Brewed Coffeee ala Kalinga

Ilang araw na rin akong hindi pinapatulog ng brewed coffee ala Kalinga. Hindi ko alam kung anong klaseng kape yun, o kung kape ba talaga siya, o kung ganoon ba talaga dapat ang kape: maitim, mabango, gigisingin ka mula umaga hanggang gabi, hanggang madaling araw, hanggang mag-umaga kinabukasan. Kagabi, sinamahan niya akong paglamayan ang pagtatapos ng isa sa mga paborito kong buwan ng taon, ang Setyembre.

Bilang pagdiriwang ilalathala ko ang isang bersong naisulat at muntik nang mabulok sa isang sulok ng aking imbakan.

Bukas, pagdilat mo ng iyong mga mata,
pag sumilip na ang araw sa iyong bintana,
dadampian ka ng malamig na hangin,
hahawakan mo ang iyong pisngi.
Suot mo pa ba ang natitirang bakas ng aking halik?
Ito ang araw ng pag-alala sa mga umagang
nakagisnan mong umikot sa iyong kama
at masilayan ang aking mukha.
Gigising ako mula sa isang gabing
muntik nang di matapos at kasama ka.
Ito ang araw ng pag-gunita
Sa mga umagang nakalimutan mo na.

- dina julian

Quotable Excerpts from the ZTE Senate Hearings

and my Mom’s phone call

“Does reducing hair line mean dishonesty?” –Sen. Jamby Madrigal to Jose de Venecia III

“China invented civilization in Asia. But they also invented corruption.” – Miriam Santiago. She apologized for it afterwards.

“He doesn’t even know if it’s P200, P200,000 or P200M.” – COMELEC Chair Benjamin Abalos (na pagmumukha pa lang, corrupt na), referring to the bribery allegation of NEDA Sec. Romula Neri.

"You are my friend. You have nothing to fear in the congress." - JDV to Abalos in a news interview.

Ako: Ma, andyan po si Gloria ngayon sa New York. (referring to PGMA’s UN trip)

Mama: Oh? Bakit hindi ka nagpadala ng package para sa amin? (thinking of utilizing all means to cheap package delivering from Phil. to US and vice versa)

Ako: Eh, baka hindi makarating sa inyo. Baka kuhanin na lang niya yun.#

My Mom’s Birthday

and what I have missed

It was my Mom’s birthday two days ago and I felt a bit melancholic. At family events like this, I yearn to go home and celebrate with them, just like the old times.

My family’s tradition was to set up a small party at home. We cook pasta, buy cake and ice cream, and satiate our cravings for holiday cuisine. Sometimes, we dine out together. When I was kid, I used to save up weeks before so I could buy her a gift. But the most important part of the feast is the idea that we celebrate it together.

The last time we celebrated our Mom’s birthday together was in 2004. It was also my father’s despidada. My dad left for the US in early October that year. In less than a year after, my mom, my brother, and my sister followed, consecutively.

Now, I can only be with them through hours-long phone calls. My Mom said there had been slight changes in the birthday menu. She cooked pancit (as they miss Philippine cuisine), bought pizza and “buffalo wings” (I don’t even know if that was a proper noun). I got lost with that one because I took it literally during our conversation. But my mom explained that those were chicken wings that had its origin in New Jersey before it became popular.

My brother told me that my Dad bought her two bouquets of flowers and surprised her with ice cream later that day. I though it was really sweet that my dad was able to give my mom a gift, a privilege he didn’t have when he spent almost a decade working as an engineer in Saudi when we were still young.

My sister told me, with her slightly English-turning-twang in her Tagalog, that my Mom cried when my dad wasn’t able to buy a cake for her. Like me, my mom must have remembered what our traditional parties looked like. And maybe she recalled that I was on it.

May Dispersal na sa Ayala

(A prose I’ve written during the proclamation of PP1017 in February 2006.)

Nahulog ng mama ang fishbol na kakatuhog lamang niya nang mabangga ko siya sa pagmamadaling makasakay ng dyip. Pagkalulan, lumingon ako upang sana’y humingi ng pasensya. Nagmumura na ang mama dahil wala nang mahugot na barya mula sa kanyang bulsa.

Naalala ko ang dispersal sa Ayala nitong huli lamang. Marami ang napamura sa walang habas na pagtutulak ng mga pulis kahit naiipit na ang mga kabataan sa mga nakaharang na sasakyan. Bawal na magrally sa Ayala. Uso na ang water cannon sa EDSA. Nakabarikada na rin ang Mendiola.

Inabot ko ang eksaktong pamasahe sabay sabing “estudyante lang po” para maiwasan ang aberya. Lagi kasing nakasimangot ang mga drayber pag kulang sa regular ang inabot na pasahe lalo na nang magtaas ang langis. Napatitig ako sa dyaryo ng katapat kong mama.

May ni-raid na dyaryo. Bantay-sarado ang mga militar at pulisya. May pinag-huhuli nang mga kongresista. Bawal magsalita ang mga gabinete na walang permiso ng pangulo. May nag-aaklas na militar. Kinakasuhan ang dyaryong tumutuligsa sa gobyerno. Aakusuhan ng sedisyon, rebelyon, komunismo.

Pagkababa ko ng dyip, lumapit ang batang nakaabot ang palad “Konting tulong lang po. Maawa na kayo.”

May water cannon na sa EDSA. Nakabarikada na ang Mendiola. May dispersal na rin sa Ayala.#

A prelude to “May Dispersal na sa Ayala”

Exactly 35 years ago, Marcos declared the all-time terrifying Martial Law – a decree that blatantly took away the people’s democracy in the country. I haven’t even been born during Macoy’s reign of terror but I can depict the horrifying images of unrest through stories told and through the pages written about it. As Pete Lacaba described, those were “days of disquiet” and “nights of rage.”

Back then, it was easier to decipher the enemy, it was easier to ascertain what was wrong. The war was waged with unwavering desire for freedom.

The hard earned battle of our predecessors passed on a legacy to us. We had to vow that never again would martial law be enacted. At present, however, the battle ensues. The current regime uses language to cloak tyranny.

To counter the growing dissent of the people to economic and political crisis, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued an executive order dubbed as Calibrated Preemptive Response (EO 464), “forbidding government officials to appear in congressional inquiries.” On February 2006, meanwhile, Arroyo declared a State of Emergency (PP 1017), giving her power to suppress an emerging uprising. With the proclamation, Arroyo had the power to issue warrantless arrests and take over private institutions. PP 1017 thumped a familiar sound from the 70s.

I never experienced martial law but I can write the martial law of our time.

Here is a prose I’ve written during the proclamation of PP1017 in 2006.

May Dispersal na sa Ayala

Nahulog ng mama ang fishbol na kakatuhog lamang niya nang mabangga ko siya sa pagmamadaling makasakay ng dyip. Pagkalulan, lumingon ako upang sana’y humingi ng pasensya. Nagmumura na ang mama dahil wala nang mahugot na barya mula sa kanyang bulsa.

Naalala ko ang dispersal sa Ayala nitong huli lamang. Marami ang napamura sa walang habas na pagtutulak ng mga pulis kahit naiipit na ang mga kabataan sa mga nakaharang na sasakyan. Bawal na magrally sa Ayala. Uso na ang water cannon sa EDSA. Nakabarikada na rin ang Mendiola.

Inabot ko ang saktong pamasahe sabay sabing “estudyante lang po” para maiwasan ang aberya. Lagi kasing nakasimangot ang mga drayber pag kulang sa regular ang inabot na pasahe lalo na nang magtaas ang langis. Napatitig ako sa dyaryo ng katapat kong mama.

May ni-raid na dyaryo. Bantay-sarado ang mga militar at pulisya. May pinag-huhuli nang mga kongresista. Bawal magsalita ang mga gabinete na walang permiso ng pangulo. May nag-aaklas na militar. Kinakasuhan ang dyaryong tumutuligsa sa gobyerno. Aakusuhan ng sedisyon, rebelyon, komunismo.

Pagkababa ko ng dyip, lumapit ang batang nakaabot ang palad “Konting tulong lang po. Maawa na kayo.”

May water cannon na sa EDSA. Nakabarikada na ang Mendiola. May dispersal na rin sa Ayala.#

The Wicked Truth…

… that I’m now a Tita of my Kuya’s second child.

Caitlin. Life breaths anew in this little baby girl.

Saved by the “Shawshank Redemption”

I was sick for a whole weekend, confined to my bed and couldn’t move around much so I decided to salvage myself from boredom by watching films from a Morgan Freeman DVD collection. I imagined myself seeing detective-type stories like “Seven” (with Brad Pitt) and “Along came a Spider,” which are actually leisurely types of films that thrill me without getting exhausted on a lazy night.

But then, I came across an old film, starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robins, directed by Darabont, and was produced in 1999. It was, I thought, a detective-type at first until I got the hang of it and ended it, landing into my list of all-time-favorite movies.

Shawshank Redemption is a prison drama based on Stephen King’s novella entitled “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption." It didn’t win any award in the Oscars but it gained recognition through time, like a classic that was not properly appreciated in its time.

Shawshank Redemption was set in the 1950s, the time of pin-up posters. Rita Hayworth was one of the most popular pin-up girls during that time. These posters, together with a small rock hammer, became accomplices to Defrenes’ (Tim Robins) ultimate goal of escaping.

Dufresne, a rich banker, landed on Shawshank (the prison) after he was convicted of killing his unfaithful wife. He found a friend in Red (Morgan Freeman), the narrator, who has the ability to smuggle contrabands into the prison.

While in prison, Defresne’s made a number of innovations for the inmates. He was able to establish a library expansion that functioned and teach the inmates how to read and write. As a banker, he also gained the trust of prison guards, including the warden, to settle their tax problems.

Naivete/Ignorance/Idiocracy of a Socialite Columnist

Recently, Filipinos from different corners of the world stormed the web community in loathe and contempt of columnist Malu Fernandez’s article regarding her experience with overseas Filipino workers on board a plane to Greece. The OFWs outrage and relentless barrage of hate mails has incited her to resign from Manila Standard and People Asia.

The article was a mere mumbling of Fernandez’s abrupt and supposedly luxurious trip to Greece in contrast with her annoyance of flying with OFWs on board the economy class plane trip. Concerned OFWs were even more infuriated with her immediate unapologetic response. She finally gave up with the enormity and unified complaints against her.

If not for her insensitivity, Fernandez only mistake was her naivete or more aptly, her ignorance. For one, a columnist or any writer, for that matter, should be knowledgeable of her subject. The topic was not just about her and her posh lifestyle. She has transcended into an issue of great significance, a group of people of great importance in the national economy - the OFWs.