Sunday, January 8
Before the day ends, I’d like to honor an old lady, who, old as she was, gave her everything to help the Katipuneros in their revolution against the tyranny of the Spanish authorities. She was born exactly 200 years ago, for she was born on January 6, 1812
She’s “Tandang Sora” (Old Sora). Her real name is Melchora Aquino. She was 84 years old when the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish sparked in 1896. Even though weak and feeble in old age, she offered her home to the Katipuneros wounded in battle, nursed their wounds and provided these heroes with a hideout to recuperate. That was amidst the watching eyes of the guardia civil. The time came when the Spaniards discovered her and interrogated her, but she remained steadfast and refused to tell where the Katipunan was or what their plans were. She was exiled to Guam, a heavy price she had to pay that not even Apolinario Mabini could not take. Tandang Sora returned to the Philippines after the Americans took over.
Cheers to you Tandang Sora. You taught us that old age is not an excuse to compromise your principles and to not love your country.
(via gardant)
Friday, December 30
Battle of Manila, 1945
(Source: ladyurduja)
Thursday, December 29
A marketplace in the Calubang barrio. Photograph by Carl Mydans. Manila, Philippines, 1942.
(via gardant)
Thursday, December 22
Group of Moro women on Mindanao
1902
Philippines
National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institute
Sunday, December 18
Friday, December 9
Clinton, counter-insurgency and hegemony
For many Filipinos, the 60th anniversary Mutual Defence Treaty is a sad reminder that the sun has yet to set over the nation’s long colonial history. Nearly seven decades after independence, the country still suffers from US dominance in almost every aspect of society. One US official put it this way in a leaked 2009 diplomatic cable: “No nation has the sort of special relationship with the Philippines that we do. No nation has our degree of access, acceptability or influence” (09MANILA612).
Under the Visiting Forces Agreement, a contentious mutual defence accord signed in 1999, US troops can enter the Philippines without a visa and without informing the Philippine public - or even the government - of the specifics of their activities.
If it is within their power to do so, why don’t the Americans - supposed harbingers of democracy worldwide - do more to end human rights abuses in the Philippines?
“They want advances on economic interests, investments in Mindanao and other parts of the country,” said Renato Reyes Jr, secretary-general of Bayan, a nationalist civil society group. “In the region, they want to use the Philippines as a base for power projection in southeast Asia, including projection of power towards China … it provides the US with a base in advancing its hegemonic interests in the region,” Reyes added.
WikiLeaks has helped confirm these arguments. A 2007 cable revealed that “based on incomplete data and unconfirmed reports, the Philippines may have untapped mineral wealth worth between US $840bn and US $1tn”, adding that “multinational firms are already eyeing areas in Mindanao for possible projects”.
Tuesday, December 6
“North Cotabato: Flavors of the road” by Keith Bacongco:
You would know if you are already in Pikit if you hear vendors offer you boiled corn and the town’s most famous delicacy: tinagtag. The latter is a Maguindanaon delicacy made of ground rice and sugar, mixed with little water. The glutinous mixture is poured over a coconut shell drilled with small holes and attached to a wooden stick held with a rope and tied to a pole. This contraption allows the cook to distribute the mixture evenly.
The mixture then drips onto a pan of boiling oil as the cook taps the stick while making a circling motion, forming a round, thin crust with the crisscrossing strips fried until golden brown. It is removed from the pan using a pair of wooden sticks and folded like tacos.
noooooo
Street food = good, but now I’m getting flashbacks to the 15-hour bus ride between the province and the city. Immediate deja vu gut-clench when I saw this picture. I hate those fucking buses so much.
Wednesday, November 30
Takot, kutsabahan, at imbestigasyong palpak sa Ampatuan
Sa isang press conference noong Dis. 3 [2009], inihayag ng Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), MindaNews, at Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) ang mga resulta ng FFM. Indipendiyente ang FFM, at may nakababahalang obserbasyon sa imbestigasyong isinasagawa ng mga awtoridad.
Pinuna ng FFM, halimbawa, ang “maling paghawak ng ebidensiya at kontaminasyon sa eksena ng krimen.” Naabutan ng mga miyembro ng misyon na inirerekober ang mga bangkay gamit ang isang backhoe. (Isang hiwalay na backhoe ang ginamit ng mga suspek para maghukay ng mga libingan) Umano’y dahil sa pagmamadali, pinili ng retrieval team na gamitin na lamang ang backhoe, na nakasira lalo sa mga bangkay, ayon sa kasamang forensic expert ng Commission on Human Rights na si Dr. Raquel Fortun. Ayon sa FFM, nagmadali ang mga awtoridad “dahil sa takot na posibleng gantihan sila ng mga suspek.
WIth the Arroyo trial and the 2 year anniversary bringing the Ampatuan massacre back into the forefront of consciousness, I wanted to see what new evidence had come up.
The above is an older article, written just weeks after the massacre, but the many articles written since then simply echo the same theme: the forensic recovery was carried out poorly, and in consequence, the case is in jeopardy.
Forensic recovery, especially in these arenas of high political stakes, always comes with fear of retribution. But there was an almost cavalier disregard for protocol in this investigation. Evidence was destroyed and mishandled in a manner that only further implicates guilt.
I feel that intervention from the ICC is needed at this point—I don’t know what the CHR can do on its own.
