liham

lea,
ang tinatahak nating daa’y alam nating mabato
ito’y isang masukal na gubat,
subalit ang sa dulo’y paraiso
para sa lahat ng lahing inalila ng hirap

kung tayo’y pahihila na tahakin ang daang sementado
ano pa’ng kinabukasan ang marami sa ati’y aasahan,
kung tayo mismo’y susuko na sa laban?

bai b.

pusang-gala.

My Lakbayan grade is B!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

_______________________________________________________________

Sabi na nga ba’t NPA ako.

No Permanent Address.

Gusto ko sanang marating pa ang Batanes at makatira sa Bahay na Bato at makita ang pinagkabit na Pacific Ocean at China Sea (ooops, masyadong pang-turista).

O kaya mabisita ang Basilan at mapatunayang hindi ako mamamatay doon dahil sa pagsabog ng bomba (pang-turista pa rin).

Gusto kong  marating muli ang Coron sa Palawan o ang Pagbilao sa Quezon at mapatunayang hindi aswang ang mga nagkukubli sa dilim, nanakot at pumapatay ng mga tao. [At kumain ng espasol, laing ni lola, at budin ]

Biyahe

sanay na sanay na ako sa biyahe. bata pa lang ako, ilang beses na kaming nagpalit ng islang matitirahan, lugar na babakasyunan – palawan. manila. palawan. pagbilao. lucena. atimonan. bulacan. cabanatuan. davao.hanggang sa nagka-edad ako at natutong maglakwatsa. manila. baguio. isabela. cagayan. bukidnon. iligan. camiguin. miag-ao. guimaras. jaro. pangasinan. ilocos. davao oriental. surigao. butuan. bislig.

pero kahit may kalyo na ang pang-upo ko, hindi pa rin ako napapagod umalis. lumipat. magpakawala.

nakakapagod mang umupo sa bus ng halos kinse oras, habang nagbibilang ng mga bundok, bahay, pedestrian lanes, pangalan ng mga kalye, hindi pa rin ako napapagod bumiyahe.

dahil para sa akin ang pagbiyahe kung minsan ay pagtakas. kahit di mo alam kung ano ang tinatakasan mo. kahit hindi mo alam kung saan ka dadalhin ng iyong mga paa o ng manibela ng mga drayber na di mo naman kilala.

ang pagbiyahe ay pag-iwas. pag-iwas sa dapat mong kinalalagyan.

takbo dito.

takbo doon.

hala ikot.

at minsan ang pagbiyahe ay paglimot – nililimot ko ng sadya ang mga lugar na nadaanan para lang sabihing may nagbabago sa mundo ko. para hanapin ang kunwari ay nawawala.

hanggang sa tuluyang mahahapo.

sasakit ang katawan. mahihilo. masusuka.

kapagdaka’y babangon muli. bibili ng tiket.

hangga’t hindi nakikita ng tao ang kanyang dapat kalagyan, tuloy lang naman ang paglakbay. at kahit makita niya na ang daang tatahakin niya hindi humihinto ang biyahe. tuloy-tuloy. pero sa pagkakataong iyon, hindi nalang siya iikot ng iikot at magpapakawala.  may patutunguhan na siya.

kaya masarap ang biyahe, kahit nakakapagod.

Ribbons, Unpinned

SITIO SIMSIMIN, BRGY. KAHAYAG, NEW BATAAN, COMPOSTELA VALLEY PROVINCE -

Her final average grade was 78.

She got the highest grade in her Makabayan subject, a final grade of 80. While her lowest grades were in Filipino and English – she got 77.

Nevertheless, ribbons were waiting for her on the day of their recognition.

Grecil Buya, a nine year-old student of Simsimen Elementary School wanted to become a nurse.

“Kay gusto man daw siya mutabang sa mga tao nga masakiton (Because she said she wanted to help those who are ill),” Pacita, her mother, said.

With that dream to help other people, Grecil is more than deserving to receive her ribbons of With Honors, Most Neat and Most Clean.

A child who over pours with innocence and yet thinks of caring for people who are ill, definitely deserves to be called Honorable than most politicians who kept bragging about what they had done and what they will do if we give them the power – blinding us of what else are we going to offer them, no, what else are they going to steal aside from our rights and our lives.

Most Clean and Most Neat. I don’t see the point of explaining further. If we would put Grecil beside a candidate who owns GMA-knows-how-many properties, excluding choppers and airplanes, people will know whom to pin the ribbons of Most Neat and Most Clean at.

It disheartened us. Witnessing her parents having to narrate the story over and over – hoping that justice will one day, drop by their doorstep, is a heartbreaking scene. No. It is not an award-winning storyboard for a drama movie. It is reality.

And how many of us are even aware of such stories? The sad fact is utterly disappointing.

An “arinola” where two candles solemnly sat, a cross made from a piece of wood, and a pot of a houseplant were placed at the exact spot where Grecil fell down.

Picturing out a child, no more taller than an M-16 rifle with a wounded elbow and a blasted head would be nightmare. Accusing the child as a child warrior – the child being no more taller than the high-powered rifle that “she was carrying” and “shooting her” because the soldiers had no choice is MADNESS.

Now the Armed Forces of the Philippines is willing to apologize if the allegations that Grecil was an NPA soldier is cleared, initially finding out that she was not even a 12-year-old boy which they previously claimed. And they are not even sure right now if it was them or the NPA who shot the girl?

Gen. Carlos Holganza, in behalf of your team who claims to protect the people of this country, hear this: That is the sickest thing that you could say, lest you want justice be served to Grecil, her family and to the traumatized population of Purok 6, Sitio Simsimin in New Bataan.

If Grecil was alive right now, she could have kept her ribbons in a make-shift frame, display it on the living room and live-up to the awards that says With Honors, and Most Neat and Clean. Who knows, she could be a nurse too.

Then, she could have helped heal this sick country run by ill-mannered officials and hallucinating defenders.

________________

Grecil Buya, 9 years old, was killed last March 31 around 9am by an element of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in an encounter with the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army. The AFP soldiers claimed that she was a child soldier of the NPA. Her family and friends denied such accusations.

In a recently concluded National Interfaith Psychosocial First Aid Mission sponsored by the Kabiba Alliance for Children’s Concerns in Mindanao and the Children’s Rehabilitation Center – Southern Mindanao Region Office, the Kabataan Party list – Southern Mindanao was able to talk to the family of Grecil Buya and some neighbors who firmly assert that Grecil was not an NPA soldier. Kabataan Partylist was also shown with Grecil’s report card, ribbons and other legal documents.

Kabataan Partylist, where author is a public information officer, is the sole youth party vying for a seat in the coming elections.

Story also posted here.

Siopao

Kakatapos lang ng Mahal na Araw. Ang naging bakasyon ko?

Tumambay sa bahay. Nag-horror movie marathon. Nakipaglaro sa pamangkin ko. Nagmuni-muni. Nagbasa ng Ana Castillo. At natulog sa likod ng bahay namin kasama ang bunso kong kapatid na si Chyla.

Siyempre dahil nga bakasyon, kanya-kanyang uwian ang mga tao. Hindi na rin kami nagkaroon ng pagkakataong mag-bonding ng karelasyon ko.

At dahil sa halos isang linggo naming di pagkikita, naisipan kong dumalaw sa kanya.

Linggo. Ika-8 ng Abril. Bandang alas 10 ng gabi.