Writer Floy Quintos wrote this poem after he watched Junel Insigne, captain of the fishing boat Gem-Ver, which was rammed by a Chinese fishing boat midnight of June 9, beside Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol in a press conference June 19.
Insigne, who had insisted the ramming by the Chinese vessel was intentional and denounced the Chinese for abandoning them in the high seas near Recto Bank at midnight, became unsure of what happened during the press conference with Piñol.
Insigne also apologized to President Duterte for thinking that the ”invitation” which he declined came from Malacañang.
Some ridiculed Insigne. Some pitied him. Some were enraged.
Quintos sensed something deep in the forlorn demeanor of Insigne which inspired him to write this searing piece:
You may buy my silence,
my compliance with your twisted truths.
But there is no price
for the tiredness
in my eyes
and the
hardening of my heart.
I will not care for you
when the day of reckoning comes.
No pay-offs
will buy my grief
over your insults,
now masked in
a silence
that screams louder
than the waves.
My eyes have seen them all,
have pierced through
your cowardice and rot.
I accept your bribes
with no gratitude,
for you give me only
what you have taken away.
One day,
when waves of justice
wash relentlessly
over your bodies,
you will know what
it is to cling to even the
falsest of pity.
I shall be watching you then.
The tiredness in my eyes turning into hate.
The hardened core
of my heart
beating once again
with irrational joy.
I shall become
what you have
made me.
A monster of the sea.
Elmer L. Gatchalian translated it to Filipino:
Mabibili mo ang aking katahimikan,
ang aking pagtalima sa iyong mga binaluktot na katotohanan
Ngunit walang katumbas na halaga
ang pagkahapo
sa aking mga mata
at ang paninigas ng aking puso.
Hindi ako mahahabag sa iyo
kapag dumating na ang araw ng paniningil.
Hindi mo mababayaran
ang aking pagdadalamhati
sa iyong mga panlalait,
na ngayo’y natatakpan
ng katahimikang
mas malakas pa ang pagpalahaw
kaysa sa mga alon.
Nakita na ng aking mga mata ang lahat-lahat,
kitang-kita rin nito
ang iyong kaduwagan at pagkabulok.
Tatanggapin ko ang iyong mga suhol
nang walang pagtanaw ng utang na loob,
dahil ang ibinibigay mo lang naman
ay iyong ninakaw mo rin sa akin.
Darating ang araw,
kapag rumagasa na ang mga alon ng hustisya
sa inyong katawan,
mapagtatanto n’yo rin
kung paano kumapit sa awa,
gaano man ito kahuwad.
Pagmamasdan ko kayo sa araw na iyon.
Ang pagkahapo sa aking mga mata’y
mapapalitan ng pagkamuhi.
Ang pinakamatigas na kaibuturan
ng aking puso
ay muling titibok
dahil sa di maipaliwanag na kaligayahan.
Ako’y magiging nilalang
na kayo rin ang may kagagawan.
Isang halimaw ng karagatan.
I did not pity the kapitan, I was not enraged and not ridiculing him po ako sa kanya. but, I so admire him po for knowing when to back down, a man among mice siya.
there comes a time in any kapitan’s life when he has to back down. no shame in that. even justices sa supreme court backed down at nag-flip flopped din po sila, not once but a number of times.
lessons are learnt. and now I think the kapitan knows who to trust and who not to trust.
life will go on, the kapitan is entitled to his own feelings and emotion, maybe sad at being betrayed, but he’ll get over it and be happy again; healed and wiser. and I hope he is not too bitter and blinkered at magtatanin ng puot that he’ll miss opportunities, putting his hurt in front of him instead of behind him.
also, I think the kapitan’s white sando is fashion statement of the oppressed. not only was he made to appear half dressed and therefore half naked, his embarrassment broadcasted sa buong bayan katabi siya ni well dressed pinyol, and not one of those present around had given the kapitan time to cover up.
and compared to pinyol’s excessive show of force, his police bodyguards heavily armed and in riot gear as though expecting riot from unarmed and grieving fishermen, dapat duon sa recto bank mismo ang show of force ni pinyol. and those fiberglass bangkas given to the fishermen na kulang yata ng horsepower dont need guarding. hindi pang-recto ang mga iyon, they’ll run out of puff.
it was the fishermen that showed maximum tolerance, lol!
the first photo above is worth a thousand words. no amount of posturing or gifts of consolation can assuage how the fishermen felt. they were abandoned twice: first by the chinese in the cold deep waters of recto bank,second by their president and his subalterns who where mandated by their oath of office to afford them protection.
mere accident at sea kuno at hindi intentional. ang dulo ng bangka where the engine was located was hit. had the other dulo been hit and not where the engine was, the bangka might have been able to limp home, my opinion lang po.
and if only the people at the yacht club was tapped and their ideas sought, a better picture might have emerged. the speed that the captain of the chinese trawler was traveling might have been calculated vs the impact on the bangka. at kung talagang the chinese captain tried to evade collision, he should have cut off his engine and drop the anchor, that should slow down the trawler, maybe meters only from the bangka.
I think, for politicians to be saying not intentional ang nangyari, might have been whitewashing and not informed statement.