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Ipinapakita ang mga post mula sa 2010

Ordinary

Dangan at usong-usong pag-usapan ngayon ang tungkol sa bus sa Maynila, minabuti kong halukayin ang aking baul. Naalaala ko kasi, mayroon akong isang tula dati tungkol sa bus.  Nang ako'y nagta-trabaho noon sa Maynila, madalas akong sumakay sa mga bus sa Edsa. Ayaw ko sa MRT, siksikan. Minsan ay mamalasin ka pang makadikit ang isang may malakas-lakas na power. Kaya bus na lang ako. Subalit hindi aircon na bus ang aking sinasakyan noon, gaya ng bus na nakita ng buong mundo na nagkalasog-lasog dahil sa pangmamaso ng MPD SWAT. Ordinary ang paborito kong sakyan dahil mura ang pasahe. Hindi lang mura, pwede ka pang magmeryenda habang bumibiyahe dahil halos lahat ng street vendor ay nakaaakyat sa mga ordinary na bus. Subalit para lamang sa may malalakas na sikmura ang ordinary na bus. Kapag sumakay ka sa ordinary, mamumulbos ka ng usok at alikabok; libre iyon. Kapag nakauwi ka na galing sa biyahe ay limahid ka na. Okay lang sa akin iyon dahil mura nang di hamak ang pamasahe sa ordinary

Ang Timbangan ng Hacienda Luisita: Tinimbang Ka Noy, Pero Kulang

Maraming nagsasabi na ang isyu sa Hacienda Luisita ang magiging pinakamalaking pagsubok sa sinseridad ng bagong luklok na Pangulong Benigno Aquino III.  Anila, ang magiging tugon ni P-Noy sa isyu ang magpapatunay ng katapatan niya sa kaniyang mga binitiwang pangako noong panahong ng eleksiyon tungkol sa pagsasakatuparan ng hustisyang panlipunan sa Pilipinas. Totoo nga ba na ang isyu ng Hacienda Luisita ang magiging pagsubok sa panguluhan ni Noynoy Aquino?  Marapat ba na asahan ng mga magsasaka na maisantabi ni Pangulong Aquino ang kaniyang pang-pamilyang interes at paboran ang matagal nang hiling ng mga manggagawang bukid sa Hacienda?

Stop Killing Activists

Photos from Makabayan Coalition

Bayle

Alas-dos na ng madaling araw. Hindi ako makatulog. Dangan naman kasi ay kainitan ng isang bayle sa di kalayuan. Imbes na iduyan ako ng antok ay kinakabog ako ng mga masisigla’t mahaharot na musikang disco. Ano ba itong bayle? Para sa mga hindi pamilyar, ang bayle ay isang pasayaw. Ito ang disco sa komunidad.  Halos hindi na ito uso sa malalaking lungsod.  Subalit sa mga baryo, ito’y tampok na tampok pa rin.

They Keep on Getting Richer and "Ettang Ina"

I get rich each month, around several K's, when my freelance pay day arrives. Unfortunately, I also get negative balance sheet after paying my bills. Month after month, my poverty level increases as the cost of living normally overtakes what I earn. Not so for the Filipino-Chinese billionaires and a lone meztizo.  It seems these tycoons are immune to the economic crisis.  According to Forbes Asia, the net worth of the 40 richest Filipinos soared by 39% in 2010.  This translates to around $22.8 billion. (see: Newsbreak ) In contrast, the poverty incidence in the Philippines spiked by 1.5%. This was the estimate of IMF. It means some 1.4 million Pinoys will be joining the merry ranks of the poor and the dirt poor.  Talk about the rich getting richer while the poor gets, well, really dirt poor. This news item really unmade my day: " Ex-partylist Representative May Head CHR ". Ettangina naman oo, these Akbayan stalwarts were the first to echo the military line that activists

On Wangwangs and Symbolism

Lately, the Philippine political milieu has been deluged by discussions about the so-called “wangwangs”.  For those who are not familiar with the term, wangwang is a local slang which denotes a siren.  It is the ever conspicuous sound that one would hear when a police car or an ambulance pass by carrying a victim of a shooting incident or running after the perp, in the case of the former.  So, going back to my first impression; one of the first political acts of Benigno Aquino III, the newly installed President of the Philippines, is to ban the use of wangwangs -- even for his presidential convoy. 

Aquinos Have No Right To Sell Hacienda Luisita

Sentro para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (SENTRA) 20-C Maaralin St., Bgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City Telefax 434-6957 March 16, 2010 MEDIA RELEASE Reference: ATTY. JOBERT ILARDE PAHILGA, Executive Trustee 0928-7021549 Noynoy is either confused or lying; Aquinos have no right to sell Hacienda Luisita The statement of presidential candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino that they would have earned billions of pesos if they had sold Hacienda Luisita belies his claim that he has only less than 1% share in it. This only shows that Aquino has not been upright all along on the Luisita issue according to Atty. Jobert Ilarde Pahilga, the Executive Trustee of Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (SENTRA) and lawyer of the farm workers of the hacienda. As owners of the land, the Aquinos would have been paid by the government for its value but they opted to place the same under the Stock Distribution Option. This only shows that they have no intention to let go of their cont

A Call to Stop the Distortion and Commercialization of the Bukidnon Kaamulan Festival

Press Statement 12 March 2010 Katribu Partylist – Northern Mindanao, an indigenous peoples sectoral party, expresses disappointment over the distortion of Lumad culture during the recently concluded Kaamulan Festival held last February 18 – March 10, 2010 in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. The inappropriate and insensitive use of rituals, dances, and costumes and the prevalent commercialization in the Kaamulan has been a blatant mockery of Lumad culture and the festival’s history. Rituals that are considered sacred and private are shown publicly at the city streets and the provincial plaza. To cite some, the Igbabasok and Pagologdok are rituals done before harvest and hunting respectively. These are supposedly observed at appropriate venues such as ricefields and forests and not on the streets. Pamalas or the lumad wedding ceremony was depicted with actors playing as husband and wife which bastardizes the rite and is strictly prohibited under the Lumad law. Some non-lumad locals and touris

The January 26 Confrontation

The January 26 Confrontation « The First Quarter Storm Library : Here is a stirring account of the turbulent nights and days of the First Quarter Storm of 1970.  On Jan 26 (that's tomorrow), the 40th year of the FQS will be commemorated. To commemorate this historic event, The First Quarter Storm Library will also be launched on that day.  Actually, the Library is now online at http://fqslibrary.wordpress.com I only read about the First Quarter Storm on Jose F. Lacaba's book, Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage.   The creation of an online library that chronicles the events of the FQS is a welcome development.  Kudos to Mr. PT Martin who pioneered this project.  Now, the younger generation will know and will not forget what happened during those turbulent days that defined the future of the Philippines as a nation. Here is an excerpt from The First Quarter Storm Library taken from an article by Jose F. Lacaba which was published in the Philippine Free Press on February 7, 1970:

Happy Birthday Lola Nena

This A/V presentation was created by my Tito Boy. In celebration of Nena or Jesusa Teodoro Martin, the grand matriarch of the Martin-Teodoro Clan, on her 107th birthday on January 19, 2010   Nena.wmv