Hostage taker’s father Ramon Mendoza, 80 years old, in between sobs in front of a television camera apologized: “Please forgive us.”

He was crying uncontrollably as his eldest son’s casket was being entered into the family residence in Tanauan, Batangas in southern Luzon last night.

Rolando’s sister Cathy Mendoza Salgado, representing the Mendoza family, also said on camera: “On behalf of our family, we are asking for forgiveness. We are also feeling what the relatives of the Chinese nationals in Hong Kong feel about the loss of their loved ones.”

Both father and sister said Rolando was a good son and sibling always putting the family welfare first. “He waved at me smiling while he was sweeping the yard,” the father said of the last time he saw his son alive.

The hostage-taker’s sister showed Rolando’s 17 medals and plaques attesting to his being a decorated policeman in his 30 years of service. One was from Jaycees International that awarded him one of the Top 10 Policemen in 1986.

In a another development, a Catholic priest admitted that the Church has failed to “inculcate the basic human and Christian values” as it is sharing the blame in the hostage drama that culminated in the tragic deaths of the hostages and the hostage-taker himself, the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) reported online.

“The Church has failed, although it is trying its best, to cope with the situation of poverty and helplessness that led to desperation,” Claretian Father Samuel Canilang, director of the Institute for Consecrated Life in Asia was quoted as saying by ucanews.com.

The Philippine police dismissed Mendoza for extortion, robbery and grave threats when a Mandarin hotel chef lodged a complaint against him in 2008. The chef accused Mendoza of allegedly forcing him to swallow shabu after arresting him for illegal parking. Mendoza also was accused of extorting Php 20,000 in exchange for the chef’s freedom.

Mendoza demanded during the hostage drama that his name be cleared of the charges and that he be reinstated in the police service.

In another development, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III declared August 25 as a Day of National Mourning ordering all government agencies, department offices and municipal governments, to lower their flags at half-mast. Malacanang, Senate and Congress led the lowering of the Philippine flags at half-mast to pay their last respects and condole with the Hongkong government and the families who lost their loved ones during the hostage ordeal.

The President also sent flowers and fruits with the Presidential seal to the seven wounded and injured Hongkong nationals currently operated on and recuperating in Manila Hospital. (Gloria Esguerra Melencio)

Long time ago when living was not as fast-paced today, Filipinos ate mostly camote, rice, vegetable, nuts, fruits and everything that grew on plants. Land was so fertile that a single corn plant can bear as much as 64 fruits to the amazement of the Spanish friars who chronicled that it even surpassed that of Mexico corn that had only been bearing 10 fruits at the most.

Filipinos did not eat carabeef as carabaos roamed wildly in the mountains four hundred years ago;  beef was only introduced with the introduction of vaca (cow) pairs from Southern America; and chickens were only domesticated for eggs.

With the advent of colonization and influence of the colonizers’ culture, the Filipino eating habits have been transformed slowly from vegetable to being meat-based. Communication technology and bombarded advertisements have been made the best tools for forcing Filipinos to drink imported milk and eat corned beef and sardines from the GI’s food supply. Now accustomed to drinking milk despite being lactose-intolerant, as mostly Asians do- and used to eating meat everyday as modeled by the status quo –eating habits have dramatically changed.

With fast-paced modern life in the 20^th century came easy-to-cook meat-based products, a far cry from the fresh root crops, vegetables and fruits that Filipinos ate long time ago. Mention the words hamburgers, fried chicken and meat-loaded pizza and the kids will yell Jollibee, Mcdonald’s, or Shakey’s.

This changed eating habit has shortened the Filipino life span from living a healthy, heart-attack free old age of 90 to agonizingly painful and arthritic 60 years old if one does not die of heart attack at 50 or earlier. With many years of eating meat come accumulated toxins in the body that cause various diseases too many to mention.

Dr. Maan Canlas, a geriatrics doctor, says elderly people have poor metabolism and circulation because of poor eating habits and accumulated meat toxins in the body. She explains in the SAGE press launch that returning or turning to a vegetarian lifestyle will bring about healthy and happy disposition as body enzymes digest vegetable-based food easily and fibers in vegetables help in the bowel movement.

Olympics Taekwondo referee Ricardo Santiago, a vegetarian for 13 years testifies he has an active lifestyle, his body functions well and has not lost anything in becoming a vegetarian. Besides,“I look young,” he jokes.

His youngest sister Tuesday Santiago, also a vegetarian, confides becoming a vegetarian is “tough”  with the young generation exposed to KFC, Macdonald’s and Jollibee nowadays. “But young people are waking up to the realities of the ‘vegetarian wave,’” she attests.

Nonie Fernando, SAGE representative who is a vegetarian for 38 years, says product availability is not a problem anymore because vegetarian items are now being sold in SM Makati and Megamall supermarkets. Besides, fresh vegetables are everywhere in the Philippines.

Returning to the Filipino original eating habits has now become a battle. While it has become a battle in business, it is a big battle of the self. Vegetarians in the Philippines, however, are a living testimony of winning in this battlefield collectively called life. (Gloria Esguerra Melencio)

Kung nagtataka kayo kung ano ba itong debateng ito, hindi ko kayo masisisi dahil kokonti lang naman talaga ang nagbibigay ng pansin sa usaping ito sa sawimpalad nating bansa.

Kung lagi kayong nakababad sa Internet, mapapansin ninyong maraming mga “language police” para sa Ingles pero walang ganitong uri ng hayop na mahigpit magbantay para sa wikang Filipino. Kapag mali-mali ang Ingles mo, madali kang mapansin at maraming magtatama agad sa iyo. Pero kapag mali-mali ang gamit mo ng Filipino walang paki ang madlang pipol.

Hindi nakapagtatakang walang sinusunod na panuntunan ang mga babasahing Pinoy at walang pumapansin kung tama ba ang baybay o balarila na sinusunod ng mga nagsusulat sa Filipino (Tagalog sa marami nating kababayan). Hindi rin nakapagtataka kung gayon na halos walang nakikialam kung ang Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Pangasinense at iba pa ay wika o dayalekto.

Nauna ko nang sinulat sa pitak na ito na ang mga nabanggit ko sa itaas e mga wika at hindi dayalekto. Marami kasing nag-aakala na ang nag-iisang wika lamang sa Pinas e ang Filipino – na siya ring pambansang wika – at ang iba pa e puro dayalekto na lamang. E bakit pa ito tatawaging pambansang wika kung nag-iisa lamang ito?

Para sa akin, ang kaibahan ng wika sa dayalekto e para ring kaibahan ng relihiyon sa sekta. Nagkakaiba lamang sila sa dami. Kung maraming miyembro ang isang paniniwala, tinatawag itong relihiyon, samantalang kung kokonti e sekta lamang ito.

Ganun din ang wika. Kung marami ang nagkakaintindihan sa maraming lugar, wika ang ginagamit nila. Kung sumakay ka ng barko o bus at napalayo ka na at hindi na maintindihan ng kausap, dayalekto ang gamit mo.

Sa ibang halimbawa, ang wika e magulang at ang dayalekto e anak. Ang Tagalog, halimbawa, e isang wika at maraming nakakaintindi nito (kaya nga dito ibinase ang Filipino). Pero may mga lugar na may punto at may iba na ring katawagan sa ilang bagay, gaya ng Tagalog sa Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Batangas at Metro Manila. Ang mga ito e dayalekto o “anak” ng Tagalog. Ganun din, may mga Cebuano sa Cebu na iba na nang kaunti sa Cebuano sa Mindanao pero nagkakaintindihan pa rin sila, kaya nga ang Cebuano ay wika at ang pagkakaiba nito sa ilang mga lugar e dayalekto ng Cebuano.

Pero sabi ko nga, may debate tungkol dito. Meron kasing mga hindi mapakali sa depinisyon ng dalawa. Meron kasing mga lenggwaheng itinatakda ng pulitika at hindi ng natural na gamit ng mga tao. May mga makukulit na nagtatanong kung ang gay lingo ba e lenggwahe o dayalekto o pang-asar lamang.

Ewan ko, basta’t anu’t-anuman, ang wika e nakabatay pa rin sa dami ng mga gumagamit nito at kung paano ito gamitin. At kung gaano rin ito tumatagal.

Bakit ko ito pinag-uusapan? Wala lang. Gusto ko lang dahil buwan nga ng wika ngayon.

President Benigno Aquino III inspects the bus that was hijacked by a former policeman and held hostage its Hong Kong tourist passengers.

In solidarity with the people of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region which lost eight lives from the hostage-taking incident in Manila yesterday, the Philippine Government declared August 25 as day of national mourning.

President Benigno Aquino III signed Proclamation No. 23 yesterday instructing all public institutions in the country, as well as Philippine Embassies and Consulates General overseas, to lower the Philippine Flag at half-mast on August 25.

The Philippine Government considers the deaths of eight Hong Kong nationals a great loss to the peoples of Hong Kong and the Philippines.

“These deaths are a great loss to the peoples of Hong Kong and the Philippines, and call for the most solemn commemoration and respect at a time of grief for our two peoples,” the proclamation said.

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs lowered its Philippine Flag at half-mast in memory of the lives lost in the incident.

I have only gone to Pangasinan or to La Union, my grandfather’s and grandmother’s towns respectively, for work assignments. It was only Tita Norma and Tita Cherry Esguerra Licdan, my father’s cousins, who helped me trace my roots while I was drafting our family tree.  Pangasinan, La Union and Butuan are just images of a distant past.

It was my first flight to Butuan City, a place I have only read in books as known for the discovery of the 1,600-year-old balanghai, an ancient boat made of sturdy, thick planks of wood connected to each other without nails. Archeological finds in Butuan had revealed it was the center of commerce in that part of Mindanao where traders dock to sell goods and Spanish conquistadores get their supply of drinking water and food.  Archeologists had also found golden Buddhas and rare artifacts embedded in the muddy mouth of the river, evidences of its link to the glorious Sri Vijayan past.

Upon leaving my things in the hotel resort where I was billeted, I immediately put on my walking shoes and slung my husband’s camera to scour the city of its historical places. Knowing nobody, I sought the help of the Regional Tourism Department where I was given a guide map and brochures about the place. Inquisitive me asked the obliging staff who the head of the tourism department is whom I can interview for a possible story for my newspaper then where I worked as a reporter.

She answered warmly during that cold rainy afternoon: “Liwliwa Esguerra.” Hmmm, Esguerra. I quickly responded: “Can I interview her? She must be my relative if she is from Pangasinan.” Aunt Lilli must have heard and felt my excitement. She peeped from the conference room and finally invited me to sit inside her spacious office. I introduced myself. It was Lolo Javier’s name that linked her to me. I found my relative!

Lolo Javier’s brothers Milo and Melchor migrated to Butuan to look for greener pastures in the 1950s. Indeed they found their place under the sun in this part of Agusan as they become professionals through sheer determination and hard work. Lolo Melchor married Paz Buque who hailed from a family of educators in Nasipit. Lolo Milo became a school principal. Nana Minda became a nurse and currently lives in Quezon City busying herself as head of a review center for nurses. Some of the cousins migrated to Canada and Austria from Butuan.

Aunt Lilli invited me to a family reunion on the second day that I was in Butuan. Relatives came from as far as Vienna and Vancouver to grace the grand matriarch’s birthday celebration in a hotel where I was also billeted. Coincidence? Everything happens for a reason, as an Asian saying goes.

I wondered what Aunt Lilli’s name means in Ilocano. Liwliwa means joy, she explained. I wondered, too, why she remained single, she being the youngest in a big brood of the Esguerra clan in Butuan and radiantly beautiful in her pixie hair with a yellow rose pinned on her blue dress.  Just the same, it was a joy meeting my newly found relatives in Mindanao. Thank you, Aunt Lilli.

Umaasa ka ng parangal kung sa tingin mo e may nagawa kang kapuri-puri at kapaki-pakinabang sa kapwa. Kapag kumilos ka naman nang may pag-iimbot at walang katapatan, umaasa kang pangaral lang ang aabutin mo at hindi sana batok at batikos.

May isang grupo sa Amerika ngayon na umaani ng parangal at pangaral – depende sa estado ng pag-iisip ng pumupuri o bumabatikos. Isa lamang itong kulto ng mga Kristiyano – mga rightist Christians kung tawagin ng mga aktibista – sa isang lugar sa Florida na nananawagan ng pagsunog sa Qur’an o banal na libro ng Islam sa anibersaryo ng pag-atake sa Amerika ng mga panatikong Muslim noong Setyembre 11, 2001.

Magsusunog ng Qur’an ang kulto na kung tawagin e Dove World Outreach Center (para magpapansin) sa opisina nito sa araw na iyon bilang paggunita umano sa mga pag-atake sa Estados Unidos siyam na taon na ang nakararaan ng mga “demonyong” terorista.

Mabuti na lamang at hindi ito pinatulan ng Simbahang Katoliko na agad nanawagan sa kulto na huwag ituloy ang kahibangang ito. Sigurado nga namang magreresulta ito ng ganting atake ng mga Muslim laban sa mga Kristiyano. Nakita na natin iyan dito mismo sa Pinas na naggagantihan ang iilang mararahas at sira-ulong panatiko ng magkabilang relihiyon.

Lahat ng relihiyon ay nangangaral ng kabutihan at kaligtasan; malinis ang kanilang hangarin pero hindi nawawala sa kahit anumang organisasyon – kahit sa gobyerno at mga rebolusyonaryo – ang mga baliw, sintu-sinto at masasamang loob na handang gawin ang lahat maipilit lang ang paniniwala, sukdulang mamatay at pumatay sila.

Hindi naman orihinal na ideya itong bantang pagsusunog ng Qur’an. Nauna nang nagbanta ng ganito ang mga panatikong Kristiyano sa Copenhagen sa Denmark para naman labanan ang panawagang boykot ng mga bansang Muslim sa keso, gatas, sikulate at iba pang Danish products. Ang boykot e protesta naman ng mga Muslim sa isang caricature ni Muhammad na lumabas sa dyaryo doon. Ang cartoon e protesta naman ng kartonista sa isang protesta na protesta rin sa isa pang protesta. Walang katapusang protesta ito at gantihan, na kung uugatin mo ay lalampas pa sa panahon ng Krusada.

Milyong buhay ang nabubuwis sa ngalan ng relihiyon. Totoong ugat ito ng giyera, pero pwede rin itong makatulong sa pagkakaroon ng kapayapaan. Uso na ngayon ang tinatawag na interfaith dialogue at marami na ring relihiyoso ang natututong tanggapin ang di nila kayang tanggapin sa ngalan ng kapayapaan. Unti-unti nilang napagtatanto na corrupt ang organized religion at kailangan nito ng muling pagkabuhay.

May moske sa Vatican City na sentro ng paniniwalang Katoliko pero walang simbahang Kristiyano sa Saudi Arabia na sentro naman ng paniniwalang Islam. Hindi ang hari ng Saudi ang may kasalanan sa sulipat na kalagayang ito kundi ang organisadong relihiyon na takot sa pagbabago.

Akalain mong “naliligo” pala sila sa bigas ngayon? E bakit hindi man lang matalsikan ng ipinaliligo nila kaming mga hampaslupa na matagal nang nangangarap na makapagsaing at makakain ng murang bigas?

Sa huling basa ko ng sarbey ng Social Weather Stations, apat na milyong kabahayan ang nakararanas ng gutom sa bansa nating nililiyag. Kung may karaniwang anim katao sa isang kabahayan, aba’y 48 milyon na agad ito. Ano pa ang hinihintay ng NFA, Pasko?

Kung lumalangoy ang NFA o nagtatampisaw sa sobrang bigas, dapat e ipamigay na agad iyon sa mahihirap nang wala nang esep-esep bago pa man tuluyang mabulok ang istak gaya ng nangyayari umano sa ilang bodega nila na halos hindi na maisara dahil sa umaapaw na bigas. (Bweno, medyo exaggerated naman na hindi maisara ang mga bodega, pero mismong si Joselito ang nagsabing naliligo sila sa bigas. Sabagay mas masaya ‘yun kesa sa ginawa noon ni Manny Villar na lumangoy sa dagat ng basura.)

Ang kaso, marami pang kuskos-balungos itong NFA. Kesyo kelangan pang pag-aralan kung pabababain ang presyo o alamin kung sino ang may kasalanan sa pag-aaksayang ito at paglustay sa pera ng bayan.

Pwede nilang pag-aralan kung anuman ang gusto nilang pag-aralan – bumalik pa sila sa eskwelahan kung gusto nila – basta ipamigay na sa mga nangangailangan ang bigas. Wala na silang magagawa, tutal nariyan na rin lang ang sobrang suplay at nalugi na ang gobyerno sa sobra-sobrang inangkat na bigas, hayaan na lang pakinabangan ito ng mga tao. Tapos habulin nila ang mga simbergwensa at walang pakundangang nag-angkat ng bigas.

Resulta nga ba ito ng panic-buying ng gobyerno o ng pagkaganid ng nasa kapangyarihan? Maaalalang kailan lang e umangkat din sila ng sobra-sobrang asukal dahil nagkaroon ng artipisyal na pagmamahal nito sa palengke. Meron bang nakaalala nito? May nagreklamo sandali pero dahil makakalimutin tayo, nailibing na lang ang isyung ito sa limot. (Huwag sanang mangyari ito sa kaso ng Ampatuan massacre. Hindi ba’t kay Dayunyor na lang nakatuon ang pansin ng lahat at nakalimutan na ang pangako ng military na magpaliwanag tungkol sa mga armas at bala na may tatak ng DND na natagpuan sa pag-iingat ng mga Ampatuan?)

Hindi pa tapos ang kalbaryo umano ni Joselito; meron pang darating na isang milyong sako ng bigas galing Vietnam at sasabay iyon sa anihan dito sa Pinas. Ibig sabihin nito kukumpitensyahin ng imported na bigas ang lokal na bigas. E dahil mas mura ang imported na bigas, dehado ang lokal. Mapipilitang ibenta nang palugi ng mga magsasaka natin ang kanilang produkto.

Ang solusyon ng NFA, pakiusapan ang Vietnam na huwag munang i-deliver ang bigas. E sigurado namang sasabihin sa kanila ng Vietnam: “Ano kayo sinuswerte? May kontrata tayo at saka puno na rin ang mga bodega namin, wala kaming paglalagyan niyan.”

The author, who works as an editor with the Saudi Gazette, also included in this book some personal experiences – both secular and spiritual – in his search for meaning in life that he hopes “will find echoes in the hearts of other people.”

The author throws in universal themes in most of his essays that even readers from other races and cultures could easily empathize with his writings.

Many of the 33 essays in this book, largely written in literary prose, are haunting, starting with his first essay, ”Remembering Ginablan,” a recollection of his adolescence in a small farming village in Romblon where he grew up.

Remembering, he says, was “like walking into a time machine where I found myself retracing faded footprints of a lost past,” The essay recalls a rustic life In a small village where the girls smoke cigarettes “with the lighted tip in their mouth,” the “changing hues of crimson sunsets” that he loved to watch each time he went fishing with a cousin and “a dusty road that cuts across rice fields crawling up to the foot of the hills.”

A left-of-center activist during his college days, the author did not hide his deep-seated disdain for the Filipino politicians whom he blames for the tight economic situation in his country that forced millions of Filipinos to look for greener pastures in foreign lands.

He bewails that the “thievery” of politicians in the home front and their endless wrangling to stay in power have given majority of the Filipinos a sense of hopelessness to drive thousands of them to leave the country every day.

“It is sad that our economy is in bad shape but I think it’s not the primary reason that gives us a sense of hopelessness. It is our politicians’ endless and senseless bickering because we know that they are not clawing each other for our sake … but to score political points for the next balloting,” he writes in his essay, “The Tragedy that Befalls Us.”

“The tragedy that befalls our country is that our politicians, who are supposed to lead us in solving our problems, have become our biggest problem.”

He also takes a dig at the government for its empty platitude for the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as modern-day heroes because their remittances have been propping up the ailing Philippine economy.

“I’m an OFW but I’m not a hero. I did not come here out of my sense of patriotism, but as a husband and a father who wants to see a new dawn for my family, no matter if that dawn unfolds in another country,” he riles in his essay “Strangers in Our Own Country.”

“I have come to terms with reality. Like millions of other Filipinos who sought greener pastures in foreign lands, I have hitched the family wagon to a caravan of Filipino migrant workers who have become strangers in our own country.”

Bits and pieces in the book open small windows to his past when he “strayed to atheism” after enrolling in anthropology that taught Darwin’s theory of evolution, but later returned to the Faith – after he felt a lingering “sense of emptiness” deep within him.

His spiritual journey gave him the material to write the main essay, “The Gypsy Soul,” which he first wrote for the defunct newspaper Today in Manila where he used to work as subeditor before going to Saudi Arabia.

“In my wanderings since I left Romblon, I have come to believe that man has a soul longing for home … Our soul keeps on driving us in search for meaning in our lives, no matter if we live on a craggy hill in some remote villages or in the jungles of sky crappers in mega cities, probably to remind us that this world is not our home,” he writes.

He followed it up in his essay, “Pilgrims to the Life Beyond.”

“There is an empty space in our being that we may never understand, much less manage, if we do not pause for a while to take a closer look at life until we realize that we are not pursuing life itself but its palavers, until we realize that we are not lost gypsies but homing pilgrims whose dreams ought to be lofty enough to rise beyond our graves.”

Though deeply a man of piety, he has a strong fascination with science which enabled him to write his easy “Love in the Age of Neuroscience” wherein he pokes fun at the findings of neuroscience that emotion is not a feeling oozing from the heart but neural firings in the brain. He banters, “In the age of neuroscience, can we still say, I love you from the bottom of my heart?”

In the second foreword to the book, the author professes to be a Christian who believes that “science is not an enemy of religion but a window to take a peek at the marvels of God’s infinite wisdom.”

True, there were tough times when I almost surrendered to impatience and wish I could resign as a mother but realizes that motherhood is a permanent position with a job description that calls for the flexing of the muscles, extending of patience till it reaches the heavens, wit that is always challenged and intelligence far more than Einstein’s.

While the two older boys – almost four years apart – were toddlers, they both told me: “Nanay pakakasalan kita paglaki ko (Mother, I will marry you when I grow up).” Same thing with our daughter who also told me when she was about two years old: “Ikaw ang gusto kong asawa paglaki ko (I want you to be my wife when I grow up),” to which I replied: “Hindi puwede. Nanay mo ako (You cannot. I am your Mother.)” My daughter retorted: “Sige, si Tatay na lang. (Then I will marry Father).” To which I answered: “Hindi puwede. Tatay mo siya (You cannot. He is your Father.)”

Unrelenting to be unmarried, my toddler daughter quipped: “E, di si Kuya na lang (I will marry my big brother then).” I was almost laughing when I told her: “Hindi puwede, kapatid mo siya (You cannot marry your brother).” Finally exasperated, this daughter realized: “E, di hindi rin puwede si Diko?” (Then I cannot marry my other brother?).” Yes, I said, explaining to her that she cannot marry anyone in the family.

“Hindi na lang ako mag-aasawa (Then I will no longer get married),” she finally resigned.

The boys’ and her concept of the family at tender age revolved around us five – father, mother and siblings – who eat, play, work and live under one roof. Nothing more, nothing less. So much so that when my husband went abroad to work, the five of us were all devastated. Separation is the most painful feeling for a child (and adults too).

We all dread the day when my husband was scheduled to fly back to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to work as an editor in an English newspaper there. He has been leaving the Philippines yearly for 13 years but we never became used to it. Once we lost sight of him when he boards the tricycle (my husband is so used to simple living that even when he is already earning dollars he prefers to take public transport), the two boys would go to their room hurriedly. The eldest son would lie on his bed facing the wall; the second son would bury his face in the pillow, sobbing. The daughter waits for an airplane to pass by and waves goodbye thinking that her father is always in every airplane.

As for me, I tell myself that nothing and nobody can break our family. The husband writes almost every day and play puzzles and whatever games that can be had on paper with the two boys. The toddler daughter writes back to his father in scribbles telling him how she misses him and asks him when he is coming home again.

Ito ang tawag noong simula ng batas militar sa mga kilos-protesta laban sa diktadura at sa mga pagkilos para sa pagbabago sa panahon ng martial law saan man ginagawa ang mga ito – sa mga paaralan, sa mga pabrika, sa mga komunidad, sa mga tanggapan ng gobyerno gaya ng Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)  o sa mga lansangan ng Metro Manila.

Anuman ang gawaing magsusulong sa kilusang antidiktadura at sa kilusang pambansa-demokratiko noon, mapasentro man ng lungsod o maging sa mga liblib na lugar sa kanayunan, sama-samang pagkilos ng taumbayan ang itinaguyod ng mga aktibista mula sa mga simpleng pagpupulong hanggang sa mga petisyon o pagpirma sa mga kahilingan at delegasyon o maramihang pagtungo sa mga opisina ng gobyerno; mula sa mga  paglilinis ng mga kalye hanggang sa misa-prusisyon sa mga komunidad at mga rali- demonstrasyon at  mga martsa at lakbayan sa mga punong-lungsod at bayan.

Ayon ito sa ilang pundamental na paniniwala. Di kakayanin ng iilan ang pagpapabagsak sa diktadura at ang paglutas sa mga suliranin ng bayan kaya kailangang palayain at umasa sa nagkakaisang lakas at mapanlikhang kakayahan ng masa sa pagharap sa marahas at, sa unang malas, ay nakakatakot na halimaw na batas militar at kailangan ding  pandayin at  sumandig sa matibay na pagkakaisa ng iba’t ibang sektor ng lipunan na naghahangad ng pagbabago.

Kung tutuusin, may malalim na salalayang pangkultura naman ang mga paniniwalang ito. Matatagpuan ito sa pagbabayanihan ng mga Pinoy. Hindi banyaga sa mga Pinoy ang pagtututulungán at pagdadadamayán sa pagharap sa anumang hamon, sa anumang suliranin, sa anumang gawain. Unti-unti ngang pinalaya ang lakas at kakayahang ito at pinaunlad ang pagkakaisang ito sa pamamagitan ng paglulunsad ng iba’t ibang anyo ng sama-samang pagkilos sa konteksto ng batas militar mula 1972 hanggang sa umabot ito sa rurok noong EDSA 1 ng 1986.

Di naman nawala o nalimot ang aral na ito makaraan ang EDSA 1. Kung tutuusin, isa sa mga naging buzzword pagkatapos ng EDSA 1 na hinango sa aral na ito ang nilalaman ng salitang Inggles na “empowerment.” Iyon nga lamang, di gaya nang panahon ng paglaban sa diktadura, di naisalin sa realidad ang salitang “empowerment”.

Sa halip na palayain ang mapanlikhang lakas at kakayahan ng masa at ipagpatuloy, palalimin, palawakin at paunlarin ang sama-samang pagkilos ng taumbayan, di ito minabuti ng mga may hawak ng kapangyarihan sa lipunang Pilipino noon lalo’t ginagamit ito laban sa patuloy nilang pamamayagpag. Kaya kahit wala nang batas militar, patuloy pa ring tinugis, ikinulong at pinatay ang mga nagtaguyod nito laluna iyong mga nasa probinsya at kanayunan.

Ngayong may iniupong bagong administrasyon, puno ng pag-asa ang mga naghahangad ng pagbabago. Gayunman, sila man ay naniniwalang di kakayanin ng isa o ng ilang tao na isakatuparan ang mga kinakailangang pagbabago. Kung di man lubos na napalaya ang mapanlikhang lakas at kakayahan ng masa  at di napaunlad ang sama-sama nilang pagkilos pagkatapos ng EDSA 1, ngayon marahil ang panahong maaaring isakatuparan ito para lubos na mapasakamay nila ang kinabukasan at kapalaran ng bayan na sila rin naman ang bumubuo.

Pagpapaunlad man ito sa ekonomiya o kabuhayan ng bansa, pagharap man ito sa mga kalamidad gaya ng pagbaha at iba pang suliraning pangkapaligiran, pagtugon man ito sa problema ng edukasyon o ng kalusugan, di kukulangin ang bayan ng mangunguna sa kanila sa bawat larangan. Sa bawat panahon at pagkakataon, sa hanay din ng taumbayan lumitaw at pumapaibabaw ang mga nanguna sa kanila.

Ngayon pa man, pinapasigla na ng kanilang pangunguna ang iba’t ibang larangan na  nangangailangan ng pagtugon at ng pagbabago. Kung ito man ay maisakatuparan ngayon, mapapairal din sa realidad ang isa pang buzzword makaraan ang EDSA 1. Nasa wikang Inggles  din  ito – ang idea ng “democratic space”. Ibig sabihin, di lamang iilan ang magtatamasa,  makakalahok o o makikinabang  sa demokrasya kundi ang mga mamamayan mismo. Lalalim pa ang pagkaunawa sa demokrasya: na ito ay di simpleng pagboto lamang sa panahon ng eleksyon lundi tuwirang paglahok at pagkilos ng taumbayan sa mga usaping mahalaga sa buong bayan.

Tuwing magpapalit ng liderato ng pamahalaan, isa ring naging buzzword ang salitang “reconciliation” lalo na ngayong mayroong Aquino, Macapagal-Arroyo, Estrada at Marcos sa gobyerno.

Kahit na humaba ito  nang kaunti at naging “no reconciliation without justice,” di naman problema sa mga naging lider ng bansa ang pagbabati. Makaraan ang Rebolusyong 1896, ang Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano, ang Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig at ang Batas Militar, lagi namang nagbabati ang mga naging lider ng bansa o ang lideratong elite na  nahati sa bawat panahong nabanggit. Ang hindi nila binabati ay iyong mga patuloy na nakipaglaban para sa interes ng bayan na patuloy na tinugis, ikinulong at pinatay nang sila na ang nasa poder.

Sakali mang palayain ang mapanlikhang kakayahan ng taumbayan at pasiglahin ang kanilang sama-samang pagkilos sa pagharap sa mga suliranin ng bansa, baka dito pa magkaroon din ng katuparan ang salitang “reconciliation” lalo’t ang taumbayan naman talaga ang initsapuwera ng lideratong elite di lamang sa pagtatamasa ng tunay na demokrasya kundi ng pakinabang din sa anumang kaunlarang pangkabuhayan na nakamit ng bansa.

Mabuti na lamang at pasensyoso ang taumbayan. Pero sa paglipas ng panahon, di naman humahaba  ang pisi nila. Ang totoo, natatakot sa mapanlikha nilang lakas at kakayahan gayundin sa kanilang sama-samang pagkilos ang mga naghahari-harian sa lipunang Pilipino. Kaya  nga patuloy silang tinutugis, sinusupil, pinapatay. Ngunit handa na bang makipagbati ang lideratong elite ng mga naghahari-harian sa bansa na makipagbati sa taumbayan? Kung handa at kaya na at ito ay isasakatuparan, masusumpungan na rin marahil ang katuparan ang minimithing kapayapaan at kaunlaran para sa bansa at bayan.