Watching Over Big Fishes

BY CYRUS EZEKIEL G. MACAPAGAL

The government has been actively fighting against drug use since Duterte’s administration. I’d say that it was a failure, even though they have caught and killed countless people for it. Quantity doesn’t equal quality, after all. Injustice and corruption also play a huge role in these cases, especially against ordinary people. Established people in power could easily manipulate the system by using money. We can only hope to change it by voicing our views and perceptions loudly until someone in power notices and does something about it. This time, someone with power has been caught red-handed for the whole country to see.

On October 13, 2022, Jesus Remulla, the DOJ chief of the the cornerstone of all democratic societies. It protects human rights and fundamental freedoms. A free press is essential to hold elected leaders accountable. However, when elected leaders in this so-called democracy, who should be the utmost defenders of press freedom, take overt efforts to stifle sources that publish unfavorable stories and bolster those that favorably report them, we demand justice. We demand justice when death continues to be the price of press freedom. Following years of attacks on the press by the nation’s former president Duterte, journalists in the Philippines operate in an environment of hostility and violence. Urging incumbent president Marcos Jr. to restore freedom of the press and secure the safety of journalists in the country would be urging a tiger to change its stripes–unimaginable. Recalling, even before he assumed the presidency, Marcos Jr. had refused to join presidential debates and interviews that would raise real issues and pose tough questions.

We shall never forget that once, a Marcos was able to silence and control the press for two decades. A son cannot inherit the sins of his father, yes, but he sure can be different. Surely enough, Marcos Jr. has been different from his father; he has gotten creative. Instead of silencing the truth, he has been filling the Filipinos with echoes of lies, deceit, and misinformation. But this does not make his hands any cleaner. He is as much as accountable for the recent deaths of journalists and media workers as the ordered murderers.

“The presumptive president-elect of the Philippines as a result of the May 9 election must ensure the protection of media freedom in the country. Media freedom is important to fulfill the right to information for the public, which is one of the keys to democracy,” said the May 20 joint statement from seven media groups in Southeast Asia. As a response, Marcos Jr. swept three instant deaths of journalists under his rug. Journalists and media workers deserve at least an assurance from Marcos Jr. himself that he will ensure press freedom and their safety while delivering democracy. Press freedom, not press killings. His denied army of trolls is already a task big enough for democracy to thrive. Must there also be an army of murderers that Philippine democracy shall face?

Philippines, confirmed the arrest of his son, Juanito Remulla III, which caused a public outcry, calling out the conflict of interest of said DOJ chief with the crimes of his son. It should have felt humiliating for the DOJ chief, but unfortunately, that is not what he felt. He claimed not to intervene in his son’s case and that it will go straight to court. Furthermore, he also claimed that he is distancing himself from his son and the topic itself. It was an excellent claim to avoid the pressure from the public, but the people did not relent. Consequently, they still called for him to resign because of his loss of moral authority, including the “failed” investigation of Percy Lapid’s death. In response, he said that it would not happen and that it was up to President Bongbong Marcos to decide.

Bong Revilla also butted in and voiced out that the son’s sins are not the father’s sins. It was a relevant but questionable take if you consider our President’s past issues. Jesus Remulla’s take three years ago, where he claimed that people involved with drugs should receive the death penalty, was also brought up by netizens. I think people’s minds change for the better as time passes, but this is blatant hypocrisy simply because how they tackle drug abuse never changed. The PDEA claimed that there would be no special treatment. Still, Juanito invoked his right to avoid self-incrimination by denying drug tests. His lawyer stepped in immediately, saying that the drug test would not be useful for the current charges. People were furious, as they should be. Kian Delos Santos and the other people that died during the drug war did not receive the same treatment as Juanito Remulla. Was it the difference in power or the connections available to the person? This case proves a vast gap between ordinary people and those in power.

Big fishes like Juanito Remulla have connections and money to access loopholes or receive special treatment quickly. It’s astounding how they can control people using their status and riches. The rich and powerful have exponentially higher rights and privileges than the poor and average people. One week after Juanito’s arrest, Wilkins Villanueva, the head of PDEA who arrested Juanito, was formally replaced by President Bongbong Marcos for no apparent reason. Why would the President suddenly replace the person that arrested the big fish? That’s up for the people to think about. As of October

27, 2022, the case has been passed to Acting Presiding Judge Ricardo Moldez II from Las Piñas. The case hasn’t reached its resolution as of writing this column. Keep yourself informed and updated if you’re interested in how the case will turn out.

Power and status will help you in times of need. However, they also create an imbalance and discord in society if improperly used.

Corruption results from evil deeds and privilege, which is truly evident in our country. As everyday citizens, we can only look at these actions and voice our opinions. Still, with enough people, we can take down corrupt individuals and officials. There is always a bigger fish; we can attract it by being as vocal and loud as possible. Let us strive to become a righteous and fair society for the future of our country.

The majority has always been the more considered part of the whole. From the small decisions made in classrooms to the way we choose the leaders of our nation— who is heard? Four out of five. Ever thought of the lone one? Rarely do we dive into the perspectives of the lone one, as we keep them ignored and usually unheard. On rare occasion, let us spotlight on that lone one in the context of Kapampangan film, music, and script.

Indeed, Kapampangans are continuously exploring a variety of entertainment that they can enjoy with their loved ones which include watching films and listening to music. A study found that Filipinos spend most of their time consuming content from social media platforms, while 68.72% of the study’s respondents are moviegoers. Hence, films play an important role in what kind of content is consumed by people. However, according to a 2021 article, the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic brought a distressing production of films where many movie theaters even had to shut down due to lockdown. What makes the situation worse is that way back before the pandemic, the Philippine film industry, particularly Indie films, had seen a constant and drastic dip in viewership given that during the pandemic, Filipinos were introduced to more international content that they can easily access online. Despite that, Filipinos, especially Kapampangans must be aware that there are tons of local films that they can watch online with the aim of making them appreciate their own culture. Some exemplary Kapampangan films include “Ari: My Life with a King,” which tackles the story of a young man and his journey of discovering the Kapampangan language through the help of a local poet. The said film received the Best World Film award during the Harlem International Film Festival in 2015 in New York. Additionally, “ARIA,” Kapampangan film, won the Best Picture at the Lake City International Film Festival in New Delhi in 2020.

On the other hand, despite having 71.47% of Filipinos listening to the radio and 33.09% surfing the internet, making Filipinos prone to diverse content across the world, only a few can sing along to the hymns of Kapampangans Pampanga can match up with this diversity since it has a rich music wherein every reason has a rich soundtrack. Kapampangan Halloween has gosu, Christmas has pastorela, Lent has pasyun, and river festivals which take place in May and June have kuraldal and batalla. Furthermore, even before the popularity of West End and Broadway, there was the presence of musicals on stage in the form of zarzuelas in which the first of its kind in any Philippine vernacular was “Ing Managpe,” notably written by a Kapampangan, Mariano Proceso Pabalan Byron of Bacolor. Kapampangans also have numerous pop songs that you might wanna add to your playlists. One of which is “Kampay” written by Daniel V. Dato, which tells the story of a young man’s love for a woman who only sees him as her friend. More of these pop songs, along with “Kampay,” were produced from the most recent KPOP Song Festival in 2018– no, it’s not Korean Pop. It is Kapampangan Pop!– founded by Mr. Gildo “Boron” Garcia, the Director of AUF Center for Culture and the Arts, in an effort to bring Kapampangan songs back to mainstream music.

Baybayin, the Philippine script, saw a rise in popularity in recent years. But the province also has its own indigenous script called Kulitan, otherwise known as Súlat Kapampángan. A 2019 journal article believed that Kulitan’s existence is only known by a handful of

Kapampangans, and even fewer are knowledgeable about writing the script. Súlat Kapampángan is alphasyllabary in nature, where consonants come with fixed vowel sounds that only change when used with diacritical marks. History has it that Kulitan was a script used in the writing of anti-Spanish propaganda in the 1896 Philippine Revolution. Today, the native script is seen in some establishments in the city, such as the Newpoint Mall and Clark International Airport. Some local artists brought the script in apparel printing and even permanently on their skins. Basic Kulitan classes are also held regularly by The Sinupan Singsing: Center for Kapampangan Cultural Heritage. Although viewed to be relatively small in number, the hearts of the advocates are big enough to make the Kapampangan culture thrive further.

Clearly, those who belong to the one out of five carry equally significant stories that deserve their own recognition in society. This could be our signal to start putting equal opportunities to both the smaller and the bigger portions of the whole and to start considering members by their quality more than their quantity. Though alone in a pool of five or even a hundred people— they are not mere commodities to complete the whole, the casted shadows of those hit by the spotlight, nor the gray areas in colored charts.