DIGNIFIED IMAGES WANTED

DIGNIFIED IMAGES WANTED

By Wilhelmina S. Orozco

Who takes care of the image of women? Who protects that image from being disrespected and downgraded?

Actually, the image of a country, and of women in particular speak a lot about how we are esteemed or ignored or disrespected by other countries. If we have a high image, then we can expect equal and righteous treatment from other countries. If we have a corrupt and selfish officials who only think of self-aggrandizement, then we are in for a long battle against poverty, against maltreatment of our OFWs of other countries, of being in that list of distrusted countries that do not deserve to be lent any money from the world’s financial institutions.

I have been mulling over the image of Filipino women and until now, I am still shocked over the turn-out of our movement to liberate them. I saw a picture of girls running from the earthquake shocks in their countries and they were wearing short shorts. I ride the jeepneys around metroManila and I  see on the streets, fat and thin, women of all ages wearing short shorts. Then my co-passengers are the same – some even smooch with their boyfriends inside the jeep.

I was feeling foolish one day and when I met a student at a university wearing the same costume, I told her, “Next year you will be pregnant.” She looked at me oddly, as if what I had just said was out of this world. How can that be when it is so real? Our population growth is reaching its 100 millionth in a matter of two or three years. “Hakbangan mo lang ang Pilipina, buntis kaagad.”

Then I rode a tricycle where the driver had his wife at the back and his child in front of him. The wife was had the same attire. Then I saw how her belly was so big and I knew that in a matter of months she would be giving birth. I told them, “You keep wearing that attire and you will be pregnant every year. You will not have anymore time but just to take care of babies all day long.” The wife had a long look and then bowed her head, while the driver was smiling, as if it was very normal for a wife to be staying at home all the time and being surrounded with babies.

It seems that anything that comes out of the TV programs is such high fashion. Nag-mini skirt ang isang TV host kahit na buntis, and what did the girls and women do? They aped her. Yung mga dancers sa noontime shows, kumendeng kendeng lang at initsa-itsa ang mga hita nila sa ere, ginaya rin.  

Chinese treatment

So now, are we anywhere nearing a dignified state? Are we respected by our neighbors? The treatment we are getting from the People’s Republic of China signified how lowly we are to them. You see not only do they control our economy with so many cheap and easily-wrecked goods like umbrellas and ball pens that conk out after being written on a few pages of paper. They also are shoving their way at the Scarborough Shoal, as if it had been theirs since time immemorial.

Actually, Folks, let me digress a bit. If that is the defense of China with regard to their bullying us, then we might as well remove all foreigners from our country including their own who migrated to our shores in order to escape from the cruelty of their communist regime. What kind of cruelty do they inflict but the worst kind – killing babies in the womb of those women who are into their second pregnancies and beyond. Why, from the very beginning, we had only the Aetas and then the waves of Malayan and Indonesian immigrants here.

That argument, that they have had the Shoal since time immemorial is untenable. All the countries of the United Nations have their historical roots of migration. Yet they have bonded together in order to have peace in this world, and so that no country would be acting as if it is the only master  that could dictate how the earth should be rotating on its axis, and how one country could only have the sun shining on it and nothing more.

Acting with dignity

In order for us to be treated as equals, I think that we should not act as if we belong to another country. We must act with our own self that has dignity, that is principled and that has a consciousness that life is valuable for everyone and not for a few.

How funny really when a relative of a high official lowers the dignity of his office. That relative is a commercial object, selling all kinds of goods, from cooking stoves to watches and even to condominiums. What happens when that thing occurs? The position of the official is demeaned. The position becomes equal to all other positions.

I find that rather opportunistic when a relative, uses his or her position  to wangle high modeling fees simply because by appearing as a model, then he/she is able to connote the product with the high position of the relative. I do think that we must have a code of ethics for high officials here, or we should improve it so that the dignity of the position is not marred by that and other similar acts. What is the point?

Code of ethics

The point is that there should be dignity accorded positions up to relatives of the third degree.  Commercial companies should not be allowed to use relatives of high officials to push or promote products in public since they are supposed to be officials for everyone, not for a few companies or individuals.

So aside from revising the code of ethics for public officials, we must also tasked the government, especially the education and local government sectors to implement a program wherein the image of public officials and the citizens shall not be trampled upon.

That brings to my mind those tarpaulins full of faces and soooo ordinary messages of officials to their constituents. Pasko? Merry Christmas! Valentine? Happy Valentine’s Day! Nagtapos sa elementary ang mga bata? Congratulations! Nag anibersaryo ang barangay? Happy Anniversary! Ah, eleksyon! Iboto si Bebang! Huwag kalimutan is Kasmot!

And those tarpaulins stay up there forever and a day regardless of whether they are current or relevant. Tapos na ang Pasko, ang Valentine, ang graduation, ang elecksyon, a piyesta, narun pa rin. Thus the barangay looks like a place for hanging tarpaulins, no longer a dignified place to live in.

What is a dignified place? One where there are no tarpaulins hanging here and there, where electric cables are properly wound through tubes and connected to homes, not like spaghetti that could snap at any time. It is a place where the people are not just standing by or drinking about but are busy cleaning up, doing business in order to earn a decent income or carrying on a profession, like haircutting.

Education sector

The problem with the education sector is that it is saddled with putting up schools and the quality of education rather than attending to issues that have a bearing on our image. It does not seem to matter to a religious school if its students are moving about in full regalia of the thighs of their female students. It does not matter to government officials if the ranking of the universities are falling down worldwide.

Now why is the ranking falling down? The question should be, what is it in the environment that makes the school not a place for learning anymore but rather one for “sosyalan” among the students. Students go to school simply because they just want to have a diploma and use that as a passport to work abroad, no matter how lowly

Now we go back to the image of our people. Our image physically is so low that even the aspirations of the people have become very low indeed. What jobs await our people abroad? The majority are lowly ones that would not even earn them a pension when they retire, and in worst of cases, make them alienated from their own families, that is, if it has not been broken yet by geographical separation for many, many years.

Look at our neighboring countries. When you say, Thai, or Malaysian, or Singaporean or Vietnamese people, we immediately imagine well-dressed and healthy citizens, busy working or earning a living. When we say, Filipino people, and of course, Filipino women, all sorts of images crop up, majority of which is centered on how comical we find life – remember, “It’s more fun in the Philippines!” theme. And what image of women do we see? Bah! Whoa!

Cheap to see thighs in the Philippines. Go to schools, ride the jeepneys, the buses, watch the sidewalks. Tourists you would enjoy all sorts of sizes and ages.

Cultural not just economic campaigns

No, our campaigns against poverty should not only be economic but cultural. We must bring back the dignity of the Filipino people, of Filipino women. We cannot allow the present set-up to continue. Media should be part of that campaign to rid ourselves of images that put our people down in the face of all foreign countries. We cannot afford to continue doing our thing now without minding how we look.

It’s so funny, how the intelligence group track me down from the house to all the public places that I go to. Right now, I have just told off one resident downstairs not to make noise by the side of my window as I am writing this piece. What kind of noise? Gargling and sniffing. Who has brought him there? The yard is so big in front but he had chosen to do his thing right beneath my window. How funny really.

Then when I rode this jeepney from Buendia corner EDSA, two elderly women were acting strangely. They were staring hard at me. Because of the big intelligence budget, the intel group must be coming up with different activities that would anger me in public places and probably make me lose coolness. I could only shake my head in disbelief at their antics. The people’s money is being used for destroying activist tendencies among the people. Right now folks, several motorcycles are passing by my place –revving up the engine to create noise and make me mind them instead of my ideas here. These people are planted to destroy my equanimity in order for me not to come up with political ideas that would, to their polluted minds, rock the boat.

“Tuwid na daan” papunta saan?

Is it rocking the boat to point out where our country should be directed? PNoy talks about “tuwid na daan.” But when you talk of such paths, you need good directional tools. By the way, we could ask the local governors, what is the matter with your street signs? How can the people know the right directions when the street signs are either dilapidated or do not exist? At one time, there were even two streetname posts with different designs in several corners of our barangay yet carrying the same names of the streets. In Manila, the street names are peeling off the tablets, showing us how corrupt the officials who had ordered them.  They had accepted poor quality sign tablets just so they could rake millions from all the purchase streetsigns. At one time, I saw a post with a name pointing to the wrong street.

The wise guys in the barangay must be having a heyday making fun of those street posts. They want the people to lose their way as they themselves must have lost their way through all the years of neglect.

Directional tool

So what is the directional tool that we need? DZFE, the Christian radio station,  would say the Bible. We can be very religious and spiritual but we must also tackle the material life. First of all, we must be aware of what image we are showing the world.

Secondly, the educational sector must put its foot down and remove that laissez-faire attitude towards how the students look. The students must be taught that the school is a place for learning with dignity, not for loafing around in shorts and slippers. Most of all female students must be taught that they have a role to play in making their male classmates achieve high intellectual learning. They should not use their gender for creating situations that would only result in physical contact, but rather an intellectual relationship that will make them worthy citizens in the future.

Thirdly, local governments must cite what are important streets in each barangay. Those fronting the barangay halls especially should be a site for dignified activities – not for selling this and that product, or servicing this and that machine on the sidewalks.

I know the effect of a respectful treatment of the people in Tondo. The Robinson’s Corporation donated tarpaulins for the use of the Smokey Mountain relocatees in their community office in order to serve as roofing materials. Today, the community leader-volunteers dress up well, have an office that is a hub for so many activities serving the people, and the people themselves act from a higher moral ground. The leaders have just chastised one member who had tried to milk the people through dubious means although the project was educational in nature.

Moving and acting as one

The fact that our people are leaving in droves at the airport signifies that they want a decent livelihood, a decent lifestyle. They do not find that in our country and so they look for it elsewhere in this planet. Anywhere but in the Philippines. Sure, “fun” we can have but in terms of serious thinking and making lots of moolah, leave that to the telcos. By the way, aren’t we the top texters of the world?

If only the officials would be sensitive to what the people truly want, then our people would be moving as one with them. We would not be sitting around and just waiting for manna to drop from heaven. We shall act with them.

WHAT IS A STATESMAN/STATESWOMAN?

WHAT IS A STATESMAN/STATESWOMAN?

Wilhelmina S. Orozco

Once a person decides to join the government then he or she is required to act like a statesman or stateswoman. What is that?

A highly respected man or woman, respected and influential leader who is devoted to public service. In Pilipino, we would say that such a person is called maginoong tagapaglingkod sa bayan, in short, “katulong ng bayan.: PNoy called the people, “boss ko. Kayo ang boss ko,” he said. I have heard no other official say that. “I am just a public servant,” or “I am serving the people.” What I hear is, “I serve at the pleasure of the president,” or “I am an employee of the government.” Whenever I even hear the word, “Public servant,” it is rather said in derision, not even with pride. Why because a public servant connotes a servile individual who works even on unholy hours for a pittance, except for those nearest the powers-that-be.

One day, nearing Christmas, I dropped into a police station and smelled an awful odor, a kind of fecal odor which happened to be those of pigs and such other animals. The police, in celebration were cooking “isaw” a native delicacy that incorporates ingredients from the innards of animals. And what do you expect to get but such a foul smell that filled up the whole station.

I talked about the ills of eating such as it could cause arthritis, strokes and eventually lead to paralysis. A policeman told me, “Ma’am, handa po akong mamatay kahit na anong oras.” I was shocked to hear that, and so I replied, “You must die in the line of duty not because of papaitan,( the food they were cooking.).

How many of our government servants would really think of dying for the people? I read about Ninoy Aquino saying, “The Filipino people are worth dying for,” and he did rather carelessly. He knew that he was about to be killed and he had chosen to face his enemies head-on without any back-up defense. It was good that our People Power occurred and so his memory has come down in history as a heroic martyr who sacrificed his life for the good of the people.

Was he the spark that ignited the people to wake up to the realities of a gangster-like regime that would eliminate his opponents with bullets? Actually, before Ninoy’s arrival, the people’s movement was already on the go. We had been holding in-door rallies questioning the legitimacy of Marcos. In fact, I was attending many of them and speaking out to raise the issue of women’s liberation.

When Ninoy was going to be buried and there would be funeral cortege, I joined the throngs of people and came out with a small leaflet about the solutions to the problems of the people being innate in our country. They are not available anywhere else but in the Philippines and that necessitated women’s rising up to confront Marcos, the dictator. I made sure that the leaflet got to the hands of women leaders.

The rest is history, and Cory, albeit a homemaker,  became the first woman president of the country.

I mean to say that being a statesperson requires sacrifice, integrity and  credibility but also being scheming and wise to outwit the opponent. It is not enough to be able to demonstrate in the streets but also to show to the people what will happen should one get installed.

Once installed, of course there the problem begins. Although one may exhibite statesmanship or stateswomanship qualities in the beginning, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

Three factors would define the qualities of such a person:

1. how they handle power;
2. how they handle conflicts between and among the officials around them;
3. what services and goods, and how they deliver them, to the people.

There maybe more factors but I want to focus on these three as I think they are the most important in looking at, in assessing the achievements of this administration and the succeeding ones. Some sectors choose to believe the surveys which ask the people, “how would you grade the president?” I don’t really agree with that because it only whips us feelings which are not helpful at all in directing the country’s activities. I would rather ask the people “What do you think are the most pressing problems that the president should focus on?”

If this question is answered, then we are actually asking the people to have the power to confront the president if he is addressing the needs of the people. Is he exercising the correct powers now, by addressing what the people want him to?

That is what is called handling power. How does the president handle his power? Is his power benefiting the people or only a few? Why? What is he doing with that power? By answering those questions we are shaping the directions of this country to what should be what the people need and want.

If we get say so much percentage who answer that “food” is the number one priority, or “cheap transportation,” or “responsive barangay and not capitalistic which would charge the people for mediating in the conflicts among the constituents, as our barangay does over here,” then we are making him address what is closest to our hearts. That is giving significance to  “People Power” now.

Yes, to handle power is to realize what “People Power” which we launched in 1986 is. Power is to continue that “People Power” this time in the bureaucracy. And to have and administer that power is to make the government less bureaucratic, less corrupt (like impeaching the likes of the CJ) and more speedy in addressing the people’s problems, especially hunger. That is real political power.

Some people think that “People Power” is finished, ended and gone after 1986. No, it should not be. It means continuing that as a never-ending goal. We need the power of the people in government. It means, making this government geared more towards establishing one that is welfare-driven, not profit-driven. Leave profits to the capitalists and businesses, but the government has to do its part – to give services to the people.

This is why the officials, officers,  and employees are called public servants. They are not supposed to make money out of the functions inherent to the positions they were voted in and/or appointed. To do otherwise is to change the label of our government as “undemocratic,” Or “oligarchic,” meaning, rule of the few.

Way back in the latter part of the 60’s, we were being by activists to stop the ruling of oligarchs and these included the Lopezes, Osmenas, and all other wealthy families, among others. The end of that movement was the inastallation of martial law by Marcos who fashioned himself as the savior of the people from the chaotic political scene,

But was it really chaotic? It was only made so because the term of Marcos then was ending and so he could not run anymore. Hence, he had to create a society that was on the verge of a revolution in order to justify his militaristic rule. Many of the political leaders fled to the United States and exiled themselves. They continued their crusades abroad but the real battleground was still the Philippines. The people were here suffering in the hands of the dictator and his family and so no amount of propaganda could make the people adore the campaigners who had gone abroad.

Hence, Ninoy had to come home, sadly, only to die in the hands of the military whom he knew would do him in.

Now how come, we still do not know who masterminded the killing of Ninoy? Was it Marcos, Imelda or his henchmen? How ironic, but it would do good to close this issue if PNoy could finally bring the soldiers who got incarcerated to speak up and confess who had ordered them to kill Ninoy. That is using power that has a historical significance.

Talking about such power, it would be good if PNoy could stop all kinds of bureaucratism in the conferment of the National Artist Award to Dolphy. He and all the Filipino people owe Dolphy that sacrifice to stick to a medium that is full of intrigues, scandals, and killing competition in order to make the people happy.

Yes it is no joke sticking to the movie industry. Dolphy was able to surmount all kinds of conflicts there and survived, even laughing and making us laugh all the way to the boob tube.

Tingnan mo lang si Dolphy matatawa ka na. And when he delivers his line, the more you will laugh because he can say his funny dialogues with a poker-face.

Hindi aral ang pag-aartista ni Dolphy unlike some comedians who dish out but fail to make us laugh with their dialogues. Why because, they come out either doing a swardspeak (as if to speak like gays is to be funny) or trying to elicit laughter through incongruous costumes or gestures.

Dolphy is just Dolphy, the funny man period, without frills.

To give him that award, which I don’t really give too much value now as it had been tainted by the inclusion of a questionable awardee, is to make his soul happy and contented that our society has finally arrived at giving him what he wants.

Dolphy deserves that award  but how I wish it would be one with another set of awards also. It should be the National Cinema Artists Awards.

We should create that and Dolphy should be its first awardee. The cinema has a variety of roles for those wanting to join it –cinematographer, scriptwriter, director, assist d, make-up artist, cameraperson, lights person, artistic director, props assistants, caterer, gaffer,  and many, many more. By having this set of awards, we would be able to credit many of those who are sticking it out in this highly conflict-ridden industry.

We would even be able to see also as to who are more deserving of awards, those who remain in the commercial industry or the independent movie movement.

Hay naku, ang daming problema pagka nasa itaas talaga. Buti na lang wala tayo ruon. Kung hindi, araw-araw batalya. We would  be debating and arguing with those in power as to why our ideas are more acceptable than theirs.

Say, Folks, fancy applying as candidates for the 2013 elections?

I shall tackle the two other factors in my next articles. 

  

BEST WISHES

HAVE A HAPPY JOURNEY, VICE-PRESIDENT JOJO BINAY. PLEASE COME HOME SAFELY. 

HAYWIRE CITY PLANNING

HAYWIRE CITY PLANNING

Wilhelmina S. Orozco

As the jeepney I am riding passes in front of the Quezon Institute, I really breathe deeply over and over again. Why because the air is clean there. The QI is filled with trimmed grasses and has lots of trees, enough to blow oxygen to passersby.

(As an aside, Folks, the tricycles are getting noisy again. I think they could read what I am writing, and so they have activated their assets to do something nasty again.)

From where I live, which has a second floor, I could feel the cool air passing by and sometimes coming inside the house. But since the construction of that 7 floor building in front of us, I don’t feel the wind coming in so much anymore, except when there’s a typhoon.

High rise

Actually, several years ago, I already felt the change when a tall building of 6 floors was constructed a little bit at the back of our house. I used to be able to smell sea air, coming from Roxas Boulevard when I would sit by the terrace. But now, I no longer smell that, and it’s too bad. I think that sea air helped me strengthen my lungs and body before.

Then shock of all shocks, I heard a MetroManila mayor talk about how he had changed the rules in the city. He allows the construction of 50 storey buildings instead of 8 storeys only. Since he has very few years to stay on earth, I think he is no longer thinking of any other thing but to look good to everyone, regardless of whether the act is ethical or not.

Actually, last year, I wrote him a letter about the SM high rise building at the Welcome Rotonda, explaining that buildings should not tower over landmarks. Nothing happened. Today, the building is up there. Once I saw a guy looking at something. And when I followed his eyes, he was staring at the building.

Before we used to be able to see the blue sky through the obelisks. But now it is gone. We only see black – the concrete building.

By Aurora Boulevard, a very narrow street now, with only two vehicles able to negotiate each lane, a high rise building is being constructed. And you know what? The street has darkened. Why because the MRT Line 2 passes through there. And so, the street is covered by railway, and the tall building at the right covers the skyline as well.

You will see the same thing at Cubao.

So what happens to the people now? If you have a car, you can always avoid Cubao and all those places with high rise. But if you are pedestrian, you are a captive of the urban blight.

Good God, Folks, high rise buildings are sprouting in MetroManila like mushrooms and the builders and building permit officials are not even thinking of curbing them at all. So now I wonder, what kind of education do building permit officials have? Sure they may be able to insure the safety and stability of buildings but are these the only things that matter? Shouldn’t they think of the environmental soundness of building projects?

At one condominium with five floors, there is not even an elevator when the building code states that it should have.

Unethical permit officer

One time, I went to Quezon City building permits office. While typing my letter complaining about the building that was being built by the firewall of our house, someone sexually harassed me, a guy named William. I was still too naïve then about complaining, or maybe I was afraid for my parent who were very old already then. I was thinking they could be harassed also if I proceeded with my complaint.

The government should really think through the kinds of mindsets of building permit officials. We cannot afford to have pragmatists. They must be given training and retraining on how to build cities, towns and barangays. Buildings should not just rise and rise without any limitations. The people’s ability to breathe oxygen everywhere should be preserved, protected and maintained.

I am also wondering what has happened to our architects. Are they captives of owners who dictate the design or are they able to posit environmentally sound ideas to them?

Hay naku, mga Kababayan, ang bigat ng mga dala-dalahin dito. Pasensiya na kayo kung ako’y nagsesentimiento. Talaga naman, nakakabantad na ang mga pangyayari. We need a strong Department of Environment that will not be afraid to confront what is a wrong urban plan and what should prevail. We need local government officials who care for the people’s health – mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. We need a hotline for immediate assistance should there be violations of environmental rules.

Also, I think we need to have a Philippine design of communities that will enhance the place, considering the character of our land. We live in the tropics and so, our building plans should consider that.

Do we see any changes from hereon? I pray hard and hope so.

HOW TO NOT STUFF YOUR EARS WITH COTTON BALLS

HOW TO NOT STUFF YOUR EARS WITH COTTON BALLS

By Wilhelmina S. Orozco

Noise management is not a very hot topic in our country. When a city is noisy, or when a neighborhood is, the people just cup their ears and allow those noisemakers, perhaps the videoke singers, to just scream their songs on top of their lungs.

I really am so sensitive to noise. In our neighborhood, I have already complained twenty thousand times against those tricycles and motorcycles plying the streets to the barangay tanod and the office, but nothing has happened. They have not required the drivers or owners to put silencers in them. If you complain, they do something, but just for that moment. The problem resurfaces and then you have to complain again. For so many years I was able to do that because my celphone has a globe super duo so I can call people and talk to them endlessly, those with landlines. But now no more. It is too expensive for me to maintain.

So what should I do now?  I also complained to the Dept of Public Order and Safety, but I have been told by a padyak driver that a policeman controls all the tricycles in our neighborhood. So he dictates whether they should have a silencer or not. And this padyak driver is complaining because he and his group, although they possess all the necessary papers cannot even line up to get passengers near the supermarket nearby. They are being harassed because they could get more passengers due to cheaper fares. Padyak or those three-wheeled carts do not use oil. Kaya tinawag na padyak, umaandar sa pamamagitan ng pagpadyak lamang.

Last Sunday, I was trying to finish a painting for Itthe PAGCOR contest, with the theme, “It’s more fun in the Philippines.” In front of our house, the building being constructed was noisy, has been noisy for more than 6 months already. First the noise came from the concrete mixers which would come in the dead of night to pour cement; then came the welding of steel bars for the windows. I complained about this but nothing has been done.

So as I was being pressed for time to meet the deadline already, I called the barangay to force those people to stop their welding tasks. Then I suggested that if they meet resistance, then the tanod should confiscate the machines. In between those calls, I also called 117, the emergency hotline of the DILG – the operator called up the barangay to fix the problem. After a few minutes, I experienced silence.

But then at the back of our house, a couple of carpenters were fixing the roof, hammering here and there. So I had to talk to them – please, it’s Sunday; we should honor God’s rest day. It’s a mortal sin to work today. “Thou shalt keep holy the Sabbath day,” nakasulat yan sa Bibliya. At kung lalabagin ninyo, magiging makasalanan kayo.”

No they did not stop. So I added, “Makakarma kayo niyan. Babalik sa inyo yan.”

At 12;30 they stopped. But then the neighbors’ dogs started barking incessantly. Then I remembered what a Shi Fu had told me, you can will not to hear anything.

So after all that noise was gone, I was able to finish the painting, albeit not so perfectly. But I am satisfied with the results, as the images in the painting are all relevant to the theme. Wish me luck, and pray that I win Folks. I need the moolah to pay off my celphone bills which are boring holes in my wallet and pockets.

This afternoon, as I was walking back home, I heard a videoke singer. Now why in the world would a young girl be singing a love song at such a high volume? Does she want other people to recognize her talent? But that is not the way it is done.

You see, Folks, I hardly hear of any cultural program in our barangay, save a series of basketball games. The games are even introduced to the community with a parade of the players wearing their uniforms, and a band wearing white uniforms and playing their musical instruments. A girl in short shorts leads them, holding a baton and turning it around and around with one hand.

Another time, I was commuting in a jeep and then suddenly a van driver started honking. The sound of his horn was piercing to the ears and so I had to tell him off. Natawa siya. He did not expect anyone to complain about it as he must have though that people would appreciate being hurried up so that the traffic would be solved by the police guys and women. The next thing that happened, he stopped honking; and my fellow jeepney passengers looked at me, amazed how I could stop that guy at all.

It is always instinctual for me to complain about noise,. I think Folks, for us to be creative, we need silence. We can’t afford to have a very noisy country. You must have read of people being killed for having used the videoke. If you live in a community and you hear one who cannot even distinguish one note from another, then you would really feel like raising hell at all costs. Neither could we be stuffing our ears with cotton balls so as to deaden the noise. It does not work you see, 

I think noise management should be a priority program in all communities and cities. I hope that our barangay capitana would be able to read this and truly do something more permanent this time to make our neighborhood a quiet one.

Now I am able to finish this article because it is 22:17 and the streets are quite quiet. Strange, I wonder where the tricycles are.

INSTILLING LOVE OF COUNTRY

INSTILLING LOVE OF COUNTRY

By Wilhelmina S. Orozco 13 June 2012 

I think that the best way to make everyone love our country so that any ounce of greed would disappear in our veins is to trace or copy the map. I have been doing this lately in order to use the drawing as cover for my pamphlet, Mahilig Ka Ba sa Pulitika  which I am writing for the urban poor associations here. And now I gather that as I had gone from province to province, from Batanes down to Bicol, then Negros, and then Zamboanga, my heart had felt so heavy that I had to stop for a while.

Why so? That is because while tracing the outline of each province, images of our people crop up, standing there, looking at me, set as they are in a farm background. As I am residing here in MetroManila where all the amenities are for albeit a middle class lifestyle for me exists, I began to feel that I was in a more advantageous position than they are.

I cannot fathom until now why the images persist. In every province, I seem to see them.

Actually I have gone to most provinces in our country – Cagayan, Ilocos region, La Union, Isabela, Ifugao where the Banaue rice terraces are, Kalinga-Apayao where I shot my first full length documentary Bodong starring Macliing, in Super 8mm the copy of which was lost in Tunis Festival by a pretentious filmmaker; Bontoc where the Sagada caves are located; Benguet the vegetable cradle of the country, Nueva Ecija where my mother hails from; Tarlac where our yayas Dedet and Heling of so many decades were born and have retired; Pampanga, place of birth of my courageous cousin-in-law who drew her scissors at a mistress of her husband now deceased due to lung cancer; Bataan where I spent several days shooting a film as production designer of DUDURUGIN KITA NG BALA KO starring Lito Lapid, now a senator; Zambales where I visited Subic and swam in the waters that reached out to China Sea, Bulacan where I used to drive to buy and eat mangoes by caing with my mother way back in the 60’s; Laguna where my children Euge and Dadai used to go to school from their paternal relatives’ residence, Quezon amd Boac Marinduque where I helped conduct a seminar for rural folks way back in the 80’s; Oriental Mindoro where I used to go monthly way back in the 90’s to administer a pig-raising project for Makamasa under the sponsorship of Lauback Literacy International now called ProLiteracy; Albay where my staff and I at the National Manpower and Youth Council went to deliver career materials way back in the 70’s, Samar where I reached Damar Island and swam in the clear waters with white sands, Leyte where I also delivered career materials, Cebu where my good friend Ms. Cuizon the beautiful writer resides; she took me in at a time when I was asking for help to get away from an office guy who was pressuring me to stay in the hotel with him saying we would have a sword between us in bed, would you believe? and Negros Occidental, (I missed going to Dumaguete because, from Cebu, I would have had to cross the ocean, and from there cross mountains to get to my relatives in Negros Occidental. Traveling singly is quite dangerous in those areas, I have been told. On the other hand, Bacolod City is where I spent the best of my childhood years and now my closest relatives are still there, Butch, Ate Dina, Kuya Joe and their child Jojo and grandchildren) In Panay, I had gone to Iloilo only, and had seen Guimaras while crossing from there to Bacolod, at one time.) I have seen the Chocolate Hills of Bohol while traveling alone which  I would not advise to any other woman. There is a mistaken notion that one is looking for hot stuff when traveling so.

In Mindanao,  I have seen Marawi, Lanao and its famous Maria Cristina Falls as I had to travel and meet the foreign pastor who was teaching Muslims literacy. My trip was under the National Manpower and Youth Council as I was then an audio-visual specialist; Zamboanga, again because of NMYC, Cotabato , North where I passed through Sarangani and Kiamba way back in the 80’s when my alternative media friends and I were filming to come up with an audio-visual presentation on Christian-Muslim reconciliation (by the way, the nun who guided us got out of the convent) and South where Lake Sebu is and where I filmed the T’boli people plus Ye Binto the brass wax sculptor and her husband. This is also where I had recorded the jaw’s harp and songs of T’boli children in pentatonic scale, with similar tunes (they call Tagasinolon) but different wordings depending on the story they are narrating; Malaybalay, Bukidnon where I shot a documentary video of the Univ of Sto. Tomas Conservatory of Music Summer Camp and hwere I saw the famous fashion designer Gang Gomez turned monk with his swishing shirt; Davao City where I did a video, Asian Women Speak Out, which is a coverage of the Asian women’s conference then coordinated by Ging Deles and Pat Larenas (Ging Deles is the peace commission adviser of PNoy now, and Pat was a former congresswoman), among others. The conference was a preparation for the 1985 Celebration of the UN Decade for Women International Conference to be held in Nairobi, Kenya and so prepared an alternative report on the status of women.

On my way to Surigao, where my father hails from, I traveled from Cotabato City where my children were vacationing with their father sometime in the 80’s, I passed by Misamis Occidental and Oriental, and Agusan, I experienced very hot temperature in Cagayan de Oro City, so as soon as I arrived back to Manila, I wrote then Senator Aquilino Pimentel that the climate there was too hot due to overlogging. There was one image of a girl child in Kidapawan where my bus passed. She was carrying corn and was trying hard to sell to me. I told her I would take her picture instead.

I like Mindanao because of the varied scenery that can be seen there –we could easily reach the beach and then go home, unlike here in MetroManila where you have to travel for hours and even stay for overnight in order to enjoy the sea.

So Folks, until now, I still love our country. In fact I have bought several maps already as I give away most of them to kids in the elementary grades to make them familiar with every province and its capital.

I think that the reason why foreigners remain loyal to their own country is because they also have explored it so much and in their schools, they always have a map to know its geography.

`By the way, I like that subject geography way back in the grades. Our books then allowed us to get out of common sights and learn about how other peoples live. In fact, some of my books are still with me. The pictures there, although they are now passé, are historical records of how our people had lived then.

Yes, with that knowledge of geography comes history. Once, we go into a place, we always have that tendency to ask, “When was this town founded? Who are the old families here?” And in so many places then that I had visited, I would find traces of Spanish influence – the houses, the government buildings and the churches.  But I understand that these are mostly gone now as the idea of “governance” to most local officials is to alter the landscape and make it look like MetroManila with its skyscrapers and criss-crossing cemented roads.

So, try it Folks; get a piece of map and try tracing every province on a paper and you will see yourself transformed, in terms of consciousness.

June 14, 2012

BIGOTRY OF THE DEFEATED

BIGOTRY OF THE DEFEATED

By Wilhelmina S. Orozco

I think that the best time to assess the perspectives of people whether they remain true or not to their belief of being pro-people is when a big socio-political issue arises. Is their view pro-people or is it just a case of wanting to be contra all the time?

Actually, there are two contra parties in our midst: the rightists who always want to take power at all costs, and the leftists who also want to achieve and maintain power to install a communist regime. The first is significantly symbolized by Marcos, who was able to deceive the people in the beginning that his administration was going to institute reforms, discipline in governance. Then he peopled the government with intellectual-technocrats whose credentials also deceived the people. They were experts in their fields, all right, but they did not bother to rock the boat so that democracy would be restored in our country.

Today, the rightists comprise those who reigned during the time of GMA and have been dethroned. Our enlightened people can already distinguish between fake and genuine leaders; hence the likes of GMA were easily marginalized. . We were able to dislodge them from power through the vote in 2010. Some of them are still in power, while others have returned to their former jobs – maybe having a business or getting engaged in media propaganda.

The leftists comprise the old and new parties allied with the Soviet Russian and People’s Republic of China’s regimes. When the USSR was disbanded, the leftists here quieted down, rather cautious about appearing to be against what is going on in that country. The PRC group, on the other hand, also are quite cautious about the turn to capitalism of that country, and now, are undergoing political cleansing of their ranks. The big question they have to hurdle now is: should they side with PRC or the Philippines on the issue of ownership of Scarborough Shoal or Panatag Island?

Because of the removal of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from office, the chances of GMA to free herself from being under arrest, save bribing judges and other officials who are influential in the outcome of her case have narrowed down. She now probably could be resorting to the latter which could be a very big event should the officials of PNoy bow down and kneel to her dangling her millions stashed in banks and abroad.

By the way, if she is under arrest for such a very heinous crime, to my mind, as it is stealing the people’s votes and destroying the essence of our democratic system, how come her wealth has not been sequestered yet when this could be used to buy her way out of the case? I think that the State has that power to cover all nooks and crannies of the case, leaving no stone unturned to make sure that she gets to pay for her crime against the people.

Unfortunately, when I heard an official explain why GMA’s  case is moving oh so slowly, I became fearful that even the only witness to her having ordered the cheating in the past elections could suddenly disappear. How strong are PNoy’s chosen officials in terms of resisting all forms of bribery to decide in favor of the people?

The last case we have just gone through is monumental and significantly historical for us, as not half  but 87% of the senators voted to convict the CJ where as 2/3 at the House of Representatives signed the impeachment case. Here, we see that the people’s mind and hands are clearly on the case; why not when all of their seats emanate from the people’s unlike the members of the Supreme Court who are beholdened to the President for their appointments?

But wait, not all feel celebratory about the conviction of the CJ. One ex-communist (?) writer insists that there was a miscarriage of justice, while a broadcaster with socialist leanings proclaimed last night the same thing. They both side with the three senators who chose to acquit the CJ. Their arguments revolve around legalistic issues and they do not cite at all the basis for the decision of the Senate President JPE, who declared that the Constitution towers above all laws and therefore, because he did not declare his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth or SALN, the CJ is guilty of violation of our fundamental laws. 

What could be the reason for these persons’ being anti-people? I could only label them as bigots.

A bigot is one who is extremely intolerant of another’s creed, belief or opinion. To become a bigot is to show the other parties as wrong and mistaken in their beliefs. Hence, bigots think they are the only ones who are correct in their views. Don’t they sound like the rightists, Folks? It is easy to become a bigot – all one has to do is cup one’s ears and just listen to one’s voice. Or stop reading and broadening one’s knowledge. Just  read Mein Kampf by Hitler and Machiavelli’s The Prince over and over again. (Hitler is the killer of millions of Jews in the name of cleansing the Aryan race, while Machiavelli wrote in his book how the end of taking power justifies all means.) 

Yes, a very thin line differentiates the leftists from the rightists. They both want power and would use all means to advance their interests, especially when they have just suffered from an ignominious fall from power.

Bigots don’t listen to other people’s reasons, and judgments. Anything that defeats their stance is contrary to them, and therefore is wrong. Only they possess the power of truth, to their convoluted minds. Pity the relatives of these people. I know the backgrounds of these two persons: their mindsets could kill especially those that are intimate with them. So the best thing is to leave them to their ways.

I know some women who were married to bigots and who decided to leave the marriage in order to lead their own lives. They feel more fulfilled now. Those who stayed on, either developed debilitating diseases which eventually killed them or died due to a stroke. Their minds could not fathom the depths of evil thinking and so their bodies gave way.

By the way, this is why I believe that the divorce law has to be passed right away. Our country is undergoing political cleansing very fast and those who are tied to spouses with untenable bigoted views must be given a chance to start a new life.

Some bigots are highly educated and could sound very convincing when they talk – only because they speak and write in the colonial language, English. But those who are equally adept in the language would not be easily swayed by their arguments. Hence we need to clarify to our marginalized folks the need to sift through the arguments of every party who seeks to nullify the gains from the impeachment trial.

Folks, everyday, we are being roused to think of political power; even PNoy is doing that – showing already his preferences for high seats in the government. I think that after this battle that we have just gone through, as we were all united to see that the case against a cohort of GMA be resolved in our favor, we need to rest awhile and think through what had transpired and what our directions should be in the coming years.

It is easy to destroy institutions as GMA did, but more difficult to restore or rebuild them, those democratic institutions which our heroes and heroines fought for. When institutions are destroyed, so is the moral fiber of our people. They become pragmatic, and acquisitive – “Take advantage of the present,” becomes their motto. To do so is to ride roughshod over all moral values that we were taught in our childhood, and those we learned in school. “Kanya-kanyahan na lang tayo.” “Bahala ka sa buhay mo.” “Huwag kang magpaka-martir!” These become the mottoes of the day.

Can we afford to be so, when the conflict with PRC now is very real?