Animal Husbandry*

Mayong maogmang persona sa kadaklan na mga obra ni Frank Peñones, Jr., sarong manugbinalaybay na tubong Bicol. Kun igwa man ngaya, mabibilang sana sa muro an magayagayang mga tema sa iya nga mga rawitdawit. Kadaklan sainda mayo nin kaogmahan sa mundo. Sa manlaenlaen na rason. Kun ano-anong kadahilanan—ukon sa kadaklan na beses nin huli ta sinda igwang kabangdanan o kapigaduhon.

Enot sa iya nga “Panayoknok,” ukon lullaby sa Ingles, na sarong anyo kan talinghaga kan suanoy nang panahon, mayo nin linga, mayo nin aling—uda sang hingalo ukon diskansong mamamate sa iloy nga nagpapaturog kan saiyang aki. Nagpaparahibi an aki kan persona—kaya pinapaalo niya ini; alagad mayo lamang siyang ginahambal nga tibaad makapahipos diri. Ata nang gutom, gusto niya pa ining magturog nin hararom (“Turog na, aki kong bugtong/ magkaturog kang hararom.).”

Dawa ngani gutom na an aki, segun sa ina, tioson na sana daa kaini an naghihilab nang tulak (“an saimong pagkagutom/ biyo mo na lang ipiton.”). Dai na daa siya maghulat sa ama kaini ta dai na man sana ini magpuli (“Dae ka magparahibi/ bayaan mga pagmáte/ ta si tatay di mapuli/ binitin duman sa Saudi.”).

Sarong makaluluoy na ritrato an yaon sa piyesang ini. Kalabanan, an pinapaalo man sana kanpersona iyo an sadiri niya. An hagad kan aking nagpaparahibi pagkakan, alagad garo man nanggad tios na sindang maray ta ipiton na sana daa kaini an nagbuburukbusok na tulak. Waay et pagkaon na maihatag an ina sa saiyang kabuhan.

Dahil sa an agom niya ginadan, dai na maaling-aling kan asawa an saiyang kamugtakan. Daing palad na kamugtakan. Kaya na sana man, bisan an saiyang aki—na dawa puwede man ngani—indi mahatagan kan saiyang kaipuhan.

Sa “Agrangay,” yaon an primeval na drama kan búhay kan personang binayaan gihapon kan saiyang bana. Daing gahos na an asawang hilingon o tanawon an inabot na kapaladan kan saiyang rinimpos na kaibahan (“Dai na siya asin an kaya ko na lang ngonian,/...tanawon siya sa harayo”).

Nadakop an saiyang agom kan balyong tribu pagkasiod kaini kan sarong usang ngapit kakanon kan saiyang pamilya (“Naghali lang siya may kapot na mara/ may kapot na mara sa paglapag nin usa.”). Dai na nakabwelta an nasambit nang bana ta nasiod siya kan mga taga-balyong tribu (Duman sa bukid an tribo sa balyo/ an tribo sa balyo nahiling siyang gayo.).

Igwang kung anong kamunduan sa sini nga ladawan. Yaon an pungaw, sagkod ngilo kan dayuyu sa mga nagkapirang linyang inaawit dangan inooro-otro kan personang ini ho. Mayo nanggad mahimo an asawa para sa bana niyang nahihiling niya na sanang binubuno sa harayo.

Ano man nanggad an sala kan saiyang bana? Sa kadagaan kan mga barbaro kaidto maiintindihan ta na tibaad nakalagbas an lalaki sa teritoryo kaining balyong tribu— (“Asin pigbayaran niyang mahal, kan sakong mahal/ an sakong usa sa saindang abaga.”). Paglamag niya kan sini nga usa dangan niya nanuparan an mga nakakabalwarte digdí—o basi man nanggad mga kagrogaring kaini.

Lulusubon man ngaya kan sa ilang mga katribo idtong mga yaon sa balyo (“Ngonian na banggi mantang an sakong mga ka-tribo/ an sakong mga ka-tribo nagsasayaw nganing siya balukaton/ sa paagi nin mara na nakatukdo sa mga bitoon,/ mga bitoon na nagpupula na.”).

Alagad ngonyan mayo na siyang gahos na hilingon an gadan niya nang agom (“Dai ko kayang tanawon lang siya sa harayo/… Mantang nagsasayaw sinda palibot saiya/ palibot saiya, an saiyang payo sa puro kan mara.”).

Sa duwang piyesang binasa, iniistorya kan mga asawa na parehong gadan an saindang bana. Nakaistar sinda sa duwang panahon, nagdayo an duwang bana sa balyong daga—nakipagsapalaran ta ngani gayod mataparan an kaipuhan kan saindang mga kabuhan.

Sa duwang bana, dai nahiling si saindang pagkadakila yaon sa sakripisyo para sa ila nga ginahigugma—sa ibang kultura sinda nagkasala. An saro binitay, an saro man kinatay—trinatong garo mga hayop, mga animal. Pareho sindang ginadan dahil sa kasalan. Dangan man sa duwang obra, nagbabangkay sila sa ilang mga asawa. Nakaistar sinda sa duwang panahon, mayo sindang nahimo nganing masaylohan an inabot na kapaladan.

Mayong maogmang asawa sa sini nga mga obra ni Peñones. Para sainda mayo nin ogma ta mayo na nin bana. Para sainda, madiklom mapait an kapaladan nin huli ta sinda nabayaan.

Sa siring na mga pangyayari, sa mga realidad na pigladawan, tibaad igwang maghapot kun haen an kapas kan mga babaying ini na manindugan? Mayo. Bako man gayod siyang arog kaiyan kabalingkinitan—o ka-maselan. Igwa man gayod kusog an asawa ta nganing rimposon an pungaw kan kagadanan, ta nganing labanan an isog kan kapigaduhon. Maaanggotan si Peñones sa peministang iristoryahan.

Sinurublian sa Hiligaynon

manugbinalaybay, parásurát nin tula

ukon, o

kapigaduhon, pagtios

iloy, ina

sang, nin

ginahambal, sinasabi

nga, na

makapahipos, makapaalo
diri, digdi
maghulat, maghalat

makaluluoy, makaherak

kalabanan, magsala

waay et, mayo nin

maihatag, maitao

asawa, agom na babayi

sa ila, sainda
ginahigugma, namomo'tan

bisan, dawa

indi, dai

gihapon, giraray, man

bana, agom na lalaki

sini nga, ining

*Animal husbandry refers to the breeding, feeding and management of animals or livestock for the production of food, fiber, work and pleasure. (Source: Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.).

Identity Thieves

Ben Affleck’s Argo, which won Best Picture this year at the Oscars, is worth talking about. 

While Oscar winner director Ang Lee’s Life of Pi is a cinematic achievement in itself taking on a surreal approach to a real adventure story, it is the role playing of the characters in Argo that deserves a second look. Argo won Best Picture probably because the Academy members saw how it looked for a better way to tell a story.

Directed by Ben Affleck, Argo recreates the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979 after radical Moslem students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seized some 66 Americans and vowed to stay there until the deposed Shah of Iran was sent back from New York to face trial. Opposed to Western influences, the Iranian militants released 13 hostages, but held the remaining 53 Americans, now demanding the return of billions of dollars they believed the shah had hoarded abroad.

The hostage crisis lasted for almost 444 days, marring the administration of then United States President Jimmy Carter, who was unable to negotiate their release. From November 1979 to January 1981, the Carter administration suffered a setback when it failed in an attempt to rescue the hostages. Negotiations were reported to have finally succeeded where war tactics failed.  

Argo zooms in on the plight of one Tony Mendez, CIA technical operations officer, who negotiated to save the six American statesmen who escaped from the embassy and sought shelter in the Canadian ambassador’s residence at the height of the crisis.

When Ben Affleck’s Tony Mendez tells John Goodman’s John Chambers, a Hollywood make-up artist who has previously crafted disguises for the CIA: “I need you to help me make a fake movie,” it is made clear how art, particularly filmmaking, is used to serve a higher end—and that is to save the lives of the diplomats caught in the social unrest.

And when John Chambers says, “So you’re going to come to Hollywood, act like a big shot, and not actually do anything,” the movie’s premise was now hinged on how falsehood can rather redirect everyone to seek the truth. 

Interesting in the film is the way the six American statesmen read into their roles given by Tony Mendez. There is much drama in how they assumed to be somebody else, i.e. as members of the filmmakers’ team producing a fake sci-fi, Star Wars-inspired Argo. 

Argo is a fake movie—a foil which Tony Mendez needed to convince Iranian authorities that the consulate staff who escaped are part of the production for a sci-fi movie. An action thriller itself, Argo was concerned more on the action of rescuing the hiding statesmen and escort them back to the States.

In the movie’s climax, the Iranian airport police, despite their vigilance and stone-faced authority, still fell prey to the foil that Mendez invented—Argo’s  Star Wars charisma did not fail to lure authorities away from identifying the diplomats, thus serving Mendes’ best intentions, as originally planned.

Although the Iranians were duped by the pop culture prevalent everywhere in the world, it is admirable how the world of movies served a purpose which should serve man—who himself created the movies.

Of course, Argo the movie within the movie is able to save the diplomats, even as Argo the bigger movie has established thrills in the cat-mouse chase which heightened the tension in the film.

Though the film is said to have made alterations from the real turn of events— especially for minimizing the role that the Canadian embassy played in the rescue, among others—Argo succeeds in bringing the audience to a heightened sense of thrill, which deserves a round of applause.

Obra et labora

Aga sa opisina nakatukaw ka sa imo nga lamesa, garo binubutingting an mga files sa saimong vertical folders. Garo igwa kang pigpaparahanap. Makiling ka sa wala, bubuksan an sulong-sulong kan lamesa. Maka’lot kan buhok ta garong naggagatol. Sa orasan mo, alas nwebe y media pa sana. Magagayon palan an pagkahilera mo kan mga folder. Matindog ka, magayon gayod magtahar kan mga lapis na ini. Haralaba pa pero pudpod na an mga puro. Taharan mo an duwa.

Sige, maglista ka kan mga tatapuson mo ngonyan. Ano na ngani to? Ano na ngani si huri mong project? Garo si folder sa puro an eenoton mo, bakong iyo? Garo baga dai pa natapos si sa sarong project. Dai pa palan tapos an ginigibo mo sa file na ito. Taposon mo muna to. Mag-apod ka muna. Apodan mo si kaopisina sa balyong department. Ano na ngani si tuyo mo saiya?

Sa poon, pormal man daa an pataratara nindo sa kada saro. Ito man daang obra sa opisina man nanggad. Ara atyan, mauunambitan mo saiya na nagtaas na naman an gasolina kaya garo naisipan mong mag-commute na sana pasiring sa opisina. Ay iyo? Maistorya na man si nasa balyo na pig-iingatan niyang dai magparakakan nin mahahamis kawasa at risk siya na magka-diabetes, sabi kan doktor niya. Hambal mo na logod saiya na updan ka niyang magparegister sa Mayor’s Fun Run sa Domingo ta nganing makaexercise man kamo, bako sanang anas trabaho. Sige na logod, atyan na lang. Tibaad magkadungan kamo sa lunch sa canteen, sabi. 

Haen ka na ngani kansubago? A, gigibuhon mo na palan itong surat para sa LGU, pero garo break time na. Magkape ka muna. Mantang nagkakape, habo mong pagparairisipon si mga ginigibo mo. Mapapanlingaw ka. Pagkatapos mabuwelta ka na sa lamesa mo, yaon an gibong dai mo matapostapos. Sige, poon ka na.

Nawalat mong bukas an door, ta garo mainit sa laog kansubago. May malaog na kabisto. Siya ni idtong saro man na parapalimanliman. Mabâbâ. Siya ni idtong kadakul aram na paiplî—tsismis sa opisina, mga manlaen-laen na kamanungdanan sa pamilya, mga kung anong uso sa Shangri-la o Divisoria; mga katuyawan sa mga nag-aasensong pag-iriba, sagkod kung ano-anong klase nin paghagad sang simpatiya.

Ika man pigpaparadangog mo nanggad siya, pareho kamong mga parapalimanliman. Sibot-sibot man daa kamo sa saindong ginigibo; dai man talaga kamo nagtatrabaho. Mga kabangang oras an masasayang sa urulay nindo. Mahali na an amigo mo kawasa nag-ring na an telepono. Sisimbagon mo. Nakangirit ka ta sibot ka na naman kuno.

Makukulbaan ka ta an nag-apod kinnukulibat ano na an nangyari sa project sa enot na folder kansubago. Masimbag ka saiyang kadakulon ka pa kayang pigtatapos. Sákô gid, silíng mo. Sige logod, sabi niya. Maghilingan na sana daa kamo sa amo ning oras sa amo ning lugar, para i-discuss idtong project. Iyo. Sa scratch paper mo sa desk, bibilugan mo idtong project na pinagiromdom saimo. Ini an eenoton mo.

Lunch na palan. Sige, pangudto ka na muna lugod. Sa cafeteria makakan ka. Igwang sarong kaopisinang maagi sa saimong lamesa. Namarapara? Kinukumusta ka sa saimong obra. Kadakuldakul kong gibo, masimbag ka.

Susog sa “Natural and Unnatural Time” na yaon sa Time and the Art of Living ni Robert Grudin. Nalagda sa New York: Harper and Row, 1982, p. 163.

Mother Tongue

The best times in your home were those days filled with laughter, because your mother would say words or speak a language that was so powerful that even now you still know what they meant—long after you’ve gone from there, long after she’s gone.

Your mother’s words we so full of images that she needed not say more to put her message across. She used a language to you, her children, which spoke more than it sounded.

Hers was the kind of language that you now consider very figurative—in its foremost sense, metaphorical—i.e. “expressing something in terms that normally mean another.”

Your mother’s language was graphic that it simply seeped into your consciousness with little effort, or sometimes none at all. You recall these words and phrases and surmise their sense and sensibilities one by one.

At times when your Mother would get angry at you or any of your siblings, upset by what you had done, she would say, "Mga ‘págsusulít kamo! or ‘págsusulít ka!" if she is just addressing one of you. She would say this to you, not so much as a curse but as an expression of resignation—but only when you gravely upset her.

She scolded you using a language that would not necessarily piss you off in turn but rather only make you think. Whether you received her scolding lightly or seriously, her words would still make you think—how could you even manage to ask what they meant if she was fuming mad?

From such words you now create your own meaning. Perhaps it came from the more complete ipágsusulít ka (kamo), extending it to mean, ipagsusulit kamo sa tulak kan ina nindo, which is very much like, “I wish you’ve never been born,” or to that effect.

With those words, she seemed to say that she regretted having given birth to you—this is so sad because she might as well be cursing herself—that perhaps you are one of her wrong decisions.

So you or any of your siblings would try to appease her, but sometimes to no avail. It would take the efforts of your Lolo Miling, her dear father, to make you say sorry to her, or to patch things up—only because she had already fainted and lost consciousness, something that would surely call your grandfather’s attention.

You would regret this because it entitled you to a “date” with the grand patriarch himself, who would “grace” you with his “sermon” once you were summoned to the Libod, your mother’s ancestral house, your grandparents’ domain.

Your grandfather was both a teacher and a military man—which made clear that any of you could not simply break your mother’s heart, or else you face him squarely. And if you’d done so, you’d now brace yourself for a harsher military rhetoric, both well expressed and eloquent. You might as well call it some “repentance regimen,” a bitter pill you deserved for hurting your mother.

When you reasoned out with him, or even started mumbling your own juvenile piece, your regime would now include kneeling on salt or mongo seeds taken from your Lola Eta’s farm. Your dear grandmother never even had a clue how her farm produce would end up helping her husband’s effort to ferret out justice (or you now retort, the lack of it).

All these were done if only to make you realize perhaps how and why you hurt your mother. Such was the extent of the love of one’s father to his daughter—that now you could only deeply desire to write something to immortalize it.

Exaggerations

Sa puro nin muro

Nagliwanag an altar

Asin sa samong atubang

Nagtindog an Pading Halangkaw

Binasa an Ebanghelio kan Aldaw:

“Sa ulo ng mga nagbabagang balita.

This Bikol poem titled “Ritwal” written by Bikol poet Frank Peñones, Jr. presents our disappointment from watching news TV nowadays.

At the tip of one’s fingertips, the screen lights up when he presses the machine’s button.  Then before the TV audience, the “high priest” stands and declares the reading of the “gospel of the day”: he starts reading the news.

Comparing news to the Daily Gospel spells the effectiveness of Peñones’s poem, perfectly mocking the reality how we the audience treat television with deference. But just as the audience considers news as gospel truth, Peñones’s reduces television to a ritualistic and routine endeavor, with both hosts and audience transformed into automatons.

And when the media high priest declares that what he has is “nagbabagang balita” (scorching hot news), the “ritual” is further reduced to exaggeration. It’s card-stacking and plain propaganda at its best.

It is tragic how television nowadays becomes the site of exaggerations of the real thing—and not as sensible avenue for critical thinking by the audience.

In particular, there is much pretense in how TV news anchors in this country convey information to the public.

Consider Mike Enriquez and Noli de Castro. These two—whom others now call institutions—tend to sensationalize every piece of information that their production team has prepared in the very manner they express it to the public.

First, Enriquez wins awards for his broadcasting style. I do not know why. But Mike Enriquez’s newscasting is pure exaggeration. He speaks so rapidly to the extent that it is only he who understands what he is saying. In a sense, you are rather only entertained—and not sensibly informed— by his presence.

In his every single appearance on news television, he seems to be eating his own words—but honestly, he sounds like a character in a comedy movie who rather mocks newscasting. More honestly now, he reminds me of Steve Carrell’s character in the Jim Carrey movie Bruce Almighty.

Enriquez should go back to his speech classes so he might as well observe slashes and double slashes when reading something. He needs to pause; and stop. So he can best be understood.

For his part, Noli de Castro has always sounded inflated all these years. In the poem stated earlier, Peñones is referring to Noli De Castro whose “Magandang Gabi, Bayan” augured well for the Filipino audience. And, well, as a consequence of his public identity, he became the country’s vice-president.

De Castro’s loud, imposing voice reading the country’s daily news gets our attention only because he reads the news with some kind of wild energy, making any serious item sound so utterly tragic and even a rather simple piece of information sounds very serious.

While it is good that he should project some verve, the right energy in reading out the information to the public, doing so in a pretentiously serious manner (as if it’s in critical condition) does not help the viewer much in sifting information for their own purpose.

The same thing is true in the case of other national newscasters including Ted Failon, Mel Tiangco and Korina Sanchez. What are they rushing for, anyway? Did the TV moguls ask them to read five or more news articles in 2 minutes or even less, so as to accommodate more advertisements in between their newscast? Okay.

When read by these newsmen, the daily news becomes so nerve-racking and tense. And upsetting. They may be tasked to heighten the public’s sense or awareness on social issues, but what they really do is to seem to always shock the audience even when the kind of information being relayed is otherwise lighthearted or even trivial.

Arnold Clavio, Vicky Morales, Paolo Bediones and others on primetime news TV can benefit from listening to how their forerunners really sound so ridiculous. They should not wait for the time that they themselves would be reading news at the rate of 1,000 words per minute only to rake ratings [when their time comes to be the leading news anchors]. But if they also do, by then they will have begun an era in which speed, not sensible information—is the mere yardstick of newscasting.

Can't they look to how news anchors over BBC, CNN or Australian TV appear poker-faced and sound composed even when reporting major news stories to the rest of the world? To these journalists, it is clear that their purpose is to simply convey information to the public without much sentiment so as to allow the audience to feel the thing—or sift the issue from the information—themselves. We can only admire how field reporters from across the world feeding news into big networks appear totally unruffled despite being situated in battlefields or calamity-stricken areas. 

Back in our country, with the way these news anchors race past each other—pataasan ng boses, making news and events appear that they matter even when they really don’t, it appears that TV networks only rally against each other to rake ratings for themselves.

The terms “News and Public Affairs” suck because all the networks care about is profit—each second on airtime is profit. It’s still the economics at the end of the day.

No Country for Old Men

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Capiz headed by Mr. Wil Arceño recently dismissed the forthcoming Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections as needless if not unnecessary, deeming it a futile exercise primarily because it is not the youth themselves who call the shots, but other members of the barangay or the community.

Comelec’s dismissal was revealed even as it also announced that the barangay elections will proceed along with the youth polls in October this year.

How important is the Sangguniang Kabataan? We randomly surveyed members of the voting youth—and what we got was a mixture of opinions. While one said that “Wala man gid obra sa SK (Wala naman talagang trabaho sa SK),” saying that it only exists during basketball games or pa-Liga sa Barangay, another quipped, “Depende man na sa barangay (It depends on the barangay),” adding that what is important is that the voice of the youth is duly represented in the barangay council.

While we now find ourselves contemplating the same dilemma, one barangay captain randomly relayed to us how this issue remains debatable. He said that there is nothing wrong with the senior members of the council interfering with the matters of the youth. Besides, they who ought to be the future leaders need to be taught or mentored on governance and everything it requires. This presupposes that the elected youth are naïve in matters of governance or say, implementing projects for their fellow youth constituents or even the bigger community. 

But it is a different matter altogether when funds reportedly appropriated for youth projects in the barangay are not accordingly given or shelled out for their purposes. Across the country, stories are told about how senior members of the barangay council or even the parents of the elected youth appropriate projects and funds for purposes other than the development of the youth. As such, the SK that prevails is still SK—only that it means Sangguniang Kamagulangan (Council of the Elders) or Sangguniang Katingulangan (Council of the Elderly).

As per the Local Government Code of 1991, the 10 percent of General Fund of the Barangay earmarked for SK “shall be spent to initiate programs designed to enhance the social political, economic, cultural, intellectual, moral, spiritual and physical development of the members.” The SK chairperson also serves as ex-officio member of the barangay council and is entitled to a barangay councilor’s honorarium.

The presence of Sangguniang Kabataan is the privilege given for the youth. Therefore, the best thing that the members of the non-youth in the barangay council can do is to let them speak out their concerns, without being dictated by anyone. Parents and the senior members of the barangay can only do so much as to provide for the youth and their well-being—perhaps extend to them pieces of advice on matters of how to improve themselves, but the SK privilege is not in any way reserved for them. Never should the senior members of the community speak or assert anything in their behalf.

Two Words in Our Time

Recently, I have observed two words that have entered our modern lexicon, both of which merit some discussion and perhaps, appreciation.

Consider the first one: selfie. Announced by Time Magazine as one of the top 10 buzzwords for 2012, “selfie” refers to any self-portrait photograph—taken by the subject himself or herself with the use of a modern technology gadget like a cellular phone, tablet, or just about any portable camera; and later uploaded on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or any other social networking site.

Writing for the BBC news magazine online, Charissa Coulthard says that, owing to the fact that this type of photos has been flooding social media sites in recent months, “selfie” has become commonplace enough to be monitored for inclusion in the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary. Coulthard reports that a search on Instagram retrieves over 23 million photos uploaded with the hashtag #selfie, and a whopping 51 million with the hashtag #me.”

Further, one selfie alone posted by one of my FB friends as her Profile Picture elicited some 90 Like!s from all her friends from across the world. What can be more amazing than that?

But among others, selfie serves some purpose. Upon the very act of posting one’s own picture online, the subject flings himself or herself open to public examination. Because the self becomes the subject of public scrutiny, judging from the likes and comments that the post elicits or draws out from other Internet users, he or she can be made aware of their own charm, or the lack of it.

And if one selfie elicits many reactions, with some of them even citing certain aspects of the photo or features of the subject, the whole exercise can guide the person which of their characteristics can be considered desirable—and which cannot.

The concept of selfie then rises beyond vanity, or some penchant to take pride in and parade one’s own beauty. In a sense, the selfie is able to relay back to the subjects not only how they look good to others but how else they can look better.

The entire online exercise—from choosing which picture to post to enhancing them using software applications to actually posting it to eliciting reactions from others—allows for self-examination and even introspection.

Then, there is the other word—“Bombo” or “bombo,” functioning both as noun and verb—which I suppose has already been a household name long time ago.

In the provinces and cities across the country, the Bombo Radyo by the Florete Group of Companies from Iloilo has permeated the public consciousness owing to the presence of their radio stations across some 20 major provinces in the archipelago.

Through the years, Bombo Radyo has staged commentators and announcers for their news and public affairs department who have criticized on air practically almost everyone whom they consider misbehaving, errant or corrupt both in private and public spheres.

Virtually, the Bombo programs have gained notoriety even as its literal drum noise barrages on air—indeed, in order to parade its subject’s misdemeanors for everyone to hear. While it has gained the ire of its subjects, through time, the commentary culture it has fostered has also helped create a Filipino audience critical of social issues.

So commonly nowadays you would hear how one public figure or even an entirely anonymous person literally “figured in public” because “na-Bombo siya,” meaning—his or her name was mentioned in the Bombo Radyo commentary program), which also means he or she figured in some scam, scandal or anomaly.

During Bombo Hanay or similar commentary  programs, the commentator host raises a particular issue that primarily concerns the public, presents the allegedly errant personalities or officials and then, basing on reports of malfeasance, strips them bare to the bone.

Their accuracy or observance of media ethics notwithstanding, these and the counterpart commentaries in other radio networks keep the public officials and other social leaders in check even as they do not only examine the issue but also more than scrutinize the behavior of the personalities involved.

It is always best to attack the issue as the case in point. At times, however, the verbal criticisms on the radio become vitriol, cannot help but do so “below the belt,” because the host can hardly separate the issue from the personality involved.

As such, the word Bombo performs a function similar to the one delivered by selfie. Through this, Bombo keeps its subjects in check and makes them aware of themselves. And by doing so, the media involved is virtually holding up the mirror of the community to its own constituents to make them see the ills of their own society. Such has always been the mandate of the fourth estate.

In this sense, both “selfie” and “Bombo” subject the personalities or persons to be judged per se; and both forms of criticism create avenues to critique the self, and how it can do better or be better.

While this parallelism may appear new, the thing about self-criticism is not new all. Not surprisingly, such concepts elicited by both words had already been pondered ages and eons ago, particularly by the Greek Socrates,  who said: “The unexamined life is not worth living,” or something to that effect. Trite but true; so trite but so true.

My Leader, the Hero; or A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

One time in the 1980s, a helicopter flew over our small barangay. I went out to join other kids in the neighborhood. The sight was glorious—we saw things falling down from the sky. Perhaps it was the first time such kind of aircraft flew over our neighborhood. 

We the kids were so amazed. We ran around like crazy picking them up as more of them flew down from the chopper. We thought they were money bills. 

They were flyers and pocket calendars belonging to a candidate whom I now only remember as Ballecer. He was running against another candidate named Bubby Dacer (the PR man) for assemblyman in the third district of our province. 

Bubby Dacer’s posters, along with those of his opponents, were plastered everywhere in our barangay, especially on the wide walls of the koprasan of the Bercasios, a warehouse near the marketplace we called Triangle where we bought our goods from rice to fish to plastic balloons to halo-halo. 

The faces of these politicians would be hard for me to forget. Time and again, I would see their faces on those posters pasted on the walls of the koprasan where I usually passed to run house errands. Because these posters were never defaced, it was time—months and years—that eventually wore them away. 

I also heard their jingles over DZGE and DWLV, then prominent radio stations based in Naga City. Young as I was, I also sang (along with) them.

During elections, my mother headed the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) in our grade school. From the sample ballots, I saw and learned to memorize senators’ names who would later be prominent—names like Mamintal Tamano, Santanina Rasul, Ramon Mitra, Teofisto Guingona, Macapanton Abas and Leticia Ramos-Shahani, among others. 

I clipped and mounted their pictures, and also copied their faces on my notebook. Some of these materials I even placed as covers for my school stuffs. 

When Corazon Aquino became president, I copied her image from a poster which was distributed to all the classrooms. For this, I used Cray-pas for a portrait of her which I drew on one of the back pages of my notebook. It was a smiling woman wearing big eyeglasses. 

I emphasized the wrinkles from her nose to the mouth when she smiled. I used orange for her face and black for her hair and yellow for the dress. I was amazed at my creation. I used so much pastel on the portrait of the new president perhaps because it was my first time to use such kind of art material. I rather saw that portrait as that of my mother.

Back then our classrooms had high ceilings—the old Marcos type, I later learned. The Sacred Heart of Jesus was placed on our front wall facing the class—and was flanked by two posters that read—“Knowledge is power” and “Read today, lead tomorrow.” 

The picture of the new president was mounted on one of the corners of the Grade 6 classroom. She was placed along with Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, in such a way that we looked up to them. 

In high school, we were also told to memorize the names of government officials—from our local officials to the cabinet secretaries of then ministries (during Ferdinand Marcos’s regime) and now departments (in Cory Aquino’s new government).

Through time, I got lost in the long list of names of senators and politicians and cabinet officials whose names were changed more often—because they were either sacked or revamped or simply resigned. I came to know more about them, or rather, about them more.

From the news, I later learned of their projects and their programs. Then I was also told of their corrupt practices—of the problems they were now giving to the public. I would also learn the words graft, corruption. Bribery. And plunder. Through the years, I have lost track of who is doing which and what. Who is more credible than whom? Who is more believable? One day, I just didn’t know how to believe in what they’re saying anymore. Or what they’re doing.

One day, I just stopped believing in them. I found there are other better things to do than believe and what they’re saying. Or doing.  One time, I just started to believe that like most children’s tales, politicians and yes, their identities and their sensibilities—such as their faces mounted for everyone to see—are only for children.

Kristo sa Daghan

Igwang mga Kristo sa daghan an mga tugang mo.

Enot na enot, nagpoon sa magurang nindo an ining Kristo sa daghan—ki Manuel dangan ki Emma. Sa Kagurangnan, idinusay nindang duwa an saindong mga pangaran—bagay na nariparo kan saindong lolohon na si Ramon bago siya nagpaaram. Saysay ni Lolo Amon mo, mayo sa saindong anom na magturugang na an pangaran harayo sa istorya kan Kagurangnan sa Banal na Kasuratan.

Yaon ini malinaw sa matua nindong si Emmanuel, na an gustong sabihon, “Kagurangnan yaon satuya.” Sa panduwang pangaran na Neil Romano yaon an pundasyon kan saindong pagtubod asin kan saindong mga ginikanan. An panduwang kangaranan sa Alex Apolinario na iyo an saindong pantolo gikan sa búhay kan sarong santo. Dangan kangaranan kan sarong bayaning nagin panalmingan kan mga Pilipino.

An Clemente, kangaranan kan mga banal na lideres sa simbahan kaidto. Siring ki Rosario, an bugtong na tugang nindong babaye, pinangaran an saindang pagtuo kag pagsarig sa kapangyarihan kan pangadie sa paagi ni Santa Maria, an Iloy ni Hesu Kristo.

Dangan man an ngaran mo.

Sa saindo pa sanang mga pangaran, yaon na an krus sa daghan, an Kristo sa buhay nindo. Yaon an pagma’wot kan mga magurang mong gibohon kamong mga panalmingan kan kabo’tan kan Kagurangnan. Dinidekar kan duwa nindong magurang—sindá Manuel sagkod Emma—kamong mga aki ninda sa saindang dakulang pagtubod sa Kaglalang.

Dios mabalos ta saimong nariparo—na mismong an saindang mga pangaran, “Emma” kag “Manuel”—iyong gayo an duwang bahin kan “Immanuel,” an mismong pangaran kan Kagurangnan sa Hebreong pagtaram.

Tibaad nahiling kan duwa mong magurang na an pagsaro ninda asin kan saindang pangaran iyo an paggibo kan katungdan kan Diyos na Kaglalang. Dangan biniyayaan sindá kan saindong anom na búhay, na magpoon kadto sagkod na sinda man magtaliwan, idinusay sa pag-omaw sa Kagurangnan.

Ngonyan na sindang duwa mayo na digdí sa daga, yaon rinirimpos nindo sa búhay kan kada saro an saindang katukduan na mamoot sa kapwa asin magsarig sa Diyos na iyo an poon asin kasagkuran kan gabos na ginigibo digdí sa dagâ.

Sa siring na biyaya kan Diyos saindo, kag ngapit sa mga dalan kan búhay na saindong inaagihan, dai kamo maglihis o mawarâ.

Asin ngonyan na mga panahon, hinahangaan mo an mga tugang mo sa saindang mga nagkagirinibo, sa saindang mga ginigibo. Nin huli ta sinda nagigin panalmingan mo sa kadaklan na bagay sa saimong buhay. Nagpapadiosmabalos kang marhay. Sa búhay kan mga utod mo, yaon nahihiling mo an krus sa daghan kan kada saro sainda, an biyaya kan Diyos na Bathala sa duwa nindong magurang na ipadayon an saindang napu’nan sa tabang nin Kagurangnan.

Emmanuel. Yaon ki Manoy Awel mo an pagiging tiso, an kapas na magkulibat sa estado kan ispiritu mo; iyong gayo, enot niyang konsiderasyon an nasa saboot mo. Sarong bagay na an dakulang kahulugan, sa kapwa asin orog na saimong tugang niya, an pagrespeto.

Sa dakulon nang inagihan si Manoy mo, nahihiling mo saiya an sarong marhay na tawo. Sa dakulang harong kadto duman sa Libod, siya pinapaluhod sa asin o monggo kan saindong Lolo Emiliano ta ngani sana daang magtiso—kaibahan kan ibang mga tugang—na iyo, saiya nag-idolo.

Poon kaidto, nakanood sa pagpadakula kan Lolo nindo; natukduan magtaong-galang sa darakulang tawo, nakanood magpahunod sa saradit na tawo. Dahil kaiyan, yaon saiya an paggalang; an pagtao nin kusog sa kalag kan saiyang kapwa, orog nang gayo kadtong kamo entiro nang magkairilo.

Yaon sa saiyang daghan an ipadagos an pagsarang sa estadong pigdumanan. Saiyang tutungkusan asin susustineran an kapakanan kan kadaklan na saiyang pinu’nan.

Sa simpleng búhay kan maogmahon niyang agom asin mga kabuhan, yaon ki Manoy mo an kaogmahan.

Neil Romano. Nahihiling mo ki Ano an higos kan sarong tawo—yaon saiya an abilidad na magtabang dangan makapauswag bako lang kan mga mahal niya sa buhay kundi kan kadaklan. Siring ki Manoy mo, yaon saiya an pagma’wot na mataparan ano man na bagay na saiyang napu’nan.

Dangan yaon ki Ano an dai pagsagin-sagin na rimposon sana an mga namamatean kun an mga ini makakakulog sa kalag kan saiyang mga mahal sa buhay asin mga tugang. An pagpadangat niya sa mga nguhod na tugang, orog na sana man. Kan mga aki pa kamo, an turno kan Ina nindo saiya binabayaan. Araki pa kamo, siya na man an dakulang sarigan kan saindong magurang—nagmamanehar kan kapakanan kan kadaklan. Kaya sa saiyang mga aki, ipinapagiromdom, ipinapaarog an siring na kamalayan. Yaon, iyo ini, an biyaya kan Diyos na saiyang tinutubudan. Kaya na sana man yaon saiya an kaogmahan.

Alex Apolinario. Ki Irmanong Alex, mayo nin dakul na taram, kundi katiwasayan; bako man na pirming rarom, kundi baga kahulugan. Saiya, an magagayon na mga bagay sa kinaban igwang tamang kapanahunan, bako gabos na bagay tinataram ta nganing maintindihan. Bako na habo niya lang man nanggad magtaram, kundi na para siya tibaad yaon sa linong, yaon sa tuninong an hararom na kahulugan.

An simple niyang búhay ngonyan minapagamiaw saimo na tibaad bako gabos tinataram para maliwanagan. Yaon an katiwasayan—aram niyang an pagsakripisyo igwang balos na kasaganaan. An paglapigot, sa katapusan, nagiging kaogmahan.

Siempre sa tahaw kan ribok kan mga tawo, yaon an silencio kan tugang mong ini ho—bakong padalos-dalos kun siya magdesisyon sa saiyang ginigibo. Gabos na anggulo ririkasahon niya antes mag-abot sa pwedeng mapapangyari asin maginibo.

Tuninong, hipos na nagmamasid, dangan nakikidungan sa hulag kan banwaan, yaon sa saiyang daghan an biyaya kan Diyos na magtios dangan magpadagos magbaklay sa pinili niyang alagyan. Siya madagos-dagos asta makaantos sa saiyang papadumanan.

Clemente. Ki Mente, saboot mo, igwang orog na biyaya an magin nguhod na tugang kan nagkaerenot na tolo—yaon saiya an biyayang tiponon an gabos nindang ugali dangan isabuhay sa saiyang sadiring pakahulugan para sa saiyang kapakanan. Nagiging panalmingan niya an saindong mga matuang tugang.

Yaon ki Mente an pakikipag-ulian. Actualmente, minarhay niyang makauli dangan makapagpoon sa banwaan na saindong dinakulaan ta nganing maging harani sa pamilya asin mga tugang. Yaon saiya an paghadoy na kamong nagdadakulang pamilya pirming magkairibahan. Dawa kaidto pa, aktibo siya sa pag-urulian. Kun igwang tiempo haling Manila kaidto, siya mauli ta mauli ta ngani sanang kamo gabos magkanuruparan, magkairistoryahan. Mayo siyang panama sa pungaw sa siyudad—pirming an puso niya minabuwelta kun sain asin kiisay ini igwang lealtad.

Ki Mente yaon an pagkamatinao, an pagma’wot makatabang nang gayo sa siisay na nangangaipo. Iyong gayo an naiisip mo, sa ngonyan na mga tiempo, garong kandidato, nagpapanao nin kun ano-ano sa kada barrio—alagad pagmáte mo, an padangat mong tugang na ini ho, bakong pulitiko.

Sa eskwelahan sagkod sa barangay kaidto, natawan siya nin pagkakataon na magdalagan sa lokal na pwesto—alagad garo bagang dinehado. Duman siya nakanood na dai niya kaipuhan nin hagban na puwesto ta nganing matuod na magserbisyo—“to serve and not to count the cost,” nanu’dan niya sa sarong dating poderosong militar na an ngaran San Ignacio kan pagkaadal niya sa Ateneo. Garo nabasa na nindo an istoryang ini’ho. Iyo, tama an iniisip mo. Sa saiyang daghan, yaon si Kristo.

Yaon ki Mente an paggalang sa mga tawong nasa katungdan—an pagbisto sa kapasidad kan katungdan para sa kapakanan kan kadaklan; bako kan partikular na tawong yaon sa pwesto. Siring niya ngonyan na yaon sa gobyerno sa serbisyo publiko—siya ngonyan iyong tinutubudan, pighahagadan nin tabang, sinasarigan.

Rosario. Ki Nene mo, yaon an kaogmahan nindong magturugang. Yaon saiya an pakikipagsapalaran. Pagkaagom ni irmana mo dangan kan magpamilya na, nahiling mo saiya an isog kan sarong babaying igwang paninindugan. Sa sibot na siyudad na saiyang dinayo, nagpundar siya duman dangan nagpadakula nin pamilya—katuwang an saiyang mamomo’ton na bana. Nagdadakula an saindang pamilya dangan padagos na nagdadanay sa biyaya nin Diyos.

Yaon saiya an pagkamaginibo. Siring man nindo, sa ara-aldaw na ginibo nin Diyos, nagtatrabaho. Siring man saindo, nagseserbisyo-publiko, nakikiulay sa mga nangangaipo, sa maraming tao’y nakikitungo.

Dangan man an pagkamatinao. Dawa kadtong daraga pa sana siya—hugos nang entiro sa saiyang mga sobrena asin mga sobreno, napapaogma ining mga kaakian sa harong man o sa tinampo. An pagtabang sa tugang na natitikapo—yaon na gayo. An paghadoy sa arog mong nasasakitan garo niya na baga naging pangangaipo.

Siempre yaon saiya an pagkamainamigo. Sa dakul niyang naging amiga sagkod amigo—yaon an mga pinsan, mga kairiba sa kwarto, mga dating kabiristo—ngonyan siya asin an saiyang pamilya nakakapadayon, matiwasay na nakakadungan sa buhay sa siyudad na pano nin gamo.

Ngonyan sa saimong pagsosolosolo, nadumduman mo an mga tugang na kairi-iriba mo sa harong nindo kadtong nakaaging tiempo—alagad ngonyan yaon na sa saindang sadiring mga estado. Gabos na sainda pamilyado; dangan man saimo. Namamatean mo an siring na biyaya orog ngonyan na ika harayo na sainda, sindá na sa ining dalagan kan búhay, iyo an saimong mga parte-daryo.

Napagamiaw saimo kan saindang mga agi-agi—pagkatapos kamong magkairilo pagkagadan kan ama mo saradit pa sana kamo dangan pagtaliwan kan Iloy nindo kadtong darakula na kamo—na nungka kamo liningawan kan Diyos na saindong tinutubudan.

Dios mabalos sa mga Kristo sa daghan na iyo an mga tugang mo.

Biernes Santo

Calle Fatima, San Vicente

Diliman 

My Leoncio Deriada Review Appears on Aklan-based The Explorer!