WHERE ARE WE GOING? (Part 2)

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

This is a continuation of what has been started this morning. This is something I've promised to Maria Cristina Tiongson, a netizen:

1. We have economic managers, whose solution to the worsening fiscal problem of the government is to borrow more from every conceivable source and impose taxes on online sellers and the marginal guys, whose key to survival has been their creativity to adapt to the changing times. The economic managers have to report fully the use of the P279 billion, which Congress has allocated under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in the BAHO law.

2. We have an DILG secretary, who insists that the Phl has been doing good despite the WHO assertion that the Phl had the “fastest rate” of China-Duterte Virus infection in Western Pacific. In his limited view, the DILG secretary believes the Phl would have infection of one million and deaths of 200,000 had they failed to put the country under lockdown. His figures were speculative and where he got them was dubious. He also believes that the number of viral infections is expected to rise because of the “aggressive mass testing” they are doing. He also believes the Phl is doing better than the U.S. and Brazil.

3. We have a Congress that merely played games on bills granting franchise extension to ABS-CBN, as certain congressional leaders thought they could exact tons of flesh from its owners, who were said to be bleeding hard to keep the giant network afloat. The quid pro quo is their primary consideration.

4. We have a presidential flunkey (alalay), who pretends to be a senator, attends meetings of the task force regularly even without any official functions, and pontificates on what should be done on a pandemic that he could not understand thoroughly. He was the same guy who pushed hard his ill-fated program - “Balik Probinsiya,” which had to be shelved off because it has led to the spread of the China-Duterte Virus.

5. We have lawmakers, who have abdicated their right to think, even as they keep on enacting legislative measures without thorough studies and discernment. They are the same people who have agreed to be subjugated by a mad man. They have chosen to keep silent in what could be regarded an unmitigated clampdown.

6. We have barangay officials who have become petty tyrants in their respective political constituencies, as they had set up roadblocks and checkpoints without rhyme or reason and subjected their constituents to every conceivable restriction, which was baseless and unnecessary. Together with PNP and AFP, they engaged in a systematic militarization of the environment, which was the government’s answer to the virus.

7. We have a judicial system that is bent to punish and intimidate state critics like Maria Ressa and others. These people in the judiciary are willing to circumvent the law just to serve the interest of the mad man and his ilk.

8. We have a political leadership, which refuses to see China’s responsibility in the spread of the pandemic. They refuse to see China’s machinations to escape the spate of legal actions, which other countries and private entities would bring to various fora the moment the global situation normalize and allow to get them on their feet.

9. We have a government and a state agency like DOLE with no clear programs to help returning and stranded OFWs, treating them without mercy and taking their assistance as mere afterthought. Neither do they have a program for displaced workers, particularly the daily wage earners.

10. We have a vindictive political leadership which kills initiatives and treats the Vice President as an enemy when truth is she is doing her job and just wants to help. The ill treatment extends to other persons and entities like Angel Locsin, who only fault in life is to be compassionate to the needy and adversely affected.

Sabi ni Rio Alma sa "Una't Huling Pasyon ni Rio Alma," isang tula na kanyang nilikha bago ipataw ni Ferdinand Marcos ang batas militar noong 1972:

"Isang laksang bugok, isang laksang bugok;
Laksang-laksang Pinoy na basag ang pula."

THIS is Part 1, which I've posted this morning:

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

AFTER more than three months of the most oppressive and debilitating lockdown, or quarantine, or whatever, we could only marvel with sublime frustration at the following:

1. We have a president, who has been totally overwhelmed by the pandemic aptly called China-Duterte Virus (the virus came from China and Duterte had facilitated its entry by his “Welcome China” policy.) Until now, he has no plans, programs, targets, and objectives, but keep on blaming the people he is supposed to serve. He could not cope with the pressures of his job and the pandemic issues to the point that he has threatened to commit suicide to end everything. (Ituloy mo na lang para wala ng satsatan.) You call it leadership?

2. We have a health secretary, who is clueless of his job and keeps on blaming his subordinates for his failures. He does not know he is hated right on his own backyard (where else but the DoH) and thinks he is indispensable to the point he has ignored the Senate’s call for him to resign and leave his post.

3. We have a task force mostly of retired generals, whose approach to the pandemic is largely reactive. All they know is a military solution – arrest here and there, roadblocks and checkpoints, and everything that restrict people’s movements even if they die of hunger, not the virus. Essentially, the task force does not know its job. It has not set targets, plans, and programs. It is budget oriented too.

4. We have a Congress that has enacted wrong policies at the time of pandemic. It has enacted the Terror Bill without carefully examining the unconstitutional provisions. Certain congressional leaders have been coming out with the most stupid proposals like renaming NAIA. It is budget oriented too.

5. We have a Senate president, who is a case of Rip Van Winkle, who after sleeping for a time, was surprised to find out that the pandemic was still raging, prompting him to exclaim: “Where did we go wrong?” Clueless and shameless were too tame to describe him.

6. We have an education secretary, who has not come out clearly on her concept of distance learning. Until now, Deped is not clear on how to implement distance learning, blended, or whatever.

7. We have a tourism secretary, who stupidly believes that tourism is a way to jumpstart the national economy and that tourists would automatically come to the Philippines despite its projection in international media as one of the worst hit countries.

8. We have a retired general, who, as troubleshooter of the viral outbreak in Metro Cebu, took a chopper ride to determine the extent of the pandemic and fielded battalions of soldiers and police officers and tanks and APCs to combat the invisible enemy.

9. We have a presidential spokesman, who is more of a queef (literally vaginal flatulence but it’s a slang for an obnoxious person). He does not clarify issues, but complicate what should be easily explained.

10. We have an unimaginative transportation secretary, who is busy selling those China-made mini-buses instead of facilitating public transport so that affected people could restart their lives to become productive again.

Santambak silang mga basag ang pula. Dagdagan na lang ninyo. 

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

By Philip M. Lustre Jr. 

WHERE are we going? After more than three months of the most oppressive and debilitating lockdown, or quarantine, or whatever, we could only marvel with sublime frustration at the following:

1.      We have a president, who has been totally overwhelmed by the pandemic aptly called China-Duterte Virus (the virus came from China and Duterte had facilitated its entry by his “Welcome China” policy.) Until now, he has no plans, programs, targets, and objectives, but keep on blaming the people he is supposed to serve. He could not cope with the pressures of his job and the pandemic issues to the point that he has threatened to commit suicide to end everything. (Ituloy mo na lang para wala ng satsatan.) You call it leadership?

2.     We have a health secretary, who is clueless of his job and keeps on blaming his subordinates for his department’s failures. He does not know he is hated right on his own backyard (where else but the DoH) and thinks he is indispensable to the point he has ignored the Senate’s call for him to resign and leave his post.

3.     We have a task force mostly of retired generals, whose approach to the pandemic is largely reactive. All they know is a military solution – arrest here and there, roadblocks and checkpoints, and everything that restrict people’s movements even if they die of hunger, not the virus. Essentially, the task force does not know its job. It has not set targets, plans, and programs. It is budget oriented too.

4.     We have a Congress that has enacted wrong policies at the time of pandemic. It has enacted the Terror Bill without carefully examining the unconstitutional provisions. Certain congressional leaders have been coming out with the most stupid proposals like renaming NAIA. It is budget oriented too.

5.     We have a Senate president, who is a case of Rip Van Winkle, who after sleeping for a time, was surprised to find out that the pandemic was still raging, prompting him to exclaim: “Where did we go wrong?” Clueless and shameless were too tame to describe him.

6.     We have an education secretary, who has not come out clearly on her concept of distance learning. Until now, Deped is not clear on how to implement distance learning, blended, or whatever.

7.      We have a tourism secretary, who stupidly believes that tourism is a way to jumpstart the national economy and that tourists would automatically come to the Philippines despite its projection by international media as one of the worst hit countries.

8.     We have a retired general, who, as troubleshooter of the viral outbreak in Metro Cebu, took a chopper ride to determine the extent of the pandemic, and fielded battalions of soldiers and police officers and tanks and APCs to combat the invisible enemy.

9.     We have a presidential spokesman, who is more of a queef (literally vaginal flatulence but it’s a slang for an obnoxious person). He does not clarify issues, but complicate what should be easily explained.

10.  We have an unimaginative transportation secretary, who is busy selling those China-made mini-buses instead of facilitating public transportation so that affected people could restart their lives to become productive again.

Santambak silang mga basag ang pula.  Dagdagan na lang ninyo.

GOODBYE 'OLD NORMAL', WELCOME 'NEW NORMAL'

By Philip M. Lustre Jr. 

IT appears to be a compelling thought that what we consider the “old normal” may not come back at all. Hence, we have to come to grip that the “new normal” is already on us. The only choice to is accept it and adapt to it.

In brief, those scenes where we shake hands, smile a lot, talk animatedly, or laugh boisterously are things of the past. Now, social distancing, not physical contact, is the norm. But this is only the starting point. The new normal connotes massive changes in the educational system, particularly schools, workplace, and every mode of human interaction.

“The realization that there is no going back to the ‘old normal’ is a somber thought. It is now imperative that global, regional, and national commitments are geared towards transitioning properly to the ‘New Normal,’” says DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan in his June 22 letter to Antique Rep. Loren Legarda, the deputy speaker who chairs the House committee on the new normal.

The Legarda committee on the new normal has been ascertaining the various roadmaps and agendas, which the line agencies have come out to adapt to the effects of the pandemic. It has been holding public hearings to hear the views of state officials. It has yet to come out with a consolidated report, which it would submit to Congress to serve as its guide and input for various purposes including the proposed national budget for 2021.

“These commitments would entail addressing the challenges and gaps in digital technologies and infrastructure that are now critical components of pandemic preparedness and socio-economic resilience and sustainability,” the DICT paper says.

The DICT paper indicates the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus called Covid-19 has come suddenly to challenge mankind to adapt immediately. Because the pandemic has overhauled human interaction, It says the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has to hasten the development and use of digital technology as the principal mode of communications.

“The experience of recent months in the Philippines saw the acceleration of the country’s adoption of digital technologies, both in direct intervention efforts such as providing immediate response to health, medical and other emergencies, and other mitigating initiatives,” the DICT paper says.

“The use of these technologies has surged due to the increase in citizens’ access of social services, educational and job opportunities and livelihood online; not to mention the migration of socio-political and economic activities of both the public and private sector to cyberspace in the span of only a few weeks,” it says.

“With the increasing dependence and reliance on digital technologies, there is a need to strengthen Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure and ensure that every citizen has access to vital services. On the macro level, there is a need to ensure minimal disruption of our governance and economic processes in order to survive under the ‘New Normal,’” it says.

***

After the Department of Health, which takes the pandemic head on, the DICT is probably the second busiest state agency. It will have to take the bull by its horn as it has to hasten laying down the digital technologies under the era of the new normal. As the lead agency to lead the country’s digital transformation for the new normal, the DICT will have to identify and put in use the necessary digital technologies in the new normal.

Take education, for instance. The old normal where students were gathered in classroom for face-to-face instructions does not appear practical at the moment. In its lieu is distance learning, where students use digital technologies in their homes to get instruction from their teachers. The sheer magnitude of this task forces DICT to work triple time.

“The subsequent surge in demand for Internet access has exposed the gaps in the country’s digital infrastructure that need the most urgent attention. The forthcoming opening of the academic school year on the 24th August 2020, for example, is the first major litmus test of the country’s digital capacity to provide connectivity in public places where students may be able to access the Internet for free,” the DICT paper says.

“The task of providing Internet access to public areas, which is the primary mandate of the Free Wifi for All Program (FW4A),5 places an immense responsibility on the DICT to provide connectivity to a majority of these communal locations,” it says.

The workplace is another area which the DICT would have to intervene. The old normal where workers gather in a single workplace is no different from the classroom. Workers would have to work at home. Again, the DICT intervention is necessary to lay down the digital infrastructure to ensure viability of the work from home lifestyle.

“The Digital Workforce Program is aimed at bridging the skill gaps necessary for the Filipino workforce to transition and adapt to the demands and needs of the ‘New Normal.’ It focuses on building the capacities of Filipino workers in the Government or Public Sector, as well as those belonging to the vulnerable industries,” the DICT paper says.

Developing digital education and digital workforce would require the task to develop digital skills of teachers, students and workers and laying down the digital infrastructure, which includes the establishment of the National Broadband Program to ensue digital connectivity to the entire country.

COMMITTED ARTS.

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

LAST Saturday, I attended a forum where two great Filipino artists spoke about their respective arts and a known book author and critic gave a sterling reaction. ‎Jose Santos Ardivilla, a political cartoonist, explained the potency of satire to shake society from its stupor. For his part, Toym Imao, who did public monuments, spoke on how pop art could do its share to change society. Artists could be agents of change, they said.

The two artists had a joint exhibit of their art works, dubbed as “Robots & Beastmodes: Philippine Politics in Contemporary Art,” at the UP Main Library.

The two artists spoke about politics in contemporary arts. They talked about the necessity of commitment to their respective fields. We live under uncertain times, requiring artists to express themselves and use their arts to speak to and for our people. They agreed that arts could be used to express dissent In our society.

Ardivilla expressed his preference to be the “court jester” of this generation because the latter possesses the freedom to say what he says in front of the powers-that-be. The court jester could express his beliefs without offending; he could even ask them to behave the way it would please him. Hence, the court jester could use his art, particularly satire, to express dissent.

For his part, Imao said varying art forms, including pop art, could be apt vehicles to express dissent. Artists should not despair if changes are difficult to come amid the messages they express in their arts. The truth is that artists could use their arts to imprison the plunderers, murderers, corrupt officials, among others in their arts. They are to stay imprisoned for many generations to come.

Katrina Stuart Santiago reacted by saying that the current situation mandates every artist to do his share in society and express himself through his art so that enlightenment could be achieved. Otherwise, the people who sow darkness in our midst would dominate through their narratives. In brief, we should not give them the chance to do their narratives. It should be our narratives that should dominate. She also exhorted the crowd to go out to the streets again to prevent tyranny from overpowering us.

I could not help but react too. I stood up and this is my expanded reaction. I am not that good in speaking publicly because I am more of a writer, or one who is comfortable banging my keyboard than holding a microphone.

I am an old man, a 64-year old who saw political cartooning in different phases of our history. When I had my political awakening as a teenager, I saw Esmeraldo Izon of the Philippines Free Press dominating the scene with his satirical cartoons of our politicians and those who represented the political elite in the premarital law era. Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972; it led to the Marcos dictatorship.

Mr. Izon, a close associate of Teodoro Locsin Sr. (the better Locsin in many ways), did his art with ferocity and vigor. His lines were simple, but his messages were clear and powerful; his political cartoons on the pages of the Phil Free Press were masterpieces of clarity. I vividly remember how Mr. Izon had caricatured the politicians of those days into crocodiles in business suits awash with cash and pieces of jewelry pillaged from our people.

It is not easy to do editorial cartooning, particularly those belonging to the political genre. The mark of a great political cartoonist is when he puts in all his messages powerfully on a single frame.

The advent of martial law was another era, where journalists, writers, artists, among others, were cowed by imprisonment and ergo had to put their message quietly in a different way. Journalists practiced their craft by conveying what we called in-between line messages. Even editorial cartoonist did their craft this way.

The late Willy Aguino, who did political cartooning for the crony newspaper Times Journal, now defunct, and later Tempo, did the quiet, subtle ways of expressing dissent through in-between-lines type of journalism. Subtlety was his weapon of mass education.

Willy Aguino’s lines were intricate; all those exaggerations in a typical editorial cartoon were present, but not without those subtle anti-establishment attacks. I saw how Willy, a college contemporary of mine, assailed Marcos and his minions right in their own backyard. Willy killed them by his subtleties. This was a different form of creativity used to convey political messages.

The 1986 EDSA People Revolution led to the ouster of Marcos, the toppling of his dictatorship, and massive changes in the power structure and democratic institutions. The restored democracy has ushered democratic space, leading to the proliferation of many publications, something that was suppressed during the dark days of the Marcos dictatorship.

We saw the emergence of several political cartoonists, who flourished in an environment that promotes freedom of expression. Jong Ardivilla, Net Billones, Norman Isaac, Neil Doloricon, among others have risen to the occasion.

On public art, I admitted I was not that good. As a kid I was deeply awed by the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City in an era when traffic was less wicked. When I was a young man, I was enamored with the Oblation in UP. The martial law days saw me marveling at the public arts of the late Eduardo Castrillo too.

But the last two years saw the rise of a situation that complicates what we have before in three eras - premartial law, martial law, and post martial law. Where before it was simpler; the choice has always been good and evil, or an environment of democratic space that guarantees freedom of expression, among other things vis-à-vis a regime of authoritarianism, now we see the rise of post fact era, where alternative facts and alternative truths dominate. It is a situation contrived in an environment of deception and lies.

While it is admittedly my fortune as a 64-yo old man to see the rise and fall of political cartooning in three or four various stages, I also lament that we have been starting to lose what we have gained after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship. Censorship has taken a return for several publications. Even artists and writers are somehow adversely affected by those post-truths. We are falling victims of the rising complicated situation.

I fully agree with the two artists that contemporary arts should not lose its relevance to convey to the people to present the current situation and that artists should use the power within their means to educate our people. Those plunderers, murderers, and corrupt people should be imprisoned by their arts. It’s because I am deeply convinced that artists are the unofficial legislators of the world.

While they may not hold the power of a political office, artists have the power of their art to punish those people ,whose continued presence has been a punishment to our people.

I fully agree with Ms. Santiago’s statement that if ever we have to go back to the streets to regain our people to keep our lost freedom, then we have to do it. My only lament is that as an old man, instead of taking my grandkids in my arms and enjoy whatever democracy can give us, I have to go back to the streets to do what is supposed to do and continue the struggle so that the next generations would not suffer from our own indifference and negligence.

NOTES FROM THE NET; Toym Imao is one of the Philippines’ leading public art artist and is a fellow of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship Award. He has been commissioned to do public monuments in many cities locally, and abroad. Some of his most notable works are the Tandang Sora National Shrine in Quezon City, the Andres Bonifacio National Shrine in Maragondon, Cavite, and the Dr. Jose Rizal statue in Carson City, California. Parallel to this is his largely self-funded installations which have featured prominently at the University of the Philippines over the past five years, and have made their appearances at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, the Ayala Museum, the Lopez Museum, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and other venues. Nationalism, criticality, and memorialization are key features of his pop culture laden, maximalist works.

APOLITICAL INTELLECTUALS

CHANCED upon this little poem on the wall of Cha Mercado, a netizen friend. I remember reading this poem some 50 years ago... That was when our country was in the crest of an unparalleled intellectual ferment that led to the declaration of martial law two years later and a detested dictatorship by Ferdinand Marcos. Otto Rene Castillo was a political poet, who fought against a dictatorship in his home country, Guatemala. He was killed fighting state troopers. Please read ... Thanks Cha, hindi na ako nagpaalam. ctto ...

APOLITICAL INTELLECTUALS
By Otto Rene Castillo
A Guatemalan poet

One day
the apolitical intellectuals
of my country
will be interrogated
by the simplest
of our country.

They will be asked
what they did
when their nation died out
slowly
like a sweet fire
small and alone.

No one will ask them
about their dress,
their long siestas
after lunch,
no one will ask them
of their long sterile combat
with “the idea
of the nothing.”
No one will care about
their higher financial learning.
They won’t be questioned
on Greek mythology,
or their self-disgust
when someone within them
begins to die
the coward’s death.
They will be asked nothing
about their absurd
justifications
born in the shadow
of the total lie.

On that day
the simple men will come,
those who had no place
in the books and poems
of those apolitical intellectuals,
but daily delivered
their bread and milk,
those who mended their clothes,
those who drove their cars,
who cared for their dogs and gardens,
and worked for them
and they’ll ask:
“What did they do when the poor
suffered, when tenderness
and life
burned out in them?"

NOTES ON J. ROILO GOLEZ

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

(Exactly two years ago, J. Roilo Golez, ex-Navy man, public servant, lawmaker, and advocate of independent foreign policy, died of heart attack. It was a big loss for many advocates because J. Roilo Golez took an advocacy close to our heart. Let's pause for a while and remember him.)

PLEASE allow me to drop a few notes about J. Roilo Golez, the indefatigable patriot, who took a stand on the controversy involving West Philippine Sea.

I met Roy, when I was a reporter trainee for a defunct business newspaper way back in 1978. At that time, I was covering the waterfront, of which the coverage of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) was my assignment. Roy was the newly appointed MARINA deputy administrator next to Col. Generoso Tanseco, the administrator.

Roy was then 29 or 30 years old. He was handsome, charismatic, and had an imposing physique. Incidentally, his name was a contraction of Romblon and Iloilo, the provinces of his parents. His first name is Jose. His maternal surname is Solis. He came from the idyllic town of Looc, which is adjacent to Odiongan, the capital town of Romblon.

Roy was my regular source of news. He briefed me about the goings-on in the maritime sector. The waterfront was a totally new endeavor for me but with Roy’s support, I came to understand its importance to an archipelagic country like ours. We have become friends that lasted until today.

Suddenly, Ferdinand Marcos named him postmaster general to put life to the ailing Post Office. As its head, Roy hastened the delivery of mails by launching “Project Mercury.” Because of his outstanding performance at that particular office, Roy was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) awardees.

I did not see Roy for a while, but I followed closely his career. Although we did not meet often, Roy always considered me a friend. In fact, I was one of the media guys, who had gained his friendship when were both upstarts. Whenever we met, he introduced me by describing me to other people as one of the first media guys he had befriended.

There were bumps in his political career. When he first ran for representative of Paranaque in the Batasang Pambansa in 1984, he faced the fiery opposition leader Jaime Ferrer. I always remember Roy for being a gentleman. When he lost to Jimmy Ferrer, Roy immediately conceded and congratulated his opponent. There was no animosity. Jimmy Ferrer praised him for being a gentleman.

Roy Golez was one of the key personalities, who joined the breakaway group of Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos. I remember him reporting to Enrile and Ramos three hours after the two announced their breakaway from the Marcos government on Feb. 22, 1986. I saw him standing with Enrile, Ramos, and other military officials at Camp Aguinaldo.

Roy was instrumental in convincing many military officials to change their loyalty. Although the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution ended in the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Roy did not get a position in the Cory government. But he ran for senator and lost in the 1987 elections.

In one of the episodes of the successful “Tell the People” TV program, Julie Yap Daza could not help but comment that Roy was a very good public servant, who was always on the wrong side of history. During those days, I would see Roy in various coffee shops and conversed with him.

I came to know that Roy was an amateur boxing champion, when he was a cadet at Annapolis Naval Academy. Yes, he was a product of Annapolis and he was undefeated as a boxing champion during his stint there.

I was asked why he did not fight for the Philippine flag in the 1972 Olympics. Roy said he was not contacted by our sports officials. Besides, he said he did not go to Annapolis to be a boxer. He wanted to be soldier. He joined the Philippine Navy when he returned home. But Col. Tanseco snatched him from the Navy to become his deputy at Marina.

Roy was elected representative of Paranaque for three consecutive terms (1992, 1995, and 1998). Roy was among the lawmakers, who threw support for the move to oust Joseph Estrada in the 2001 EDSA Dos.

After Erap’s ouster, he was named the national security adviser. He regained his old seat in Congress when he was elected in 2004 and reelected in 2007 and 2010.

Roy was quite active in his advocacy. We conversed through private messaging. He was relentless and persevering in his advocacy particularly on the controversy on the West Philippine Sea. He was tireless.

It was a pity he died instantly. Roy had many things to contribute. The Philippines definitely lost a patriot. J. Roilo Golez deserves the gratitude of a nation, whom he served with dignity, dedication, and valor. 

THE VALUE OF NICKNAMES

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

THOSE nicknames or pet names our parents, relatives and friends have given us define us in many ways.

Nicknames create our identity. They are part of our identity. With the crispy, little, fanciful nicknames, the world could be a little brighter and interesting for us. As toddlers or tots, we see the world winking at us, making it a little brighter - or even kinder.

As grownups or adults, we are best remembered by people by our nicknames and pet names. Nicknames help to establish communications and rapport in human relations. They are our tickets towards social acceptance.

My Lola Felisa gave me the nickname “Boy” in our household. Somehow, it stuck and everybody called me Boy. While growing up in the tough neighborhood of the Manila’s workingmen’s district of Tondo, my playmates also called me Boy, quite an endearing nickname by all means.

But more than a dozen kids were nicknamed Boy, as if it was the only nickname in the world. We resolved the issue by attaching an alias, usually a characteristic that made a person noticeable and unique. We called the guy who was physically big for his age as “Boy Laki,” while his opposite was “Boy Liit.”

A kid who was easily noticed for his fair complexion was named “Boy Puti,” but the guy who was dark was “Boy Negro,” which was not endearing for him. There were variations on the same theme; some guys were called “Boyet,” “Boyong,” and “Boylit.”

I never liked my nickname; it was flat and common. Hence, I did not like to be called Boy the rest of my life. I did not relish the idea to be called “Lolo Boy,” when I grew old, I told myself. The mismatch was obvious. Neither did I want to be called “Jun,” which was quite common too. But it wasn’t me who took the issue squarely.

My high school batchmates started calling me Philip. It was a refreshing nickname. During those days, it was fun to use the American version of our Spanish names. Was it a case of colonial mentality? No, it was our way of developing our identities, a curious phase of our adolescence.

My high batchmates adopted new nicknames too. Roseller becomes “Jimmy,” which he uses until now. The same is true with Misael, who becomes “Mannix” for whatever reason (or was it a TV character during our younger days?); Jesus is “Jew,” while those Eduardos and Edgardos are known as “Ed” the rest of their lives. Two batchmates were given unpalatable nicknames: Pactum and Vietcong. Please, don’t ask me why.

Two high school batchmates never had any nicknames: Elmer and Glenn. But Glenn has become a casualty when batchmates started to call him “Glenntot,” a distasteful takeoff from the late comedian Bentot's.

As I moved into adulthood, I encountered funny sounding, albeit strange and curious, nicknames. The office assistant of a friend is nicknamed “Killer,” although he is gentle as a cat. A friend introduced me to his friend, whom they called “Lagim,” a gentle man with impeccable ways. My mother’s friend was aptly nicknamed “Buntis” for her frequent pregnancies and childbirths.

When I started my career in political journalism even during the Marcos dictatorship, I came to realize that practically everybody sports a nickname. For those characters, who frequently run for public office, having a nickname is a must. This is for better recall among voters when elections come.

The conjugal dictatorship was known as Ferdie and Meldy show. The martial law chief hatchet man was Juan “Johnny” Ponce Enrile. Imelda Marcos younger brother was the late Benjamin “Cocoy’ Romualdez. The dictator’s elder brother Pacifico was nicknamed “Paquing, while younger sister Fortuna was “Baby.” His mother Josefa was “Dona Sefa.”

The 1986 “snap” presidential elections saw a battle of nicknames. Ferdie Marcos had Arturo “Turing” Tolentino as his running mate, while the political opposition was led by Corazon “Cory” Aquino and running mate Salvador “Doy” Laurel.

Incidentally, the late Cory Aquino was the widow of martyred Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Among their kids are Benigno III, who is known as “Noynoy,” and Kristina Bernadette, who is Kris to her fans.

Several political figures prominently rose after the EDSA People Power Revolution. Cory Aquino’s defense secretary Fidel Ramos is “Eddie” until he was elected president in 1992. Ramon Mitra was Monching, Jovito Salonga was Jovy, while Neptali Gonzales was “Tali.” Joseph Estrada, who was “Erap” to fans, also emerged to become president in 1998.

At least three political figures did not sport nicknames: Cesar Virata, who was Marcos’s prime minister and finance secretary; Blas Ople and Joker Arroyo, who were former senators. Fidel Ramos’s wife and first lady was Amelita “Ming” Ramos, while Rosemarie Arenas is known as “Baby” in the upper social stratum. 

A PAIR OF FLUNKEYS: BONG GO AND FABIAN VER.

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

WHEN it came to dogged loyalty to dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Gen Fabian Ver was top. His loyalty was beyond any shadow of doubt. If Marcos asked him to jump off a building, he would readily agree and follow but not without asking him from which floor. 

Because of his remarkable loyalty, Marcos made him the AFP chief of staff and head of the feared Marcos intelligence network or NISA. He was also head of various offices, occupying positions of big and small consequences to the nation.

In his published book "From Malacanang to Maikiki," which detailed Marcos's post-EDSA life, the late Col. Arturo Aruiza, its author, was somewhat bewildered by Ver’s excessive loyalty to Marcos and the dictator’s patronizing ways to him. The reciprocity was very noticeable. 

But their relationship was put to test when Marcos was kicked out of power in the 1986 EDSA People Revolution. They all ended as exiles in Hawaii. Months after they stayed in Hawaii, Aruiza recalled that Ver had a heart-to-heart talk with Marcos. 

Then, he learned that Ver bid goodbye to Marcos. That was the first time they had parted ways. That was the last time they were together. They never met again until they died under different circumstances. Marcos died in Hawaii in late 1989.

Ver left the United Sates to relocate elsewhere. He later died in Singapore sometime in 1992. 

Aruiza said he and the other staff in the Marcos household at first held the illusion that Ver went somewhere to prepare for Marcos homecoming to the Philippines and return to power. Then, he said in his book that he came to the realization that it was a permanent separation. 

Ver was not in a position to initiate Marcos return to power. Ver, as subordinate, was so used to receive orders from Marcos to the point that he never learned to take the initiative. 

In brief, he lost the power of imagination. 

Bong Go is no different to Gen. Ver. Like the Marcos’s errand boy, Bong Go was spread thinly, occupying several posts, legally and illegally, and doing a lot of works, but none of which could be regarded effective. 

Loyal and powerful, Bong Go is similar to Ver, who could not take the initiative because he thinks like any other flunkey. “Utak alalay.” 

How Bong Go would fare in the future is everybody’s guess. But his future is tied with Rodrigo Duterte’s. 

Without the sick crazy old man, he’s nothing. He’s nobody. That's always the fate of unimaginative flunkeys. They are never their own men. 

They have abdicated their right to think, as they just follow orders.

MALL FASHION SHOW

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

WHILE waiting for a friend in a mall in Quezon City, I spent my spare time watching a fashion show, which featured the latest women's wear. It was a mid-afternoon fashion show, where a dozen women walked on the ramp to showcase the latest craze in women's dresses.

It was my first time to watch a fashion show. I hardly know anything about shows, where men and women parade the latest fads on clothes. I am not a fastidious dresser; I hardly know much about clothes.

But I felt I was tolerant enough to open a new vista to see and understand how people dress up for whatever occasion. I felt the challenge, or urge, to learn something about women's dresses. I felt I could learn something new, while I waited for my friend, who got embroiled in a wicked traffic jam in some parts unknown.

The fashion show was held on the second floor of medium-sized Fisher Mall, which nestles on the old Pantranco bus station at the corner of Quezon and Roosevelt Avenues in Quezon City. It was probably the management's idea to hold a fashion show on a Monday to attract a bigger number of habitues there. Monday is regarded a lean day in mall business.

The T-shaped stage was surrounded by monobloc chairs that enabled about three dozens of denizens, mostly women, to take a good view of the models and the latest dresses they paraded. Some bouncy music accompanied the fashion show, where models, mostly unsmiling, took turns one by one to walk on the ramp and showcase the dresses.

After the initial salvo, which took about fifteen minutes for the flat-chested models to showcase a line of business dresses, they returned but with a different kind of dresses - the summer wear. I could see a pair of middle-aged men, who ogled at those models like hungry hyenas about to predate on some prey.

The audience appeared polite, but basically disinterested to those clothes lines. They hardly clapped to show some semblance of appreciation. One could get the impression the hoi polloi did not seem properly appreciative or prepared for fashion shows. A fashion show could be too middle class for them. Or it could be only for the parvenus.

Somehow, my interest in fashion modelling was fueled by those little antics of a model, who, from a distance, appeared different from the rest. The model was equally flat chested, but she was tall and dark from the rest. She had a pair of legs that looked different from the rest of womanhood. Also, she seemed to exaggerate every step of the way on the ramp.

I went a little nearer to the ramp to confirm my initial suspicion that she was not the fair lady I would like to believe. I hardly blinked as I took a deep look at the model's neck to confirm my suspicion that she has an Adam's apple of a man. Lo and behold, she has. It was not as big and protruding like a regular man's, but it was visible.

Yes, she looked like a "tranny," a colloquial term for transvestites, or cross dressing gays. I have nothing against gays or cross-dressers, but I feel some element of deceit, when there was no full disclosure about the presence and participation of gays in the fashion shows.

All the while I thought that gays are the designers of those dresses, but not the models. It was new for me to know that they have become models too. But I feel the tranny was there to earn a living.

If this incident had happened in the past, say two or three decades ago, I am sure that I would sing a different tune. Mostly likely, I would say "natanso ako" (I was fooled). But in this age of permissiveness, when we have learned the presence of the so-called LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders) community, we learn to tolerate and even appreciate their uniqueness.

I am not inclined to bash the tranny in the crowd. I prefer to exercise the values of respect and tolerance. I am not appreciative of the oppressive ways of the old.

NOTES ON 'CONFETTI REVOLUTION'

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

THE so-called "Confetti Revolution" that took place immediately after the Aug. 21, 1983 murder of martyr Benigno Aquino Jr. took place in the usually sedate Ayala District area that has later become the Makati Central Business District. The tall buildings along its major thoroughfare - Ayala Avenue - proved to be excellent lairs of some urban guerillas, who shredded into pieces of pages of the Yellow Pages, the PLDT telephone directory, and threw them out of the windows to comprise a rain of confetti. 

Yellow was the main color of the Confetti Revolution, of which 'Yellow Revolution" was also used to refer to the same momentous event. From this Yellow Revolution comes the word "dilawan" (yellowish), which remnants of abandoned supporters of the Marcoses have been using to refer to the present-day democratic forces.

There were reasons why the Confetti Revolution occurred along the Ayala business area. The Ortigas and Bonifacio Global Business Districts were vast expanse of cogonal lands with hardly any buildings and road networks. Their development took place when dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. The Cubao business area was hardly developed to meet the expanding business of the 1960s and 1970s. 

The Manila business areas in the Binondo-Escolta area was too cramp and bursting to the seams; they could not accommodate growing business, which chose to relocate to the Ayala area. The Ayala business area was perfect for the purpose. Besides, entrepreneurs and business executives who opposed Marcos were based in the Ayala area.

As a journalist, I had the opportunity to cover the protest mass actions in the Ayala area, or what is now known the Makati Central Business District (CBD). Immediately after Marcos and his minions treacherously killed Ninoy Aquino in broad daylight, nationwide protest actions erupted without letup. Filipinos acted as one to condemn the heinous crime. 

Yes, the Confetti Revolution suddenly occurred. But to avoid disruption of the usual business flow in the country's main financial district, organizers timed the protest actions every Friday of the week. By 2 pm, every Friday, pieces of yellow confetti rained the Makati CBD. Nobody could stop the spontaneous, simultaneous acts of protest.

I remember having goose bumps whenever i saw those pieces of yellow confetti rained Makati. A colleague once remarked it was very similar to the scene in the dying days of the Batista regime in Havana, when pro-government forces could not move because of the strengthened position of the pro-Castro forces. Anonymous Makati employees, who felt aghast over Ninoy's murder, shredded them and threw tons out of the windows of those tall buildings.

Two years ago, I and my colleagues surveyed the Makati Business District to study a possible replication of the Yellow Revolution. I was surprised to find out that so many buildings have risen over the last 30 or 35 years. These building are taller and sturdier over the buildings that stood when the Confetti Revolution happened. 

Alas, I have found out that they do not have the windows where some guys could throw pieces of confetti. In brief, the new buildings are no longer adaptable for a replay of the historic yellow revolt. Who did it? I truly don't know. I could only offer some guesses. But they belong to the realm of speculations, although they could have factual basis.