BABALA SA PASISTANG DIKTADOR

DUTERTE, MADUGONG SANTO SA MATADERO NG BAYAN [Handog sa mga aktibistang pinaslang sa Nasugbu, Batangas, noong Nobyembre 2015: pakikiramay sa mga unyonistang pinatay noong “Bloody Sunday,” Marso 7, 2021)

Magkatabi lang—di magkayakap— silang nasawi sa engkuwentro sa Nagsugbu, Batangas, pati ang siyam na minasaker sa madugong linggo ng Marso 2021…. Magkatabi sina Josephine Anne Lapira at Glen Aytona, nakahandusay….Ewan kung magkasuyo magdamag…. Pahayag ni Kumander Patnubay de Guia: “Oo, amin sila….” Inangkin ng ina ang walang kislap na mata ni Glen Aytona, Umahon ang bodhisattva mula sa liblib na purok ng Samsara— Sa paglipat nawindang ang duguang blusa ni Kamila Mangan— Magkatabi ang mga bangkay, daing natin, patungong Nirvana mula sa masukal na sitio ng Batulan at Pinamintasan…. Magkayap na kaya sila sa buong magdamag ng paglalamay? Sambitin mo, Kumander, kung hindi nawaldas ang alay nila…. Naumid ang dila, nabingi, sumikip ang agwat ng Samsara at Nirvana, ng sandaling ito at magdamag…. Di lang isa ang kandila, batid natin ang mga pangalan ng iba pang pinuksa ng rehimen: Zara Alvarez, Randy Malayao, Eugenia Magpantay, Randall Echanis, Agaton Topacio, Antonio Cabanatan, Florenda Yap, Reynaldo Bocala, Rustico Tan…. “Magkasuyo buong gabi” ang mga magulang, asawa, katipan…. Ito ba ang ating daigdig? Patuloy ba tayong maglalambingan sa awit ng mga sirena sa TV & midya? Wala nang tinig kundi sikdo’t kabog ng dibdib, umaangil, sumasabog sa daigdig na gumuho’t nawarak.DUTERTE, BLOODY SAINT OF THE NATION’S SLAUGHTERHOUSE (Dedicated to the activists slain in Nasugbu, Batangas, in November 2015, and the unionists killed in the “Bloody Sunday,” March 7, 2021) Beside each other—not embracing—witness now the bodies slain in the encounter at Nasugbu, Batangas, together with nine massacred in the bloody Sunday of March 2021…. Lying together are Josephine Anne Lapira and Glen Aytona, prostrate…. Don’t know if they will fondle each other all night…. Declared Kumander Patnubay de Guia: “Yes, they’re ours….” Glen’s sparkless eyes were claimed by his mother, while the others…. Bodhisattvas surged forth from Samsara’s clandestine groves— Transported, Kamila Mangan’s bloody blouse was ripped apart— Corpses juxtaposed to each other, we cried, edging toward Nirvana from the wild ravines of Batulan and Pinamintasan…. Are they now caressing each other throughout the mourning vigil? Confess it, Kumander, if their offerings were futile, wasted…. Tongue frozen, deafened, the chasm between Samsara and Nirvana dwindled, between this moment and the endless exuberant night…. Not just one candle, we knew the names of others killed: Zara Alvarez, Randy Malayao, Eugenia Magpantay, Randall Echanis, Agaton Topacio, Antonio Cabanatan, Florenda Yap, Reynaldo Bocala, Rustico Tan… “Clasping each other nightlong,” parents, spouses, inamoratas…. Is this our world? Do we go on squandering our lives with amorous dalliance spewed out in sirens’ songs in TV & media? Voices exhausted, only the throb and pounding of the breast seething in fury, exploding in this world blown apart into smithereens—