Thanks, Remy Garcia, for this photo. “For those who want to pick old fights, we’re game.”
Making life worth living.
Month: July 2006
After surviving Gloria Arroyo’s more-than-one-hour state of the nation address the other day, I feel confident I can survive anything.
The trick is to do a constant reality check. Or else you will be sucked into her Enchanted Kingdom and you’ll end up with the likes of Raul Gonzalez, Luis Villafuerte, Monico Fuentevella, Hermogenes Esperon, Jovito Palparan. You would rather be disenchanted, wouldn’t you?
Here’s the reality check (RC):
Akala ng marami sa atin na maari nang pasensyahan ang pandaraya ni Gloria Arroyo noong 2004 eleksyon at hindi ito maka-epekto sa araw-araw nating pamumuhay.
Mali.
Ang eskandalo sa leak sa June 2006 nursing board licensure examination ay isa lamang sa simptomas ng kultura ng pandaraya na laganap sa ating lipunan.
Today, while more than 30,000 Filipinos who tried to escape the grinding poverty in the Philippines are scampering for their lives in war-torn Lebanon, 16,000 Filipino troops are making sure that Gloria Arroyo will be able to deliver her State of the Nation address telling us that life has been great in her Enchanted Kingdom.
To stress her point, she will present boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, Miss International Lara Quigaman, the gold medalists of Southeast Asian games and the Filipinos who made it to Mt. Everest.
While those Filipinos trapped in Lebanon have to endure the endless firepower of Israel pounding Hizbollah targets, Filipinos here will have to endure a different kind visual assault.
Sana ituloy ni Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez na kasuhan si Bishop Antonio Tobias ng Novaliches sa kanyang pagkupkup kay Lt. Lawrence San Juan nang ang tenyente ay tumakas sa kanilang pagkakulong noong Enero nitong taon.
Sabi ni Gonzales at ni Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita imbestigahan raw si Bishop Tobias sa kanyang ginawa at maari pang sampahan ng kaso sa pagtago ng isang taong hinahabol ng pulis at military. 
Si San Juan ay miyembro ng Magdalo na nag-alsa laban kay Arroyo noong 2002 na ngayon ay tinatawag nating Oakwood mutiny. Tumakas siyang noong Enero at nahuli siya pagkatapos ng isang buwan. Noong isang linggo, ipineresenta siya ng military na bumaligtad na raw at nakipag-cooperate na raw sa kanila.
More than 30,000 Filipinos in Lebanon are caught in a war, most of them have no idea what it’s all about.
The Israeli attack on Lebanon, which is on its 10th day, was precipitated by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah fighters in a cross-border raid last July 12 which was immediately answered by Israel with a bombing of Beirut airport. From then on, the destruction of Lebanon has not stopped.
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Two weeks earlier, Hizbollah kidnapped an Israeli in the Gaza strip. That makes three soldiers in the hands of Hizbollah, whose recovery is the primary objective of this latest war in Lebanon which has caused mass evacuations of innocent civilians of all nationalities, the likes of which the world community has not witnessed in recent years.
What is Hizbollah and why is Israel out to crush them?
Pinapalabas ng Malacañang nagsimula na ang evacuation ng mga Filipino sa Lebanon.
Niloloko lang nila ang taumbayan.
Sabi ni Gloria Arroyo taos pusong siyang nagpapasasalamat sa mga lider ng Romano Katoliko sa Lebanon at sa Vatican sa pagtulong sa mga Filipino na ngayon ay hindi malaman kung paano makalabas sa Lebanon ng buhay.
But even here in the Philippines, Filipinos are not safe. Look at what happened to Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan, UP students who remain missing after they were abducted, together with a farmer, Manuel Merino, in Bulacan by unidentified men believed to be soldiers last June 26.
Karen will turn 23 on July 22 and Sherlyn is pregnant.
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It’s ironic that the Filipinos in Lebanon, who now are scampering for safety amidst the Israeli bombing of Hezbollah places in the war-torn country, went there because they were escaping poverty in the Philippines.
The Department of Foreign Affairs places the number of Filipinos in Lebanon at 34,000. Majority, some 25,000, are domestic helpers while the rest are employees in hotels, UN organizations or married to Lebanese nationals.
Other countries, mainly the Americans,Australians, and Europeans are evacuating their nationals. Yet Philippine officials are still talking of moving Filipinos to “pre-designated safe areas.” It’s pathetic.
Nang mabasa ko ang banatan na naman ngayon sa Lebanon, naala-ala ko ang anak ng aming kapitbahay sa Antique.
Ang pangalan niya ay Rizalina at mga 20 anyos siguro. Namasukan bilang katulong sa Iloilo at sa Maynila. Katulad ng maraming mga Pilipino na ang ambisyon ay mag-abroad, nabalitaan niya na may nanganga-ilangan ng katulong sa Lebanon. Nag-apply siya at nakuha naman.
Nang sinabi niya sa akin yun noong isang taon, na pupunta siya sa Lebanon, sinabi ko sa kanyan, “Naku, may giyera sa Lebanon!” Parang wala lang sa kanya at excited siya mag-abroad.