Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Homicidal Maniacs -- OK; Gays- NOT
It is preternaturally absurd of the Philippine Commission on Elections to refuse accreditation to ANG LADLAD, representing gays, lesbians, transgenders, etc., ostensibly because homosexuality is "immoral" even as the Maguindanao massacre reveals how homicidal maniacs are actually embedded in, part of, and, likely, standard bearers in various territories, of various mainstream election political parties.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Maguindanao Update
47 people dead, bullet-riddled, some beheaded and/or mutilated; the women sexually molested... the kidnappers are said to be police and CAFGU (paramilitary); according to one report, Ampatuan, Jr.,allegedly led the ambushing 100 men...
Here's a statement:
***********************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Please forward...
November 24, 2009
Jollene Levid, GABNet Secretary-General
secgen@gabnet.org
Tel: 323-356-4748
AF3IRM/GABNET STATEMENT ON THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE:
ERADICATE WARLORD DYNASTIES TO GIVE JUSTICE
TO VICTIMS OF THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE
AF3IRM/GabNet condemns the murder of some 50 persons in Maguindanao, Philippines, including some 14 women, who appear to have been raped as well, and scores of media people. It is ironic that at the start of 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women, the Philippines should once again make news around the world for an act so vile it boggles the mind.
AF3IRM/GabNet condemns the continuing tolerance of and for petty feudal clan dynasties which are antithetical to the country’s claims of democracy. Feudal clan dynasties make a mockery of the Philippines’ self-characterization as a republic and reveal its barbaric political structure as nothing more than fiefdoms controlled through violence and suppression.
AF3IRM/GabNet holds the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo responsible for this climate of impunity toward the murder of journalists, political rivals and political critics. This administration has become the quintessential expression of lawlessness, power-addiction and violence that characterize puppet governments who rule through violence and against the consent and allegiance of the people. Warlordism has become rife in the country as Macapagal-Arroyo continues to allow her allies to build private armies, steal and loot from the public treasury, kill all those who dissent and consider themselves so coddled by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration they deem themselves to have the divine right to power by virtue of violence. OUST GLORIA NOW!
AF3IRM/GabNet demands absolute justice for the victims and punishment for all those responsible, including members of the Ampatuan clan who have been named as having committed and/or ordered this massacre. Let us not tolerate once again the historic pattern of political killings in the Philippines where masterminds get away scot-free while the hirelings are thrown under the bus by their overlords.
AF3IRM/GabNet notes that this unprecedented act of murderous barbarism occurs at a time when the United States has entered the Mindanao region in support of the Macapagal-Arroyo government, and that violence has escalated in the region since this incursion. US HANDS OFF MINDANAO AND THE PHILIPPINES!
And lastly, AF3IRM/GabNet reminds our Filipino brothers and sisters of the Islamic faith of this verse from the Holy Qu’ran: “And the servants of Allah… are those who walk on earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say ‘Peace.’”
--
Jollene Levid
Email: secgen@gabnet.org
Website: www.gabnet.org
Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-feudalization and Marginalization/GabNet
Here's a statement:
***********************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Please forward...
November 24, 2009
Jollene Levid, GABNet Secretary-General
secgen@gabnet.org
Tel: 323-356-4748
AF3IRM/GABNET STATEMENT ON THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE:
ERADICATE WARLORD DYNASTIES TO GIVE JUSTICE
TO VICTIMS OF THE MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE
AF3IRM/GabNet condemns the murder of some 50 persons in Maguindanao, Philippines, including some 14 women, who appear to have been raped as well, and scores of media people. It is ironic that at the start of 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women, the Philippines should once again make news around the world for an act so vile it boggles the mind.
AF3IRM/GabNet condemns the continuing tolerance of and for petty feudal clan dynasties which are antithetical to the country’s claims of democracy. Feudal clan dynasties make a mockery of the Philippines’ self-characterization as a republic and reveal its barbaric political structure as nothing more than fiefdoms controlled through violence and suppression.
AF3IRM/GabNet holds the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo responsible for this climate of impunity toward the murder of journalists, political rivals and political critics. This administration has become the quintessential expression of lawlessness, power-addiction and violence that characterize puppet governments who rule through violence and against the consent and allegiance of the people. Warlordism has become rife in the country as Macapagal-Arroyo continues to allow her allies to build private armies, steal and loot from the public treasury, kill all those who dissent and consider themselves so coddled by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration they deem themselves to have the divine right to power by virtue of violence. OUST GLORIA NOW!
AF3IRM/GabNet demands absolute justice for the victims and punishment for all those responsible, including members of the Ampatuan clan who have been named as having committed and/or ordered this massacre. Let us not tolerate once again the historic pattern of political killings in the Philippines where masterminds get away scot-free while the hirelings are thrown under the bus by their overlords.
AF3IRM/GabNet notes that this unprecedented act of murderous barbarism occurs at a time when the United States has entered the Mindanao region in support of the Macapagal-Arroyo government, and that violence has escalated in the region since this incursion. US HANDS OFF MINDANAO AND THE PHILIPPINES!
And lastly, AF3IRM/GabNet reminds our Filipino brothers and sisters of the Islamic faith of this verse from the Holy Qu’ran: “And the servants of Allah… are those who walk on earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say ‘Peace.’”
--
Jollene Levid
Email: secgen@gabnet.org
Website: www.gabnet.org
Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-feudalization and Marginalization/GabNet
14 Women Killed in Maguindanao
It’s around 3 a.m. and I am looking at a photo of Maguindanao 9-year governor Andal Ampatuan, who reportedly wants his son and namesake to succeed him in office, and wondering whether the flesh eventually comes to mirror the essence of the soul.
A hundred men – and the word "men" is used with deliberation – stopped a convoy of around 40 relatives and associates of Esmael Mangudadatu and media people covering the filing of his candidacy for governor. Survivors say that the men were Ampatuan's.
Twenty-four bodies thus far have been found, fourteen of them women with their pants unzipped, according to investigators on the scene.
How much will you bet that these hundred men will be thrown under the bus by their rich and powerful boss – for a short while, anyway – while he evades accountability? It's happened before, through the years, all the way back to the Aquino assassination.
Jeez, and this is the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women. So now add "lady-killers" to the woman-batterer in the Arroyo government. Way to go, Gloria!
A hundred men – and the word "men" is used with deliberation – stopped a convoy of around 40 relatives and associates of Esmael Mangudadatu and media people covering the filing of his candidacy for governor. Survivors say that the men were Ampatuan's.
Twenty-four bodies thus far have been found, fourteen of them women with their pants unzipped, according to investigators on the scene.
How much will you bet that these hundred men will be thrown under the bus by their rich and powerful boss – for a short while, anyway – while he evades accountability? It's happened before, through the years, all the way back to the Aquino assassination.
Jeez, and this is the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women. So now add "lady-killers" to the woman-batterer in the Arroyo government. Way to go, Gloria!
Zen and the Art of Disaster-Preparedness
When the sea, propelled by back-to-back typhoons, flowed into Manila, I confess I was less than enthusiastic in responding to alarums about the destruction. Islands and people lying in the path of 22 typhoons annually should know after a thousand years how to deal with such disasters. Unfortunately, uncountable has been the number of times overseas Filipinos, friends, allies and even total strangers have been asked to respond to disasters in the Philippines: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, earthquakes, typhoons and more typhoons… Each disaster is followed by a surge in sentimental patriotism, inspiring a near-orgasmic mobilization to “help our compatriots, we are one nation, one people, etc., etc…” --which of course leads to the inevitable after-glow of self-satisfaction that makes tolerable the sight of people gyrating once again in wa-wa-wee or whatever those abominable shows are called.
I had hoped sitting on my hands would convey the message that “you’re on your own, with the leaders you have chosen, on islands afloat the vast Pacific Ocean; you do have to grow up” and thereby inspire a quiet but firm determination among the typhoon-battered, who would thereby organize themselves into delegations and visit each government agency responsible for the mess and demand that whoever heads it commit seppuku. And if he/she does not, then a good medieval stoning would be most efficacious.
The ability to respond to disaster should be of Zen-alertness, 365 days a year – not a quick blowjob that temporarily takes away stress but resolves nothing. Focus, as the yogi would say; do not be distracted, said the Dalai Lama. Disaster-preparedness is Zen-like in its awareness of Time – of the past and the lessons thereof, of the present and what can be done today and of tomorrow and the probability waves that can come crashing down on one’s head.
Time, I must say, is one element we barely think about; our national ADD kicked in eventually, with the Pacquiao-Cotto fight as the lethean digestif – for which the Special Public Reconstruction Commission established by the Arroyo government should thank the heavens with great fervor as public attention was diverted from its apre-typhoon plans. The effing Commission would get down, it claimed, to removing water lilies from waterways, treating the leptospirosis victims and repairing school buildings. The Commission members do not appear to be struck by the absurdity of removing water lilies when the sea is surging in. Oi! I suppose that each removed water lily would cost $10000 in donated reconstruction and rehabilitation funds. I had just finished a short story about a retiring guerrilla, giving it the title of “In the Season of Water Lilies” and wondered briefly whether I should send it to the Commission. But then do the members thereof even bother to read? I say, a good medieval stoning. A really good medieval stoning, I say. -- #
I had hoped sitting on my hands would convey the message that “you’re on your own, with the leaders you have chosen, on islands afloat the vast Pacific Ocean; you do have to grow up” and thereby inspire a quiet but firm determination among the typhoon-battered, who would thereby organize themselves into delegations and visit each government agency responsible for the mess and demand that whoever heads it commit seppuku. And if he/she does not, then a good medieval stoning would be most efficacious.
The ability to respond to disaster should be of Zen-alertness, 365 days a year – not a quick blowjob that temporarily takes away stress but resolves nothing. Focus, as the yogi would say; do not be distracted, said the Dalai Lama. Disaster-preparedness is Zen-like in its awareness of Time – of the past and the lessons thereof, of the present and what can be done today and of tomorrow and the probability waves that can come crashing down on one’s head.
Time, I must say, is one element we barely think about; our national ADD kicked in eventually, with the Pacquiao-Cotto fight as the lethean digestif – for which the Special Public Reconstruction Commission established by the Arroyo government should thank the heavens with great fervor as public attention was diverted from its apre-typhoon plans. The effing Commission would get down, it claimed, to removing water lilies from waterways, treating the leptospirosis victims and repairing school buildings. The Commission members do not appear to be struck by the absurdity of removing water lilies when the sea is surging in. Oi! I suppose that each removed water lily would cost $10000 in donated reconstruction and rehabilitation funds. I had just finished a short story about a retiring guerrilla, giving it the title of “In the Season of Water Lilies” and wondered briefly whether I should send it to the Commission. But then do the members thereof even bother to read? I say, a good medieval stoning. A really good medieval stoning, I say. -- #
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Warehoused Relief Goods
Relief goods donated from Asia, Europe and other parts of the world are said to be stockpiled in the Philippine government's Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) warehouses. Meanwhile, I am getting email about people starving, falling ill, sleeping in the streets, and girls signing up with traffickers.
The photos above were sent to me via email. Other photos show the pathetic bucket of soap, two thin mats, etc., which comprise what are actually distributed to the flood victims. Next year being election year, one can only assume that the undistributed goods are being held back for the campaign. There was one report of campaigners pasting the name of their candidate on relief goods. Eh, what else is new?
Friday, October 16, 2009
4th Typhoon
Typhoon Lupit to possibly hit the Philippines on Oct. 21st, likely as a Category 4 storm. Lupit means cruel in Pilipino -- as in napalupit, kuya eddie... I'm trying to make light of a really bad karma for the country. Jeez, four typhoons in 30 days!!! Must be some kind of record.
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Foolish Old Man & One Smart Girl
For GabNet’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in San Diego, California
The parable of the Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains was made famous by the late Mao Zedong. It goes like this:
An old man living in Northern China with his two sons found his way to the south blocked by two mountains. Irritated, he decided to dig up the two massive peaks and set to work with his two sons and some hoes. A neighbor asked what they were doing and upon receiving the reply, said that that was silly; the old man would die even before a dent was made on either mountain. Whereupon the foolish old man said that when he died, his sons would carry on; and then his sons’ sons, and his sons’ sons’ sons… and so on to infinity until the mountains were leveled. Mao used this to as a metaphor for the effort to remove imperialism and feudalism from China.
But that was only Part I of the parable. Here’s Part II:
As the foolish old man and his sons spent 10 hours each day digging up the mountains, their wives and daughters had to look for food to cook; to wash clothes soiled by the digging, to make beds so the men could recover energy for the next day’s dig and to generally keep homes in order and operating. Then there was the matter of the sons’ sons and sons’ sons’ sons, so the women also bore children, found other women to bear children, raised them, cared for them, taught them how to hoe and dig up the mountains. This went on for centuries.
One day a little Chinese girl looked at the path being made through the digging up of the mountains, looked at the women and said to herself: “This road will be of no use to me. I will have bound feet, a baby strapped to my back and pots and pans hanging from my left and right arms.” She went into the untouched forests and found a river that flowed southward. She returned to her home and told her mother. “If we built a boat,” she said, “we would get there sooner.” And thus the women, along with some men, built a raft and sailed southward.
The first 20 years of GabNet’s existence correspond to Part I of this parable, when we enabled other movements to endure, survive and achieve victories big and small. No one can beggar that record.
The next 20 years of our existence, whether under this name or another, will now correspond to Part II of the parable, when we enable our own movement to come to fruition, survive and endure, and achieve victories big and small.
Filipinos may leave the Philippines for economic reasons but their objective is not simply to get a job but also to build a life, to find a home, a community and a nation.
Twenty years are but the wink of an eye in the vast historical terrain of womankind’s struggle for emancipation and liberation. The next 20 years will be another wink of an eye. But if we find the southward-flowing river, we can likely make the way easier and achieve the dreamt-of society sooner, with no backward sliding.
Let us begin. -- #
The parable of the Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains was made famous by the late Mao Zedong. It goes like this:
An old man living in Northern China with his two sons found his way to the south blocked by two mountains. Irritated, he decided to dig up the two massive peaks and set to work with his two sons and some hoes. A neighbor asked what they were doing and upon receiving the reply, said that that was silly; the old man would die even before a dent was made on either mountain. Whereupon the foolish old man said that when he died, his sons would carry on; and then his sons’ sons, and his sons’ sons’ sons… and so on to infinity until the mountains were leveled. Mao used this to as a metaphor for the effort to remove imperialism and feudalism from China.
But that was only Part I of the parable. Here’s Part II:
As the foolish old man and his sons spent 10 hours each day digging up the mountains, their wives and daughters had to look for food to cook; to wash clothes soiled by the digging, to make beds so the men could recover energy for the next day’s dig and to generally keep homes in order and operating. Then there was the matter of the sons’ sons and sons’ sons’ sons, so the women also bore children, found other women to bear children, raised them, cared for them, taught them how to hoe and dig up the mountains. This went on for centuries.
One day a little Chinese girl looked at the path being made through the digging up of the mountains, looked at the women and said to herself: “This road will be of no use to me. I will have bound feet, a baby strapped to my back and pots and pans hanging from my left and right arms.” She went into the untouched forests and found a river that flowed southward. She returned to her home and told her mother. “If we built a boat,” she said, “we would get there sooner.” And thus the women, along with some men, built a raft and sailed southward.
The first 20 years of GabNet’s existence correspond to Part I of this parable, when we enabled other movements to endure, survive and achieve victories big and small. No one can beggar that record.
The next 20 years of our existence, whether under this name or another, will now correspond to Part II of the parable, when we enable our own movement to come to fruition, survive and endure, and achieve victories big and small.
Filipinos may leave the Philippines for economic reasons but their objective is not simply to get a job but also to build a life, to find a home, a community and a nation.
Twenty years are but the wink of an eye in the vast historical terrain of womankind’s struggle for emancipation and liberation. The next 20 years will be another wink of an eye. But if we find the southward-flowing river, we can likely make the way easier and achieve the dreamt-of society sooner, with no backward sliding.
Let us begin. -- #
Sunday, October 04, 2009
For what?
Eight US troops killed in Afghanistan; two in the Philippines. The latter was characterized as an "isolated incident" by a Philippine military general.
Events are usually "isolated" until an increase in frequency renders them commonplace.
As we all know, the occupation of Iraq started with hardly anyone among US/Coalition forces injured. Ditto with the invasion of Afghanistan. - #
Events are usually "isolated" until an increase in frequency renders them commonplace.
As we all know, the occupation of Iraq started with hardly anyone among US/Coalition forces injured. Ditto with the invasion of Afghanistan. - #
Saturday, October 03, 2009
In San Diego
October 8th -- 11th. I'll be attending the 20th anniversary celebration of GabNet. See y'all there.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Victim Registration Blues
Philippine Government dole-out to victims of typhoon Ketsana:
Three (3) cans of sardines
Two kilos (4 pounds) of uncooked rice
Four packages of noodles
One bottle of mineral water...
To be received after hours lining up.
Government now wants to separate child victims of the typhoon from their parents.
????
Contact secgen@gabnet.org to send direct help to the victims.
Three (3) cans of sardines
Two kilos (4 pounds) of uncooked rice
Four packages of noodles
One bottle of mineral water...
To be received after hours lining up.
Government now wants to separate child victims of the typhoon from their parents.
????
Contact secgen@gabnet.org to send direct help to the victims.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Supertyphoon -- Bad Karma
Supertyphoon Pharma, with winds up to 147 mph (seven short of a category 5 typhoon) will hit the Philippines this weekend, scything through Bicol, which still hasn't recovered from the last typhoon that leveled its villages. Photo of Pharma from NASA.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has decided “to register typhoon victims,” for fear that some receiving aid were “bogus victims.” Hai, how this government distrusts its own people, even the afflicted!
Meanwhile as well, typhoon orphans are missing. Fears are that they will have no recourse but to join hundreds of thousands of street children into petty crimes, drugs and prostitution. Meanwhile, the contraceptive ban remains.
GabNet is raising donations for Operation Sagip-Bata (Children Rescue). Please contact secgen@gabnet.org if you wish to help. And hey, you must help; otherwise, this bad karma will go around. -- ##
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Mother of All Floods
The first appeal letter to reach my desk from the Philippines was from CONCERN, which describes itself as a service-oriented disaster response institution and as the Secretariat of Oplan Sagip Bayan (OSB), a loose network advocating for preparedness against the impact of disaster…. The OSB convenors are: Fr. Albert Suatengco, Bishop Deogracias Iniguez and Atty. Jose Suarez.
Part of their letter follows:
The tropical storm Ondoy which entered the country on September 26, 2009 severely affected NCR, Central Luzon, CALABARZON and Region IV leaving 183 dead, 29 missing, 86,313 families affected and 23,126 families in evacuation centers. The scope and severity of the disaster were so massive that up to this writing, the rescue operations and interventions are on going in these areas.
In Metro Manila, Ondoy dumped 13.4 inches of rain in just six hours compared to 15.4 inches of average rainfall for the entire month of September, which caused the worst massive flooding in more than 300 barangays. The floodwater rose to 10-15 feet which practically made major thoroughfares non-passable and affected more than 86,313 families or 435,646 individuals.
In Central Luzon, the heavy rains were aggravated by the breaching of two dams to its maximum spilling capacity submerging 13 towns in Bulacan and affecting 24,301 families. In Pampanga, 19,687 families were affected in 11 towns. Pampanga River and Gugu-Dolores creek overflowed breaching bridges, while 30 meters river dike eroded in Apalit. The heavy rains had also caused landslide in San Juan Bano, Arayat burying 100 houses with reported 12 deaths.
Zambales, which still has to recover from the wrath of two successive typhoons Maring and Kiko, was further devastated by Ondoy. There are more than 4,100 families affected in 3 towns while 200 families had to be re-evacuated from an evacuation center in Botolan which was destroyed by the flood. The national road was submerged to 4-6 feet making it non-passable to all vehicles.
Meanwhile, in Northern Quezon, 180 families from 4 barangays in Infanta and 231 families from 5 barangays in Nakar were affected by the flood water. The bridge connecting the South and North Barangay Minahan of Nakar town were washed out.
In Pampanga alone, the damage to agriculture and infrastructure are estimated to cost 213.7 million pesos. The cost of damages in agriculture and infrastructure in Central Luzon and the other three regions are expected to increase.
Since then I have received appeals from about a dozen organizations and passed them on to various organizations and people in the US and elsewhere in the world.
GabNet has issued a call to all members, alumni and allies to respond with donations of goods, especially for children, and cash to help alleviate the misery of this typhoon, which was not even a strong storm. The disaster was caused mainly by the continuing lack of water-consciousness in an archipelago that floats on the sea: no drainage, canals paved over, trees cut down, an incredible population density in cities and towns, a government more concerned with power politics; and politics more concerned with power than the language of survival. As they say, hay buhay nga naman, parang life.
Another storm is brewing over the Pacific. If you want to help, please contact secgen@gabnet.org. -- #
Part of their letter follows:
The tropical storm Ondoy which entered the country on September 26, 2009 severely affected NCR, Central Luzon, CALABARZON and Region IV leaving 183 dead, 29 missing, 86,313 families affected and 23,126 families in evacuation centers. The scope and severity of the disaster were so massive that up to this writing, the rescue operations and interventions are on going in these areas.
In Metro Manila, Ondoy dumped 13.4 inches of rain in just six hours compared to 15.4 inches of average rainfall for the entire month of September, which caused the worst massive flooding in more than 300 barangays. The floodwater rose to 10-15 feet which practically made major thoroughfares non-passable and affected more than 86,313 families or 435,646 individuals.
In Central Luzon, the heavy rains were aggravated by the breaching of two dams to its maximum spilling capacity submerging 13 towns in Bulacan and affecting 24,301 families. In Pampanga, 19,687 families were affected in 11 towns. Pampanga River and Gugu-Dolores creek overflowed breaching bridges, while 30 meters river dike eroded in Apalit. The heavy rains had also caused landslide in San Juan Bano, Arayat burying 100 houses with reported 12 deaths.
Zambales, which still has to recover from the wrath of two successive typhoons Maring and Kiko, was further devastated by Ondoy. There are more than 4,100 families affected in 3 towns while 200 families had to be re-evacuated from an evacuation center in Botolan which was destroyed by the flood. The national road was submerged to 4-6 feet making it non-passable to all vehicles.
Meanwhile, in Northern Quezon, 180 families from 4 barangays in Infanta and 231 families from 5 barangays in Nakar were affected by the flood water. The bridge connecting the South and North Barangay Minahan of Nakar town were washed out.
In Pampanga alone, the damage to agriculture and infrastructure are estimated to cost 213.7 million pesos. The cost of damages in agriculture and infrastructure in Central Luzon and the other three regions are expected to increase.
Since then I have received appeals from about a dozen organizations and passed them on to various organizations and people in the US and elsewhere in the world.
GabNet has issued a call to all members, alumni and allies to respond with donations of goods, especially for children, and cash to help alleviate the misery of this typhoon, which was not even a strong storm. The disaster was caused mainly by the continuing lack of water-consciousness in an archipelago that floats on the sea: no drainage, canals paved over, trees cut down, an incredible population density in cities and towns, a government more concerned with power politics; and politics more concerned with power than the language of survival. As they say, hay buhay nga naman, parang life.
Another storm is brewing over the Pacific. If you want to help, please contact secgen@gabnet.org. -- #
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Celia Pomeroy, RIP August 22
Am not exactly sure what to say about Celia Mariano Pomeroy -- one of the few women’s names prominent in the Philippine struggle, first, against Japanese occupation and later, against US imperialism. She had been with the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (People’s Army Against the Japanese)during WWII and after, with the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (People’s Liberation Army) -- the Huks, as I've heard Americans call them. She was a member of the politburo of the PKP, the old Communist Party established by Crisanto Evangelista. Not too many remember her but as a child, I had seen a rather poignant photo of her and husband, William Pomeroy, in some newspaper. They were both in shackles and exchanging an awkward kiss. This must have been at the time of their capture. They would spend the next ten years in separate jails.
Peace, sister; some remember you did your share.
Peace, sister; some remember you did your share.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Rumor
I can't verify but picked up some chatter about the 600 US Special Forces stationed permanently in the Philippines -- one of the reasons for their presence is a reported plan to move Guantanamo prisoners or maybe Guantanamo itself to the archipelago.
Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised since the prison facility was constructed by Filpino carpenters under contract to KBR and it's still being reportedly maintained by Filipino custodial workers.
Does anyone have the capacity to verify?
Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised since the prison facility was constructed by Filpino carpenters under contract to KBR and it's still being reportedly maintained by Filipino custodial workers.
Does anyone have the capacity to verify?
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Comments
Big brouhaha over health care and a public option for medical insurance. I’m wondering why no one has pointed out that the fear over “socialized” medicine is actually corporate fear of losing one of the shackles that keep people at wage slavery. One memorable moment I had in Holland was talking to this 40-year-old fan of John Cheever (he was fascinated that I had met Mr. Cheever) who was preparing to quit his job to contemplate “serious questions about life.” Having a public option might just tempt so many people to forgo work designed to enrich CEOs and retire to contemplate the meaning of existence.
My doctor is so overworked I try to make appointments only once every two or three years. It’s because he accepts the cheaper kind of medical insurance, so his office is always full of “ethnics,” as it were. His doctor-partner just left, he tells me with sorrow; and did I know any doctor who would be willing to partner with him? His home, he tells me, is on the other side of the city but he opened his clinic close to my neighborhood because he wanted to serve his people. He is Argentinean. I tell him I had a friend who was a “disappeared.” He says me, too. Eight of the medical personnel rounded up with him during the bloody coup were killed.
So I tell him about being in Camp Crame during the Marcos dictatorship. Then, as I was leaving, having completed my check-up, he says, I’m pleased to meet you. He’s been my doctor for a while but I knew what he meant.
---------
Big brouhaha over the $20,000 dinner hosted by de-facto President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at Le Cirque on 58th Street, Manhattan. The dollar amount translates to some one million pesos – quite a price for a country where four of ten Filipinos go to bed hungry. My response is a little off; I keep wondering what the hell they ate – human flesh? Was Hannibal Lecter the chef?
In any case, the gustatory connoisseur among us go to Shanghai Joe’s in Chinatown, where the soup dumpling tastes like it’s worth its weight in gold but considerably cheaper.
The $20T dinner made me feel so embarrassed over my preferred comfort food, arroz caldo – eaten when I’m distressed – which cost like $5.95 in any Pinoy joint here that I uncorked a bottle of ice wine, a gift from the last time I lectured in Canada and which I’d learned since then cost $50 for the equivalent of two glasses of wine. Ice wine comes in teeny-weeny bottles. As it went down my gullet, I thought: well, jeez, I worked so very hard for this ice wine, I might as well drink the thing, considering that those who don’t work as hard spend $20T for a meal.
Conspicuous consumption being contagious, it was a good thing there was only one bottle of ice wine. Do you now understand why the Philippines is always in massive debt?
My doctor is so overworked I try to make appointments only once every two or three years. It’s because he accepts the cheaper kind of medical insurance, so his office is always full of “ethnics,” as it were. His doctor-partner just left, he tells me with sorrow; and did I know any doctor who would be willing to partner with him? His home, he tells me, is on the other side of the city but he opened his clinic close to my neighborhood because he wanted to serve his people. He is Argentinean. I tell him I had a friend who was a “disappeared.” He says me, too. Eight of the medical personnel rounded up with him during the bloody coup were killed.
So I tell him about being in Camp Crame during the Marcos dictatorship. Then, as I was leaving, having completed my check-up, he says, I’m pleased to meet you. He’s been my doctor for a while but I knew what he meant.
---------
Big brouhaha over the $20,000 dinner hosted by de-facto President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at Le Cirque on 58th Street, Manhattan. The dollar amount translates to some one million pesos – quite a price for a country where four of ten Filipinos go to bed hungry. My response is a little off; I keep wondering what the hell they ate – human flesh? Was Hannibal Lecter the chef?
In any case, the gustatory connoisseur among us go to Shanghai Joe’s in Chinatown, where the soup dumpling tastes like it’s worth its weight in gold but considerably cheaper.
The $20T dinner made me feel so embarrassed over my preferred comfort food, arroz caldo – eaten when I’m distressed – which cost like $5.95 in any Pinoy joint here that I uncorked a bottle of ice wine, a gift from the last time I lectured in Canada and which I’d learned since then cost $50 for the equivalent of two glasses of wine. Ice wine comes in teeny-weeny bottles. As it went down my gullet, I thought: well, jeez, I worked so very hard for this ice wine, I might as well drink the thing, considering that those who don’t work as hard spend $20T for a meal.
Conspicuous consumption being contagious, it was a good thing there was only one bottle of ice wine. Do you now understand why the Philippines is always in massive debt?
Monday, August 10, 2009
A Cory Moment
The 1987 Philippine Constitution is Corazon C. Aquino’s legacy. Any dismantling and/or revision of that Constitution would be a direct nullification of her post-Marcos leadership and thereby erase for all of history what she had wrought.
Beyond that, there’s nothing else to say.
I did have a “Cory Moment,” though it had nothing to do with the former president. It was some sort of epiphany, albeit the wrong kind.
After the January 22, 1987 Mendiola Massacre – Cory’s troops fired on a rally calling for agrarian reform and killed 13 peasants and wounded more – an “indignation rally” was called.
This “indignation rally” was front-lined by a virtual who’s who in the anti-Marcos movement. In front of the presidential palace, Cory’s top aides also lined up, blocking the road; they too had been heavyweights in the movement to overthrow the Marcos dictatorship but they wielded state power at this time.
A tense moment ensued as the two groups eyeballed one another. Then they broke ranks, threw arms around one another, shook hands, etc.
I realized then that at a certain level, politics were a matter of “entre nous,” just among the likes of us, etc.
A more cynical moment I had not had. Nor have had since.
By the way, no one was held liable for the 13 peasants killed at Mendiola.
Perhaps, unbeknownst to us, this moment helped define or move the boundaries of what were acceptable in terms of compromise, alliance, paths to state power, etc.
Perhaps.
Beyond that, there’s nothing else to say.
I did have a “Cory Moment,” though it had nothing to do with the former president. It was some sort of epiphany, albeit the wrong kind.
After the January 22, 1987 Mendiola Massacre – Cory’s troops fired on a rally calling for agrarian reform and killed 13 peasants and wounded more – an “indignation rally” was called.
This “indignation rally” was front-lined by a virtual who’s who in the anti-Marcos movement. In front of the presidential palace, Cory’s top aides also lined up, blocking the road; they too had been heavyweights in the movement to overthrow the Marcos dictatorship but they wielded state power at this time.
A tense moment ensued as the two groups eyeballed one another. Then they broke ranks, threw arms around one another, shook hands, etc.
I realized then that at a certain level, politics were a matter of “entre nous,” just among the likes of us, etc.
A more cynical moment I had not had. Nor have had since.
By the way, no one was held liable for the 13 peasants killed at Mendiola.
Perhaps, unbeknownst to us, this moment helped define or move the boundaries of what were acceptable in terms of compromise, alliance, paths to state power, etc.
Perhaps.
Friday, July 31, 2009
SONA, etc.
State of the Union Address 2009 by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo -- YAWN, as in 2008 SONA.
Meeting between POTUS Barack Obama and de facto Phil. Prez GMA -- The latter traveled 10-15 hours by air over the Pacific and half-way across the US continent for a 30-minute conversation. What? Not even a beer? Press conference afterwards: statements were a total YAWN from both sides. Let's face it; Philippines just too insignificant in world affairs, mainly because its foreign policy is predictable, as in whatever POTUS wants, POTUS gets.
Beer summit lasted longer.
Meeting between POTUS Barack Obama and de facto Phil. Prez GMA -- The latter traveled 10-15 hours by air over the Pacific and half-way across the US continent for a 30-minute conversation. What? Not even a beer? Press conference afterwards: statements were a total YAWN from both sides. Let's face it; Philippines just too insignificant in world affairs, mainly because its foreign policy is predictable, as in whatever POTUS wants, POTUS gets.
Beer summit lasted longer.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Prostitution Issue -- 2
Or to put it more bluntly:
decriminalization is about the right to engage in prostitution;
legalization is about the right to open brothel houses...
decriminalization is about the right to engage in prostitution;
legalization is about the right to open brothel houses...
Friday, July 24, 2009
Should Prostitution Be Legalized?
More than a decade ago, this question was raised by a global organization funded by the same instrumentalities acting as the advertising arm of economic globalization. We opposed it then as now, opting instead for decriminalization. Though they are close in goals and objectives, fine distinctions still exist between legalization and decriminalization.
The most important of these is that legalization would institutionalize and codify one of the pillars of women’s oppression: the ideological perspective that they and their bodies can be bought and sold.
Those in prostitution represent a small segment of the female population, even though women – and poor women of color – comprise roughly 95% of the global sex trade’s commodity. Yet legalization would establish a social and economic principle for ALL women… namely, that they and their bodies can be. should be, a commodity.
Corollary to this social principle underlying legalization is the perspective that even the most intimate of human relations can be reduced to the cash nexus – and hence ALL human relationships are reducible to cash and commodity trading.
It is the ultimate expression of women’s oppression and exploitation under capitalism.
It is also the ultimate affirmation of the patriarchal principle, embedded in all of class society, that women are not human beings.
Make no mistake about it; this struggle is an ideologically defining one for what should comprise women’s liberation. -- #
The most important of these is that legalization would institutionalize and codify one of the pillars of women’s oppression: the ideological perspective that they and their bodies can be bought and sold.
Those in prostitution represent a small segment of the female population, even though women – and poor women of color – comprise roughly 95% of the global sex trade’s commodity. Yet legalization would establish a social and economic principle for ALL women… namely, that they and their bodies can be. should be, a commodity.
Corollary to this social principle underlying legalization is the perspective that even the most intimate of human relations can be reduced to the cash nexus – and hence ALL human relationships are reducible to cash and commodity trading.
It is the ultimate expression of women’s oppression and exploitation under capitalism.
It is also the ultimate affirmation of the patriarchal principle, embedded in all of class society, that women are not human beings.
Make no mistake about it; this struggle is an ideologically defining one for what should comprise women’s liberation. -- #
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