KULĂŠ
Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman Biyernes 23 Oktubre 2015 Tomo 93 Blg 4
STATE OF EMERGENCY LATHALAIN 4-5
2 KULTURA
Biyernes 23 Oktubre 2015
TANIKALA NG BATAS MARY JOY CAPISTRANO
PULA ANG NANGINGIBABAW NA kulay sa litrato ni Imee Marcos sa pabalat ng espesyal na isyung inilabas ng magasing Philippine Tatler ngayong Oktubre, isang buwan matapos ang ika-43 anibersaryo ng deklarasyon ng kanyang ama ng Batas Militar noong September 1972. Walang paumanhing idinadambana ng mamahaling babasahin si Imee bilang idolo: maganda, mayaman, makapangyarihan. Tila binihisan ng magasin ang madugong kasaysayan ng Pilipinas sa ilalim ng pamilyang Marcos, ginawang misteryo ang katotohanan, at binalot sa anyo ng kabalintunaan.
Kamay na bakal Tumagal ng higit 21 taon ang panunungkulan ni dating pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Nang isailalim niya ang buong bansa sa Batas Militar, kontrolado ng estado ang lahat ng aspeto ng buhay ng mamamayan, mula sa pagpapasara ng Kongreso hanggang sa pananakot, pagdukot, pag-torture, at pagpatay sa libu-libong Pilipino. Ngunit halos tatlong dekada paglipas ng pagpapatalsik kay Marcos, naglipana pa rin ang mga kwentong noon pa man ay hinahabi na ng pamilyang Marcos at ng kanilang mga kaibigan upang pagtakpan, baluktutin, pabanguhin, o burahin ang alaala ng kanilang pasistang rehimen. Laman ngayon ng internet at social media ang mga mala-alamat na kwento tungkol sa yumaong diktador. Siya umano ay isang matalinong estudyante noong kanyang kabataan sa UP at kalauna'y naging magaling na abogado, magiting na sundalo, at pinakamahusay daw na pangulo sa kasaysayan ng bansa. Kakambal ng pagdadambana kay Marcos at sa kanyang pamilya ang propagandang naglalayong ipinta ang buhay sa ilalim ni Marcos bilang kabaligtaran ng kahirapan at karahasang dinanas ng bansa. Sa halip na kagutuman, kawalan ng hanapbuhay, at pagbulusok ng halaga ng piso, kaunlaran at kapayapaang dulot ng Batas Militar ang ipinakakalat na larawan. Ngunit nababago ang nilalaman ng kasaysayan sa pagdaan ng panahon. Paliwanag ng historyador na si Harry Elmer
Barnes, walang ibang layunin ang historical revisionism o pagbabago ng kasaysayan, kundi ang pagsusumikap na itama ang mga nauna nang naitalang impormasyon. Taong 1940s umano lumakas ang hatak ng pagbabago ng kasaysayan dala ng mga bagong ebidensiyang nakalap ng mga historyador na nagbigay suporta sa mga bagong teorya o nagpatibay sa nauna nang teorya na magbibigay ng komprehensibong detalye ukol sa mga nangyari noong nakaraan. Sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, talamak ang pagbabago ng mga naitalang akda na nagdulot ng mababaw na pagtanggap sa naging danas ng mga Pilipino. Isang halimbawa na lamang ang giyera sa pagitan ng Amerikano at Pilipino na kumitil sa maraming buhay ng mga Pilipino. Sa akda ni Sharon Delmento na The Star-Entangled Banner, binigyangdiin niya ang ipinakitang pagbabago ng mga pangyayari sa kasaysayan noong panahon ng digmaan sa pagitan ng mga Pilipino at Amerikano sa pelikulang Back to Bataan, isang pelikula noong Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig. Ipinakita sa pelikula ang iilang eksena ng labanan sa pagitan ng mga Amerikano at Pilipino samantalang binigyang-diin ang pagtatayo ng mga Amerikano ng mga pampublikong paaralan na nagbigay ng sapat na edukasyon sa mga Pililipino. Layunin ng pelikula na ipakita ang ideolohiyang ipinamana ng Amerikano sa halip na ipakita ang tunay na sinapit ng mga Pilipino sa kamay ng mga mananakop na Amerikano. Ayon kay Felipe Romanillo, executive director ng National Historical Institute sa Amerika,
wala umanong banggit sa PhilippineAmerikan War sa mga aklat sa Amerika, kundi insurection lang ng mga Pilipino. Pahiwatig lamang ito ng pagsasantabi ng mga Amerikano sa mga Pilipinong lumaban para sa kalayaan ng Pilipinas. May ugali ang mga historical revisionist na baguhin ang kasaysayan upang iayon sa sariling interes ng iilan, ani Scott Jones. Hindi iba ang Pilipinas sa ganitong mga pangyayari lalo na kung usapin ng mga biktima noong Batas Militar. Sa pagdaan ng panahon, unti-unting nababago ang madilim na alaalang iniwan ng Batas Militar sa mga Pilipino. Sa halip na bilang o danas ng mga biktima ng paglabag sa karapatang-pantao ang ilathala samu’t saring kwento na hindi tumatagos sa tunay na kaganapan ang makikita, maririnig, o mababasa sa midya.
Aklasang bayan May iba’t ibang antas ang pagbabago ng kasaysayan kung saan midya ang pangunahing makinarya na ginagamit. Sa kabila ng ilang dekadang lumipas, sariwa pa rin sa alaala ng mga Pilipino ang naging karanasan nila noong panahon ng Batas Militar. Kaugnay ng paggunita sa Batas Militar, pumatok sa midya ang pabalat ng Tatler, Heneral Luna at ang paghahain ni Senador Miriam Santiago ng intensyon niyang tumakbo. Niyanig ang social media ng mga batikos. Sa unang tatlong linggo, bumenta naman ng P140 milyon ang pelikulang Heneral Luna na tahasang sumalungat sa kinamulatang kasaysayan ng mga kabataan. Lumitaw sa pelikula ang kataksilan ni Emilio Aguinaldo na itinuturing na bayani ayon sa mga aklat na ginagamit sa primaryang antas. Kasunod na nagtrending sa social media ang paghahain ni Senador Miriam Santiago kasama si Bongbong Marcos ng kanyang intensyon na tumakbo. Nagalit ang ilang mga netizen dahil tahasang bumalikwas si Santiago sa laban ng mga Pilipino hinggil sa kalupitan ng pamilya Marcos noong panahon ng Batas Militar. Aniya pa sa isang pahayag, walang kasalanan si Marcos sa nangyari at kailangan umano ng bansa ang ganoong sistema. Madalang lumitaw sa midya ang bilang ng mga biktima ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao noong panahon ng diktaduryang Marcos kung saan ang pagsuway sa kapangyarihan ng estado ay katumbas ng kaliwa’t kanang pagpatay, tortyur, at sapilitang pagkawala ng mga mamamayan. Habang tumatagal, bumababaw ang pang-unawa at
pagkakakilanlang ng mamamayan sa nangyari noong Batas Militar. Ito ay dahil sa iba’t ibang antas ng pagbabago ng kasaysayan na ginagawa ng mga taong nais linisin ang kanilang pangalan mula sa pananagutan. Sa pagbabago ng kasaysayan maaaring itanggi ang tunay na nangyari noong nakaraan at bigyang halaga lamang ang nagaganap sa kasalukuyan. Isang halimbawa si Imelda Marcos na tila ba wala noong panahon ng Batas Militar para hindi pakinggan ang panawagan ng bayan na hustisya para sa mga biktima. Isa pang porma ng pagbabago ng kasaysayan ang pagpapaliwanag ni Gerardo Sicat, sikat na ekonomista na nakaakit ang Batas Militar ng kalakalan sa pagitan ng ibang mga bansa. Katumbas ng paglalim ng ugnayan sa pagitan ng ibang mga bansa, ang mapakinabangan ang yaman ng bansa. Dagdag pa rito ang tahasang pagtatago ng mga naganap sa ibaibang panig. Ngunit dahil sa midya na panguanahing makinarya upang maabot ang kalakhan ng mamamayan, nababago ang ilang impormasyon at nabibigyang-diin ang mga walang halagang pangyayari. Liban sa mga nabanggit, isa pang malaking kasalanan sa kasaysayan ay ang pagsasantabi o pagtatago ng ginampanan ng isang kritikal at makamasang kilusan upang patalsikin si Marcos. Sa halip, ipinapalabas na sina Cory at Ninoy Aquino, Fidel Ramos at Juan Ponce Enrile bilang mga bayaning nagpanumbalik sa demokrasya—gayong kolektibong pagkilos ng mamamayan ang tunay nagpanalo ng laban. Maraming paraan upang mabago ang kasaysayan—baliktarin, baluktutin, itanggi o gumawa ng panibagong bersyon na papabor sa kagustuhan ng iilan. Kahingian samaktwid ng panahon ang maging mapagmatyag ang bawat Pilipino, bumuo ng tindig ukol sa mga isyu na hahawan ng daan tungo sa mas malawak na kaisahan ng taumbayan. Mahalagang kilalanin at patuloy na alalahin ang kasaysayan upang humalaw ng mga panibagong aral upang harapin ang kasalukuyan at hinaharap.
Dibuho ni Guia Abogado Disenyo ng pahina ni Jiru Rada
KULTURA 3
Biyernes 23 Oktubre 2015
ISANG DIPANG
LANGIT
Mahigit apat na dekada na ang lumipas ngunit sariwa pa rin sa alaala ng mga Pilipino ang karahasang sinapit sa ilalim ng Batas Militar. Masasalamin sa piling mga tula ang danas, damdamin at panawagan ng mga mamamayang patuloy na lumalaban para sa kasarinlan ng bayan. Nagsisilbing aral ang kasaysayan upang buong tikas na harapin ng taumbayan ang hamon na tuluyang makatakas mula sa tanikala ng ng pananamantala at pandarahas.
Pagkatapos ko ang baha Bangungot ng Nakaraan
DESAP
Jhames Aaron Paredes
Rex Nepomuceno
Wilbert A. Alaurin
Kailan nagiging lupa ang alikabok? Noong narito ka'y hindi ko namamalayan.
Pukyutan ng luha yaring matang malamlam Panaghoy ng pagdurusa ang tiyang kumakalam Samantalang sila’y nakaupo’t nagdiriwang Gamit ang kayamanang tayo mismo ang nagpundar
i. Alaala ng mga nanlilisik na mga mata at kamaong nakataas Gunita ang dagliang pagdukot, ang matinding pagsugpo sa aking nanginginig na katawan Tagaktak ng pawis mula sa sentido, unti unting panlalamig ng kalamnan Sikdo ng aking dibdib, huling bugso ng nag-aapoy na damdamin Nanghihinang pintig ng ugat, lumalabong paningin Naglalaho na ang mga mukhang nagngingitngit Unti-unting naaaninag ang mga minamahal. Mga mukhang gumigising sa aking ulirat. Si bunso na umiiyak, si inay na naghahanda ng agahan, si itay na pawisan. Binubuo ang imahe ng aking alaala. Alaalang ngayo’y kumukubkob sa namamanhid kong isipan. Ngunit rinig ko pa rin ang musika ng pakikibaka Ang mga boses na walang takot na isinisigaw ang pighati naming manggagawa Ito ang aking kwento, ang sayaw ng paghahanap. Ang sayaw naming nawawala.
ii. Napasubsob sa biglang paghinto ng sasakyan. Nagising akong nakapiring, nakagapos. Pilit mang dumilat – pumiglas – kadiliman din ang naghihintay sa akin. Ito na marahil ang kapalit. Ang paghahanap ng liwanag ay paghahanap ng sarili sa dilim. Buong lakas na kumakawala sa mahigpit na pagkakagapos. Nilalamon ng dingding ang aking mga sigaw. Pawis, luha at dugo naghahalo, nagpipinta ng pangamba Bulungan, tawanan, sapilitang binabaluktot ng pinaniniwalaan. Ngunit hindi patitinag, kailangan kong tumakas. Kailangan kong tumakas. O kung hindi man, matagal ko nang naihanda ang sarili sa kamatayan.
iii. Mananayaw tayo sa sayaw ng pithaya. Sinasabayan ang ritmo ng karahasan, nang kumpas ng kamaong nakataas Lumalaban, umiindak kahit sa gitna ng kadiliman. Huminto man ang musika, patuloy pa rin ang galaw - ang sayaw ng paghahanap. Ang sayaw para sa aming nawawala.
Dibuho ni John Kenneth Zapata Disenyo ng pahina ni Jerome Tagaro
Sa mga piling umaga ng iyong pag-uwi na nadaratnan kitang nakatayo sa ilalim ng orasan sa kusina sa parehong oras parehong tindig parehong ilaw at hangin ay naiisip kong hindi ka naman lumilisan --na palaging namang nasa pinto ang putikan mong bota ang alikabok sa sahig na nanggaling sa iyong paa at ang naiwang asukal sa ilalim ng iyong tasa. Wari kong naiwan ang bakas ng iyong anino sa pader na ngayo'y gusto kong guhitan ang mga gilid ng lapis na siya ring ipangukukulay sa loob ng hugis na nabuo hanggang mapudpod ito at magmistulang butas ang dibuho butas na kasing itim ng uling butas na kasing laki ng puwang na iniwan mo sa akin. Uling na rin ang eskuwelahan sa Panocmo-an lagpas dalawang-libo sa atin ang nawalan ng puwang. Sa paghigit nila ng lupa mula sa ilalim ng ating mga paa ika'y natangay at ang tanging naiwan sa sahig ay alikabok at galit na ngayo'y aking tinitipon sa ilalim ng aking mga sakong upang makabuo ng bundok at doo'y sisimulan kong tumangis sa tuktok. Mahirap kasing umasa sa ulan para anurin ang burak palayo kaya't hintayin mong umagos ang aking luha pagkatapos ko ang baha. Isang buwan na ang nakakalipas nang paslangin si Emerico Samarca, executive director ng Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development o ALCADEV, isang eskuwelahan na nagbibigay ng batayan at teknikal na edukasyon sa mga kabataang Lumad sa Surigao del Sur. Lagpas dalawang libong residente ng Diatago sa Lianga ang lumikas matapos ang pamamaslang. Pinaniniwalaang ang grupong paramilitar na MagahatBagani ang nasa likod ng pagpatay dahil sa mariing pagtutol ng komunidad ng mga Lumad sa pagsikil sa kanilang karapatang-pantao at pagtatanggol nila sa kanilang lupang ninuno.
Walang awang pinatay ang ama kong turing Sa kasalanang di alam, na pilit pinaamin Sa malamig na kama ng morge man din Hagulhol ng iyak ko’y kumakawala sa dingding Parang hangin kung hawakan ang sistema ng hustisya Habul- habulin mo ma’y di mo makikita Ganito nga siguro pag nagbiro ang tadhana Sa halip na tumawa’y dulot lamang ay luha At silang nangako na mag-aahon sa atin Sa sariling silid may nakatagong patalim Ang sapatos nilang kumikintab, nagniningning Mantikang ginagamit ay dugo’t pawis natin Akala ko’y natapos na ang nakagigimbal na kalbaryo Ng Dekada Sitentang dinanas ng aking lolo Datapwa’t ang sistema’y sa pangalan lamang nagbago Ang bangungot ng nakaraa’y patuloy na dumarayo
Sa Piring at Tanikala Darcy Clarito Flores Ang mundo nila'y kulay-abo Mga guni-guning nakikipagtunggalian Sa mga yapak ng kabihasnan Sumasaliw sa mga litaniya Ang mga himig nilang nangungulila Sa mga haplos ng pag-asang Nagkukumahog sa mga hibla ng mga piring at tanikala
4 LATHALAIN UP PROFESSOR BIENVENIDO Lumbera pauses before we begin the interview, and his memory takes him back through the years, searching for the right place to start. He speaks to me with ease, as we sit beside each other in his living room, as if I were a student he has known for a long time. My juvenile heart, however, could hardly contain my excitement. The professor is a National Artist for Literature and is highly regarded in the academe for writing pioneering books on literature and criticism with a historical perspective. The 83-year old professor looks the part, with his large eyeglasses and gently creased face framed by white hair. Yet there is more to him than meets the eye. Lumbera is also a Martial Law veteran, arrested and imprisoned by the Marcos regime for daring to fulfill the revolutionary promise of literature.
Days of disquiet Times were tough for Lumbera even as a child. He loved reading, but his poor family could not afford books.
Biyernes 23 Oktubre 2015
The only title in the house was an old dictionary thrown out from a school building raided by Japanese soldiers in the second World War. The professor hails from Batangas, home to nationalist heroes and literary icons like Teodoro Kalaw and Claro M. Recto. His own nationalism, however, blossomed much later in his life. While he was growing up, he looked up to writers like Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, thinking that Philippine literature is minor in comparison to its Western counterparts in Europe and America. It was then ironic that he realized he should be studying his own heritage only when he came to study in the United States. Upon meeting with fellow Filipinos at the Indiana University in Bloomington, he was urged to change the topic of his dissertation at the last minute. His thesis eventually birthed one of his major published works, "Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition and Influences in its Development." Published in 1986, the book discussed
literary practices and texts that were supposed to have been lost to colonization, thus reaffirming the vigor of our culture and literature.
Nights of rage When he returned home, Lumbera went on to teach literature at the Ateneo de Manila University, advocating the strengthening of the identity of Philippine culture through literature. He also chaired the revolutionary writers’ organization Panulat para sa Kaunlaran ng Sambayanan (PAKSA), along with screenwriter and playwright Ricardo Lee and Professor Jose Ma. Sison. He also served as adviser to the progressive poets group Galian sa Arte at Tula. His involvement with PAKSA made him a hot target for persecution by the Marcos regime, as the group published works that are critical of the dictatorship. Professor Lumbera thought he was safe from the persecutions of the Marcos regime, but he was, of course, proven wrong. "Preventive ang pang-aaresto ng gobyerno," he says. During the Marcos regime, an estimated number of 70,000 people were incarcerated. Most of them were detained even before criminal cases were charged against them. Following the arrests of many of their other friends, Lumbera hurried to Ricky Lee in his house in España to warn him. "Nang kumatok ako sa pinto, may kamay na lumabas sa pinto at hinagip ang kamay ko. Alam ko na kaagad na may nangyari na." Lumbera attempted to run away, but the men behind the door gave chase. "Nakaabot ako sa kanto ng Banawe [bago nila ako nahuli]." His captors detained him in Fort Bonifacio, where other subversives like Roland Simbulan and Roger Mangahas were already jailed. Lumbera spent 11 months in prison, passing the time away by making crafts to generate income for the prisoners. He claims he had an easy time of it, though he was aware of what
happened to less fortunate friends and contemporaries. I asked him if he knew what happened to them and Lumbera falls into silence. Hesitantly, he recounts the time when one of his students was detained in the same jail. The young man was caught with subversive reading materials banned by the wardens. His student suffered brutal interrogation procedures such as "water torture," where the prisoner is forced to fill his stomach with water, then his captors would proceed to hit him with a paddle or step on his stomach.
As artists and scholars, the professor believes the academe must continue to support the mass movement and its national democratic goals Did the professor ever regret imprisonment for the things he believed? His answer came swift and sure. “No. May saya ako sa pagkakakulong. [I was with] people of the same mind."
Prometheus unbound The professor was eventually released from prison, though not by the benevolence of the government but due to furious negotiations and haggling by his friends. But life could never go back to its usual patterns.
Even today, Lumbera says the violence of fascism is far from over, claiming lives of workers, farmers, and indigenous peoples. The professor reaffirms what I myself believe: “Revolution can never be passé when you have an administration that is authoritarian.” Lumbera walks the talk: he tries to adapt to the many ways by which ideas are now propagated in this day and age. He manages a Facebook account and is easily reached via text message. When asked about his current reading, he mentions a contemporary young adult book: "Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon" by Edgar Calabia Samar. The professor even at his old age now refuses to return to the ivory tower he has long forsaken. Students often see him in rallies, protesting against the many forms of pork barrel that persist to this day, Noynoy Aquino's criminal neglect and incompetence, and the recent spate of killings of Lumads and the militarization of their communities. In a poem he wrote as tribute to activist Crispin Beltran, he says, “Ang masa, ang masa, ‘pag nabuksan ang isipan, uukit ng landas tungo sa kalayaan.” Lumbera believes that writers need not only stay at their desks, especially if they are progressives. A writer must have a firm stance: "Mahalaga na matatag ang paninindigan ng isang aktibista, na hindi siya patatangay sa mga programang umaakit sa mga walang ideolohiya." As artists and scholars, the professor believes the academe must continue to support the mass movement and its national democratic goals. He smiles at me, and I understand that it is a gentle reminder for hopeful writers like me. "[There is a need] to motivate students, young people to serve the greater majority of Filipinos who have no way of retaliating and are effectively suppressed," Lumbera tells me. I smile in return and make a silent promise.
the
PEOPLE'S SCHOLAR A N D R E A J O YC E LU C A S
Litrato at disenyo ng pahina ni Jiru Rada
LATHALAIN 5
Biyernes 23 Oktubre 2015
WHEN ASKED WHAT THEIR mothers do for a living, most children would have a ready answer: “My mother is a teacher” or “My mother is a lawyer.” For one young man who would become perhaps one of the most popular student leaders of his time in UP, the answer is not so simple. Often he would just reply that his mother is a doctor—only she treats an illness not usually treated by other physicians. The young man is, of course, Atom Araullo. Her mother, Carol Pagaduan Araullo, is a graduate of the UP College of Medicine, a student leader during the early years of Martial Law under the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and now the chair of the militant alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) since 2008. Often hailed as a model UP student activist by both her seniors and contemporaries, Araullo delivered the valedictory speech at UP's 1975 Commencement Exercises—two years after she was released from prison by a government who feared students like her: articulate, fearless, militant.
Catching fire Araullo says she had a rebellious streak even as a teenager studying at a Franciscan high school. She remembers being once called out for turning her back on the school headmistress who was telling her to do something she did not think was right. “I couldn't recall what it was exactly, but I met the same principal many years after and she said she has forgiven my impertinence,” she recounted with a laugh. When she entered UP Diliman as a Psychology major, she became active in the student council: first as a councilor at the College of Arts and Sciences and later as vice chair of the University Student Council. As a member of the UP Student Catholic Action, Araullo for a time joined tours of the campus dormitories to condemn both police brutality and the militancy of the student activists. “That is until I myself became radicalized,” Araullo said.
Today, there are some students and faculty who brand activists as illmannered and irrational. During the 1970s, however, to be a “hooligan” was to be grounded in reason and fueled by passion. It was a badge of “honor and excellence.” Like many UP students who would become leaders of the national democratic movement, Araullo said the turning point in her radicalization was the uprising that led to the establishment of the Diliman Commune in February 1971. In solidarity with the jeep drivers who were protesting the oil price hike and in defense of UP's academic freedom against the intrusions of the Philippine Constabulary, students barricaded all entrances to the campus and declared the university
Students must never be complacent and comfortable within the bounds set by the status quo
Araullo eventually went underground, dropping out of college to do organizing work in sectarian schools like Miriam and Ateneo. In August 1971, Marcos suspended the writ of habeas corpus, which allowed the police to detain activists without a warrant of arrest. In defiance, the students of UP, Ateneo, and Miriam flooded Katipunan Avenue in a series of protest marches. Araullo would return to school only by her parents' request. Shortly after, the police raided a house where she was having a meeting with other student activists. She was thrown in jail for four months and would only be allowed to take exams with two guard escorts. One day, she was blindfolded, brought to an open grassy space where she was forced to kneel. She refused the police's orders to take off her clothes. “Iyak lang ako nang iyak until a woman approached me and whispered to me. She told me to be strong, that she herself had been raped many times over by the police.” Because of her father's connections with a Marcos crony company, however, Araullo said she was largely spared from the many horrors that other student activists have to suffer. Many activists were kidnapped and never again found, while others were tortured or murdered. Araullo was eventually released only because her father bribed the police, but many other students stayed for a year or longer behind bars.
Divergent outside the jurisdiction of the police and military. The uprising was largely tolerated by the UP administration and fiercly supported by the progressive faculty and residents of the communities inside the campus. “I was actually studying for an exam during the Diliman Commune. And then my colleague from the AS student council would tell me: 'Mahiya ka naman. Nasa labas na mga estudyante. Ikaw diyan, nagaaral pa rin?'”
REBEL WITH A CAUSE VICTOR GREGOR LIMON
Fury road
When Marcos was finally overthrown and Corazon Aquino became president, the national democratic movement realized a valuable lesson, Araullo said. “Tinanggal si Marcos, pinalit si Cory, pero ang sistema nanatili,” Araullo said. Some defected to the false democracy “restored” by Cory and became reformists. Many others continued the fight—in the cities and in the countryside. Araullo would never practice her medical profession. She spent the best years of her youth organizing health
practitioners in rural communities and eventually graduated to doing political work for BAYAN. “When one realizes that so many people are sick because they are poor and ignorant, one realizes that the illnesses of the people are caused by a diseased social order,” she explained. “Ah you're one of those young ones who are still around,” UP Dean Armando Malay would tell Araullo when they met again years later. People in fact would ask her the same question her children sometimes ask her: “Why are you still an activist after all these years?” She would give the same answer each time, that there is still a need for student activism even after Martial Law and Marcos, the same way that many social ills have remained rampant up to this day. Farmlands are still in the hands of hacienderos like the CojuangcoAquinos, many workers still leave the country because of unemployment and low wages, scores of human rights violations go unpunished, and corruption still riddles the government.
As long as the demand for genuine and lasting democratic reforms remain unheeded, students must never be complacent and comfortable within the bounds set by the status quo, Araullo said. For nobody has more cause to challenge the status quo than students of the national university, those whose education is still largely paid for by the taxes of the poor and the marginalized. She delivers a sharp rebuke to those who claim students have no place in militancy, in asking big questions and demanding solutions to the ills of the prevailing social order. “Unless students live inside a cocoon, they live in this society. Unless students are going to the moon after graduation, they cannot forever insulate themselves from reality.” It is the same message Araullo delivered in her valedictory address at UP's 1975 Commencement Exercises. It is still the same message she hopes to impart now, forty years later, to the heirs of UP's militant and fearless tradition.
Litrato at disenyo ng pahina ni Jiru Rada
6 OPINYON
Biyernes 23 Oktubre 2015
Antonio Luna at Antonio Tagamolila
Kabataan, Martial Law, at ang Kasalukuyan J U D Y TA G U I W A L O ANG PELIKULANG "HENERAL Luna" ay naglikha ng panibagong sigla sa katuturan ng kasaysayan at panibagong pagpapahalaga sa kadakilaan ng mga bayani ng Rebolusyong 1896 at ng Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano. May pagkilala ito na ang maraming lumahok sa rebolusyon, ang nagpauna sa bayan bago ang sarili, ay nagmula sa hanay ng kabataan. Sa Facebook post ng isang nagngangalang “Borge Crousheed Boregas”, inihanay ang mga edad ng ilang mga bayaning ito. “Del Pilar died 24 years old. Emilio Jacinto at 23. Luna at 32. Bonifacio at 33, Rizal at 35. They spent their youth fighting for our country.” Hindi natatangi ang paglahok ng kabataan sa armadong pakikibaka para ipaglaban ang kalayaan at kasarinlan sa Rebolusyong 1896 o sa Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano noong 1898 hanggang 1901. Maraming kabataan ang nag-alay ng buhay laban sa pananakop ng imperyalismong Hapon sa Pilipinas noong 1941 hanggang 1944. Sa panahon ng Batas Militar (1972 -1986), markado ang pagtindig at paglaban ng mga kabataan laban sa pasismo at tiraniya ng diktadurang US-Marcos. Heto ang ilan sa mga martir nating inuna ang bayan bago ang sarili: Antonio Tagamolila, UP Diliman. Punong Patnugot ng Philippine Collegian 1971. Namatay sa edad na 26. Antonio “Tonyhil” Hilario, UP Diliman. Estudyante ng Engineering, 27.
Mariano Lopez, UP Diliman. Graduate ng Pisay, 22. Maria Lorena Barros, UP Diliman, 28. Jennifer Cariño, UP Baguio, 26. Rizalina Ilagan, UP Los Banos, 23. Maria Leticia Pascual-Ladlad, UP Los Banos, 25. Remberto “Bobby” de la Paz, UP Manila, 30. Sila ay ilan lamang sa mahigit na 3,000 pinaslang, 1,000 mga sapilitang nawala at 34,000 biktima ng tortyur sa panahon ng Batas Militar. Sa kasalukuyan, may dalawang nakababahalang mga pangyayaring hindi maihihiwalay sa sindak ng pasismo at Batas Militar. Ang una ay ang pagbabalik ng mga Marcos sa poder. Nasasalamin ito sa mga ipinapakalat na mga pagbabalita na mas maayos ang bayan sa panahon ng diktadura. Nasasalamin ito sa pagbibigay dangal sa mga masusugid na tagapaglingkod sa diktadura tulad ni Cesar E.A. Virata sa pagpapangalan ng isang buong kolehiyo sa kanya sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas. Nasasalamin ito sa paghawak ng pambansang posisyon ni Bongbong Marcos bilang senador at ang planong pagtakbo bilang bise presidente. Nakinabang ang buong pamilya ni Marcos sa pananatili nito sa pwesto at sa pandarambong sa yaman ng bansa, ngunit walang pagtanggap sa mga krimen na nangyari sa kanilang paghahari at lalong walang paghingi ng pagpatawad. Ang ikalawa ay ang walang habas na pagyurak sa karapatang pantao ng mga
Ang maraming lumahok sa rebolusyon, ang nagpauna sa bayan bago ang sarili, ay nagmula sa hanay ng kabataan
mamamayang lumalaban. Namamalas ito sa ilang beses na pagwasak sa piket layn ng mga manggagawang nagwewelga sa Tanduay at sa kawalan ng hustisya para sa mga magsasaka ng Hacienda Luisita laluna iyong nga biktima ng masaker noong 2004. Namamalas ito sa matinding militarisasyon at pamamaslang sa mga kapatid na Lumad sa Mindanao. Namamalas ito sa pagdisperse sa martsaprotesta ng mga estudyante at guro ng UP Visayas laban sa budget cut at sa paghuli sa 11 sa kanila. Namamalas ito sa patuloy na pagpasok sa mga kasunduang militar at pang-ekonomiya sa US at Japan na nagbebenta ng kasarinlan ng ating bansa. Sa aking kabataan, naging bahagi ako sa malawak na paglaban sa diktadurang US-Marcos at naranasan ang paghuli, pagtortyur, at pagkakulong. Sa ngayon, sa panahon ng aking katandaan, humuhugot ako ng inspirasyon sa mga kabataang patuloy na lumalaban sa pandarambong, tiraniya at panunupil, at nagsusulong sa tunay na pambansang kalayaan at demokrasya. Patuloy ang aking paniniwala na sa tanong ni Heneral Antonio Luna kung ano ang uunahin, marami-raming kabataan ang sasagot, tulad noong panahon ng Batas Militar: “Bayan bago ang sarili!” Si Propesor Judy Taguiwalo ay dating Faculty Regent ng UP at nagturo sa UP Center for Women's Studies. Dati rin siyang patnugot ng lathalain ng Philippine Collegian.
Question of privilege NERI COLMENARES SEPTEMBER 23, 1972 WAS an eerie day for me, Mr. Speaker, with radio and television programs off the air, and schools were closed. I became a human rights activist, Mr. Speaker, at a tender age of 16, after witnessing the unjust arrest of ordinary people by abusive security forces, the conspicuous lack of press freedom, and the extreme poverty of sugarcane workers in my province of Negros, and they, who produce the multi-million dollar sugar industry, could not even buy sugar of their own. The President Ferdinand Marcos and his government did not like dissent and opposition. And on May 1978, I was arrested without warrant, together with more than 10 other human rights activists. I was forcibly taken to the 331st PC headquarters and was subjected to extreme torture for several days. They made me write my confession on a piece of paper and made me eat the paper when they were not satisfied with my answers. They informed me, however, that I will graduate to a more exquisite form of torture if I did not tell them where NPAs are in Negros. At about eight o’clock in the evening, Mr. Speaker, I was taken to my torture room. I could hear screams of people in
The military continues to hold sway over our lives, just as it was during Martial Law. And the struggle for human rights continues
pain in the rooms. The torture started with heavy blows to the body and slaps in the face, and later, they placed M16 bullets in between my fingers and squeezed my hands, causing excruciating pain. Then, I would be subjected to electric shocks in my nape and further blows to the body, and I and another activist were also tortured in the same manner. I will never forget this, I and another activist were made to go inside the room. They stripped the other activist and made him lie down on the table. They inserted a wire into the penis of the activist. It bled, and you can just imagine the horrors of an 18-year old kid, watching this torture, knowing that he will be the next. After days of torture, I realized that some of my muscles have become numb with pain. The last physical torture I experienced took place that night when an intelligence officer strangled me so hard that I vomited. I arrived in the hospital, the doctor knew I was tortured, but they never even bothered to ask me how. My story of torture however, Mr. Speaker, is but one of the many stories of human rights violations committed during Martial Law. Thousands suffered more of the same if not worse fate than
I —victims of killings, disappearances, illegal imprisonment, and other violations of human rights. Today, torture continues, not only as seen in the torture of a prisoner in a Tondo police precinct, but as a matter of course in many prisons against those I consider as political prisoners. The military continues to hold sway over our lives, just as it was during Martial Law. And the struggle for human rights continues. It is, therefore, imperative that we remind our people of the atrocities committed during one of the most brutal and bloody chapters in Philippine history, the period of Martial Law imposed by President Marcos. It is but proper that we remind our people of the need to resist the return of Martial Law. In the 70s, Mr. Speaker, a famous cry resonated throughout the world, the cry from Latin America and it says – nunca mas, never again. Today, we reiterate, Mr. Speaker, nunca mas, nunca mas, never again to martial law. Maraming salamat po. Excerpt from Representative Colmenares' speech on September 21, 2010
Larger than Life Polo F. Imperial
MARTIAL MATTERS I WAS BORN A DECADE AND A YEAR AFTER Ferdinand Marcos was deposed. Cellphones were beginning to be popular. Gainax has just released the greatest anime of all time. Titanic shirts were everywhere. Erap was president. Pluto was still a planet. Growing up, my idea of what it was like under the dictatorship consisted of three things: faded photographs in textbooks, documentaries in 360 pixels, and what came to be known in our family as a “seven-day martial rule.” The last was courtesy of my father's eighty-year old parents, who would often visit us in Manila for a week. They would bring with them mangoes, dragon fruit, Vigan longganisa, empanadas, and tupig—sweet sticky rice mashed with molasses and coconut milk, sheathed in coconut leaves and toasted beneath hot coals. They would also bring with them their contempt for how I lead my teenage life: eating too much and too often, staying up late and waking up late because of computer games, and whining endlessly about household rules that are enforced only when they are staying with us. Cellphones were banned at the dinner table, television hours were strictly regulated, grades from the previous school year will be reviewed meticulously for any errant marks that fall below their high expectations. Violators will be swiftly and severely punished, mainly in the form of a painful cut in Christmas cash. My father would announce one evening, “O, Martial Law na ulit bukas. Better get ready, boys,” and my brothers and I would know that the old couple is coming to town. My mother tolerated my father's parents, perhaps because she also grew up in a traditional upper middle-class Ilocano family who valued discipline, respectability, and hard work. It was therefore not difficult to suspect that my parents might belong to this group of people who think Martial Law was not that bad, that in fact it has brought the nation some good and that it is time we forgive all the bad. The return to gosod fame and power of the Marcos family is proof of the success of this historical revisionism: Imelda as congresswoman, Imee on the cover of an expensive magazine, Sandro Marcos delivering a speech to giggling girls in PUP. I was ready to hate my family for being complicit with all this, until my grandparents arrived last night and I found out that I had never been so wrong in my life. We were having bagnet and pinakbet for dinner and Miriam Defensor Santiago was on television. She was defending her decision to run with Bongbong Marcos. The feisty senator was saying the Marcos has nothing to apologize for, that the country has to “move on.” “Punyeta,” someone said and I was surprised to find out it was my father. “This woman thinks we're too dumb to decide for our own.” My mother switched off the television and muttered something I never thought was part of her vocabulary: “Whore.” With bated breath, I waited for my grandparents to react but my grandmother smirked at us unapologetically and gestured at my grandfather to get the ice cream in the fridge. “You three. When we die, you will help save this country and get rid of all this garbage.” Man, I have never been so proud to born to this family.
EDITORYAL 7
Biyernes 23 Oktubre 2015
SA PAGPAPANDAY NG MASA BINABALIKAN
NATIN
ANG
nakaraan upang magsilbing aral sa kasalukuyan. Sa pagdeklara ni Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos ng kanyang kandidatura sa pagkabise-presidente, tila along mabilis na rumaragasa pabalik ang alaala ng Batas Militar. Bagaman hindi pa naghihilom ang mga sugat na dala ng diktaduryang Marcos, muli ay humaharap tayo sa isang halalan na maaaring magbalik sa isang Marcos sa Malacañang. Ayon kay Sen. Miriam DefensorSantiago, na katambal ni Marcos, hindi naman umano kailangang humingi ng tawad ng pamilya Marcos para sa Batas Militar. Ngunit hindi kapatawaran ang hinihiling ng sambayanang Pilipino kundi hustisya. Apat na dekada man ang lumipas, hindi dapat kalimutan ang lagim ng diktaduryang Marcos: ang panahong ginapos ang demokrasya ng bansa, ang panahong maging ang pagpapahayag ay sinikil. Sa ilalim ng Batas Militar, hindi bababa ng 30,000 ang naging biktima ng iligal na pagkakakulong, tortyur, pagdukot, at pagpatay. At bakit kalilimutan ng sambayanan ang mga kalabisan ng rehimeng Marcos, kung taong 2025 pa mababayaran ng bansa ang P48 bilyong utang panlabas na iniwan nito? Hindi nararapat makalimot ng mga Pilipino – anumang porma ng panlilinlang at pagpapabango ni Sen. Marcos ay hindi makapagtatakip sa deka-dekadang diktadurya. Garapalan na maituturing ang pagtakbo ng mga Marcos na pangunahing sangkot sa isyu ng korupsyon at paglabag sa karapatangpantao. Ngunit ito ang higit na mahalagang tanong: bakit nga ba nakakaya pa ng pamilyang ito na muling sumuong sa pambansang halalan at unti-unting bumalik sa poder? Ang panunumbalik ng mga Marcos sa kapangyarihan ay sintomas ng isang sistemang elektoral na malalim na nakaugat sa political dynasties, isang sistemang sa pakiwari’y demokratiko ngunit sa huling suri’y kontrolado pa rin ng iilang nasa kapangyarihan. Sa ilalim ng sistemang ito, hindi tunay na malaya ang sambayanan na pumili ng susunod na lider ng bansa. Bagkus,
P L AY B A C K Sa espesyal na isyu ng Philippine Collegian para sa ika-93 taon nito, aming inilathala ang mga pahayag ng ilang personalidad ukol sa Batas Militar.
Joshua Rioja
tayo’y binibigyan lamang ng listahang mga nasa kapangyarihan din ang lumikha. Sa ilalim ng ganitong sistema, ang pagbabago’y bukambibig lamang. Resulta ng ganitong sistema ang pagkakaroon ng sunod-sunod na rehimeng sa halip na hawiin ang tabing ng Batas Militar, ay nagpatuloy at nagpasidhi pa nga sa paghihirap ng bayan. Marahas ngang masasabi ang apat na dekadang pananalasa ng rehimeng Marcos, ngunit tila nais itong igpawan ng rehimeng Aquino. Pinatindi ang kaliwa’t kanang karahasan sa mga Pilipino kung saan patuloy ang kahirapan, kalupitan at pananamantala sa bayan hindi na lamang ng mga nasa kapangyarihan kundi maging ang mga dayuhan. Sa Mindanao, mahigit 12 libong Lumad na ang lumikas sa kanilang mga tahanan dahil sa lumalalang counter-insurgency program ng pamahalaan na pangunahing biktima ang mga kabataan sa mga paaralan at mga sibilyan. Kaugnay din nito ang walang habas na pananamantala ng mga negosyante na naglalaway sa malaking deposito ng mineral at yaman ng Mindanao. Walang pinagkaiba ang administrasyong Aquino sa nagdaang rehimeng Marcos sa ilalim ng Batas Militar. Lantaran ang korupsyon sa porma ng Disbursement Acceleration Program at Priority Development Assistance Program. Prayoridad din
PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN 2015-2016
Hindi kapatawaran ang hinihiling ng sambayanang Pilipino kundi hustisya
ni Aquino ang kanyang mga kaalyado at crony sa programa niyang publicprivate partnership. Ngayong darating na halalan, nagdagsaan ang mga kaanak ng mga pulitikong kilala bilang korap. Susunod umano sa yapak ng kanilang mga kaanak— susunod at ipagpapatuloy ang korupsyon, pananamantala at paglilingkod sa dayuhan. Higit sa paglahok at pagboto, ang hamon ngayon sa mamamayan na basagin ang ilusyon ng pagpili. Hamon sa ating hindi lamang alalahanin kundi isabuhay ang mga aral ng kasaysayan. Balikan natin kung paanong naihugos ng sambayanan mula sa pwesto ang diktaduryang Marcos. Balikan natin at isabuhay ang aral ng pagkakaisa’t pagkilos. Sapagkat hindi lang pagpapalit ng nasa poder ang kailangan, kundi pagbabago ng sistema na pinamumunuan ng iilan. Malaki ang gampanin ng eleksyon sa pagsasakatuparan ng mga adhikain ng pagbabago ngunit hindi ito ang pangunahing tuntungan dahil sa mamamayan laging nagmumula ang pagbabago. Kailangang pandayin ng sambayanan ang isang bagong pulitika— isang pulitikang hindi iilan ang nagdidikta, kundi isang pulitikang nakabatay at nakalaan sa pagkakamit ng mga kahilingan ng iba’t ibang inaapi at pinagsasamantalahang uri sa lipunan. Dahil higit sa pagpili, mamamayan ang nararapat magpanday ng kasaysayan.
The Palace says that we should be one in saying ‘never again to Martial Law.’ But such populist statement glosses over the fact that for many Lumad communities, it’s as if Martial Law has never been lifted.
Cong. Terry Ridon
Kabataan Partylist Press Release, September 2015
What happened in 1986 happened already. These things have already been decided. To analyze it belongs to those historical scholars. But I am not a historical analyst. I am a public servant. All I look at is what people want from their public servants. It's very simple: leadership, a plan, a program, policies to improve their lives.
Sen. Bongbong Marcos Rappler, October 7, 2015
The continuing military harassment of indigenous communities in Mindanao echoes the brutality of the Marcos counter-insurgency tactics. Civilians, activists and human rights defenders are branded as rebels by the military and its vigilante death squads.
Cong. Luzviminda Ilagan
Philstar.com, September 22, 2015
UKOL SA PABALAT Litrato ni Jiru Rada
Punong Patnugot Mary Joy Capistrano Kapatnugot Victor Gregor Limon Tagapamahalang Patnugot Emmanuel Jerome Tagaro Patnugot sa Grapiks Ysa Calinawan / Jiru Rada Tagapamahala ng Pinansiya Karen Ann Macalalad Kawani Arra Francia / Chester Higuit / Patricia Ramos Pinansiya Amelyn Daga Sirkulasyon Gary Gabales / Amelito Jaena / Glenario Ommamalin Mga Katuwang na Kawani Trinidad Gabales / Gina Villas Kasapi UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations (Solidaridad) / College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Pamuhatan Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman, Lungsod Quezon Telefax 981-8500 lokal 4522 Online kule1516@gmail.com / www.philippinecollegian.org / fb.com/philippinecollegian / twitter.com/phkule