Change of Engagement

by TheDivineMissM!

The last few days have been the most politicized of my life since graduating from UP. Nung Friday, actually nakalimutan ko na People Power Anniversary. The truth is, sobrang disoriented ako I thought it was a Thursday. When I came out of my flat, may paskil sa lift about the traffic re-routing and I couldn't understand what all the fuzz was about.

I didn't even know that the country was under a State of Emergency until Portia sent me an IM at work.

I missed EDSA Dos and Tres. I didn't feel as appaled as other people with the blatant corruption of the Estrada administration, and I felt distanced from the issue of social injustice that spurred Edsa Tres. Despite my fascination for men in uniform, I couldn't give a shit about the Oakwood mutiny. In fact it was Vergie who told me about despite living two blocks from that posh building.

Just now a cabinet secretary is showing slides of economic indicators. They are so disconnected with the people that they think that showing us growth rates will make us feel better? Life is so hard, even I worry about just how much I can afford these days. I know people who struggle with day to day living expenses. Do you really think that showing me inflation rates will make it easier to sleep at night on an empty stomach? Who is the audience of this administration???? Not the family who lives across our parking lot, going through the rubbish bin of the pampered people. It is so obvious that they are targetting the foreign press and foreign governments with their slides. Its not about getting the hearts and minds of the people. Its about spin.

In Search of a Hero

I saw a re-run of The American President on HBO and Michael J Fox had a line that goes something like: "People are looking for a leader. They are so thirsty for leadership they will cross the desert to find it. And if they get there and find out it's a mirage, they will drink the sand."

The Fort Bonifacio incidence is like that. A mirage. People are looking for a leader, a cause to rally around. They are so desperate they will lap up sand.

We are looking for a hero. I am glad I wasnt at EDSA Dos. I will probably chew my arm off now, and hit myself over the head with it in utter despair and regret. Why have I taken offense against this president? Her arrogance. As if the Office is her birthright, a special present at Christmas. The basic principle we were taught in Political Science is that sovereignty rests in the people. THE PEOPLE. My sovereignty is on loan -- and I can take it back.

PO 1017 and why I am royally pissed

What tipped me over? Proclamation Order 1017. Suddenly it became personal. For some reason Proclamation Order 1017 hit me. Seeing Cory walking down Ayala again made me realise that twenty years on, things haven't changed. Ironic that she started the whole PO1017 trend.

Who will make it happen? Aren't we getting old to be raging against institutions? Isn't it time to say the buck stops here? Aren't we running out of excuses why it's somebody else's job to effect change? A newspaper -- one I dont even read -- was raided. How can that not become personal?

PO 1017 is very personal. It made me scared that my action and my words or those I know would be interpreted as "inciting to sedition". I am afraid of censorship. And I don't like being made scared. Especially by a government that has lost its legitimacy in my eyes (if they ever had it in the first place).

I am a free person. My religion, and my constitution says that I am born free. I am free to think. I am free to doubt. I am free to speak. I will not be cowered by a midget hiding behind PO 1017.

Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where’s the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?

Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

I need a hero
I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero 'till the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life
Larger than life

 

by TheDivineMissM!

We were between ten and eleven years old when People Power happened. My dad has already resigned from the military less than two years earlier, and was already working in Saudi Arabia. But we still had relatives who were in the military, and my family were notoriously pro-Marcos so not surprisingly, we weren't in EDSA.

But I came of age with the images and music and sentimentality of People Power. Even today, I get an unexplainable stirring at the pit of my stomach when I hear the strings of the song Bayan Ko. I swear when I got married to a non-Filipino that no matter where my children are born or how they will be raised, they will learn to sing with emotions:

Ang bayan kong Pilipinas
Lupain ng ginto't bulaklak
Pag-ibig ang sa kanyang palad
Nag-alay ng ganda't dilag

At sa kanyang yumi at ganda
Dayuhan ay nahalina
Bayan ko, binihag ka
Nasadlak sa dusa

Ibon mang may layang lumipad
Kulungin mo at umiiyak
Bayan pa kayang sakdal dilag
Ang di magnasang makaalpas

Pilipinas kong minumutya
Pugad ng luha ko't dalita
Aking adhika
Makita kang sakdal laya

Today, I heard the song again, right outside my office window. Looking out I saw confetti floating down from the top of our building. Everyday when I look out that window, all I see are the traffic below and the gym across the street. Today, the gym people were also staring out, and on almost every building top on Ayala were people raining down confetti on the yellow-clad crowd below.

I can't believe that I am not ten years old anymore watching all these on TV and the grown-ups debating over politics. I am now among those who are part of the story, writing about it. I am one of those Makati office workers on the street and leaning out their office windows watching the marchers, still in their yellow shirts, still flashing the "Laban" sign, and still calling for the President to resign.

What changed? Camera phones. Yup, Makati office people, and even the vendors had their cellular phones out and clicking away. Other than that, nothing has changed. The shade of yellow has changed, and the players have more lines and grey hair. But people are still getting arrested, communication (albeit now texting) is still being intruded upon, and people are still struggling.

Twenty years on... laban pa rin.

by MrsPartyGirl

After the seeming deluge of happy news our country has been getting, suddenly there's the Wowowee Tragedy - a perfectly horrific example of, really, how expendable the lives and hopes of the poor people are to the ratings-hungry networks - and now THIS, our boxing hero, Manny, is involved in quite a "sensational" extramarital affair.

I mean, come on. I am all for providing support to illegitimate kids, it's their right after all. But, if this chismis about Manny were indeed true, and if this lady truly cared about the champ and their love child, then she should have protected their reputation by at least being discreet.

But, heck no.

Whether it's waiting in line for days at the risk of being crushed to death, or good ole blackmail, some people will resort to anything for a share of the pie.