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Pinoy Weekly

Justified Imprudence

They are such a polite lot, those worthy scholars of the people under the Association of Political Science Majors or APSM. Angered by militant students' egg- and muck-throwing of Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, these idealistic (read: naive!) students came up with a statement demanding that the UP student council and their grim-and-determined fellows from Vinzons apologize to them and the public because of the incident. They specifically asked council chair Paolo Alfonso to publicly apologize "for his actions which were subsequently misconstrued as the general behavior of the UP studentry by the greater public."

What the heck are those UP political science professors teaching these kids?

First, let us state the obvious: The egg- and muck-throwing happened after the forum, after Esperon had left Claro M. Recto hall. If it happened while Esperon was speaking in the forum, there would have been much reason in APSM demanding apology from Alfonso, for Esperon was their responsibility as an invited speaker. He is a guest, after all. We are all familiar with the concept of Pinoy hospitality, and the APSM kids are obviously not beyond practicing this cultural relic of our feudal past.

Should we continue to open our doors to all people, even those of undesirable character, nevermind that known cheats and killers would understandably not expect people to welcome them in their homes? Or in this case, nevermind that considering the humongous flak the military is getting because of its horrible human rights record Esperon should have expected such incidents wherever he goes in the country? Or nevermind that government officials and public figures not nearly as controversial as Esperon should expect cries -- or in this case, eggs -- of indignation to be thrown their way wherever they go for sticking to a much-hated and discredited regime as Arroyo's?

There are actually similar situations where controversial VIPs grace events -- the National Press Club's rigodon night, for one -- where they know they will be humiliated. In the case of Esperon's visit to UP, he should have expected to be humilitated, if only for the abduction and continued detention of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño. I guess, having a thick face gets in the way of those realizations.

What those super-sensitive APSM kids must realize is that they are in UP, the so-called hotbed of radicalism, of impertinence and imprudence. Bold fraternity men with placards to boot run around the campus naked, for chrissakes! Almost every moral norm has been violated in UP, particularly in Sunken Garden and Lagoon, and they are concerned about a simple egg-throwing! They should ask their fellow students in the History department to tell them about the First Quarter Storm of 1970, when militant kids their age stormed Batasan during Marcos's state of the nation address and threw an effigy right at the would-be dictator's feet, sparking a quarter-long series of huge protests and confrontations that would be cited as the finest hour of the Philippine student movement. They should ask about the so-called Diliman Commune in 1971, that, while not exactly the type of commune American and European hippies had during the Sexual Revolution, had its share of impetinence with students taking over the campus, renaming Palma Hall as Sison Hall, etc., and playing over DZUP tapes of B-movie actress Dovie Beams having sex with Marcos.

It is way, way beyond any expectations of hospitality and politeness to feel offended when Esperon gets "egged" after he steps out of the conference room.

But what is less obvious but nevertheless must be pointed out to these kids -- and especially the administration officials so keen on using APSM to attack the militants -- is that the armed conflict that is raging all over the country can never be settled by mere talk. It is the height of naivete to claim that their forum was an "example of the meeting of divergent sides". APSM supposedly prides itself for making space "where both ends of the political spectrum meet", but there is no such space. I was once a writer for human rights group Karapatan, and I heard so many, many times the stories of human rights workers engaging the military in a dialogue, asking them to investigate this or that case, or politely pleading to them to pull out of areas where human rights violations occur. Very, very seldom do these dialogues bear fruit. Often these dialogues occur to the detriment of the very ones engaged in dialogue -- the human rights advocates, the families of the victims, who henceforth become targets of the attacks they so passionately raised their voices against.

They only have to know the story of Eden Marcellana, human rights worker, and Eddie Gumanoy, peasant leader. They, too, raised their voices. They used words to expose the inequities that they witnessed. Eden, according to those she worked with, had an encyclopedic knowledge of human rights cases, and was especially skillful with negotiations with the military whenever they go to fact finding missions. She held countless dialogues with Jovito Palparan and his murderous cabal, in Mindoro, in Quezon, in Batangas. Her fate is a testament to how the military and the state settle arguments. They can't argue with her, but they won the argument by pelting her body with bullet and blows.

The militant students only pelted Esperon with eggs and muck, instead of grenades, which some of their youthful counterparts in Palestine or Iran would probably choose. The kids are understandably angry. The question in my mind, though, is why those other kids in the APSM are not.

Posted by: kr.guda at 11:27 | link | comments (1)

Save Your Collegian

The Philippine Collegian, that cultural icon, is once again under attack. The UP administration is blocking the release of its funds as long as the current staff refuses to yield to the former its right to facilitate bidding for the printing. Current editors suspect two things: One, an administration official may have printing business interests at stake; and two, political forces within and without the administration want the "freeest newspaper" in the country silenced.

In any case, this is a clear sign of press freedom repression and should be resisted.

In pleading to the alumni and the interested public in behalf of the Collegian, I have compiled some quotes containing some people's opinions of the paper:

Save Your Collegian

"The Collegian (during my time) was a brilliant and courageous paper. It was independent, defiant, highly intelligent, and greatly innovative. It took on all leading issues of the day -- international, national and campus...I look bak to the Collegian experience with fondness, sometimes to the point of being maudlin. This is so becuase the paper is a world by itself. It bows to no one in brilliance, independent thinking, creativity, nationalist and liberal orientation, and most of all, white heat courage. This is the Collegian that I know."

- Homobono Adaza, lawyer
Philippine Collegian Editor in Chief, 1956, 1957-58

"The University of the Philippines without the Collegian? This would be the ultimate oxymoron. It's like striking at the very heart of the country's preeminent institution of higher learning. Put another way, the Collegian had embodied the soul of the university."

- Belinda A. Aquino, porfessor, University of Hawaii-Minoa

"As a former staff of the Philippine Collegian, I know from personal experience that the autonomy of the Philippine Collegian is a product of decades of student militancy asserting the democratization and autonomy of student publications and organizations in UP. The UP Diliman administration' s current moves to stifle the publication of the Philippine Collegian under the guise of "fiscal control" should be strongly opposed."

- Judy Taguiwalo, activist and educator
former Philippine Collegian staff (60s, I suppose =)

"f I recall right, UP went on to become a beacon of light in a time of darkness during martial law. The student paper UP Collegian in particular rushed in where the national newspapers feared to tread..."

Conrado de Quiros, "Naked Truth"
in There's the Rub, PDI, August 31, 2006

"True to UP tradition, dissent did not die down but was undertaken in discreet ways...The Collegian resumed publication in 1973 under terms dictated by the Mass Media Council. But even with stringent rules, the Collegian managed to publish nationalist articles and was another venue for dissent. .."

- Oscar Evangelista, retired professor of History, UP Diliman

"It was during the consecutive terms of Reynato Puno, Leonardo Quisumbing and Louie (Teodoro) as editors-in-chief that the Philippine Collegian became an outstanding and consistent vehicle of the ideas of the national democratic movement against US imperialism and the local exploiting classes. Since then, most of the time the editors of the Collegian and the student council leaders have been staunchly patriotic and progressive. "

- Jose Maria Sison, political refugee, the Netherlands
Collegian Research Editor, 1961-62

Today, the Philippine Collegian, that historical icon, is under attack. The UP Administration is blocking the release of the paper's printing funds and questions the autonomy of the most prestigious and "freest" newspaper in the country .

Help save your Collegian.

Posted by: kr.guda at 11:54 | link | comments

The Terrorists Rule Palanca!

Bad news for Raul Gonzalez, Norberto Gonzales, Avelino Cruz, Eduardo Ermita, Ignacio Bunye, Hermogenes Esperon, Oscar Calderon, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself! The "terrorists" have "infiltrated" not only the august halls of the Congress, the ranks of the media, non-government organizations, and Amnesty International, but also almost every award-giving body for artistic endeavors!

Yes, readers, even prestigious, decidedly conformist bodies like the government-run Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP being often mistaken for, ahem, CPP), the National Artist awards and, now, the Palanca, have recognized the devilish brilliance and sheer deviousness of these militant commies and terrorists. Their ungodly propaganda work has now permeated mainstream consciousness, and achieved acclaim even from our  law-abiding, god-fearing guardians of good taste!

Though not a new phenomenon -- progressives, from Lope K. Santos and Amado V. Hernandez to Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal ("dirty homos", Isagani Cruz called their likes), cunningly sneaking in to our psyches through the education system and popular culture -- militants bagging all kinds of awards for creative work are growing in number today. This despite repeated efforts from Gloria's posse of punchline connoiseurs to frighten the public by portraying progressive activists as the quintessential enemies of everything nice and dandy.

Palanca judges, some of them too polite to offend even the thinnest skinned saint, are to be credited.  For whatever reason, they have allowed the militants to once again score another one against Gloria who hates the guts of those pesky, pesky militants...

Posted by: kr.guda at 11:08 | link | comments (1)