THE WOWOWEE STAMPEDE IS A NATIONAL TRAGEDY

In trying to absolve, before the public, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration of responsibility for the Wowowee tragedy which killed at least 75 people – one of the deaths being a forced abortion – on Feb. 4, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita has shown nothing except the extent of his servility toward Malacañang.

Those were among the wisest of words. “Saying that this event is a mirror of poverty is carrying it too far,” he said. “There is a tragedy because of the program.”

Either the honorable executive secretary was taking us for a ride or he had yet to acquaint himself with the nature of the television program that marked its first anniversary by being at the heart of a national tragedy.

Yes, the stampede that marked Wowowee’s first anniversary is a national tragedy. More than being an issue of reckless imprudence on the part of the show’s organizers – which it definitely is – the Wowowee tragedy is an extremely depressing picture of what this country has come to.

An overwhelming majority of the more than 30,000 who had lined up in front of the PhilSports Arena (also known as the ULTRA) were from the margins of Philippine society, a “basket case of a society” in the words of poet and literary scholar Gelacio Guillermo. Those of us who regularly go to the vicinity of the ABS-CBN compound have noticed that those who line up for Wowowee in the hope of getting into its contests look alike: their attires speak of the daily ordeal of surviving with less than the barest necessities, the looks in their eyes speak of hopelessness.

They pushed and trod over each other in a rush to get inside the stadium because of rumors that the show was giving away raffle tickets to the first 300 people to enter. The prizes ranged from cash to taxicabs to a house and lot – giving a sense of “hope” that those with raffle tickets would have a chance to lift themselves and their loved ones out of the rut with one stroke of luck.

It was this desperate yearning for a sudden exit from penury, or even for a small amount of money to tide them over for a few weeks or months, that drove the people to push and tread over each other in a rush to get in.

Because of this desperation, at least 75 people are now dead. Most of the dead are women – the ones who daily confront the question of how to make do with a pittance – and most of the women who died were grandmothers. Only three of those who died were men.

The Macapagal-Arroyo government cannot wash its hands of responsibility in this tragedy.

Hunger and joblessness statistics have reached all-time highs under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose supposed mandate in the 2004 election is not even credible to say the least. The gap between the cost of living and the wages of an average workingman in this country ever widens as the government imposes additional tax burdens on the people who already have nothing to spare, supposedly to stave off a crisis they were not responsible for in the first place.

You have missed the point, Secretary Ermita. This is a national tragedy. It is not simply “because of the program” – unless you are talking about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s program of governance.

Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria)
Feb. 9, 2006

Southern Tagalog Exposure
KASIBULAN Women Visual Artists’ Collective
KUMASA (Kulturang Ugnayan ng Manggagawa at Uring Anakpawis sa Timog Katagalugan)
ARTIST, Inc. (Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog)
Kilometer 64 Poetry Group
Tambisan sa Sining
APLAYA (Artistang Pangkultura ng Mamamalakaya sa Timog Katagalugan)
UPLB Umalohokan
Pokus Gitnang Luson

Paolo Martinez
Andrea Muñoz
Gian Paolo Mayuga
Jeffrey Ferrer
Onin Tagaro
Bobby Balingit
Winnie Balingit
Lourd de Veyra
Dong Abay
Ninj Abay
Con Cabrera
Roselle Pineda
Heidi Takama

ANG UST AT SI GLORIA

Lubhang maaga pa marahil upang mapaghulo kung paano titingnan ng mga susunod na susulat ng kasaysayan ng Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas (UST) -- kung saan ako nagkolehiyo -- ang bagay na itong natuklasan ko may ilang araw pa lamang ang nakalilipas: ilan sa mga prominenteng kalaban ng Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang taga-UST.

Nagkaroon ng higit na dating sa akin ang mga balita tungkol kay Kap. Candelaria Rivas, ang kasapi ng Judge Advocate General's Office (JAGO) ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) na kasama ng lider ng Magdalo na si Kap. Nicanor Faeldon nang madakip ng mga awtoridad kamakailan, nang mabasa ko sa isang artikulo sa Philippine Daily Inquirer na siya pala'y sa UST nagtapos ng Komersiyo at Abugasya. Taong 2002 siya nagtapos ng Abugasya kaya't marahil ay nakaklase rin niya ang ilan sa mga kaklase ko sa Legal Management noong 1996-1998, halimbawa'y ang bar topnotcher ng 2002 na si Arlene Maneja.

Dito'y nagunita kong taga-UST rin si Atty. Harriet Demetriou, na aktibo ngayon sa kampanyang pagpapatalsik kay Gloria bilang isa sa mga convenor ng Women's Movement for Arroyo's Removal and Regime Change (WOMEN MARCH). Sa UST siya nagtapos ng Abugasya.

Noon namang nakaraang linggo, habang sinasaliksik sa website ng Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) ang kanilang pinakabagong pastoral letter, sinamantala ko rin ang pagkakataon upang basahin doon ang mga bio-data ng ilan sa lalong kilalang mga obispo at arsobispo.

Doon ko nalamang dalawa sa mga obispong nanawagan ng pagbibitiw ng Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ay taga-UST rin pala. Si Arsobispo Oscar Cruz ng Lingayen, na napabantog din dahil sa kanyang mga expose laban sa jueteng, ay sa UST nag-aral mula haiskul, at doon na rin natapos ng pag-aaral sa seminaryo. Samantala, si Obispo Deogracias Iñiguez ng Caloocan ay kumuha ng BSE sa UST ilang taon makaraang magtapos ng pag-aaral sa ibang seminaryo.

Ngayon, iba't iba ang porma ng kampanya sa pagpapatalsik kay Gloria.

Isa sa mga ito ang paglalabas ng mga koleksiyon ng mga tulang laban sa kasalukuyang administrasyon. Dalawa na ang nailabas na ganitong antolohiya: ang Oust Gloria namin sa Kilometer 64 at ang Truth and Consequence ng Publikasyong Iglap.

Isa sa mga nahingan namin ng tula para sa aming Oust Gloria si Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, na sa UST nagtapos ng kanyang Bachelor of Literature. Ang tula niyang kasama sa koleksiyong ito ay iniambag din niya sa Truth and Consequence.

Nariyan din ang paglalabas ng music video, tulad ng ginawa namin sa Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria) sa isang tula kong nasa Oust Gloria. Ang tulang ito ay nilapatan ng musika ni Bobby Balingit ng mga bandang The Wuds at Juan Isip. Sa music video, ang bumigkas ng tula ko'y si Lourd de Veyra ng Radioactive Sago Project -- isa sa mga tagapagsalita ng ARREST Gloria -- na sa UST kumuha ng Peryodismo.

Paano nga kaya titingnan ng mga susunod na susulat ng kasaysayan ng UST ang bagay na ito? Aywan ko, ngunit tiyak na nakasalalay ito sa kalalabasan ng kasalukuyang mga pangyayari.

IN FLEEING DEATH THEY PERISHED

Like rats they scampered,
scampered for a few months' lease on life --
and scores were stopped by death on the tracks.
In the rush for a few months' worth of human life,
scores were trampled like mice.
They met the death they sought to defy.
And this is how things have become
in this country of our afflictions:
to simply last the day through has become
a death-bringing ordeal,
and in the quest to flee this death
and taste the life of men
there are not a few who would face even
the danger of dying like mice.

In memory of those who, in the hopes of getting tickets to qualify as contestants in the "Pera o Bayong" contest of the ABS-CBN game show Wowowee, perished in a Feb. 3, 2006 stampede at the ULTRA