CAPITALISM

Satur Sulit

This life we are cast into, I see
is not meant by those who design it to be easy
only to be liveable at best
and exploitable at least.
Modern life is founded, it seems,
on catechism’s seven capital sins
Pride, Lust, Envy, and Gluttony,
Avarice, Sloth and what else?
and Wrath, of course, what drives a man to kill.
Controlling these desires is the core of all religion,
battling them the only worthy passion
Victory, it is told, spiritualizes the man,
reveals him to be more than just animal
accomplishing him in his true being
in touch with the heavens.
Yet it is these very sins
constantly awakened in us by this modern world
of money, created by and for money
in the name of Economy, religion be damned
our lives pre-empted in the service and satisfaction
of our capital desires
And so we are herded away from heaven
and lured into the embrace of our captors
for a life in a zoo.

people power, rain or shine

it was a memorable day that we all got to share, thanks to the marvel of television.   the cathedral rites were beautiful, fr. arevalo’s eulogy sublime, and the military honors stately and dignified.   the family continued to amaze and warm the heart,sharing their mom, sharing their grief, never mind that it meant being exposed to the cruel glare of lights and cameras and nosy, sometimes uncouth, media.   thank you, ballsy, pinky, noynoy, viel, and kris!

but the best was yet to come.   and it happened out in the streets, the people’s turf, where yellow crowds gathered in great numbers, lining the streets or marching with the casket, flashing the Laban sign and chanting “Co-ry! Co-ry! Co-ry!”   it reminded me so much of the snap election campaign, when nakarating kami ng mga magulang ko hanggang lucena, quezon para lang maki-rally kay cory.

there was a brief moment when i asked myself, where were all these people, where were we, when cory was leading street protests asking gloria to resign post-garci and later in support of jun lozada?   why were we not there for cory then?   but now i see that it doesn’t really matter anymore.   what matters is that we have rediscovered cory & ninoy and what they stood for.   and i have no doubt that when the time is right, People Power will rise again, rain or shine.

postmortem: horrid media owe marcos kids a public apology

i thought that imee and bongbong marcos (with wife lisa araneta) showed a lot of class by showing up at cory’s wake, probably at the behest of their mother, who herself had the delicadeza to stayaway.

though it was clearly an ordeal for the marcos siblings (nakatutok sa kanila ang mga camera every step of the way) they nevertheless went through the paces with as much poise as they could muster.   nice of the aquino grandsons to meet them, take them to cory, and sit with them in an an empty front pew.   and yes, what a relief when ballsy finally came out to greet them, shake hands, beso-beso, small talk.   a show of good manners and right conduct all around.   cory would have approved.

when ballsy had exited frame, imee and bongbong left the pew tagged “family” and moved to another, some pews behind.    they must have thought the media cameras would finally leave them be, but no, the media know nothing of good manners and right conduct!

the media behaved absolutely horrendously, gathering around, thrusting microphones and tape recorders at the sibs, asking what they said to ballsy and what ballsysaid to them — an assault that no other guests had been subjected to, and which succeeded only in driving the marcoses away.   was that the point?   how bastos.

my sympathies to imee and bongbong, who did not deserve to be embarrassed so.   cory would have been horrified.

those media people and their bosses — attention, ANC! — owe the marcos kids a public apology.

gloria should go

… to the wake, i mean.   and she knows it.   not so much for the nation — we can take or leave protocol, i find — but for the international community.     the whole world is watching.   she has to handle this right, or lose face.

the news is that she’s arriving at 5 a.m. which gives her a few hours to get to the cathedral before the 9 a.m. show.   the question is, what time should she go.   soon after she gets back, habang kokonti ang tao, habang wala pa ang mga aquino?   or should she wait until the aquinos are there so she can personally extend her sympathies as well?   or her flight could be delayed, haha.   we’ll know soon enough.

nakarma naman talaga si gloria.   what rotten luck that the obama summons came when it did.  if she had been here when cory died, she could have simply appeared at the la salle wake the moment cory was ready and gotten it over with, before it became an issue.

shecould also have accepted graciously the aquino family’s preference for a private funeral, sabay pakiusap for even just half a day’s lying-in-state in congress and / or malacanang.   tama rin naman yung mga nagsasabing cory deserves a state funeral.   i would not have minded seeing legislators as well as the executive paying homage to cory and promising to keep the cory spirit alive.

as for cory’s post-garci demand that gloria resign, which the aquinos may well refuse to ease up on, well, in the spirit of the times gloria could offer them an ex-deal.   instead of resigning she’d stop all con-ass attempts during the remainder of her term, and she’d admit her mistakes re the national artist awards and the jbc list.   wouldn’t that be fantastic?

i know, i know, i’m dreaming, haha.   si cory kasi.