Category: independence day

What We Know of Darkness

An Independence Day piece by Katrina in reply to Tia Nita Umali Berthelsen’s July 1946 essay Just Where Are We. Both essays published in Roots & Wings, Filipino e-magazine in Europe.

WHAT WE KNOW OF DARKNESS

Is what we know of the certainty of light. As in the impulse to unite on shared battles, the ones so crucial they survive the passage of time, are embraced across generations, as it was brought to bear on that moment 75 years ago, when the Philippine flag flew highest in the air for the first time.

Is what we know of our capacity to create light. Despite, or because of fear. Spreading photocopied stories on the real state of the nation; supporting a free press that bites incessantly, draws blood unfailingly; living off a lush grapevine of narratives passed surreptitiously at gatherings. Until the voices grew louder to the point of paralysis: a boycott of wants, needs, cravings—all sacrifice, maybe rebellion—aimed squarely at the corrupt and wealthy. We practiced and won on civil disobedience 35 years ago, a citizenry discovering its collective power.

Is what we know of carrying a torch. For revolutions that we fashion ourselves. Bright enough to overthrow a dictator, or unseat a President, or take back our freedoms.

Is what we know of waning light. As new generations grew into democracy, with little appreciation for the battles fought and lives sacrificed; as freedom began to be seen as entitlement, with little understanding of what it demands, how it is nurtured, who it must cradle. Here is the decay of the present: where justice and rights are skewed to serve a violently dysfunctional system, now deeply entrenched, borne of the power and wealth that so defined nation and its independence 75 years ago. Bound to it, inextricably. Controlled by it, (in)definitely.

Is what we know of blinding light. In a country preoccupied with the constant search for heroes, we take the next person who will promise the blaze of change, the brilliance of liberation. We are at the mercy of a pendulum that shifts from bad to worse, disinformation to propaganda, falsity to deceit. Because the only way this blinding light can survive is if it keeps us unseeing—deaf and dumb, stupefied and numbed. Kept within the space of the unfulfilled, propped up by the words we want to hear. Here where media is just as blindly fumbling through its own institutional darkness, the loudest voice wins.

Is what we know of light. As love for the shadows that, now familiar, might lend itself to faith. Faith in the fact that knowing the darkness—sharp angles of light included—will allow us to map out our movements in hope. Hope, that despite the discordant voices and political divides, we can build towards a lucid brightness, the kind that allows us to see where we are, given where we come from, towards where we need to go. And we might start with walking on unsteady feet, and we might take our time finding our bearings, but we will forge through.

Because what we know for sure about this darkness is that it will always only promise to deliver the light that will never come.

It does not know of our relationship with the light.

Panatang Makabayan

ni Lualhati Bautista

Iniibig ko ang Pilipinas
Ito ang aking bayang sinilangan
Iginagalang ko ang aking ina
Na lagi mong pinuputang ina, gunggong ka!

Kinupkop ng bayang ito ang aking ama at pinalaking
matalino at malakas
Hindi kagaya mo na puro yung ari niya
ang ipinangangahas

Bilang ganti
susundin ko ang payo ng aking kunsensiya
At sinasabi nito na sa lahat ng panahon
Dapat akong gising at nagpapasiya
Nagtatrabaho at hindi natutulog maghapon

Susundin ko ang mga tuntunin ng
pagkamakatao
Na hindi limitado sa mga kaalyado
Kundi sinasakop ang lahat ng mamamayan
ng bayan ko

Tutuparin ko ang mga tungkulin ng
isang nagmamahal sa kapayapaan
At hindi nag-eengganyo sa mga kaibigan
Na barilin sa ari ang mga kalaban

Paglilingkuran ko at hinding-hindi ibabaon
sa utang
ang aking bayan
Lalong hindi ibebenta sa mga dayuhan
Ang dagat, lupa at kalayaan

Mananatili akong may dignidad at moralidad
Na tangi kong ambag sa bayan ko
Ako’y magiging tunay na Pilipino
At tutulong para ang mga saling-lahi
ay hinding-hindi tutulad sa ‘yo.

Independence 101

Michael Tan

… More than the holiday we observe today as Independence Day, June 12 speaks of a people in search of ourselves. More, then, than that once-a-year celebration, we need to learn more about how we have struggled, for more than a hundred years, for independence, with so much untaught in schools and, just as importantly, so much to unlearn, as in the idea that we were “granted independence.”

Heres’ my take on what “Independence 101” could be in the K-to-12 system, which provides for Philippine history in both senior high school and college…  Read on

 

independence day blues in the time of duterte (kris rises and falls, yet again)

One hundred and twenty years ago, our ancestors raised the Philippine flag from a balcony in Kawit, Cavite to signify the beginning of our journey as a free nation. Hijacked by the United States of America right at the start, and interrupted by Japan during World War II, the quest for an independent Filipino nation has been an arduous process. It tested our fortitude and persistence as a people. It brought out the best, but also the worst in us.

read the rest of randy david’s The challenge of nationhood in our time.  what he says about our postwar leaders continues to apply to our leaders until today.

… if the revolutionary struggle had been painful and costly, the aftermath was perhaps even more so. The moral and political choices that had to be made under conditions of formal self-rule were less clear. In the immediate postwar years, our leaders found it hard to resist the easy path offered by those who sought to control the nation’s future. Political opportunism grew in the fertile ground of the popular thought that the country had suffered enough and badly needed relief.

… In the process, perhaps without realizing it, we gave up the opportunity to rebuild our people’s inner strength, tap their skills and talents, and create the basic foundation for a strong nation. The examples of Japan, South Korea and Vietnam demonstrate the truism that the rebuilding of a country destroyed by war begins with the rekindling of the people’s energy and belief in themselves.

… The quality of leadership, both at the national and local levels, has undoubtedly been at the core of this national inability to rebound from misery and soar into greatness. Lacking in vision and selflessness, our leaders have done well for themselves, using political power to bolster their own selfish interests.

But they have left the rest of the nation behind…

“they” are all of the elite, all of the oligarchy — pro- and anti-duterte, pro- and anti-marcos, pro-and anti-aquino, pro- and anti-america, pro- and anti-china — and their media arms and other enablers.  they are all complicit in the sad and worsening state of nation.

this was driven home hard by the kris aquino episode vs. mocha uson who dared liken duterte’s pucker-up kiss-muna moment in south korea to ninoy aquino being kissed by lady admirers moments before he deplaned and was assassinated in august 1983.  read rosario a. garcellano’s Kissing pictures:

But can parallel behavior be actually observed in the pictures of the President kissing a member of his audience and of Ninoy Aquino being kissed by admirers? I think not, if only in the fundamental terms of one being the kisser and the other the kissee. One solicited the occasion for the contact (to entertain and amuse, and also as part of “the culture of Filipinos,” according to his explainers); the other submitted to the act, with an awkward grin.

Kris Aquino was well within her rights to take loud umbrage, even if, as Uson claimed, “this is not about you.”

indeed.  that was uson at her most malicious and unthinking worst yet.  i was immensely pleased for ninoy when kris rose to the occasion, challenging uson to a debate, or sampalan and sabunutan, one-on-one, what fun!  alas, uson copped out, LOL, what a loser.

and then there’s kris, who pala, while making hamon uson to a real catfight, reached out to bong go, no less, na kaibigan pala niya.

krisaquino I took the courage to reach out to PRRD’s SA Bong Go (sorry sa initial post, nag auto correct to Gong-although cute yung Bong Gong)… thank you commissioner Aimee Neri for helping me reach him via text. I have known & liked him for 8 years. In this instance I am Ninoy’s daughter- he believed in the power of true & honest communication… SA Bong, thank you for your reply. Thank you for taking my feelings as a daughter into consideration & showing me EMPATHY. I am most grateful for a man as powerful as you are now for texting & vibering me the words “we are sorry for the incident.” You have my sincere gratitude.  We all have 1 goal, a nation we can be proud of, and the best possible prosperous lives for all Filipinos. I love our country as much as our president does. I pray for #PEACE & mutual respect for all of us. God bless you.

ito naman ang pinost ni bong go na pinost ni kris sa kanyang instagram.

Christopher Bong Go  Kanina po, dahil ipinag-utos ni Presidente Duterte sa akin, I relayed a sincere apology to Kris.  We apologized because nasaktan siya and we wish to reiterate that sincere apology once again.  Sabi nga ng pangulo, “respetuhin dapat natin ang patay.” Iyong po ang pinanggagalingan ng apology namin.

Nirerespeto din namin ang opinyon ng mga supporters ng pangulo na nasasaktan din sa patuloy na pagbatikos sa kanya sa kabila ng lahat ng nagawa niya para sa ating bayan.”

(huh? so kung buhay si ninoy, okay lang?)  at kinausap din daw ni bong go si uson.

Christopher Bong Go Nag-usap kami ni Mocha at nagkasundo na tapusin na ang isyung ito. We all agreed to put this issue to rest out of respect to all our fellow Filipinos. I believe that politics should not divide us. Magtulungan na lang tayo kaysa mag-away away, para sa ikabubuti ng bayan.

at heto uli si kris, grateful for the “olive branch” from the powerful bong go upon the orders of the most powerful man…

krisaquino  Alam kong damned if you, damned if you don’t ako… but i was brought up to recognize an “olive branch” when it is being offered. Alam ko yung mga natitirang LP will bash me & the DDS will never like me. Alam ko rin na sasabihan akong bakit ako nagpapauto. Pero ito ang pananaw ko- the most powerful man, President Duterte affirmed my pain. When all his supporters have called me the most hateful names- th man who doesn’t say SORRY- inutusan ang kanyang pinaka pinagkakatiwalaan na mag relay ng SINCERE apology sa kin. Anak akong nakipaglaban na bigyan ng respeto ang magulang kong patay na. Sa puso ko, naramdaman ko na yun. So #carebears na po sa lahat ng babatikusin alo. In my critics words- this “media whore” “bitch” and “kulang sa pansin” BINIGYAN ng panahon at importansya ng pangulo ng ating bansa. Pasensya na kung #BRAT ang tingin ninyo pero this was a #WIN for the memory of the 2 people i love-unfortunately for the HATERS i am here to stay.

needless to say, what a waste.  kris was in a position to demand, at the very least, that uson be fired and replaced with someone bright, smart, and competent.  then we could stop wasting time arguing over the false comparisons and flippantly facetious questions that uson specializes in to distract from her daddy digong’s every perversion.

but the real question is: why did kris fold so quickly?  basta na lang tumiklop, invoking nation yet, as does bong gong.  i was still wondering about that when i saw this on facebook.

Angelo Suarez

Pantabla kay Kris Aquino, ang alas ng mga maka-Duterte ay Hacienda Luisita.

Ang Central Azucarera de Tarlac sa loob ng Hacienda Luisita ay pag-aari ng mga Lorenzo, pamilya ng mga landlord na kakutsaba ng mga Cojuangco-Aquino sa panglalandgrab.

Sino ang abogado ng mga Lorenzo sa pangangamkam nito ng lupa sa pamamagitan ng Lapanday Foods Corporation sa Tagum?

Sino ang abogado ng mga Lorenzong nagbantang babarilin ang mga magsasakang papasok sa lupang dapat naman ay sa kanila?

Si Manases Carpio, asawa ni Sara Duterte.

connect the dots.  they who have left the nation behind, they are all in this together.  let us keep that in mind as we navigate the muddy waters of our national life and pursue our struggle for independence.

*

independence day blues (in the time of gloria)
the real rigodon 
june 12, what’s to celebrate (in the time of pNoy)
Is the Philippines a lost cause? by john nery
Nothing to celebrate? by rina jimenez-david
Independence Day? End of the Republic by jarius bondoc