Friday, February 21, 2003

Saka Mo Udyukang Magwala si Marso

Naghahamon ng away
ang mga bakal na dragon ni Samuel
sa bayan ni Abraham,
nagbabantang muling magtatak
ng mga bangkay
sa mga dinding.
At ikaw,
ikaw na di pa nakakikita
ng mga lansangan at bukirin ng dugo
ay nag-uudyok
kay Marsong magwala roon.

Subukin mong makitulog
sa mga bata't matandang pinatulog
nang habang panahon
sa mga yungib na likha
ng bomba.
Subukin mong ipayakap
sa iyong mga mata
ang naghubad na mga bituka't buto
at kalamnang nagsauling.
Subukin mong makiinom
sa mga walang mainom
kundi kamandag.
At saka mo udyukang magwala si Marso
sa bayan ni Abraham.

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

NAG-UUSAP SINA BUSH AT GLORIA


Ang Paanyaya ni Bush kay Gloria
Ni Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera

Halina sa Iraq,
Tayo ay magpasiklab
Ng gerang uutas
Sa mga teroristang de-balbas
Na, aba’y, nangahas mangahas
Lumaban sa banal na dahas
Ng Amerikang may dakilang misyong iligtas
Ang mundo sa tiyak na pagkapahamak.

Halina, ikaw ay itatakas
Sa mga problema mong di malutas-lutas –
Ekonomiyang butas-butas,
Politikang waldas-waldas,
Lumulobong utang panlabas,
Lipunang winasak-wasak
Ng kriminal, kurakot at kulimbat,
Bayan mong walang hinaharap.
Halina, masdan ang iyong bukas –
Dagdag na pautang, pinaglumaang armas
Ipamamanang lahat-lahat,
Tiyak na ang pagkautas
Ng NPA, MILF, Abu Sayyaf.
Bayan mong di makausad-usad
Hihilahin tungo sa pag-unlad,
IMF-World Bank ang hahawak
Sa yaman ng mina mo’t gubat,
Sa biyaya ng bukid mo’t dagat.

Halina sa Baghdad,
Kay ganda, ang siyudad, nagliliyab!
Sa lahat ng dako ng estadong malawak
Dumadagsa ang aking hukbo ng sindak
Sinusuyod ang bundok at gubat,
Kapatagan at dagat.
Mga pangil ng apoy nginangatngat
Ang langit na lumiliyab!
Hayun, ang lupai’y nagbibitak-bitak
Mga gusali’y nadudurog, bumabagsak,
At sa lahat ng dako bangkay ay nagkalat,
Bata matanda babae lalaki bading lesbyana
Terorista silang lahat!
At sa disyerto ng Iraq,
Ang sarap!
Langis na dumaranak,
Itim na gintong naglalandas,
Tubo na sa Wall Street tumatambak.
Halina sa Iraq!

(Bulatlat.com, Pebrero 16-22, 2003)


Sagot ni Gloria sa Paanyaya ni Bush
Ni Alexander Martin Remollino

Ay, oo, Panginoong Dubya,
sa iyo, ako ay sasama.
Sa Iraq, tayo ay pupunta.
Sasamahan kita
saanmang impiyerno ka
magnasang pumunta.

Maanong sila’y magparatang
na ika’y isang bulaan?
Basta’t iyong tinuran
ay dapat paniwalaan,
pagkat salita mo lamang
ang siyang katotohanan.

Sabihin na nilang wala kang katibayan
na si Saddam
ay may mga sandatang
dulot ay lubhang kapinsalaan.
Pag ang may sabi’y ikaw,
katibaya’y aking masisilayan.
Nasaan?
Dili iba’t salita mo lamang.

Kaya’t o, Panginoong Dubya,
sa Baghdad, tayo’y magpunta.
Hukbo kong di makaporma
sa bandidong mas kaunti pa
sa bala
ng kaunti ring baril nila—
na pinaglumaan mo na—
ay aking isasama
at makikidigma sila
sa taga-Iraq na terorista!

Saturday, February 15, 2003

Kaiba ang Maynila

May apat na taon akong naglabas-masok sa Maynila araw-araw dahil sa pag-aaral sa UST. Ngunit napupuntahan ko ring madalas ang ilan sa iba pang lunsod na kasama ng Maynila sa National Capital Region: Pasay, Quezon City, at Makati.

Sapat ang karanasang ito upang mapansin ang kaibhan ng Maynila sa mga ito.

Unang-unang mapapansin ang pangyayaring di hamak na mas masikip sa Maynila kaysa sa tatlong iba pang lunsod na nabanggit.

Dito pumapasok ang reputasyon ng Maynila bilang isang sentro ng kaunlaran sa bansa. Dahil ito ang ulong lunsod ng Pilipinas, inaakala ng maraming tagalalawigan na dito matatagpuan ang lalong magagandang oportunidad sa pagpapaalwan ng pangkabuhayang kalagayan. Bukod pa rito, marami sa pinakamahuhusay na pamantasan at dalubhasaan ng bansa ay nasa Maynila, kung kaya naman ito dinarayo ng mga nagnanasa ng magaling na edukasyon.

Kung kaya naman talagang dinarayo ang Maynila. Kaya't sa Maynila makikita ang mga bahay--at maging barung-barong--na pinalaki nang ibayo sa dating laki ng mga ito upang makatanggap ng mga mangungupahan. Iyon namang mga walang pang-upa ay nagtatayo ng sarili nilang mga "bahay" na yari sa tinatawag ni Gary Granada na "Pinagtagpi-tagping basurang/Pinatungan ng bato".

Ang mga kainan at pamilihan ng aklat ng Maynila ay di hamak ding mas marami kaysa sa mga nasa Makati, Pasay, at Quezon City. Sino ang hindi nakapansin sa nagkalat na karinderya sa Sampaloc at sa naglipanang maglalako ng fishball at kuwek-kuwek at samalamig sa Quiapo? Sino ang hindi nakapansin sa napakahabang book strip sa Recto--kung saan kahit libro yatang dumaan sa kamay ni Claro Mayo Recto ay mabibili?

Mahirap ang buhay sa Maynila. Marami roon ang nabibigo sa paghahanap ng magandang kapalarang hindi rin makita sa lalawigan. Kaya't napipilitan ang mga naroon na sila nang lumikha ng kanilang pagkakakitaan. Totoo ang sinabi ni Hogan na mas malikhain ang Manilenyo kaysa sa tagaibang lunsod. Iginigiit ng mga pagkakataon ang kanilang pagkakagayon.

Talagang kaiba ang Maynila.

Bahagyang nirebisang bersiyon ng isang komento sa Tekstong Bopis.

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

WHY BUSH IS CALLED AN ARROGANT SON OF A BITCH

Someone in the Tinig.com Forums asked why many now say that United States (US) President George W. Bush is arrogant.

Before we begin to dwell on why Bush is called an arrogant son of a bitch, we must first go into how he has conducted himself on the issue of war, which from all indications he thinks is his duty to wage against what he calls "terrorism".

September 11

I and countless others who are now raging against Bush and all the others in his clique have full sympathy for the victims of the September 11 attack. But we understand why not a few of the families of those who perished in that act of treachery found it in themselves to lend their names to such campaigns as that of Not in Our Name, which opposed the war on Afghanistan.

Those who have been following international news closely cannot fail to catch the revelation that long before September 11, 2001, when the whole thing was still just a plan, Bush knew it was going to happen. His intelligence men--and some intelligence personnel in the Philippines--had long ago sent warnings to the US government that such a thing was being plotted.

But he did not take the measures necessary to prevent it. He allowed it to happen and used it as a pretext to rain bombs on a wedding party, a marketplace, a hospital, and several villages in Afghanistan--bombs which killed 3,500 civilians who are now no longer around to say for themselves whether or not they were Taliban supporters. Worse, many of those taken as prisoners of war were anti-Taliban leaders whom US military personnel who were doing their jobs well could not have failed to recognize.

Is it not such a strange coincidence that all cameras happened to be focused on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001?

Not Terrorism

Obviously terrorism was not the issue here.

That the Afghan War came down to such absurdity shows that it was a war for the sake of money. The war came at a time when the US economy was down on its knees--you do not need to have lived in the US for most of your life to know this--and history shows that the US economy, particularly in the last one hundred and four years, has primarily lived on war. Historical data show that the US joined or provoked wars whenever it had an economic crisis, and its economy reached the summit everytime it was at war.

For that matter, it was the US that installed the Taliban into power in the 1990s as a reward for their services in the campaign against the former Soviet Union. While the Taliban were committing the most barbaric human rights violations in Kabul's sports centers, the US went on negotiating with them on an oil pipeline deal. The US only began to push its weight on the Taliban after a dispute on that oil pipeline deal. For information check out articles by the British writer Andy Rowell.

War Again

Now the US government is bracing for another war, this time against Iraq. On what grounds?

1. That Iraq has weapons of mass destruction?

Where is their evidence? Bush says all the time that he has evidence, but the very fact that the United Nations (UN) has had to resort to inspections shows that he has no real evidence.

Furthermore, it is unimaginable that Iraq could have developed weapons of mass destruction while suffering impoverishment for the last decade due to economic sanctions.

And who the hell has the most weapons of mass destruction? Data from the Natural Resources Defense Council show that it is the US which is the world's greatest nuclear menace. The Soviet Union's nuclear stockpiles have long been undermaintained and half of them are inactive. The US has more nuclear stockpiles than France, China, and the United Kingdom combined. It has refused to dismantle its nuclear weapons, in full defiance of the Non-Proliferation Treaty drafted by the UN--of which it was one of the signatories. What moral right, then, has Bush and his ilk to insist that Iraq dismantle its "weapons of mass destruction"?

2. That Iraq is a threat to world peace?

Iraq has not attacked any nation for the last twelve years. It has made peace with its former opponents Iraq and Kuwait. Furthermore, history shows that the attacks on Iran and Kuwait were due not to any world hegemonic design but to border conflicts.

And why in the world did the US not call Iraq a "threat to world peace" when it attacked Iran? Special reports even show that it was the US which provided Iraq with the biological weapons it used in the attacks on Iran.

Furthermore, who the hell has provoked the most wars in the last one hundred and four years? Who provoked the wars in the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan?

Who the hell continues to support that Middle Eastern bully named Israel?

3. That Saddam Hussein is a tyrant?

Even we who oppose a possible war on Iraq are not oblivious of this. We are fully aware of his part in the massacre of thousands of progressive personalities within and outside the Baath, as well as his rapes of countless women in front of their fathers, brothers, and husbands.

But who installed Saddam into power in the first place? The coup which catapulted Saddam into power was sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency--as was the coup which unseated and murdered the democratically elected Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973. His massacres and rapes were allowed to pass before he started to defy US wishes that it be allowed to control Iraqi oil.

Human rights are a pet invocation of US leaders. In line with this they have consistently heaped mud upon leaders like Fidel Castro. But Augusto Pinochet, Anastasio Somoza, Pol Pot, and Ferdinand Marcos each committed more atrocities against human rights in less than thirty years than Castro has ever been accused of in the more than forty years that he has governed Cuba--and yet they were fully supported by the US until their very own people began to throw up their bile at the mere mention of their names. Why? Because unlike Castro, they never defied the US.

What moral right, then, has the US government to wage wars in the name of democracy?

Brazenness

The brazenness of Bush in insisting on wars without any legal nor moral basis is the reason he is called an arrogant son of a bitch.

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

Statement of the Filipino Youth for Peace

If you agree with the following statement and want to be part of the Filipino Youth for Peace in its campaign against US war on Iraq, please COPY this message and the letter below instead of forwarding, and sign your name, age, and city/province at the bottom. Send the e-mail to your friends and CC/BCC a copy to peace@tinig.com. For more info, visit http://peace.tinig.com/.
===================

NO TO US WAR ON IRAQ!

The United States (US) of America, through its President George "Dubya" W. Bush, is gearing for a war on Iraq. Bush says Iraq is a threat to world peace, claiming it has links with the al-Qaeda terror network that masterminded the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, and that it has weapons of mass destruction. Bush has closed in on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, calling him a tyrant. For all these, the US wants to engage Iraq in a war.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo refuses to comment on the possibility of US military action without the sanction of the United Nations. However, her statement that the Philippines is ready “to extend political, security and humanitarian assistance to the United
States in the pursuit of its most vital interests, which coincide with our own vital interests, to defeat terrorism," is an obvious expression of her support to the US war on Iraq.

Our own government is willing to support a patently unjust war.

The US cites as proof that Iraq is a threat to world peace its attacks on Iran in the 1980s and Kuwait in the 1990s. But why did the US not condemn Iraq when it attacked Iran? Iraq has not attacked any nation for the last ten years, and has even made peace with both Iran and Kuwait. How then can it be a threat to world peace?

Israel is the only nation in the Middle East that holds territory other than its own, and has been conducting the most savage attacks on the Palestinian people for decades--yet the US has not called it a threat to world peace.

The US has no concrete evidence linking Iraq to the al-Qaeda network. All it has managed to come up with are accusations that Iraq is linked with the al-Qaeda.

And even if it were true that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the US has no moral right to attack Iraq on that basis. Data from the Natural Resources Defense Council show that the US is at present the world's greatest nuclear menace. It ranks second among the top five nations with the highest number of nuclear weapons; as of 1996, the United States has 12,937 nuclear stockpiles, second only to the former Soviet Union's 25,000, which have long been under maintained and only half of which is active. The US has more than those of the next three nuclear powers combined: France with 450, China with 400, and the United Kingdom with 260. The US is thus, at present, the world’s greatest nuclear power.

The US advocates regime change in Iraq on the basis of Saddam's tyranny. But a closer look at recent history would tell us that Hussein attained his position through a coup supported by the Central Intelligence Agency. But he has not kowtowed to the wishes of his American patrons. Instead of giving in to their demands that they be allowed to control Iraqi oil, he nationalized the Iraqi oil industry and devoted a substantial portion of the income to basic services such as free education and health care.

For that matter, human rights have not fared any better in Turkey than they have in Iraq in recent history. Why is the US not advocating regime change in Turkey?

Bush has included Iraq in the so-called "axis of evil" with North Korea and Cuba. But the US does not want to risk even a small war against North Korea due to pressure from South Korea and Japan. And though it has successfully crippled Cuba with its sanctions, the island country is still branded as a threat.

The impending war on Iraq, therefore, is clearly a war not for the defense of the Free World, but for US global hegemony, in the quest for which oil plays an important part. Whatever may be said of Iraq, it has been a hindrance to US designs for world hegemony, and for this the US is threatening it with the scourge of war.

Our government's support for this war would mean jeopardizing the lives of millions of Filipinos working in Iraq and its neighboring countries. The Philippine economy is largely dependent for sustenance on remittances from overseas Filipino workers; therefore a war on Iraq will exact a heavy toll on the Philippine economy.

As Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr. pointed out in his call to stand for peace, the impending war will also imperil the price of oil, distort foreign exchange, and may intensify violence in our country, especially Mindanao.

President Macapagal-Arroyo would do better by heeding the no-to-war call of Vice President Guingona and by following the example of respected leaders like Pope John Paul II, former US President Jimmy Carter, and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

We must uphold what the Constitution says: “The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations.”

We, the Filipino youth, stand in solidarity with our American brothers and sisters, in whose name their leaders are committing so much bestiality. We do not want to see the names of a people who built their nation on a most fervent love for freedom tainted with blood spilled in an immoral war.

We refuse to forget the more than one million Vietnamese killed in the genocide called the Vietnam War, as well as the hundreds of thousands of Filipino freedom fighters and civilians murdered during the Philippine-American War. Thus, we condemn this war that could kill as many as half a million Iraqis.

Our generation does not want to inherit a world torn by wars of aggression. We therefore join the voice of the youth all over the world crying for peace and justice.

We reject the US war of aggression against Iraq. We urge the Philippine government to do the same.

-- Filipino Youth for Peace

(Write here your name, age, and city/province.)

Monday, February 03, 2003

Katatawanan

Nitong nagdaang Enero 31, matapos na lumahok sa isang malaking demonstrasyon ng iba't ibang organisasyon at pananampalataya laban sa napipintong pagdigma ng Estados Unidos sa Iraq, pinalad akong mapanood sa telebisyon ng nasakyan kong bus ang isang bahagi ng isang tanyag na sitcom kung saan makikita ang mga katawa-tawang bersiyon ng Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ng Pangalawang Pangulong Teofisto Guingona, Jr., at ng mga opisyal ng Gabinete.

Sa pagsisimula ng tagpong iyo'y nagpupulong ang "Pangulo" at ang "Gabinete". Maya-maya'y sapapasok ang "Pangalawang Pangulong Guingona", na ang paglakad ay pahintu-hinto at nanlilisik ang mata at nakausli ang nguso. Patuloy na manlilisik ang kanyang mata at higit pang uusli ang kanyang nguso habang pahintu-hinto siyang nagtatalumpating wari'y pagalit. Halata ang kaibhan ng kanyang gawi sa maayos na kilos at pananalita ng "Pangulo" at ng mga "opisyal ng Gabinete".

Sa kanyang paligid, nagtatawanan ang "Pangulo" at ang mga "opisyal ng Gabinete".

Makaraan ang ilang araw, napag-alaman ko sa isang kamanunulat na sa isa pang tanyag ding sitcom ay higit ang paggawang katawa-tawa kay Guingona. "Mas kawawa ang 'itsura ni Guingona do'n," wika ng aking kamanunulat.

Sa lahat ng napanood kong katatawanan mula nang isilang ang bagong milenyo, ito ang pinakanakatatawa. Nakatatawa ito kung paanong ang tae ng kalabaw ay mabango at ang inuuod na karne ng baboy ay mabango.

Sino ba itong taong idinamay nila sa kanilang mga katatawanan?

Si Teofisto Guingona, Jr. ay naging aktibista alang-alang sa karapatang pantao noong panahon ng batas militar. Walang bayad siyang naglingkod bilang abugado sa mga biktima ng naging malawakang paglabag sa karapatang pantao. Bukod pa rito, lumahok siya sa mga demonstrasyon laban sa pasismo ng diktadurang Marcos--at kapalit nito'y makalawang nabilanggo at sa hindi mabilang na pagkakatao'y napalo ng truncheon at nakatikim ng tubig mula sa water cannon.

Maliwanag din ang kasaysayan ni Guingona ng pagsusulong ng nasyunalismo.

Noong panahon ng pagka-Pangulo ni Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, isa si Guingona sa labindalawa sa dalawampu't tatlong Senador na tumutol sa pananatili ng mga base militar ng Estados Unidos sa Pilipinas. Noong panahon ng pagka-Pangulo ni Joseph Ejercito Estrada, isa siya sa lima sa dalawampu't apat na Senador na hindi lumagda sa Visiting Forces Agreement, na nagpapahintulot sa pagpapapasok sa mga puwersang militar ng Estados Unidos sa Pilipinas ukol sa mga "ehersisyong militar", bukod pa sa pagbibigay sa mga ito ng mga "karapatang" ekstrateritoryal at ekstrahudisyal. Nitong panahon ng pagka-Pangulo ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, isa siya sa pinakamalalakas na tinig na tumututol sa Mutual Logistics Support Agreement, na naglalayong itali ang pamahalaan ng Pilipinas sa pagbibigay ng lohistikong tulong sa mga sundalong Amerikanong papasok dito. Sa lahat nito, katwiran niya'y malayang bansa ang Pilipinas kaya't hindi dapat na mapabilang sa sistemang pantanggulan ng Estados Unidos at maramay sa mga digmaang hindi nito digmaan.

Sinimulan na rin ni Guingona ang pagtutol sa globalisasyon, at siya'y nagsusulong ng programang pang-ekonomiyang mangangalaga sa kapakanan ng Pilipinas at hindi sa mga interes ng mga korporasyong transnasyunal.

Si Guingona ay isa rin sa iilang opisyal na walang bahid ng anumang katiwalian ang pangalan.

Iyan si Teofisto Gungona, Jr., ang taong kanilang ginagawang katawa-tawa. Ang ating Inang Baya'y matagal nang naghihintay ng susunod sa mga yapak nina Claro Mayo Recto, Lorenzo TaƱada, at Jose Wright Diokno--at ngayo'y narito si Teofisto Guingona, Jr.--na sa ating kasaysayan ay siyang pinakamataas na opisyal ng pamahalaan na tumutol sa pakikialam ng Estados Unidos at pinakamataas na opisyal ng pamahalaan na walang bahid ng katiwalian ang pangalan.

At siya'y ginagawang katawa-tawa ng ilang walang kapantay na mga henyo.

Ipagpatuloy ninyo ang inyong ginagawa, at kayo na rin ang pumatay sa karapatan ninyong magtanong kung bakit kadalasa'y kawatan ang namumuno sa ating bayan. Itinuturo ninyo sa mga taong ang maging matino at magaling na opisyal ng pamahalaan ay isang katatawanan.