didn’t go to creativity quashing schools in the Philippines, had more drive and read up more I would have come up with this video you're about to see. As it is, I came up with something similarly themed but in a laboriously worded manner (see "Julian, Charles, Ray..." piece below).
The video is about “empathy.” It happens to be one of my favorite words and is something my father made me aware of. Dad, I’ll be forever grateful. It really is a beautiful word: "Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives." The closest Filipino word for it, I think, is, “pakikiramdam.” Dear readers, perhaps you can help find the best Filipino translation for this word.
Filipinos may be a number of things: undisciplined, passive, asal talangka, ningas cogon, etc., etc., but, it has not yet declared war on “empathy.” We are still a people who actually care for and understand the feelings of each other. Though, I agree, that it can be overdone at times. Been funny seeing the reaction of people to the release of the Vizconde Massacre suspects: “Kawawa naman si Lauro Vizconde” on one side and “Kawawa naman si Webb” on the other. It’s not about the system – which seems very faulty – that has been the focus of the people (now you know why the jury system will not work here).
That’s empathy at work right there. You can see this, too, in the gift giving, the proliferation of beggars (we give and that’s why they have business) and the closeness among friends among other virtues.
In the end, we may have our faults, but, I think most of us are doing our darndest best to lead Christian lives. I may not be smarter than a Westerner, but, am sure glad I have more heart. That should make this month’s birthday celebrant happy. Now, if we can just get ourselves to work on the other parts…
Ok, I know you keen readers have noticed that this is a revision of a prior entry I posted Sunday. One, yes, that looked like I was coasting. But, I’m sure you followers based in the Philippines will understand. Christmas season means school parties, gift buying, family gatherings, traffic and worst of all: dance rehearsals for group presentation at this year’s company party. Yes, my group didn’t win and, no, I will not be posting a video of it.
Did I break any blogging ethics by doing the revision after its publication? Am not sure. There’s no Blogging School of Ethics. Consider yourself, though, privy to the evolution of a piece. How it happened (it’s a story in itself): Short on time and wanting to keep my discipline of an entry a week, I put out the original version of this one. Soon after, though, I got messages from friends showing their appreciation of the blog with one from the the UK commenting how she’s thinking of moving back because "as great as Western society is, it's a bit too soulless and capitalist for me."
Then Peachy mentioned how she liked it and sent over a New York Times article that I really found funny. Her husband, Gino, came in with encouraging comments on the blog. Gino, I think you were trying to say: “Be more positive.” Tuesday came and my mind was already rolling with all these thoughts and, all of a sudden, I felt I had to say more.
So, here we are with a longer piece and, hopefully, one with more heart. You see, if you readers have not noticed, I alone didn’t write this piece. This was done by caring hands of Filipinos across this planet: A friend in Canada who introduced RSA videos and to the kind words of those living in New York and the UK. Thus, I dedicate this Christmas gift of a piece to all Filipinos living abroad. For 14 years, I too spent Christmas quietly, with no traffic, eating healthy and not much family. I empathize.
Don’t think I’ll be able to make an entry this week. Working on a piece that requires more time. Again, don’t think I’m it’s writer. Just really a chronicler. You people provide the story. Am trying to make it worth the wait.
Lastly, the piece you’re reading right now may not have said it explicitly, but, I think you caught the spirit: Merry Christmas and much LOVE to all!!
Wait, wait, just hit me: “The Philippines - Land of Hearts.” Now, that’s a better Department of Tourism slogan.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Julian, Charles, Ray, The Woz and "Tron"
What the Future (Ought To) Will Be
"There's nothing new in this world, there's only the truth you're not aware of"
Harry Truman
I'm obsessed with the truth. I'm not particularly fond of liars and hypocrites. Am still not sure why.
The truth...
This week saw the arrest of Wikileaks spokesperson and editor-in-chief Julian Assange (a Time's Person of The Year shoo-in, if you ask me) in connection with a sexual assault case in Sweden. The feeling, however, seems to be that this is in connection with the whistleblower site's release of secret US diplomatic cables. Wikileaks has been in existence since 2006 and has served as a venue for the release of secret materials. Highlights:
- Protocol of Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp: Published a copy of the standard operating procedures by the US Army which, among others, revealed the designation of a number of prisoners as "off-limits" to the Red Cross. Prior accusations of this very conduct was denied by the military.
- Peru Oil Scandal: Released transcription of conversations between a government official and a lobbyist working on securing a contract on behalf of a firm. This 2008 scandal led to street protests and the subsequent resignation of the Prime Minister.
- The Minton Report: An internal report commissioned by the multinational corporation Trafigura in connection with the dumping of toxic waste around Ivory Coast brought in by a ship chartered by that firm. The resulting gas released by the chemicals resulted in the deaths of 17 and the injury of 30,000.00
- Kaupthing Bank: Published internal document showing that, prior to its collapse during the Icelandic financial crisis, the bank loaned large amounts to owners of the bank and had some debts written off.
- Iraq Helicopter Airstrike: Graphic video contradicting a report filed by the US military in connection with the deaths of 18 people including two Reuters news staff. You may watch the video by clicking here: Airstrike Video. Be forewarned that it is graphic.
- Afghan War Documents
- Iraq War Documents
- US Diplomatic Cables: The release in November of communication between the US State Department and its diplomatic missions around the world. It offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the State Department including, among others, the encouragement to obtain personal info on their counterparts.
Why does Wikileaks do what it does? Assange, who is also one of its founders, explains that, "To radically shift regime behavior we must think clearly and boldly for if we have learned anything, it is that regimes do not want to be changed. We must think beyond those who have gone before us and discover technological changes that embolden us with ways to act in which our forebears could not."
And that, "the more secretive or unjust an organisation is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. ... Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance."
Bradley Manning is the US Army intelligence analyst who leaked the last four entries. His reason for doing it? Partly to explain "how the first world exploits the third, in detail, from an internal perspective."
The attack...
The vehicle carrying Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla Bowles were recently attacked by students - some of whom were chanting, "Off with their heads!" and "Tory (conservative UK political party) scum!" - protesting the three-fold increase in tuition fees approved by Parliament.
The future...
This week's Time Magazine features an interview with the futurist Ray Kurzweil. Highlights:
- His explanation of "singularity": "By the time we get to the 2040s, we'll be able to multiply human intelligence a billionfold...Computers are going to keep getting smaller and smaller. Ultimately, they will go inside our bodies and brains and make us healthier, make us smarter. We'll be online all the time. Search engines won't wait to be asked."
- Technology and health: "We will reprogram our biology. My cell phone's probably updating itself as we speak, but I'm walking around with 1,000-year-old software that was for a different era. One gene, the fat insulin receptor gene, says, "Hold on to every calorie, because the next hunting season may not work out so well." I'd like to be able to tell my fat insulin receptor gene, "You don't need to do that. I'm confident I'll have food tomorrow."
- Eating: "We'll grow in vitro cloned meats in factories that are computerized and run by artificial intelligence. You can just grow the part of the animal that you're eating. Some people say, 'Oh, that sounds yucky.' I say, 'Well, why don't you go visit a factory-farming installation? You'll find that getting meat from living animals is yucky.'"
- Science, religion and ethnic differences: "I think we are evolving rapidly into one world culture. It's certainly one world economy. With billions of people online, I think we'll appreciate the wisdom in many different traditions as we learn more about them. People were very isolated and didn't know anything about other religions 100 years ago."
- God: "I believe our civilization is going to be vastly more intelligent and more spiritual in the decades ahead. You can argue how we got here, but we are the species that goes beyond our limitations. We didn't stay on the ground. We didn't stay on the planet. Our species always transcends."
Kurzweil is a respected author and inventor who has had several predictions come true. Notably, he foresaw the demise of the Soviet Union due to new technology (cellphones, fax machines) taking information power away from the centralized authoritarian regime.
More about the future...
Steve "The Woz" Wozniack co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. A recent interview with him found the following quotes:
“All of a sudden, we’ve lost a lot of control. We can’t turn off our internet, we can’t turn off our smartphones, we can’t turn off our computers.”
“You used to ask a smart person a question. Now, who do you ask? It starts with g-o, and it’s not God,”
“We’re dependent on it (technology) and eventually, we are going to have it doing every task we can in the world, so we can sit back and relax.”
Fast forwarding history...
Used to be, history was something we'd see in black and white pictures and grainy video footage. Not anymore. Consider that it took almost 6,000 years between the invention of the wheel and the advent of the automobile while it took only 66 years between the invention of the airplane and the landing on the moon. History is moving at an unprecedented clip. History is what we saw yesterday on TV, from the radio, the internet... All of a sudden, news from print seems like...well, ancient history.
Just as the Industrial Age had previously shifted the paradigm of how we lived (poverty was prevalent before it), the Information Age - be glad you're in it - is changing the way you act and think.
There is some sort of convergence with The War on Terror (notably, the Iraq War) the Financial Crisis and this Age that my still tech-free brain is trying to understand. What I can see, so far:
There are those who are becoming more intelligent, more informed, less gullible and...more importantly...starting to question more. What does a more enlightened human being mean: More people who'll question authority and the actions of leaders, governments and corporations. Who'll question the very traditions and ideas they've found themselves in. Consider the students in the UK suffering under the weight of the Financial Crisis realizing that there are those (the Royal Family) among them who require $64 million a year from their government plus security from their Police and Army.
What does this all mean for the Philippines? Firstly, we've got to understand that the future will belong to the most creative, inventive and informed. Not only should it be used for creating jobs, but also, as a path to better governance. Darkness is the ally of shady dealings and the corrupt. Part of the President's plan should include the openning of the insides of the government machine to the public. We should have real-time access to contracts and plans. It is time that we get to see what the local and national bodies are up to. That is one way to fight corruption.
I've always thought that a public official's life should be an open book while in office. Shouldn't there be a camera crew following them around? I submit myself: If elected, I'll allow my years in office to be under the microscope.
The German Parliament features a viewing gallery that allows the citizenry a view of their politicians at work from above. It symbolizes: The people are above them (as opposed to the Communist era) and can see what they are doing.
The Illustrados were the learned Filipino class during the Spanish colonial period. "The enlightened ones," they were intellectuals exposed to the outside world and to the ideals of liberalism and nationalism. They've been described as "key figures in the development of Filipino nationalism." Presently, exposure to the ideals of the outside world is no longer exclusive to those who travel, study or live abroad. Technology has allowed access to these by those who can afford time on the internet. We won't be witnesses to it, but empowered, intelligent and altruistic future Filipino generations will slowly be in control of the destiny of the nation. Let me stake my claim on this new term: The New Illustrados.
What does this all mean for the future of all mankind? Let me digress slightly. "Tron" was a film that came out in 1982. The Age of Information had not yet fully arrived and the account of a world existing inside computers was not accepted by the public. I watched it again a few years back and realized that it's actually groundbreaking work that's a precursor to later cinema like "The Matrix." Seminal - "highly influential in an original way" - is how to describe it.
Julian Assange - who's now being billed as a villain for his work with Wikileaks - will probably be seen by future generations as the precursor of humans forcing openness and accountability from those with authority and power. Seminal, indeed.
That is, also, what the future will bring: The power to control how we live and treat each other will wrested away from the few and will be distributed to enlightened and involved citizenry.
This new dawn of enlightenment will eventually bring about changes in the way we believe. Eventually, an exponential number of people will question basic principles. As an example: If Adam and Eve were the first, how come we're all different? Where did the Chinese, Malays, Africans, Caucasians, Aborigines, etc. come from?
Changes in the way we treat each other. As Ray Kurzweil noted, we will feel closer to each other. Will world peace be finally at hand? Not too fast. Maybe a million years.
This will, naturally, lay the groundwork for future conflict. It will not be among nations, but rather, between the traditionalists (more to lose) who'll subconsciously see knowledge as the enemy and the enlightened (more to gain) ones.
Esoteric. I think that's the word you're trying to search for to describe this latest entry. Maybe you're right. I'm probably alienating more of you guys ("Jay, you've gone too far"). What is this piece all about?
At the very end of it all, we'll probably evolve into beings that will, eventually, - free from the shackles we've found ourselves in - be more spiritual, be more open to each other, more trusting of each other, and, perhaps... finally...finally... start to start love one another "as you love yourself." That, I think, our creator will approve of. God, please be patient. Give us a million years.
We'd better love one another...we'll have to be ready to fight the coming invasion of the Vlysnxzoperiane aliens.
Thought this would be a lovely piece to close a post on truth, peace, the future and love:
"There's nothing new in this world, there's only the truth you're not aware of"
Harry Truman
I'm obsessed with the truth. I'm not particularly fond of liars and hypocrites. Am still not sure why.
The truth...
This week saw the arrest of Wikileaks spokesperson and editor-in-chief Julian Assange (a Time's Person of The Year shoo-in, if you ask me) in connection with a sexual assault case in Sweden. The feeling, however, seems to be that this is in connection with the whistleblower site's release of secret US diplomatic cables. Wikileaks has been in existence since 2006 and has served as a venue for the release of secret materials. Highlights:
- Protocol of Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp: Published a copy of the standard operating procedures by the US Army which, among others, revealed the designation of a number of prisoners as "off-limits" to the Red Cross. Prior accusations of this very conduct was denied by the military.
- Peru Oil Scandal: Released transcription of conversations between a government official and a lobbyist working on securing a contract on behalf of a firm. This 2008 scandal led to street protests and the subsequent resignation of the Prime Minister.
- The Minton Report: An internal report commissioned by the multinational corporation Trafigura in connection with the dumping of toxic waste around Ivory Coast brought in by a ship chartered by that firm. The resulting gas released by the chemicals resulted in the deaths of 17 and the injury of 30,000.00
- Kaupthing Bank: Published internal document showing that, prior to its collapse during the Icelandic financial crisis, the bank loaned large amounts to owners of the bank and had some debts written off.
- Iraq Helicopter Airstrike: Graphic video contradicting a report filed by the US military in connection with the deaths of 18 people including two Reuters news staff. You may watch the video by clicking here: Airstrike Video. Be forewarned that it is graphic.
- Afghan War Documents
- Iraq War Documents
- US Diplomatic Cables: The release in November of communication between the US State Department and its diplomatic missions around the world. It offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the State Department including, among others, the encouragement to obtain personal info on their counterparts.
Why does Wikileaks do what it does? Assange, who is also one of its founders, explains that, "To radically shift regime behavior we must think clearly and boldly for if we have learned anything, it is that regimes do not want to be changed. We must think beyond those who have gone before us and discover technological changes that embolden us with ways to act in which our forebears could not."
And that, "the more secretive or unjust an organisation is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. ... Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance."
Bradley Manning is the US Army intelligence analyst who leaked the last four entries. His reason for doing it? Partly to explain "how the first world exploits the third, in detail, from an internal perspective."
The attack...
The vehicle carrying Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla Bowles were recently attacked by students - some of whom were chanting, "Off with their heads!" and "Tory (conservative UK political party) scum!" - protesting the three-fold increase in tuition fees approved by Parliament.
This week's Time Magazine features an interview with the futurist Ray Kurzweil. Highlights:
- His explanation of "singularity": "By the time we get to the 2040s, we'll be able to multiply human intelligence a billionfold...Computers are going to keep getting smaller and smaller. Ultimately, they will go inside our bodies and brains and make us healthier, make us smarter. We'll be online all the time. Search engines won't wait to be asked."
- Technology and health: "We will reprogram our biology. My cell phone's probably updating itself as we speak, but I'm walking around with 1,000-year-old software that was for a different era. One gene, the fat insulin receptor gene, says, "Hold on to every calorie, because the next hunting season may not work out so well." I'd like to be able to tell my fat insulin receptor gene, "You don't need to do that. I'm confident I'll have food tomorrow."
- Eating: "We'll grow in vitro cloned meats in factories that are computerized and run by artificial intelligence. You can just grow the part of the animal that you're eating. Some people say, 'Oh, that sounds yucky.' I say, 'Well, why don't you go visit a factory-farming installation? You'll find that getting meat from living animals is yucky.'"
- Science, religion and ethnic differences: "I think we are evolving rapidly into one world culture. It's certainly one world economy. With billions of people online, I think we'll appreciate the wisdom in many different traditions as we learn more about them. People were very isolated and didn't know anything about other religions 100 years ago."
- God: "I believe our civilization is going to be vastly more intelligent and more spiritual in the decades ahead. You can argue how we got here, but we are the species that goes beyond our limitations. We didn't stay on the ground. We didn't stay on the planet. Our species always transcends."
Kurzweil is a respected author and inventor who has had several predictions come true. Notably, he foresaw the demise of the Soviet Union due to new technology (cellphones, fax machines) taking information power away from the centralized authoritarian regime.
More about the future...
Steve "The Woz" Wozniack co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. A recent interview with him found the following quotes:
“All of a sudden, we’ve lost a lot of control. We can’t turn off our internet, we can’t turn off our smartphones, we can’t turn off our computers.”
“You used to ask a smart person a question. Now, who do you ask? It starts with g-o, and it’s not God,”
“We’re dependent on it (technology) and eventually, we are going to have it doing every task we can in the world, so we can sit back and relax.”
Fast forwarding history...
Used to be, history was something we'd see in black and white pictures and grainy video footage. Not anymore. Consider that it took almost 6,000 years between the invention of the wheel and the advent of the automobile while it took only 66 years between the invention of the airplane and the landing on the moon. History is moving at an unprecedented clip. History is what we saw yesterday on TV, from the radio, the internet... All of a sudden, news from print seems like...well, ancient history.
Just as the Industrial Age had previously shifted the paradigm of how we lived (poverty was prevalent before it), the Information Age - be glad you're in it - is changing the way you act and think.
There is some sort of convergence with The War on Terror (notably, the Iraq War) the Financial Crisis and this Age that my still tech-free brain is trying to understand. What I can see, so far:
There are those who are becoming more intelligent, more informed, less gullible and...more importantly...starting to question more. What does a more enlightened human being mean: More people who'll question authority and the actions of leaders, governments and corporations. Who'll question the very traditions and ideas they've found themselves in. Consider the students in the UK suffering under the weight of the Financial Crisis realizing that there are those (the Royal Family) among them who require $64 million a year from their government plus security from their Police and Army.
What does this all mean for the Philippines? Firstly, we've got to understand that the future will belong to the most creative, inventive and informed. Not only should it be used for creating jobs, but also, as a path to better governance. Darkness is the ally of shady dealings and the corrupt. Part of the President's plan should include the openning of the insides of the government machine to the public. We should have real-time access to contracts and plans. It is time that we get to see what the local and national bodies are up to. That is one way to fight corruption.
I've always thought that a public official's life should be an open book while in office. Shouldn't there be a camera crew following them around? I submit myself: If elected, I'll allow my years in office to be under the microscope.
The German Parliament features a viewing gallery that allows the citizenry a view of their politicians at work from above. It symbolizes: The people are above them (as opposed to the Communist era) and can see what they are doing.
The Illustrados were the learned Filipino class during the Spanish colonial period. "The enlightened ones," they were intellectuals exposed to the outside world and to the ideals of liberalism and nationalism. They've been described as "key figures in the development of Filipino nationalism." Presently, exposure to the ideals of the outside world is no longer exclusive to those who travel, study or live abroad. Technology has allowed access to these by those who can afford time on the internet. We won't be witnesses to it, but empowered, intelligent and altruistic future Filipino generations will slowly be in control of the destiny of the nation. Let me stake my claim on this new term: The New Illustrados.
What does this all mean for the future of all mankind? Let me digress slightly. "Tron" was a film that came out in 1982. The Age of Information had not yet fully arrived and the account of a world existing inside computers was not accepted by the public. I watched it again a few years back and realized that it's actually groundbreaking work that's a precursor to later cinema like "The Matrix." Seminal - "highly influential in an original way" - is how to describe it.
Julian Assange - who's now being billed as a villain for his work with Wikileaks - will probably be seen by future generations as the precursor of humans forcing openness and accountability from those with authority and power. Seminal, indeed.
That is, also, what the future will bring: The power to control how we live and treat each other will wrested away from the few and will be distributed to enlightened and involved citizenry.
This new dawn of enlightenment will eventually bring about changes in the way we believe. Eventually, an exponential number of people will question basic principles. As an example: If Adam and Eve were the first, how come we're all different? Where did the Chinese, Malays, Africans, Caucasians, Aborigines, etc. come from?
Changes in the way we treat each other. As Ray Kurzweil noted, we will feel closer to each other. Will world peace be finally at hand? Not too fast. Maybe a million years.
This will, naturally, lay the groundwork for future conflict. It will not be among nations, but rather, between the traditionalists (more to lose) who'll subconsciously see knowledge as the enemy and the enlightened (more to gain) ones.
Esoteric. I think that's the word you're trying to search for to describe this latest entry. Maybe you're right. I'm probably alienating more of you guys ("Jay, you've gone too far"). What is this piece all about?
At the very end of it all, we'll probably evolve into beings that will, eventually, - free from the shackles we've found ourselves in - be more spiritual, be more open to each other, more trusting of each other, and, perhaps... finally...finally... start to start love one another "as you love yourself." That, I think, our creator will approve of. God, please be patient. Give us a million years.
We'd better love one another...we'll have to be ready to fight the coming invasion of the Vlysnxzoperiane aliens.
Thought this would be a lovely piece to close a post on truth, peace, the future and love:
Friday, December 3, 2010
Can We All Get Along? or The Balls and Chains Keeping Us Down Part 2
"People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?"
Rodney King appealing to the people of Los Angeles during the 1992 riots. The acquital of police officers videotaped beating him a year earlier sparked the disturbance.
"What is produced when Filipinos form an organization? Several factions and a witty acronym for a name."
I'll go a little "Ambeth Ocampo" on you today and give a short, short history course. With apologies to the Chair of the National Historical Institute, here goes - to keep you short-attention-spanned generation from moving on to Facebook - a Reader's Digest version of history:
Andres Bonifacio (to the chismis inclined, his first wife died of leprosy and had a son, with his second wife, who died at infancy) was a founder and later leader of the Katipunan - a revolutionary movement seeking independence from Spain. By the portrayals I've seen, namely from the movies "Jose Rizal" and "Bayani," he seemed to be the fire-brand type full of conviction.
Let's set up the scene: It was a heady time with the people finally - thanks to "troublemakers" like Jose Rizal and others - recognizing an identity and uniformed Filipino soldiers battled the Spaniards both with set piece battles and guerilla tactics,
Ok, so far, we seem to have a run-of-the-mill hero story going on here, right? Ho-hum, yawn, huh? Well, this is where our story takes on an interesting "Soprano-like" texture. Turns out, there were two Katipunan chapters in Cavite (Filipinos? Two chapters in the same area? You're going "Uh-oh," right?). There was one headed by Emilio Aguinaldo's cousin and the other by an uncle of Bonifacio's wife. Telenovela fans out there may recognize where this is going: family loyalties, lots of shouting, macho posturing, betrayals, charges of treason and gun play.
Cutting to the chase: The clash between the two groups - now involving Bonifacio and Aguinaldo - becomes a full-blown power grab with both claiming Presidency of the Philippines with Aguinaldo writing in his memoir that Bonifacio "acted like a King." Wow, this is all too "Cristy Ferminit" for me: "So, Andy, ano naman ang masasabi mo sa akusasyon na you're 'acting like a king?'"
The Philippines, with a population of only 7 million back then was not big enough for two leaders. Something had to give. Here is how it went down: A party of Aguinaldo's men conducted a surprise attack on "Andy" and his men with the ensuing violence causing his wounding, the death of a brother, the beating of another and the possible...wait, wait...let's make this Oscar-worthy...and thepossible rape of his wife.
A trial for Bonifacio and his surviving brother ensues with charges of sedition and treason against the Aguinaldo government filed against them. Found guilty (his defense lawyer himself found him guilty), both were executed in the mountains of Cavite. The execution? Depends who does the story-telling: One account that Hollywood would surely appreciate is with him laying in a hammock, too weak to walk from his wound, being stabbed and hacked to death ("Down and out Hollywood producer, Jack Hiltzick, on his last legs halts reading the script handed to him by the Filipina maid of a more successful friend, looks at the sinking California sun and mutters to himself with great satisfaction, 'This is my Braveheart'").
Great story, huh? But did you really expect me to just stop there? What? No pontificating from the "Great Pontificator," you say? Well, here goes the "Balls and Chains" part...
Over lunch recently with my officemates (as you may surmise, they "love" having lunch with me), we discussed the whole Bonifacio story and their views say much about who we are. Firstly, of the four, only two were aware that he was killed by fellow Filipinos and are thankful to Jessica Soho for this bit of info. The Account Officer, Che Esmille, thought it was a reflection of the Filipino: "Hindi lang pala ngayon nag-aagawan ng kapangyarihan. Akala mo mas matino sila noon." My best friend, Dondi Gaite, loves pointing out the fact that historical figures are just...humans. The passage of time may allow them to be placed on pedestals with a romanticized version shown to the world, but, truth is - and this is where that Hollywood producer should get it right - these figures were human and....Filipinos.
What is a Filipino? There are the positives (we'll discuss lengthily in the future) and the not so positive, including: deep envy (asal talangka), intrigues (some of the rumors against Bonifacio included him stealing funds from the Katipunan and his sister being a mistress of a priest) and divisiveness (office politics and the common warning to avoid other Filipinos when living abroad).
The root cause of this? Kindly allow me to play armchair historian and, please, feel free to send in your differing views: It's something we picked up from our hundreds of years of occupation by different powers. Regionalism probably comes from the fact that we are different indigenous groups (170 languages, remember?) artificially put together by an outside force. Our feelings of envy probably come from the fact that there were those favored during the Spanish times. Our defeatist views and uncanny ability to adapt come from having been under different occupiers. This is in our DNA. The memes (cultural ideas and practices passed on) that we have all inherited and will pass on.
All is not lost, of course. We try to offer solutions here on this site. Firstly, we must collectively acknowledge what we are and explore why we became. We should come up with a definitive series on TV about our history. The government should commission Ambeth Ocampo to take on an expansive and entertaining documentary that will be seen as a must-see by Filipinos. There are three channels (4, 9 and 13) owned by us that could be the venue for this. History not only explains who we are, but, mirrored against those of other nations; can help us see what we may...should be.
Secondly, the government should mandate community programs that will require each and everyone of us to serve the community. The documentary series should also explore our lost values - introducing them to a new generation. We are, relatively, a young nation and we still have a long way to go towards moral recovery and efforts like these (others will be discussed in upcoming posts) will help.
Before we close out this story, you may be wondering about what finally did happen with Bonifacio and Aguinaldo. The former - in the long run - did well: He's one of only two heroes with a national holiday. Aguinaldo, meanwhile, is a different story entirely: He was forced to sign a truce with the Spaniards in exchange for cash and exile, became the first President of the Republic, lost to a landslide on another try then found himself accused of collaborating with the Japanese during the Second World War - including giving radio speeches supporting the occupier. I suppose Aguinaldo is one reflection of us: Again, the uncanny ability to adapt in order to survive.
Hard to say if there are villains or good guys in this story. Both represented the best and worst in us. Just like us, they were probably just victims of history.
By the way, my colleagues? They're glad lunch is over. Our Accountant did say that we should celebrate Bonifacio's death anniversary instead as a reminder of who we really are. "Para magising tayo," she says. Another? Cris Rayos thinks they should not be heroes for they went against the occupiers. He believes that we should just be obedient to them - in order to survive and live in peace. Just another victim of history, I guess.
Here's something that should make us all think:
Excerpt:
Nakaranas ka na ba?
Nakatikim ka na ba?
Nakatanggap o nabigyan ng kahihiyan?
Dahil sa iyong panindigan
O dahil sa iyong nakamtan
Inggit sa iyong narating
Pilit kang sisirain
Dyan sila magaling
Ilalagay ka sa alanganin kaya
Mag-ingat sa mga asal talangka
Hihilahin ka nila pababa
Namamato kapag ika'y hitik
Hitik sa bunga
This piece is dedicated to an uncle, Tonypet Araneta, a dedicated lover of the Philippines and all things Filipino and to my best friend who has helped make me see the real Filipino.
Rodney King appealing to the people of Los Angeles during the 1992 riots. The acquital of police officers videotaped beating him a year earlier sparked the disturbance.
"What is produced when Filipinos form an organization? Several factions and a witty acronym for a name."
I'll go a little "Ambeth Ocampo" on you today and give a short, short history course. With apologies to the Chair of the National Historical Institute, here goes - to keep you short-attention-spanned generation from moving on to Facebook - a Reader's Digest version of history:
Andres Bonifacio (to the chismis inclined, his first wife died of leprosy and had a son, with his second wife, who died at infancy) was a founder and later leader of the Katipunan - a revolutionary movement seeking independence from Spain. By the portrayals I've seen, namely from the movies "Jose Rizal" and "Bayani," he seemed to be the fire-brand type full of conviction.
Let's set up the scene: It was a heady time with the people finally - thanks to "troublemakers" like Jose Rizal and others - recognizing an identity and uniformed Filipino soldiers battled the Spaniards both with set piece battles and guerilla tactics,
Ok, so far, we seem to have a run-of-the-mill hero story going on here, right? Ho-hum, yawn, huh? Well, this is where our story takes on an interesting "Soprano-like" texture. Turns out, there were two Katipunan chapters in Cavite (Filipinos? Two chapters in the same area? You're going "Uh-oh," right?). There was one headed by Emilio Aguinaldo's cousin and the other by an uncle of Bonifacio's wife. Telenovela fans out there may recognize where this is going: family loyalties, lots of shouting, macho posturing, betrayals, charges of treason and gun play.
Cutting to the chase: The clash between the two groups - now involving Bonifacio and Aguinaldo - becomes a full-blown power grab with both claiming Presidency of the Philippines with Aguinaldo writing in his memoir that Bonifacio "acted like a King." Wow, this is all too "Cristy Ferminit" for me: "So, Andy, ano naman ang masasabi mo sa akusasyon na you're 'acting like a king?'"
The Philippines, with a population of only 7 million back then was not big enough for two leaders. Something had to give. Here is how it went down: A party of Aguinaldo's men conducted a surprise attack on "Andy" and his men with the ensuing violence causing his wounding, the death of a brother, the beating of another and the possible...wait, wait...let's make this Oscar-worthy...and the
A trial for Bonifacio and his surviving brother ensues with charges of sedition and treason against the Aguinaldo government filed against them. Found guilty (his defense lawyer himself found him guilty), both were executed in the mountains of Cavite. The execution? Depends who does the story-telling: One account that Hollywood would surely appreciate is with him laying in a hammock, too weak to walk from his wound, being stabbed and hacked to death ("Down and out Hollywood producer, Jack Hiltzick, on his last legs halts reading the script handed to him by the Filipina maid of a more successful friend, looks at the sinking California sun and mutters to himself with great satisfaction, 'This is my Braveheart'").
Great story, huh? But did you really expect me to just stop there? What? No pontificating from the "Great Pontificator," you say? Well, here goes the "Balls and Chains" part...
Over lunch recently with my officemates (as you may surmise, they "love" having lunch with me), we discussed the whole Bonifacio story and their views say much about who we are. Firstly, of the four, only two were aware that he was killed by fellow Filipinos and are thankful to Jessica Soho for this bit of info. The Account Officer, Che Esmille, thought it was a reflection of the Filipino: "Hindi lang pala ngayon nag-aagawan ng kapangyarihan. Akala mo mas matino sila noon." My best friend, Dondi Gaite, loves pointing out the fact that historical figures are just...humans. The passage of time may allow them to be placed on pedestals with a romanticized version shown to the world, but, truth is - and this is where that Hollywood producer should get it right - these figures were human and....Filipinos.
What is a Filipino? There are the positives (we'll discuss lengthily in the future) and the not so positive, including: deep envy (asal talangka), intrigues (some of the rumors against Bonifacio included him stealing funds from the Katipunan and his sister being a mistress of a priest) and divisiveness (office politics and the common warning to avoid other Filipinos when living abroad).
The root cause of this? Kindly allow me to play armchair historian and, please, feel free to send in your differing views: It's something we picked up from our hundreds of years of occupation by different powers. Regionalism probably comes from the fact that we are different indigenous groups (170 languages, remember?) artificially put together by an outside force. Our feelings of envy probably come from the fact that there were those favored during the Spanish times. Our defeatist views and uncanny ability to adapt come from having been under different occupiers. This is in our DNA. The memes (cultural ideas and practices passed on) that we have all inherited and will pass on.
All is not lost, of course. We try to offer solutions here on this site. Firstly, we must collectively acknowledge what we are and explore why we became. We should come up with a definitive series on TV about our history. The government should commission Ambeth Ocampo to take on an expansive and entertaining documentary that will be seen as a must-see by Filipinos. There are three channels (4, 9 and 13) owned by us that could be the venue for this. History not only explains who we are, but, mirrored against those of other nations; can help us see what we may...should be.
Secondly, the government should mandate community programs that will require each and everyone of us to serve the community. The documentary series should also explore our lost values - introducing them to a new generation. We are, relatively, a young nation and we still have a long way to go towards moral recovery and efforts like these (others will be discussed in upcoming posts) will help.
Before we close out this story, you may be wondering about what finally did happen with Bonifacio and Aguinaldo. The former - in the long run - did well: He's one of only two heroes with a national holiday. Aguinaldo, meanwhile, is a different story entirely: He was forced to sign a truce with the Spaniards in exchange for cash and exile, became the first President of the Republic, lost to a landslide on another try then found himself accused of collaborating with the Japanese during the Second World War - including giving radio speeches supporting the occupier. I suppose Aguinaldo is one reflection of us: Again, the uncanny ability to adapt in order to survive.
Hard to say if there are villains or good guys in this story. Both represented the best and worst in us. Just like us, they were probably just victims of history.
By the way, my colleagues? They're glad lunch is over. Our Accountant did say that we should celebrate Bonifacio's death anniversary instead as a reminder of who we really are. "Para magising tayo," she says. Another? Cris Rayos thinks they should not be heroes for they went against the occupiers. He believes that we should just be obedient to them - in order to survive and live in peace. Just another victim of history, I guess.
Here's something that should make us all think:
Excerpt:
Nakaranas ka na ba?
Nakatikim ka na ba?
Nakatanggap o nabigyan ng kahihiyan?
Dahil sa iyong panindigan
O dahil sa iyong nakamtan
Inggit sa iyong narating
Pilit kang sisirain
Dyan sila magaling
Ilalagay ka sa alanganin kaya
Mag-ingat sa mga asal talangka
Hihilahin ka nila pababa
Namamato kapag ika'y hitik
Hitik sa bunga
This piece is dedicated to an uncle, Tonypet Araneta, a dedicated lover of the Philippines and all things Filipino and to my best friend who has helped make me see the real Filipino.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)