MABUHAY!

The air is seething with news about the status of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. Sen. Miriam Defensor spoke against it, saying among other things that we have been given lower remuneration compared to other nations which did not even have any agreement; that the visit does not say how long it would be; that the US has been giving to us equipment that are already classifiable as "ukay2." I did not catch anymore the rest that she had said but one thing for sure this issue of American soldiers going back to our shores is really problematic. Even Ernie Makahiya, head of Ganap Partylist spoke against it.

What is it really that attracts Americans to our shore? I have heard that the places for their so-called Balikatan exercises are full of oil and other natural resources that somehow, prospecting clandestinely is part of them. Then of course some generals maybe could not resist the allure of the Filipino women who could be selling their bodies for dollars, although I shudder to think of this really. But it is a real possibility. In fact, we could start counting the number of Amerasian children who could be born during the term of this VFA.

Knowing that Americans are really a pragmatic lot, I think that they would not even proffer the idea of their being here as part of that messianic mission of policing the world. I think also that is already passe and the phrase has got to be obliterated from world vocabulary (don't you think Mr. Schott?) US as the Superman of the world is really not a heavenly image anymore since there is an opposite reaction to that and which is: we can develop our own superpowers -- and not necessarily violent ones, not necessarily using arms, and other military warfare.

Rather, I do think that the US should go back to their turn-of-the-century tactics here in the Philippines, wherein the soldiers were heavily involved in teaching the people -- in educating them as the Spanish colonizers denied it to our early, early grandparents. But of course, today we have our own educational institutions now, and capable of educating our own people. So what need do we have for American teachers --who could probably collaborate with us instead on making their military sector less prone to using war all the time to solve war problems.

I am very amazed at how a certain general could even put a black or white proposition to the authorities -- "if I don't get 30,000 men, I quit" - and to which if I were there, I would always say, "Thank you, quit." Actually since 2003, when Bush allowed the invasion of Iraq, I had created helmets out of those jelly cups, painting them olive green, then sticking them on styrofoam with a toothpick. I told myself these should stand for every helmet of a dead American soldier in Iraq, as the NYT had been running statistics of the dying and dead soldiers in that war at that time. I think it has reached 4,000 now.

For someone involved in alternative healing -- which seeks to prolong life through alternative health products -- I find it anathema to really send people to war, any war, regardless of any assurance that they would come back alive. It is a very simple idea for me that to be alive is to live long, and not to live dangerously, but rather to savor every minute of one's life here on earth in great joy. But it seems those generals have a different idea; perhaps they view the war just like a game of chess, where you mate your enemy with many pawns sacrificed on the wayside. In other words, they treat their soldiers as objects to be thrown into the battlefields or the chessboard, regardless of the ethics of the war.

And what is not right? What is not glaringly right? For me a foreign flag in our Philippine soil with a soldier not of our own, is not glaringly right. I can feel for the Afghans, Pakistanis and the Iraquis when they view foreign soldiers on their shores imposing their authority, whereas they have their own leaders. I can feel revolted the same way they are when I see a foreign flag flying more highly than our own. I can feel for the women of those countries when their sons, brothers and husbands are treated like second class citizens (of course the women would be third class already there given the highly conservative societies where they exist) unable to talk back, always trying to smile, to massage the egoes of the foreign powers who could shoot them at any time should they become stubborn or recalcitrant in following orders.

It is 2009 and I have been thinking and praying that this millenium should already bring about a full flowering of minds and spirits (in living bodies) not anymore of carcasses or corpses. And so what can be done about these warheads? Let us rethink and rethink and rethink -- if instead of buying bullets, etc., why not spend on books, or the writing of books in the languages of the Afghans, Pakistanis and Iraquis on what is democracy? on what is self-esteem; on what is national dignity; on how to be financially independent? Etcetera, etcetera?

US of A has a lot of universities and graduates highly qualified to serve the interests of the country and make it act progressively. The resources in them are also huge compared even to those in our country, the Philippines. I believe that the military budget in the whole world, not just in the USA should be devoted solely to educational purposes. When military planes fly, why can't they drop radios and tv sets with cable connections so that they would have a plethora of stations and channels to choose from? Or why not drop paintbrushes, oils and coloring books and other art materials? Why not send Beyonce to teach the girls there how to read musical notes or how to do trilling of the voice (skip the gyrating because they could be shocked by it.)

Let us sow the seeds of democracy without guns.

So. Let us also empower the women of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq in order to make them have a say in the running of their government.

Let us make them understand that the veil is beautiful but not for all time wearing especially when one has to do manual work; let us make them learn technology and open their eyes and minds into the infinite knowledge they can have through the internet; no not only knowledge but also opinions from which they can learn and thereby learn how to shape their own.

Yes, from this small corner of the globe I know how to dream, dream big of a peaceful happy world. I hope everyone is dreaming with me and doing something concrete to make it happen. Mabuhay!

Come to think of it, our word for victory is Mabuhay which means Long Live! I think our language was originated by people who think and act humanely and who valued human life immensely. Mabuhay tayong lahat, Mabuhay ang Mundo!