A DAY OF TWO FILIPINO MUSICAL TRADITIONS

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

N.B. I was in Intramuros on March 25, 2018  (Palm Sunday) and I witnessed the following Filipino musical traditions.)

FILIPINO musical traditions hardly die. In fact, they persist. And I saw why and how.

I was witness this afternoon to two genres of Filipino musical traditions. I swear before the graveyard of my most beloved grandmother that they are very much alive today. The influx of modernity and other pernicious influences – local and foreign - do not affect adversely their musical survival.

I was about to enter the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) building in Intramuros to interview a source about the ecological issues confronting Boracay island and watch a rondalla concert there, when I saw denizens in the nearby urban poor community doing what we call “Pabasa,” or the singing of the sufferings and passions of Jesus Christ at the hands of His tormentors.

Pabasa, also called “Pasyon,” is a musical epic narrative of Jesus Christ focusing on his sufferings, death, and resurrection. It is a tradition that dates back to the Spanish colonial rule. It starts on Palm Sunday and ends during Easter Sunday. Hence, it is a week-long, 24-hour musical tradition usually done without any stop.

The musical tradition requires denizens to sing the he suffering and passion of the Lord Jesus in a monotone continuous voice. Assigned singers alternate in completing the weekly musical ritual. It is part of the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, of which an overwhelming number of Filipinos belong.

I went to the Pasyon, where about nine persons gathered before an improvised altar with a white cloth on the wall and a table with three statues, two, Jesus Christ and one, Blessed Virgin Mary, a crucifix, and a lighted candlelight. They appeared to be neighbors in an urban poor comnunity. The women wore shorts and blouses, or the so-called “pambahay” type, and pairs of slippers. A lone guy was in sando and shorts too.

Each singer had a copy of a “Awit at Salaysay ng Pasyon ng Panginoong Hesus Kristo.” I was told it was the official copy of the Roman Catholic Church. A copy has about 100 pages. After completing reading and singing each page of the pamphlet, the Pasyon singers would repeat it again until they reach Eastern Sunday.

Pasyon is essentially a form of street music. It is meant to be sung on the streets, although, in some provinces, they do it in the comforts of a home. It is part of the Filipino culture of “panata,” or pledge. A person does the panata usually as an act of atonement for his sins. Following religiously a given panata could mean spiritual salvation for a devotee.

I was told certain musical scholars have attempted to give musical structures to Pasyon, but this has not been successful. Pasyon is Pasyon. It is not meat to be so structured unike othr formal musical genres. So long as the spirit of the song are there, it does not matter how its singers would do it.

After watching the Pasyon, I went to the NCCA auditorium to see the rondalla concert. For the first part, the 17-man NCCA Employees Union did some Filipino and western musical compositions. The second part had the six-man Cesar Espejo Rondalla Band, which did three Filipino songs (Pasa Doble, Matud Nila, and Dalagang Filipino) and three western Music selections (Couchard, Sole Mio, and Dance of the Dwarves).

I saw some rondalla bands performing in the malls or elsewhere, but in the small auditorium like the NCCA’s, rondalla music is delicate. A slight mistake could be fatal. This afternoon, I saw the rondalla players doing it with unparalleled musical virtuosity, clarity, and discipline.

The Cesar Espejo’s Rondalla Band did justice to the songs. Although it only had six members, what I saw and heard music that was most exhilarating to the soul. A rondalla band has four instruments – banduria, octavina, guitar, and double bass – but skillful players could produce outstanding music.

I left the auditorium deeply satisfied at our own musical traditions. Yes, we could claim to the world that we are a musical people. Filipinos know their music.

THE THRILL OF WATCHING GAMES (AZKALS VS. TAJIKS)

By Philip M. Lustre  Jr.

NOTHING matches the thrill of watching live games.

This was reconfirmed last night when I went to the game between the Filipino national football team, popularly known as the Azkals, and Tajistan at the Rizal Football Stadium. The Azkals won 2-1 over the Tajiks in a classic game that had its own ups and downs and, of course, drama.

The Azkals’ victory has sealed it entry into the 2019 Asian Football Cup, where the winning national football teams would represent Asia in the 32-man Finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, or the Olympics of football.

The Azkal-Tajik game was a thriller from start to finish. Each team gave no quarters, as they sought to score under difficult situations. The Azkals, mostly players of Filipino heritage from various parts of the world, could be highly competitive, as they sought to prove to be the better team. The two teams met four times in the past; the Azkals won three and drew one.

Football is a very grueling sport; it is not for the weak and fainthearted. It requires stamina, as football players play it for 90 minutes broken into two 45-halves. It has no timeouts unlike basketball. The football field, which they call pitch, is six times bigger than a basketball court.

Since football is a game played with the ball down on the ground, unlike basketball, where the ball is up in the air, this game has many imponderables. Tall players are not assured they could dominate the game. Smaller guys run faster; they could zigzag the pitch and score goals.

By virtue of its dominance of the Group F of the elimination process, the Philippine national football team needed at least a draw to go into the Asian Football Cup, but it did not deter the Azkals to play the best football they could. In fact, subsequent press reports described it as a “historic win,” as it never reached the Asian Football Cup in the past.

At the sound of the buzzer, it was a slam-bang affair. The Azkals, led by their captain Phil Younghusband, initiated attacks that were foiled by the Tajiks. I was particularly amazed at the way right back Simone Rote brought the ball to midfielder Mike Ott and forwards Misagh Bahadoran and Younghusband. 

Left back Daisuke Sato equally pressed to distribute the ball of midfielder Kevin Ingreso. The Philippines did not score in the first half despite several scoring chances.

It was a scoreless draw for the first half, but I saw tackles and defensive brilliance done by the Azkals, making it an exciting game. At 63, I am a certified senior citizen, but I was no different from the nearly 5,000 fans, who came to cheer the national football team. 

I raised my two hands and fists, cheered the team, and shouted at the top of my voice. I noticed too that football is also a game of inches. The ball nearly came into the goal just by few inches

The Azkals’ brilliant moves thwarted attempts by the Tajiks. The cabezadas (headers), shoves, and pushes (they’re part of the game), and maneuvers showed a great fighting spirit that was aptly honed by experience of playing together and, of course, the prodding of a great coach – Thomas Dooley, an American who played in the U.S. national team in the 1994 FIFA-World Cup in the U.S.

The members of the Philippine national football team are aptly called Azkals, the shortened term for “asong kalye” (street dogs) because they came from various parts of the world. Although they have Filipino ancestry (either mothers or fathers are Filipinos), they have jelled well as a team notwithstanding the differences of temperament, experience, and personal circumstances.  

Rote is a full-blooded Filipino, who was plucked from a local orphanage by an Italian couple, who took him to Italy, raised him, and supported his studies and football playing. Phil Younghusband and elder brother James, who also played later in the game as substitute, have an English father and a Filipino mother, both deceased. Bahadoran has an Iranian father and Filipino mother. After playing football in Iran and some parts of the world, he has returned to the Philippines to study. He is now a dentist.

Sato is a son of a Japanese father and a Filipino mother. Although he was born in Davao City, he learned to play football in Japan. Mike Ott is the son of a German father and a Filipino mother. He and his brother Manuel learned to play football while in Germany. Ingreso has a Filipino father and a German mother. But most Azkal players have transferred here and play in local football teams and tournaments.

Although most Azkals have come from various parts of the world and that their common denominator is that either their father or mother is of Filipino descent, they have come to embrace this country. In fact, they feel insulted or hurt when they hear comments they are not full Filipinos. Hence, let us call them Filipinos because they play for the Philippine flag.

They have adopted the European brand of play. They play with much intensity, passion, ruggedness and physicality typical of the European teams. In the Azkal-Tajik game, I saw several instances when our local players gave the Tajiks some tactile fouls characterized by karate chops while colliding in mid-air. How they have mastered it is beyond me.

The Tajiks merely cringed in pain, while the three Australian referees (one chief umpire and two linesmen) were clueless about what could be described clean fouls. It takes quite some time to master those little acts of mercy. But the Filipinos know how to give some and receive them as well from the other side. This is the discipline of football. You give as much as you receive.

The second half was played intensely. Again, neither team gave quarters to its opponent. The same tackles and tactile fouls were visible. The Tajiks had some attacks, but the pair of central defenders Dennis Villanueva and Carli de Murga and goalie Neil Etheridge ably met those attacks with savvy. A mistake by Ingreso on the 65^th minutes led to a penalty kick by the Tajiks; they were ahead 1-0.

Incidentally, de Murga has a Spanish father by a Filipino mother. Villanueva has a pair of full blooded Filipino parents, but was born in Italy, raised there, and learned football by playing in youth clubs there. Ethridge is a son of a Scottish father by a Filipino woman.

But Ingreso later atoned for his fault when he scored on the 75^th through a cabezada (header) on a pass given by substitute Patrick Richelt. The game had its turnaround when the referee gave a penalty kick to Younghusband after a Tajik player committed a hand ball while in the box. Score was 2-1 in favor of the Filipinos.

The game did not end there. During the stoppage time (additional time given after 90 minutes to cover the injury time during the game), a Tajik player punched Ingreso. It was a revenge to some rough tactics the Filipino gave him.

Overall, the game was worthy of watching. It was fun. It was great. It was a timely diversion from the spate of extrajudicial killings we normally encounter these days. It is a welcome respite from the irresponsible statements issued by dimwitted guys like Harry Roque, Jose Calida, Vitaliano Aguirre, Bato, among others.

Most of the all, the game proved to be a relief from no less than the sick of man the South.  

JUSTICE CASTRO: INSTIGATOR OF QUO WARRANTO PETITION IN HIGH COURT

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

NOW it is official: The squared jawed Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Castro, who wears a perpetual smirk on her face, has instigated the filing of quo warranto petition against Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

Buoyed by her consuming anger and envy on Sereno's fortune to be named the chief magistrate despite her junior status, Castro has been raising questions on the Chief Justice's integrity and qualifications to the extent of allegedly inventing legal strategies that hardly conform to the provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Perceiving they do not have a strong case against the Chief Justice, her enemies know that impeachment would not hold as a means to oust her from her post.

Until now, Rep. Reynaldo Umali, whose committee has voted the impeachment complaint has "probable cause," could not come out with an articles of impeachment.

Her enemies have to find what has been described as "creative ways" to oust the Chief Justice. A quo warranto petition is regarded a novel way to remove her but not without the many nuances.

Solicitor General Jose Calida has filed a quo warranto petition against the Chief Justice to raise as "an issue of integrity" her failure to submit her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs).

According to Josa Deinla, the Chief Justice's spokesman, the Chief Justice wrote the Judicial Bar Council (JBC) on July 22, 2012, advising its members that she could not submit her SALNs for 2009, 2010, and 2011 because the University of the Philippines, of which she was once a law teacher, could not retrieve copies of her submissions.

The JBC is the constitutional body that screens nominees for key position in the judiciary.

Deinla said the Constitution does not mention any specific rules for the JBC to follow, thus allowing the body to what she described a "wide latitude" to draft its own procedures. The JBC has its rules to screening nominees.

Deinla argued that it was not the Chief Justice's fault to fail to submit her SALNs, adding it was the UP's. But the JBC has somewhat relaxed its rules on SALNs, enabling the body to submit Sereno's name in the shortlist it had submitted to then President Benigno Aquino Jr.

The SALNs' issue in the case of Sereno is different from Renato Corona, who was removed from office in 2012. Corona was removed because he failed to include about P200 million in questionable personal funds in his SALNs.

In Sereno's case it was UP's failure to find her earlier submissions and JBC's relaxation of rules to allow the submission of her name in the short list from where the president at that time picked up the next chief justice.

But the quo warranto appears to be an illegal shortcut to remove the Chief Justice, Deinla said, as she pointed to impeachment as the only way the Constitution has ordained to remove Sereno and other impeachable officials.

Deinla discussed the legal implications of the quo warranto saying that if ever the Supreme Court gives due course to Calida's petition and removes the Chief Justice from her current post, it could lead to a situation where other officials would be unsure of the legitimacy of authority of the posts they hold.

It is tantamount to opening the floodgates of similar quo warranto procedures, as anybody could raise the same argument on every public official, she said.

Since Calida was claiming that the Chief Justice's post is void ab initio, or illegal since the first day she has assumed it, all her official acts could be questioned and declared illegal, causing enormous issues in the judiciary., Deinla said.

"It could lead to the erosion of the judiciary," she said.

She said parties which could be adversely affected or stand to be injured by the Chief Justice's removal through quo warranto could file petitions for intervention to join the forces opposed to it.

FULL COURT PRESS TO OUST CJ

By Philip M.Lustre Jr.

DESPITE the failure of their earlier Plans A and B of their judicial coup d’etat, the Gang of Seven in the Supreme Court is resorting to a new tactic to oust Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno. Again, their move is outside the 1987 Constitution. It is essentially extraconstitutional. Words coming from the Executive Department and the Supreme Court  indicate that the Gang of Seven would unleash Plan C, which is to give due course to a quo warranto petition, which Solicitor General Jose Calida is set to file next week before the Supreme Court.

An obscure and suspended lawyer earlier wrote Calida, asking him, as the government chief lawyer, to file a quo warranto suit, questioning the Chief Justice’s authority to occupy her current post and asking to remove her. Calida was reported to have been happy to oblige. Despite his reputed poor grasp of the law, Calida was intent to bring it to the Supreme Court, where his ally, the Gang of Seven waits on the wings. A quo warranto refers to a legal challenge on the authority of a specific person to hold an office.

The obscure lawyer said the Chief Justice should be disqualified from her current post because of her inability to submit her Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALNs) for two consecutive years as teacher at the University of the Philippines College of Law. Prior to her stint at the Supreme Court, of which she was named associate justice in 2010, she did not have any government post except as law teacher at UP for 19 years.

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), which is constitutionally mandated to screen nominees for vacancies in the Supreme Court, Sandiganbayan, and the Court of Appeals, asked her to submit her SALNs as a law teacher way back in 2012. According to the Sereno camp, a request to submit SALNs for two consecutive years (they were covered by the prescriptive period) was given to Sereno, then an associate justice on a Thursday, but the JBC required her to submit it on the following Tuesday.

She wrote the JBC, asking to exempt her from the requirement because of the limited time to produce them. The JBC gave way to her request in a letter, but the obscure lawyer was still pushing it as a ground for dismissal from her current office. The JBC, nevertheless, included her as one of the five nominees on a short list submitted to then President Benigno Aquino Jr. PNoy named her despite the violent objections of her senior colleagues, who felt bypassed in the selection process and were - and until now - bitter

The current spate of developments indicate what could be regarded a bigger conspiracy of the powers-that-be to kick the Chief Justice out of office. Details show synchronized moves to oust her even if these moves violate the Constitution. They have been applying a full court press to prevent a situation, where she would appear in the Senate to give her side of the impeachment complaint.

Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chair of the Umali impeachment committee, had practically railroaded the public proceedings to establish probable cause of the impeachment complaint. The committee changed overnight its rules to ensure a one-sided investigation. Despite the one-sided proceedings over the last three months or more, the Umali impeachment committee has hardly established any impeachable offense.  Even the Chief Justice’s detractors, who appeared before the Umali impeachment, could not say in certainty any impeachable offense.

It has been generally conceded that the Chief Justice would get an acquittal at the Senate, which would convene as the impeachment court the moment the House of representatives endorses its soon-to-submit articles of impeachment. Incidentally, the 1987 Constitution lays down the grounds for impeachment of impeachable public officials: culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, bribery, treason, other high crimes, and graft and corruption. Legal circles have acknowledged the fact the Chief Justice has made enemies because of her inexperience, but they have conceded there is hardly any impeachable offense.

Earlier, the Gang of Seven resorted to their Plan A by pressuring the Chief Justice to resign, arguing her resignation “would save the institution.” This was a claim considered ridiculous because these justices never admitted they were also part of the problem. But when the Chief Justice stood her ground, saying she preferred to explain her side before the Senate, the Gang of Seven changed their tack and applied their Plan B, where Associate Justice Samuel Martinez moved to declare as vacant the post of chief justice. Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, in a surprising move to join the conspirators,  seconded Martirez’s motion. They had a division of the house with the score 7-7, with one abstention, which was the Chief Justice's.

Martirez’s motion was so ridiculous to the point that netizens noticed their attitude to oust the Chief Justice by hook or by crook, mostly crook. As if these conspiring justices were clean and men of integrity. It demonstrated a gross ignorance of the very letters of the Constitution, which specifies how the Chief Justice could be removed. I earlier comented that their Plan B looked like the proceedings of a social club, where the board of directors meet to oust the president, whom they do not like. It was totally devoid of any basis.

When the Gang of Seven lost in their two offensives, Plans A and B, they pressured the Chief Justice to take an “indefinite leave,” hoping that such indefinite leave would mean she would no longer return. But there’s no such thing as indefinite leave even in the internal rules of the Supreme Court. Every leave would have to be finite. It was the good thing the Chief Justice deftly parried their bullying tactic by pointing out the internal rules to say the justices or SC personnel could use what is termed “wellness leave,” which could mean sick leave or vacation level, or a combination of both.  

When brought to the Supreme Court, the quo warranto petition could be the next issue or flash point of controversy. It is because the Supreme Court has the power to tackle and decide cases involving quo warranto issues. Given the obsession of her colleagues to oust the Chief Justice again by hook or by crook, largely crook, we could expect the same dynamics. They would handle and decide on it despite the Constitution, which says that the Chief Justice could only be removed by impeachment. Despite their oath of office, which says they would have to uphold and defend the Constitution, not once, twice, or thrice, but at all times, these justices would be the first to violate their oath of office.

So what’s the whole point?

What we see is the spectacle of a cabal of justices aided by certain lawmakers and people in the Executive Department to destroy the Chief Justice. They would not give in to her request for her to defend herself in a legitimate forum, which is the Senate convening as an impeachment court. They would do everything to kick her out of office, throwing anything on sight, including the proverbial kitchen sink and toilet bowl. They are conspiring not against the Chief Justice per se, but against the Filipino people to whom they have sworn to serve. They are in a conspiracy to reestablish authoritarianism.

It is a scorched earth conspiracy intended to destroy everything in the Chief Justice, including her self-esteem. They want to make sure that even if the Chief Justice wins against them in the end, she has none to return because everything has turned against her. But they hardly know they won’t be in the Supreme Court for long. In His time, God would exact vengeance to the people who have entered into a pact with the devil. #StandWithCJ