isyu 132: Martes, ika-21 ng Marso 2006, 11:30 ng gabi
malala na ito...

Attacks on leftists mount
First posted 00:36am (Mla time) Mar 21, 2006
By Edgar Alejo, Gil Francis Arevalo, Tonette Orejas
Inquirer


IN MOUNTING VIOLENCE against militants, unidentified men yesterday shot dead the wife and son of a peasant leader in the province of Zambales while gravely wounding him, hours after a student leader was gunned down by an assassin in Legazpi City in Albay province.

The victims were among more than 100 people linked to militant groups murdered since 2001 in attacks around the country that have outraged Amnesty International and which leftists said were part of political repression.

The militants blamed the killings on the security forces of the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

At 10:30 p.m. on Sunday night in Legazpi, 20-year-old journalism student Cris Hugo was shot and killed while he was walking home with his professor.

Hugo was the coordinator for the Bicol region of the League of Filipino Students (LFS), a 10,000-strong nationwide student organization formed in 1977 as an alliance against tuition increases. The LFS has chapters in prominent universities, colleges and secondary schools all over the country.

The professor, Gremil Naz, was not harmed, which indicated that Hugo, a student at Bicol University, was the specific target.

Hugo was rushed to the nearest hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

Initial investigation showed the killer was one of two men on a motorcycle.

What confused investigators was that a witness said the killer carried a long firearm but the slug found in Hugo’s body came from a .45-cal. pistol.

A shell found at the scene was also from a .45, police said.

Yesterday’s attack on Amante Abelon, his wife and 5-year-old son in Castillejos town in Zambales coincided with ceremonies in the Army headquarters Fort Bonifacio where Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan received the Distinguished Service Star for his campaign against communist insurgents.

Human rights groups have accused Palparan, who operates in the Central Luzon region, of responsibility in the killing of leftwing dissidents -- an allegation the general denies.

A militant leader in Davao City, Reunil Mortejo, was also the victim of an attack last weekend. Armed men abducted him and held him briefly, telling him to stop his activities, before he was freed.

Abelon, coordinator of the party-list group Anakpawis in Zambales and vice chair of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon [Alliance of Farmers in Central Luzon], was on a motorcycle with his wife and son when they were fired upon by two men.

No witness

Abelon was taken to the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital in Olongapo City.

As of 6:30 last night, he was undergoing surgery for multiple bullet wounds, said hospital administrator Ferdinand Magrata.

Abelon’s wife Agnes, 30, and son Elvin John died instantly in the shooting in Barangay San Pablo, police said.

Zambales police chief Senior Supt. Arrazad Subong said the investigation could not proceed because the police had no other eyewitnesses in the attack except for Abelon.

Death threats

Hugo had been receiving death threats since last year, said Ryan Ramirez, spokesperson of Anakbayan in Bicol, who was with the victim hours before the shooting occurred.

Ramirez said Hugo was arrested while leading a protest rally in Guinobatan town during President Arroyo’s visit to Albay province on Feb. 2.

Politically motivated

In September last year, Hugo, who was from Irosin town in the Bicol province of Sorsogon, where his father is a policeman, was also questioned by the Sorsogon police.

Hugo’s colleagues in the LFS and other groups expressed outrage over his death.

“Whoever did this to Cris must be punished,” LFS national chair Vencer Crisostomo said. "We [believe] this killing was politically motivated and we hold the Arroyo government accountable."

Harassed on campus

“These extrajudicial killings are outrageous," Crisostomo said. ?The Filipino people cannot allow these things to happen. We cannot allow Arroyo’s minions to kill the students and the youth who are the future of this nation."

A classmate of Hugo's who requested anonymity said that aside from receiving death threats since last year, Hugo had confided in him that he was harassed by six armed men in the university on Jan. 24.

“He was really nervous and frightened. But he said that it was only a bluff so there was nothing to worry about and that he was ready to face them the next time,” said the classmate.

Prof. Ping Peralta said Hugo was very active in his classes in the college of arts and letters.

“Aside from being the spokesperson of the League of Filipino Students, Cris was the new chancellor of the Alpha Phi Omega at Bicol University. He was a responsible activist,” Peralta said.

On the list

Another youth activist, who requested anonymity for security reasons, claimed that military men from Camp Simeon Ola, which is walking distance from the university, were behind Hugo’s killing.

“At least four of us are on the list, either for interrogation or liquidation," he said. "They know that we will join any mass protests against the present administration. For sure they’re monitoring us now, including our boardinghouses and daily schedules in school.”

Modus operandi

LFS members called for a candle-lit protest to denounce Hugo’s killing, even as they vowed to intensify demonstrations against the administration.

Carl Ala, information officer of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas [KMP, Farmer Movement of the Philippines], suspected the military was behind Abelon’s murder “if you based it on their modus operandi.”

“This is the [style] of the 7th ID [Infantry Division] under Palparan,” he said.

“Extrajudicial killings have become state policy,” Ala said.

He said Palparan’s award for distinguished military service “is the height of hypocrisy.”

Held in a van

Ala added: “While officers who stand up for the truth and justice are being court-martialed and slapped with rebellion charges … loyal lapdogs of Gloria [Arroyo] like Palparan and [Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes] Esperon get medals and commendations. This award is made of the blood of the innocents.”

In Davao City, Mortejo said he had just left the office of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan [New Nationalist Alliance] on Friday when a green van stopped in front of him.

The chair of Anakbayan said a man wearing a bonnet with a gun tucked in his waist asked him to get into the van and warned that he would be harmed if he resisted. Three other masked men were in the van.

In a dimly lit street, the men started asking him questions about his activities. After about 40 minutes, Mortejo said, he was freed.

“I was told to stop whatever it is I am doing with my group,” he said.

Climate for killings

Amnesty International recently expressed its concern over the killings of leftwing activists in the country and urged the Arroyo administration to send a clear message to security forces that extrajudicial killings would not be tolerated.

It said comments by senior government officials linking leftist groups directly to communist insurgents threatened “to create a climate within which further political killings may take place.” With reports from Luige A. del Puerto and DJ Yap in Manila and Dennis Jay C. Santos, PDI Mindanao Bureau

©2006 www.inq7.net all rights reserved

mga tugon sa haloscan []

isyu 131: Linggo, ika-19 ng Marso 2006, 12:00 ng hatinggabi
diyohari window

hoy punan ninyo ito!

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isyu 130: Miyerkules, ika-2 ng Marso 2006, 12:30 ng hatinggabi
Proclamation 1017

PPI LAMENTS ATTEMPTS TO CURB PRESS FREEDOM

The Philippine Press Institute views with grave concern attempts to curtail press freedom following President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s declaration of a state of national emergency.

A newpaper’s editorial office and printing press have been raided for offenses that authorities have not deigned to make public or explain. Warnings have been issued against violations of “standards” that are shrouded in obfuscation and mystery.

“No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of the press, ” the Constitution says. Where no law can trespass through the front door, no proclamation, decree, order or directive should intrude via the backdoor in the guise of preserving law and order as well as security.

The State is trampling on grounds protected by the Constitution and hallowed by tradition. The exercise of emergency powers does not suspend the Bill of Rights. Prior restraint on the press is anathema to a democratic way of life.

That no newspaper has been closed down and no journalist has been hauled off to jail do not make the assaults on the press any less repugnant.

The intent is to intimidate.

The Philippine press has a long tradition of resistance to tyranny. We refuse to be cowed. The press should not yield an inch of ground.

The PPI, thus, calls on all media organizations to expose and to resist any State attempt to limit their exercise of press freedom.

The PPI also commits itself in solidarity with all sectors resisting the creeping return to the dark days of repression.

(The statement of the Philippine Press Institute adapted during its regular board meeting on March 1, 2006.)

* * *

LET US BURN THE CURTAIN OF DARKNESS

In his novel Noli Me Tangere, Jose Rizal – one of our patriotic artists – has this famous passage about refusing to sleep in the darkness of the night. We would do well to bear in mind this line at this point in our country's history.

It is the most bitter of ironies that we should come full circle as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of a momentous event in which we made history.

Twenty years ago on Feb. 25, a million Filipinos massed up at EDSA to stop tanks. Rosary-bearing nuns faced soldiers fully armed and schoolgirls stuffed roses into soldiers' guns. They were at EDSA to stop government troops from massacring a handful of soldiers who, unable to play deaf to the clamors of the people, decided to take a stand against the Marcos dictatorship.

It was the culmination of more than a decade of people's resistance against the tyranny wrought by the Marcos regime through its Presidential Decree No. 1081 placing the entire Philippines under martial law. This uprising, now known as EDSA I, ended more than 10 years during which Filipinos working for sovereignty, democracy, and good governance were treated like criminals and visited with punishment unfit for even the lowest beasts.

Of those punished during those fateful years, many were artists like us. As we jubilated for the 20th anniversary of the day the light started to shine again, we remembered our fellow artists who fell in the fight against the night: Lorena Barros, Emmanuel Lacaba, Wilfredo Gacosta, Ismael Quimpo, and Valerio Nofuente.

It is the most bitter of ironies that while the Filipino people were commemorating the 20th anniversary of this momentous uprising, the dark hours we fought to drive away should descend anew on the nation.

On Feb. 24, as Filipinos were already in the streets in their tens of thousands in jubilation, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 1017 declaring the Philippines as being in a state of national emergency – on the basis of a supposed coup attempt which the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had earlier claimed to have thwarted. The issuance of the said proclamation would be followed by a series of violent dispersals of commemorative rallies and a crackdown on various forces known to be critical of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

Professors Randy David and Ronald Llamas, lawyer Argee Guevarra, Rep. Crispin Beltran, and retired Generals Ramon Montaño and Rex Piad have all been arrested while a number of others have been forced to place themselves under heightened security. The offices of newspapers The Daily Tribune and Abante have been raided and a number of other media outlets are being closely monitored – including the Catholic church-operated Radyo Veritas.

No less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Arturo Lomibao – ironically said to have been an activist for a brief period before martial law – has bragged that there are more to come.

Those whose memories stretch back by at least 34 years remember that the nation saw state aggression of such magnitude only during the martial law years.

The nightmare of martial law plagued the nation for 14 years. In the end, the iron hand melted in the heat of the people's collective wrath. Twenty years after that we come full circle.

But this new dark period in our country's history need not last another 14 years. We toppled a tyrant and we can bring down another one.

We were able to last through the dark days of dictatorship because there were those who lit candles to tear through the blackness of the night.

Let us refuse to be put to sleep by the blackness of the night. We enjoin our fellow artists and the people to light candles and with these burn the curtain of darkness now shrouding the nation.

Artists for the Removal of Gloria (ARREST Gloria)
Feb. 26, 2006

Southern Tagalog Exposure

KASIBULAN Women Visual Artists' Collective KUMASA (Kulturang Ugnayan ng Manggagawa at Uring Anakpawis sa Timog Katagalugan)
ARTIST, Inc. (Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog)
Kilometer 64 Poetry Group
Tambisan sa Sining
APLAYA (Artistang Pangkultura ng Mamamalakaya sa Timog Katagalugan)
UPLB Umalohokan
Pokus Gitnang Luson
Paolo Martinez
Andrea Muñoz
Gian Mayuga
Jeffrey Ferrer
Onin Tagaro
Bobby Balingit
Winnie Balingit
Lourd de Veyra
Dong Abay
Ninj Abay
Con Cabrera
Roselle Pineda
Heidi Takama
Boom Dizon
Rommel Lozano
Mary Rose Abano
Aba Dalena

* * *

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isyu 129: Lunes, ika-20 ng Pebrero 2006, 3:00 ng hapon
Oras

Sabi nila, ang oras ay ginto. Gayun din ang kalusugan.

Hindi ko pa marahil lubusang natatanggap na ang oras, katulad ng mga non-renewable energy sources, ay nauubos. Pumapatak ang metro ng buhay kada segundo, at siyempre, magbabayad ka kapag natapos na ang biyahe.

Mortalidad ang kalaban ng lahat ng tao, kaya lahat na lang halos ay kung anu-anong ginagawa upang mapanatili ito. Kaya nga nauuso ngayon ang extra virgin coconut oil diba? Pampahaba ng buhay at lunas sa lahat na yata ng sakit. Kamakailan lamang, mayroon namang inilabas na age defying shampoo ang Pantene, at si Kris Aquino pa ang endorser.

Ako naman, pinipilit kong sulitin ang oras, sagarin ang bawat segundong ako ay gising.

Kaya heto, naka-lintik-lintik ang aking lalamunan. Maigi-igi naman ngayon ang pakiramdam ko, ngunit tila ba mayroong tangkay ng rosas na isinaksak sa lalamunan ko.

Kahapon, hanep talaga. Alam ninyo yung uvula, yung parang isang bibiluging piraso ng balat na nakabitin sa dulo ng bunganga, sa bukana ng lalamunan? Humaba iyon kahapon dahil sa impeksyon, at pumasok sa ilalim ng lalamunan ko. Ilang beses akong muntik na ma-suffocate habang natutulog dahil sa lumawlaw na uvula.

Kaya dinala ko na sa doktor. Sabi niya, ang tawag dito ay tonsillo-pharyngitis, at noon lang siya nakakita ng ganoon ka-pulang lalamunan. Sinabihan niya akong magbakasyon muna ng isang linggo.

Mayroon akong isang linggo upang gumawa ng wala. Samantala, ganito naman ang nakaraan kong linggo (bukod sa trabaho ko talaga sa dyaryo):

Lunes, ika-13 ng Pebrero: miting ng Kilometer64. Natapos ang trabaho ng bandang 7 na ng gabi dahil may hinabol na latebreaker. Lampas alas-otso na ako nakarating sa Newsdesk Cafe para sa meeting. Inabot ng hatinggabi ang pulong dahil plinantsa ang poetry reading sa Biyernes at anibersaryo ng kilometro.

Martes, ika-14 ng Pebrero: siyempre pa, balentayms day. Galing trabaho, diretso sa Katipunan, kahit walang ka-plano-plano. Naisip ni PJ na mag-picnic. Bumili ako ng takeout na pang-hapunan, keyk at red wine. Sinundo si PJ sa Philo dept, sabay pumunta sa football field ng Ateneo. Nakapulot ng lumang diyaryo, na inilatag namin sa damo. Pagkatapos kumain, humilata at pinagmasdan ang bilog na buwan.

Miyerkules, ika-15 ng Pebrero: pagkatapos makarating sa bahay ng bandang alas-otso, tinagpo sina Alex at Leo sa Jollibee Philcoa. Dumiretso sa bahay ni Leo at nag-usap sa kung anu-anong mga bagay. Hatinggabi na ring natapos.

Huwebes, ika-16 ng Pebrero: pagkatapos ng trabaho, pumunta kami ni Roy ng Manila Standard-Today sa shop ng Behringer sa Robinsons Ermita. Bumili (gamit ang makasalanang credit card) ng GDI-21. Pagkatapos, dumiretso sa opisina para sa lingguhang story planning session. Natapos naman ng earlier than usual. Nagyaya si Osh na manood ng Affinity sa 70s Bistro. Sinama na rin si PJ. Na-disappoint nang malamang di pala Affinity ang tumugtog, ngunit blown away pa rin naman ng Wunjo.

Biyernes, ika-17 ng Pebrero: pos-balentayms poetry night ng Kilometer64--pinamagatang "Sakuna"--sa Datelines bookshop nina Iris Gonzales at Joe Torres. Pagkatapos noon (mga 10:30), sinundo si Mama sa Celebrity Sports Plaza.

Sabado, ika-18 ng Pebrero: manonood sana ng sine kasama si PJ, magpapraktis kasama ng Gapos at pupunta sa kaarawan ni Gerard, ngunit heto na't nadali ng trangkaso at sakit ng lalamunan.

* * *

Marami akong gustong gawin, ngunit heto't wala talaga akong natatapos, kahit sinasagad ko na ang lahat. Kakahinto ko lang muli sa paninigarilyo, ngunit kahit ganoon ay heto't sablay pa rin ang kalusugan. Mabuti sigurong magsimula nang mag-ehersisyo.

Bukod doon, panahon na siguro upang mamili...

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isyu 128: Linggo, ika-29 ng Enero 2005, 10:57 p.m.
GAPOS, padadagundungin ang Marikina!

(BASAHIN AT IKALAT ANG MABUTI-BUTING BALITA!)


Papadagundungin ng maskipapanong hebigats na bandang GAPOS ang Marikina tuwing buwan.

Simula Pebrero, tutugtog ang GAPOS sa Purple Haze Bar and Cafe sa Sto. Nino, Marikina (along J.P. Rizal Ave., malapit sa isang punerarya; Guzman yata iyon) tuwing ikalawang Biyernes ng buwan.

"Asteeg!" sabi ng isang rahkstar sa banyo.

Sa ika-10 ng Pebrero, kasamang tutugtog ng GAPOS ang mga kaibigang banda: ang kagimbal-gimbal na BALETE DRIVE at ang kaindak-indak na KAHEL. May mga tutugtog ding regular na banda ng Purple Haze.

Sapagkat regular na tugtugan iyon sa Purple Haze, wala pong tiket, ni entrance: mayroon lamang P100 na consumable kada tao (sulit, kumpara sa ibang gig na beer lang ang kasama ng P100 tiket, hindi ba?). Presyong Marikina ang toma, ika nga nina ser Dax at Bito, partners-in-crime ng naturang bar.

Abangan din ang GAPOS sa ika-24 ng Pebrero sa Henry Lee Irwin Theater, Atene de Manila University para sa isang acou-acoustic-ang gig sa concert ng Company of Ateneo Dancers.

Sa mga nais makinig sa mga kritikal at matalinhagang awit ng GAPOS sa bahay, sa banyo, sa kotse at kung saan man may CD player, maglalabas muli ang banda ng panibagong kopya ng "Bawal Isilang Dito,"ang una nitong E.P.

I-add nga pala ang GAPOS sa inyong prendster sa pamamagitan ng email na gapos.koreo@gmail.com. Maaaring kontakin ang banda sa pamamagitan ng email na iyan o sa 09178253697 (Mic) o 09276858163 (Kapi).


Ang GAPOS ay sina:

Mikael Co (boses)
Kapi Capistrano (gitara)
Perp Puertollano (baho)
Osh Gonzales (tambol)
Mike Buenaventura (cello)

mga tugon sa haloscan []

isyu 127: Lunes, ika-23 ng Enero 2006, 12:30 ng umaga
Bata, batuta

Ito 'yung blog entry na sinimulan ko noong nakaraang linggo, makaraan ang pista ni Sto. Niño. Unfinished business na naman ito, palagay ko kailangan ko munang tapusin bago makausad

Pista ngayon ng Sto. Niño. Naikuwento ko na ba sa inyo kung bakit nga ba may isang kulot salot na tulad ko sa mundong ito? Ganito iyon.

Ipinanganak ako sa mundong ito nang naghihingalo. Butas daw ang puso ko, ventricular septal disease, sabi ng doktor. Di ko alam kung pareho ito sa pagiging blue baby, pero parang ganun na rin yata.

Basta, butas ang puso ko. Pag tumitibok ang puso ko, parang sumisingaw kung pakinggan sa stethoscope

So inilapit ako ng mga magulang ko kina Tito Jess at Tita Lulu, ang mga tagapangalaga ng milagrosong Sto. Niño ng Tondo. Siguro dalawang araw yata ito bago ang naka-iskedyul nang operasyon ko. Open heart surgery iyon, pipti-pipti ako.

Nang dumating ang araw ng pagpapa-opera, ewan ko kung anong sumapi sa doktor pero sabi daw ipa-x-ray daw ulit ako o kung anumang eksamen iyon. Baka sakali.

Wala nang butas.

* * *

Matagal ko nang nirereklamong pagod na ako sa maraming bagay. Matagal na akong nagdadadakdak sa kung papaanong hindi ko matapos (o masimulan man lamang pagkatapos isipin) ang mga plano. Oo, kinakain ng trabaho ang lakas ko, ngunit isa itong realidad na kailangan kong harapin at bunuin.

Ang sarap maging bata muli: inosente, walang sakit sa ulo, walang muwang sa mundo, hindi ba?

Ngunit ang pagiging bata ba muli ay pagtakas sa mga pasyon ng buhay? Lalo na ngayon sa kasalukuyang iskema ng mga bagay-bagay, tila ba pati ang mga bata ay nawawalan na ng pagka-inosente sa hirap ng buhay.

A, ewan. Pagod lang ako, nagdidiliryo na.

* * *

Noong araw na iyon na pista ni Sto. Niño, umuwi ako sa bahay pagkatapos ang regular na pagkikita ng Gapos sa bahay nina Oshti. Walang paligo, hindi nakapag-sepilyo, amoy sigarilyo at tsiko.

Pupunta kami noon ng pamilya sa pista ng Sto. Niño sa Paco, maynila, tulad ng naipanata ng mga magulang ko pagkatapos kong ipanganak, kaya naligo ako at nag-gayak.

Nakaligo na ako noon, at hinihintay na lamang ang nanay kong matapos magbihis. Habang naghihintay, kumuha ako ng ilang pirasong papel at nagtiklop-tiklop ng mga eroplanong papel. Habang nasa kalye, ipinalipad ko ang mga ito, hinabol, pinulot, pinalipad ulit.

Kailan kaya lilipad muli ang talinhaga? Ang musika? Ang gana para kumilos?

mga tugon sa haloscan []

kontakin sa kapicapistrano@gmail.com

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