Others have given their lives, without doubt or heed...Scaffold or open plain, combat or martyrdom's plight, 'Tis ever the same, to serve our home and country's need. -- JOSE RIZAL, "My Last Farewell" // Sapagkat ang mundo'y bayan ng hinagpis Mamamaya'y sukat tibayan ang dibdib... -- FRANCISCO BALAGTAS, "Florante at Laura" //
Friday, July 26, 2013
POSTKONSEPTUWAL NA TULA, KONSEPTUWALISTANG DISKURSO AT SINING
SINALANG SALAWIKAIN NG SALARING NAGKASALA
Sa Labintatlong Maniobra sa Larangan ng Pakikipagsapalaran
[Pagsubok sa Paglikha ng Post-Konseptuwal na Diskurso]
[Sinangla, binalasa't nilustay bago umagpang ang salarin ng wika sa paglinlang at pagdispalko sa kasaysayan, ayon sa tagubilin ni Felix Razon:"Ilang hagkis o pukol ng dais ay hindi makawawalis sa istratehiya ng pagbabakasakali....”]
ni E. SAN JUAN, Jr.
_____________________________________________________________
PAUNAWA TUNGKOL SA KONSEPTUWAL NA SINING/PANITIKANG POST-KONSEPTUWAL
Simula pa noong kilusang avantgarde ng suryalismo, Dada, konstruktibismo, Fluxus, Oulipop ng nakalipas na siglo--mababanggit sina Duchamp, Beckett, Gertrude Stein, Joyce, Brecht, John Cage, atbp.--ang pagyari ng anti-ekspresibong akda ay di na bagong balita. Nawasak na ang lumang kategorya ng genre at dekorum sa estilo, pati na rin ang kaibahan ng mga midya o instrumento sa pagpapahayag (pinta, musika, salita). Di mapanlikhang sulat ("uncreative writing") ang bunga. Sa sining, ang "Spiral Jetty" ni Robert Smithson. Ang pinakamahalaga ay ang konsepto o ideya na ugat ng "Spiral Jetty."
Supling ang kontemporaneong sining ngayon sa pag-angkin (appropriation), malayang pagnakaw, patikim at pagtransporma ng anuman--ang konteksto/sitwasyon ang siyang dumidikta. Ito'y nakadiin sa proseso, at nakasalig sa konsepto o kaisipang umuugit o gumagabay sa pagbuo--hindi sa produkto. Layon nito ay hindi lang pagbuwag sa pribadong pag-aari ("expropriate the expropriators," wika nga) kundi paghahain din sa lahat ng malawak at maluwag na larangan sa interpretasyon/kabatiran (ang komunismo ng all-round "free development," ayon sa Gotha Programme). Kung sira na ang bakurang humihiwalay sa sining at buhay, sa pulitika at ekonomya, bakit bulag pa rin tayo sa katotohanang nagbago't nagbago na ang mundo?
Wika ni Kenneth Goldsmith, isang dalubhasang konseptuwalistang guro: "The idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work...The idea becomes a machine that makes the text" ("Paragraphs on Conceptual Writing," sangguniin din ang Against Expression: An Anthology of Conceptual Writing, inedit ni Goldsmith at Craig Dworkin). Dagdag pa niya: Hindi kailangang basahin ang teksto. Kailangan lamang ay maintindihan ang konsepto, ang namamayaning proyektong inaadhika, sa likod nito. Ang konsepto ang batayan ng porma, hugis, anyo (sang-ayon din si Galvano Della Volpe, Critique of Taste). Sagot ito sa digital revolution ng kompyuter, sa pagsambulat ng impormasyon sa Internet na walang pasubaling naglilinkod sa barbarismo ng tubo/kapital at karahasan ng pagsasamantala. Tanong ko: pagkatapos ng kabatiran, ano ang dapat gawin?
Paano makalalaya sa kapangyarihan ng salapi, kapital, komodipikasyon? Upang lumaban sa industriyang pangkulturang kasangkapan ng kapitalismong global, pag-umit o pag-angkin (sa katunayan, ng kinumpiskang halaga/surplus value na likha ng mga manggagawa) at detournement (ayon kay Guy Debord) ang gawing istratehiya sa pagtutol. Mabisa ang taktika ng alegorya, ang metodo ng debalwasyon (tingnan "Notes on Conceptualisms" nina Robert Fitterman at Vanessa Place sa Web).
Sino ang may kontrol sa mga kagamitan sa produksiyon at reproduksiyon ng lipunan? Paliwanag din ni Walter Benjamin na dapat hawakan at pangasiwaan ang paraan ng produksiyon upang matutulan ang laganap at malalim na komodipikasyon, reipikasyon, anomie/alyenasyon sa buong planeta. Samut-saring posibilidad ang nakabukas dahil sa teknolohiya. Laluna ang materyalidad ng wika at iba't ibang signos/senyal. Nasa gitna tayo ng rebolusyon sa sining. Pwede kayang maitransporma ang nakahandang-bagay (ready-made) na salawikain (hanggang hindi pa ito napraybatays ng McDonald, Body Shop, S-M at Robinson Mall) upang makapukaw ng katumbalikang damdamin at isip?
Ang diskursong narito, na siguro'y pinakaunang halimbawa ng konseptuwalistang pagsubok sa Filipino, ay ensayo sa post-konseptuwalismong modo ng pag-angkin at pagbaligtad. Ayon kay Peter Osborne (Anywhere or Not at All), ang post-konseptuwalismong pananaw ang siyang mabisang paraan upang sagupain ang neoliberalismong salot na nagtuturing sa lahat na pwedeng mabili at pagtubuan--katawan, kaluluwa, panaginip, kinabukasan. Ang idea ng "horizon" o abot-tanaw na hanggahan ang maaaring bumalangkas ng praktikang experimental na negasyon/pagtakwil sa status quo na dudurog sa nakagawiang hilig, gawi, asal sa "free market" ng paniniwala't damdamin.
Kung ukol, di bubukol? Problema na walang tiyak na resulta ang anumang eksperimento o ipotesis, probabilidad lamang. Sa pagreprodyus sa tradisyonal na bukambibig na payo o kaalaman sa kwadro ng mapagbirong laro, makatutulong kaya ito sa paghikayat na kolektibong tuklasin at isakatuparan ang konsepto ng pagbabago, konsepto ng pagbabalikwas at pagsulong tungo sa pambansang demokrasya't kasarinlan? Sinong pupusta sa sugal ng pagbabakasakali't pakikipagsapalaran? Nasa sa inyo, mambabasa, ang kapasiyahan.--ESJ 7/25/2013
_____________________________________________________________
LARO 1
Ang kapalaran di mo man hanapin, dudulog
at lalapit kung talagang atin
Nasa kaluluwa ang awa, nasa katawan ang gawa
Taong di makuhang sumangguni, may dunong ma'y namamali
Ang lubid ay nalalagot kung saang dako marupok
Sa kapipili-kapipili, katagpu-tagpo ay bungi
Anumang iyong gawin, makapito mong isipin
Isa man at sampak, daig ang makaapat
Anumang tibay ng piling abaka ay walang silbi kapag nag-iisa
Mabigat ay gumagaan kung ating pinagtutulung-tulongan
Ang mabuting gawa kahit walang bathala, kinalulugdan ng madla
LARO 2
Ang manamit ng hiram, sa daan hinuhubaran
Daang patungo sa langit, masagabal at maliklik
Malapit ma't di lalakarin, kailan ma'y di mararating
Kung di ka lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di ka makararating sa paruroonan
Huli man at magaling, kahit hubo't hubad maihahabol din
Pagkahabahaba man ng prusisyon, sementeryo din ang tuloy
Ang sa panghihiram mawili, nakalilimot sa sarili
Walang unang sisi na di sa huli nangyari
Kung ano ang tugtog, mangahas huwag isayaw
Buntot mo, hila mo
LARO 3
Ang di magsapalaran, hindi matatawid ang karagatan
Kung ang tubig ay tahimik, lipdin mo ma'y di malirip
Kaya maligo ka sa linaw, sa labo magbanlaw
Pag ang tubig ay di matining, may pasubaling balon ay malalim
Walang mahirap gisingin gaya ng nagtutulog-tulugan
Ang hipong tulog, tinatangay ng agos
Putik din lamang at putik, tapatan na nang malapit
Matutuyo man ang sapa, hindi ang balita
Kapag ang ilog ay maingay, asahan mong may sumasablay
Buhay alamang, paglukso'y patay
LARO 4
Kapag ukol, pwedeng hindi bumukol
Hindi pa ipinaglilihi, di biro'y ipinapanganak na
Wala pang itlog ang inahin, di na mabilang ang sisiw
Kung sino ang unang pumutak, di biro'y siyang nangitlog
Sala sa lamig, sala sa init, sumasalang buwisit
Kung sino ang minamahal, siyang pinahihirapan
Kung may hirap, may ginhawa ba
Ang panalo ay sakali, ang pagkatalo'y palagi
Iba na ang hawak sa palad kaysa lumilipad
Biru-biro kung sanglan, totoo kung tamaan
LARO 5
Kapag may isinuksok, may madudukot
Kung bukas ang kaban, nagkakasala sinuman
Nakikita ang butas ng karayom, hindi ang butas ng palakol
Kung sino pa ang mangangaso ay siyang walang palaso
Huwag kang maglaro ng sundang kung ayaw mong masugatan
Kung minsan kaliwang kamay tinataga rin ang kanan
Walang sumisira sa bakal kundi ang sarili niyang kalawang
Nawawala ang ari ngunit ang uri ay hindi
Di lahat ng kumikinang ay tunay na gintong lantay
Gayunpaman ang taong nagigipit, sa patalim kakapit
LARO 6
Ang pangako ay utang, huwag kalilimutan
Ang lumalakad nang matulin, kung matinik ay malalim
Ibon sa hawla'y ikinulong nang mahigpit, kapag nakawala'y hindi na babalik
Humahabol ang nahuli sa unang nagsisisi
Ang matalinong mamaraan, magugulangan din pagtawid sa sangandaan
Kahit matapang sa singilan, duwag naman sa utangan
Sa pakitang loob at tapat na damay ay walang salaping sukat matimbang
Kung gaano kataas ang lipad, gayon din ang lagapak
Walang pagod magtipon, walang hinayang magtapon
Kung saan narapa, doon magbangon
LARO 7
Ubus-ubos biyaya, maya-maya ay nakatunganga
Nangilag sa baga, sa ningas nasugba
Naghangad ng katugma, isang salop ang nawala
Batong-buhay ka man na sakdal tigas, unti-unting patak tuluyang maaagnas
Mga biyayang apoy at habagat, bato man ay pinalalambot
Walang matimtimang birhen sa matiyagang manalangin
Tikatik man kung panay ang ulan, malalim mang ilog ay aapaw
Ang nagtatanim ng hangin, may bagyong aanihin
Hangga't makitid ang kumot, magtiis mamaluktot
Magkupkop ka rito ng kaawa-awa, langit ang iyong gantimpala
LARO 8
Ang binigyan ng buhay, bibigyan din ng ikabubuhay
Kung nasaan ang asukal, naroon ang langgam
Walang palayok na di may kasukat na tuntong
Iyang ampalayang kahit anong pait, sa nagkakagusto'y walang kasintamis
Pagkalaki-laki man ng palayok, may kasukat na saklob
Walang tutong sa burokratang nagugutom
Walang tumaban ng palayok na hindi naulingan
Bago mo batiin ang dungis ng ibang tao, ang dungis mo muna ang tugunan mo
Ang iyong kakainin, sa iyong pawis manggagaling
Bulaga! Ako ang nagbayo, nagsaing, nagluto ngunit iba ang kumain
LARO 9
Ang pagsasabi ng tapat ay pagsasamang maluwat
Gayunpaman, sa lahat ng gubat, nakaluklok ang ahas
Ang asong matatahulin ay hindi makakagatin
Ang malubay na sagot ay nakapapawi ng poot
Labis sa kahol at salita, kulang sa sagpang at gawa
Ang butong tinangay ng aso, walang salang nalawayan mo
Nasa tuldik ang awa, nasa punto ang gawa
Itinutulak ng bibig, kinakabig ng dibdib
Ang isda'y sa kanyang bibig nahuhuli, ang tao nama'y sa salita't sabi
Sa langit lumura, sa mukha tumama
LARO 10
Ang maghanap sa wala, ulol ang kamukha
Kahoy na babad sa tubig sa apoy huwag ilapit
Pag nadarang mag-iinit, sapilitang magdirikit
Matuyo man ang sapa, hindi ang balita
Ang taong naglalaro sa apoy ay napapaso
Di man makita ang ningas, apoy ang magpapahayag
Hinahanap-hanap ang nawala, nang makita ay isinumpa
Kung hirap ay masasal na, bisperas na ng ginhawa
Ang taong mainggitin, lumigaya man ay sawi rin
Totoo kayang madaling maging tao't mahirap magpakatao
LARO 11
Kung ano ang taguri, ay siyang pagkalungi
Damit na hiram, kung hindi masikip ay maluwang
Ang sakit ng kalingkingan, damdam ng buong katawan
Sa marunong umunawa, di sukat ang mahiwagang talinghaga
Talastasang pagbasa, sabaw na malasa
Ang gawa sa pagkabata, dala hanggang sa pagkamatanda
Ang maikli ay dugtungan, ang mabaha ay putulan
Sa panahon ng kagipitan, makikilala ang di kaibigan
Tuso man ang matsing, napaglalalangan din
Walang nasayang na buhay sa rebolusyonaryong muling pagkabuhay
LARO 12
Kaning biglang isusubo, iluluwa kung mapaso
Kung magbibigay ma't mahirap sa loob, ang pinakakain ay di mabubusog
Pag ang pagkakita ay bigla, bigla rin ang pagkawala
Walang masamang kanya, walang mabuti sa iba
Bagamat isinusubo mo, nalalaglag pa ang mumo
Kahit apaw na ang salop, nawawala ang kalos
Kaya hindi lahat ng maagap maagang nakalulutas
Hampas sa kalabaw, sa kabayo ang latay
Ang anumang kasulatan, dapat lagdaan kung kinakailangan
Aanhin pa ang pulot-gata kung patay na ang kabayo
LARO 13
Kung hiwaga ang itinanim, libong himala ang aanihin
Madaling pumitas ng bunga kung dadaan ka sa sanga
Ang kawayan kung tumubo, langit na matayog ang itinuturo
Kung may isinuksok, may titingalain
Kung masunod na ang anyo, sa lupa rin ang yuko
Ang bungang hinog sa sanga, matamis ang lasa
Ang bungang hinog sa pilit kung kainin ay mapait
Magsisi ka man at huli, wala nang mangyayari
May tainga ang lupa, may pakpak ang balita, ngunit bingi't makupad ang makata
Nasa taong matapat ang huling halakhak
Sunday, July 21, 2013
SALAWIKAIN NG SALARING NAGKASALA--13 Eksena
SINALANG SALAWIKAIN NG SALARIN NA NAGKASALA
Sa Labintatlong Maniobra sa Larangan ng Pakikipagsapalaran
(Unang Borador)
[Sinangla, binalasa't nilustay bago umagpang ang salarin ng wika sa paglinlang at pagdispalko sa kasaysayan, ayon sa tagubilin ni Felix Razon:"Ilang hagkis o pukol ng dais ay hindi makawawalis sa istratehiya ng pagbabakasakali....”]
ni E. SAN JUAN, Jr.
___________________________________________________________________
LARO 1
Ang kapalaran di mo man hanapin, dudulog
at lalapit kung talagang atin
Nasa kaluluwa ang awa, nasa katawan ang gawa
Taong di makuhang sumangguni, may dunong ma'y namamali
Ang lubid ay nalalagot kung saang dako marupok
Sa kapipili-kapipili, katagpu-tagpo ay bungi
Anumang iyong gawin, makapito mong isipin
Isa man at sampak, daig ang makaapat
Anumang tibay ng piling abaka ay walang silbi kapag nag-iisa
Mabigat ay gumagaan kung ating pinagtutulung-tulongan
Ang mabuting gawa kahit walang bathala, kinalulugdan ng madla
LARO 2
Ang manamit ng hiram, sa daan hinuhubaran
Daang patungo sa langit, masagabal at maliklik
Malapit ma't di lalakarin, kailan ma'y di mararating
Kung di ka lumingon sa pinanggalingan, di ka makararating sa paruroonan
Huli man at magaling, kahit hubo't hubad maihahabol din
Pagkahabahaba man ng prusisyon, sementeryo din ang tuloy
Ang sa panghihiram mawili, nakalilimot sa sarili
Walang unang sisi na di sa huli nangyari
Kung ano ang tugtog, mangahas huwag isayaw
Buntot mo, hila mo
LARO 3
Ang di magsapalaran, hindi matatawid ang karagatan
Kung ang tubig ay tahimik, lipdin mo ma'y di malirip
Kaya maligo ka sa linaw, sa labo magbanlaw
Pag ang tubig ay di matining, may pasubaling balon ay malalim
Walang mahirap gisingin gaya ng nagtutulog-tulugan
Ang hipong tulog, tinatangay ng agos
Putik din lamang at putik, tapatan na nang malapit
Matutuyo man ang sapa, hindi ang balita
Kapag ang ilog ay maingay, asahan mong may sumasablay
Buhay alamang, paglukso'y patay
LARO 4
Kapag ukol, pwedeng hindi bumukol
Hindi pa ipinaglilihi, di biro'y ipinapanganak na
Wala pang itlog ang inahin, di na mabilang ang sisiw
Kung sino ang unang pumutak, di biro'y siyang nangitlog
Sala sa lamig, sala sa init, sumasalang buwisit
Kung sino ang minamahal, siyang pinahihirapan
Kung may hirap, may ginhawa ba
Ang panalo ay sakali, ang pagkatalo'y palagi
Iba na ang hawak sa palad kaysa lumilipad
Biru-biro kung sanglan, totoo kung tamaan
LARO 5
Kapag may isinuksok, may madudukot
Kung bukas ang kaban, nagkakasala sinuman
Nakikita ang butas ng karayom, hindi ang butas ng palakol
Kung sino pa ang mangangaso ay siyang walang palaso
Huwag kang maglaro ng sundang kung ayaw mong masugatan
Kung minsan kaliwang kamay tinataga rin ang kanan
Walang sumisira sa bakal kundi ang sarili niyang kalawang
Nawawala ang ari ngunit ang uri ay hindi
Di lahat ng kumikinang ay tunay na gintong lantay
Gayunpaman ang taong nagigipit, sa patalim kakapit
LARO 6
Ang pangako ay utang, huwag kalilimutan
Ang lumalakad nang matulin, kung matinik ay malalim
Ibon sa hawla'y ikinulong nang mahigpit, kapag nakawala'y hindi na babalik
Humahabol ang nahuli sa unang nagsisisi
Ang matalinong mamaraan, magugulangan din pagtawid sa sangandaan
Kahit matapang sa singilan, duwag naman sa utangan
Sa pakitang loob at tapat na damay ay walang salaping sukat matimbang
Kung gaano kataas ang lipad, gayon din ang lagapak
Walang pagod magtipon, walang hinayang magtapon
Kung saan narapa, doon magbangon
LARO 7
Ubus-ubos biyaya, maya-maya ay nakatunganga
Nangilag sa baga, sa ningas nasugba
Naghangad ng katugma, isang salop ang nawala
Batong-buhay ka man na sakdal tigas, unti-unting patak tuluyang maagnas
Mga biyayang apoy at habagat, bato man ay pinalalambot
Walang matimtimang birhen sa matiyagang manalangin
Tikatik man kung panay ang ulan, malalim mang ilog ay aapaw
Ang nagtatanim ng hangin, may bagyong aanihin
Hangga't makitid ang kumot, magtiis mamaluktot
Magkupkop ka rito ng kaawa-awa, langit ang iyong gantimpala
LARO 8
Ang binigyan ng buhay, bibigyan din ng ikabubuhay
Kung nasaan ang asukal, naroon ang langgam
Walang palayok na di may kasukat na tuntong
Iyang ampalayang kahit anong pait, sa nagkakagusto'y walang kasintamis
Pagkalaki-laki man ng palayok, may kasukat na saklob
Walang tutong sa burokratang nagugutom
Walang tumaban ng palayok na hindi naulingan
Bago mo batiin ang dungis ng ibang tao, ang dungis mo muna ang tugunan mo
Ang iyong kakainin, sa iyong pawis manggagaling
Bulaga! Ako ang nagbayo, nagsaing, nagluto ngunit iba ang kumain
LARO 9
Ang pagsasabi ng tapat ay pagsasamang maluwat
Gayunpaman, sa lahat ng gubat, nakaluklok ang ahas
Ang asong matatahulin ay hindi makakagatin
Ang malubay na sagot ay nakapapawi ng poot
Labis sa kahol at salita, kulang sa sagpang at gawa
Ang butong tinangay ng aso, walang salang nalawayan mo
Nasa tuldik ang awa, nasa punto ang gawa
Itinutulak ng bibig, kinakabig ng dibdib
Ang isda'y sa kanyang bibig nahuhuli, ang tao nama'y sa salita't sabi
Sa langit lumura, sa mukha tumama
LARO 10
Ang maghanap sa wala, ulol ang kamukha
Kahoy na babad sa tubig sa apoy huwag ilapit
Pag nadarang mag-iinit, sapilitang magdirikit
Matuyo man ang sapa, hindi ang balita
Ang taong naglalaro sa apoy ay napapaso
Di man makita ang ningas, apoy ang magpapahayag
Hinahanap-hanap ang nawala, nang makita ay isinumpa
Kung hirap ay masasal na, bisperas na ng ginhawa
Ang taong mainggitin, lumigaya man ay sawi rin
Totoo kayang madaling maging tao't mahirap magpakatao
LARO 11
Kung ano ang taguri, ay siyang pagkalungi
Damit na hiram, kung hindi masikip ay maluwang
Ang sakit ng kalingkingan, damdam ng buong katawan
Sa marunong umunawa, di sukat ang mahiwagang talinghaga
Talastasang pagbasa, sabaw na malasa
Ang gawa sa pagkabata, dala hanggang sa pagkamatanda
Ang maikli ay dugtungan, ang mabaha ay putulan
Sa panahon ng kagipitan, makikilala ang di kaibigan
Tuso man ang matsing, napaglalalangan din
Walang nasayang na buhay sa rebolusyonaryong muling pagkabuhay
LARO 12
Kaning biglang isusubo, iluluwa kung mapaso
Kung magbibigay ma't mahirap sa loob, ang pinakakain ay di mabubusog
Pag ang pagkakita ay bigla, bigla rin ang pagkawala
Walang masamang kanya, walang mabuti sa iba
Bagamat isinusubo mo, nalaglag pa ang mumo
Kahit apaw na ang salop, nawawala ang kalos
Kaya hindi lahat ng maagap maagang nakalulutas
Hampas sa kalabaw, sa kabayo ang latay
Ang anumang kasulatan, dapat lagdaan kung kinakailangan
Aanhin pa ang pulot-gata kung patay na ang kabayo
LARO 13
Kung hiwaga ang itinanim, libong himala ang aanihin
Madaling pumitas ng bunga kung dadaan ka sa sanga
Ang kawayan kung tumubo, langit na matayog ang itinuturo
Kung may isinuksok, may titingalain
Kung masunod na ang anyo, sa lupa rin ang yuko
Ang bungang hinog sa sanga, matamis ang lasa
Ang bungang hinog sa pilit kung kainin ay mapait
Magsisi ka man at huli, wala nang mangyayari
May tainga ang lupa, may pakpak ang balita, ngunit bingi't makupad ang makata
Nasa taong matapat ang huling halakhak
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
FREE ALL FILIPINA POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE PHILIPPINES!
U.S. GLOBAL CAPITALISM'S HUMANITARIAN BLESSING : TORTURE OF WOMEN POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE PHILIPPINES
by E. SAN JUAN, Jr.
Listed early this yearby the UK ECONOMIST as an upcoming Asian Tiger with 6-7% GDP growth, the Philippines (with half of its hundred million citizens subsisting on less than $2 a day) is more renowned as a haven of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf than for its minerals or its bountiful supply of advertized Filipina brides and maids for the world market. A recent chic staging of Imelda Marcos' fabled extravagance in New York City may cover up the nightmare of the Marcos dictatorship (1972-1986) for the elite or the gore of the 2009 Ampatuan massacre.
But the everyday reality of human misery and plotted killings cannot be eluded.
Dan Brown featured Manila as the "gate of hell" in his novel Inferno. Are we in for a super-Halloween treat? What often pops up between the cracks of commodified trivia are the detritus and stigmata of U.S. intervention in the ongoing civil war. Prominent are the thousands of unresolved extra-judicial killings, torture and abuse of political prisoners, warrantless detentions, enforced disappearances or kidnappings of dissenters by government security forces mainly funded by Washington. We are confronted with a "culture of impunity" that recalls the bloody rule of Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile, and the ruthless generals of Brazil and Argentina in the years when Ronald Reagan and Bush patronized the Cold War services of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.
A classic colony of the United States from 1898 to 1946, the Philippines remains a semi-feudal neocolony ruled by holdover oligarchs led today by President Benigno Aquino III. Resisting the U.S. behemoth in 1899-1913 Filipino-American War, 1.4 million Filipinos perished in the name of U.S. "Manifest Destiny." Since then the Philippines has functioned as a strategic springboard for projecting U.S. power throughout the Asian-Pacific region. This has become more crucial with the recent Asian "pivot" of U.S. military resources amid territorial disputes among China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.
State terrorism thrives in the Philippines. Tutored and subsidized by Washington-Pentagon, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are the two state agencies tasked with pursuing a U.S.-designed Counterinsurgency Plan (now named "Oplan Bayanihan") against the Communist-led New People's Army (NPA) guerillas and other revolutionary groups led by the National Democratic Front. They are aided by government-established "force multipliers" such as Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO), police auxiliary units, and the notorious Citizens' Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU), whose members double as agents of local warlords. Scrapping peace-talks with the insurgents while astutely temporizing with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerillas (with U.S. and Malaysian mediators), Aquino's coercive surveillance and enforcement apparatus obeys the privatization-deregulation policy/ideology of finance capital, resulting in severe unemployment, rampant corruption, widespread poverty and brutal repression.
U.S. imperial hegemony manifests itself in the unlimited use of Philippine territory by U.S warships and military through the Visiting Forces Agreement and other treaties. This has allowed hundreds of U.S. Special Forces, CIA and clandestine agencies to operate in helping the AFP-PNP counterinsurgency plan--such as bombing and strafing communities of peasants and indigenous communities that are protesting mining by foreign corporations. From 2001 to 2010, the U.S. provided over $507 million military assistance (report by Jerry Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 31 Oct 2011). Part of this grant was spent in civic action projects reminiscent of the U.S.-CIA schemes during the anti-Huk pacification campaign under Ramon Magsaysay's presidency.
An observer of recent elections in the Philippines, Australian law professor Gill Boehringer addresses the "culture of impunity" and provides a background for the dehumanization of the regime's critics: "The Philippines is following the typical neo-liberal program whereby inequality worsens, hunger and poverty continue at high rates, citizens are driven overseas so their family may have better income while unemployment, under-employment and child labor remain significant problems... In a country with a a semi-feudal political-economic system generating a huge gap between rich and the masa [masses], the former will fight in every way possible to maintain the structure of social, political and economic relations--including relations of coercion, violence and state-corporate terror--which have made the Philippines a paradise for the wealthy and purgatory for the rest" (Karapatan Interview, 30 June 2013).
To keep the country underdeveloped, secure for investments by predatory multinational coporations, and safe from strikes and political dissent, the U.S. supports a tiny group of political dynasties and their retinue whose victory in periodic "democratic" elections, such as the one last May, guarantees the perpetuation of a society polarized into an impoverished majority and a privileged minority. Violence and a corrupt, inefficient court system underwrite the maintenance of a business-as-usual status quo for profit-making and legitimization of torture, kidnappings, assassinations, and other State crimes against citizens.
Since the 1986 fall of the Marcos dictatorship and its destruction of constitutional process and civil liberties, the volume and scope of human rights violations have jumped to staggering proportions. In 2011, for instance, Amnesty International stated: "More than 200 cases of enforced disappearances recorded in the last decade remained unresolved, as did at least 305 cases of extrajudicial execution (with some estimates ranging as high as 1,200). Almost no perpetrators of these crimes have been brought to justice" (Bulatlat, 20 May 2011).
The U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights in the Philippines for 2011 also confirmed the persistence of "arbitrary, unjlawful, and extrajudicial killings by national, provincial, and local government agents," including "prisoner/detainee torture and abuse by security forces, violence and harassment against leftist and human rights activists by local security forces, disappearances, warrantless arrests, lengthy pretrial detentions, overcrowded and inadequate prison conditions," and so on (U.S. State Dept., Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2011). The Human Rights Watch also affirmed that "hundreds of leftist politicians and political activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy have been killed or abducted since 2011" (World Report 2011).
The highly credible NGO human rights monitor Karapatan documented the human-rights record of Aquino from July 2010 to April 30, 2013: 142 victims of extrajudicial killings, 164 cases of frustrated killing, 16 victims of enforced disappearances (Press Statement, 29 June 2013). High profile cases of the killing of Father Pops Tenorio, Dutch volunteer Willem Geertman, botanist Leonardo Co, and environmentalists Gerry Ortega remain unresolved. Military officials like ex-General Jovito Palparan, Major Baliaga, and others linked by the courts to the kidnapping of Jonas Burgos, Sherley Cadapan and Karen Empeno remain at large. Karapatan chairperson Marie Hilao-Enriquez noted that the victims of State terror are "those who challenge inequality and oppression," those who were displaced by logging and transnational mining companies, and those branded as sympathizers of the NPA by the counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan which, to date, has yielded 137 extra-judicial murders and thousands of detained suspects (Press Statements, 16 January 2013; 29 June 2013).
Women stand out as the prime victims of the Aquino regime and patriarchal authority in general. They are discriminated and inferiorized by virtue of gender, caste, class and ethnicity (on women as caste, see Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Outlaw Woman, 2002). In 2011, half of the 78 political detainees arrested by the Aquino regime were women. Since 2001, 153 women were targetted by extrajudicial assassins sponsored by the AFP-PNP. The Center for Women's Research observed that women political prisoners suffer twice the violence experienced by men; they "are more vulnerable to intimidation, sexual harassment and abuse, as well as torture." Former political prisoner Angie Ipong and the women members of the Morong 43 [health-care workers arrested by Arroyo's military in 2009] can attest to this" (Bulatlat 15 December 2011). The sixty-year old Ipong was arrested in March 2005 without warrant, blindfolded, and physically abused without relief for several days. After six years of obscene subjugation in different military stockades, Ipong was released by a regional trial court which dismissed the charges of double murder, double frustrated murder, and arson charges against her (see her personal testimony, A Red Rose for Andrea, 2012). Ipong's case epitomizes the systematic degradation of women of all ages in Aquino's tropical paradise of U.S. military ports, minerals, and versatile domestics.
As of December 31, 2012, there are 33 women political prisoners (of the total of 430) in the Philippines. Twelve are elderly, 45 are sick, and one is a minor. A significant number belong to ethnic or indigenous communities. They languish in jail branded as "enemies of the state," charged with rebellion and all kinds of fabricated criminal charges. They suffer all kinds of torture, in particular sexual abuse and rape, perpetrated by their military and police captors. Many of them are human rights defenders or activists involved in advocacy for national sovereignty and genuine economic development for the poor and marginalized. Because they work for the deprived sectors of peasants, workers, urban poor, youth, and indigenous communities, they are accused of being supporters of the communists (the NPA is labelled a "terrorist" organization like the Abu Sayyaf, following U.S. State Dept. doctrine) to justify their illegal arrest and continuing detention in horrible quarters.
This article reveals only a tip of the monstrous iceberg of cruel and inhumane punishment inflicted on women by the neocolonial order. Because of space limitations, I can only select the following cases and urge everyone committed to justice and human dignity to demand their immediate release and indemnification for unspeakable afflictions suffered over the years.
1. Vanessa de los Reyes, 27 years old, critically wounded in an encounter with the military in Davao Oriental in May 2011; subjected to heavy interrogation, now under hospital arrest due to a spinal surgery resulting in body paralysis.
2. Maricon Montajes, 21 years old, a film student at the University of the Philippines; a photographer documenting peasant life; arrested in Batangas in June 2010; wounded by military gunfire; interrogated and abused.
3. Charity Dinio, 31 years old, a teacher and volunteer organizer of a peasant organization in Batangas. Detained for two weeks by the military, she was beaten up and subjected to electric shocks. She writes: "Worse, they undressed me and laughed at my nakedness and humiliation The torture was a nightmare... I was deprived of due process and condemned despite the lack of evidence. Working with the farmers is now a criminal act. In jail, political prisoners are considered criminals. We are in detention cells with inmates charged with common crimes. This is part of the government's modus operandi to hide political prisoners so they may claim that there are no political prisoners in the country today" (New Brunswick Media Coop, Canada; <http://nbmediacoop.org/2013/05/16/cupe-members-send-letters/>)
4. Joverlyn Tawa-ay, 26 years old, accused of being a NPA guerilla; member of the Manobo tribe from Surigao Sur; charged with rebellion; forced to admit her guilt and convicted to suffer in jail for 12-14 years.
5. Lucy Canda, 46 years old, also from Surigao Sur and convicted for being an NPA member, sentenced to 12-14 years in jail.
6. Catherine Cacdac, 31 years old, Compostela Valley, Mindanao; abducted and kept for three months in military stockades; tortured for being an NPA member.
7. Virgie Ursalino Baao, 25 years old, a farmer from Tayabas, Quezon; abducted by the military, detained and severely tortured; accused of being an NPA member.
8. Gemma Carag, 39 years old, peasant organizer and educator from the University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna; tortured for several days by the AFP and PNP in Sariaya, Quezon; accused of being an NPA member.
9. Rhea Pareja, 25 years old, volunteer teacher for the Adult Literacy Program of her sorority Kappa Epsilon in Mulanay, Quezon; tortured severely by paramilitary forces connected to the AFP and PNP; charged as an NPA member.
10. Miguela Pinero, 46 years old, farmer and community health worker; accused of being an NPA commander.
11. Evelyn Legaspi, 53 years old, member of an organization of urban poor, Kadamay; arrested in Bae, Laguna, by the PNP, subjected to abusive interrogation and physical abuse; accused of illegal possession of firearms.
12. Pastora Latagan Darang, 34 years old, member of Kadamay. Arrested and tortured by AFP-PNP and accused of murder, illegal possession of explosives.
13. Rosita Cabus, 56 years old, from Baybay, Leyte. A former peasant organizer, she was arrested (with her husband Rodrigo) on trumped-up charges of murder.
14. Marissa Espidido Caluscusin, 27 years old, from Antipolo City; arrested by the AFP-PNP for being a suspected NPA member, together with researchers for the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front.
15. Moreta Alegre, 65 years old, farmer, the oldest woman political prisoner, from Sagay, Negros Oriental; sentenced (with her husband and son) to life imprisonment for alleged murder of one of the bodyguards of a local landlord; protested landgrabbing.
For the situation of other women political prisoners, please consult the websites of KARAPATAN and SELDA. Everyday, warrantless arrests and torture of activists are occurring as living conditions deteriorate. With the extra-judicial killing last March 4 of Cristina Morales Jose, a leader of Barug Katawhan (People Rise Up!), an organization of the survivors of the typhoon Pablo in Davao Oriental, it is probable that instead of crowding the filthy prisons and detention centers, the Aquino regime is resorting to outright extermination of protest leaders. If that is the case, it is urgent to appeal to international bodies.
The Cold War phenomenon of the "National Security State" seems to have morphed into the regime's not so subtle fascist maneuver. Practically kept a secret from the public is Joint Order No. 14-2012 of the Department of National Defense and Department of the Interior and Local Government which lists the names of wanted communist leaders, allocating four hundred sixty-six million eighty-thousand pesos (P466,088,000) as reward money for their capture. A bonanza for bureaucrats and officials of the AFP-PNP! Under this order, Estelita Tacalan, a 60-year old peasant organizer and rural health worker in Misamis Oriental was kidnapped by AFP-PNP agents on April 27. On May 7, the PNP announced that they have detained Tacalan for being listed in the Joint Order, and charged her with murder and arson (Karapatan Press Statement, 10 May 2013). Countless arrests and detentions have been made pursuant to this Order.
Women have proven to be the most vulnerable victim of such authoritarian measures, based on the history of torture and sexual abuse of political prisoners from the Marcos dictatorship to the Arroyo and Aquino regimes. In effect, the system has criminalized the radical anti-imperialist activism of women. As Catherine MacKinnon observed, these practices of sexual and reproductive abuse "occur not only in wartime but also on a daily basis in one form or another in every country in the world....widely permitted as the liberties of their perpetrators, understood as excesses of passion or spoils of victory, legally rationalized or officially winked at or formally condoned" ("Crimes of War, Crimes of Peace," On Human Rights: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 1993, New York, p. 87). In the Philippines, they are not legally rationalized or formally condoned by a regime that professes to abide by the UN Charter of Human Rights and all the other international covenants prohibiting the violations of human rights. But just the same, they are violated every day under the humanitarian flag of global free-market democracy, liberty and justice for all.--###
------______________________________________________________________________
E. SAN JUAN, Jr. is emeritus professor of Ethnic Studies, English and Comparative Literature; former fellow of WEB Du Bois Institute, Harvard University, and the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas; and previously a Fulbright professor of American Studies, Leuven University, Belgium. His recent books include In the Wake of Terror (Lexington Books), Critique and Social Transformation (Mellen Books), and US Imperialism and Revolution in the Philippines (Palgrave). Thanks to Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, for valuable assistance in furnishing document, etc.
by E. SAN JUAN, Jr.
Listed early this yearby the UK ECONOMIST as an upcoming Asian Tiger with 6-7% GDP growth, the Philippines (with half of its hundred million citizens subsisting on less than $2 a day) is more renowned as a haven of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf than for its minerals or its bountiful supply of advertized Filipina brides and maids for the world market. A recent chic staging of Imelda Marcos' fabled extravagance in New York City may cover up the nightmare of the Marcos dictatorship (1972-1986) for the elite or the gore of the 2009 Ampatuan massacre.
But the everyday reality of human misery and plotted killings cannot be eluded.
Dan Brown featured Manila as the "gate of hell" in his novel Inferno. Are we in for a super-Halloween treat? What often pops up between the cracks of commodified trivia are the detritus and stigmata of U.S. intervention in the ongoing civil war. Prominent are the thousands of unresolved extra-judicial killings, torture and abuse of political prisoners, warrantless detentions, enforced disappearances or kidnappings of dissenters by government security forces mainly funded by Washington. We are confronted with a "culture of impunity" that recalls the bloody rule of Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile, and the ruthless generals of Brazil and Argentina in the years when Ronald Reagan and Bush patronized the Cold War services of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.
A classic colony of the United States from 1898 to 1946, the Philippines remains a semi-feudal neocolony ruled by holdover oligarchs led today by President Benigno Aquino III. Resisting the U.S. behemoth in 1899-1913 Filipino-American War, 1.4 million Filipinos perished in the name of U.S. "Manifest Destiny." Since then the Philippines has functioned as a strategic springboard for projecting U.S. power throughout the Asian-Pacific region. This has become more crucial with the recent Asian "pivot" of U.S. military resources amid territorial disputes among China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.
State terrorism thrives in the Philippines. Tutored and subsidized by Washington-Pentagon, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are the two state agencies tasked with pursuing a U.S.-designed Counterinsurgency Plan (now named "Oplan Bayanihan") against the Communist-led New People's Army (NPA) guerillas and other revolutionary groups led by the National Democratic Front. They are aided by government-established "force multipliers" such as Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO), police auxiliary units, and the notorious Citizens' Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU), whose members double as agents of local warlords. Scrapping peace-talks with the insurgents while astutely temporizing with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerillas (with U.S. and Malaysian mediators), Aquino's coercive surveillance and enforcement apparatus obeys the privatization-deregulation policy/ideology of finance capital, resulting in severe unemployment, rampant corruption, widespread poverty and brutal repression.
U.S. imperial hegemony manifests itself in the unlimited use of Philippine territory by U.S warships and military through the Visiting Forces Agreement and other treaties. This has allowed hundreds of U.S. Special Forces, CIA and clandestine agencies to operate in helping the AFP-PNP counterinsurgency plan--such as bombing and strafing communities of peasants and indigenous communities that are protesting mining by foreign corporations. From 2001 to 2010, the U.S. provided over $507 million military assistance (report by Jerry Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 31 Oct 2011). Part of this grant was spent in civic action projects reminiscent of the U.S.-CIA schemes during the anti-Huk pacification campaign under Ramon Magsaysay's presidency.
An observer of recent elections in the Philippines, Australian law professor Gill Boehringer addresses the "culture of impunity" and provides a background for the dehumanization of the regime's critics: "The Philippines is following the typical neo-liberal program whereby inequality worsens, hunger and poverty continue at high rates, citizens are driven overseas so their family may have better income while unemployment, under-employment and child labor remain significant problems... In a country with a a semi-feudal political-economic system generating a huge gap between rich and the masa [masses], the former will fight in every way possible to maintain the structure of social, political and economic relations--including relations of coercion, violence and state-corporate terror--which have made the Philippines a paradise for the wealthy and purgatory for the rest" (Karapatan Interview, 30 June 2013).
To keep the country underdeveloped, secure for investments by predatory multinational coporations, and safe from strikes and political dissent, the U.S. supports a tiny group of political dynasties and their retinue whose victory in periodic "democratic" elections, such as the one last May, guarantees the perpetuation of a society polarized into an impoverished majority and a privileged minority. Violence and a corrupt, inefficient court system underwrite the maintenance of a business-as-usual status quo for profit-making and legitimization of torture, kidnappings, assassinations, and other State crimes against citizens.
Since the 1986 fall of the Marcos dictatorship and its destruction of constitutional process and civil liberties, the volume and scope of human rights violations have jumped to staggering proportions. In 2011, for instance, Amnesty International stated: "More than 200 cases of enforced disappearances recorded in the last decade remained unresolved, as did at least 305 cases of extrajudicial execution (with some estimates ranging as high as 1,200). Almost no perpetrators of these crimes have been brought to justice" (Bulatlat, 20 May 2011).
The U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights in the Philippines for 2011 also confirmed the persistence of "arbitrary, unjlawful, and extrajudicial killings by national, provincial, and local government agents," including "prisoner/detainee torture and abuse by security forces, violence and harassment against leftist and human rights activists by local security forces, disappearances, warrantless arrests, lengthy pretrial detentions, overcrowded and inadequate prison conditions," and so on (U.S. State Dept., Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2011). The Human Rights Watch also affirmed that "hundreds of leftist politicians and political activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy have been killed or abducted since 2011" (World Report 2011).
The highly credible NGO human rights monitor Karapatan documented the human-rights record of Aquino from July 2010 to April 30, 2013: 142 victims of extrajudicial killings, 164 cases of frustrated killing, 16 victims of enforced disappearances (Press Statement, 29 June 2013). High profile cases of the killing of Father Pops Tenorio, Dutch volunteer Willem Geertman, botanist Leonardo Co, and environmentalists Gerry Ortega remain unresolved. Military officials like ex-General Jovito Palparan, Major Baliaga, and others linked by the courts to the kidnapping of Jonas Burgos, Sherley Cadapan and Karen Empeno remain at large. Karapatan chairperson Marie Hilao-Enriquez noted that the victims of State terror are "those who challenge inequality and oppression," those who were displaced by logging and transnational mining companies, and those branded as sympathizers of the NPA by the counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan which, to date, has yielded 137 extra-judicial murders and thousands of detained suspects (Press Statements, 16 January 2013; 29 June 2013).
Women stand out as the prime victims of the Aquino regime and patriarchal authority in general. They are discriminated and inferiorized by virtue of gender, caste, class and ethnicity (on women as caste, see Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Outlaw Woman, 2002). In 2011, half of the 78 political detainees arrested by the Aquino regime were women. Since 2001, 153 women were targetted by extrajudicial assassins sponsored by the AFP-PNP. The Center for Women's Research observed that women political prisoners suffer twice the violence experienced by men; they "are more vulnerable to intimidation, sexual harassment and abuse, as well as torture." Former political prisoner Angie Ipong and the women members of the Morong 43 [health-care workers arrested by Arroyo's military in 2009] can attest to this" (Bulatlat 15 December 2011). The sixty-year old Ipong was arrested in March 2005 without warrant, blindfolded, and physically abused without relief for several days. After six years of obscene subjugation in different military stockades, Ipong was released by a regional trial court which dismissed the charges of double murder, double frustrated murder, and arson charges against her (see her personal testimony, A Red Rose for Andrea, 2012). Ipong's case epitomizes the systematic degradation of women of all ages in Aquino's tropical paradise of U.S. military ports, minerals, and versatile domestics.
As of December 31, 2012, there are 33 women political prisoners (of the total of 430) in the Philippines. Twelve are elderly, 45 are sick, and one is a minor. A significant number belong to ethnic or indigenous communities. They languish in jail branded as "enemies of the state," charged with rebellion and all kinds of fabricated criminal charges. They suffer all kinds of torture, in particular sexual abuse and rape, perpetrated by their military and police captors. Many of them are human rights defenders or activists involved in advocacy for national sovereignty and genuine economic development for the poor and marginalized. Because they work for the deprived sectors of peasants, workers, urban poor, youth, and indigenous communities, they are accused of being supporters of the communists (the NPA is labelled a "terrorist" organization like the Abu Sayyaf, following U.S. State Dept. doctrine) to justify their illegal arrest and continuing detention in horrible quarters.
This article reveals only a tip of the monstrous iceberg of cruel and inhumane punishment inflicted on women by the neocolonial order. Because of space limitations, I can only select the following cases and urge everyone committed to justice and human dignity to demand their immediate release and indemnification for unspeakable afflictions suffered over the years.
1. Vanessa de los Reyes, 27 years old, critically wounded in an encounter with the military in Davao Oriental in May 2011; subjected to heavy interrogation, now under hospital arrest due to a spinal surgery resulting in body paralysis.
2. Maricon Montajes, 21 years old, a film student at the University of the Philippines; a photographer documenting peasant life; arrested in Batangas in June 2010; wounded by military gunfire; interrogated and abused.
3. Charity Dinio, 31 years old, a teacher and volunteer organizer of a peasant organization in Batangas. Detained for two weeks by the military, she was beaten up and subjected to electric shocks. She writes: "Worse, they undressed me and laughed at my nakedness and humiliation The torture was a nightmare... I was deprived of due process and condemned despite the lack of evidence. Working with the farmers is now a criminal act. In jail, political prisoners are considered criminals. We are in detention cells with inmates charged with common crimes. This is part of the government's modus operandi to hide political prisoners so they may claim that there are no political prisoners in the country today" (New Brunswick Media Coop, Canada; <http://nbmediacoop.org/2013/05/16/cupe-members-send-letters/>)
4. Joverlyn Tawa-ay, 26 years old, accused of being a NPA guerilla; member of the Manobo tribe from Surigao Sur; charged with rebellion; forced to admit her guilt and convicted to suffer in jail for 12-14 years.
5. Lucy Canda, 46 years old, also from Surigao Sur and convicted for being an NPA member, sentenced to 12-14 years in jail.
6. Catherine Cacdac, 31 years old, Compostela Valley, Mindanao; abducted and kept for three months in military stockades; tortured for being an NPA member.
7. Virgie Ursalino Baao, 25 years old, a farmer from Tayabas, Quezon; abducted by the military, detained and severely tortured; accused of being an NPA member.
8. Gemma Carag, 39 years old, peasant organizer and educator from the University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna; tortured for several days by the AFP and PNP in Sariaya, Quezon; accused of being an NPA member.
9. Rhea Pareja, 25 years old, volunteer teacher for the Adult Literacy Program of her sorority Kappa Epsilon in Mulanay, Quezon; tortured severely by paramilitary forces connected to the AFP and PNP; charged as an NPA member.
10. Miguela Pinero, 46 years old, farmer and community health worker; accused of being an NPA commander.
11. Evelyn Legaspi, 53 years old, member of an organization of urban poor, Kadamay; arrested in Bae, Laguna, by the PNP, subjected to abusive interrogation and physical abuse; accused of illegal possession of firearms.
12. Pastora Latagan Darang, 34 years old, member of Kadamay. Arrested and tortured by AFP-PNP and accused of murder, illegal possession of explosives.
13. Rosita Cabus, 56 years old, from Baybay, Leyte. A former peasant organizer, she was arrested (with her husband Rodrigo) on trumped-up charges of murder.
14. Marissa Espidido Caluscusin, 27 years old, from Antipolo City; arrested by the AFP-PNP for being a suspected NPA member, together with researchers for the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front.
15. Moreta Alegre, 65 years old, farmer, the oldest woman political prisoner, from Sagay, Negros Oriental; sentenced (with her husband and son) to life imprisonment for alleged murder of one of the bodyguards of a local landlord; protested landgrabbing.
For the situation of other women political prisoners, please consult the websites of KARAPATAN and SELDA. Everyday, warrantless arrests and torture of activists are occurring as living conditions deteriorate. With the extra-judicial killing last March 4 of Cristina Morales Jose, a leader of Barug Katawhan (People Rise Up!), an organization of the survivors of the typhoon Pablo in Davao Oriental, it is probable that instead of crowding the filthy prisons and detention centers, the Aquino regime is resorting to outright extermination of protest leaders. If that is the case, it is urgent to appeal to international bodies.
The Cold War phenomenon of the "National Security State" seems to have morphed into the regime's not so subtle fascist maneuver. Practically kept a secret from the public is Joint Order No. 14-2012 of the Department of National Defense and Department of the Interior and Local Government which lists the names of wanted communist leaders, allocating four hundred sixty-six million eighty-thousand pesos (P466,088,000) as reward money for their capture. A bonanza for bureaucrats and officials of the AFP-PNP! Under this order, Estelita Tacalan, a 60-year old peasant organizer and rural health worker in Misamis Oriental was kidnapped by AFP-PNP agents on April 27. On May 7, the PNP announced that they have detained Tacalan for being listed in the Joint Order, and charged her with murder and arson (Karapatan Press Statement, 10 May 2013). Countless arrests and detentions have been made pursuant to this Order.
Women have proven to be the most vulnerable victim of such authoritarian measures, based on the history of torture and sexual abuse of political prisoners from the Marcos dictatorship to the Arroyo and Aquino regimes. In effect, the system has criminalized the radical anti-imperialist activism of women. As Catherine MacKinnon observed, these practices of sexual and reproductive abuse "occur not only in wartime but also on a daily basis in one form or another in every country in the world....widely permitted as the liberties of their perpetrators, understood as excesses of passion or spoils of victory, legally rationalized or officially winked at or formally condoned" ("Crimes of War, Crimes of Peace," On Human Rights: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 1993, New York, p. 87). In the Philippines, they are not legally rationalized or formally condoned by a regime that professes to abide by the UN Charter of Human Rights and all the other international covenants prohibiting the violations of human rights. But just the same, they are violated every day under the humanitarian flag of global free-market democracy, liberty and justice for all.--###
------______________________________________________________________________
E. SAN JUAN, Jr. is emeritus professor of Ethnic Studies, English and Comparative Literature; former fellow of WEB Du Bois Institute, Harvard University, and the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas; and previously a Fulbright professor of American Studies, Leuven University, Belgium. His recent books include In the Wake of Terror (Lexington Books), Critique and Social Transformation (Mellen Books), and US Imperialism and Revolution in the Philippines (Palgrave). Thanks to Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, for valuable assistance in furnishing document, etc.
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