Posts published during August, 2008
Tisay fell from the kitchen countertop last weekend. I got scared when I saw her head bleeding after the fall. I felt quite distressed when the doctors were stitching her cut. She was screaming on top of her lungs. Ako nga hindi pa ‘ko nasi-stitches (considering I have a greater propensity of having such a cut since parati akong nasa rally and I’m a fratman).
Anyway, amusingly, right now it’s as if nothing happened. Though she’s obviously traumatized by the experience. She cries when she hears the word ‘doctor’ or ‘hospital’.
War is show business, that’s why we’re here.
- Conrad Brean (Wag the Dog, 1997)
Lantad na lantad ang makasariling interes ng rehimen ni Gloria Arroyo at ng U.S. sa pagpasok sa Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) ng Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) at Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Mula sa mga abo ng pagkabigo ng kaniyang pakanang People’s Initiative for Charter Change noong 2006, muling gumawa ng oportunidad ang kaniyang rehimen upang pasayawin ang mamamayan sa kaniyang Cha-Cha sa pamamagitan ng pagkasangkapan sa mahigit apat na dekadang armadong tunggalian sa Mindanao para sa kanilang karapatan sa sariling pagpapasya o right to self-determination.
Ang matagal nang pakikibaka ng mamamayang Moro para sa kanilang mga pampulitika at pang-ekonomiyang kahilingan ay malayong maisakatuparan sa ilalim ng pamumuno ni GMA. Imbes na sinserong harapin ang ugat ng kahirapan at pag-aaklas ng mga kababayang Moro na primaryang nagmumula sa pagsasamantala ng malalaking panginoong may-lupa at korporasyong multinasyunal sa kanilang mga ancestral lands, ginamit pa itong pagkakataon para itambol at isulong ang naantalang anti-mamamayang Cha-Cha na sa huli ay lalo lamang magtitiyak ng interes ng iilan sa ‘Bangsamoro homeland’. Tunay na walang sinseridad ang rehimeng ito sa pangmatagalang kapayapaan sa Mindanao at nagawa pang isangkalan ang buhay at kapakanan ng mga sundalo’t sibilyan para isulong ang mga nasabing interes at upang magbunsod pa ng giyera na nakikitang pagkakataon upang gawing lehitimo ang mga base militar sa Mindanao at ang paggamit ng emergency powers dahil sa giyerang ang rehimen niya mismo ang may pakana.
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For at least one week, freshmen law students and their blocks set aside never-ending days of law school stress and modesty and go wild competing with fellow freshmen blocks in various competitions (including a karaoke competition where I was coaxed to represent the block, and where I fortunately got second place) for some six days, culminating in a freshmen night where blocks go head to head in performances and in an annual drag pageant. Iba talaga siguro ‘pag naiipon ang kulo, palibhasa sa Mass Comm, it seemed that every day was bibo day.
Oh well, back to normal law school days now. No worries. I have the best blockmates.
Last Thursday, some of my brods and I went to Tarlac City in Tarlac to join the provincial government’s commemoration ceremony of Ninoy Aquino’s 25th death anniversary. We left UP pretty early and arrived at the province around nine in the morning. Before proceeding to the provincial capitol, we also passed by the municipal hall in Concepcion, Aquino’s hometown, and where he was once Mayor. At around ten, we arrived at Tarlac City to meet the governor, Victor Yap, who is another brod. The commemoration ceremony was held and I was even asked to give a spontaneous speech in front of all the elected provincial officials and employees. We went back to UP a little past lunch time.
That night, we held a memorial at the theater of College of Law, also in honor of Ninoy Aquino.
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Last August 14, the University Student Council (USC) held its first alternative class (ACLE) program for the year dubbed, Juan vs. 100: “Si Juan dela Cruz at ang hamon ng panibagong siglo ng Unibersidad.” More than a hundred student organizations participated, came up and staged their own alternative classes for the afternoon. The program was spearheaded by the Education & Research Committee of the USC.
We also released the second issue of the student council’s newsletter that day, which my committee, the USC’s public information office, comes up with. Unlike the last time I distributed the newsletter, I finished distributing the copies of the second issue to almost all the buildings in campus in under two hours thanks to Bang’s help. I still wonder how the Philippine Collegian does it every week, the efficient distribution of the university’s official student paper.
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law student, film school graduate, student leader, youth activist, Kabataan Partylist legislative officer