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Gold and Greed

Ever since the gruesome event named Gata Massacre happened on 2014, people of the town of Gata, Caramoan, Camarines Sur have marked their own place on Philippine History. Four innocent miners whose only way to survive is to mine, were killed because of the allegedly ‘illegal’ act they were doing ever since they lived on that place. The massacre was justified because the Bantay Kalikasan believes that mining destructs the environment. The chaos between the two parties began to fire up when the peaceful livelihood was mixed with a greedy bias.  

Mining or pagkabud as they call it in the film, is a livelihood that has been known and done in the Philippines ever since the pre-colonial period. People used their metal hammers to pound on the deep cave of Gata for hours or so to be able to get a gram or two of gold. They spend the whole day to dig on the mines and extract the gold they will sell to the buyer on a supposed price of P1200.  

It was after 20 years of the rule of actress Irma Adlawan who plays the role of Kapitana in the film, when the armed men who named themselves as Bantay Kalikasan, walked into the lives of the people of Gata, accusing them of the non-issuance of permit from the long run of their small-scale mining. Of course, these rebels aimed to get gold from the place while using the miners of Gata to work for them. The assurance they have which they insist were written on the permit issued by the province’s governor was their bullet against the accusations and non-allowance of the residents of the barrio. This kind of problem that the residents of the place had is a public issue. It affects all the people living in the barrio because the mere source of their everyday living is being attacked. The movie stressed on the points that the people knew nothing but to mine since that is what was being taught by them since the beginning of time upon school deprivation and when fisheries produce are slack, they have no choice but to dig.  

What was entirely different from the movie is the picture of those who ‘protect’ the environment – and their personal interests and black propaganda as well – were the ones with the guns and the means of hurting others. While those who dig on the rocks were the victims of their used-to-be source of income. This picture breaks the smoke screen of what the society, especially the film viewers, witness in the common world. The facade illustrated on our country is that large-scale mining which are operated by huge companies have their own means of protecting their mines and interests. They have most of the money to  guard their mining places with armed men and guns. On the other hand, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) who advocate for the protection of environment, for most of the time, are those who beg for pity for them not to be killed while inspecting the ‘inside job’ of these mining companies. Shattering the smoke screen, the life of the people of Gata isn’t the kind of story we used to digest from the business policies versus the government’s advocacy on our daily lives. The story turns one hundred and eighty degrees, allowing its audience to involve themselves with the problem, securing the fact that the prejudice of mining being illegal and destructive isn’t the only view that one can see. Mining may be the only way to save one’s life from starving and death.  

The movie itself challenges the viewers to think deeply and critically apart from the notion that they used to see. The relation of the individual to the society is being highlighted on the story, by means of involving oneself to the problem of the whole community apart from the selfish state we usually expect to be. Of course, on our daily life, we only think of our personal struggles. But after seeing the film, we must realize that our country has much more problems than the burdens we carry. Ideally, we should be motivated to act upon the trials we face every day.  

Projecting the community side, people of Gata took responsibility not only with themselves but with the rest of the neighborhood. They play the role of being a ‘community’, one that is ready to care and shoulder a lot more than personal problems. Kapitana is the perfect definition of going beyond the expected responsibility, embodying the name of being the source of strength and answers of her constituents.  

The movie itself became controversial because of the accused harm on a dog while the film is rolling. While watching it, a black empty screen showed when the part in which the dog was killed was being played. Of course, the take on this issue was a stand that became two opposing ideas. But as Director Alvin Yapan answers, the art of the film advocates and anchors on human rights, nothing more and nothing less.  Whether the dog has been really harmed or not, the issue doesn’t lie and stop there. Because the film’s main point is to reveal the under rated and almost unknown injustice that has transpired because of the greed of a powerful party over a helpless community.  

Being technical, the film’s overall cinematography and minimal musical scoring adds to the depth of struggle, bringing a serious tone and stinging feeling to its critics. The rage of emotions being translated from the penetration of the proclaimed ‘protectors’, to the harm of elderly and abuse in power among workers, up until the harm and consumption of the dog suggests the strong emotion and lesson that it has left on the hearts and minds of its spectators.

The motion picture may have attacked the sensibilities of most of its viewers, but its real intent of bringing the message was unanimously portrayed in such a way that it would be very understandable and affective. Overall, Oro successfully brought the history of the massacre and imagined community combined as one harmoniously.

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squaring the circle: poverty and development

Poverty isn’t a new problem to any of us. It is a word that we almost hear in a day-to-day basis from a mother ranting how life hits hard as it affects her family, to the politicians who promise nothing but a better living all by the means of alleviating poverty. It is a common notion that seems toxic for anyone who give a care on it, but it is the kind of struggle we all have in front of us, yet we don’t have the enough courage to face it bravely. 

The launching of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – who, for the longest time, advocates for change connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life – is like a cliché of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) that was set by the same agency 17 years ago, ending it by 2015. Yes, it is good to know that there are people who puts a conscious effort and focuses on things that we ultimately mind off while we are living our own lives. But what is it that makes these things unviable with the problems that we are facing now?

Zoe Williams, a columnist from the renowned paper, The Guardian, publishes her editorial that rebukes the message of the new SDG presented. She analyzed how the thing works, from its promotional aspect involving celebrities who have encouraged their very own fans up to the Pope himself whose objections toward the issue isn’t cleared.

The main argument that Williams posted in her article is reliance on endless growth to end poverty. The means of finding a way to solve the problem commits a fault of having less interest on figuring out the root cause it.

 “It is impossible to fixate an income problem – whether a low income or a high  one – without finding implicit fault in the people who are on that               income,” Williams pointed.

With her analysis being discussed, I personally agree with her judgments because there will be no smarter way to eradicate a problem without going back to the basics and searching for the fundamentals because that is the only way that one would know where he or she shall begin to be able to patch things up and make a sense on the solution that is being demanded.

Sometimes, having that so-called sixth sense or common sense paves the way for a certain complication to be solved. The UNDP, knowing how many countries are participating on the advocacy that they are raising and how heavy and large scale the problems they have been solving, may have undermined the origin of the matter that they are talking about. Of course, there should be no double standards with regards to the way they treat the problem and just shrug it off. The main grounds of the subject is to alleviate poverty, but just like how Williams weighed the problem, there is no possible way of getting up the stairs if you won’t pass by the ground. Knowing what leads to an effect can possibly be a point taken to properly digest the real situation.

Reflecting on how this kind of arguments appear to be seen in the Philippines’ perspective, our government hits an eye on targeting the ‘believed’ cause of poverty in our country. It was when President Rodrigo Roa-Duterte of the 17th congress was elected and laid his platforms by injecting the culture of “War on Drugs” upon assuming the office. This chaos began when Duterte bluntly admits that drugs are the main cause of the poverty in our nation. Therefore, the only way to solve this problem is to catch those who are into this kind of business, not minding if they will be caught dead or alive – but most of the time results to fatality.

His strategy is taking effect up until now, the renowned Oplan Tokhang, where in the recent count concluded to have killed 7000 people, the highest number of death rate that reached the country for an eight-month stay in the office. It is also said that it is likely to beat the great number of casualty that took place during the holocaust of the dictator Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Frightening and cringing, the streets that are intended to make you feel safer now because of lesser drug addicts became much creepier because anyone else could be a possible suspect regardless of innocence, age and the true story behind one’s personality.

In that case, the government equates poverty to the urban poor which now defines those of the drug users and dealers, no matter how long they’ve turned their back from the activity. Eliminating poverty never meant to kill the people below the poverty line. But the horrors of today will forever haunt the history of our nation that mindlessly murdered the hopeful minds of the Filipino who in turn became unforgiving and pro-death penalty.

Supposedly, the master plan will be efficient and effective if brutal means are the only possible way to justify the reduction of poverty. But taking morality into context will purposely suggest that this isn’t the way we should resort to. There are better and concrete means of solving it by curing the psychological, emotional, physical and educational sides of a person, which I hope the government realizes until the population of the Philippines suffer.

Meanwhile, the article resonates on Allan Thomas’s “Meanings and Views of Development” by highlighting the thought of having an all-encompassing change, may it be good or bad. The SDGs primary resolution is to spark a change on how people live their lives, treat each other, and even how climate suits their lifestyle and the way they should treat it now. Yes, this outlook suggests that the improvement we’ve gathered for the last 15 years until now mirrors that the goal of the MDG was reached, but that does mean that the streak of their reclaimed progress continues? If we rely on their own concept of development where there is a positive transformation from the past to present, then yes, it continues to propagate. But relying on this endless growth doesn’t end poverty. Putting a period on the complications of the problem doesn’t resolve the issue of global capitalism, where the poor remains the losers and the rich stays as the winners. The poor become poorer while the rich get richer.

Describing the eighth and tenth goal which addresses decent work and economic growth and reduced inequalities respectively, the “promotion of policies that encourage entrepreneurship and job creation” doesn’t end poverty. The world market is afraid to admit that capitalism, alongside with the rise of neoliberalism, isn’t the kind of strategy that we need in order to “sustain” the “development” we need. We should treat each other equal rather than give each other equal treatment. It is justice rather than equality, that all the governments supposedly look into so that every plate will have enough food and every child can get to school. If we don’t change the kind of system that ties the chain around us, then there will be no clever way out to the cruelty of the ruling class but to continuously be blinded as proletariats for their own good.

Presenting a paper like UNDP did might shed a light on the hopelessness that poverty brought. But suggesting vague and non-concrete responses on the problem will not solve it, but will just intensify it even worse. If we allow the stagnation of capitalism and mind the time we spent after all these years, then we will suffer even longer and carry the heavier burden for the rest of our lives.

Going back to the roots may leave the impression of worry among us, but it is only when we accept the fact that we aren’t going the right way will we only find ourselves on the track that we should be in.

Sources: 

Clemence, Z. (2016, February 9). Finding and promoting solutions to global wealth problems. Retrieved from The Public Sphere: http://publicspherejournal.com/2016/02/finding-and-promoting-solutions-to-global-wealth-problems/

Financial Times. (2015, September 26). The UN obsession with global targets for poverty. Retrieved from Financial Times: https://www.ft.com/content/7287e72a-6377-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2

The Rules. (2015, September 24). When it clicked - when it comes to the SDGs, take the red pill. Retrieved from The Rules: http://therules.org/when-it-clicked-sdgs-red-pill/

Thomas, A. (2000). Meanings and Views of Development. In A. Thomas, & T. Allen, Poverty and development into the 21st century (pp. 32-58). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

United Nations Development Programme. (2017, January 1). UNDP. Retrieved from United Nations Development Programme: http://www.undp.org/

Williams, Z. (2015, October 19). Poverty goals? No it's extreme wealth we should be targeting. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/19/un-poor-wealth-sustainable-development-goals

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from (d)rugs to riches

The Philippines’ stance on asserting its national sovereignty and economic growth have been the goal and mission of every administration that goes in and out of the Malacanang Palace. For 6 years (or more), different tactics from a variety of numerous presidents have been presented to the Filipino people. Time comes that these pool of ideas, to at least help the citizens of the nation, have taken its toll and worn out the public’s trust.  

President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte was the first Mindanaoan national leader to have stepped his way on to the highest office in the country. Digong – as he was famously called – served as the Mayor of Davao City for 20 years. A long drive, it is, that it also become his training ground to make his name shine amongst the stars that made Davao a better place to live in. The city being known of its “safety and security” urged the voters last May to pick a president that is not among those traditional politicians that have battled their way up into the assumed offices.  

Upon the campaign period, Digong have been so vocal on his vision and always states it in a way that his political will have been very close to the heart of the people. He firmly believes on his principles that the use and abuse of illegal drugs is the root cause of all the hurdles that the Philippines have been suffering with since day one. In that statement, he allegedly promised the people that when time comes and he has been given the chance to be the President, in three months’ time, he will finish the ‘problem’ and get things straight for the next years to come in his office. Election ends and his name afloat. Duterte being elected in the office comes to bear two things in the minds of his supporters and the land he’ll be ruling: (1) His motto that ‘Change is Coming’; and (2) The only clever way to escape is death.

The notion of a growing and expanding country suddenly became as the essence of having the power to ‘shoot-to-kill’ one’s fellowmen. As he encourages his people to stay vigilante and that he will support them amidst the crisis of ‘killing a drug perpetrator,’ every moment of every day felt like unsafe and unsecured, far from the peaceful and healthy place to live in that he once promised. His administration gained a lot of impression on his ‘War on Drugs.’ From local to international view, the opinion was divided into two.  

Looking back on how he wanted the Philippines to be at the end of his term, many organizations acknowledged the fact that his governance runs towards the same goal as the people of the society cries for: progress. But is it really in achieving this dream that the lives of the drug perpetrators, who in one way or another gains a population from those under the poverty line, are being put into an end?  

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan released their statement in the midst of the crisis of the ever-worsening battle. They reiterated that “the President keeps saying that we cannot build a nation on the bones of dead Filipinos. Yet the bones keep piling up.” The death toll keeps rising and there are no indications that the abuses will stop. Thy even emphasized that the drug war is now being used as a cover for other criminal activities such as extortion, kidnapping for ransom and murder. Supposedly, they are one with the idea of making a better place not only for the capitalists and the big people in the cities but also for those who beg money in the streets and those who dwell on eating “pagpag” atop the unpleasant smell of a garbage mountain.

In relation to what poverty really meant by looking into the eyes of the victims of the recurring issue, their lives have been the window to see the real situation that has come that devastated their whole being. The mistake of using drugs was a result of finding an alternative to lift themselves up from the pit of what they used to see, feel and live by everyday – poverty.   

The drug usage is characterized by another source of income when the people started to trade and exchange their products in order to gain money. This is a clear picture that unemployment has manifested the worse of it that people resorted into selling illegal drugs just to earn the money they need to be able to survive in everyday life. The standard quality of living have been very unreachable for them that  their material well-being is being sacrificed when they try to deal with drugs just for the sake of at least eating one meal a day. The showcasing of food insecurity got worse among them, and because they almost got tired of scraping the garbage for rotten food, they have finally decided to make their stand – not minding if it is against the law or not.  

Given that these people are also human beings, their psychological aspect have been greatly turned down because of the feeling of powerlessness. This kind of humiliation and notion that they are the “poorest of all the poor” gave them the idea of non-belongingness into the society they are supposedly be interacting with. So, in order to fit in, they have given themselves a chance to at least experience how to live a normal life by the cause of selling drugs. They risked everything that they have just to make sure that they forward a little bit out of the social exclusion that they feel.  

A blog from Healthy Place organization emphasized that drug addiction is caused by depression, inability to connect with others, lack of friends, poor performance at work or school and poor stress coping skills. These are all clear manifestations that being a drug addict is really conjoined on being poor. First, depression is felt by those who have nothing to have and nothing to lose. They are that poor, and they can’t accept the fact that even they work with all their strength, they will still be poor. With that, the factor of social exclusion happens when they find their selves aloof with others. They deal with stress and that is the reason why they pushed themselves to the limits and used drugs.  

Those in the poor sector, if not little, have no assets at all. Their so called safety nets only revolve around their relatives, where in a way are also poor. This factor should have been used to ‘enhance one’s well-being’ but because of the inability to gain some assets – may it be from social or human capital – made them indulge to the usage of drugs too. By gaining money from dealing drugs, they have safeguarded themselves a little money to gain access to propagate it and make it big, only if they have the knowledge about it. But being poor focus on having these assets rather than gaining income. So technically speaking, they resorted to continue buying, using and selling drugs because it became their stronghold to have money evolving in their common market.  

These evidences have been clear to set the proposition that poverty causes drug abuse in just the same way that drug abuse causes poverty. Looking on how the War on Drugs has been going on until the present time, killing thousands of people because of the alleged use of drugs isn’t correct at all. It just clearly depicts that the government looks upon the poor – may it be on rural or urban – as an enemy of the society and that the only easy way to make them vanish is by killing them with of course, an authoritative force that will soon blame those of the victims and their family.  

As other countries like China supported Duterte in his campaign, those of his constituents here in the country, apart from his solid 15 million supporters, are either neutral but most of the time, agitated by the result of his ‘accomplishments.’  

The war on drugs is a war against the poor. That being said so, the great divide on different classes has widen and the sympathy and care that the poor people supposedly needs to have was set off because of the belief that those who are poor are automatically drug perpetrators. The injustice of accusing them to something that may or may not be doing makes them more powerless as to what the issue says about those who are rich and are narcopoliticians that gained power beforehand to make themselves look even better after a drug case.Before the President celebrates his one year on office this June, a clear eye upon his ‘biggest agenda’ shall be seen to look over what he has done. Apparently, those who have been killed and those whom killed those people for are the same citizens that need his attention and power to at least alleviate their poverty among themselves.  

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paglisan

ngayo’y nilisan ko na ang mga bagay na matagal nang nagkukulong sa akin

ang katahimikang patuloy akong binibingi

sa tuwing ang mga bulong mo’y ‘di ko naririnig

ang pag-iisang sumasakal sa aking katauhan

sa panahong wala ka sa piling ko

ngayo’y nilisan ko na ang mga alaala mong matagal nang nagkukulong sa akin

ang mga yapos mong saki’y nakatali

kapag tanging una’t kumot ang kayakap ko

ang ‘yong mga halik na binitin akong patiwarik

kapag and dila’t laway mo’y nais ko nang matikman muli

ngayo’y nilisan ko na ang presensya mong matagal nang nagkukulong sa akin

sa wakas ay nagsawa na ako sa paghaluklat at pagtingin

ng ating mga parawang hubo’t hubad ang katawa’t kaluluwa

sa wakas ay tinigilan ko na ang pangangarap na ika’y muling babalik

dahil alam kong ngayo’y nasa payapa ka na

ngayo’y nilisan ko na ang bawat sulok ng kwartong nagkubli ng ating mag sikreto

iniwan ko na lahat ng lambing at siping na nangyari doon

hinayaan ko nang matunaw ang mga kandilang minsang nagpainit sa ating mga laman

ngunit tangay ko ang iyong malamig na katawang ako mismo ang tumapos

ngayo’y lilisanin ko na ang mundong ito

at sa pag-alis ko’y dala pa rin ang pag-ibig natin sa isa’t isa

dahil alam kong ika’y akin mula pagkabuhay at kamatayan

mahal, ganito pala ang tunay na walang hanggan

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takipsilim

Nagdaan na naman ang isang araw

Sayang nga’t hindi pa ako natangay sa pag-alis nito

Pero oo nga’t wala namang pinagkaiba

Kung sa bawat takipsilim ikaw pa rin naman ang maaalala ko

Sabi mo “‘’twing alas kwatro”

Siyempre, susunod ako

Kaya naman sa paglipat ng kamay ng orasan

Ginawa ko na iyon bilang palatandaan

Dagat ang naging palaruan natin

Nagtampisaw, naligo, nagsiping

Ginawang kama ang buhangin

Sinulit habang walang nakatingin

Ang araw ang naging saksi natin

Halik, yakap, yapos, siyang nagpaigting

Ang init na tumatama sa tubig at lupa

‘Pag kasama ka, tila ba ‘di alintana

Kaya ngayon, iba naman ang kapiling mo

Parehong oras, ibang lugar, ibang tao

Sa takipsilim ikaw lamang ang naiisip ko

Kahit na ika’y nagpapakasasa na kung kani-kanino

Sa takipsilim ikaw lamang ang naiisip ko

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solace

take me to places

from batanes to santorini

from the skyline to the depths of the sea

take me to places

on sights and sites I’ve never seen

to ramble and rumble of the forest green

take me to places

on beaches and waters and sand bars

on fields and caves and even on the stars

take me to places

take me

whole

with my heart and soul

with my doubts and fears

with my cries and laughters

take me as me 

not who you want me to be 

take me to places

where you we can find serenity

and more than stillness and peace

i hope we find the key

serendipity

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Chances? Nope.

You’ve just made a choice. And you chose not to choose me. 

[rancorazon-blog]

ang tanong na walang sagot

luha ang nagdudulot sa ating mga mata

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You and the movies and the memories. 

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No

Could we be broken together? 

Could we, in our smallest, simplest way, be the once little, fragile hearts hungry for love and affection? 

Could we turn back time and face all those mistakes bravely, and seek for the answers to all our queries? 

Could we talk again for as long as we wanted to, not minding any hindrance that may come? 

Could we be the “us” we once had been? 

Could we? 

And I am now shattered, broken, into millions of pieces. I don’t know where to find my perfect composure. Now I am enlightened. We just couldn’t.  

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The Great Perhaps

College. Who would've thought of college anyway? After graduating from high school, which they say are the best years of one's students lives, who among the crowd of the immature yet desperately trying-hard-adults will take the guts to critically put themselves in the pit of crucial measures and hardships? Who will volunteer their selves to test their aptitude and abilities by unearthed patterns with the means of the unjust educational system? Looking at the bigger picture, college is a game no one would want to play, but everybody is begged to try. Remembering how life seemed so easy and peaceful and light and innocent during the years of fresh mindset and unpolluted thoughts, wherein studying have never been so enjoyable and missing than ever before, everyone else is encouraged to take the next level which they take into consideration, as the highest and most rewarding year of a learner's life. I, from afar, can vividly remember how I used to point out my finger and gladly tell my mom and dad that someday, I will be part of that institution and will be labeled as 'one of them'. But things, just like any other unending story of bitterness and pain, seemed to go the other way. The months we used to see and look forward to be the time for rest and some peace of mind becomes the battle of mind and heart on where to study, what course to choose, and most of all, how will one see herself four or five years after finishing a degree. The playful and bubbly days have met its toll and it's finally seeking it's end. Everything, once in a while, became serious and suffocated with 'future-inducing' thoughts that drowns the aspirant's point of view with life, learning and career. How could a sixteen-year-old kid deal with this given the fact the the schools only taught the in line syllabus and not the practicality of life. We were born on the days of youth in which we find our self-sufficiency and fitness on creating the once in a lifetime decision that will dictate how our future will be. Months passed by swiftly and school began, traveled on the middle, and now have finished it's first semester. How good was that? I mean, how fulfilling could that be after the force of future haunt you and scare you of uncertainties and commitments with no clear affirmation? That's how it's supposed to be. But earlier this day, seeing young men and women cry because of their downfall, their failures, their expected yet ruined dreams which were before filled of hope and positivity, my mind can't fathom what and where have we gone wrong? Yes I know that things weren't the same for one and another, but as the common story goes, when does giving your all in all never enough? Are we really into learning and preparation for future roles as useful citizens or does this system we honor called "learning and education" poisons our mind of the discreet acceptance we need to get in order to survive? We've got the wrong focus actually. The fulfillment of our yearning had gone bad; so bad that the pride and ego were the slayed victims and the dreams are the next target. Imagine living a life of doubts and uncommitted responsibilities. Are we really after seeking the great perhaps or of convincing ourselves by being vulnerable because of the dictated scores mandated by this jail of consequence we are into? Are dreams really evident to see or are threats more visible? Are we really aiming to build our planned future or are we just getting ourselves into the abyss of wilderness and short-lived happiness? So now, ask yourselves. Are you really in college or were you just slaves of the mandated ultimatum of the 'educational' and 'life-worth' system?

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Cliff

Just so you know you were over it, you actually don't. Your life and all its meaningless attributes were consolidated thoughts of the past that haunts you down. Your memories of the music, the air's cold breeze, of all the laughter and pain, were witnesses of things getting rough for you. Your desperate acts of removing the shattering, destructive horror of the past leads you to another creeping door of the ideas you should've forget. Everything, all at once, were a huge collaboration of your endless nightmare that kills you inside. That nerving pain that goes down from where it came from serves as a reminder of your ephemeral happiness. It was a taste of the intended situation you once hoped for, but never worked through. You're helpless, alone, and immortal. And that's all you could ever be.