Hayden Kho et al are reincarnates of men hundreds years ago
Hayden Kho and other men – who by virtue of their professions and circle of friends can freely bed the women they toy around while the hidden cameras are rolling – are reincarnates of the 16th century Spanish oppressors who take in many women as sex slaves in their ships. Warped in time, there is no difference at all between an American-Chinese sounding name and the Spanish apellidos except that present-day Philippines has laws to protect the women, or so they say.
But while it is a no-no for the present-day journalists to have dangling conjunctions; men like them during past and present times can freely strut around the dangling flesh in between their legs – with or without cameras.
Women like Katrina Halili and others are forced to step out in the open not only because they are recognizable in the camera or that they would like to save their face but would like to take the cudgels for other women and finally put a stop to this never-ending greed expressed in the flesh. May her tribe increase.
Everybody has been feasting on the sex video much like our Spanish oppressors’ feasting on the sex slaves. Selling women slaves had been profitable because it had a double purpose at that time. Fray San Pedro in his letter to King Felipe III in 1609 revealed women are made to labor for the ship sailors and at the same time act as sex slaves while on board the Spanish ships. He even urged the Majesty to issue a Royal Decree to stop the trade as this is “evil” and may “destroy” Spain in the future.
That was exactly 400 years ago. Today, nothing has changed except for the names, faces and the way women are exploited. It is no longer in the restricted colonial ports but has gone beyond the open portal of the web that has a universe of its own going out of control.
What Kho and Halili (whether the video recording is known or unknown to her) did not realize after that sexual tryst – which Kho described as “fun” – is its permanent recording in the pages of social history that can no longer be erased in the cultural memory not only of today’s generations but of the many more generations to come.
We may forgive but we never forget.
Halili and other women are trophies for Kho; the women sex slaves were symbols of the foreign oppressors’ subjugation of a land and everything on it, including women’s bodies, among others.
There have been many women who were victimized in the past. Let this experience be an eye opener for us in the present: Greed for sex, wealth, power and fame are always recorded in the leaves of written history or passed on from one collective memory to another in oral history. Nothing or nobody escapes it.
We never learn from history
My brother Samuel, a soldier in the Philippine Army, should have been 50 years old today if he was not killed in Bicol 10 years ago. He left a sickly widow and two small children who have been fending for themselves since then.
He was killed after seeking the State Witness Protection, he being a witness to his superiors’ murder of a businesswoman they tagged as a member of the New People’s Army. The Commission on Human Rights helped him dig the grave with the murdered woman’s family by his side.
He was a foot soldier who rose from the rank and promoted as a sergeant, but was demoted and assigned to another area where he was a killed a few months after his expose.
Just last week, Lieutenant Senior Grade Nancy Gadian of the Philippine Navy exposed the alleged “dirty pattern” of corruption by military higher-ups handling funds for the Balikatan exercises under the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement since 2007. She disclosed that the Philippine Navy has reported spending P46 million for the Balikatan but actually disbursed P2.3 million only in 2008. She dared the military to conduct a lifestyle check after her superiors accused her of spending the P2.3 million for herself. She called this “retaliation.”
Fearing for her safety and that of her two children, Gadian never reported back to the Philippine Navy after her official leave ended last April. Her superiors, in turn, issued an apprehension order, asking her to report immediately otherwise she will be stripped of her position and salaries.
Back in 1995, young Navy officer Philip Andrew Pestaño, fresh graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, was allegedly murdered because he was about to expose anomalies in the Philippine Navy. Pestano’s parents revealed in a letter which circulated in the Internet 14 years ago that their son had knowledge of military officials’ involvement in drug trafficking and illegal logging.
Pestaño was found dead, allegedly a suicide, inside his stateroom aboard a Philippine Navy ship while returning back to headquarters in Roxas Boulevard from Sangley Point in Cavite . His parents had been convincing him not to return to the service fearing for his safety after the son told them of his predicament.
In June 1899, General Antonio Luna was killed by Emilio Aguinaldo’s men, his fellow Katipuneros, for having a military strategy different from that of Aguinaldo’s and instilling strict discipline in the military. The “best general” the country ever had, Luna was strictly implementing the code of conduct in the military punishing those who were caught looting, raping or even not wearing the military uniform while on duty.
We never learn from history.
What makes UP Varsity Pep Squad champion
Team Philippines in Japan 2008
My Maui with Hong Kong friends
2008 UAAP Champions
Representing the Philippine Team, the UP Varsity Pep Squad is leaving for Tokyo on May 14 to compete in the 3rd Open International Cheerleading Competition in Japan.
My Maui in Japan 2008
My daughter is all the same excited for her team although she is absent in this year’s competition because of an injury she had last March that needed a surgery. I did not see her shed a tear for this international competition she will be missing but I saw her cry a lot during the Elevate 9 Dance Concert last March because she cannot dance Elena, her favorite warrior dance. Coach Lala said my daughter stands out onstage dancing Elena.
“Sasayaw ako! Sasayaw ako!” she silently insisted when UP physiotherapist Czar told us parents she must have an ACL operation to cure her knee injury. Not being able to dance during the concert in the evening was a shock for her more painful than the injury she had in the morning.
This daughter of mine has got what it takes to be a champion. I knew it the day she told me she wants to become a cheerleader in high school. She has that fire inside and a focus she only knows where to get and how to switch on. Her compassion in the food she eats being a vegetarian and her discipline during long hours of training she devotes everyday can attest to this.
Multiplied many times over in each of the athletes, these qualities are what make each of them a winner. But the Peppers (Coaches Lala, NJ, Suyin and Brent call the UP Pep Squad as such) go beyond these qualities. Cheerleaders go beyond cheering for the UP Fighting Maroons. They not only live the indefatigable maroon spirit drawn from fighting slaves of Jamaica whom Spain called cimarrones during the 17th century. (As what the word maroon connotes, the slaves fought the status quo for 150 years to maintain independence.)
They know the true meaning of independence. While having sugar and spice, and everything nice, the Peppers have imbibed the virtue of sincerity to attain individual independence yet holding on to team work. The routines make each individual shine; multiply the beautifully executed dance steps and stunts, one gets a clean, sharp and artistic expression of a concept that is uniquely the UP Pep Squad’s.
They go beyond winning. Champion of UAAP for two consecutive years after a five-year drought, the UP Pep Squad has not only brought the University of the Philippines honor in 2007 and 2008. They have also taught us the true meaning of cheerleading.
My daughter has taught us the virtues of cheerleading. She has been cheering us on our daily individual battles in what we collectively call life. Tugod (Ay, sugod pala), Tuhod! Win or lose, she remains to be our champion.
Good luck to the Philippine Team!
