what it meant. Before I translated it, I looked at the mother in the eye, wanting to ask her, “Are you sure you want your child to see how that caucasian makes a fool of you?”
After I told them what it meant, the kid said, “Ma, talikod na.” (Ma, turn around.) The woman did.
I felt enraged. In my mind I was asking myself, “What kind of mother is this woman beside me?”
A little later, more videos were popping up the screen. Suddenly, there was a video of a man who was about to show his manhood on cam. Laughing, the woman covered that portion of the screen and asked the boy to close it.
The owner of the internet shop told the woman to take a picture of herself and post it on social networking sites to attract foreigners. She also told the woman to prefer older men to young men. Most of the younger men, she said, do not have money. They are just looking for Filipinas who willingly take off their clothes on cam. They won’t send you dollars. It was like the owner of the shop was giving her a tutorial.
What on earth is happening to these women?
I didn’t wonder when I’ve read in Paolo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes and Michael Chrichton’s Next) Filipina prostitutes as characters.
On TV Patrol SOCSKSARGEN this afternoon, there was feature on the law that protects Filipina women from abuse through schemes like online dating, where Filipinas are matched to foreigners.
The case of the woman who was seated beside me last night is different. She was the one taking the risk. She even made his son an active participant in the risk-taking.
Things like this really make me sad. I wish I could do something.
*I once wrote poem of this theme before. It’s found on my old poetry site.
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The Woman Behind the Flag
Ms. Gupana flanked by Sarangani officials and representatives of various sectors
THE WOMAN behind the huge flag project, Grace Galindez-Gupana, was called to deliver a speech. She wasn’t introduced properly, so we didn’t know who she is except that she has something to do with ABS Herbs and a certain HalleluYAH Prophetic Global Tower Foundation. More about her feats here.
Her speech made me dizzy. She failed to establish the purpose of creating such a huge replica of the Philippine flag and bringing it to various provinces in the Philippines. She didn’t even give us the dimensions of the flag, the persons she commissioned to sew it, or the details of her effort of coming up with such an ambitious project. Moreover, it was the most culture- and gender-insensitive speech I have ever heard.
What I heard from her rhetoric are as follows:
- The Philippine flag that was to be unfurled isn’t the record holder of largest flag in the world. The largest flag is the flag of Israel, which was created also under her leadership. From her speech and from the leaflets they disseminated, I understood that her group is looking up to Israel, being God’s chosen land. The leaflet contained the holidays and celebrations of Israel. She also showed the 777 Yahveh’s Banner, which is actually a flag of Israel stitched side by side a flag of the Philippines.
- The government did not allow the unfurling of the flag at the Luneta Park.
- The administration of the University of the Philippines did not allow it to be unfurled at the Sunken Garden.
- Sarangani is the most beautiful province. Well, she sure said that of the other provinces she visited, too.
- We should elect young politicians. “May mga arthritis na ‘yan.’ She said that matter-of-factly. I believe it was supposed to be a sort of praise for our governor and vice-governor who are both young. However, she should have been mindful of the older ones who were also present.
- No gay or lesbian has ever gotten rich. Or, verbatim, “Walang bakla o tibo na yumaman! Tandaan n’yo yan!”
- You can earn 7,000 to 15,000 pesos a day from sago’t gulaman. In her words, “Sago’t gulaman? Tubig lang ‘yan at brown sugar,” but she told us that she made a fortune selling sago’t gulaman in front of Quezon City Hall.
- She will be recognized as one of country’s top women entrepreneurs.
Her team has spent about 40 million pesos already. That includes her travels around the country.
All throughout her speech, she sounded like a cross between a charismatic TV evangelist and a traditional politician.
We were all very puzzled about her motivation. Is it business? Is it evangelism? Is it a call for national transformation? Is it just publicity?
One thing is clear. This effort is bewilderingly crazy.
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An Observation: Today’s Kids Can Mingle Better
WHEN I first joined a national event, not so long ago, I have always been intimidated by participants from other regions, especially those from Luzon or those from big cities. That is but natural for a boy from a small and almost unknown province.
Later on, as we do tasks together, I realized that there wasn’t much difference. In fact, I felt like we from the provinces have richer experience.
Nowadays, I think it is a lot easier for the kids to get along with people from other places. The gap between them has been bridged by the internet. Most of the kids now have friendster accounts and most of them are updated with the latest hype. The internet appeared to be a homogenizing factor.
Assessing the attitudes of our students now, I can see that they have lesser inhibitions when it comes to mingling with other kids.
I wish I had known blogging when I was in high school.
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It’s Pacquiao Holiday Tomorrow
Posted by ayel in Current Events, Features, People, Sarangani on December 6th, 2008
ONE OF my only two classmates in the graduate school told us this morning that we’ll probably not meet tomorrow because of the Pacquiao-dela Hoya Fight. Well, you know, it seems like the world stops when Manny Pacquiao step on the boxing ring. And it has always been like that.
The more will it be like that tomorrow as he faces the Golden Boy of boxing, Oscar dela Hoya. I’m sure, it will be one momentuous event in history. I am not really a boxing fan though I’ve tried it when I was kid, having lived beside a family of boxers. I have even worn the boxing gloves that Manny once used when he was still beginning his boxing career. No kidding. My cousins were Manny’s sparring mates then and they often trained near our house while we watched. Read the rest of this entry »
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