Straight from the hearth By Gloria Esguerra Melencio
Hatred and carnage in Maguindanao; stomping to death a kitten in UP
I remember Dr. Milagros Guerrero’s side comment many decades ago in our Kasaysayan class that Filipino parents usually blame the table leg, wooden chair, floor or anywhere toddlers ram onto instead of telling them to stand up, admit their mistakes and take responsibility for what happen to them.
As a people, we blame others for our misfortunes: the traffic jam as the cause of our being late for work, the rainy weather for not being able to dry the laundry, the oil companies for the increase in the commodity prices, and so forth and so on. The list of the things we blame for what is happening in our environment is long.
This culture of blaming hitches on the cycle of hatred, animosity and violence as what happened in Maguindanao last Monday where Datu Unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is suspected of leading the carnage of 57 people mostly helpless women, unarmed journalists and innocent travelers who happened to follow the convoy of the Mangudadatus who are to file a certificate of candidacy for a gubernatorial post against the powerful Ampatuan.
It was blamed on the Filipino Muslims’ rido culture where families annihilate each other, an endless act of vendetta of political clans in Maguindanao. Two sons of the incumbent Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. were killed in Cotabato City and in a roadside bomb attack in 2002. The old Ampatuan has 30 children by his four wives and clan intermarriages have ensured him a long line of succession and a stronghold to power in the province.
University of the Philippines Islamic Studies Professor Julkipli Wadi analyzes that political vendetta goes beyond the emotionally-charged rido culture as the Maguindanao problem feeds on ‘symbiotic relationships’, political opportunism and military power crisscrossed with extreme poverty, deprivation and hunger.
The Ampatuans’ private army is allegedly composed of CAFGUs, local police and second generation armed Muslims who grew up in an environment of blaming – hating the one who challenges their grand patriarch who feeds and provides for them – and fired up by blind loyalty to violate, behead and mutilate whoever crosses the path of the powerful clan.
Dr. Guerrero was clear then that this culture of violence begins in every parent who teaches the child to push, whip or kick anyone or anything who he or she thought has inflicted the pain. It is not only about class struggles. History has many stories to tell that goes beyond the revolutions, rebellions or wars in Mindanao, or the French Revolution or even the Second World War.
Right inside the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus, a BS Physics major of the UP College of Science stomped a kitten to death last 13 April 2009. Said student caught the ire of animal rights group when he bragged on his blog: “I pulled it on its tail and threw it. Then like some pro wrestler I jumped on it and my feet landed on it’s torso. Slam! Felt good!”
This supposed-to-be “harmless” killing (when has killing been harmless?) because “it is only a cat anyway” premeditates a purview that it is all right to kill anyone who we perceive as belonging to the lower strata of the life chain. (Philippine Animal Welfare Act protects animals against cruelty, by the way.) Or, for humans, it is all right to be above the law and kill people in retaliation much like the recent Maguindanao carnage.
What have we been teaching our children, the future generation of Filipinos?
Maguindanao Massacre: Media’s darkest hour
By Gloria Esguerra Melencio
25 November 2009
MANILA – The death of 30 Filipino journalists while on coverage – the highest number of deaths in the history of journalism in one incident in all countries around the world – is media’s darkest hour at this time and age of so-called civility, democracy and peace.
They were killed in the warfront no less as other journalists in war-stricken countries. They were killed while on their way to the local Comelec office in Shariff Aguak town near Sultan Kudarat in Maguindanao to file the certificate of candidacy of Mayor Dong Mangudadatu when armed men waylaid them.
Reports said that Mangudadatu will be running for gubernatorial post for Maguindanao against Andal Ampatuan Jr., whose family has ruled the province for the past several years.
The first vehicle of a convoy of six was peppered with bullets, according to the four survivors. Scared victims of succeeding vehicles were asked to form a line along the road where they were sprayed with bullets and eventually covered with soil in “what seems to be a prepared grave” hurriedly excavated by a backhoe with the words “Provincial Government” written on it.
Eyewitnesses and local media who have known the idiosyncrasy of politics and culture in Maguindanao province point to Governor Andal Ampatuan, Mangudadatu’s former ally and friend, as a powerful head of the clan who instigated the murder of 57 people.
Media reports had it that the older Ampatuan cannot be interviewed because they were not allowed entry as the guard building said “he is not in the Governor’s Office.”
Massacred were 30 media people assigned to cover the filing of certificate of candidacy of Ampatuan’s political rival.
Journalists who were positively identified and whose bodies were among those recovered were: Ian Subang (Dadiangas Times), Leah Dalmacio (Forum), Gina dela Cruz (Today), Marites Cablitas (Today), Joy Duhay (UNTV), Henry Araneta (DZRH), Andy Teodoro (Mindanao Inquirer), Neneng Montaño (formerly of RGMA), Bong Reblando (Manila Bulletin), Victor Nuñez (UNTV), Macmac Ariola (UNTV) and Jimmy Cabillo (UNTV).
The National Press Club, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas, together with the International Federation of Journalists and Southeast Asian Journalists were one in condemning the “senseless killing” describing it as “brutality” and “savagery” beyond description.
Amnesty International records reveal there were 36 Filipino journalists killed during President Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law days; 30 under President Corazon Aquino’s administration; 21 under President Fidel Ramos; 7 under President Joseph Estrada; and 68 under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration.
Adding the names of 30 journalists killed during this Maguindanao massacre, the number of journalists killed in the line of duty now reaches 98 under the present government.
Professor Julkipli Wadi of the University of the Philippines Institute of Islamic Studies says the Maguindanao massacre goes beyond the “rido culture” of the Muslims where family members kill each other until no one is left alive of the warring clans.
The political clans have become warlords complete with private armies and whose political and military power has been strengthened with their vast connections in the government and authorities.
“The military and police cannot decide on their own because they have to get the orders of someone higher than them which are a political decision,” Wadi says.
Calling the political clans “untouchables” which in the Filipino lingo means people powerful enough who can afford to be above the law, Wadi says: “The prevailing policy in Mindanao has been a policy of expediency.”
He explains that lawbreakers remain scot-free as long as a person in authority has a “symbiotic relationship” with them.
“Okay lang gumawa ng di maganda basta mapapakinabangan kita,” he says. “Political dynasty in Mindanao is a symptom of a bigger problem in the country.”
Meanwhile, families of dead journalists and other victims are crying for justice.
Paroo’t Parito Ni Hernan Melencio
Partido Lakas Tawa
ISANG palatandaan ng pagdating ng sirko sa bayan natin ang pagliliparan hindi lamang ng mga paru-parong bukid kundi pati na rin ng paru-parong lungsod.
Maraming nagrereklamo sa tinatawag nilang balimbing – pasintabi sa tunay na prutas – na anila’y walang prinsipyo at dapat lang huwag iboto sa darating na halalan. Ang problema lamang, kapag sinunod ito ng mga botante, malamang magkaroon ng failure of election, sapagkat aminin natin, ilan ba ang kilala nating pulitikong may prinsipyo?
Kaliwa’t-kanan ang balita na kesyo ang pulitikong ito e kakalas sa Partido Lakas Asar dahil naasar sa mga kasamahan at lilipat sa Partido Lakas Takbo. O kesyo itong mag-asawang pulitiko e lumipad at dumapo sa Partido Lakas Todo dahil inimbitahan sila at hindi dahil binukulan sila ng Partido Lakas Kurakot. O kesyo ang mag-amang pulitiko sa Keso City e tatakbo sa kabilang bakod dahil ang Partido Lakas Kita e napagsilbihan na raw nila nang todo gusto naman nilang pagsilbihan nang todo ang Partido Lakas Kain.
Sa dami ng naaasar sa mga lipatan sa mga partido, lumalakas ang panawagan na gayahin ang mga Kano at ipatupad na rin ang “two-party system” sa pulitika natin. Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, dati na tayong gaya-gaya sa mga Kano at umiral na rin ang two-party system noong araw. Nacionalista Party at Liberal Party lamang ang nagbubugbugan noon. Pero nung si Ferdie Macoy, na taga-NP, na ang nakaupo bigla niyang naisipang ideklara ang martial law, ipinagbawal ang mga partido pulitikal at itinayo ang Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). Nang pinalayas ng People Power si Ferdie, inakala ng lahat na patay na ang KBL pero heto’t muli itong nabuhay at sumanib pa sa NP.
Itinuring na bangungot ang martial law at ang single party system na likha nito kaya niyakap ang multi-party system ng bagong Konstitusyon. Ang problema, walang pinagkaiba ang mga nariyang partido kaya kahit magpali-palit sila ng miyembro, magkakamukha pa rin silang lahat.
Nakikita ko sa aking crystal balls – dalawa ang bolang kristal ko – na muling sisisihin ng mga nagdudunung-dunungan ang mga “bobong” botante sa kahihinatnan ng sirko, este, eleksyon sa Mayo 10, 2010. Lagi na lang mga botante ang bobo at mga paham ang mga komentarista sa media na “laging bumoboto nang matalino.” Sadyang napakaraming henyo kapag tapos na ang bagyo.
Ang laging hindi nasisilip e yung kakulangan ng pagpipilian. Pag marumi ang tubig sa balon, natural marumi ang masasalok mong tubig.
Minsan, maraming taon na ang nakararaan, biglang sinumpong itong si Maid Miriam at sinabi niyang dapat i-auction o ibenta sa pinakamataas na tawad ang posisyon ng pangulo ng Pilipinas sa halip na magkaroon pa ng eleksyon. Siguro e katatalo lang niya noon sa laban nila ni “Infidel” Ramos kaya masama pa ang loob ng ale. Pero isa itong kislap sa minsan-henyo-minsan-praning niyang isipan.
Bakit nga hindi na lang natin ibigay sa highest bidder ang poder? Sa gayon magkakaroon na ng pondo ang gobyerno, makakatipid pa dahil hindi na tayo gagastos sa eleksyon.
Keep Pinoy kids safe from toxic gifts, environmental group says
MANILA- Ecowaste Coalition, a waste and pollution watchdog, has urged the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to proactively safeguard consumers from hazardous products by conducting regular tests on toys and other items being sold in the market and recalling those that put the health and
safety of children at risk.
It also recommended to the consumers to create their own gifts, give home-cooked specialties, fruits, potted plants, books, school supplies, an out of town trip or a simple family get together as alternative to the rituals of gift giving.
It cited the United States Consumer Product and Safety Commission that has been regularly ordering the recall of items containing excessive lead.
Recently, the Center for Environmental Health, also in the United States, tested about 250 children’s products bought at major retailers and found lead levels that exceeded federal limits in seven of them.
Among those toys tested with high lead levels are Barbie Bike Flair Accessory Kit and a Disney Tinkerbell Water Lily necklace. The group said it also found excessive lead in a Dora the Explorer Activity Tote, two pairs of children’s shoes, a boy’s belt and a kids’ poncho.
“We don’t want to expose our loved ones, especially our children to lead. Not during the Christmas season or any other season for that matter. If the urge to shop is irresistible, let us please buy gifts that are free from this harmful element,” said Paeng Lopez, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s campaign to phase out lead in paints.
A major environmental health hazard, exposure to lead can have a wide range of effects on a child’s development and behavior. Even when exposed to small amounts of lead levels, children may appear inattentive, hyperactive and irritable. Children with greater lead levels may also have problems with learning and reading, delayed growth and hearing loss.
“We should rethink the way we buy our Christmas gifts. More important than considering whether what we are buying will be appreciated is taking into account if it is safe,” Lopez said. (GEM)
We translate documents from/to the following languages: Filipino, English, Spanish, French, Waraynon, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Chavacano, Pangasinense and Ilocano. Please email gem@philippinehistory.ph for inquiries.
Straight from the hearth
Mamang’s dinengdeng
By Gloria Esguerra Melencio
The aromatic, salty smell of dinengdeng always remind me of Mamang, the stoic Ilocana grandmother who practically raised me while my father was away earning a living and my mother was busy raising my younger siblings. It is from her whom I learn to cook dinengdeng the Ilocano way that father would always request me to cook it for him whenever I go home.
“Kuha mo ang lasa ng dinengdeng ni Mamang,” he tells me to my mother’s delight who is saved from one more cooking of the regular family meal.
Brewing her concoction of ginger, tomatoes, red onions with sticky calabasa, rounded gourd, winged beans, eggplants, caturay flowers and other vegetables freshly picked from her well-tended garden, this dinengdeng is the family dish that connects me to my Ilocano roots in Pangasinan and La Union.
Its salty flavor overpowers the bitter, tangy, sour and sweetish tastes that the hot, steamed rice balances. It must be so adventurous playing with balled rice cupped in a small fist but Mamang’s sharp eyes are enough to scare me to eat dinengdeng with fork and spoon instead.
She tells me she cannot live without dinengdeng. My father says he feels weak when he cannot eat dinengdeng for at least once a week. It has been a regular fare that even my Visayan mother became used to its taste but never got to cook it the way Mamang does.
The Ilocano dinengdeng is similar to the Waraynon nilapwahan, or the Cebuano bas-oy, or the Ilongo lasua – sans the bagoong isda. Many years later, I would be able to cook vegetarian dinengdeng that tastes like my grandmother’s but combined with my mother’s favorite herb, tanglad, minus garlic and onion.
My husband and children love it all just the same even requesting me to cook it at times – as I pass the torch of cooking the family recipe to a child who loves cooking, who incidentally is a girl.
Mamang’s dinengdeng is as stoic as this old lady who had gone through life’s ups and downs, topping in the list was the Second World War that wreaked havoc to her own family and uprooted her forever.
It was bitter than the rounded gourd in her dinengdeng that she would be able to disclose it by bits and pieces only while I was growing up; Hers was more sour than the tomatoes in it as she had shed tears silently in darkness over broken relationships; Saltier than the bagoong isda as she tried to tide things over of what was left of the war; More pungent of the winged beans or the eggplant as she prayed to high heavens for her family’s scarred spirit; Sweeter than the calabasa or the camote, nevertheless, as she tried to pass on to me her hopes and dreams – that I managed to reclaim back in Mamang’s dinengdeng.
Demand for OFWs is sustained until 2010-Labor Department
13 November 2009
MANILA- Here is a bit of breather for overseas Filipino workers and their families.
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Marianito Roque foresees that as the world economies recover in 2010, demand for OFWs will be sustained in traditional markets such as the Middle East, Guam, HongKong and in emerging markets such as Canada, Australia, Korea, Macau, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Caribbean Islands, Slovenia, and Croatia.
Demand for Filipino seafarers overseas will also be sustained despite closure of some shipping lines in Japan and other countries, he likewise predicts.
Roque stressed on Thursday that the prospects for better employment situation both for local and overseas will receive further boost from spending and activities for the national elections in 2010. These, he said, are seen to make a significant dent on unemployment which stands at 7.7 percent compared to 7.4 percent posted in January last year. Among the regions, the highest unemployment rate was recorded in the NCR at 14.0 percent during the same period, according to National Statistics Office (NSO) Labor Force Survey.
He said the employment prospects for Filipino workers will offset job losses that may arise in the manufacturing sector that may be affected by contraction in exports. He said joblessness in this sector that may result from reduced exports would have minimal impact on the overall employment picture as employment in this sector constitutes only 8.3 percent of the total 35.5 million employed persons in the country.
Roque is optimistic that efforts to sustain the “resiliency” of the economy coupled with continued demand for OFWs and election activities are expected to buck joblessness and pave for a brighter employment situation in 2010.
He further said the employment picture in the country in 2010 is seen to be better than this year as the government has already set in place measures to sustain the economic resiliency program to enable the country take advantage of the projected global economic rebound in 2010.
He said the new resiliency program will prepare the country for the projected global upturn in 2010 by focusing on investments in new industries such as renewable energy, the green industries, information and communications technology, and science, technology and innovation which in turn are expected to generate new jobs for the workers. (Gloria Esguerra Melencio)
