Streams of Thought Again

Here's another bunch of ideas running in my head due to excessive exposure to the late-night news.
Same Old, Same Old. Exactly 21 years have passed since the infamous Mendiola Massacre that left at least 13 farmers dead from anti-riot police gunfire. And yet, nothing has changed -- except for the people in power. Or so I think.

Farmers are still pushing for genuine agrarian reform. Police are still trigger-happy. Put these two groups together in one place -- chaos ensues.

I pity these poor farmers who almost break their backs to till land that is not theirs. Up to now, it still has to sink in their minds that there is no such thing as genuine agrarian reform. Not in the Philippines, not anywhere.

For as long as our legislators and leaders are dominated by the landed elite, these people from the grassroots will simply wither away and still not achieve what they have long dreamt of: a land they can call their own.

A Question of Ethics. The recent Manila Pen siege has really brought out the worst in the Philippine Armed Forces. Not only were they exposed for their ineptitude and over-agressiveness in securing a small band of disillusioned military officers: their major faux pas was also seen on national and global TV and splashed over the pages of all major dailies.

It's no small wonder that they decided to turn the heat on journalists covering the event by detaining mediamen for several hours.

Now, the military top brass are threatening journalists that if ever the latter decides to "intervene" in future military operations, then they will not hesitate to round up these media people -- again.

Of course, the media is screaming bloody murder over the whole thing.

Isn't it enough that the military has already been tagged several times for extra-judicial killings of mediamen in the recent past?

Perhaps these officers in the military, including Department of Justice Head Raul Gonzales (a favorite of mine from the Arroyo administration -- not), may have forgotten the Bill of Rights in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Article III, Section 4 of the Constitution specifically states: "No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances." (Geez, I will always have Atty. Victor Avecilla -- my former teacher of Law in Mass Media -- to thank for literally tattooing this particular law in my mind.)

Or maybe the AFP just doesn't understand the meaning of the word, "abridge."

On the other hand, there is also an ethical dilemma present in this situation regarding military operations. More specifically, it borders on the age-old clash between effective insurgency operations and the right of the people to know. For example, the military intends to launch an attack on an Abu Sayyaf stronghold, and details of this are kept in confidential documents. If a journalist either gets a hand on these said documents, or tails the military -- complete with camera crew -- all the way to the venue in question and catches live on camera the said offensive, then the military's cover is blown. Those Abu Sayyaf members who manage to lock in on the news can easily escape before any harm is done to them. At the end of the day, the planned military offensive becomes a failure, all because of over-eager media people trying to get ahead on the latest scoop.

Another former teacher of mine, Atty. Romeo Candazo, taught us in our Media Ethics class that journalists conform to a strict code of ethics. However, when an ethical dilemma like this comes about, one question must be answered: "Will your action prove beneficial to the majority, or only to a chosen few?" Actions based on their potential beneficial effects on the majority should be the ones undertaken. It is the benefit of the majority that has to be upheld, no matter what kind of ethical dilemmas are posed.

This only goes to show that the military's decision to deter journalists from military operations are not at all that spaced-out. Or maybe just a little.

Destabilization Plots. Still on military boo-boos, these guys are getting all paranoid again, saying that there are recent reports of destabilization plots against the Arroyo govovernment.

They can't even provide solid evidence to prove their paranoia.

Honestly, who wouldn't want to go against this present administration? A lot of Filipinos are still going hungry while these well-heeled people in Malacañang are celebrating over the strong performance of the Philippine peso over the dollar.

Geez, these people are talking about statistics, while there's still no food on the Filipino family's table.

If statistics can only be eaten...

Cat Murder. Okay, so I'm a little delayed in making a ruckus out of this news article (see GMA's Saksi video here) that happened during the early part of January. More than 20 cats -- all former strays -- living in a shelter inside the posh Dasmariñas Village in Makati were found killed inside their cages early one morning. Autopsy reports on the dead cats showed that they were gunned down using a pellet gun. Thank God, eight of them managed to survive the massacre.

The last I heard about this incident, the suspected gunman is the shelter caretaker. Probably sick and tired of cleaning cat poo and pee, this guy decided to end his suffering by using the poor cats as target practice.

Of course, animal welfare groups are up in arms over this gruesome incident. Even the residents of the village were concerned -- but not much for the cats but for themselves. According to them, if this cat-killer has the guts to do such a thing to caged animals, then what will keep him from killing people next?

Talk about false concern. In this case, I'd rather have them placed in the cat cages instead of the cats.

Whenever I encounter stories like the Makati cat massacre, I would sometimes think of the concepts of karma and reincarnation. If ever these are really true, I wish that perpetrators of cruelty to these gentle animals would eventually die and turn into the very same animals they were cruel to in their next lives. And I hope the very same pain and torture that they inflicted in their past life would also be inflicted on them.

This cruelty to animals is no longer new to us human beings. In the provinces, cats and dogs are being skinned alive and eaten. Roosters are pitted in cockpits to fight to the death. Pigs are brought to the slaughterhouse in the most inhumane way -- tied down in groups and hung at the back of a motorcycle, placed in a sack and thrown inside the baggage compartment of a bus, etc. Unfortunate dolphins that get caught in fishermens' nets end up sliced up and sold in the wet market. And we just turn a blind eye to these occurrences as if nothing happened.

No amount of information dissemination can take away the innate cruelty of some humans.

Pit Señor Sto. Niño! Cebu City was dressed up to the nines and turned into one big party place last Sunday, thanks to the celebration of the Sinulog Festival, held in honor of the said city's patron, the Sr. Sto. Niño.

This was my second time to watch the Sinulog, and this time I watched it from a very strategic vantage point: my TV in the comfort of my room.

Last year, I was still very new in Cebu and eager to see how Cebuanos party. Thus, I braved the crowds with an officemate and we trekked the long stretch of road where the grand parade was held.

While the dance steps are not that new to me (I half-hail [Is there such a word? LOL!] from Tanauan, Leyte where we have our own Pasaka Festival in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption.), I was astounded by the sheer number of contingents and their elaborate costumes.

And yes, I was also astounded by the sheer heat of the sun and the difficulty to get a ride home. But it was an experience not to be missed, so no regrets -- only lessons to be learned.

That's why this year, I just watched the Sinulog on TV.

Of course, the experience is not as exhilarating as watching the real thing -- but at least I got to see most, if not all of the contingents strutting their stuff in the Cebu City Sports Center.

However, for some strange reason, every time I see the TV footage of the Sinulog, I couldn't help but shed a tear or two. I dunno: I guess I'm just moved to tears by seeing the true beauty and richness of Philippine culture through these magnificent dancers. Or maybe I just remember my daughter when she took part in our Pasaka Festival three years ago. Whatever it is, my tears are tears of pride -- pride in the Filipino.

Censorship Rears Its Ugly Head

When do supposed stalwarts of the freedom of expression suddenly turn into its very own oppressors?

This is the question present in the minds of the people concerned in these two seemingly different real-life situations.

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The first case involves a group of media people, a group of artists, and a mural.

The group of media people is the National Press Club (NPC). The artists' group is the Angono Artists' Collective. The mural was a project commissioned by the NPC to the Angono artists for the former's anniversary.

After the artists completed the mural, the NPC didn't like several elements painted in it and thus ordered the artists to alter the said elements. The artists hated the idea and refused to change anything in the mural, contending that this is their own artistic depiction of the NPC's achievements in the past years. Thus, the NPC decided to get another artist to make the changes in the mural. This angers the artists who cry foul over what the NPC did. the NPC people meanwhile accuse the artists of a breach of contract. It was later revealed that the contract itself was faulty.

Several verbal tussles ensue between representatives of the NPC and the president of the artists' group. The former insists that they paid for the mural and this makes it their property. In fact, they add, they can even burn the mural if they wanted to. (Gasp!)

The latter, meanwhile, insists that they have intellectual property rights to the mural. This means that they have the right to place any element in the mural that they deem would properly depict the NPC as a core media group. This also means that no one is to tamper with any element in their mural without their expressed consent -- even if the mural is a commissioned project.

The latest in this drama is that the NPC is trying to get the administration of the Philippine Daily Inquirer to buy the so-called "flawed" mural. I'm not sure as to the veracity of reports that the NPC was successful in selling the said mural, but if they were, they'd be making a clean "Pontius Pilate" escape. With that, the artists would have to contend with a new mural owner.

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The second case happened much closer to home. Not many knew that this occurred but perhaps now is the time for this to be brought into the open.

Flashback to February 2005 -- the celebration of Arts Month which falls every February. In the University of the Philippines in the Visayas-Tacloban College (UPVTC), the Division of Humanities (DH) would always organize activities for this said month, and it was the DH division head who christened it with the name, the Saringsing Arts Festival. Saringsing, by the way, is a Waray-waray term for the growth of new leaves or buds. Thus, the Saringsing Arts Festival is not only dedicated to the arts but also to the new ideas and creative genius of the UPVTC community.

The DH faculty members are very busy during this time, thinking of ingenious ideas to make the Saringsing a festival in every sense of the word. During that particular time I was still a member of the DH faculty, having been connected with the University for almost two school years already. My idea of an activity for that year was inspired by an event during my college days in UP Diliman wherein several students' organizations in cooperation with Fine Arts students would turn an entire stretch of road into a canvas for their paintings. The result was a massive street mural that stretched along the front of the Arts and Sciences Building.

Since we didn't have streets running through our college, I decided to use the concrete pavement of the Arts and Sciences covered walk instead. I was quite excited about my plan, knowing that this was going to be the first time the whole UPVTC community would witness an event like this. I was even planning on turning this event into an annual thing.

Unfortunately, the UPVTC administration didn't share my enthusiasm. The DH division head told me that my proposal was disapproved, and that if I wanted to make an appeal, I should take it up with the college dean herself -- Marieta Sumagaysay.

I immediately headed for the Dean's Office to find out exactly why my proposal was junked. Dean Sumagaysay initially explained that a group of people from the administration discussed the proposal and came to the conclusion that using the AS Covered Walk for mural painting was not a good idea for the following reasons:

- Since we don't have Fine Arts students, it is possible that instead of coming up with an attractive mural, the student may just make a mess out of it.

- Bad weather and constant trampling will eventually destroy the mural, and it will turn into an eyesore instead of an art piece.

I contended that one doesn't have to be a Fine Arts student to express himself/herself creatively. Besides, this is a perfect venue to unleash the hidden talents of some of our artistic students. And since I had the resident art organization backing me up, I'm sure they'd be around to check on the artistic aspects of the event.

As for the mural eventually getting destroyed, I noted that this is the same thing that happens to the UP Diliman mural. However, this sets the stage for another round of mural-painting by the next year. The students can just paint over remnants of the last mural.

Dean Sumagaysay's arguments withered with my reasoning. However, she pulled out the argument to end all arguments: How are we going to check for content?

I was taken aback by the good dean's specific concern. Ever since I started teaching in UPVTC, I always had faith in the students in the sense that they were reasonable and responsible enough to air their concerns in proper venues. They know the difference between art and profanity, which was why I never worried about content. However, I was disturbed that the dean and her cohorts were concerned -- as in deeply concerned -- about what the students may say through the mural. This activity was supposed to be an outlet for the UPVTC community to express themselves. Why must there be a need for censorship?

In my shock, I think I stumbled through my reasoning against the dean's argument. She then suggested that we meet halfway. Instead of painting on the AS Covered Walk, we were to provide participants with yards of streamer fabric to paint on. These streamers were to be put on display on the side of the AS Building for the duration of the Arts Month. By the start of March, they were to be taken down.

At first, I thought that it was a lame idea. There simply was no substitute for mural painting. But the dean just pulled a fast one on me: If I still insisted on mural painting, then it will have to be discussed in the next general faculty meeting which was slated for the last Wednesday of February.

That was a low blow. If we still debated on whether to push through with the mural painting or not in the general faculty meeting, then by the time the project did push through (IF approved), it would already be March. The initial intent for the mural painting to be held in time for the Saringsing Arts Festival would all be for naught.

Thus, I had to settle for the canvas painting. While it was quite a rousing success, I didn't repeat that activity the next year.

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Censorship reared its ugly head in these two situations. For this monster to manifest itself in two institutions that purport to stand for idealism, ethics, and responsibility is a phenomenon that is beyond me.

Has media -- as in the case of the NPC mural -- forgotten its sworn duty to remain neutral in its stance, and to respect other people's intellectual property rights? Have they -- in their desire to be on the good side of none other than Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was guest of honor at their mural unveiling -- avoided to step on the polished shoes of prominent people in government, and instead decided to step on the slippered feet of the Angono artists?

Why are the people of the UPVTC administration afraid of what powerless students would say about them through the mural? Is it because the students may just force them to face a certain fact splashed upon the pavement for all to see? What is this "fact" that they're so hesitant to face?

Unfortunately, there are no answers to all these questions -- only speculation.

In the end, censorship scores two points. As for the truth? Zero.