Showing posts with label I. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

King of Pain

I saw Pepeng Kaliwete starring Fernando Poe, Jr. when I was a first-grader.  In those days, Mother was fond of movies that on weekends, she would bring her children to downtown Naga and there we watched all kinds of movies—in Emily, Bichara, Alex or Vic—the movie theaters owned by the Bicharas in Naga City.


Nothing reminds me of the movie except cringing at the sight of Pepe’s hands being twisted by a moving wooden motor—by the goons of the kontrabida led by the proverbial villain Paquito Diaz. Who can ever forget the ngilo just watching that scene? Since then, I have looked forward to watching FPJ’s movies.


Enough said.


Some thirty years later, I feel fine because it is now official. This year, President Benigno Aquino III conferred a posthumous National Artist award to the late Fernando Poe, Jr., King of Philippine Movies.  Aquino’s Proclamation No. 435 only confirmed an earlier declaration of Poe as National Artist in 2006, two years after Poe’s death. But at the time controversy took over.


I recall the award was refused by FPJ’s family from then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whom they thought, rigged the 2004 elections in which FPJ ran for president. This year, the family has accepted the recognition from the current president.


I suppose the national recognition of this prolific artist is appropriate. For one, a National Artist is one who has helped “build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of their works.”  Through some 50 years of his career in the movie industry, FPJ had been a household word for his honest portrayals of the plight of the Filipino, particularly the underprivileged and the marginalized.


An average Filipino like me knows an FPJ movie or the role he portrayed simply because he portrayed the life of the ordinary people, who compose the lot of the population. Whether in film biographies—from Pepeng Kaliwete to Eseng ng Tondo or other movies he produced, directed and acted in, it's he who sacrifices for the other person.


Up to his sixties, FPJ’s roles had been consistently that—particularly favoring the underprivileged or defending the marginalized, but all the while lionizing the good. If at all, FPJ’s movies melodramas helped define the generation to which I belong. But because his roles have been mimicked and parodied by other fellow actors, it only goes to show they touched a chord in the Filipino everyman.  


In some 250 movies where he probably punched all the thugs and gave back the stolen candy bars to their rightful owners, his character was not only our muscle but also our soul, a Robin Hood of sorts in our part of the world who delivered justice for the poor because it was denied them by the privileged and the greedy. His manner of delivering justice the Christian way did not only save us from boredom or tedium, but also “redeemed” us.  And for this, FPJ can hardly be replicated.


We confer on him the award because we seek to immortalize a paragon of the good—whose pains and struggles inspire us to always seek what is just. We choose to do this because we humans need a(nother) Christ-like figure whom we can emulate.  We take to placing one FPJ as such only because we need to remind ourselves that in everything we do, or despite our perennial struggles, we can always choose to do the good.




Friday, October 14, 2011

Saysay kan Paggirumdom


Sa nanok kan banggi mapapagimata ka, magios dangan tibaad dai na mapaturog pa. Sa kauntukan kan mga bagay, marurumduman mo an mga nakaagi. Sa daing girong na palibot, mapapanumdum mo an mga dai pa nangyayari. Tibaad dai ka winarasan kaidto nin grasya na masadiri an mga yaon sa palibot mo. Bisan ngonyan mayo ka nin kapas na sadirihon an mga bagay na dai pa naarabot. Ta nganing sa mga oras na arog kaini, magrumdum ka o panumdumon mo sinda dangan ihiras sa iba. An saimong pagrumdom, ining kanigoan na makapanumdom sarong balaog saimo na mayo nin kaagid. Nadudumanan mo an mga lugar na gustong kadtohan. Nabubuweltahan mo idtong mga tiempong inirokan. Nakakaulay mo an mga tawong marayo na, naiistorya o an mga tinugang maarabot pa sana. Masasabat mo an gabat kan dai napapamugtak na kaisipan, dangan kun kun ini malampasan, kanigoan na gian sa daghan.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Where I lived, and what I lived for

I feel privileged to have lived with my grandparents when I was younger.


Pagbakasyon, saro sa samong magturugang an pinapatabang ni Mama sa Libod sa samong lolohon sagkod lolahon. During summer vacations, our mother Emma would send one of us to help our grandparents in their small house and farm.


Uminabot an sakong toka mga onse anyos ako. And so when my turn came sometime in the late 80s, I was eleven years old, barely in grade 6. Right after Holy Week, I stayed with Lolo Meling and Lola Eta and began helping them in the house and farm.


There were many things to do in that small house which stood in a bigger farm. Nagsasakdo ako nin tubig hali sa bombahan. I fetched water from the artesian well. Nagbabahog sagkod nagtutubig ako nin manok sa tolong poultry houses. I fed and placed water for chickens in three poultry houses.


Kada semana, naghahalo ako nin bahog para sa manok na binabakal pa ni Lolo Meling o siisay man na pinsan na nagpa-Naga sa Calabanga o kis-a sa Naga. At least every week, I would mix the chicken feeds bought from Calabanga. Some three sacks of ata plus growing mash, etc. would be enough for the week.


Tinatabangan ko si Lola pagtanom sa saiyang mahiwas na gulayan—magabi, maabono, matanom. Dakul an pigtatanom mi kaidto—igwang kamatis, talong, okra, sibuyas, laya sagkod ladâ. Igwang bubon na pigpakalot si Lola harani sana sa pigtatanoman mi.


Every morning, I helped Lola in her plots—we cleared the soil, put chicken manure and compost, and planted seedlings of tomatoes, eggplant, okra, spring onions, ginger and pepper. It helped that there was a well, an almost dry water source, near the plots.


In my grandparents’ farm, we would have breakfast twice. Kada aga, duwa an samuyang pamahaw. An enot na pamahaw, iyo an pamahaw ni Lola Eta mga alas 6—mainiton na kape hali sa tinutong na bagas o instant coffee plus kun ano man na gatas o Milo dangan mamon ukon sopas ukon tinapay kun may yara.


Pagkatapos kan inaapod na ‘yan na painit, maduman na kami sa libod para magtanom. Magtanim ay di biro man nanggad ta kadakul-dakul gigibohon pagtanom: In no particular order, madukag kan daga na tatanuman. Minsan malabtik, kun kaipuhan. Masakdo nin tubig gamit an sprinkler hali sa bubon, mga pirang beses iyan, depende sa kun pera kadakul an kaipuhan bunyagan, o kun gurano kahiwas an babasaon na daga. Mabubo. Mahakot kan gagamiton na ipot na pataba sa mga plot hali sa poultry—pasiring sa mga plot. Mabubo. Masaro-saro kan mga seedlings hali sa nursery bed. Mabubo pa. Iraralaag sa mga tatanuman na plot. Mahibon kan mga nagtuturubo nang pananom. Mabubo pa.


Magusi o maguno nin bunga—kun igwa nang kamatis, haralaba na an talong. An okra kaipuhan na dai magtagas ta kanugon ini kun dai na maipabakal. Maguno ako nin sili, ibaha na an kalunggay na yaon sana man sa gilid kan tanuman. Kun may tapayas na namumula na maaagihan, sakata, o tukdula, sabi ka’yan ni Lola.


Pabuwelta sa kamalig, kaipuhan maghanaw ako dangan mag-andam na para sa kusina. Kami mapamahaw na.


Saka sana an panduwang pamahaw—na puwede tang apodon na breakfast proper. Lolo would prepare the main dishes for breakfast—hot rice, unlimited yan; fried pasayan, o buyod, depende kun ano an pigtangro ni Tya Onding na taga-Baybay ki “Sir” (Meling); o minsan inun-on na balanak o remolyitis; dangan tapayas o batag o sangkaka.


“Le! Madya, karakan na kita,” masabi si Lola. Pag-panguros antes magkakan, matingkalag si Lolo Emiliano na nakatukaw sa kabisera, dangan mahipos na man si Lola. Sa pagtunkalag niyang iyan, mahihiling ko sa mata niya an saindang Kabisto sa itaas, nugayod pinapasalamatan kan duwang gurang an biyaya kan Kaglalang.


Pagkatapos kan pagkakan, iipuson ko na an samuyang kinakanan. Mahugas ako. Masaray kan mga tada. Malimpya nin kusina. Masakdo nin panghugas. Saboot ko, an aldaw para sako napoon pa sana.


Sa maghapon, igwang rinibong gigibohon sa oma sagkod sa harong. Mahalat sana ako kun ano an eenoton.


Mapunpon nin sogok mabahog nin manok matubig masakdo mahatod nin sugok o kagulayan sa mga paratinda sa talipapa ki Tiya Teray, sa Baybay ki Manoy Dikoy sa Triangulo ki Lola Mimay. Masingil na dipisil gibuhon ta nagpapalagyo an mga pinaurutang nagpapaliman-liman magbarayad sinda.


Sa sadit na harong na ito kaidtong panahon, si Lola Margarita nagtatanom, si Lolo Emiliano iyo an kagharong.


Dai ko malingawan sa kakanan an urulay-ulay kan duwa masiramon, minsan sa pagtubod o sa gobyerno igwang diskusyon. Alagad bago sinda mag-inom nin tubig, iyo nagkakauruyon. An pusngak na makuapo na nagdadangog nakakanood mayo nin dahilan para magpurusong-pusong.



Lawaan, Ciudad Roxas

08 October 2011

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Me myself needs I

Katy Perry’s “Firework” video is worthy of note. 

 

If at all, the realities portrayed by the characters, though mostly Caucasian, cut across most races and sensibilities. The video begins with American recording artist Katy Perry singing from the porch of a building. Then as she sings, fireworks shoot from her chest to the sky.

 

Then the video cuts to scenes of young people throughout the city. There is an overweight girl who cannot join her friend swimming in a pool where a party is being held. Later in the video, she “finds the courage to shed her clothes and jump in the pool” filled with the party swimmers.

 


Then, there is a cancer-stricken child in a hospital who cannot show herself out on the street because she is balding. But she goes out just the same and sees a pregnant woman in the same hospital with fireworks coming out of the baby being born.

 

There is a young magician being mugged by hooligans in an alley but uses tricks to overcome them. A boy at home witnesses his quarreling parents and how their bickering distresses his little sister; he stands up to them and pushes them apart. Also, a young man in discotheque who takes interest in a guy approaches him and kisses him, igniting fireworks from both of them.

 

Later in the video, young people are shown converging into a castle’s courtyard. There, together with the singer, they dance and “light up the night,” with their own fireworks shooting from their chests into the sky.

 

On many levels, the song empowers the self—telling it to assert and let it shine in a time and place where others see it unfit—“You just got to ignite the light and let it shine/Just own the night, like the fourth of July.”

 

The video also reminds us of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” whose lyrics read—“You are beautiful no matter what they say/Words can’t bring me down/I am beautiful in every single way/Words can’t bring me down.”

 

All characters portrayed in the video rather only exemplify the struggle of the self in a society that values apathy or indifference most probably because of diversity.  The video also seems to say that free will should be exercised by young people. Perhaps the video features self-empowerment only of the youth because the producers have considered only the Youthube audience.

 

But for all these, the video preaches tolerance for all races and sensibilities. Showing the various predicaments of young people, it asks audiences to be considerate and caring, or assertive of what the self desires—if love is too trite a word to use.

 

The song implies that no one but the self can empower himself or herself. In particular, no amount of external force can salvage the youth from their own dilemma. As another American, diplomat Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

 

In many senses, the video allows for reflection of what the self can do what it really wants: to assert, to prevail, to shine. After all, at the end of the day, what really matters is the self soul heart [chest] making sparks in the dark.

 

Written by Katy Perry in collaboration with Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm and Ester Dean for Perry's second studio album, Teenage Dream, this sensible work won Video of the Year at the 2011 MTV Music Awards.



Songs of Ourselves

If music is wine for the soul, I suppose I have had my satisfying share of this liquor of life, one that has sustained me all these years. A...