Sa Araw Ng Pasko

Christmas, Caroling and Children

Should Christmas be celebrated despite the harsh times?

I asked myself as early as September when children caroling inside a dilapidated public utility vehicle (PUV).

You see, September is not just the start of “ber” months but also the month when marketing materials and Christmas extravaganza are lavishly unveiled at the expense of baby Jesus or using thy name to earn more.

It was Christmas in September while the whole world collapsed.

And the children caroling are just a reflection of glimmer of hope while the entire Christendom will savor the birth of the Savior.

All this because of our consumerist culture, a culture deeply ingrained in our mind that we don’t think it isn’t wrong anymore.

No amount of pity can surpass the accumulated drying and staggering voice of two to three malnourished and mature-looking children singing in our midst. And in an attempt to lose our constancy to the world, we hear them politely introducing who they are, albeit in a disturbing voice (typical of a hungry child):

“Ate…Kuya…Dili mi mga tulisan, bisan tulisan ang among dagway. Dili me mga kawatan. Dili mi kung unsa inyong nahunaan. Mga manaygunay mi.”

Carefully reading (or listening) to their introduction, you will realized not just the abject poverty attached to them but the anti-social activities attached to the people like them. Typically Filipino, wit and humor attached. And they, children in the streets will utter that with due respect.

Does your typical kid do that?

And then, their typical Christmas song:

“Ang Pasko ay kay saya…”

Does your typical kid sing that?

Often, I don’t give my coins in the streets particularly to our brothers and sisters earning a living by asking alms. I just don’t want to provide them with the opportunity of becoming ever more beggars and creating several (if not hundreds) of them to beg more just because I gave a cent or two.

On December 16 is the start of Dawn Mass or Simbang Gabi or Aguinaldo mass, the tradition of pre-dawn nine-day novena mass, one that is widely followed throughout the country is an opportune time to reflect the songs this children are singing and let’s see if they really touched our heart.

May the coming of the holiday season lead us to reflect where we have come and what has brought us to the point where we are.

Merry Christmas, still, even if I wonder sometimes if it is really meant for all.

Occupational Health and a New World

The health practitioner of the future will give no medicine, but will interest the patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. --THOMAS A. EDISON


Malate, Manila – Last September 27-29, 2008, I attended the 8th annual meeting of Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational Accident Victims (ANROAV).

Attended by occupational health experts, labor rights advocates and victims in Asia, North America and France, the annual meeting tackled experiences in occupational health hazards and offered new hope to the expanding advocacy for the advancement of occupational health and safety development as well as to the victims of occupational accident.

Most notable during the 3-day meeting was the attendance of Bhopal tragedy victims, their first time, and the entire participants was presented with an update of their struggles. The Chinese delegation offered hope that a new China will emerge soon.

Papers were presented and updates on current struggles discussed, emphasis was given to the following:

First, the issue on silicosis was discussed with stressing on gem polishing produces lit of silica dust that has been killing thousands of workers in many Asian countries. The session highlighted the struggle of silicosis victims in China and India and the joint strategies they are developing.

The session also highlighted different initiatives and struggles in different Asian countries towards banning asbestos in Asia.

Video presentation of a Nepalese woman about the state of reproductive and sexual rights in her country brought about by decades-old neglect of working women. The video presentation provided a succinct situation of a country so proud of Mt. Everest and its beautiful landscape while undermining the dying women.

The era of globalization is also an era of ever intensifying contradiction between labor and capital. The annual meeting provided a subtle though not comprehensive development of occupational health situation particularly in Asia.

I am glad that experts in the medical and sociological field offered their expertise and contributed to the struggles for the protection and advancement of occupational health – the often neglected and ignored in the medical profession.

I am much gladder that labor rights advocates all over the globe met and discussed, spending endless nights just to ensure a safer and healthier world for our working people. Such advocacy offered new hope that a new world, a new and safer world is possible.

Msgr. Dakay’s statement

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Speak out: Msgr. Dakay’s statement
By Roxanne Omega-Doron
Provincial Coordinator, BisdakPride

LAST week, a statement from no less than Msgr. Achilles Dakay, media liaison officer of the Archdiocese of Cebu, added burden to the emotionally and physically problematic “Jan-Jan.”

To a certain degree, I am no longer surprised by his reality-detached statement.

It was un-Christian, common to some high-ranking Catholic church leaders, and an insult not only to Christian doctrine but to universally accepted human rights.

The Roman Catholic Church's position on issues is selective and biased.

Silent

Consider that the Church is mum about shanties of churchgoers demolished the past several years in the city and neighboring municipalities.

Even the demolition of stalls of Sto. Niño vendors several years ago did not catch its fancy.

Issues on extra-judicial killing of members and supporters of cause-oriented groups and media practitioners, wage and
benefits of workers, land problem and others should be given highest importance because the victims are the faithful.

But either you here nothing from the Church or you will hear it say a thing or two, nothing more.

As far as I know and based on teachings of Bible scholars (both Roman Catholic and its religious enemies) the Bible does not condemn homosexuality.

It is the individuals within the Church who are homophobic.

Bible

The good Lord understands and respects; the good Lord does not condemn.

The Song of Songs, Chapter 8:5-10 (new translation by Ariel Bloch and Chana Bloch) says:

“There, beneath the apricot tree, / Your mother conceived you, / There you were born./ In that very place, I awakened you.

“Bind me as a seal upon your heart, / A sign upon your arm, / For love is as fierce as death,/ Its jealousy bitter as the
grave./Even its sparks are a raging fire, / A devouring flame.

“Great seas cannot extinguish love, / No river can sweep it away / If a man tried to buy love/ With all the wealth of his house / He would be despised.

“We have a little sister / And she has no breasts, / What shall we do for our sister /When suitors besiege her? /

“If she is a wall, we will build / A silver turret upon her. / If she is a door, we will bolt her / With beams of cedar wood.

“I am a wall / And my breasts are towers / But for my lover I am/ A city of peace.”

Homosexuality cannot be regarded as punishable offense by persons who respect the mysterious laws of nature.

Its presence in the sexual practices of all cultures everywhere and at all times is proof that it deserves recognition as a natural human phenomenon as much as heterosexuality.

By condemning the act, the homosexual question has become a genuine question, one which has given rise to lively debate, and which will continue to be discussed until it has been resolved in a satisfactory way.

That's why I am no longer surprised by the statements of Msgr. Dakay.

He is just an inheritor of a feudal bias and homophobic Church.

The best way to argue is within the context of respect – you can't go any deeper than that.

Private

While no longer surprised, my gay friends in the religious community, including myself is hemorrhaging profusely.

A lot of things need to be done to correct the evils in our midst, we uttered.

Finally, “Jan-Jan” is answerable to his God, which is truly private between an individual and his Creator.

What he really needs now is respect, comfort and love like what the good Lord taught us.

We want justice

Saturday, April 19, 2008
Speak out: We want justice
By Roxanne Omega-Doron
Provincial Coordinator, BisdakPride

WE strongly condemn the act committed by the medical personnel of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City. The dastardly act by few medical personnel violates the basic principle of human rights: respect.

Those responsible should be held accountable for violating the right to privacy of the victim and should be brought to court so they can no longer do what they recently did.

We also extend our deepest sympathy to the victim, his family and friends. Now is the appropriate time to consolidate our ranks against systemic bias towards us.

Two things should be considered:

First, the incident is medical malpractice, pure and simple. Medical personnel nowadays are trained primarily to earn and not to serve. Such orientation contradicts what the medical profession is supposed to uphold.

While we agree that these people are just few, government and the public should not give space to individuals laughing at the expense of an innocent victim.

Second, the issue also exposed our misconception, bias and phobia towards members of the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered (LGBT) community.

By laughing at and taking video of the victim, those responsible showed deep and historical bias towards us.

A society that degrades the LGBT community is not a free society. An individual or group of people who shamelessly disrespect the rights of others, particularly the LGBT people, is a product of a cruel society who breeds them.

We are shivering and we are bleeding in pain.

We want justice!

UNFAITHFUL TO THE FAITHFUL

Unfaithful to the faithful

It was the best commentary*, though said in jest, that I’ve heard from Engr. Jun Lozada, NBN – ZTE deal star witness (the latest in the string of controversies hounding the fake, inutile, evil-bitch, fascist, puppet and bureaucrat-capitalist Gloria "Macapal-Arrovo**").

It was a joke too serious to ignore. And they never did. The laity in the Kingdom of the Diocese of Malacañang ignored the tumult in Indonesia or the once in a lifetime explosion of Supernova that took place 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy.

Too, it strikes the nail right on the head. And it boomerangs from the Capitol to the City Hall. And shattered the all too willing puppies to eat thy shit of Malacañang.

Oh, His Eminence.

And, what can I say? A statement like that is worth pondering. And while listening, I almost lost my constancy to the world. And while listening (and reading) to the disgruntled laity, I almost collapse. Almost! It was connivance between religion and politics, stupid!

And of course, they should react the way a threatened lonely snake in the metropolis did. Just to say, one might open the pandora’s box of a million votes in her favor while the dreaded Intelligence Service Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) is recording her conversation with former election commissioner Virgillio “Garci” Garcillano. That will further open the mouth of Injustice Secretary Gonzales to defend the wrongdoing (which in the book titled “1984” is actually truth doings) of the luckiest evil-bitch.

Oh, His Eminence.

So alarming, indeed, that when a local steward of the Gospel of the Holy See, according to the unwritten verses and chapters of Ricardo 60:9 to be exact, one should not openly conduct masses for “truth seekers” because we are in a 1984, that book written by an anti-Marxist!

And so, the mass for truth was cancelled. And the mass for the evil-bitch in the Diocese of Malacañang (also known as Cebu Province), together with His Eminence, and all the clergy and politicians in front of the suffering faithful.

All: Let’s kneel and pray. Oh, Pidal*** este Vidal. (See, it rhymes)


*When Jun Lozada visited Cebu a week ago, he found it amusing that no priest can officiate a mass for "truth and accountability". It was so controversial that brought him to utter: "Diocese of Malacañang" referring to Cebu province. Which eventually and naturally brought the ire of local government officials a.k.a “the faithful”.
**Remember the 100 peso bill Arroyo was misspelled as “Arrovo”? In spanish, it means “a robber”
***that controversial bank account of Jose Pidal, which according to Panfilo Lacson is owned by the First Gentleman - truly, 1984 - but actually “owned” by his brother, Iggy.

Lessons

Lessons (still, let’s underSTAND)

I am fully aware that the StudentsAlliance for Nationalism and Democracy(STAND) Political Party won bymajority vote (and seats in thecouncil) almost 4 years ago because ofthe support of the students,particularly in the University of SanCarlos - Talamban Campus (USCTC). Thebasis of their unity is the new policyon haircut and uniform.

Several hundreds were mobilized.Since then, STAND dash-off its studentpolitical rivals.Convening student organizations toprotests on the issue includes theLeague of Filipino Students (LFS),Anakbayan (AB), the Fratertinity andSorority Council and other traditionalorganizations included in the broadalliance, which focuses on the issueon uniform and haircut policy.

It wasa triumph of genuine understanding ofbroad alliance vis-à-vis strengtheningthe activists’ mass movement insidethe University of San Carlos whileisolating the narrowest target.It was also a triumph of selflesssacrifice to the leaders and membersof national and democratic (ND)organization such as LFS and AB inUSC. Never in the entire campaignperiod had I heard that the leaders ofsuch ND organizations telling me itwas they who make it possible to winin the SSC election. They alwayscredit to the broad support theyreceived from the Carolinian community(including the teaching and non-teaching personnel).

The latest update I received throughtext messages coming from theincumbent, supporters and alumni ofSTAND regarding the status of thecouncil election is depressing. Priorto the campaign period, severalutterances flying like wild-saucersproclaiming, among others, the pendingvictory. I am glad to hear thoseutterances, both the positive and thenegative.

Indeed, the broad masses of studentslive through what they are doing.Their message is clear. If we failedto listen and serve to theirinterests, rejection is on our way. Ihope that in the next few days andweeks, we will set aside ourdifferences, recognize and rectify ourerrors and move forward like we neverdid before.That is the only way to reclaim ourmorals—which is essentially thejustness of our cause. (rod)

My Prince sprouts in the land of suffering

My Prince sprouts in the land of suffering
JUNE 2001 SEMI FINALIST NORTH AMERICAN OPEN POETRY COMPETITION

My Prince sprouts
In the land of suffering

Yesterday, I saw green scenery
Full of hope

The birds sung freely
Without minding the agony

The peasants toiling the land
They till for centuries

The land cried, shed tears, and drew blood
She can no longer cope the hotness of the sun.

Its rays followed me
Wherever I go

Which was yesterday, kept her green
Came the hour of reckoning

Truck came and dust became the color of the day
No more birds.

The dark man wearing a black shirt

The dark man wearing a black shirt
MARCH 2000

I wanted to ask him
Whether or not he prefers
To write essays, poetry, and
Fiction

But I dare not
While he continues to open
The pages of newspapers and magazines

I, too, wanted to make friends with him.
Together we will read the newspapers and magazines
But, I dare not. I prefer to write essays, poetry and
Fiction

The black shirt he wore
Was my favorite. I haven’t
Wore it now because the
Closet was locked.

THE SONG OF SONGS

THE SONG OF SONGS
Chapter 8:5-10
(A new translation by Ariel Bloch and Chana Bloch)

5
There, beneath the apricot tree,
Your mother conceived you,
There you were born.
In that very place, I awakened you.

6
Bind me as a seal upon your heart,
A sign upon your arm,
For love is as fierce as death,
Its jealousy bitter as the grave.
Even its sparks are a raging fire,
A devouring flame.

7
Great seas cannot extinguish love,
No river can sweep itaway
It a man tried to buy love
With all the wealth of his house
He would be despised.

8
We have a little sister
And she has no breasts,
What shall we do for our sister
When suitors besiege her?

9
If she is a wall, we will build
A silver turret upon her.
Is she is a door, we will bolt her
With beams of ledar wood.

10
I am a wall
And my breasts are towers
But for my lover I am
A city of peace