SCORING HITS AND MISSES

Folks, you read nothing under Scoring Hits and Misses? That's how the intel virus here works. It just makes the cursor disappear and then voila! you turn into a new page with nothing in it.

Let's get to the point:

1. Why is the Maguindanao Massacre until now unresolved? with only the Ampatuan junior jailed? And who knows if they would get someone who looks like him to stay inside the jail but the real one is able to get out of it using another Belo face?

Everything and anything is possible in the land of Mang Pandoy.

But I venture the idea that the reason why so many crimes are unresolved, not only the MM is because our sense of justice waits for us when we get to heaven. Getting justice here on earth does not look all right. It seems our country and city folks equate justice only with heavenly justice and justice on earth (just see how Dondon Lanuza up for executiion in the Middle East finds it difficult to have the punishment be commted to life sentence or pardon) is just too difficult to attain.

The reason for this is that those in charge of moral governance are also willy-nilly as to what justice should be -- should it be for my friends, my relatives or the people of the Philippines? The Philippine priests are now on the spotlight especially in terms of moral governance. Some are more popish than the pope as some quarters have said for coming up with a contrary opinion than Pope Benedict that the condom is okay to be used especially to prevent the contamination of AIDS.

In a radio interview, I had told David Nye of DZRJ, actually the condom is just a piece of rubber and the priests are putting too much sacredness into its use. Why it is just to prevent the meeting of the sperm and the egg. And why shouldn't couples do so? By saying these couples should not use the condom, they are intruding too much into the bodies of people. Now I thought the priests should concern themselves with people's souls, and not with pieces of rubber? Hi Pope Benedict, i commisserate with you but please don't change your stance. 95 million Filipinos to feed? That's too many already, please.

2. Why are radio media people saying the MM is bad, and then in the next breath, air these ads that put down the listeners with statements like: "Kahit magpabango ka, may body odor ka pa rin, (use Rexona)" or "...Eeeek, socks stink (use ambipure) as it the whole day of the listeners should revolve around always checking their armpits and feet all the time as these ads are aired on prime time (while we are having breakfast, and every 15 minutes?

You see Folks, when radio broadcasters speak with great authority on political matters as they seem to be united with people who are for dictatorial and use of inhuman rights, then allow their spiels to be followed by the ads above, then they are deadening the impact of their statements and make the listeners especially those with low education to revert to bigotry, ignorance, and apathy. They do not cultivate strong political stance at all by doing that method of using the broadcast medium. And the person who conceived of the sequence of such spiels and ads, and the person/s who wrote those ads have that idea that subliminal messages can turn on the cash register for their products at the megamall tills without regarding the directions of our nation. The latter is just too eager to grab oodles and oodles of pesos with declining value in the market in exchange for dollars which their multinational companies earn and which are transferred to their headquarters in the foreign countries.

Then as our working folks go to their offices, along EDSA, what do you see? Billboards containing "yes you can, Juan and Juana, you can make our country great!" Wrong, Folks, you see, couples in very sexy poses, and beauteous models in skimpy clothing advertising this and that product. And so coming from the home and going to the office our working force are reminded of their personal lives again -- "ahh I left my wife in the bedroom," or "my lover, where is he now?" Cha-cha-charing, as the swardspeak goes.

Sex permeates the advertising world that makes the viewers revert to their personal selves. And so what kind of nationalism, or love for change are we talking about? No Sirs, No Mesdames, our country is not really bound to attain Great Changes under PNoy with Great Parents, unless he puts his foot down on the kinds of advertising, the kinds of media that should prevail in our country. And putting down his foot does not mean trampling on media rights but reminding them to be more conscientious in their use so that our people can recover and strengthen our humanity as we face the many difficulties of living in our country.

Well that's how the cookie crumbles, when the economy is controlled by peso-eyed advertisers.

Diyos at Bayan

Last night, 28 March 2009, Bro. Eddie Villanueva of Jesus is Lord
Movement launched his presidential candidacy at the
full-house-Araneta Coliseum attended by his supporters, lay leaders
and some former and present political officials. Bro. Eddie describes
himself as a leader for God and country, Diyos at Bayan. And his
program are 7-fold centering on eradication of poverty, and stoppage
of the labor export, among others.

What does this mean for us, selectors of leaders? Bro. Eddie raises
the ante for all other candidates: as he has brought in a quality of a
leader -- that ability or possession of a spiritual view that God
guides the moves of every individual which is highly avoided by those
who think that there should be separation of Church and State. He also
said that he is taking a leave of absence as pastor of the JIL
Movement to concentrate on campaigning for his candidacy nationwide.
In answer to the clamor of his supporters, he agreed to be a candidate
again based on two conditions: organizational ability and logistics.

On the other hand, Among Ed Panlilio on March 26, responded to three
questions to a forum participant at the Third Force Meeting led by
convenors Bro. Melo and Patrick Pantaleon: On Marcos, no way will he
give in to a request from Imelda to declare him a hero; on
reproductive health: as a priest he will oppose it, but as a
politician he will allow it but question the legality of the law; and
on whether he will prosecute Arroyo for her crimes, he said yes,
categorically.


KAMALAPINA 28 Marso 2009

Si Bro. Eddie Villanueva, lider ng Jesus is Lord Movement ay
nagdeklara na tatakbo siyang pangulo ng Pilipinas sa 2010 elections.
Nagsalita siya sa Araneta Coliseum na punung-puno ng kanyang mga
supporters, lay leaders at ilang dati at kasalukuyang political
officials. Nilarawan ni Bro. Eddie and sarili niya na bilang isang
lider para sa Diyos at Bayan. Ang kanyang programa sa pagbabago ay
nakatuon sa pag-aalis ng kahirapan, at pagpapatigil sa labor export na
nagdadala lamang ng pangaabuso sa karamihan ng mga babaeng domestic
helper sa mga banyagang bansa sa Gitnang silangan.
Tinanggap niya ang hamon ng kanyang mga supporters batay sa dalawang
kundisyon, pagkakaroon ng organisasyon at pondo para mangampanya.

Sa kabilang dako, noong a-26 ng Marso, si Among Ed Panlilio,
gubernador ng Pampanga ay nagsalita naman sa Third Force Meeting ng
mga alternative groups na naghahangad din ng pagbabago sa lipunan at
lalahok sa pulitika sa 2010 sa ilalim ng pamumuno ng mga convenors na
sina Bro. Melo Pastor at Patrick Pantaleon. Hindi pa siya
nakakapagpasya kung sasali sa 2010 subalit kung siya ay magiging
pangulo, sabi niya na una, hindi niya idedeklara si Marcos na bayani;
tungkol sa reproductive health, susuportahan niya ito kung siya ay
mananalo subali’t kukuwestiyonin niya ang legalidad ng batas; at
pangatlo, ipo-prosecute niya si Arroyo sa mga krimen na nagawa nito sa
taumbayan pag-upo niya sa puwesto.

philippine political panorama

so many voices, so many ideas about changes in our country, the Philippines. we are drowning in too many slogans -- we want change, we want new leaders, we want pure heartedness. yes, the philippines is entering another similar era like the one before the fall of the dictatorship. if the alternative groups handle this well, it is most likely that there will be a great revolutionary change through the ballot by 2010. but if the people remain quiet, and just watch how the groups are discussing, arguing, and quarreling among each other, then not much change shall occur.

but i am optimistic about the outcome of this sudden surge of voices in the air. we have not had that for a long time, ever since edsa 20 actually. people were at first afraid after that time, then they became desensitized to all talks about clean politics, then they woke up suddenly when the manila penn siege happened. but the wake up was only a great interest in politics, not exactly participation. people will discuss but not participate actively in politics.

then in the elections of 2004, the urban poor came and in droves supported fpj, their interest only to be thwarted by the hello garci method of insuring a favorable outcome for the incumbent.

when fpj died, the more the urban poor quieted down. but then in 2007, there was a higher zeal to bring about change, and the opposition won overwhelmingly over the administration candidates. lampaso, wika nga. presidential impeachment moves over mismanagement, corruption and other charges however failed and failed all the time as the house of reps is controlled strongly by the administration, using carrot and stick all the time to make the reps toe its line.

now it's 2009. we are all gearing up for another showdown, in 2010, this time with many contenders for the presidential post. Among Ed, Manny Villar, Kabayan Noli de Castro, Loren Legarda, and even newly-elected senator Chiz Escudero with Ping Lacson at the tail-end. The hopefuls are all enthusiastic about being tossed in the limelight as prime contenders for the highest post of the land.

So now, the people are watching again -- kara y kruz, manalo-matalo, sa pula sa itim, etcetera. 2010 will be a time for them to earn cash or merit good leaders who will guide them to prosperity and peace. meanwhile, the abu sayyaf is having a heyday, capturing and holding hostage innocent victims.

as the political stories are unfolding, the women's movement is in the doldrums with a whimpering show of strength in backing up nicole, the raped-turned around victim changing her story. in the other settings, women's groups are creating an edge in the economic sector -- both underground and overground. Teresita Sy-Coson is holding her ground as one of the primemovers in the Sy empire's capturing international recognition of their financial accumulations. Others are ms. Juan of Figaro Coffee, and a host of quiet women-achievers. Unfortunately, in the field of politics, only Legarda seems to be consistent in playing an equal field with the men, although not much of her bills are being talked about. Other senators like Pia Cayetano, Jamby Madrigal and Miriam Defensor-Santiago now and then have issues to talk about in the media but on the whole remain second or even tertiary as important sources of ideas compared to men who hog the media limelight when it comes to talking about national and local issues. More so in the house of reps, where women's voices are terribly muted.

Yet, the most significant field where women should count is in politics. Liza Masa is a good voice of the left, but sometimes the too many demonstrations she and her groups hold in the streets make the people demo-phobic. They should try varied methods of approaching political issues instead of the cut-and-dried marching in the streets.

In the alternative movement, we need another Cory-like inspiration of the 80's when Marcos the dictator rules the country, someone who can rally the people to move as one in toppling corrupt, incorrigibly corrupt, and worst corrupt administrations ever.

Where is he or she? Or even where are they? In the next months we hope to find the person or persons strong enough to face the legal, political and all kinds of battles.

Minorities and maps

Cory Cojuangco-Aquino came to power after the martial law regime, the dictatorship of Marcos. Barack Obama now is in power after 8 years of Bush administration full of lying, and an unprecedented economic recession that could drive the US to a full-blown civil war if not stopped right away. Cory worked for the peaceful transition of the country into a democratic state. Obama is now working for a peaceful recovery of the state of comfort the Americans used to have.

Why do minorities achieve power after times of inhumanity? What is it in their character to be able to take on the challenge of accepting the need to help, to serve and to be truly effective in turning the tide of adversities?

It is not and never easy to steer a country to a peaceful state where people would still believe that democracy can work. Leaders have to contend with many sectors, forces of reaction not wanting to shake up their hold on power, or wealth. But it is the appeal of human reason, to the Christian spirit, that humane spirit of helping the other person, the need to share blessings -- both knowledge and material wealth -- which shapes the kind of leaders there are.

I received a uniformal message from US Pres. Barack re his speech yesterday and it was full of plans to recovery. We in the Philippines have not had such a grand speech for a long, long time and coming from a sincere person. So our duty now is to search for that person, the one true leader who will lead us from the morass of ignorance, of lack of willpower to change, and will generate hope in every Filipino, man, woman, child, elderly and the country in general. Come 2010,let us make sure that no more cheating would occur.

Lastly, allow me to reveal that everytime I see our map in a magazine, or an atlas, and surrounded by other countries, I feel a tugging in my heart, telling me everytime that this is the same land that our heroes and heroines fought for for us to have our own national identity and spirit. This was the same feeling I had the first time I looked at a map in 1981 to find out where the airplane I was going to ride from Manila to Amsterdam would pass. And I felt very low then because the plane from Europe was not going straight to Manila - it would still pass by Hong Kong, because the Philippines was not a direct landing place then. We were really a Third World country then, and until now, i suppose.

Henceforth, let it be a demand, an order for everyone: everytime you are hopeless about the country, about our people, look at our map and feel a surge of nationalistic feelings. Feel that love for the ordinary folks and act.

On presidential palaces

I read the history of the White House in Wash.DC this afternoon and I felt my heart skip a beat. How could a half-black president sleep in a huge house full of memories of people who lived during the colonial era and some of whom had a hand in keeping the black people in bondage? How do he and his family feel now walking on all its floors knowing that some of those people had hobnobbed with the royalties of various countries and did not mention anything at all about the black people's participation in the national affairs?

I thought it was very eerie seeing how history is turning upside down now -- that the black people are represented and a person of that race, Barack Obama, is leading a nation of 52 states with histories of varying states of treatment of their ancestors. Maybe there is a reason for all of these happenings, an unfathomable rationale that the world is turning around more rightfully.

The book, the title of which was just plain The White House, gave a textual parade of all the residents of that House and how it underwent several overhauling as the materials could not withstand the tests of time and weather. One prominent aspect of that history is the highest regard that the occupants had for the building, which could be readily understood as it symbolizes the shelter of the person occupying the highest position of the land.

In the Philippines, we also have the Malacanang Palace as its counterpart, but when Cory Conjuangco-Aquino succeeded after Marcos, the dictator was booted out, she had chosen not to live in that Palace as it brought her gross memories of the assassination of her husband and the many incidents surrounding his incarceration during martial law. Maybe Cory would be seen as too sensitive as to skip that opportunity of living in that highly important building. Or she loved Ninoy more than her historical role of continuing the saga of the people's search for genuine democracy geographically. Nonetheless, we commend her courage in offering and risking her life to confront Marcos at a time when it was too dangerous to do so.

But if we are going to be true to our work as change agents of society, I believe that the greater demand for us is to be able to show that every corner of our nation is a palace in itself and its inhabitants are royalties who deserve all the respect of their human rights.Let the presidential residence remain as a symbol, but not the one and highest symbol of power, as the power of the people resides in every square mile of the country.

Dealing with History

I have always loved historical accounts, both local and international. In fact my love of philosophy stems from knowing how the philosophers had lived and died. I think it is fascinating going to the past, especially now that I am reading the History of Modern France. Sorry but I forgot the author. Anyway, history books give us that feeling of being a part of the events, well of course, that is, if the author is really good in whipping up the readers' interest in the subject.

Some historical accounts like that one of David Fagen, an American black soldier who fought on the side of the Filipino people during the Fil-American war, and of Macario Sakay, the last Filipino hero who fought the Americans during the same period also made me really go through every detail.

I think that good historical accounts somehow break our hearts a bit, as they tell how the dreams of heroes and heroines are not fulfilled. They show us how they had to go through the great difficulties of making people realize how important what they are trying to say is, like Sojourner Truth, who travelled miles and miles and braved deathly situations just to help free slaves. By the way, her speech, "Ain't I a Woman" really gives the the atmosphere of the Convention where she delivered it - must have been full of machos, and machas (women who did not believe in emancipation but would follow men in politics.)

Another thing that history does to me is to make my heart skip a bit, and then I have to turn away, because the wound it has caused has not been healed yet. This is when in that particular period, I was truly involved in its creation, in its processes. Like when I helped start the party for women. A group of women asked me about setting up that party. We worked through the night its principles, mission and vision, you call it. Then suddenly on the day itself, everything changed. They changed the name, and I can't remember the rest. So I walked out and told the women at the register, "why do you work that way? You wasted my time talking with you, only for you to change everything today." and they just stared at me.

Another time, when I participated in the elections of Amnesty International here, I could feel the suffocating feeling -- of people trying to manipulate the processes. My name was put up as a candidate for directorship, but a foreigner questioned something which hit at my organizational links. Nonetheless, the body decided that the question was not allowed to be a hindrance to my candidacy. However, when the counting began, I was shocked to find out that only two people, two women were counting the votes in one corner. There was no transparency at all. And no third party to watch if the counting was being done correctly and honestly. Then one officer approached me later on, "Kilala ka na naman nila. Siguro, next year, baka manalo ka na." For an international organization to act this way, especially an organization that seeks to uphold the political rights of oppressed Third World peoples, was I shocked beyond belief.

The latest was my involvement in an electoral exercise. I see the pictures of the winning candidates that I rooted for and the pictures give me the blues bliss.

That political exercise was quite tiring, what if you will consider that efforts will have an impact on a whole continent. My country is only composed of 7,100++ islands, but that one was a whole continent. Maybe I shall remember that period, for a long, long and nurse good and not so good feelings for a while until such time that I would be able to get to another country, see another culture and speak a different language, not English but possibly French or Vietnamese. Maybe there is something that really perks up a person when he or she meets someone from a highly different culture.

And so, for history to be swallowed without bitterness, to be regarded as a boost to maturing a person, it is good to light candles and pray for peace in this world so that security, that word security will not be bandied about as a cause for war of any kind, whether physical, socio-psychological or emotional and that all political exercises shall become an obligation and a sweet encounter at the same time for like-minded peoples aiming at some ideals.

new day

Today, I reviewed my emails, and saw bits and pieces of messages from the States. For many months I was involved in American politics, writing and receiving emails from various names ranging from Barack, to David, Jarrett, Michelle, the Presidential Inaugural Committee, Ted Daschle, and another one whose family name starts with M. I felt heady then, as there was something going on -- the election of the first Afro-American as president. The run-up period was particularly exciting as the Republics put up a vigorous fight to defeat the Democrats. But then of course, the rest is history. Then a new twist happened. The Barack team started emailing about joining the inauguration and my having to write why I wanted to attend. As weeks wore on, different people asked the same thing; so the same messages and the same requirement as to the reason for attendance. But at the last, when it was Barack who was signing the message, I stopped short because my son and daughter had cautioned me about its being a scam. Then the emails started saying that if I could not attend, then I could gather a group that would watch the video instead. There was something spooky about the way the reader was conditioned to think that I was a part of a big thing, that I had to do this and do that.

Although I am not an American, I felt compelled to respond to the game. Then it suddenly dawned on me, after writing that brief speech for Barack for 2012,Then I remembered what Kuya Dolly, my cousin, had told me: "I removed my name because baka kung sinu-sino lang ang nagsusulat noon at ang pumipirma ay si Barack daw, e hindi pala. (someone might have been writing those messages and then signing up as Barack, when it could have been just any other fellow.)

But as I told Ogening my son, life has many twists and turns; and also fake and genuine friends. One just has to coast along and should one proved to be a jerk, then that is his or her problem. Not mine, because I started everything from a solid and genuine commitment that American politics needs to be redirected to something that could fulfill the dreams not only of the American people, but all people around the globe.

So today, as I read my email, I felt a void, a relief also because I know that I have to fill up that void with something else, something more authentic, an authentic existence that can stand the tests of all kinds of political storms and stresses.

loving

what makes loving a person such a very big effort? so many books give advice on how to love, as if it were truly a course to be learned and practiced. but what is really loving? february 14 is fast approaching and i am sure many stores are now gearing up for it, to present the best hear-shaped designs for their bookstores to attract buyers, for the windows of cafes to attract cooing couples wanting to relive their first dates, for the gates of motels and hotels to usher in lovers feeling sexy and expressive of that "it' which could be for procreation too, according to the religious.

yet loving i feel should be a simple pit-a-pat feeling for not always a person, but an activity, like a certain craft or hobby or skill. i have felt that great urge to create puppets in 1994 to 2000 as puppetry had become then a good respite from the rigorous dissertation writing i was doing. mental work and handicraft became a good combination to maintain one's balance in the face of a fake regime, which was tainted with questions of genuine votes for its installation.

by the way, i had my column writings as well as access to magazines that accepted my fictional writings then to allow me to express my political views through them rather liberally. but as usual, suppression is the name of the game for the powers-that-be, and i had to shift activities -- as i had to turn to filmmaking, and this was after the election of the only president who earned a landslide victory at the polls.

the rest is history, my dears. but i can assure you that i was loving myself through all these years as i was able t churn out many works, from puppet plays, to a film and body of political writings which i could compile into books. of course, before loving others, we must love ourselves first.

creative efforts

when creativity becomes a way of life in any society, then the people can become very happy indeed. life becomes something that is looked forward to day in and out. even meeting people, regardless of their attitudes are welcomed as new experiences worthwhile going through. even situations which are sometimes avoided becomes a beautiful encounter that could fill up one's memories.

but sometimes, creativity or that creative spirit is hard to come by. some people could easily capture it, day in day out. like i know a couple of painters, who upon getting up in the morning right away goes to their studio room splashing colors, lines and shapes on big and small canvasses. their works fetch a big sum internationally and which allows them to roam around, and come home to their original countries easily.

an urban poor woman i know turns out beautiful bags made of recycled newspapers which she does a sa living and as a craft of beauty. her bags are exported by a foundation but she gifts people with her works. these show real effort put into them, and her eyes show meticulous inclinatin to have perfect braiding, and even the selection of the pages that will be included in the making of the bags.

Yet, when a country is ruled by gangsters, whose prime purposes in life are to maintain power and fill their pockets with gold, all types of creativity vanishes or becomes a very difficult effort. some people can overcome this by not being engaged in media - not listening to the radio, not watching tv, not reading the papers, etc. others shut up and walk away when their crown starts talking politics. i really wonder how boring such a life would be.

so then, being creative could require a great effort or not at all, so long as one keeps an open mind. why because even politics could be handled creatively. oh if only if....

Dancing politics

Politics in the Philippines require knowing how to dance - all kinds of dances, the traditional, the modern, even the outrageous -- maskipops, or maski papaano (whatever). This is because the ordinary Filipino voters who put the officials on Philippine political map are so difficutl to decipher as well. So when you meet them, you have to check to which dance he or she will respond.

And that is because our folks have had to contend with different kinds of politicians, those they trusted and distrusted later on. At first, they gave their best foot forward, voting the honest ones in politics. Later on, these because the oppressors, the amnesiacs who could not recognize those who helped them get on the platform and back to their seats, as well as the megalomaniacs who want to rule forever and ever. And so, our voting ordinary folks, learned to dance, tango, twist, and cha-cha. But the latter, they are not dancing this time. It is too costly, morally and physically for them and for us, as well.

What is it about dancing that attracts people, especially in politics. When you dance, you free your body of rigidity, of inflexibility. And so, dancing allows you to move all your muscles in your limbs, your torso, and your neck. Every part moves, and you can imagine the blood flowing breezily or chaotically from one organ to the other. It flows breezily if you don't have those rickety veins which have not experienced pumping regularly; and chaotically, when you lack massage.

Yes folks, massage is a very good therapy for tired and frigid muscles that cannot dance well. Massage frees those veins in the limbs that are so worked up for your having to walk miles and miles just so to save on transportation fares. Massage helps you to move your head from left to right and back without experiencing pain and so you can easily look left and right when crossing the polluted streets of MetroManila.

Above all these, political dancing is without comparison to all other dances. It has been used by many politicians over time. Marcos did his, jumping from one party to another just so he could clinch the presidential candidacy, and so successful was he that he ruled this country for 14 years challenged poorly by other candidates, some of whom he put up himself just so to project the image of our country's having democracy.

Of course, political dancing is now being used more regularly, and has acquired a kind of "normalcy" and acceptance, as a way of being in the limelight. Come to think of it, is it really hard to get out of politics?

We ought to create a dance for getting out of politics. I am sure that would be a hit, especially when the unwanted Malacanang tenant does it together with her cohorts-assLLLLL.

MY ENTREPRENEUR' S CREDO" I do not choose to be a common man,
It is my right to be uncommon… if I can,
I seek opportunity … not security.

I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled
And dulled by having the state look after me
I want to take calculated risks;

to dream and to build,
to fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;

I prefer the challenges of life
to the guaranteed existence;
the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence
nor my dignity for a handout.

I will never cower before any master
nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect.
Proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself,

To enjoy the benefit of my creations
And face the world boldly and say"

This, with God's help, I have done,

All this is what it means to be an ENTREPRENEUR. "

ERNIE DELFIN

TRANSLATION INTO PILIPINO:

HINDI KO PINILING MAGING PANGKARANIWAN
KARAPATAN KONG MAGING KAKAIBA...
KUNG KAYA KONG
HANAPIN ANG PAGKAKATAON, HINDI ANG SEGURIDAD

HINDI KO GUSTONG MAGING MAMAMAYANG
NAKATANGHOD SA ESTADO PARA PANGALAGAAN AKO.
GUSTO KONG MAKIPAGSAPALARAN
MANGARAP, AT PAGTAYO, MAGKAMALI, MAGTAGUMPAY.

HINDI KO IPAGPAPALIT ANG PABUYA
PARA SA ISANG LIMOS
HIGIT NA GUSTO KO ANG MGA HAMON NG BUHAY
PATUNGO SA ISANG PAMUMUHAY NA MAY KASIGURUHAN,
MAY KASAYAHAN SA PAGKAKAMIT NG MITHIIN
HIGIT SA WALANG KAGANA-GANANG KATAHIMIKAN NG UTOPIA

HINDI KO IPAGPAPALIT ANG KALAYAAN AT
ANG AKING KARANGALAN
PARA SA TULONG KAWANGGAWA,
KAYLANMAN HINDI AKO YUYUKO SA ISANG AMO
O KAYA'Y LULUHOD SA ANUMANG PAG-AAMBA
NASA LAHI KO ANG TUMAYO NG TUWID
MAY LAYANG MANINDIGAN, AT WALANG TAKOT
NA MAG-ISIP AT KUMILOS PARA SA SARILI
MAGTAMASA NG MGA BENEPISYO NG AKING MGA
NALIKHA AT HARAPIN ANG MUNDO NG BUONG
KATAPANGAN UPANG SABIHING:
SA TULONG NG MAYKAPAL, ITO ANG AKING NAGAWA.
AT ITO ANG IBIG SABIHIN NG PAGIGING ENTREPRENEUR.
COMPLIMENTS OF: ERNIE DELFIN, Entreprenuer- Businessman
Entreprenuer- Businessman
SINALIN SA PILIPINO NI EMMA S. OROZCO

my country right and wrong

I have to title my post this way because there is no escaping the fact that the wrongs in my country, the Philippines, are there no matter how hard we try to escape or solve them. I even think the wrongs are multiplying day by day. No day passes by without a scandal, a scam, an issue cropping up in the papers.

And those people who are guilty of wrongdoing are seen and heard on tv, radio and the print media. So how can we get out of them?

It will take a lifetime or several lifetimes to solve them, that is if we think that way. But my propaganda powers have been clipped very badly by this administration. My last writing slot was in Business World which had moles inside and who made sure that my writings would have wrong grammar, would have wrong tenses. Sometimes chunks of paragraphs would even get lost as I typed my articles for my column, titled Equal Quest.

So now I am reading about self-publishing in a US magazine. And as I am writing this, someone is sweeping in the next house. Would you believe that at 1 am, I could hear that also, to make sure that every movement of mine is being watched. Wow, and who deserves to be relegated to the dustbins of history? Eh?

My country right and wrong: beautiful scenery like the sunset at Manila Bay, never mind that monstrosity, the Ocean Park with atrocious prices. This was built by the former mayor, Atienza, and which covered a good view of the sunset. The promenaders, mostly urban poor, would go there to exercise in the morning or just plainly go there to breathe sea air, which sometimes stinks rather than cleanses your lungs, and wander at the beauty created by the Almighty.

Well, the Almighty is the pen of that local politician who was able to destroy the view.

My country right: Beautiful people. Ride a bus. Once you say stop, and the driver still continues, everyone tells him to stop. You see, there is collective camaraderie inside the bus. Or ride a jeepney and hand over your fare. Everyone catches the coins or paper, and hands them over to the driver, as well as the change which goes back to you.

My country wrong: Along the way to Agrifina Circle, from Sta. Mesa, you can see masses of streetsweepers with dark blue shirts and printed on them, propaganda for the unwanted tenant in Malacanang. I asked one how come they are all there: "Dito ho nagdaraan si Ma'am." Maybe "she" likes seeing them, one of the very few scenery that hails her as a "do-gooder."

My country right: All the senators are into an investigation of a scam.

Endless rights and wrongs.

Multiplying postings

I find myself not writing enough this year. It maybe because I am still grieving over the loss of my mother, of my stepfather. More of my mother who was the pillar behind all my political involvements and my writings. She gave me support, if not money, then verbal and emotional support for all the things I had been doing in society while she was till alive, from my engagement with the women and children of Tondo, to my writing in the newspapers and magazines, up to providing for my clothes and even cosmetics at times. She was and is to me my one and only mother, literally and figuratively.



Am I the same with my children? This year, I started receiving help from my children and I hate being in the receiving end. For many, many years since their births, I was independent financially, earning from my films, my writings. But today, I have to seek help, at this time when other people of my age are already retiring from their professions.



But this is more of a challenge for me now, how to be productive and economically profitable at my age, 60. I shall not allow my health to fail, nor my mind to decrease in strength and sharpness. Funny but I am now researching on herbal plants to strengthen the mind, that render bodies more resilient to stress, and stronger to face the elements. Thank God in our midst we have the inventors who never tire of researching for them as well, and in the most scientific manner.



May God bless them all the way, and us, as well.

Creating a Nice Feeling

Sometimes I wonder if it is possible to create a nice feeling just in the mind. But that is not enough, I see. If it is just in the mind, then as soon as we open our eyes, the bad feeling sets in. Or as soon as we open our senses, then such a feeling overwhelms us.

So to have a nice feeling, we should really create an environment that brings about such a nice feeling. For example, when I came back from London and started talking about feminism, the women in my midst saw me as rather odd, as anti-men, and truly off synch from the political situation in the Philippines which was calling for the booting out of martial law. So I had to tell them, especially those in the academe, the intellectuals steeped in political involvement from the grassroots to the different government bureaucracies that no progress can be met without women's involvement. Hence women must be liberated from those obstacles that are barring them from full political participation.

Another time, as I was feeling asthmatic, I saw people smoking inside air-conditioned rooms, inside jeepneys and buses, air-con and non-air-con, and even inside some theatres. I felt like dying right there and then. My reaction was to tell off the smokers, to call the attention of drivers, or whoever was in charge of that particular event I was attending. At one time, a man got off the jeep and showed his gun, as if to say, don't tell me what to do because I have a gun. Then he even said, I am a police officer. So I replied, "You are a police officer; therefore you should be a model to other people, a model for respect for civilians." He smiled rather mischievously in reply. Then I also wrote in the papers about the ills of smoking .

Today, we can breathe well, everywhere except, except where public vehicles are running without concern for the need for fresh air. Yes in MetroManila fresh air is a very rare if unavailable commodity, what with diesel- and gasoline-fed engines running around and polluting the air. Yet, this is not the end of the line. electric-driven vehicles will soon be the, THE, vehicles that will crowd the streets.

Still another way of having that nice feeling is surrounding ourselves with nice people, those who think we matter in this world, not necessarily a lover, but rather just a friend or even a stranger who could have those positive feelings for us as a fellow human being. The thing is with regard to friends, we have to cultivate them. With regard to strangers, we need to cultivate our antennae to find out if that person is truly or could be truy sensitive to us.

Sometimes that person could be a foot away from us, or thousands of miles away. How funny, I am able to connect with certain people in this manner, just using invisible antennaes. And they respond in the most appropriate manner. So now sometimes, I ask myself, do I belong to this country or to another as I am able to connect faster with them. Or maybe my mind has read too many books, ideas coming from those places and so I am more attuned to people who think in the same manner and think the same thoughts.

My goodness, human beings are still a marvel to me.

My Family

To many people, the family is the center of their lives. I know a person whose life revolves around her husband and her children. She would work overtime only if her husband would allow her. Another, a jet-flying finance professional internationally, gave up her high-paying job to be a domestic worker in the family home. Still another, childless, has taken on the tasks of caring for her nephews and nieces to goad them to finish their education up to college, and buying all their needs.

I used to make my family the center of my life, that is when I got married. I viewed it as my responsibility to be at home on time, to look after the food that will be cooked per meal, to buy the clothes, etc. But then, my ex- was incarcerated during martial law for political activities and it changed my whole perspectives. I had to take on a good-paying job and then look after my children on a part-time basis. Aside from just having a plain job, I also had to search for a way to get promoted so that I could earn well, like going through training programs that would improve my skills and increase my knowledge. Apart from that, I had to "drink" or "socialize" in order to be in the inner circle of power. Oh how I hated that, simply because I looked at my co-workers then as average, with my friends in the anti-martial law movement as more worthwhile recognizing for their intellect and respecting them for their commitment.

But now under a democratic dispensation, my perspectives have changed again as I look at everyone, regardless of whether they are working for the government or in a non-government organization, or any private entity, with great regard -- that is that they are entitled to respect of their human rights.

And my family, which consists now of my brothers and sisters, my children two of them, a boy and a girl, as well as my distant relatives -- I feel kind of connected with them in a different way. It is both a connection by blood, by intellect and by history. We have shared a lot in the past and can't possibly just cut off our ties. Notice how I don't mention my grandchildren.

Fascination

Passion is an overriding feeling that propels me to exist from day to day. I must have passion for writing, for computing, for singing, for dancing, etcetera. I could go on and on. I realize this only now on my first senior year. Last Sunday, the 12th, I told Joy, "I lost my heart for singing. I can't join the choir now. May I take a vacation. " He replied, "Ok lang, kasi artist ka e." But isn't he one?

Earlier, I told one male member who greeted me at the canteen, "O, kumusta ka na?" I replied, "Heto, hindi ko alam may nagdi-diyos-diyosan pala rito. 'You can't enter the church here,'" I said in a booming voice like a patriarch. Come to think of it, even if a member looks very feminine in nice female clothes, yet her thinking and behavior reveal patriarchal elements. And that is really scary.

Now, with so much time in my hands, as I am not thinking of what to sing every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday, wow I had spent three days a week for singing, I am able to plan how to finish the books which I am producing. At the same time, I am able to focus on the real estate issues which my brother and I are working on so as to be able to pay for this house which my mother had pawned and won handily from the former owner through the Supreme Court. I just pray though that we would be granted enough time to work on it.

But my passion now revolves around the US elections. Every early morning I turn on this computer and read the latest news. How I wish I could view the video as well but this laptop is too, too slow. And I am always worried that my internet card would get finished off by waiting, which may now open the page at all, you see.

So Folks, passion is a nice feeling as it keeps me awake and alert to fulfilling my talents, desires and whatever. Happy hunting!

After all is said and done

How broad the internet could be. Imagine I could go and read about the US elections going on whether it is in LA or New York. Truly the internet is the best invention of humanity, linking all of us up to know, interpret events that matter to earth and to all of us.

I am able to read about the exercise of that right to vote, the difficult efforts of the Democrats in instilling the need to have a new government, away from warmongers and warhawks who make the work so insecure.

So I am able to read also about the perils of freedom-- freedom that kills individual initiatives to create and be part of a humane society. So democracy is not all bed of roses. It is a constant struggle to know what is best for the majority of the people so that a minority will not be able to ram down our throats those practices that would make them dominate the world.

Where will these all take us? When US is able to pick its president, for good or bad, where will it take the Philippines? We have not really studied our own independence where politics is concerned. We have been tailists, tailing American this way and that. But I think now, our own little voices count, we are being heard as our needs are being told and planned for change.

After the elections, we will check what the Filipino Americans did to bring about a new administration, what they hoped for would be achieved, and what they had done to continue or to close down the mistakes of the past. Also, we need to ask, up to what extent did they participate in the elections to bring about better policies of treating the Filipino people.

US affects Philippine election campaigns

I watch almost everyday the happenings in the US elections to learn how a democratic election, is supposed to be. Every early morning I tune in through the internet on the latest issues confronting the presidential candidates, and scantily their veeps.

What i find is rather revealing of the deep roots of democracy in the US. The issues are really dissected objectively and subjectively, as they are expounded on by the candidates. Questions like, do they treat cursorily or broadly, with sarcasm or wit, etc. The debates are also delved into with great depth -- what is the score of this candidate among which section of the population? Even bar habitues are covered for their answers.

Funds are also tackled to see who is ethically spending the money and for what ads. Are the ads racist, non-racist, and to whom do they appeal? Even jokes that use celebrities parodying the candidates are presented as part of that colorful side of the elections.

What all these show is that assuming a public position is not an easy task for the ordinary folks. The US elections have gone a long way from just being able to point to one picture or one name as the one prefers to lead him or her through four or six years. Rather they are long, tedious and undertakings with complicated processes that perhaps only an elite with plenty of funds can really undertake. For every step along the way, the costs are high --

hiring a fund-raising savvy staff,
hiring an advertising consultant,
hiring a speech writer, -- this one I really do not favour. I do think that politicians should be able to talk from their heads and not through the heads of other people. They may not be able to articulate much their ideas but still that is their duty, to learn how to communicate them in the best possible way -- not only through words but through drawings, paintings, etc.

And this is where I would like campaigns to take a different path. A candidate need not just be able to rattle off ideas in gathering support. One should be able to use other means like the arts to present one's ideas. Ah, if only the public could be less demanding.

when blogging becomes a refuge

i just felt like blogging today, after coming from Bacolod City where I had spent my first few years of childhood. It was an idyllic city then, as my family and I lives in a place full of flowering trees and plants which I used to water every morning, with my urine poured into it as fertilizer. afterwards, my brothers and i would sail a small banca at the back of our house, go out through a small containment of water which opens out into the seashore and where we would pick seashells and other ocean habitues like crablets and shrimps. the air was clean and fresh, which probably strengthened our lungs to survive smoking, pollution and emotional stresses.



going with my sister and brother was reliving those years of nature escapes which also deepened our imagination. I remember sitting on a rocking chair in a louvre-type window of our house, and listening to "Malaguena" played on the piano by someone from a house owned by a hacendero or landlord or landlady across ours. In between our houses were bamboo shoots emitting rickety sounds which made me feel being in a fantasy-land full of ghost stories.



but the musical piece stuck in my mind and i bought a score later on for my personal study later on.



Aged 7 or 8 years old then, every four o'clock in the afternoon, I used to play the piano, reaching up to the twilight hours where the sunrays would shine upon the musical sheets like golden hands of God, illuminating the passages for me to continue playing and playing classical music arranged for a child's hands.



my teacher was Eva Llorca then who gave me the rudiments of piano-playing in a very discipline way so that I was able to develop a unique initiative to study music with and without a teacher. yes, because later on, enrolling in one became quite tedious. my last succeeding teacher was not as studious as she was in teaching me. A graduate of chemistry, she ventured in piano teaching rather sloppily and I could sense that by the way she had destroyed the wooden finish of the piano cover with her pencil striking it to beat as I was playing. It was only after my sister had cautioned her that she stopped doing it.



but if she was a real scientist, or even artist, she should have already noticed the ugly scratches of her pencilhead on the cover. also, when i finished the second grade John Thompson, she wrote in blue ballpen my name and then misspelled it. Ugh. for a young mind as mine, it was a great disaster. At that time, i needed to idolize someone nearly perfect especially in terms of spelling the names of their students. Or I guess, Ms. Llorca presented to me a very good image of a really disciplined piano tutor. anyway, until now, i still play the piano, ouido or with a score.

so when I visited 90-year old Mama J. in her house, I played her favorites as well as mine. She came out to greet me in the sala and really felt very much reinvigorated. Then I played "all of me" a song which her husband and the family really loved and sang whenever someone would be in front of the piano. She could still remember the words, too and so she sang with us.

Bacolod is truly a place for artistic inspiration. My own nephew, now a famous painter in the States and here in the country, created his one-man show paintings in the heart of one of the towns. shall I mention his name? others might say I am riding on his popularity. But he is famous for his expressionistic searing style. By the way, he will be home again this Nov or December. Aside from these examples, the Masscara Festival is one testimony to that artistry which the late Ely Santiago started. There ought to be a monument for him, by the way for having institutionalized such a festival.

Then of course, the Showroom of the Association of Negros Producers attest to the varied talents of Negrenses. I wish I were a resident so that I could also participate in the exhibitions. Not exactly because MetroManila is a hard nut to crack in terms of getting popular as an artist, but rather as a way of feeling collectively connected with our roots.

rest

I never thought that a five-day rest from MetroManila could bring a reinvigorated feeling within me. it is not something that is easily acquired here. it is something sought after all. you see, harassment comes in various forms in our country -- starting from hits at age, to hits at dark skin, hits at being single and without a boyfriend, to being called smelly and dirty. despite the developments of technology, there are really forces that cannot accept contrary opinions, all in the name of money and power.

how i pray and hope that this administration would wither away quickly and give us a new breathing space with which to exercise our humanity. the thing is, our whole lives are taken up parrying all those harassments, analyzing how we can move institutions to stop them, and afterwards ending up so tired that not an ounce of solution seems directed to their final termination.

money is what strengthens these harassers to continue their operations. i did not know that gloria could be that ingenious to know how to manipulate some people's desire for power and greed.

but anyway, God will provide the final answer.