Achieving Happiness

  This is a letter Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran wrote to me from Camp Crame.

Needless to say, I am all choked up. Ka Bel is my main ninong sa kasal, and he’s, jeez, I can’t even begin to explain his influence on my life, my work, my continuing efforts to be a good person. Siya at si Rafael Baylosis and dalawang kinikilala kong ama sa Kilusan. Kaibigan, mahal na Kasama, gabay at inspirasyon sa pagkilos.

Kung pwede ko lang murahin si Belinda Olivares-Cunanan dahil sa kanyang column nung isang araw, gagawin ko. What a witch. She says that the Arroyo government should free Ka Bel not so much on humanitarian grounds or because there really is no legal basis to detain him, but because by keeping Ka Bel behind bars, the Movement has a running story and a martyr in the making.

Gaga. Ikaw at ang mga kauri mo ang ganyan mag-isip. Wala kang alam tungkol sa nararamdaman naming mga nagmamahal kay Ka Bel; sa daan-daang libong mamamayan sa buong mundo na kumikilala sa kanyang kabutihan.

Cunanan’s cynicism is expected, however. Asawa ba naman ng militar ang loka. Halatang sipsip kay Lola Gloria.

(Am sounding like Christy Fermin or Boy Abunda here. Am being a bitch myself).

Some of my friends say there’s no point in explaining to the critics and detractors of the Kilusan. They say that the battle lines are drawn, the biases cast in cement and iron.

As for myself, I’m not really explaining to them so much as I’m telling them what a bunch of losers they are.

Kung ano man ang angas nila sa mga naunang henerasyon ng national democrats at sa Kilusan sa mga taong nagdaan, utang na loob, umunlad naman kayo sa kritisismo ninyo! It’s boring and exhausting the way they rehash the same old accusations.

The national democratic movement has thousands of new members. We are a new generation of activists well aware of the history of errors and mistakes committed by our elders, and we are always on the lookout against committing the same. This is our Movement, and we seek to make it stronger.

How many times have I heard Ka Bel tell me about the welgang bayans they used to hold in the 80s? The bus burnings, the 100% paralysis of public transportation and manufacturing operations because the protestors threatened to kill company owners if they stopped their workers from participating.

Nung panahon na iyon, naghalo na ang mga tama at mali. Minamadali ang pagbabago, kahit hilaw pa ang mga kundisyon. Mali na rin ang mg ginamit na kaparaanan, dahil may palya na rin sa panlipunang pagsusuri.

Now, two decades later, younger activists are charged with the task to continually observe, study, and analyze social conditions. We are taught to read, read, read. To be circumspect (without being conservative). To be daring (without being careless). To be sharp and clever (and funny and fun and creative!)  and brilliant like roman candles shot into a clear but starless midnight sky.

More importantly, we are aware of how important, crucial it is to be continually in touch with the poor and working people. To live and work with them, to listen to their problems, to familiarize ourselves with their culture, to know how their hearts beat and how their minds think.

We are also aware that we have to be humble. Paano ka naman haharap sa masa kung singlaki ng lobo ang ulo mo, at kasing puno din ng hangin? How will you talk to them, have them trust you?

And in the process, hindi makakaila na maraming matutunan mula sa masa. Sa kanilang pang-araw-araw na karanasan ng pagpapagal sa mga pagawaan, palayan, opisina at komunidad.  Sa kanilang pagsusuri sa lipunan - - pananaw sa mga kaganapan, opinyon sa kultura, mga pangarap at layunin nila sa buhay.

Kung gaano kaatrasado ang masa (o siya, siya, kasama na ang minsang pagiging  corny or ka-bakya minsan ng kanilang taste sa mga pelikula, musika at pananamit ayon sa mga guardians ng kultura), may malaking pananagutan ang naghaharing sistema. The institutions in power– the schools, the Church, the system of government and the government itself and how it runs and ruins the country.

Mula dito, sa kaalaman ng lahat ng dito, dito natututo ang mga aktibista. Far from idealizing the masses and ignoring their weaknesses, the Movement seeks to learn from the working people’s experiences and determine means and ways on how to help them overcome.

Nasa masa din naman kasi ang solusyon sa kanilang mga sariling problema.

Ang papel lang ng Kilusan ay i-synthesize ang mga sagot na ito. Sino ba kasi ang nakakaalam kung paano patakbuhin ang mga pagawaan at nakakaalam sa mga detalye ng pagsasamantala ng kapitalista sa paggawa kundi mismong silang mga manggagawa?

Sino ang nakakaalam kung ano ang kailangan para umunlad ang kanayunan at paano pasisiglahin ang ekonomya sa mga probinsiya kundi sila na nagtatanim ng pagkain ngunit pinagkakaitan ng lupang sakahan?

Tapos, ang mga nagdadala ng mga ganitong paniniwala, pinapatay ng gobyerno at nga kakampi nito.

Paano, bangga sa swapang na interes nila ang palayain ang mga manggagawa at mga magsasaka.

Kaya heto, writers and columnists and pundits try to out-write and out-explain each other on what the ills of society are, and what the cure is. Kanya-kanya na ito!

Pero kanino nga ba kikiling ang mamamayan? Sa kanila na  naglalako ng mga konsepto at ideya na pabor pa rin sa mga malalaking negosyante, kapitalista at panginoong may-lupa; o sa kanila na nagsasabing ang pagbabago ng lipunan ay dapat nakalaan sa kung ano ang magbibigay kaginhawaan sa mahirap at pinagsasamantalahan?

Simple lang ang usapan di ba?

Dito sa  Hong Kong, araw-araw akong natuto mula sa mga OFW. Sa kanilang karanasan bilang mga katulong — tagalinis ng kubeta, taga-hugas ng pinggan at taga-alaga ng mga anak ng mga dayuhan habang sa Pilipinas, iba ang nag-aalaga sa kanilang mga sariling anak.

Mga registered nurse na laspag na kaka-kiskis sa mabaho at nilulumot na aquarium ng pagong; mga teacher na nagpapasyal sa mga spoiled na alagang labrador retriever ng amo (amo na sinususian ang refrigerator baka daw kasi mangupit ang katulong niya); mga gradweyt ng computer engineering na taga-bantay ng mga lola at lolong uugod-ugod, mga matatandang halos kalimutan na ng  mga anak nila at bihirang magkapanahon para dumalaw at makipag-usap.

Anong klaseng bayan ba kanilang iniwan?
Bakit nga ba kinailangan nilang iwan ang kanilang mga pamilya at mahal sa buhay?

The explanations loom large, and they give lie to the assertions of the Macapagal-Arroyo government that the Philippines is on the way to economic recovery, and that democracy is alive and well in the country.

Demokrasya ng iilan.

Ekonomyang pinayayaman ang iilan, at ang karamiha’y pinahihirapan.

Hoy, Belinda Olivares-Cunanan, magtigil-tigil ka nga dyan. Yung mga tipo mo na walang silbi sa lipunan ang walang karapatang magsalita. Mag-cross-stitch ka na lang o makipa-sosyalan sa mga katulad mong elitista.

—–

Dave Eggers in his autobiographical novel masquerading as fiction "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" says that to be human is (1) To be Good; and (2) To not save anything.

Give everything you’ve got.To the world a favor and be a good person.

In my book, those who live  and work not for monetary gain, not for personal power, and certainly not for  self-gratifying fame are the most human.

(The rest are bacteria. Haha. What an insult to bacteria.)

My publisher — meaning the guy who pays the bills around here — knows that I’m a political activist.

On my ‘courtesy call’ to him two weeks after I arrived and began work, I went to his office to thank him for giving me the opportunity to get some rest while at the same get paid.

"This is my first paying job," I told him.

He raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?! You’ve been loafing around since college?!"

He’s Chinese but raised and schooled in America. An out-and-out capitalist, quite young: he’s 35 and his business has already raked in millions in the last six years.  I learned that he likes working with Filipinos, and most of the upper executives in his company are Filipinos. The two yayas of his two children are also Filipino, and they, the yayas — named, seriously, Vilma and Nora –  run his household like a tight ship. Still, being by nature a capitalist-hater, I wanted to do as little as possible with the man. I was quite wary of him.

Talking to him, I realized that he was wary of me himself. He looked at me with something like, well, shock. Like he was saying to himself, "Whoa, class enemy at the gates!"

Or maybe it’s because, like he said, based on my resume and the essays I sent as sample of my written work, he didn’t expect me to look so young.

I gave him a rundown of my work history, my background as  political activist in the Philippines. I told him what I had in mind for his paper, what I wanted to write about and for whom.

My cheeks were burning all the while I was talking. I had never before had to explain myself, my life and how I’ve lived it so far to anyone who was not a friend or a Kasama. Yet there I was, telling an almost complete stranger about the things most important to me and why the heck I was in Hong Kong.

Then, suddenly, I was fighting back tears.

"The Macapagal-Arroyo government is a killer. It’s murdered over 150 activists in the last year alone. Some of them I was friends with," I said. To my own ears I sounded like a radio announcer — only someone not very good.

How do I say that even if I wasn’t personally acquainted with the people who were killed — the school teacher who was stabbed six times in the chest, throat and stomach; the  jeepney driver who was shot twice in the head; the student leader who was was stuffed in a sack like a piece of garbage after her body was pumped with bullets– how do I say that because I shared with them the same political beliefs, the same dreams and hopes for this country, and the same anger against a most inhumane system of exploitation and oppression, that I really knew them? 

We discussed issues some more - the economy, the situation faced by the foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, why it’s such a hard life in the Philippines.

I suppose he thought the conversation much too serious (he’s the sort who likes to crack jokes and needle his employees. He’s quite young, and he looks like it, too. His wife appears more level-headed and composed; but she’s also cool), he starts telling me that in the end, those who were killed were serving a purpose: to expose the government.

"See? Gloria’s government is doing you guys, your Movement a favor! Makes it easier for people like to stir up revolution!

I stared at him, not believing my ears. I was going to retort something sharp, but thankfully I noticed that he was smiling.

"I think I’m done introducing myself today," I said, a little frostily.

He laughed, stood up, went around his big desk and stood next to me.

He clapped me on the back: "Lighten up! Learn to relax, why don’t you? Hong Kong is a boring place compared to the Philippines. "

He got that right.

To know how the Middle Class and the elite think and what their stands are (or lack thereof) on issues of the day, it’s quite instructive to read blogsites. I like to think of it as research of a sociological nature (beats calling it snooping).

As I jumped from one blog to the other, I felt sad, happy, annoyed, angry, intrigued, piqued, amused and frustrated, my feelings flowing from one pole of the emotion spectrum to the other  as I continued reading this and that, checking out posts and pictures. I laughed over some posts, frowned over others, wanted the flame a few sites, became a fan of one or two.

There are really so many facets to one’s character.

Sometimes I feel somewhat schizophrenic, having so many diverse interests, strong likes and dislikes. I have often been told by people whom I’ve met and befriended in creative writing workshops that I don’t strike them as being political. That I don’t seem to be someone who would participate in rallies.

I am both offended and worried by such comments. Like, holy heck, what image do I project to these people?!

I suppose it’s the tibak stereotype that they have in mind. And I don’t fit their idea of what a tibak looks like, or how tibaks talk. I dunno.

Anyways,  for an hour this afternoon, I went through maybe about 30 different blogs of different Filipinos who belong more or less to my generation. Professionals — writers, graphic artists, interior designers, photographers. Artists, in short.

I couldn’t help but feel a little wistful reading about their adventures; books they’ve read, places they’ve gone to including restaurants, libraries and  museums; theatrical and musical performances they’ve attended. Talk about living charmed lives. For an hour I felt taken out of myself, like I was   peeking through a window and finding a hundred different flowers blooming, colors and scents swirling, the images an immaculate display of possibilities in what I usually view to be such a small world.

What is it that allows these people my age to live the lives they have so different from the rest of Filipinos? They are Filipinos, and they do live in the Philippines; but what they see, feel, taste and experience are as different from what everyone else — the squatters in Tondo, the sibuyas farmers in Santa Fe in Nueva Vizcaya, for instance– see, feel, taste and experience every single day of their lives.

Of course I know the answer to this. The explanations are quite clearcut; but knowing the answers and understanding them still do not make them any more acceptable to me.

I am both envious and disgusted by the lives of these people.

Yes, Most likely they’re quite decent people, kind and caring, responsible in their careers, law-abiding, church-going, charity-group-of-the-month-giving, environmentalist/animal lover/anti-homophobia/politically correct, etc etc etc. But to live in a country like the Philippines where children die of measles and malnutrition all the time; where millions of families live on canned sardines and instant noodles; and where education, health services and housing are almost luxuries…

To live in a country like the Philippines and blow P5,000 on a book and DVD spree in Tower Records?! To eat at TGIS and spend P8,000 for a meal for 12?! To buy a blouse that costs P3,000?! To exclaim ‘Hallelujah!"because you bought yourself a new Blackberry after you’ve gotten tired of your last P25,000 gizmo?

Jeez.

I try not to despise the Middle Class and their attitudes towards politics and the economy. I try to understand why they think the way they think from an intellectual, historically grounded and dialectical point of view.

Pero leche talaga, di ko maiwasang mapikon.

These same people are the ones who think it’s the protestors and the rallyists demanding Arroyo’s removal from office who are the to blame for the wretched state of the nation. These are the same people who think that it would be better for the rallyists to just stay home and plant kamote instead of causing traffic jams in Ayala and EDSA. These are the same people who think there is no more hope for the Philippines, that most Pinoys are tamad, and that it’s ‘nakakainis’ that because of the protests, they have to wake up in the morning to read upsetting news.

Tapos, titirahin nila yung mga Leftists.

Ang sarap magmura.

But then again, who told me to read their blogs? Baka naiinggit lang ako.

Oo nga naman. Pwede rin.

Pero mas malamang, hay, nanghihinayang lang ako at napakaraming mahuhusay at matatalinong Pilipino ang hindi tumutulong sa paglikha ng makabuluhang pagbabago sa bayang ito. Nakakahinayang. Hay.

I wonder, if one asks them, what they would answer to the following questions:

1. Anong klaseng gobyerno ba ang gusto ninyo? Pabor ka ba sa Charter change o hindi at bakit? May pagkakaiba ba ang presidential at federal na sistema?
2. Pabor ba kayo o hindi sa anti-terrorism bill at bakit?

3. Sa tingin ninyo, tama ba na isapribado ang lahat ng public utilities sa bansa gaya ng industriya ng kuryente at tubig?

4. Ano and dahilan at patuloy na lumalakas ang kampanya para magsecede ng mamamayang Moro?

5.Bakit sinasabing palpak ang housing privatization scheme ng National Housing Authority at nabibiktima lang ang maralitang lungsod, halimbawa sa mga komunidad sa Commonwealth Quezon City at sa Sitio Payong?

6. Ano ang pananaw ninyo sa panawagan ng CBCP na ikriminalisa ang Mining Act of 1995?

7. Bakit patuloy na tumataas ang presyo ng langis?
8.  Ipaliwanag mo nga ang kalagayan ng sistemang pangkalusugan sa bansa?

9. Gaano kalalim ang kurapsyon sa hanay ng Armed Forces of the Philippines at ano ang kaugnayan nito sa pagkakaroon ng militar ng mersenaryo at pasistang oryentasyon?

10. Alam mo ba talaga kung ano ang nangyayari sa bansa mo?

Sabi ni Nietzsche: "There are great advantages in for once removing ourselves distinctly from our time and letting ourselves be driven from its shore back into the ocean of former world views. Looking at the coast from that perspective, we survey for the first time its entire shape, and when we near it again, we have the advantage of understanding it better on the whole than do those who have never left it."

The thing about  being in an international city is that one is continually bombarded by various information from all over the world 24/7. It’s like sitting on top of a very high mountain, and then you’re given a super hight-tech pair of binoculars that let you see to the farthest reachest of the world below you.

I am amazed by what I am seeing.

And while it is true that there are many things to be happy about (rainforests being saved; grizzly bears rescued; babies living through heart transplants), to rejoice over (people falling in love despite differences in race, religion and eonomic backgrounds) and to find hope in (the search for thecure for AIDS and cancer), the things I see and learn about everyday, the reasons to despair, to be frustrated about and to rage against are even more infinite.

What is this world coming into?!

I know I’m not the first person to ask this, and it’s dead-certain I’m not going to be the last; but the it is really quite impossible to not be affected by the developments in the world today. The horrors of war, global hunger and poverty have increased a thousandfold since the 1950s, it is certain. For all the developments in science and technology — applied to agriculture, industrial manufacture, communications, health and medicine — billions still live under virtual slavery; dying from the simplest diseases; toiling under the yoke of relentless, dehumanizing poverty.

From this vantage-point an hour and a half away from the country I was born and raised in, I realize all the more how crucial it is that the fight for justice and genuine freedom and democracy persist and win.

There are many things I don’t like about Hong Kong (the way many Chinese are impolite, for one thing; the way they treat their elderly for another — they either chuck them out in the streets or leave them in the old age homes; an then there’s the rising number of child abuse and molestation cases); but as a foreigner, an individual who comes from a third world country where streetchildren battle it out with dogs and rats for foodscraps from the garbage bins of hotel and restaurant kitchens, Hong Kong is a pretty darn comfortable place.

I have long stopped converting Hong Kong dollars to pesos, because otherwise I would not be able to spend anything.I have been advised — strongly reprimanded, even — by friends here to stop automatically multiplying every dollar I spend by six point four. A dollar is a dollar is a dollar, and having written that, this is a sample list of my expenses and commodities bought:

1) Giant bottle of Rejoice anti-dandruff shampoo (500 ML? 750 ML?) $25

2)Giant bottle of Palmolive moisturizing body wash (750 ML) $22

3) Big bag (24 pcs) of Laurier sanitary maxi pads $19

4) Orange juice 1 liter $12

5) Cranberry juice, 1 liter $15

6) Milk, 1 liter $13.50

7) Big box of tissues (200 pulls) $5

Monthly rent for  flat in Lamma island (one big bedroom with cushy bed, wide living room, one new ref, stove with gas, balcony) $2200

9) 5 kilos of rice $25

10) New book (Alain de Botton’s ‘Status Anxiety) $98.

Meat is cheap. Three porkchops go for $10; half a kilo of beef cubes $7-$12; a whole roasted chicken for $20.Vegetables and fruit are slightly more expensive; especially bananas and avocados. Apples you can get for 6 pieces for $9. Half a kilo of grapes for $10. Every two months, the electric company extorts from me $200; and every three months, I will expect a water bill of around $20.

In Queen Mary’s hospital, a Hong Kong resident can get a caesarian section and stay in the hospital for five days and pay only $350, including doctor’s fee.

While I still cringe against watching movies (weekdays they cost $60-$75; but on weekends one can watch for $40), I am saving up to get DVDs of my favorite Korean and Japanese soap operas because they only cost $35-$55 per set. That’s a minimum of nine DVDs per set.

It’s hard for me to just relax and enjoy my temporary stay. (I would in fact very much want to go home now; but owing to a publishing contract I signed, I can’t just pick up and leave for at least six months. Also, am saving up for a laptop, a digicam and a few thingamajigs for work at home.) I am constantly made aware of the differences between the comforts here and the lack of them back home. And it all makes me so fucking sad.

It would be so cool if every Filipino child could just walk in to the giant Toys R Us store such as the one in Tsim Sha Tsui and be befuddled by whether they want a toy car that actually runs via pedal power or a powerful microscope or telescope. Nevermind the big Buzz Lightyear models, they can choose those educational toys such as the model of the human body which can be separated into its different functions — respiratory and digestive systems.

Oh for ordinary Pinoy households with four members to spend P100 a day and complain that they’re spending too much!

I’m aware that local activists (and there are political activists here; and I’m not just speaking about the Pinoy of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong or UNIFIL and their allied groups) are up in arms against the refusal of Legco (their legislative council which is  resonsible to the Chinese government) to cut taxes and issue rebates despite undeniable indicators that the economy is on an upturn. They also demand more transparency and democratization in terms of where the taxes go and how they’re utilized.

But at the end of the day, the issues they have are still, well, not so very heavy compared to those being borne in the Philippines. The Hong Kong executives led by Donald Tsang can avoid the headaches if they would just stop being such bureaucrats and do what is best for their people. For example, after imposing the ban on backyard poultry-raising as a measure to fight bird flu, the HK government should compensate the chicken farmers instead of just running off with the chickens and killing them.

Issues in the Philippines? Massive human rights violations perpetrated by the police and the military. To date, over 150 activists since January 2005 have been killed.Corruption in the office of the president. One doctor for every 28, 493 Filipinos. landslides and mudslides burying 3,000 people who weren’t even supposed to living in danger zones if the government only had sufficent and livable relocation sites for them. Mining laws rendering hundreds and thousands of farmers and indigenous people’s homeless, landless and without a future.

And on and on and on.

I miss my country, and I grieve it for it on a daily basis. I understand now  why why Filipino activists  living abroad are ever so much more agit: they want their raised voices to be heard all the way to the Philippines.

postscript - the pictures are of the demonstrations by Filipino activists against PP1017 in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and San Francisco. In Hong Kong, activist legislator Leung Kwok-Hung joined Filipinos in demanding the release of Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran.

Now is not the time to sit and stay on the fence.

What choices are there for the Filipino people? As I see it, there are three: (1) Keep quiet, chalk everything up to fate or bad luck, and remain  poor and exploited; (2) Accept poverty and exploitation, the corruption of the government and the political-economic situation it represents as facts of life, but occasionally rant and grumble and point fingers at those who actually try to do something to change things; and (3) Fight the government, fight the system.

——————–

There are all these intellectuals roaring on and on in their own blogsites and columns published in the dailies about their outrage against Presidential Proclamation No. 1017 — the crackdown on media, the warrantless arrests, the intensifying militarization in the cities– but at the same time they simply cannot resist taking potshots at national democrats and the movement.

Kesyo unpopular enemy daw ang Natdem movement.

Ano daw?! What the hell is an unpopular enemy? Does this imply that there’s a popular enemy?! Like, say, Joker is Batman’s well-known nemesis, and Magneto is Professor X’s?!

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Actually, most of the time I try to adopt the policy that Thumper’s mom taught when he was just a little bunny and far from being the full-fledged rabbit that he eventually became.

If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say nothin’ at all.

Yeah, well - at a time like this, I feel my temper prancing about like a lion. I don’t have anything nice to say about the critics about the Kilusan but this: they know the language, they can write.  As to what what they right about, their slants, their reasoning and arguments, their attacks and insults, well…

Magkita-kita na lang tayo sa huli. Ganun na lang.

Malamang yang mga yan magtatakbuhan palabas ng bansa pag talagang nagkakagulo na. Right now, they’re so freaking safe in their houses, with their bank accounts, their surnames, their influential ties with people or organizations in power. They act all angry and affronted by PP1017, yet do they really see who are really in danger because of this declaration? Who will really suffer?

When these…journalists and writers (I was tempted to type ‘jerkazoids’, but that would really make me sound immature) speak of the Filipino people, the exploited and oppressed, do they really know who they speak of, or is their knowledge only gleaned from vicarious experience, the occasional foray into the world the poor live in and occupy, the 10-minute interview or the five-page spread in some magazine?

Sige na nga, wala na silang ibang magawa o masabi kundi ibato sa mukha ng mga natdem ang nakaraan — ang mga kahinaan, kamalian at kawalanghiyaang ginawa ng mga Kasamang lumihis at nagtaksil.

Pero putsa naman, mula nang pumasok ako sa Kilusan 14 years ago, yun at yun pa rin ang mga akusasyon at paninisisi na naririnig at nababasa ko. Mga lintek na yan, gusto lang talagang mambwisit.

It’s hard for a national democrat my age and generation to not become incensed and outraged by the rotten and recycled charges against the national democratic movement. Gusto ko nang sumigaw — mga bobo kayo, yang mga akusasyon nyo, dekada na ang nagdaan at TALAGANG HINARAP na ng Kilusan at ng mga miyembro nito.

Sandamakmak na public apologies at paglilinaw na ang ginawa, at patuloy na ginagawa even those who who freaking continue to attack and accuse the Movement and its members,despite the fact that they themselves have done essentially very little to fight the Marcos dictatorship and defend the Filipino people from fascism.

Grrr.

History, yet again, repeats itself - and now we are witnessing the polarization in society; only there are, as usual, three segments. Nahuhuli, panggitna, at nahuhuli. Those in the middle make the occasional squeak and expression of outrage; and then hide off again in their zones of  comfort and safety.

Hayaan na nga. Hanggang dyan lang kasi sila. Hanggang pagsusulat at pagrereklamo lang ang kaya nilang gawin. Sa halip na mag-organisa at magpakilos; makipag-kaisa sa ibang mga indibidwal at organisasyon, at isa-isang tabi muna ang mga akusasyon laban sa Kaliwa at tumulong na bumuo ng pinaka-matibay na muog na hahadlang sa pananalanta ng traydor at berdugong gobyerno ni Arroyo.

On the other hand, mabuhay ang mga peryodista, kolumnista, manunulat at broadcaster na walang masamang tinapay sa Kilusan at kinikilala ang kahalagahan at kotribusyon nito sa pagsusulong ng pagbabago sa lipunan!

Nalantad na ako sa Philippine Consulate.

Napraning yung isang Vice Consul- si Noel Novicio, nang makita niya ako — isang reporter/editor ng isang diyaryo dito — na nagsasalita sa rally ng UNIFIL kanina.

Jusme, agad ba namang tumawag sa opisina at nireport ako sa kanyang friend na managing editor. Utang na loob! Pinapatay na mga peryodista at aktibista sa Pilipinas, sino ba ang hindi magsasalita?

(Sino ang hindi magsasalita at tutunggali sa ganitong kaganapan? Mga tulad ni Novicio who live comfortable lives, that’s who. Paging COURAGE, the employees at the Philippine Consulate could use a knock on the head!)

(Except maybe for Rudy Gaspar of the Assistance to Nationals (ATN) section. Manong Rudy always looks so disturbed over what’s happening to OFWs. It’s gotten so that he’s looking forward to his transfer in June).

Anyways, sumama ako sa rali dahil mahal ko si Ka Bel, at wala akong paki-alam kung madeport ako nang di-oras. Tuwa ko lang dahil bakasyon lang naman sa akin ang pagpunta ko dito.