The US Occupation of the Philippines (series #4)

At the World’s Fair.  Portrait of the Filipinos as the Missing Link?

(click on the picture to enlarge)

Who’s in Charge?

How hard is it to find out if the American troops  are really on official mission in Zamboanga and if they are, that they are not overstaying?

That the news about it has been for days on the headlines of the Philippines most widely circulated broadsheet daily is reason enough for the  government, especially the military and executive departments to look into it and clarify the issue.  And now it is Zamboanga City’s represenative in congress bewailing it.

But nobody seems to be in charge.  Or nobody seems to care. Not even the occupant of Malacanang has anything to say.

As it is,   “Belle helicopters and the American planes (are) occupying one side of the hangar as if they already owned a certain portion of (our) airport”, bewailed Zamboanga Representative Climaco.    DYN Corp., a private firm that reportedly takes care of the US troops’ supplies has extended presence there as well.

Apparently, not even US ambassador Kenney has a convincing explanation or even just an explanation for that matter.

Where they used to be just hunting Abu Sayyaf bandits in Basilan, they now occupy Western Mindanao Command.

The congresswoman from Zamboanga cannot get an answer. The local officals cannot get an answer.  The people’s organizations cannot get an answer.  Not from where one would naturally get it.

So what else is new?  You would think that news and answers to questions of national import would fly thick and fast like they were showbiz news or text jokes, but no.  You would think that every politician of all hues and government official of all levels would outdo each other in every press conferences and hearings assuring us of the integrity of our territory and rallying  citizenry in defense of sovereignty, but no.

All we hear are a few vague answers that do not clear anything they might better have not been given at all.  All we had are the muted voices of the government’s usually loud barking dogs.

Officials who do not understand the essence of sovereignty have no business running a government.  and a country whose people cannot defend it with their lives have no reason for being.

But all is not lost.  Satur Ocampo and company have filed a resolution in congress seeking to probe this anomaly.

Hopefully, it will bring to light who really is in charge.  But then again, isn’t it already obvious?

Himala is Top Asian Film

CNN came up with a provsional list of Top Asian films of all time and the late Ishmael Bernal’s hallucinatory film on feudal culture Himala made it to the list. The list is provisional and invites criticism for including New Zealand in its list — CNN for all its vast network apparently doesn’t know its geography.  And how about a movie on monster in a Korean river (Gwoemul)?

What happened to Kurosawa’s Rashomon or  Yimou’s Raise the Red lantern? And no Ozu, Park or Suzuki either?  Well, it’s CNN not AFI.

I like Himala, along with Manila by Night,  Brocka’s opuses Tinimbang ka Ngunit Kulang, Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag and Insiang,  O’ Hara’s masterpiece Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos and De Leon’s Kisapmata,

Nora Aunor as Elsa

Bernal is such a genius on social commentary and paints on a wide canvas, and Himala is definitely a social realist tour de force unmatched in its scope and images in Philippine cinema.  (The oeuvre of this generation of Filipino film makers remains unsurpassed in quality and dimension.)

Himala is good choice and I support its inclusion in the list. But Philippine cinema has a lot more nuggets in a generally trash industry.

The US Occupation of the Philippines (series #3)

Makati 1899 (click on the picture to enlarge)

The US Occupation of the Philippines (series #2)

Lucky? (click on the picture to enlarge)

Overstaying Visitor

Baghdad? No, Zamboanga, Philippines. So what else is new? Inquirer photo.

What surprised me about the news regarding the local officials of Zamboanga complaining about the seemingly permanent deployment of US soldiers in Zamboanga  was not the questionable presence of these foreign troops but rather the belated reaction of our officials to it.

It took them all of 6 years before they started to even entertain thoughts about it when the same was obvious even before the passage of the Visiting Forces Agreement.

I remember when during the heat of the debate regarding the ratification of the VFA those favoring it enumerated all the instant benefits the country would allegedly get from it — infrastructure (they will build roads and bridges and schools), peace and order (the indestructible GI Joe running after the blood-thirsty axis-of-evil spin-offs Abu Sayaff bandits, who were by the way a creation of the CIA), vibrant economy ( the troops on R&R will stir activity and peaceful climate will attract investment), humanitarian aid (expeditious relief during calamities and and social services to rural areas) and a host of other services you would think our government agencies (or the government itself) are totally useless we might as well abolish them.  And besides, there’s no permanent basing, they assured with certainty, only visits.

Apparently, the troops aren’t leaving anytime soon and the visits more like permanent deployment.

For six years, the harmless visits were consistent they practically never leave — each batch leaves only to be replaced by a bigger one, every term ends only to be upgraded to a longer one, and each exercise folds only to be renewed as a wider one –  you would think the islands is one big US military base.   Whereas before they were confined to Subic and Clark shooting Filipino children mistaken for wild boars, they now freely roam the countryside from Cagayan Valley to Basilan looking for terrorists.

Of course we know what has happened to the great promise of the VFA — w e gave up sovereignty for food on the table and nights of quietude but ended up losing them all.

What has happened to our people?   So proud yet so inglorious. So content yet so wanting. So heroic yet so lethargic.

It is not merely the lack of sense of history that causes us to mess up with our national life, it is more our utter lack of clear understanding of the essence of national sovereignty and territorial integrity –  the foundations of a truly independent nation, the  source of international respect.

But we would rather always sell ourselves to the highest bidder, mistaking this whore mentality for economic pragmatism. We always give up our sovereignty at the drop of a hat and wonder why our nation is at the bottom of development and global respect.

See how the Mining Act allows the plunder of our resources by foreigners. Find out why JPEPA is so wantonly unfavorable to our people.  Realize how the IMF-WB policies sentence this nation to perpetual indebtedness. Learn how the WTO will spell disaster to our toiling masses of workers and peasants. Discover how the US global war on terror represses our people and violate our sovereignty.

Not surprisingly these visitors come in all kinds of guises and use all forms of pretext, and we are just always all too willing to be hospitable to them, no matter how long they overstay.

When will we ever come to our senses and have the courage to make them pack their bags and leave for good?

It’s the Music

When  Eraserheads broke up years ago, I was nonetheless comforted by the thought that its musical legacy that defined a period – the alternative music era of the 90’s that practically sidelined the solo artists – was what mattered. True enough, while they may not be the greatest of artists, their music lived on. What more can a true artist wish for than be emulated for their songs.

Remember their parental guidance-rated debut album Ultraelectromagneticpop – a play on the 70’s robot anime Voltes V weapon – with Pare Ko having an original and tamed version? How about the senseless Toyang with its unpretentious Beatles sound? Yes, The Beatles  –  the single biggest influence in Ely Buendia’s music whether he admits it or not, whether we believe or not. Well, he was actually vocal and visual — notice the Lennon glasses and hair, the shirt, the guitar –about it. Such is the influence that anyone familiar with the Beatles music – and who is not? — would think Lennon reincarnated as Buendia to give hope in this accursed nation.

But there lies the power and appeal of E-heads’ music — a creative harmony of lyrical power and great melody that resonates with familiar stories of love, life and nostalgia ( the sentimental Minsan, the poignant Huling El Bimbo). And interestingly, what the Beatles captured in the 60’s, E-heads with the former’s marked influence,  managed to captivate in the 90’s — the youth.  Alapaap for one, and arguably the E-heads best song, was inspired by Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Some would argue E-heads, or Buendia for that matter, is pa-Beatles. I agree.  But what of it?  Still they are no mere cardboard or copycats but are built on their own material – something that cannot be said of other so-called great artists — Pineda for one, who  despite his being hired by an international rock band still has to come up with a hit of his own (how many ways can you interpret Perry?)  Certainly, Yoyoy Willame is more authentic   with his Butchikik  (and admirable in his troubadour character in O’Hara’s Babae sa Breakwater.)

Buendia undeniably doesn’t know how to sing,  but their music more than makes up for this inability — it is direct from their hearts to yours with raw vocals  part of its artistic honesty and musical integrity.  This is not to say they are as great as the Beatles, they are a cosmos far from being so.  But to pack a venue with 60,000 fans for a reunion concert and not while at the peak of their career is a feat unmatched by any Pinoy band.

So here’s to Eresherheads and Buendia’s recovery, a wish that we may relive those days of their youthful music minsan pa.