To Live Meaningfully, Die for Others (Ampatuan Massacre)

Sometimes we think that there are things we cannot do, especially when our lives are in danger. Unless someone who has a lot of courage and bravery acts on it, we will not realize that to live meaningfully, is to die for others. (Nicdao and Hilario, GMRC 6)

The aforesaid nugget of moral wisdom is lifted from a textbook, Good Manners and Right Conduct, intended for grade six pupils. It would have been very deep in meaning for the very young clientele to understand if there was no supporting story for it. Indeed there is one.

Robin Garcia: The Boy Who Died for Others

Young Robin was a student of the ill-fated Christian College of the Philippines in Cabanatuan City, Philippines. This entire building collapsed as a result of the killer earthquake of July 16, 1990. With one terrifying jolt, it went down without warning and with it were its occupants, students, teachers who were probably wrapping up for the day's lessons because it was 4:16 pm when it happened. The earthquake rocked the whole of Luzon. I experienced its deathly intensity and still fear its threat to life and property to this day.

Robin was trapped in the ruins like most of his schoolmates. He was slightly hurt. After a moment of shock, he mustered calm and sought his way out. He could have went home for safety, but he didn't. When he heard voices crying in pain and shouting for help, the boy didn't hesitate. He scampered back into the ruins, plunged into the maze of rubble and emerged with bodies of his classmates. He did so again and again and saved many lives. But on his last attempt, he stepped on a concrete slab that gave way. He went down with it, and was pinned down under. Rescuers who found him rushed him to a hospital, but his injuries were fatal, he didn't make it- he died.

The young boy is now enshrined in the hearts of the schoolmates he saved. This memorial by Nicdao, et al, will forever be etched in the hearts of Filipinos, young and old alike. His courageous action will be emulated by the young who will turn hopefully into brave adults.

Definitely, there were others like him in that disaster area who offered their lives for others to live. In fact, in our daily existence, there are heroes and heroins, known and unknown, whose courage and bravery touch our lives. Calamities, tragedies, accidents, natural and man-made disasters- create extraordinary people with exemplary characters we will always remember in this broken world.

Must people, especially the ones so young, really have to die, in order for the others to live? Then if the answer is yes, I would add here that we don't necessarily have to die, if we want to live a meaningful life for ourselves and the others. We just look around us, open our eyes wide for the opportunities for us to live a meaningful life.

One such rare opportunity to show one's courage to help others in order for one to live a meaningful life, is to get involved in the speedy solution to the Ampatuan "backhoe" massacre that happened last November 23 in Maguindanao, in southern Philippines. 57 innocent people were butchered and dumped by a government-owned backhoe in a mass grave by an alleged 161 militiamen who are private armies of a feared and powerful clan, the Ampatuans. The dastardly act was perpetrated by no less than the Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan, Jr. He shot at close range the dead and the dying to be sure they were indeed dead, as alleged by witnesses to the crime. The gory scene shocked the whole world.

The brutal crime committed by a private army of a warlord in one of the election hot spots in the country was proof of the barbaric impunity by which the perpetrators can kill and even try to hide the crime as if no law can be applied to prevent them from committing such brutal act in broad daylight. ( Kelly M. Delgado, Secretary General of Karapatan, a human rights group based in Davao, southern Philippines).

Genalyn Mangundadatu: The Housewife Who Died for Others- the Filipinos

Genalyn Mangundadatu, was a dutiful wife, endowed with exemplary courage and bravery- but she died a cruel death in the hands of her province-mates along with 56 others- innocent women, lawyers, journalists, and motorists who happened to be in the vicinity of the planned massacre. Yes, it was planned, so that her husband, Vice Mayor Esmail Mangundadatu, with honest belief that probably if it were some women he sent to file his certificate of candidacy for governor, and with that number of mediamen- all 30 of them, and two lawyers, no untoward incidents could happen, much less, killings. The filing was projected to be sensational because the powerful Ampatuans won juicy seats in government without contenders since 2001. They wedged such power and clout that no one was brave enough to run against them. And so, 30 journalists joined the six-vehicle convoy. They were flagged down at checkpoints intended to prevent them and were waylaid from the highway.

They didn't go unprepared. One of Mangundadatu's two slain sisters made a secret audio recording of the horrifying attack. He instructed her sister to turn it on as soon as they left. It was hidden in her socks when his wife and relatives went to the Commission on Elections office in the town of Shariff Aguak to file his COC. The device was recovered by the police. Genalyn was able to call her husband to tell him that they were flagged down, she was slapped.

Stories of the victims' families of their slain loved ones, trying to call for help are ripe in the news. Manila Bulletin reporter, Alejandro Reblando, tried to call but failed to gain attention from 2 high-rank military officials and police officers before the massacre. He dialed the mobile phone of ARRM police director Umpa. The phone was ringing but the call was left unanswered. They were butchered like animals, dumped in a mass grave along with the vehicles crashed by a government-owned backhoe, bearing the name of Ampatuan, Sr. When their bullet-riddled battered bodies were later found in the crime scene, 20 out of the 27 women were alleged to be raped before they were mercilessly killed.

The whole world is watching us. 18 days today, from the day of the massacre, justice for the victims, is yet to be served. The alleged perpetrators are rounded up, all right, but the investigation is in snail's pace process. As if the puzzle would be an unending question as to who are the perpetrators, the government investigators slowly unravel yet more heinous atrocities committed by the suspected planners and executors of the crime even as fearful people refuse to come out to serve as witnesses. They are afraid of retaliation and they lack confidence in the government's resolve to place the culprits in jail.

The "backhoe" massacre of 2009 where 57 people were killed, is incomparable to the latest discovery, the so-called "chainsaw" massacre of 2001 where around 250 people were chainsawed and buried alive when the Ampatuans began their rise to power. The alleged "killing fields" are still there. The whisperers are in tight security until this issue is dealt with. They fear for their own lives and for their families and relatives. According to these whistle blowers, they now feel safe with the imposition of martial law by President Gloria Arroyo in the strife-torn province of Maguindanao and are now willing to talk. The president herself was blamed for ignoring the incident- she is an ally of the Ampatuans, and the Ampatuans are her staunch supporters who deliver rich votes to her ruling coalition. Every Filipino voter will never forget the case of the "Hello, Garci" tape, where she used her power to influence votes in her favor.

Proclamation 1959, declaring martial law in the province of Maguindanao, for whatever the president intends it for, is receiving a lot of criticism. The leftists are accusing the rightists believed to be in collusion with the president who they accuse of having found a venue for a hidden agenda- to declare a failure of election, and to prolong her stay in office and power. It should be noted here that at the time that the massacre was making waves in the air, President Arroyo beamed on TV as she showed her certificate of candidacy for congresswoman in her hometown Pampanga, a first of its kind for a past president of the land to stoop so low as to seek lower position in government. The issue of immunity from crimes she and her family had allegedly committed while in office, is one reason, the other, to influence the House of representatives to give her overwhelming support in her pursuit of an illusive agendum- the Charter Change or "Cha-Cha".

Some high-ranking officials are now crying "foul" in almost every move of the president. Her declaration of Proclamation 1959 or martial law almost 2 weeks ago, is being condemned to be illegal, it has no constitutional basis since there is no rebellion nor a proof of attempts to overthrow government. If this is not revoked, she will have a precedent that will give her the power to declare martial law anywhere in the country without constitutional bases, she could stay in power, as long as she wants, too. The ghost of the 1972 martial law that ruled for 20 fearful years in this country still haunts the suspicious public. The joint session of the Senate and the House, that has started to convene as of yesterday, holds the key to said allegations, if true. But the plead for revoke is just secondary to the budget hearing the joint session will undertake. Let's just keep our fingers crossed.

The dead must now be writhing in pain in their spirit world, waiting for appropriate justice for them. Someone, or everyone who is tasked to probe the murder issue must have a lot of courage and bravery, to arrive at a swift and fair trial for the perpetrators and eventually for justice to be served for the peaceful repose of the victims' souls.

Yes, this is the best time for the president and her advisers to show the whole world that they are not sitting on the massacre issue and to deal with the Ampatuans in the strictest application of due process not with "kid gloves". This is everybody's chance to die in themselves, forget their personal motives, and come out honest and clean with their conscience. Likewise, all politicians with private armies must dismantle such. CVO's, militiamen, private citizens, and all who are possessing illegal firearms now know the bitter consequence of this situation that went awry. It's too late to blame the government now for allowing the Ampatuans to run private armies as part of government strategy to contain the Muslim separatist insurgency. If the news running these days are true, the powerful Ampatuans have made Maguindanao their own republic, and with their loyal private armies totalling to about 2,600 and with that cache of warfare materials still unaccounted for in still undisclosed arsenals, they can launch an attack on government facilities and military.

Ranking officials of the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines are calling for the people's sobriety, a call for restraint on the part of the administrators of martial law, because biases for and against it can befuddle the issue. They must not abuse the power, it must not be prolonged, it must move for speedy dispensation of justice for the victims. We all can become heroes if we stay vigilant and calm. Courage, my fellow countrymen, means laying arms, to let law and legislation take its course.

You live by the gun, you die by the gun. Must someone have to die again ? How many Genalyn's must still die so that we, Filipinos, must live- in absolute peace and progress?

Video by jinanne on YouTube

OBAMA'S TOO EARLY PEACE AWARD

US President Barack Obama had no choice but to humble himself amidst global reactions of "too early", "gasps of surprises", "cries of too much too soon", "mere intentions", "hasty" and other sorts of condemnation as a result of the recent news about his winning a slot in the prestigious Nobel Peace Award for 2010 last October 9, 2009. The breaking news literally caught his detractors off guard and his allies grinning wide. He now goes down in American history as the fourth president to win this peace award, a neophyte president of barely 2 years in office. The other three past American presidents who were given this accolade were :Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, Woodrow Wilson in 1919, Jimmy Carter in 2002.

There's nothing wrong about winning the peace award. If there is anything wrong perhaps for President Obama's "too early" nomination that led him to his garnering the award, is that there seems to me a break, say a complete reverse from the traditional manner of selecting winners with widely proven testimonies and concrete proofs as having the most humanitarian accomplishments and registering the best work for fostering fraternity of nations, the reduction if not the abolition of nuclear weapons and active involvement in peace congresses. There is not enough that President Obama had accomplished yet. His young administration is barely 2 years and is at an early stage of mapping out actions to implement his well- intended policies.

The 5-member Norwegian Nobel Committee was quick in rationalizing that President Obama won because the judges believed in his promise of disarmament and his diplomacy that are too good to be ignored. In several fora he attended in the international communities it was observed that he outwardly pledged to work an end to the war in Iraq that is hurting America and her allies in Afghanistan. His effort to reach out to the Arab world after years of failed negotiations of peace, if any, by his predecessors and the unsolved raging hostilities obviously lead to his "wonderful recognition"as the one president of this time who can muster global support to the very same intentions of the Nobel Peace award. But he had not brought home yet a good number of American soldiers fighting in those war-torn nations, the way he promised at his campaign speeches. He is accused of having blood-soaked hands because of continued failure to withdraw his government's military forces and end the blood-shed in Afghanistan.

President Obama is being accused of winning due to "mere intentions" still bereft with resulting actions. Optimistically, this may be accepted as true, but again, his allies concur that given his kind of resolve, they believe and trust that he can deliver what he intends to achieve. The opportunity to respond to the pressing world problems is never too early, in fact, it is said that 3 years from now, we may find it too late to stir into action. What is asked from all of us is cooperation.

The Philippines, my country, which is just a dot in the world map, stands to benefit if only our own government officials open their eyes to the intentions of powers that be in the international arena. President Obama's call to reduced nuclear weapons and armies in foreign countries, his plea for international respond to global climate change are two of the most important reasons why I want to react. Is the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between US and the Philippines really beneficial to both or is just one-sided, with the US benefited most? The Muslims in Mindanao, are the Afghans and the Arabs in our country. When will the business of rearming the Muslims in the guise of fighting off terrorists end? If they aren't the terrorists themselves, then who are they really? How will the hostilities among brother Filipinos end?

The presence of a large number of big American firms and companies that unload so much pollution in the air are hurting the climate. Is the Philippines warming up or cooling off?The recent disasters that are like omen to this country, are strong indications that we are not spared from the wrath of nature's revenge. Why do we allow such rapine in our own ecology for a promise of the green bucks that only line the pockets of the few in government?

I don't claim to know much about the above issues but if climate change and a nuclear-free world must definitely become a global concern, then everybody must consider everybody's good. Peace congresses must not remain mere lip services, they must stir everyone's imagination as to what will happen to this world if we continue harping about "too early" things rather than think about what will happen if today we will continue arguing and refuse to cooperate. I am but a small voice, but I want change. We have only one Earth. Let's protect its occupants, the Earthmen.

Photo by Violentz

IN OUR OWN BIG AND SMALL WAYS

"The crowds asked John the Baptist, 'What should we do?' He said, 'Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise." Luke 3:10-18.

I've posted here few days ago an appeal for immediate help for our fellow countrymen, the Filipinos, who suffered a life-and-death trial of their lives from the fury of typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana). It was a decision made on instinct. When I saw on TV those gruesome scenes of how Ondoy, packed with strong winds and heavy downpour, mercilessly lashed on everything on its path- buildings, houses, tress, plants, animals, pedestrians, vehicles, infrastructures and more- I decided that I must do something. Out of my own helplessness, I switched on my netbook to see more. My heart went out to people I knew not but my brothers in Christ, who needed help. I prayed in silence.

Quickly, after learning about what was happening quite enough, I started to click my blog, but nothing came out of it due to an unspeakable fear. How were my relatives living in Manila where the typhoon was raging? I assured my self to believe they were fine. Suddenly Sis Lina called up to inform me that she and Edna who are living in Antipolo and Cainta, respectively, were experiencing flood for the first time since they built their houses there. I also thought of my daughter and our other relatives in those typhoon-hit places like Quezon City. The rest now becomes part of a harrowing experience for me, my family, and relatives.

Prayers really move miracles to happen. My kinship were spared from the tragedy. Whatever reasons were there, only our God Almighty knows. In times of overwhelming events, good or bad, prayers provide me strength. I continue praying for people still in haze as to what happened and why must these things happen to them. I had suffered great losses in the course of my life, too. However due to the magnitude of our people's sufferings I don't know if I can really relate with them. As I saw on TV the victims, especially the survivors, relating their ordeal in tears, my heart went out to them, I cried. How can they be so strong to tell between sobs how they lost a whole family despite efforts to hold them together- all eight of them? How do we comfort the people, dirt and grief written all over their faces, crying out for food? I know I was not mistaken for posting that appeal for support- whatever support.

What should we do for the least of our brothers? Without a house, a home, a family to return to, they need us to help them start again. It warms my heart seeing people from all walks of life, people spared from the tragedy, volunteering to help. Other nations great and small are doing their part for humanity, sending support to our government in distress. Shiploads, truckloads of relief goods and even manpower come pouring in and mounting as days go by. This is one very rare occasion when good intentions rise against evil. I don't mean that evil deeds are not happening, they still are, but they are dwarfed today by the looks of it.

International aids and support are not meant forever. Let us not wait for those days when other nations have nothing more to spare. We must stand as one in this country and share with our own blood brothers in our own big and small ways. Today the victims need only the barest of necessities- food, clothing, shelter, money to start from scratch again. When the limelight clicks out, I can't imagine how our unfortunate brothers can live again.

Twenty five provinces need attention, so do the others. In these times of global economic crisis, our government is already bleeding dry. We need to help, a long lasting support is what our people need. Let's make a plan to find our links to our needy brothers. For example, in schools, teachers may encourage their students to give a little part of their daily "baon" (allowance). The parents may be asked to chip in small shares too, like rice, canned goods, soap, candles, clothes, anything. The president herself and her cabinet pledged two months of their salaries amounting to billions in cash. We can take similar actions in our own little ways, too. Whatever we can pull together, we approach our parishes and ask for their endorsement of our little shares. I know that this time all organizations like the Rotary, Innerwheel and Rotaract Clubs, the Jaycees, the Lions Club, support groups in the communities, apostolates in churches, to name a few, are always there to help. My late husband and I were once active Rotarian and Innerwheeler and we experienced going out to the Mt. Pinatubo eruption victims in Pampanga where we had organization links. That tragedy was too much but this new one is extremely devastating. Private citizens who are well-to-do- owners of businesses, OFW's, artists, and everybody are already moving. Let's go find these links to our brothers in need. Let's share because we care. God bless us all. His message is clear. Let us love one another as Christ loves us.

Photo by IRRI images

AN APPEAL FOR ONDOY VICTIMS: Philippines

Tropical storm "Ondoy", (International name, Ketsana) tore through Northern Philippines Saturday, September 26, 2009, with a heavy downpour of more than a month of rain of 16.7 inches (42.4 centimeters) in only 12 hours, that submerged Metropolitan Manila, and broke the record of 13.2 inches(33.4) within 24 hours in June, 1967, according to chief government weather forecaster, Nathaniel Cruz, then roared across the main Northern Luzon islands toward the China Sea Sunday. Ondoy wrecked havoc to 25 provinces, the first ever widest land area struck and in that number.(Philstar, Sunday 27).

Since day 1, I was either in front of my TV set or on line at my yahoo e-mail, in my desperate attempt to contact my siblings, especially Edna, whose place, a subdivision at Cainta, Rizal, was one of the worst hit. The electric power was obviously cut off and signals from either Smart or Globe cell sites were also out. Our sister who lives nearest to her place is Sis Lina from Antipolo who learned that early on, flood waters entered Edna's house for the first time. Then at around 4:00pm Saturday, September 26, she lost contact with her both by landline or mobile phone. As I waited for news I was hooked on my netbook and TV for news. The scenes were scary, my heart went out to the people being carried away by the flood on top of what remained from their hpouse- the rooftop made of galvanized iron and wood. They were waving, shouting for help now, and then submerged into the rushing flood waters and were gone. People on top of a bridge who tried to help them by throwing rope in their directions failed. That scene was horrifying!

Day 2, Sunday, a grieving man-survivor, who was one of those riding that rooftop, was on TV relating his harrowing experience. He was with his wife, two children, both young girls, his mother, a cousin, and other relatives. When he went adrift and was rescued, he plucked his dead mother out of the waters. He was separated from his wife and children without any news about them. More and more typhoon victims started to be shown the night of Saturday in the internet and on TV. Pangasinan, our province, is 5- hour bus ride to Metro Manila, and yet we felt the threatening strong winds although it was quite our luck because the winds hit high and brought minimal downpour only despite storm signal # 2. How much more for those directly hit by the storm? TV footages showed houses made of light materials kept rolling with cars, buses, trees, animals, and debris. The more sturdy houses are half-submerged or are shown with just the rooftops with residents marooned on them desperately waving for help. What was pitiful were the children being plucked out from the waters muddy and dead. Drenched survivors looking for their family members plodded the waist-high or neck-high flood waters. Rescue teams of soldiers on rubber boats, and helicopters and civilians eager to help with any means possible were shown encountering difficulties because of the rushing muddy waters and rolling debris. I became more jittery as I called up my other brothers and sisters if they were all right. But I was more concerned with our relatives based in Manila, my own daughter Kit, too. I learned that she braved the storm Saturday morning to buy her necessities like foodstuff.

Day 3, Sunday, Ondoy was out of China Sea toward Vietnam passing through our province Pangasinan. That early morning at 6:00 when flood waters subsided in some parts of Rizal province and roads were passable, my other sister who lives in Antipolo, Rizal, braved the still hazardous roads to Cainta with husband Ging to checkup on Edna's. It was then that I was able to let out a sigh of relief, when they called me up to report that Edna, her husband Pol, and son JP were okay. Thank God, their house only suffered from ankle-deep flood waters that rushed inside their house flooding the living room and the kitchen. They are very lucky that their house stands on that higher place at Gate 2 of Brookside. It was Gate 1, two street corners away that was impossible to reach by rescuers until this day, Sunday. Most of the houses there were submerged to the rooftops. I learned too, that my nephew Mon had one of his vehicles, a van, half-submerged in the flood but was also okay. He is also lucky to be on higher grounds in that heavily flooded part of Quezon City. His sister Tet who plodded the flood waters from her office for about 4 hours ( she left her van in their office parking area) was able to return home to her three kids. She was feverish when she joined the many pedestrians stranded along the roads home. Lissa and son JM were accommodated by the occupants at the third floor of their boarding house for safety, too. Cleaning house will be difficult for my affected relatives but our blessings is that they are all alive and safe.

Landslides in several provinces buried families, in embrace when found. People stranded in their own homes drowned. Dead bodies were found everywhere, especially on riverbanks, along canals, some hanging on trees, burried in the mud from the landslide, floating in the flooldwaters and almost anywhere. Families who got separated from their loved ones on flight or in their washed out or buried houses cried for help to locate them only to find out that their loved ones' dead bodies were sighted elsewhere. The worst is until this day, most are missing. Those who returned to their houses found them covered with mud, destroying all that was inside. All these are clear on TV footages. Everywhere you look, the wrath of typhoon "Ondoy" is clear.

Our fallen brothers, my Filipino countrymen, need help. Thousands and thousands of the poor victims have no houses to return to. As of this posting, the number of people affected is said to be nearly 400,000 and counting. Some 100,000 people are now housed in about 150 school buildings, churches, malls, and other evacuation centers. The dead join the living in evacuation centers, waiting for the flood to subside. Where they were to be buried would be surely a problem, too. Our government officials and even concerned civilians are one in trying to help rescue, retrieve, and distribute relief goods to the victims anywhere. The National Disaster Coordinating Council secretary called even malls and shopping complex services to offer spaces for the thousands of people drenched in rain and mud. From the way the rescue and retrieval operations and even the distribution of relief goods are being handled, it indicates all to one thing, everybody is unprepared for this great disaster.

News had it that Demi Moore and other international celebrities hit the cyberspace bringing world attention to the beleaguered Philippines. Quickly, international aid comes pouring in. The United States and United Nations responded with food, water, and other relief goods in the wake of the massive flooding initially reported in the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, and Rizal, where the towns of San Mateo, Cainta, and Taytay were worst affected. ABS-CBN and GMA TV networks are among those actively involved in the relief operations at the same time that they receive aids locally and all over the world for distribution. The rehabilitation of the affected provinces will take a great task but the de-briefing and rehab of the victims themselves will take a lifetime. We are all brothers, aren't we?Our unfortunate brethren need help.

Photo by IRRI images

EDUCATION SECTOR: A WORN-OUT TIRE?

Exactly ten days in September 19, 2009, after Senator Benigno "Noynoy" C. Aquino, III announced his bid for the presidency as the Liberal Party standard-bearer last Sept. 9 at the Club Filipino Greenhills, San Juan City, the Manila Bulletin, on same date, carried this news, "Noynoy To Overhaul Education". He rationalizes that the education sector is like a worn-out tire on the verge of breakdown. He presumes that to make it probably running fine, there's a need to carry out long-term solutions to the perennial problems in education in order to build new, durable, and lasting tire.

He has a good knowledge of the disparity between the private and the public sector in education. While today, many private schools are observed to have enough school buildings, sufficient
number of classrooms, and with good standard teaching-learning facilities, mostly are in idle due to the thinning enrollment. It's a sad fact that with the economic crisis felt globally, many parents of students who were first enrolled in the paying private schools, had to seek transfer in free public schools. Since according to the good Senator, the private sector holds the key to the solution of the recurrent shortages of school buildings, classrooms, facilities, and most especially lack of teachers in the public sector which, in the the first place, has been caused by the exodus of transfer from the private to the public, he plans an advocacy that was never considered yet. This is to send a good percentage of students from public schools to enroll or probably return to the private schools. This certainly will equalize student population in both, instead of building more classrooms, hiring more teachers in public sector where these are lacking.

His suggestion to prioritize the development of primary education, that is from the kindergarten to grade three, where the teaching of the basic 3R's- reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, are first taught is not new. The DepEd new project Multi-Lingual Approach is also geared toward this innovation. This plan is to use mother tongue from grades one to three for efficient and effective teaching-learning situations. This is still in the offing. With regards to another pressing problem which is about teachers' low salary rates, he was honest to express observation that indeed the government has scarce funds to give what is due them and while he salutes these mentors for their sacrifices, he could only extend his hands to them as he encourages them to join hands with him in search of solutions to the many problems in education.

As a retired master teacher II from the public elementary school, I have here a rejoinder to the good Senator's pronouncement. Indeed Philippine educational system, in my 40 years of stint, has long been running in a limbo on flat tire, stopping now and then for vulcanizing jobs along the rough roads. I think I never had a smooth travel while riding the system until I retired. The obsession to make education work remains a fantasy.

I just couldn't fathom why in the metropolis like Manila, a supposedly advanced urban part of the country, the education sector has to be subjected to another vulcanizing job of the DepEd- that of applying the three-session a day of holding classes in order to temper the shortage of classrooms and teachers, when their counterparts in the rural provinces like us here in Pangasinan have more than enough classrooms that even the janitors have one for themselves. What a waste, really!


Of course this move to rearrange schedules in three sessions is again met with apprehension not only by the parents but also by the students and teachers who will wake up in the wee hours of the morning to beat the 5:30 am first session and take security risks daily in transit. The third and last session that ends at 8:00 pm or so is even near impossible, if not courting more problems in monitoring the young to and from school. The dark out there is treacherous to them, isnit it ? Just as it seduces the teachers who will have no more rest period, to buckle down to complacency and never-mind-that- come-what may-attitude.

Senator Noynoy has the chance to make a difference in the country's educational system. Given his advocacy to work with people and for the people, the road may be rough and the challenge just as tough but if people are made to see the real situation, are shown honest intentions, can visualize and concretize the dropping rate of graft and corruption, they might as well give it another try. This tremains to be seen, Honorable Senator.

Photo by One Laptop per Child

NOYNOY FOR PRESIDENT IN 2010

So, what's new about it? If this gathering storm for Noynoy's endorsement for presidency materializes in fullest force come election 2010, there's nothing new to it. Obviously, the good senator is a political nobody for this highest position in government. He has no political clout, no political ascendancy, no political machinery . Noynoy is simply riding the euphoria of his Mother Cory's so-called "Cory Magic" of recent times. That's barely 40 days after her death of natural cause.

So, what's new? Mother Cory, a plain housewife, rode too, on "Ninoy Magic" of her times. Ninoy was then the Filipino people's last card against a tyrant government. The volatile social condition caused by Ninoy's assassination and later by fraudulent elections angered the people and their raging madness was so powerful that it swiped instantaneously the grieving opposition candidate Cory that she gave in to people power to be installed as president. She was upheld by the world as a fitting symbol of democracy and the first woman president of the Philippines. The time element and the exigencies of circumstances favored her unquestionably.

Election 2010 is still a long way to go. Noynoy will be facing all conceivable risks- time, sincerity of support by his endorsers, machinery, funding. He will be banking on "Cory Magic". That he cannot deny. Therefore he is faced with maintaining people's honest and sincere consensus not only among the opposition but much more among the electorate. His chance for the presidency might be another history record-breaking episode of peoples' initiative. This is not impossible in this country of people agitating for reforms in government since the days of his father Ninoy.

Cory (a plain housewife), against Marcos, was installed by people power. And so was GMA ( a brilliant economist), against ERAP(a school drop-out). ERAP and FVR (a seasoned military gentleman) have something in common. They have strong personalities (many fans?) never mind if they were articulate or not about good governance. The collective actions of the people at the end of their terms spoke for each of them. For sure, despite Cory's limitations in governance, ( there had been several failed coup attempts under her administration), she stands out from the rest in eternity. GMA has yet to prove her worth.

The time element that favored Mother Cory is now put to test on Noynoy's case. The recent move by his immediate comrades to usher Noynoy( a political newcomer) into presidency may now be gathering in power. But it's all up to the good senator to discern and make e deeper introspection. His retreat is a very welcome personal decision. He can't just make decisions by himself, let alone in haste. He needs good counsel and honest ones, too.

The political arena awaits him. While in wait, we must not forget that things happen as they do today as a warning to all Filipinos that since EDSA I, leadership in our government has grown more unstable and is gaining momentum. Noynoy is not starting from a blank slate. In his blood runs his Father Ninoy's mercurial dreams for the country and his Mother Cory's Christian wisdom and magic. Let's just pray and wait.

Photo by makeastatment