Mangu-danao Massacre

by Agustin Martin Rodriguez

When my son had his first nightmare and woke up crying, he told me that he had dreamt that monsters ate his mother. I tried to comfort him by telling him that there were no monsters in the real world—only on the computer and on TV where he saw these things. What a lie indeed, for just a few days ago on TV, we were shown the works of monsters in the real world.

Then, we were told that 21 bodies had been found—many of whom were women that were believe to have been raped. Today there is a running body count of 57—many of whom are women said to have been raped and horribly mutilated, journalists, activist lawyers, and motorists who just happened to be in the way.

*Bong Reblando

Manila Bulletin reporter

How could anyone who was not murderously insane order or commit such an act? How depraved and inhuman do you have to be to be able to carry out such a massacre? But of course there are naïve questions from a comfortable middle-aged professor from Quezon City. Who am I to say what unchecked power can do to the soul of a man and a family? Who am I to say what being without prospects except the service of a power hungry tyrant can make one do? Who am I to say what is shocking in Maguindanao where people are kept poor and without development while one family controls all the resources and political power and the national government supports and funds that family’s private army? I really can’t say. I don’t know what it’s like and what I would do if I had so much deadly power or what I might be driven to do if I was the hired gun of such powers. I wouldn’t know how my mind or heart could be unhinged living under those circumstances.

But this I know. Even if I were a powerful man with an army of drug crazed, or fanatical, or power tripping men, I would not be able to act with such impunity if I knew that there was a higher power to stop me from my acts of madness. But these monsters from Maguindanao felt they could do what they wanted without fear perhaps because they were banking on the fact that in this country, politics is still mightier a force than justice. This is the state after all where journalists and activists have been killed without consequence to their killers. Uniformed sociopaths who kidnap and torture farmers and students working for change are still enjoying their freedom while many of their victims are rotting, still unidentified in unmarked graves or trying to live past the horror of their real life nightmare.

If we had a government that could only genuinely function to protect and serve its people, we wouldn’t have any monsters in the real world. But we don’t yet have such a government. Seventy four journalists have been killed and hundreds of activists have also been killed, tortured or kidnapped in the last eight years. There have hardly been any convictions for these cases—not even the celebrated ones like that of Jonas Burgos. Governments were founded to keep the monsters among us in check—not to use them against its citizens.

Sadly for those children of the massacred in Magundanao, our government and political system failed to stop the monsters from killing their mothers.

Si Pacman at ang Matamis na Agham

ni Michael G. Aurelio

Bakit mahilig ang Pilipino sa boksing?

Dahil magaling tayo sa boksing. Nariyan sina Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, Pancho Villa, Luisito Espinosa, Rolando Navarette at ang kasalukuyang pound-for-pound king na si Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao—mga patunay sa husay at galing ng Pilipino sa isang larong habang napakahirap at napakadugo, tila napakasimple pa rin at napakatamis.

Simple ang boksing. Kailangan mo lamang ng dalawang magkalaban at hayaan mo silang magsuntukan. At suntukan lang naman talaga ang diwa ng boksing: wala nang kailangan pang mga salita, at wala nang ibang layunin kundi patumbahin ang kalaban sa pamamagitan ng ating pangunahing sandata, ang mga kamaong biglang nakakasa. Pinakamadaling paraan ang suntukan upang tapusin ang anumang away. Kaya may mga nagsusuntukan sa klase o sa kalye, sa pihitan o sa Emba, tungkol sa dignidad man o babae. “Mano mano,” “square tayo,” “nang magkaalaman na tayo.” Hindi naman siguro tayo madalas makarinig ng dalawang nagkainitan na maghahanap pa ng espada para malaman kung sino ang mas magiting o chess board kung sino ang mas matalino’t malalim.

Kapag dumating na sa suntukan, walang duda, lalaban at hindi tatakbo ang Pilipino. Ngunit hindi naman ito dahil sa marahas tayo; alam ng lahat na tayo’y sa kalikasan ay marahan at mapagpasensya, mapayapa at palangiti pa—kahit pa iniisahan na, kahit nga inaabuso na. Magaling ang Pilipino sa boksing dahil magaling din tayong makipagbunuan sa isa pang napakahirap sabay napakasimpleng labanan na sa buhay naman tinatanghal.

* * *

Inilahad sa Time Magazine (“The Meaning of Manny” noong ika-16 ng Nobyembre 2009) ang ilang bahagi ng makulay na talambuhay ni Manny. Ayon sa sanaysay ni Howard Chua-Eoan at Ishaan Thardoor, isinasakatawan ni Pacquiao ang pinanggagalingan at—mas mahalaga—mga pangarap ng karamihan nating mga Pilipino.

Lumaki si Pacquiao sa hirap. Tindera ng gulay at manggagawa sa pabrika noon ang kanyang ina na si Dionisia. Nahirapan buhayin ng ina ang kanyang anim na anak. Upang tumulong pakainin ang kanyang mga kapatid, tumigil sa pag-aaral si Manny noong siya’y katorse. Tapos gumawa siya ng isang plano: lilisan siya ng General Santos at makikipagsapalaran sa Maynila, gaya ng di mabilang na mga Pilipino sa probinsya na naghahanap din ng mas magandang kapalaran.

Dahil alam niyang wala siyang ibang alam at hilig kundi boksing—lumalaban na siya noon sa Gen San at kung manalo’y kumikita ng isang daan—naghanap si Pacquiao ng iba’t ibang pagkakataon upang lumaban pagkatapos niyang subukan maging manggagawa. Nagsimula siyang lumahok sa mga palaro sa baranggay (ilegal pa nga raw, parang sabong na walang permiso). Ngunit dahil malinaw sa kanya kung bakit siya pumunta ng Maynila, pagkatapos ng higit-kumulang tatlong taon naging propesyunal na boksingero si Manny.

Sa kanyang unang laban na ipinalabas sa programang Blow by Blow sa telebisyon noong 1995, ipinakita na ng labimpitong gulang na kaliwete ang lakas ng kanyang suntok at bilis ng mga kamay—ang kanyang magiging mga pangunahing sandata na gagamitin laban sa mga mas malalaking boksingero na kanyang haharapin. Nasungkit ng baguhan ang una niyang panalo sa pamamagitan ng isang desisyon. Mula noon tutumba na ang karamihan sa mga makakalaban ni Pacquiao (50 panalo–3 talo–2 tabla–38 pinatumba).

Habang kapansin-pansin noong simula pa lamang ang mga likas na talento ni Manny, nahalata rin ng marami na wala siyang gaanong teknik o depensa kaya naman madalas rin siya kung tamaan. Magiging mahalaga sa pagpapatalas ng galing at pag-usbong ng kanyang karera ang gabay at tiwala na ibibigay ni Freddie Roach sa 2001. Pagkatapos lamang ng isang oras ng ensayo kasama si Manny sa una nilang pagkikita, pumayag si Roach na maging tagapagsanay ng boksingero na nais pang matuto.

Sa tulong ni Roach, mabubuksan ang mga pinto para kay Pacquiao sa darating na mga taon. Kanyang makakaharap ang ilan sa pinakatanyag na mga pangalan sa daigdig ng boksing. Makakalaban niya mula 2003 sila Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton at Miguel Cotto—at lahat ay papanalunin niya maliban sa isang hindi malilimutang pagtatagpo nila ni Morales noong 2005. Sa huling laban niya kay Cotto, tumimbang ng 147 libra si Pacquiao—mga 40 na libra lagpas sa timbang niyo noong una siyang naging propesyunal. Si Pacquiao ngayon ang tanging boksingero sa kasaysayan na nagkamit ng pitong kampeonato sa kasingdaming weight class.

Ang palangiting boksingero na dati’y natutulog sa kahong de karton sa mga lansangan ng Maynila ay nag-uwi ng humigit-kumulang P2.5 bilyon mula sa tatlo niyang huling laban. Nagpahayag na rin ang pambansang kamao na siya’y tatakbo bilang kinatawan ng Sarangani sa darating na pambansang eleksyon upang subukan sa labas ng ring ang kanyang tapang at galing. Artista na rin pala si Mommy Dionisia.

* * *

Isang maliit na puwang lamang ang kailangan upang makalusot ang isang suntok. Isang pagkakataon lamang ang kailangan ng karamihan nating kababayan upang makaahon sa kahirapan. Isang dumadagundong na sapok lamang ang kailangan upang patumbahin ang kalaban. Isang tahimik na pagpapakita lamang ng kabutihan ang kailangan upang maparamdam sa mga nangangailangan na hindi pa rin naman natin sila iiwan. Isang laban ni Pacman lamang ang kailangan upang ipakita na kayang maghari ng Pilipino sa daigdig. Isang laban lamang ni Pacman ang kailangan upang maghari ang kapayapaan sa kapuluan kahit sandali.

Kung si Pacman nga ang tumatayo para sa ordinaryong Pilipino, hindi ordinaryo ang Pilipino kung sa gayon. Bagaman maaari nga tayong mabulol sa Ingles, sa sipag, abilidad at tiyaga naman natin malinaw na naipapahayag kung sino tayo sa mga banyaga. Bagaman maaari nga tayong masilaw sa salapi o katanyagan o kapangyarihan, alalahaning nanggagaling naman kasi tayo sa wala, at ang kayamanan lamang naman natin ay mga pangarap sa simula. Bagaman maaaring marami sa atin ang hindi nakapagtatapos, tandaan na hindi sumusuko ang Pilipino hanggang hindi naririnig ang batingaw sa katapusan.

Ang kakayahang maging malakas ang kalooban at manatiling matibay ang pananampalataya sa gitna ng mga bagyo ng suntok at sapok na itinatapon sa atin ng buhay ay lagpas sa anumang makamundong kaalaman o agham. “Hindi ako bobo,” ilang ulit na sinabi ni Pacman sa kanyang panayam sa Time. Dahil kapag dumating na sa matamis na agham ng boksing o sa mapait na laban ng buhay Pacman knows.

Notes from the End of Life as We Know It 2: Bench Marking

by Agustin Martin Rodriguez

When our history comes to the end of life as we know it, we have to begin to imagine life as it could be. But here we are and still we dream the dreams that brought us to the end of life as we know it.

We are at the end of the world defined by our colonizers. The dream of building a better world through conquest and consumption, mass production and massive waste creation, is coming to a point where it is getting almost impossible to deny that this path we are on is a dead end, and yet we insist on charting our course of national development by the markers of prosperity and development laid by Western rationalities.


Ever since our hearts and minds were conquered by the West, we have always marked our progress as a people by how we fare in comparison with them, more specifically the US. Ironically, in the last couple of decades, the more progressive among our leaders have began to figure out ways to benchmark ourselves among the more successful of our neighbors who were able to emulate the West and realize Western style development. We send out teachers to Singapore, for instance, to be able to learn how to teach our children to do math and science better. We send our scholars to Western nations to learn their ways of scholarship, scientific inquiry, and their skills. We mark our wisdom by how much we are accepted by their journals and their conferences.

This desire to learn from and become like the past colonial masters is very understandable. For the last 400 years, we were taught that those who insisted on living according to their indigenous wisdom and lifeways, those who wished to live the good life as defined by their native rationalities, were deprived of the ability to flourish as human beings. This is always the story of indigenous communities: a community flourishes in simplicity according to their traditional lifeways, an alien population comes to own their land and their resources in order to commodify these and bring them into the world economic order of continuous and growing consumption, and before they realize that they are poor, they have been alienated from the material ground of their human flourishing. The natives always try to avoid usurpation by the alien invaders by moving to the hinterlands but the ever expanding consumption machine follows them wherever they go until they are enlisted themselves into the alien system because the land and waters from which they drew life freely is no longer theirs to draw from. They can no longer draw life from the land because their ways are made useless in the new systems, and, even if they do not want to live according to what is imposed, they have to in order to simply live.

Having been recruited into the dominant economic and political system but not fully educated as effective or equal players in it, they are exploited by traders and entrepreneurs, industrialists and men of power who own the system as their tool for self propagation. These natives became the marginalized of our country. Our nation and all colonized nations with “low” levels of scientific and technological development, in short all nations colonized by the West that were not oriented toward western means of development and growth, suffer the same fate as indigenous people. As marginalized nations, we began with low levels of development and technology because our ethos was simply oriented towards different conceptions of a good human life. If we were inclined to build empires of consumption and conquest, I am sure our civilizations would have found their own way into building war machines and industries of mass production. But we didn’t, but neither did we have the chance to discover the flourishing of our inclinations because the Western ways were imposed upon us. So here we are, the pauper nations condemned to dream the western dreaming just to survive. The hopeful ones among us still believe that if we can learn this game well we will be able to win at it and become as progressive as the rich nations. However, I am not so optimistic about this because the game has already been at play for so long according to a paradigm of play that favors the exploiters and crushes the exploited that the game has to change in order for it to be fruitful for us. And so we have to learn to stop benchmarking by their standards and to begin to rethink the meaning of development for the good of our selves.

By benchmarking our civilizations with theirs, we dig ourselves deeper into perdition. Ever since the West involved us in their economic systems and their systems of trade, we have always had to pay for their excesses. We are poor in the not-genuinely-developing-world, or what they used to call the Third World and what they now ironically call the developing world, because they involved us in an economic system that was set up to serve their interests according to their needs. In this way, they sucked us into a vortex of exploitation which in many imaginative ways rendered us inutile to realize our preferred life ways. They barred us from living life what we knew to be a good life and forced us to buy into their dream of development so that they could draw on our resources to our detriment, and then sell us back their products to our perdition. But that’s really not the worst thing the West has done to the victims of their exploitation. The terrible truth about this whole story of exploitation is that the whole time it was flourishing, we were always at the losing side, and now that it is collapsing, we are going to have to pay for its excesses.

Our time is facing the end of life and the world as they have made it. Climate change and the end of the age of petroleum signal that. Our environment is changing and becoming less hospitable if not harsher. Many of our homes will be swallowed by the sea, our populations will be displaced and much diminished, and food and water will be harder to come by. Those who will pay most for these changes are those who were exploited by the system that brought these changes about, i.e. the global poor. Much of what is known as the global south will starve, drown, thirst, or freeze because their already hand to mouth resources will not allow them to prepare for and creatively meet the coming challenges. And so, having been unwittingly complicit in building this system that made our world more dangerous for us, we will suffer the consequences of this complicity without really having enjoyed whatever good it brought.

And yet, we still benchmark our progress and development on the systems of the West that brought us to where we are. We still insist on measuring our accomplishments against their accomplishments knowing that these accomplishments were founded on systems of valuation that allowed for the blind exploitation of this world that was so good to us. Why, I wonder, after all that this model of development and growth has done for us, do we not look for other benchmarks of genuine civilization? Or why have we not looked at our selves as a possible benchmark for their civilizations?