MY FIRST LOVE

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

(Author's Note: I have posted and reposted this article three or four times. I did it every time I feel the world has turned upside down, when sheer madness seems to have engulfed this nation. For instance, I posted this essay in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda. In the midst of the devastation caused by that howler, I felt obliged to buoy up our collective spirits. Anyway it's the last love that counts. This just belong to the so-called memory lane.) 

Although I had occasional infatuations, which bordered on sheer madness, nothing beats the experience of falling in love for the first time.

I was 16 and a fourth year high school student when I met this comely woman, a trophy by all standards. She was 15 and a student of another school when our paths crossed in a party held sometime in Nov., 1970 at the house of a common friend in Quezon City.

During those days, we didn't have discos, but house dance parties were common. We called them "tipar."

I immediately spotted her from a bevy of beautiful girls from other schools. As if to claim a right on a newly discovered land as what the colonizers of old did, I deliberately formed a one-man barricade - composed of me - to prevent other guys from approaching her.

It was a tantalizing success, as I was practically the only guy whom she danced the entire evening.

My friends were all amazed by the kind of audacity that I exhibited all evening. I felt as if I was a medieval knight from another era.

I could only exercise my bragging rights that since I was the only one with the heart and the brain, ergo, I had to enjoy my booty, which was her company.

I felt I was the lone alpha male during that evening.

I got her number, called her nonstop, wooed her, and expressed all the affection and desire a man could shower to a woman.

She was the apple of my eyes, as no single moment was spared without thinking of her. To make this story short, I took my chances to win her heart.

Since that fateful night, I visited her every Sunday at their residence in Teachers' Village in Quezon City.

From our humble house in Tondo, I took a jeepney ride to Quiapo. Then, I took a bus ride (either JD or the slow-moving DM bus) straight to their residence.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, I was at their house. It was a typical "ligaw Intsik."

Courtship was different during those days. We didn't go out. But we chatted a lot, played some records, and ate snacks, which I bought from street vendors in Quiapo.

Sometimes, I brought her some records, the ubiquitous 45 rpms, which I bought from Raon. We shared a lot of things, including secrets.

I wrote love poems for her and recited some lines of love; I helped her in her school works. By 5 pm, we heard mass in a nearby church. Exactly at 7:30 pm, I went home. We were very transparent.

She rewarded my persistence by giving me her sweet yes on her 16th birthday, which fell on January 31, 1971. I had rivals, but she chose me from the rest because she said she also fell for me.

Our relationship was going fine except that I was the restless, impatient young guy, who wanted to change the world during those days. The lure of political activism didn't escape me. This was the start of the downfall, so to speak.

When we had the intellectual ferment during those days, I found myself engaged in political works. Then, my regular weekly visits became scarcer.

I couldn't contain the drift. She didn't initiate a break up, but we just found ourselves on different pages. Our relationship didn't last a year though.

I talked to her once after she got married. Then, she told me: "Pinabayaan mo kasi ako (you neglected me)."

I didn't utter a word, but felt a deep sense of regret. I still feel it until now.

MY ROMANCE WITH RADIO

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

MY ROMANCE with radio did not end by listening to a myriad of radio programs. I had the opportunity to work in radio stations, giving me intimate knowledge of the broadcast media operations.

I had my first job in a radio station in the summer of 1972. I was promenading in the Republic Supermarket in Sta. Cruz (we did not have malls in those days), when I chanced upon a big ad on one of its walls, saying a small station based in that area wanted a writer.

I could not recall what pushed me to apply, but I saw myself filling up a form. I was an 18-year-old lad, who had a strong appetite to see the ways of the world. 

In my limited view, I saw the world smiling - or winking - at me. It was my chance. This propelled me to look into the unknown.

The process was brief and straightforward. The station manager with a forgettable name and an inconsequential face asked me a few questions, which I answered all in the affirmative. 

He said they would test me. Since I was a student, I had to come in at 6 am and 12 noon and go out.

My job was to write love poems and love letters for a radio program that was intended for the young but love-stricken people. It was a romance program. 

I had to pretend that I was among those letter writers who wanted to convey some messages to the objects of affection. In the absence of listeners, who were letter writers too, I had to provide the materials.

Thus, the program had two in-house letter writers: me and a chinky-eyed, bedimpled fat woman, who was older than me. 

She gave the woman's point of view; I gave the man's. 

We had a room complete with a blower, table and chairs and rickety Underwood typewriters for our team. I had a weekly salary of twenty pesos, which was a fortune then.

The program was from 8 pm to 12 pm. Over the airwaves, the program host read those love letters, poems and other materials, which the two of us wrote the day. 

As required, our materials should be as romantic as possible and should ooze with all the love and affection in the world, as if our existence depended on this kind of feeling.

It was decent and entertaining, very different from the vulgar radio programs of today like Yes Radio's Papa Jack's. 

Absolutely, it was endearing program as the velvet-voiced host program read those letters with a cadence of a love song.

In between those love letters, the host played some music, mostly romantic songs of that era. I remember him playing the old classic, Claude Debussy's "Claire de Lune," which is one of my favorites until now.

I must confess that it was not easy to write these materials. I always ran out of ideas. 

I had to keep on probing and searching for new themes. Despite the feeling of unease, I somehow managed. It was fun. And I had all the enthusiasm in the world.

The radio station was forgettable and small by today's standards. I was not sure if its signal could be heard outside the Old City. 

But it gave me the opportunity to learn a craft and earn. It was a test case for me; it was my first job.

Also, I did not know that the program had enormous following. 

I was surprised to learn that it had many callers, mostly girls. Later, they were also sending their materials and I edited them for radio. 

That made me know that we should never underestimate the power of the radio.

I've been working quietly for nearly five months, when Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. He closed all the radio stations, including ours. I was out of a job.

MY POLITICAL EDUCATION

By Philip Lustre Jr.

My political education did not begin in school or at home. It started in a barbershop in Tondo. I was in high school in the late 1960s, when I started to listen to the habitues' discussions at Danny's barbershop, which is located along Asuncion Street Extension near the iconic Mary Johnston Hospital, which is being run by a Christian denomination.

By eavesdropping, I came to understand the issues of the day. I did not participate, as my elders there tackled many burning issues combined with passion, enthusiasm, and, of course, mastery of details. I was too young then; I did not have the credentials to participate.

The habitues were professionals, who gathered from 5 to 7 pm. Coming from work, they expressed their views on politics, the economy, the international community, and other issues. Others were retirees. 

Mang Danny, the proprietor and a barber himself, hosted the discussions. They were her friends and regular customers.

The barbershop was an institution in a busy street near the Divisoria market. It did not have an air-conditioning unit, but two electric fans made it comfortable. Denizens could read a copy of the Chino Roces's Manila Times, the main newspaper during the days premartial law. Others could play chess or checkers in a small corner.

Mang Danny allowed me to listen to the numerous nuggets of wisdom that were publicly expressed there. I had my haircut there, but it was Orel Mang, Mang Danny's companion, who attended to me.

Everyday, Mang Danny held court in his little kingdom. Slim-built and brown-skinned with a high forehead, Mang Danny struck me as a respectable, intelligent individual, who spoke out his mind. 

He was the resident Pilosopong Tasyo; this was why professionals gravitated to him.

I was told that Mang Danny was a student during his younger days, but he stopped due to financial difficulties. He learned the craft instead of good grooming. 

During weekends, Mang Danny gave a shave or a haircut to these professionals. On weekdays, his customers included the hoi polloi in the area.

Some characters included Atty. Yabut, a lawyer with a balding head and big tummy and an imposing figure, who practiced law in Binondo, Manila's financial district, Mang Pepe, an engineer and professor, who later gave me a lecture on Einstein's relativity theory, Mr. Santos, an entrepreneur, and Mr. Ronas, a retiree whose kids went to university to become scholars.

I gravitated to Mang Jose, then a 60-year tailor, who gave me a fascinating account of the founding rally of the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1931 and Plaza Moriones, which was near our place. 

Mang Jose said he saw the historic rally that turned violent when police broke it up with truncheons and water cannons. He never denied his sympathy; he was a closet sympathizer the revived Communist Party of the Philippines.

The denizens congregated at 5 pm; by six pm, they had become a small crowd, which bantered, or issues discussed. President Ferdinand Marcos, who was not yet a dictator in those days, was fair game. Nobody liked him among them. 

By 7:30 pm, the habitues called it a day and went home for dinner.

I could not recall any instance when they either turned violent or they discussed neighborhood gossips. It was an unwritten rule there to refrain from gossips. 

Mang Danny did not want to intrude into the private lives of his market. The discussions were largely high level.

My early education was on the political dynamics of political power, or how the presidency powers exercised. 

I came to know that Marcos did not hesitate to perpetuate himself. History showed that the denizens' judgment was correct.

Amid the anticommunist hysteria of those days, I came to appreciate that Marxism is not a bad ideology since it addresses human poverty. 

I came to appreciate that Manila has been a hotbed of dissidence. Since Andres Bonifacio founded the Katipunan in Tondo, it has its share in history.

The barbershop burned in 1978. Mang Danny is still alive, but has retired. 

I miss that barbershop.

THE FASCINATING WORLD OF OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

No one could be more expedient and adaptable on earth other than the overseas Filipino workers or OFWs. Throw them in any of the inhospitable places on this planet and they will survive.

The Filipino diaspora is visible in every part of the world. Filipinos are present in construction projects in the Middle East, the fishing boats on the Scandinavian fjords, the cruise vessels on the Caribbean, the homes of the affluent in Europe, or in the typhoon ravaged the islands of the South Pacific. They perform jobs that range from the technical to the menial, or from the lowly to the sophisticated.

In chronicling the Filipino diaspora that took place more than thirty years ago, I have learned that the Filipinos have survived the hostile foreign environment by bringing with them essential Filipino traits and values ​​that all reflect persistence, adaptability, expediency, and a great sense of humor .

The fundamental value is "bahala na" (or literally, come what may). No Filipino would survive the challenges of a foreign job without adhering to this value.

But contrary to Western thinkers, who regard the phrase as an expression of fatalism, the Filipino contract workers have added a new dimension to take care of, which is audacity, or "lakas ng loob" or "tibay ng dibdid" in Tagalog. Only those who would dare to go out to meet the hostile foreign environment could survive the challenges.

In short, the Filipino overseas workers have made "bahala na" a proactive value. It's no longer as static or fatalistic as it used to be in the past. It connotes a daring approach to a situation or issue.

In my talks with workers, I've learned that their world revolves on three other values: "sapalaran," "diskarte," or "abilidad."

"Sapalaran" could be loosely translated as a sense of adventure; "diskarte," ingenuity; and "abilidad," adaptability, or the ability to adapt to any situation or issue.

Ask them on why they are working abroad and their answers would invariably go around on those concepts. Of course, they would add their love of God, or exercise of faith and family, or their sense of family-centeredness.

Our workers bring their practices with them when they go abroad. I went to weekend gatherings of Filipino DHs in Hong Kong and I was treated to afternoons of Filipino snacks. I feasted on lumpia, pancit and dinuguan, which were cooked by Pinay there.

While I felt aghast by their collective inability to collect their garbage and Hong Kong's central square, I felt relieved that they make sure they send their earnings back home. But I have discovered some disturbing practices.

Do you know the Pinay there on daily jueteng bet (informal lottery)? Or do you know they also have that ending PBA game?

Also, Pinay have made informal lending a part of Hong Kong's underground economy. Cash strapped Pinay could borrow a certain amount of money from fellow Filipinas, using their passports as collaterals.

I was told they also have detergent (cockfighting) for Pinoys there. For quite a while, they succeeded in bringing chicken eggs and incubate them there to become fighting cocks. Their Chinese friends to join them in betting.

In Singapore, those Pinay had different stories. I heard stories about those bleeding heart DHs, who became depressed (binuryong) and committed suicide by jumping from the high-rise apartments of their employers. But this is another story.

'IMPERIAL MANILA'

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

When I covered the 8th Congress in late 1980s, one of the first things that I noticed from then Sen. John Osmena was how he spoke about "Imperial Manila." 

It was about his intense abhorrence of the way policies were made in Manila. 

In his distorted view, the people from the South, the Visayas and Mindanao, in particular, were not consulted in policymaking. 

Hence, policies have not been benefiting the people in the South.

Later, his brother, Emilio, or Lito, ran for president under the Promdi banner, trying to take advantage of that "Imperial Manila" sentiment. 

He did not capture the national imagination; he was a dismal failure. He lost; he did not get even the second or third prize. 

Since then, the Osmena brothers have kept quiet. They are not heard anymore. 

Their "Imperial Manila" battlecry is half forgotten, consigned to remain a mere footnote in our political history.

In the last elections, this "Imperial Manila" was being resurrected by zealots, who successfully pushed the presidential candidacy of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. 

The incoming president however won largely because of his anti-criminality and anti-drug stance.

The stand on federalism, which has sought to destroy the "Imperial Manila" concept, was more of a rider in the last political campaign.

The "Imperial Manila" slogan is not exactly based on power-sharing, but a tendency to dominate. The Osmenas thought that by banking on the power of the people of the Visayas and Mindanao, they could have the entire Philippines. 

But the Osmenas are Osmenas. They are politicians; they are not gifted visionaries; they are opportunists. 

They live for the day and think that tomorrow is just another day. This is the reason the people rejected them.

The Pimentels, father Aquilino Jr., or Nene, and son Aquilino III, of Koko, talked of federalism without necessarily putting the blame on "Imperial Manila."

This could be a reason the Filipino people somewhat accepted, albeit awkwardly, the idea of a federal Philippines.  

People who cry "Imperial Manila" are generally people with a strong inferiority complex. These are people, who could not compete with the other guys from Luzon, or from Manila. 

They are not exactly good and could boast of no special talents. They are basically envious of the success of other people, believing that successful people owe their successes for being in Manila.

This is not true though. 

Certain people from the South have become successful too. 

The late Supreme Court Chief Justice and Senate President Marcelino Fernan, a Cebuano, made it to the third and fifth highest political posts without saying a thing about "Imperial Manila" unlike his rivals in Cebu - the Osmenas. 

Sen. Franklin Drilon, who is from Iloilo, never spoke about "Imperial Manila."

The list can proceed with other names. But they are no believers of "Imperial Manila." 

It's because it exists in the mind of the paranoids, who think they are being persecuted.

FILIPINO ENGLISH IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

Several scholars have noted that the ongoing process of globalization has led to an emerging global culture. To a large extent, this is true, as indicated by an emerging global English, or "Globlish,"which seems to be present in every culture that acknowledges English as an international language.

But just as the emerging global English takes root in every culture, the Philippines seems to have developed its own brand of English, which is distinct from the mainstream English.

The Filipino English is indeed having a life of its own, as it evolves to reflect a very different Filipino culture.

The Philippines is probably the most different country in Southeast Asia.

Except East Timor, ours is the only Christian nation in this part of the world. Physically, a Filipino is essentially Malay in looks, but his temperament is very Latino. And he speaks English very well unlike other Southeast Asians.

The Filipino English is quite different from the English spoken by the Americans or the British. It has its own phonetics and set of idioms. An average American or Briton may find difficulties understanding some English words, which a Filipino uses in daily social intercourse.

In politics, an American refers to a presidential candidate as a standard bearer, but a Filipino prefers to call him a "presidentiable," a term which has yet to find its place in the Webster's standard dictionary. We've terms like "vice presidentiable" and "senatoriable" to refer to those running for other posts.

(Lately, the term "presidentiable" has been officially accepted by the Webster's dictionary and is now considered part of the English lexicon.)

An American calls it a political party, and a British, political aggroupement, to refer to groups of individuals with the same set of political beliefs and objectives. But a Filipino may call it a "political aggrupation," which is another term that could not be found in the dictionary.

In business, anything that is bought on staggered payment basis will always be referred as a good or service acquired on installment. While a Filipino may occasionally use it, he prefers to call it as a thing bought on "tears." Hence, every installment is a "give," a term which is not easily discernible by other English-speaking people

Police works could be messy, but Filipinos have specific terms, whose differing usage could hardly be explained. The dictionary says salvage means to save or help. But in Filipino parlance, "salvage" means summary execution, which is the exact opposite of its actual meaning. It probably has evolved from the Spanish word "salvaje," which means bad.

This term has surfaced in the 1970s, when the dreaded Marcos police and military operatives kidnapped political activists, who later surfaced as victims of rubouts.

The wireless telephony boom of the early 2000s has led to the emergence of new words that are essentially Filipino. A tryst or rendezvous among cellphone users is an "eyeball," which has a different connotation for the Americans and British.

Other English words that have Filipino meanings: a refrigerator is a "frigidaire"; a pack of toothpaste is "colgate"; while a traditional camera is "kodak." Going to SM or Robinson is "malling," while, in other cultures, it is shopping. Hotels in other countries have no equivalent for our "short time."

When going to a restaurant, a food server will call the bill a "chit," which is almost identical with the word "check." I was told that local food servers had a hard time pronouncing check; chit is easier.

In other countries, the lavatory is called toilet, but in the Philippines, they euphemistically call it comfort room or rest room.

Scholars have no explanation for this Filipino English, but I always believe in the Filipino sense of individualism. A Pinoy always wants to be different from the rest of the world.

UNDERRATED HEROES: JBL REYES, ROBERTO CONCEPION

By Philip Lustre Jr.

The eminent jurists, JBL Reyes and Roberto Concepcion, are two underrated heroes. As Supreme Court magistrates, they served with unparalleled integrity and diligence, using their talents and erudition to establish judicial doctrines, which have become law of the land.

Lawyers are familiar with their ponencia, now part of the jurisprudence in the country. But few know their contributions after they had long left the bench. 

The two jurists had managed to serve the country as private citizens and they did it at the height of martial law era, or the dictatorship Ferdinand Marcos created.

As Supreme Court justices and later, as private citizens, JBL Reyes and Concepcion were models of moral rectitude, using their talent to oppose the Marcos dictatorship and sustain the traditions in civil liberties. 

Incidentally, Concepcion was the Supreme Court chief justice, when Marcos declared martial rule in 1972.

Ruben Balane, who held the JBL Reyes Professorial Chair at the UP College of Law, said JBL Reyes penned 1,171 ponencias, or decisions for the Court, 38 concurring opinions, 24 dissenting opinions, seven concurring-and-dissenting opinions, making him one of the most productive jurists of all time in Philippine jurisprudence.

Balane said that more than 300 of his decisions involved civil law, or over 25 percent of his total output. This was largely due to what Balane described as "his undisputed mastery of the most intricate and challenging of fields." 

Incidentally, JBL Reyes, who spoke Spanish, actually read the Spanish Civil Code the country has inherited to become part of the current Civil Code.

JBL Reyes is reputed to have penned  majority opinions, which became judicial doctrines. In his last ponencia, JBL Reyes gave a restrictive interpretation of the expiring Parity Rights Agreement. In Republic v. Quasha, the Supreme Court said the rights given to Americans and Filipinos alike to own and exploit public lands, natural resources, and utilities ended when the Parity Rights expired on July 1, 1974. 

His ponencia quashed attempts to extend or modify the Parity Agreement, which was described by nationalist elements as a remaining vestige of American colonial rule in the country.

Concepción had earned the reputation as an expert on constitutional law. He took a strong position on the promotion and protection of civil and individual liberties. His steadfast adherence to the rule of law has characterized his judicial philosophy. 

His liberal approach towards individual rights and liberties, civil and personal, has been the hallmark of his judicial career.

In People v. Hernandez, the Supreme Court, through Concepcion, then a junior magistrate, ruled in 1956 that rebellion is a single offenses it could not be mixed with other crimes like murder and arson. 

On the basis of this ruling, labor leader, activist, and prolific writer Amado Hernandez, who later became a National Artist awardee, was granted bail, leading to his temporary liberty after five years of imprisonment. In 1964, the High Court acquitted Hernandez.

In Stonehill v. Diokno, the High Court, in a 1967 majority opinion penned by Concepcion, ruled that illegally seized pieces of evidence could be not used as admissible evidence in court, adopting what has been called the "fruit of the poisonous tree" doctrine in local jurisprudence. 

This doctrine has lasting impact in Philippine jurisprudence. It was adopted in the 1973 Constitution as among the provisions of the Bill of Rights. The 1987 Constitution has retained it.

In Lansang v. Garcia, the Supreme Court, also through Concepcion, upheld the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus by Marcos, but declared that the judiciary had the authority to inquire on the factual basis of its suspension. 

The judicial review did not end there, as the majority opinion empowered the judiciary to annul it, if the Executive Department failed to establish any legal ground. This power of judicial review is now among the provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Although he was in the minority in Javellana v. Executive Secretary, Concepcion delivered a dissenting opinion that showed his deep disapproval of the 1972 declaration of martial law. In his last ponencia, Concepcion summed up how the justices voted on the issue of upholding the 1973 Constitution, but said in unequivocal terms that it was never properly ratified by the Filipino people in accordance with the law. 

The majority opinion in Javellana became the constitutional basis to legitimize the martial law regime.

JBL Reyes, who retired as Supreme Court associate justice in 1972, was the first president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, which was formed as the unified umbrella organization of lawyers on March 16, 1973, or barely a year after the 1972 martial law declaration. 

He served as its president emeritus and adviser for the next 12 years, providing direction for a nascent organization that sought to define itself under the martial law era. He was among the convenors of the Anti-Bases Coalition, which opposed the retention of US military bases here.

Concepcion, who retired as Supreme Court chief justice few months after JBL's in 1973, was the first head of the IBP committee that provided free legal services to indigent clients. 

He expanded the committee to become the IBP legal aid center until President Corazon Aquino named him in 1986 as one of the 50 members of the commission that drafted the 1973 Constitution.

Since the IBP was born and raised under the repressive martial law era, many people, particularly lawyers, feared that the IBP would become not as the desired integrated organization of lawyers nationwide, but as part of the martial law apparatus.

But that was something that did not happen, as the two prominent jurists charted the IBP's destiny towards improving the legal profession and making free legal aid services as one of the cornerstones of its tasks.

As its first president, JBL Reyes refused efforts by Marcos to use the IBP to curtail civil rights and perpetuate himself in power. He defined the lawyers' ethical conduct and sought ways to treat Marcos from a distance by avoiding any conferment of any semblance of legitimacy it badly needed. 

Concepcion, his best friend, did the same, as he opted to concentrate his efforts to transform the IBP as a prime giver of free legal aid services to poor litigants.

JBL Reyes and Concepcion had made it a point that the IBP, as an institution of lawyers, did not want to antagonize Marcos. But they did not want it to be co-opted either to become a complacent accomplice to the excesses of the martial law regime. 

Hence, they set rules and parameters of a lawyer's professional conduct so that lawyers would not become unwitting tools of the emerging Marcos dictatorship.

The onslaughts of the martial law regime were severe as shown by thousands of arrests of political activists and opposition leaders, their detention without trials, and the empowerment of the military personnel in many areas despite their lack of skills and competence to govern. 

After taking off their judicial robes, JBL Reyes and Concepcion took the bull by its horns to steer the IBP to respectability and temper the ill effects of martial law. Unbeknownst to many people, it was their show, as they ran rings on Marcos.

Unknown to the public, the two respected jurists quietly mobilized the IBP leaders to confer with military authorities on those spates of arrests and detentions, sought ways to ease the detainees' difficulties in the military stockades, and accelerated probes of their cases. 

The goal was simple. Those detainees should be informed of whatever crimes imputed on them. Detainees who were not guilty should be sent home. Those who were not should be charged and speedily tried, and their cases resolved.

For his part, Concepcion groped in the dark on how its free legal aid services would reach poor litigants. He raised many questions on its mechanics, but he nonetheless settled on the fundamental - its spirit. 

After a series of consultations with leaders IBP, Concepcion's committee had come out with a free legal aid program to become the cornerstone of its current legal aid program.

Its guidelines equate legal aid services to public service to give maximum assistance to "indigent and deserving" members of the community "to forestall an injustice." 

During his initial two-year term, Concepcion worked for the creation of free legal aid offices in 78 IBP chapters nationwide, extending free legal assistance to a number of persons, especially in Mindanao, which was then torn by a Muslim separatist war. 

According to Concepcion, the IBP's free legal aid in Mindanao assumed importance because of the absence of state presence in many strife-torn areas there.

By sheer moral force, JBL Reyes and Roberto Concepcion provided the Integrated Bar of the Philippines with the moral moorings to put the young institution on an even keel during the early years of martial law and beyond. 

Without the two septuagenarians, whose moral rectitude was beyond reproach, the IBP could have shaky moral foundations.

The two jurists never succumbed to pressures to sing hosannas and pay obeisance to Marcos and his "New Society." 

While it was fashionable - and comfortable - in those days to join the cacophony of praise to Marcos and his "New Society," or to ingratiate themselves with the dictator, the two eminent legal warriors chose to fight their own battles, opting to strengthen the IBP to become a viable institution.

They did it quietly and without fanfare. They were old school, as they chose to keep their dignity intact.

But their most forceful accomplishment was to define the role of lawyers amid the political turmoil, repression, and polarization of various social forces. Also, they defined what would constitute too on free legal aid services to the poor.

To his credit, JBL Reyes, Concepcion, and the IBP were never coopted by the dictatorship. This is the tradition JBL Reyes and Concepcion have set for the succeeding years. This is the main reason they are heroes too.

CONFLICTING MANDATES OF DENR

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

THE DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the most unique among the various state agencies of the country. 

It has conflicting mandates. 

The environment side speaks of environmental protection, while the natural resources side speaks of exploitation of the country's rich natural resources. 

They are diametrically opposed mandates.

The appointment of Gina Lopez, an environmental activist, as the incoming DENR secretary highlights the conflicting mandates of this office. 

It necessitates the immediate separation, either through legislation or an executive order.

It is simply unsustainable for the conflicting mandates to resolve in a single office.

Given Gina Lopez's worldview that she is "absolutely" against mining, and that mining, in whichever form, should be fought at all costs, it sends shivers to the spine of the mining community on how they could pursue whatever mining projects they have in the country .

In Gina's view, the mining issue has no middle ground, a common meeting point, where various parties - the mining community, civil society, indigenous communities, the government, and anti-mining activists - could agree.

There is no such thing as responsible mining in her view. Hence, all mining activity - responsible or not - is simply evil.

As an anti-mining activist, Gina Lopez would be best fitted to head the proposed Department of Environmental Protection, the job of which is to use state power to protect the environment from all acts of conscienceless exploitation.

The proposed Department would not only deals with environmental destruction caused by mining activity, but other exploitative activity as well. Environmental destruction caused by air, noise, water pollution would have to be dealt with.

It would have clearer and more expanded mandate to include the less pronounced aspects of environmental depredation.

As the surviving entity, the Department of Natural Resources will continue with its current mandate minus the environmental issues. It is envisioned that the two proposed departments would separate counter check with each other. 

THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

It makes sense for every political leader to possess a sense of history. But it makes better sense for him to stay on the right side of history. 

Hence, every leader must learn from history. When given the choice, he should stay on its correct side. 

Every political leader must be a moral leader too.

While it pays for every political leader to inform the world about his initiatives, propaganda could only do much. 

This is a lesson that we should learned from the best and the worst in history. This is the stark reality.

Abraham Lincoln did not possess organized propaganda machinery during his incumbency, but it did not stop the world to recognize his feat as a great leader. 

Adolf Hitler had built organized propaganda machinery, led by a great liar, Josef Goebbels, but it did not stop the world from condemning him as a mass murderer, or the worst criminal of all time as he led the systematic genocide of six million Jews.

Dictator Ferdinand Marcos had created well-oiled, functioning propaganda apparatus, but it did not stop the Filipino people from kicking him out of power in the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. 

At the height of martial law, practically all media outfits sang hosannas to the dictator, as if he was God's gift to the country. But, the Filipino people, nonetheless, were not fully convinced of the political experiment in authoritarianism.

In contrast, martyred Ninoy Aquino did not have a single media outfit, or coteries of fawning media people around him, but it did not stop the country, or the world, from acknowledging him as an icon of democracy.

He has been widely recognized to have delivered the single blow that decisively led to the restoration of democracy in our country.

Again the lesson is simple: Know the march of history, internalize its dynamics, and decided to stay on its right side. It pays to be on the moral high ground. It pays to be morally correct. 

Above everything, it pays to follow one's conscience.

Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla apparently did not know their history, much less possess that innate sense to stay on its right side. 

They allegedly cornered the biggest chunks of the P10-billion pork barrel fund, but they have been denied their alleged participation in what could be considered the biggest scandal in the country's political history. 

It is inconceivable how they have mustered the temerity to lie through their teeth before the Filipino people.

They have well-funded propaganda machinery that keeps on proclaiming their purported innocence amid the stacks of paper trail, and testimonies of whistleblowers and other witnesses. 

They are quick to proclaim to the entire world that their colleagues are equally guilty of misusing their pork barrel funds, but they never bother to explain what they did to their pork barrel funds, where they took them, and how they used them. 

They are totally quiet when it comes to their conduct.

Jinggoy has been pugnaciously believing that he did nothing wrong, clinging to the belief that he is a good man, not a con artist masquerading as a lawmaker. 

Bong, on the other hand, clings to the belief that he has been set up by those signature forgers, which he refused to name. Hence, the three main suspects keep on projecting they are victims, not culprits, the pork barrel scandal.

The main suspects, through their hirelings in the broadcast media, had asked then Justice Secretary now Senator-elect Leila De Lima to make public the affidavit, which Janet Napoles, alleged pork barrel scam mastermind, gave her. 

For sure, the affidavit Napoles would be made ​​public because it is a public document, to which the public has the right to know. But why the inordinate haste, when they themselves have not publicly explain how they handled their own pork barrel funds?

The propaganda strategy is simple: The main suspects, especially Estrada and Bong, were trying their best to create a scandal within a scandal. 

They are not gifted with a rare sense of history, or that kind of discernment to stay on the moral high ground, but they are the noisiest. 

They are ruthless, amoral, and ill-repute lawmakers, who would do anything and everything to keep out of jail even at the expense of other people.

Creating a scandal within a scandal has been their strategy when the pork barrel scandal first graced the front pages of major newspapers. They have been thinking that by spreading the blame on other people, the public focus on them would be lost, while they, at the same time, perform some magical acts to extricate themselves from the sticky situation.

But will the Filipino people bite?

No, they will not. Never.

History has shown that the Filipino people have the collective capacity to discern the right side of history. 

We have kicked out Marcos, toppled Estrada, GMA and kept in jail. These are accomplishments that indicate our capacity and capability to appropriately handle those villains of history.

Even winners of previous elections are not exactly sure that the Filipino people will condone their acts of corruption and exploitation.

In short, it pays to stay on the right side of history. Just stick to it and history will take care of you.

WEALTH ADDICTION, CORRUPTION

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

Wealth addiction refers to the overpowering - and consuming - desire of an individual to acquire an extraordinary amount of ill-gotten wealth. 

It is no different from other forms of addition like sex addiction, drug addiction or nicotine addiction. 

The impulse or craving for ill-gotten wealth cripples the wealth addict's capability to reason out.

Like a rat, which suffers from extreme deprivation, a wealth addict would do everything - or anything - to acq uire and collect as much ill-gotten wealth as possible without moral compunction. 

He would employ every available means - fair or foul - to satisfy his craving to live like a king or queen for 20 lifetimes. He is essentially amoral.

A wealth addict is not bothered if he keeps on hiding his ill-gotten wealth for the rest of his life. 

He does not care if he keeps on his illegally transferring wealth from one hiding place to another to avoid detection by state authorities. 

After acquiring so much ill-gotten wealth, what a wealth addict does the rest of his life is to keep on hiding them in every conceivable place.

He is happy to play some cat and mouse games with them, deriving his extreme pleasure every time he outfoxes the authorities.

Wealth addicts abound in our country. 

They are court magistrates, who keep on transferring their loot from one bank to another, while showing statements of assets and liabilities (SALNs) diluted with diminished assets and value. 

Or they could be lawmakers, who build mansions that cost over P120 million pesos or use their ill-gotten wealth to support dozens of children and their paramours.

Or he could be deposed head of state, who ate malunggay (horseradish) and lowly dinengdeng, while building up the millions of dollars in secret deposits in Swiss banks some. 

Or he could be another head of state, who keeps on supporting his mistresses while hordes of receiving money payola from jueteng lords.

Or they could be some scoundrels, who resort to Ponzi schemes, to milk hapless but equally greedy investors and speed away to some unknown parts bringing their hard earned money.

Or they could be legitimate businessmen, who could not rise from their debilitating sense of greed permissible. 

They are even around because society allows their existence. 

We should not allow them to stay in our midst.

MARCOS LOYALISTS: HATE GROUPS IN PERSPECTIVE

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

WEEKS AFTER Cory Aquino assumed power in 1986, a bunch of foul-mouthed hooligans calling themselves "loyalists" of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, took fancy of a young slim-built promenader at the Rizal Park and beat him to death for no apparent reason.

His fault: He was wearing a yellow t-shirt emblazoned with the message expressing his full support for the fledgling Cory Aquino government.

The young Corysta did not have a chance to defend himself, as Marcos hooligans, armed with metal pipes and wooden clubs, vented their anger on him and lynched him without mercy.

President Cory Aquino did not waste a single minute to allow this incident to go unnoticed. She issued the strongest condemnation.

Her marching order to the public was curt and straight to the point. If you have relatives, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances, who professed undying love for the toppled dictator and kept on pestering other people, the best way to handle them is to isolate them from the rest of humanity.

Never give them the pleasure to be treated as one of us, the President said in clear and unequivocal terms.

Cory Aquino's clarion call had resonated to the Filipino people.

In the 1987 senatorial elections that followed the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, or the first ever elections under the 1987 Charter, senatorial candidates perceived as Marcos loyalists languished in the cellar.

Oppositionist Homobono Adaza did not welcome the Marcos loyalists in the opposition Grand Alliance for Democracy (GAD) ticket, calling their presence a "kiss of death." It was a claim that was proven correct by subsequent events.

The Marcos loyalists were forced to run under a forgettable third party and never gave a decent fight to Cory's 24-man senatorial ticket, of which 22 won, while yielding two slots to GAD's Joseph Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile.

The disparate groups of Marcos loyalists constitute the backward elements of Philippine society.

While they profess their undying love and admiration and unparalleled to the fallen dictator, who was toppled by the Filipino people in a near bloodless uprising in 1986, they hardly advance any reform agenda for the betterment of the people.

They have no concept of the common good.

The Marcos loyalist elements were an integral part of the series of seven unsuccessful military coups against the Cory Aquino government. Their lack of success could have indicated they did not enjoy the people's trust.

The Marcos loyalist groups (they do not constitute a movement because they are not moving any reform agenda) are notorious for their noise and lack of civility.

Yet, they are a disparate group of a few hundreds. They do not agree among themselves as each group or subgroup has its own coteries of leaders and followers.

The original Marcos loyalist groups, which came out immediately after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, declared their love and support for Marcos, but a number disliked Imelda Marcos, the other half of the Marcos conjugal dictatorship.

These loyalists, whom the late newspaper columnist Luis Beltran derided as "Marcos abandonados," who were left by their infamous hero to settle in luxurious exile in Hawaii, blamed Imelda's profligate spending and extravagant lifestyle for his downfall.

Lately, the Marcos loyalist groups, largely through the generous funding of the matriarch Imelda, have metamorphosed to become the political vehicle of the Marcos scions - Bongbong and Imee.

The matriarch, long detested by the original Marcos loyalists, is now acceptable. She is leading the most vicious attempt to revise history and deodorize the public image of the toppled dictator, whose remains is said to have been preserved in a refrigerated crypt in his home province of Ilocos Norte.

Not one in his right mind in government would allow his remains to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Although the Marcos have been spending a fortune for projects involving some historical revisionism to present Marcos as sort of demigod or hero, this initiative does not in any way erase the people's bitter memories of the Marcos dictatorship.

The Marcos legacy has three components: centralized corruption, where Marcos received bribe money under the table for big ticket projects; crony capitalism, where Marcos built, preserved, protected and a stable of friends, who cornered monopolies; and wanton violations of human rights, where thousands of political activists,

Church leaders, workers, peasants, and other critics were jailed without charges, tortured, summarily executed, and killed to disappear.

The Marcos loyalist groups are no different from the old National Socialist (Nazi) Party, which plunged Germany into the biggest war in world history. Although dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide in the closing days of the last world war, the Nazi Party survived the post-war era, as its remnants continue to hold unscheduled reunions to revive memories of the Nazi-dominated Third Reich.

Just like the old Nazis, the Marcos loyalist elements continue to hold reunions to recall the good old days of the Marcos dictatorship. These reunions led to a possible comeback, where Bongbong Marcos ran unsuccessfully for vice president in the just concluded 2016 presidential elections.

The Marcos loyalist groups, whose presence could be felt in social media, are no different from the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), the white supremacy group that mistreated the black people in the United States. The Ku Klux Klan has no agenda except to continue subjugating the blacks. They share the same amount of hatred of the status quo.

The Marcos loyalist, the Nazi Party, represented by the neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan do not in any way stand for progress.

They personify retrogression. They are basically hate groups and hate groups because they are, they do not grow quantitatively and qualitatively.

The Marcos loyalists, the neo-Nazis and the KKK are very much around; they create noises. But they do not grow, s they exist on the fringes of mainstream society.

But we have to be wary of the Marcos loyalists. Any hate group is capable of metamorphosing to become a terrorist group.

When a hate group could not achieve its political objectives through dissemination of hate messages, they are equally capable to engage in terrorist activities to get what it wants.

Let's see if the Marcos loyalist groups are capable of terrorism. At the moment, they are limited to social media. All they could is to spew fire and venom in social networking sites.