It immediately
started as almost a disaster. I left for my meeting with more than an
hour of lead time. I leisurely walked to the Metro station thinking to
easily take my ride to my school, L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences
Sociales (EHESS). I ended up taking the wrong train. Luckily I realized
it only after a station, and the station was still just near my hotel.
So I went back first to my hotel to have a change of clothes and
backpack as I was perspiring profusely, due to uncomfortable weight of
my backpack's contents. I was laughing to myself, and also consoled
myself with the thought that at least I got lost in Paris, and not just
in Bankerohan Davao City. ha ha ha
! As my appointment was fast approaching, I decided to take the taxi,
as based on Google map, and a paper map, it should only be max 15
minutes from where I was, even given the traffic. So, I took the cab. It
was a bit late when I realized that the driver was taking me via a
longer route. I immediately felt like I was being driven by some
unscrupulous driver in le Manille. But I just kept my peace. Eventually,
the driver, whether truly or just contrivingly, turned out not to also
actually know where my school is. He eventually advised me to disembark
right beside the Bibliotheque Nationale Francois Mitterand, given that
it was supposedly the landmark shown to be beside my school in the paper
map. I did get off, obligingly, as I was about to lose my patience. So I
did some walk first, trying to make sense where I was. And, again,
realized that I still am lost, for the second time! Yet, as they say,
out of crooked lines, straight lines can emerge. According to some
readings I've done about the people of Paris, Parisienes may come out
aloof in first glance. BUT I personally found out the OPPOSITE! I
approached for help (with my practiced and prepared "Bonjour!
Parley-vous Anglais?" greeting), FIVE PEOPLE in all ( some in suits and
others apparently in some other work attires). And much to my surprise,
EVERYONE I APPROACHED NEVER TURNED ME DOWN, and even REALLY HELPED me
figure out my destination with my paper map, AND EVEN WENT FURTHER AS
THEY EVEN USED THE MAP THEY HAD ON THEIR PHONES. So, here I was in the
city of Sartre, Hugo, Levinas, Foucault, lost, a total stranger, but not
so lost and not so total a stranger at all. I ended up literally
circling the Bibliotheque Nationale (which was really quite a distance).
The last person I approached, in expensive Burberry coat and other
clothes, even kindly walked me up to the foyer of L'Ecole des Hautes
Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). MY! Great things didn't end there.
Having been informed by the porter, one of my Program's Professors,
Prof. Luc Berlivet, even really went down to meet and bring me up to our
Secretary's office. Our Secretary, Ms. Zeina Bechar, was also kindness
incarnated. My two Program classmates, Maria Cristina Murano and
Malgorzata Ryczer were also already in the office, and they were also
relieved to see me, and helped guide me through the documentary
requirements, as they've went through them earlier. Also, these four
people, though they all speak French, obviously decided to speak in
English the whole time I was with them so that I don't get excluded.
Indeed, these people only showed me all kindness and consideration the
whole time we were all together. After doing our administrative stuff
and lunch, Prof. Berlivet, without me asking (neither implicitly nor
explicitly) even really and literally went out of his way to deliver me
to my hotel via the Metro. Thus also teaching me the way in the Metro
(which actually was just as simple as taking the MRT/LRT in Manila).
After bringing me home, Prof. Berlivet also told me that he'll pick me
up again today (because I and my two other classmates are to have
another appointment at another office somewhere in Paris). I actually
would have wanted to go on my on to today's appointment. However, with
all the generosity the kind Professor extended to me, the least I can
also do is to also be generous and humble in my accepting his kindness.
The day's greatness didn't end there. Due to all the perspiration
(leading to electrolyte imbalance) for all that walking, and especially
with the 9C temperature to which my body was still adjusting to, I went
went through some bouts of painful cramps when I was already in my room.
In the past, my immediate and very effective remedy was either a bottle
of Gatorade or a packet of electrolyte dissolved in a glass of water.
And none was available. Absent such, I decided to opt for a home remedy:
ordinary table salt and some sugar mixed with water. So, I called the
lady hotel owner over the intercom and requested for salt (as I have
some sweets in my room which can sub for sugar) if she had any. AND, she
just kindly obliged and even personally brought the salt to my room.
WOW! So, to all and sundry, based on my direct and multiple experiences
yesterday, the Parisienes aren't cold, nor aloof. They're very warm,
kind, even to strangers. Merci beaucoup chers Parisiens! Today, my
earlier misfortune simply fortunately led me to see the palpably better,
kinder, more responsible (in the Levinasian manner) side of Paris.
Indeed, yesterday was a BIG DAY, an IMPORTANT DAY, not only for all the
necessary administrative requirements I attended to for my PhD program
at EHESS, but most especially for all that responsible touch and gift of
kindness and generosity most especially from strangers, who turned out
to be no strangers at all. Through their magnanimous actions they showed
that underneath the label of nationality, or even skin color, we all
indeed are familiar, thus connected and not strangers, to each other, by
way of our common humanity. Indeed, I GOT LOST IN PARIS, AND HAD A
GREAT DAY YESTERDAY! God bless us all!
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
PLANNING OF MIGRATING TO NON-APPLE PRODUCTS
Thank you very much APPLE! iPhone6, iPhone6s, and i-Watch HAVE ALREADY
COME OUT, YET MY REPLACEMENT UNIT FOR MY HARDWARE DEFECTIVE JURASSIC
iPHONE 4 HASN'T YET ARRIVED. AS OF TODAY 10 SEPTEMBER, the unit hasn't
even left Singapore, and I made the request WAY BACK 15 AUGUST 2014. I'm
not anymore losing sleep over the thought of eventually MIGRATING to
NON-Apple products, even if right now I've SEVERAL APPLE PRODUCTS.
Bantay lang ka APPLE!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
THE MAKATI PARKING BUILDING IS OVERPRICED. PERIOD.
The contractor the Makati Parking Building, HILMARC'S Construction, so as to parry the accusations that the said building is overpriced, cited the cost of other government buildings which cost no less than P61,000/sq.m. But such defense doesn't make the Makati Parking Building still any less OVERPRICED. It simply shows that some government buildings are OVERPRICED, and that includes the Makati Parking Building. That the PRACTICE OF OVERPRICING SEEMED TO BE NORM IN CONSTRUCTION OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, DOESN'T IN ANY WAY MAKE SUCH OVERPRICING LEGALLY, ETHICALLY, POLITICALLY ACCEPTABLE. Thus it simply shows that THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY REALLY WRONG in the pricing of GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS (AND WHO KNOWS EVEN OTHER GOVERNMENT CONSTRUCTIONS). Thus indeed the Senate is right in having this hearing IN AID OF LEGISLATION. LAWS MUST THUS BE CREATED SO AS TO PROHIBIT THE GLARING, REASON-DEFYING OVERPRICING of government constructions. Also, IT'S BUT LOGICAL AND ETHICAL THAT THOSE caught BREAKING THE LAW for such OVERPRICING MUST ALSO BE PROSECUTED, AND EVENTUALLY BE BROUGHT BEFORE AND BEHIND THE BARS OF JUSTICE.
Monday, August 25, 2014
DEPED ERRS IN REMOVING "GOD-LOVING" IN ITS VISION STATEMENT WITHOUT PROPER PUBLIC CONSULTATION
HEEDING THE 99.02% OF THE CITIZENRY SIMPLY WHO BELIEVE IN A SUPREME
BEING ISN’T THEOCRACY BUT DEMOCRACY. BELOW IS THE LATEST DATA FROM THE
NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE ABOUT THE STATUS OF RELIGION IN THE
PHILIPPINES. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines#Religion)
Religions in the Philippines
Roman Catholic 80.6%
Islam 5.6%
Protestants 4.35%
Evangelical Christians 2.7%
Iglesia ni Cristo 2.45%
Other Religions 4.29%
Atheists and Agnostics 0.08%
In 2014 Philippines in Figures by the National Statistics Office.
A group calling itself Filipino Freethinkers advocated for the removal of the word "God-loving" in Dep-ed's vision because the said group thinks that such is a "clear violation of the principle of secularism." Is this real democracy, or simply the tyranny of a minority, thus an Aristocracy or Autocracy? True, the Philippines is a secular society. Yet, even if it’s a secular society, it's one where 99.02% of its population still consider themselves to be believers of a Supreme Being. Being a secular state though doesn’t mean that the state must TOTALLY RID ITSELF of EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING RELATED TO RELIGION, and most specially if the citizens of the state are religious believers. Please let me cite a source that shows that where even states which are considered to be heavily secular also give official credence to religion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_state):
Not all legally secular states are completely secular in practice.
• In France for example, many Christian holy days are official holidays for the public administration, and teachers in Catholic schools are salaried by the state.[4] In some European states (Germany, Switzerland, Belgium) where secularism confronts monoculturalist philanthropy some of the main Christian sects and sects of other religions depend on the state for some of the financial resources for their religious charities.[5] It is common in Corporate law and Charity law to prohibit them from using those funds to organize religious worship in a separate place of worship or for conversion; the religious body itself must provide the religious content, educated clergy and lay-persons to exercise its own functions and may choose to afford part of their time to the separate charities. To that effect some of those charities establish secular organizations that manage part of or all of the donations from the main religion(s). Religious and atheist organizations can apply for equivalent funding from the government and receive subsidies either based on assessed social results where there is indirect religious state funding, sometimes that assessment is simply the number of beneficiaries of those organisations.[6] This resembles Charitable choice in the United States. Overt direct state funding of religions is on the whole doubtfully in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights though it would not yet appear to have been decided at supranational level in ECtHR case law stemming from the rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which mandates non-discrimination in affording its co-listed basic social rights; specifically, funding certain services would not accord with non-discriminatory state action.[7]
• In India, the government gives a subsidy in airfare for Muslims going on Haj pilgrimage (See Haj subsidy). In 2007, the government had to spend Rs. 47,454 per passenger.[8] After considerable pressure from Muslim groups and the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Congress government in 2010 decided to begin phasing out the Haj subsidy that had been in operation since 1993. The Central Haj Committee of India will work through the Ministry of External Affairs to restructure the air fares so that the richer Hadjis will pay a premium for the poorer pilgrims. The entire restructuring is expected to take about seven years and be completed by 2017.[9] India is also the only non-Muslim/Christian majority country in the world where Muslims and Christians have separate laws.[10][11]
Many states that nowadays are secular in practice may have legal vestiges of an earlier established religion. Secularism also has various guises which may coincide with some degree of official religiosity. In the United Kingdom, the head of state is still required to take the 1688-enacted Coronation Oath swearing to maintain the Protestant Reformed religion in the United Kingdom and preserve the established Church of England.[12] The United Kingdom also maintains positions in the House of Lords for 26 senior clergymen of the Church of England known as the Lords Spiritual.[13]
Sec. Armin Luistro must revisit this decision, not because he's a Catholic. But MOST SPECIALLY because 99.02% of the citizens of the Philippines are believers in a Supreme Being, and not non-believers. Heeding 99.02% of the citizenry doesn't violate the separation of church and state, nor makes our state a theocracy. Heeding the 99.02% of the citizenry simply is DEMOCRACY. Democracy demands that at least the majority of the citizens be heeded. Was there a PUBLIC CONSULTATION ABOUT THIS MATTER? Or was the said decision made only giving due consideration to one group, which doesn’t actually represent the MAJORITY of the citizenry? True, it’s quite discomfiting at times for a minority that it doesn’t always get what it wants. But that’s but part of the process of political democracy. Majority rules. Majority wins. That's political democracy. Allowing a small cohort to IMPOSE ITSELF upon the majority, especially when it’s against the WILL of the MAJORITY, is ACTUALLY AGAINST secular or democratic principles. It’s simply a TYRANNY of a FEW: AUTOCRACY or ARISTOCRACY.
Religions in the Philippines
Roman Catholic 80.6%
Islam 5.6%
Protestants 4.35%
Evangelical Christians 2.7%
Iglesia ni Cristo 2.45%
Other Religions 4.29%
Atheists and Agnostics 0.08%
In 2014 Philippines in Figures by the National Statistics Office.
A group calling itself Filipino Freethinkers advocated for the removal of the word "God-loving" in Dep-ed's vision because the said group thinks that such is a "clear violation of the principle of secularism." Is this real democracy, or simply the tyranny of a minority, thus an Aristocracy or Autocracy? True, the Philippines is a secular society. Yet, even if it’s a secular society, it's one where 99.02% of its population still consider themselves to be believers of a Supreme Being. Being a secular state though doesn’t mean that the state must TOTALLY RID ITSELF of EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING RELATED TO RELIGION, and most specially if the citizens of the state are religious believers. Please let me cite a source that shows that where even states which are considered to be heavily secular also give official credence to religion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_state):
Not all legally secular states are completely secular in practice.
• In France for example, many Christian holy days are official holidays for the public administration, and teachers in Catholic schools are salaried by the state.[4] In some European states (Germany, Switzerland, Belgium) where secularism confronts monoculturalist philanthropy some of the main Christian sects and sects of other religions depend on the state for some of the financial resources for their religious charities.[5] It is common in Corporate law and Charity law to prohibit them from using those funds to organize religious worship in a separate place of worship or for conversion; the religious body itself must provide the religious content, educated clergy and lay-persons to exercise its own functions and may choose to afford part of their time to the separate charities. To that effect some of those charities establish secular organizations that manage part of or all of the donations from the main religion(s). Religious and atheist organizations can apply for equivalent funding from the government and receive subsidies either based on assessed social results where there is indirect religious state funding, sometimes that assessment is simply the number of beneficiaries of those organisations.[6] This resembles Charitable choice in the United States. Overt direct state funding of religions is on the whole doubtfully in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights though it would not yet appear to have been decided at supranational level in ECtHR case law stemming from the rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which mandates non-discrimination in affording its co-listed basic social rights; specifically, funding certain services would not accord with non-discriminatory state action.[7]
• In India, the government gives a subsidy in airfare for Muslims going on Haj pilgrimage (See Haj subsidy). In 2007, the government had to spend Rs. 47,454 per passenger.[8] After considerable pressure from Muslim groups and the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Congress government in 2010 decided to begin phasing out the Haj subsidy that had been in operation since 1993. The Central Haj Committee of India will work through the Ministry of External Affairs to restructure the air fares so that the richer Hadjis will pay a premium for the poorer pilgrims. The entire restructuring is expected to take about seven years and be completed by 2017.[9] India is also the only non-Muslim/Christian majority country in the world where Muslims and Christians have separate laws.[10][11]
Many states that nowadays are secular in practice may have legal vestiges of an earlier established religion. Secularism also has various guises which may coincide with some degree of official religiosity. In the United Kingdom, the head of state is still required to take the 1688-enacted Coronation Oath swearing to maintain the Protestant Reformed religion in the United Kingdom and preserve the established Church of England.[12] The United Kingdom also maintains positions in the House of Lords for 26 senior clergymen of the Church of England known as the Lords Spiritual.[13]
Sec. Armin Luistro must revisit this decision, not because he's a Catholic. But MOST SPECIALLY because 99.02% of the citizens of the Philippines are believers in a Supreme Being, and not non-believers. Heeding 99.02% of the citizenry doesn't violate the separation of church and state, nor makes our state a theocracy. Heeding the 99.02% of the citizenry simply is DEMOCRACY. Democracy demands that at least the majority of the citizens be heeded. Was there a PUBLIC CONSULTATION ABOUT THIS MATTER? Or was the said decision made only giving due consideration to one group, which doesn’t actually represent the MAJORITY of the citizenry? True, it’s quite discomfiting at times for a minority that it doesn’t always get what it wants. But that’s but part of the process of political democracy. Majority rules. Majority wins. That's political democracy. Allowing a small cohort to IMPOSE ITSELF upon the majority, especially when it’s against the WILL of the MAJORITY, is ACTUALLY AGAINST secular or democratic principles. It’s simply a TYRANNY of a FEW: AUTOCRACY or ARISTOCRACY.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
A CAUTIONARY TALE: JOVITO PALPARAN
Retired Major General (AFP) Jovito Palparan
was finally caught by a combined team of lawmen after around 3 years of
being on the run. I can't help but shake my head when I saw how this
person who once wielded the power of
life and death over people (and if accusations are the be believed, more
of death) looked so nondescript, rail-thin, unkempt, unshaven,
miserable. Seemingly, the powers he is said to have used to haunt, hunt,
and taunt people have turned on him themselves, turning him into a mere
specter of what he once was.
Jovito. The said name comes from "Jove," the abbreviated version of "Jupiter,' the king of the Roman pantheon of deities, the Roman counterpart of the Greek Zeus. Jove, Jupiter is considered the god of thunder, and is symbolized by the eagle. The eagle thus became a powerful symbol among Romans as they showed in their insignias and battle gears. Jove, as combination of thunder and the eagle was thus considered a "sky god". And as a sky god, according to Wikipedia, he was considered "a divine witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which justice and good government depend." Jove, with all his power, used such power as a dispenser of justice and good governance. Jove, is also the word from which "jovial" or "happy" came from. And also where the word "juvenile," meaning "youthful," came from. Thus Jove/Jupiter is also known to be a god of a life of happiness, of life-giving energy.
But that was Jove, the Roman god. Jovito Palparan, based on the cases filed against him, also had power. But, again, based on the cases versus him, he instead used his power to become not a dispenser of justice and good governance, but as judge and executioner, thus "Berdugo" (executioner) they used to call him. Again, based on accusations against him, his justice was summary justice; his good was self-righteous; his governance was one of oppression; his happiness born of sadistic enjoyment; his juvenile energy one of dark delinquency.
But now, he has fallen. Whether contrived or real, what he showed was tameness. BUT, based on interviews he granted, we MUSN'T MISS THE FACT THAT he remained CALMLY REMAINED UNREPENTANT, CALMLY showed NO SIGN OF REMORSE of things he was/is accused of. In his own eyes, he remains innocent, as he "only did what he needed to do." And he actually isn't alone in his stance. Human history is replete with such very dark Joves.
Jovito Palparan has fallen, but he hasn't allowed himself to accept his defeat. And some people think such stance as heroic. Yet, such is but the opposite: tragically myopic. "Hell is when one becomes happy with one's own sadness," said one of the characters in one of the late Robin Williams' films (What Dreams May Come).
And so, for all his former power, influence, and still-persistent unrepentance, yet when one envisages Jovito Palparan's present state of being nondescript, rail-thin, unkempt, unshaven, and miserable, one can simply conclude that hell does exist even here on earth.
Jovito. The said name comes from "Jove," the abbreviated version of "Jupiter,' the king of the Roman pantheon of deities, the Roman counterpart of the Greek Zeus. Jove, Jupiter is considered the god of thunder, and is symbolized by the eagle. The eagle thus became a powerful symbol among Romans as they showed in their insignias and battle gears. Jove, as combination of thunder and the eagle was thus considered a "sky god". And as a sky god, according to Wikipedia, he was considered "a divine witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which justice and good government depend." Jove, with all his power, used such power as a dispenser of justice and good governance. Jove, is also the word from which "jovial" or "happy" came from. And also where the word "juvenile," meaning "youthful," came from. Thus Jove/Jupiter is also known to be a god of a life of happiness, of life-giving energy.
But that was Jove, the Roman god. Jovito Palparan, based on the cases filed against him, also had power. But, again, based on the cases versus him, he instead used his power to become not a dispenser of justice and good governance, but as judge and executioner, thus "Berdugo" (executioner) they used to call him. Again, based on accusations against him, his justice was summary justice; his good was self-righteous; his governance was one of oppression; his happiness born of sadistic enjoyment; his juvenile energy one of dark delinquency.
But now, he has fallen. Whether contrived or real, what he showed was tameness. BUT, based on interviews he granted, we MUSN'T MISS THE FACT THAT he remained CALMLY REMAINED UNREPENTANT, CALMLY showed NO SIGN OF REMORSE of things he was/is accused of. In his own eyes, he remains innocent, as he "only did what he needed to do." And he actually isn't alone in his stance. Human history is replete with such very dark Joves.
Jovito Palparan has fallen, but he hasn't allowed himself to accept his defeat. And some people think such stance as heroic. Yet, such is but the opposite: tragically myopic. "Hell is when one becomes happy with one's own sadness," said one of the characters in one of the late Robin Williams' films (What Dreams May Come).
And so, for all his former power, influence, and still-persistent unrepentance, yet when one envisages Jovito Palparan's present state of being nondescript, rail-thin, unkempt, unshaven, and miserable, one can simply conclude that hell does exist even here on earth.
Monday, August 11, 2014
HUMAN RIGHTS AND ETTA ROSALES (CHAIR, COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS)
Obviously, there's no love lost between Etta Rosales, Commission of
Human Rights honcho, and Mayor Rody Duterteof Davao. Rosales chided
Duterte for commenting on the slapping incident involving Q.C. Mayor
Herbert Bautista vis-a-vis a chinese national caught red-handed by
police in possession of shabu worth millions of pesos. Bautista
slapped twice the chinese drug dealer as it showed disrespect and
cockiness to Bautista, especially in front of so many media people.
Mayor Duterte, when asked to comment to Bautista's actuations, said that Bautista was even too tame or kind ("mabait") according to Duterte. He quipped that he could have kicked and dropped the chinese drug dealer at the Davao Gulf to become food for starving fishes.
Etta Rosales, when interviewed on national TV about her reaction to Mayor Duterte's comments re the above slapping incident, categorically, and emphatically said that Duterte should have refrained from making any comments, and have just kept quiet so as not to make bad influence on less discerning minds.
I know where Etta Rosales is coming from in her said comments. However, I find the implications of her statements re Mayor Duterte's comments a bit off-tangent, specially coming from one who's the Chair of the Commision of Human Rights of this republic. Firstly, isn't someone's right to speak out one's mind or freedom of expression, just like what Mayor Duterte did, a basic human right too (of course things will have a different complexion if applied with the principle of "clear and present danger")?. Thus, didn't Ms. Rosales herself break Mayor Duterte's right to self-expression when she made those comments, specially when so done in front of national TV? Secondly, another basic human right is to have the freedom to think what one wants to think. But here, Ms. Rosales is in fact limiting people from POSSIBLY thinking what they may want to think. Also, unless, Ms. Rosales has clear-cut evidence that Mayor Duterte's comments COULD indeed be a bad influence on "less discerning minds," she has no right to claim that Mayor Duterte is INDEED a bad influence on "less discerming minds." Ms. Rosales is also guilty of the fallacy of NON-SEQUITUR. Also, isn't it quite CONDESCENDING of Ms. Rosales to say that Mayor Duterte is a bad influence on less discerning minds? Implying that those who agree with Mayor Duterte are "less discerning minds." Mme. Rosales, Chair of the Commission on Human Rights, may not agree with Mayor Duterte, but shouldn't she herself had defended his right to say his mind, and the right of those "less discerning minds" to think what they want to think?
Enough of this Ma'am Etta. May I please instead call on you to do something about the plight of MINDANAWON MARCOS MARTIAL LAW VICTIMS (WEREN'T YOU A MARTIAL LAW VICTIM YOURSELF) just like those who up till now are still having a hard, if not HORRIBLE time, making their claims. May I please invite you Ma'am Etta Rosales, Chair fo the Commission of Human Rights to PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to what a claimant, Bro. Karl Gaspar (CSSR), said about his HORRIFIC ORDEAL when he came over to the CHR-APPOINTED VENUE to formally make a claim as a Martial Law Victim:
Karl Gaspar
5 August
VICTIMIZING THE VICTIMS TWICE OVER (PART II)
I was furious… as in really, really FURIOUS; I felt like a volcano ready the erupt anytime. The susunod na kabanata turned out to be – literally – nakakasuka. As I underwent another frustrating day waiting in line to file my documents as a Human Rights Violations’ Victim (the term used to label us by the Human Rights Claimants Board or HRCB in conjunction with the Commission on Human Rights), I felt my blood rising to a dangerous level.
If not for the maintenance medicine I take every morning, I could have collapsed while lining up again this morning. At various moments, I felt like vomiting while waiting for my turn to have my documents processed. There were similar complaints I heard from claimants who were senior citizens like me who were at the Almendras gym today.
This was how today turned out. After the harrowing day yesterday, I returned to the Almendras gym at 7:20 a.m. There was a huge crowd already lining up. Those of us issued numbers the previous day positioned ourselves near the entrance as we were promised to be the first ones to be allowed entry to the gym. A quarter before 8:00 one of the staff of the HRCB announced that only those issued numbers on Monday would be entertained today, as 600 were given numbers. Based on what they were able to accomplish on Monday with only 300+ claimants; documents processed, only 300 more could be processed today Tuesday.
She then announced that those who were from Davao Oriental and Norte as well as Compostela Valley should go home and wait for instructions as to when they will go to Tagum City sometime in September for their turn to have their documents processed. Only those from Davao City would be given numbers today but will need to return tomorrow. However, my guess was that there would be more than 500 from Davao City who have no numbers. So can all of them be covered on the last day of this 3-day marathon? (Apparently, yesterday afternoon, all those who came from Cotabato were entertained so they could all return home. As for those coming from Davao del Sur, there was no instruction as to when will their turn be.)
With that announcement, a good number left the compound but there were new arrivals so the crowd still jampacked the front of the gym. Meanwhile, we thought the gates would open at 8 a.m. so that proceedings would begin. For whatever was the reason, the gates opened only by 9 a.m., an hour late. We patiently waited for instructions what was going to happen next. I was beside Kalay Montera from Mandug, wife of Doming, who was my co-detainee. (Doming died last May so Kalay, as widow, came to file the claims). Those of us with assigned numbers (mine was 446, not 445 as I wrote earlier) were now given a new set of numbers as we lined up. I had No. 36. Kalay was not feeling well, so we managed to find chairs to sit on while we waited for our turn to be called.
Meanwhile, one could see that given the circumstances, there were those who just arrived today who found ways to find someone they knew among the gatekeepers so they didn’t have to stand in line and be allowed entry even ahead of us. That made me furious even more as I saw a few of them being able to enjoy the privilege. I wanted to object openly but didn’t have the energy to do so anymore. At this point, I was going to conserve whatever energy was left in my body so I could finish and go home as early as possible.
I thought that since I had my number, I just had to patiently wait for my turn, submit my documents, sign whatever is to be signed, finish all that needed to be done and then go home to finally be rid of this nuisance. It was not meant to be; I was to be subjected to more horrors (which, of course, did not only happen to me). Something has been really terribly wrong about the procedures followed by the HRCB in conjunction with the CHR. There were no clear instructions that we could access, not even in the websites as to exactly what documents were required and what procedures would be followed in the actual site like the one held here at the Almendras gym.
In the absence of an office set up by the HRCB/CHR in Davao City, there was no place we could check on these details before 4-6 August. We thought that since the Ateneo Legal Center (APILA) had gotten into the act – as a voluntary agency to assist claimants – we all assumed that the advice of the staff of APILA was enough. I had been to the APILA office enough times to be able to check out what exactly were the documents I should bring and their instructions I thought were sufficient enough. This, however, was not the case. Neither did the HRCB/CHR put up signs at the venue - with all the details especially in terms of documents to be brought - for us to check before falling in line. And there was no one at the site who could give us the right information before we lined up. So we lined up, waited and waited and when we finally reach the tables where our documents were processed, that was the only time we knew if we had all the documents required.
In the inner sanctum, we had to report to three tables. In each table there was a staff person (or volunteer) who would check the documents. It turned out that it was not necessary to go through the 3 tables, as they did practically the same thing, namely to find out if all documents were on hand. But each table had its own interpretation regarding the documents; one table insisted on the true copies, another was OK just with the Xerox, another did not need IDs issued by government agencies, another was OK with ID of private school.
All three however indicated that the final arbiter was the fourth table where the lawyers were who would finally decide if all documents were in order. I didn’t want to waste more time, so I asked the one in the third table to just tell me straight what were the final documents required so I did not have to go to the final table of the lawyers to be told to still collect more documents. I was told to make sure the certified true copies of documents were available and IDs issued by government agencies.
So off I went, got out of the gym, walk under the heat of the sun, find a taxi and went home so I could collect all all that I still needed. (As it turned out, Murphy’s law was in full force once more today; not only did it take time to find a taxi along that busy road but the traffic was terrible). To make the story short, I was back inside the gym 30 minutes later. I got the OK of the third table and was ushered to the final table, where we took again the circle seats to wait for our turn. Lo and behold, the guys at the table didn’t look like lawyers at all; they looked like they were college freshmen!!!
And when my turn came, I faced this very young man named Bernard Laguindino who told me later that he was a college student from Manila hired by the HRCB to come to Davao for this event. He certainly was no lawyer, he was not even a law student. So why did the staff at the three tables referred to them as lawyers? Perhaps the only reason he got hired was because he could operate the gadgets. I wondered what he knew about the Marcos dictatorship and if he cared to know about human rights violations. He hardly looked at my papers and didn’t care if I had certified true copies or Xerox copies. He then asked me to sign my signature on a pad and then took my photo. Two minutes later, I had my blue paper labelled Acknowledgment Receipt and My Docket No. was 2014-11-00396.
And that was it. I was done and I was told to take the exit. It was a pyric victory of sort. I won in the end, but I didn’t feel victorious at all.
Going out by the side door and reaching the part where hundreds were still waiting for their numbers, I spotted a few of those with whom I spent time in prison. They were still waiting for their numbers. I shared with them what my experiences were and warned them what to expect when it was their turn to enter the inner sanctum. One of them finally blurted out: Mora man tag gitorture na sab ani oy! (It is as if we are undergoing torture once again!)
It was 11:45 a.m. when I left the comrades at the site of our new experience of torture and went home, feeling very tired but also feeling very sorry for the hundreds who remained there. I walked to the circle where I could find a jeepney to bring me home. There stood the statue of Andres Bonifacio and I thought of a line from his poem: Aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila, tulad ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa!
And with a sense of bitterness, I could not help but think: oh what some of us of our generation did for the love of this country; but having undergone a recent eight-hour ordeal (five hours on Monday and three hours today), was it all worth it?
(Below is foto of my ACKNOWLEDGEMENT RECEIPT, received only afrer the 8-hour "torture" sessions).
Photo: VICTIMIZING THE VICTIMS TWICE OVER (PART II) I was furious… as in really, really FURIOUS; I felt like a volcano ready the erupt anytime. The susunod na kabanata turned out to be – literally – nakakasuka. As I underwent another frustrating day waiting in line to file my documents as a Human Rights Violations’ Victim (the term used to label us by the Human Rights Claimants Board or HRCB in conjunction with the Commission on Human Rights), I felt my blood rising to a dangerous level. If not for the maintenance medicine I take every morning, I could have collapsed while lining up again this morning. At various moments, I felt like vomiting while waiting for my turn to have my documents processed. There were similar complaints I heard from claimants who were senior citizens like me who were at the Almendras gym today. This was how today turned out. After the harrowing day yesterday, I returned to the Almendras gym at 7:20 a.m. There was a huge crowd already lining up. Those of us issued numbers the previous day positioned ourselves near the entrance as we were promised to be the first ones to be allowed entry to the gym. A quarter before 8:00 one of the staff of the HRCB announced that only those issued numbers on Monday would be entertained today, as 600 were given numbers. Based on what they were able to accomplish on Monday with only 300+ claimants; documents processed, only 300 more could be processed today Tuesday. She then announced that those who were from Davao Oriental and Norte as well as Compostela Valley should go home and wait for instructions as to when they will go to Tagum City sometime in September for their turn to have their documents processed. Only those from Davao City would be given numbers today but will need to return tomorrow. However, my guess was that there would be more than 500 from Davao City who have no numbers. So can all of them be covered on the last day of this 3-day marathon? (Apparently, yesterday afternoon, all those who came from Cotabato were entertained so they could all return home. As for those coming from Davao del Sur, there was no instruction as to when will their turn be.) With that announcement, a good number left the compound but there were new arrivals so the crowd still jampacked the front of the gym. Meanwhile, we thought the gates would open at 8 a.m. so that proceedings would begin. For whatever was the reason, the gates opened only by 9 a.m., an hour late. We patiently waited for instructions what was going to happen next. I was beside Kalay Montera from Mandug, wife of Doming, who was my co-detainee. (Doming died last May so Kalay, as widow, came to file the claims). Those of us with assigned numbers (mine was 446, not 445 as I wrote earlier) were now given a new set of numbers as we lined up. I had No. 36. Kalay was not feeling well, so we managed to find chairs to sit on while we waited for our turn to be called. Meanwhile, one could see that given the circumstances, there were those who just arrived today who found ways to find someone they knew among the gatekeepers so they didn’t have to stand in line and be allowed entry even ahead of us. That made me furious even more as I saw a few of them being able to enjoy the privilege. I wanted to object openly but didn’t have the energy to do so anymore. At this point, I was going to conserve whatever energy was left in my body so I could finish and go home as early as possible. I thought that since I had my number, I just had to patiently wait for my turn, submit my documents, sign whatever is to be signed, finish all that needed to be done and then go home to finally be rid of this nuisance. It was not meant to be; I was to be subjected to more horrors (which, of course, did not only happen to me). Something has been really terribly wrong about the procedures followed by the HRCB in conjunction with the CHR. There were no clear instructions that we could access, not even in the websites as to exactly what documents were required and what procedures would be followed in the actual site like the one held here at the Almendras gym. In the absence of an office set up by the HRCB/CHR in Davao City, there was no place we could check on these details before 4-6 August. We thought that since the Ateneo Legal Center (APILA) had gotten into the act – as a voluntary agency to assist claimants – we all assumed that the advice of the staff of APILA was enough. I had been to the APILA office enough times to be able to check out what exactly were the documents I should bring and their instructions I thought were sufficient enough. This, however, was not the case. Neither did the HRCB/CHR put up signs at the venue - with all the details especially in terms of documents to be brought - for us to check before falling in line. And there was no one at the site who could give us the right information before we lined up. So we lined up, waited and waited and when we finally reach the tables where our documents were processed, that was the only time we knew if we had all the documents required. In the inner sanctum, we had to report to three tables. In each table there was a staff person (or volunteer) who would check the documents. It turned out that it was not necessary to go through the 3 tables, as they did practically the same thing, namely to find out if all documents were on hand. But each table had its own interpretation regarding the documents; one table insisted on the true copies, another was OK just with the Xerox, another did not need IDs issued by government agencies, another was OK with ID of private school. All three however indicated that the final arbiter was the fourth table where the lawyers were who would finally decide if all documents were in order. I didn’t want to waste more time, so I asked the one in the third table to just tell me straight what were the final documents required so I did not have to go to the final table of the lawyers to be told to still collect more documents. I was told to make sure the certified true copies of documents were available and IDs issued by government agencies. So off I went, got out of the gym, walk under the heat of the sun, find a taxi and went home so I could collect all all that I still needed. (As it turned out, Murphy’s law was in full force once more today; not only did it take time to find a taxi along that busy road but the traffic was terrible). To make the story short, I was back inside the gym 30 minutes later. I got the OK of the third table and was ushered to the final table, where we took again the circle seats to wait for our turn. Lo and behold, the guys at the table didn’t look like lawyers at all; they looked like they were college freshmen!!! And when my turn came, I faced this very young man named Bernard Laguindino who told me later that he was a college student from Manila hired by the HRCB to come to Davao for this event. He certainly was no lawyer, he was not even a law student. So why did the staff at the three tables referred to them as lawyers? Perhaps the only reason he got hired was because he could operate the gadgets. I wondered what he knew about the Marcos dictatorship and if he cared to know about human rights violations. He hardly looked at my papers and didn’t care if I had certified true copies or Xerox copies. He then asked me to sign my signature on a pad and then took my photo. Two minutes later, I had my blue paper labelled Acknowledgment Receipt and My Docket No. was 2014-11-00396. And that was it. I was done and I was told to take the exit. It was a pyric victory of sort. I won in the end, but I didn’t feel victorious at all. Going out by the side door and reaching the part where hundreds were still waiting for their numbers, I spotted a few of those with whom I spent time in prison. They were still waiting for their numbers. I shared with them what my experiences were and warned them what to expect when it was their turn to enter the inner sanctum. One of them finally blurted out: Mora man tag gitorture na sab ani oy! (It is as if we are undergoing torture once again!) It was 11:45 a.m. when I left the comrades at the site of our new experience of torture and went home, feeling very tired but also feeling very sorry for the hundreds who remained there. I walked to the circle where I could find a jeepney to bring me home. There stood the statue of Andres Bonifacio and I thought of a line from his poem: Aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila, tulad ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa! And with a sense of bitterness, I could not help but think: oh what some of us of our generation did for the love of this country; but having undergone a recent eight-hour ordeal (five hours on Monday and three hours today), was it all worth it? (Below is foto of my ACKNOWLEDGEMENT RECEIPT, received only after the 8-hour "torture" sessions). https://www.facebook.com/karl.gaspar?fref=ts
Mayor Duterte, when asked to comment to Bautista's actuations, said that Bautista was even too tame or kind ("mabait") according to Duterte. He quipped that he could have kicked and dropped the chinese drug dealer at the Davao Gulf to become food for starving fishes.
Etta Rosales, when interviewed on national TV about her reaction to Mayor Duterte's comments re the above slapping incident, categorically, and emphatically said that Duterte should have refrained from making any comments, and have just kept quiet so as not to make bad influence on less discerning minds.
I know where Etta Rosales is coming from in her said comments. However, I find the implications of her statements re Mayor Duterte's comments a bit off-tangent, specially coming from one who's the Chair of the Commision of Human Rights of this republic. Firstly, isn't someone's right to speak out one's mind or freedom of expression, just like what Mayor Duterte did, a basic human right too (of course things will have a different complexion if applied with the principle of "clear and present danger")?. Thus, didn't Ms. Rosales herself break Mayor Duterte's right to self-expression when she made those comments, specially when so done in front of national TV? Secondly, another basic human right is to have the freedom to think what one wants to think. But here, Ms. Rosales is in fact limiting people from POSSIBLY thinking what they may want to think. Also, unless, Ms. Rosales has clear-cut evidence that Mayor Duterte's comments COULD indeed be a bad influence on "less discerning minds," she has no right to claim that Mayor Duterte is INDEED a bad influence on "less discerming minds." Ms. Rosales is also guilty of the fallacy of NON-SEQUITUR. Also, isn't it quite CONDESCENDING of Ms. Rosales to say that Mayor Duterte is a bad influence on less discerning minds? Implying that those who agree with Mayor Duterte are "less discerning minds." Mme. Rosales, Chair of the Commission on Human Rights, may not agree with Mayor Duterte, but shouldn't she herself had defended his right to say his mind, and the right of those "less discerning minds" to think what they want to think?
Enough of this Ma'am Etta. May I please instead call on you to do something about the plight of MINDANAWON MARCOS MARTIAL LAW VICTIMS (WEREN'T YOU A MARTIAL LAW VICTIM YOURSELF) just like those who up till now are still having a hard, if not HORRIBLE time, making their claims. May I please invite you Ma'am Etta Rosales, Chair fo the Commission of Human Rights to PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to what a claimant, Bro. Karl Gaspar (CSSR), said about his HORRIFIC ORDEAL when he came over to the CHR-APPOINTED VENUE to formally make a claim as a Martial Law Victim:
Karl Gaspar
5 August
VICTIMIZING THE VICTIMS TWICE OVER (PART II)
I was furious… as in really, really FURIOUS; I felt like a volcano ready the erupt anytime. The susunod na kabanata turned out to be – literally – nakakasuka. As I underwent another frustrating day waiting in line to file my documents as a Human Rights Violations’ Victim (the term used to label us by the Human Rights Claimants Board or HRCB in conjunction with the Commission on Human Rights), I felt my blood rising to a dangerous level.
If not for the maintenance medicine I take every morning, I could have collapsed while lining up again this morning. At various moments, I felt like vomiting while waiting for my turn to have my documents processed. There were similar complaints I heard from claimants who were senior citizens like me who were at the Almendras gym today.
This was how today turned out. After the harrowing day yesterday, I returned to the Almendras gym at 7:20 a.m. There was a huge crowd already lining up. Those of us issued numbers the previous day positioned ourselves near the entrance as we were promised to be the first ones to be allowed entry to the gym. A quarter before 8:00 one of the staff of the HRCB announced that only those issued numbers on Monday would be entertained today, as 600 were given numbers. Based on what they were able to accomplish on Monday with only 300+ claimants; documents processed, only 300 more could be processed today Tuesday.
She then announced that those who were from Davao Oriental and Norte as well as Compostela Valley should go home and wait for instructions as to when they will go to Tagum City sometime in September for their turn to have their documents processed. Only those from Davao City would be given numbers today but will need to return tomorrow. However, my guess was that there would be more than 500 from Davao City who have no numbers. So can all of them be covered on the last day of this 3-day marathon? (Apparently, yesterday afternoon, all those who came from Cotabato were entertained so they could all return home. As for those coming from Davao del Sur, there was no instruction as to when will their turn be.)
With that announcement, a good number left the compound but there were new arrivals so the crowd still jampacked the front of the gym. Meanwhile, we thought the gates would open at 8 a.m. so that proceedings would begin. For whatever was the reason, the gates opened only by 9 a.m., an hour late. We patiently waited for instructions what was going to happen next. I was beside Kalay Montera from Mandug, wife of Doming, who was my co-detainee. (Doming died last May so Kalay, as widow, came to file the claims). Those of us with assigned numbers (mine was 446, not 445 as I wrote earlier) were now given a new set of numbers as we lined up. I had No. 36. Kalay was not feeling well, so we managed to find chairs to sit on while we waited for our turn to be called.
Meanwhile, one could see that given the circumstances, there were those who just arrived today who found ways to find someone they knew among the gatekeepers so they didn’t have to stand in line and be allowed entry even ahead of us. That made me furious even more as I saw a few of them being able to enjoy the privilege. I wanted to object openly but didn’t have the energy to do so anymore. At this point, I was going to conserve whatever energy was left in my body so I could finish and go home as early as possible.
I thought that since I had my number, I just had to patiently wait for my turn, submit my documents, sign whatever is to be signed, finish all that needed to be done and then go home to finally be rid of this nuisance. It was not meant to be; I was to be subjected to more horrors (which, of course, did not only happen to me). Something has been really terribly wrong about the procedures followed by the HRCB in conjunction with the CHR. There were no clear instructions that we could access, not even in the websites as to exactly what documents were required and what procedures would be followed in the actual site like the one held here at the Almendras gym.
In the absence of an office set up by the HRCB/CHR in Davao City, there was no place we could check on these details before 4-6 August. We thought that since the Ateneo Legal Center (APILA) had gotten into the act – as a voluntary agency to assist claimants – we all assumed that the advice of the staff of APILA was enough. I had been to the APILA office enough times to be able to check out what exactly were the documents I should bring and their instructions I thought were sufficient enough. This, however, was not the case. Neither did the HRCB/CHR put up signs at the venue - with all the details especially in terms of documents to be brought - for us to check before falling in line. And there was no one at the site who could give us the right information before we lined up. So we lined up, waited and waited and when we finally reach the tables where our documents were processed, that was the only time we knew if we had all the documents required.
In the inner sanctum, we had to report to three tables. In each table there was a staff person (or volunteer) who would check the documents. It turned out that it was not necessary to go through the 3 tables, as they did practically the same thing, namely to find out if all documents were on hand. But each table had its own interpretation regarding the documents; one table insisted on the true copies, another was OK just with the Xerox, another did not need IDs issued by government agencies, another was OK with ID of private school.
All three however indicated that the final arbiter was the fourth table where the lawyers were who would finally decide if all documents were in order. I didn’t want to waste more time, so I asked the one in the third table to just tell me straight what were the final documents required so I did not have to go to the final table of the lawyers to be told to still collect more documents. I was told to make sure the certified true copies of documents were available and IDs issued by government agencies.
So off I went, got out of the gym, walk under the heat of the sun, find a taxi and went home so I could collect all all that I still needed. (As it turned out, Murphy’s law was in full force once more today; not only did it take time to find a taxi along that busy road but the traffic was terrible). To make the story short, I was back inside the gym 30 minutes later. I got the OK of the third table and was ushered to the final table, where we took again the circle seats to wait for our turn. Lo and behold, the guys at the table didn’t look like lawyers at all; they looked like they were college freshmen!!!
And when my turn came, I faced this very young man named Bernard Laguindino who told me later that he was a college student from Manila hired by the HRCB to come to Davao for this event. He certainly was no lawyer, he was not even a law student. So why did the staff at the three tables referred to them as lawyers? Perhaps the only reason he got hired was because he could operate the gadgets. I wondered what he knew about the Marcos dictatorship and if he cared to know about human rights violations. He hardly looked at my papers and didn’t care if I had certified true copies or Xerox copies. He then asked me to sign my signature on a pad and then took my photo. Two minutes later, I had my blue paper labelled Acknowledgment Receipt and My Docket No. was 2014-11-00396.
And that was it. I was done and I was told to take the exit. It was a pyric victory of sort. I won in the end, but I didn’t feel victorious at all.
Going out by the side door and reaching the part where hundreds were still waiting for their numbers, I spotted a few of those with whom I spent time in prison. They were still waiting for their numbers. I shared with them what my experiences were and warned them what to expect when it was their turn to enter the inner sanctum. One of them finally blurted out: Mora man tag gitorture na sab ani oy! (It is as if we are undergoing torture once again!)
It was 11:45 a.m. when I left the comrades at the site of our new experience of torture and went home, feeling very tired but also feeling very sorry for the hundreds who remained there. I walked to the circle where I could find a jeepney to bring me home. There stood the statue of Andres Bonifacio and I thought of a line from his poem: Aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila, tulad ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa!
And with a sense of bitterness, I could not help but think: oh what some of us of our generation did for the love of this country; but having undergone a recent eight-hour ordeal (five hours on Monday and three hours today), was it all worth it?
(Below is foto of my ACKNOWLEDGEMENT RECEIPT, received only afrer the 8-hour "torture" sessions).
Photo: VICTIMIZING THE VICTIMS TWICE OVER (PART II) I was furious… as in really, really FURIOUS; I felt like a volcano ready the erupt anytime. The susunod na kabanata turned out to be – literally – nakakasuka. As I underwent another frustrating day waiting in line to file my documents as a Human Rights Violations’ Victim (the term used to label us by the Human Rights Claimants Board or HRCB in conjunction with the Commission on Human Rights), I felt my blood rising to a dangerous level. If not for the maintenance medicine I take every morning, I could have collapsed while lining up again this morning. At various moments, I felt like vomiting while waiting for my turn to have my documents processed. There were similar complaints I heard from claimants who were senior citizens like me who were at the Almendras gym today. This was how today turned out. After the harrowing day yesterday, I returned to the Almendras gym at 7:20 a.m. There was a huge crowd already lining up. Those of us issued numbers the previous day positioned ourselves near the entrance as we were promised to be the first ones to be allowed entry to the gym. A quarter before 8:00 one of the staff of the HRCB announced that only those issued numbers on Monday would be entertained today, as 600 were given numbers. Based on what they were able to accomplish on Monday with only 300+ claimants; documents processed, only 300 more could be processed today Tuesday. She then announced that those who were from Davao Oriental and Norte as well as Compostela Valley should go home and wait for instructions as to when they will go to Tagum City sometime in September for their turn to have their documents processed. Only those from Davao City would be given numbers today but will need to return tomorrow. However, my guess was that there would be more than 500 from Davao City who have no numbers. So can all of them be covered on the last day of this 3-day marathon? (Apparently, yesterday afternoon, all those who came from Cotabato were entertained so they could all return home. As for those coming from Davao del Sur, there was no instruction as to when will their turn be.) With that announcement, a good number left the compound but there were new arrivals so the crowd still jampacked the front of the gym. Meanwhile, we thought the gates would open at 8 a.m. so that proceedings would begin. For whatever was the reason, the gates opened only by 9 a.m., an hour late. We patiently waited for instructions what was going to happen next. I was beside Kalay Montera from Mandug, wife of Doming, who was my co-detainee. (Doming died last May so Kalay, as widow, came to file the claims). Those of us with assigned numbers (mine was 446, not 445 as I wrote earlier) were now given a new set of numbers as we lined up. I had No. 36. Kalay was not feeling well, so we managed to find chairs to sit on while we waited for our turn to be called. Meanwhile, one could see that given the circumstances, there were those who just arrived today who found ways to find someone they knew among the gatekeepers so they didn’t have to stand in line and be allowed entry even ahead of us. That made me furious even more as I saw a few of them being able to enjoy the privilege. I wanted to object openly but didn’t have the energy to do so anymore. At this point, I was going to conserve whatever energy was left in my body so I could finish and go home as early as possible. I thought that since I had my number, I just had to patiently wait for my turn, submit my documents, sign whatever is to be signed, finish all that needed to be done and then go home to finally be rid of this nuisance. It was not meant to be; I was to be subjected to more horrors (which, of course, did not only happen to me). Something has been really terribly wrong about the procedures followed by the HRCB in conjunction with the CHR. There were no clear instructions that we could access, not even in the websites as to exactly what documents were required and what procedures would be followed in the actual site like the one held here at the Almendras gym. In the absence of an office set up by the HRCB/CHR in Davao City, there was no place we could check on these details before 4-6 August. We thought that since the Ateneo Legal Center (APILA) had gotten into the act – as a voluntary agency to assist claimants – we all assumed that the advice of the staff of APILA was enough. I had been to the APILA office enough times to be able to check out what exactly were the documents I should bring and their instructions I thought were sufficient enough. This, however, was not the case. Neither did the HRCB/CHR put up signs at the venue - with all the details especially in terms of documents to be brought - for us to check before falling in line. And there was no one at the site who could give us the right information before we lined up. So we lined up, waited and waited and when we finally reach the tables where our documents were processed, that was the only time we knew if we had all the documents required. In the inner sanctum, we had to report to three tables. In each table there was a staff person (or volunteer) who would check the documents. It turned out that it was not necessary to go through the 3 tables, as they did practically the same thing, namely to find out if all documents were on hand. But each table had its own interpretation regarding the documents; one table insisted on the true copies, another was OK just with the Xerox, another did not need IDs issued by government agencies, another was OK with ID of private school. All three however indicated that the final arbiter was the fourth table where the lawyers were who would finally decide if all documents were in order. I didn’t want to waste more time, so I asked the one in the third table to just tell me straight what were the final documents required so I did not have to go to the final table of the lawyers to be told to still collect more documents. I was told to make sure the certified true copies of documents were available and IDs issued by government agencies. So off I went, got out of the gym, walk under the heat of the sun, find a taxi and went home so I could collect all all that I still needed. (As it turned out, Murphy’s law was in full force once more today; not only did it take time to find a taxi along that busy road but the traffic was terrible). To make the story short, I was back inside the gym 30 minutes later. I got the OK of the third table and was ushered to the final table, where we took again the circle seats to wait for our turn. Lo and behold, the guys at the table didn’t look like lawyers at all; they looked like they were college freshmen!!! And when my turn came, I faced this very young man named Bernard Laguindino who told me later that he was a college student from Manila hired by the HRCB to come to Davao for this event. He certainly was no lawyer, he was not even a law student. So why did the staff at the three tables referred to them as lawyers? Perhaps the only reason he got hired was because he could operate the gadgets. I wondered what he knew about the Marcos dictatorship and if he cared to know about human rights violations. He hardly looked at my papers and didn’t care if I had certified true copies or Xerox copies. He then asked me to sign my signature on a pad and then took my photo. Two minutes later, I had my blue paper labelled Acknowledgment Receipt and My Docket No. was 2014-11-00396. And that was it. I was done and I was told to take the exit. It was a pyric victory of sort. I won in the end, but I didn’t feel victorious at all. Going out by the side door and reaching the part where hundreds were still waiting for their numbers, I spotted a few of those with whom I spent time in prison. They were still waiting for their numbers. I shared with them what my experiences were and warned them what to expect when it was their turn to enter the inner sanctum. One of them finally blurted out: Mora man tag gitorture na sab ani oy! (It is as if we are undergoing torture once again!) It was 11:45 a.m. when I left the comrades at the site of our new experience of torture and went home, feeling very tired but also feeling very sorry for the hundreds who remained there. I walked to the circle where I could find a jeepney to bring me home. There stood the statue of Andres Bonifacio and I thought of a line from his poem: Aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila, tulad ng pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa! And with a sense of bitterness, I could not help but think: oh what some of us of our generation did for the love of this country; but having undergone a recent eight-hour ordeal (five hours on Monday and three hours today), was it all worth it? (Below is foto of my ACKNOWLEDGEMENT RECEIPT, received only after the 8-hour "torture" sessions). https://www.facebook.com/karl.gaspar?fref=ts
Friday, August 8, 2014
BANGSAMORO BASIC LAW NEGOTIATIONS AREN'T IN THE DOLDRUMS NOR DOOMED TO FAIL. BUT WE ALL MUST WORK HARD TO MAKE THINGS WORK!
The negotiations between between the government and the MILF on the Bangsamoro Basic Law has admittedly hit a snag. But I do believe that it's not as stark as some ulteriorly-interested quarters would want to paint. Thus, I think WE ALL MUST have to work for THE SUCCESSFUL PASSAGE of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. And as this indeed is a NEW CREATION, I believe that Everyone, I repeat, EVERYONE, must learn to think out-of-the-box, be willing to be uncomfortable at certain points. No short-cuts. The road to meaningful and more lasting peace is always the road less taken. Only those who have the patience, lasting goodwill, intelligence, and courage can really meaningfully traverse such path. And all these we owe to those who have endlessly toiled, suffered, and even perished in times passed; presently to one and all who are longing for meaningful peace in this Mindanao we inhabit and have learned to love; and to those our progeny who will be facing that yet-to-come future which they never asked of us but we actually brought on them. God bless us all!
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