DANIW (POEM) FOR THE LITTLE GIRL WHO KILLED HERSELF BECAUSE OF POVERTY

We are recalling to mind a column we wrote in 2007 in a local paper about the little girl who killed herself because of poverty. That incident which caught national attention. happened during the time of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose regime has been described as the most corrupt in the country's history. There was widespread poverty then, as now, while the politicians and their ilk raked in their illegal money. Now, poverty is at an all-time low and a recent research showed that one in four Filipinos, repeat, one in four Filipinos, is living on a dollar a day--that's P45.00 plus or minus two depending on the exchange rate. That was in 2010 fast backward, still during the time of the Little Woman under whose watch his sons Mikey and Dato became rich. Also, in a research conducted by the Social Weather Station, Mike, Gloria's husband, was declared the most untrusted Filipino.

We are writing this in the context of the on-going Senate investigations on military corruption, specifically on Angelo Reyes, who killed himself yesterday because he could not take it anymore. Was it an act of sacrifice to save the Armed Forces of the Philippines or was it to spite a powerful patron who gave him all the privileges and pomp after his retirement?

This was the tragedy of Marianne Amper, then 12, a grade school pupil in Davao City, who killed herself because of poverty. A diary found in her belongings detailed her sad story--she skipped classes, along with her brother, because she had no money for fare and "baon" (the term similar to the case of the P50-million the general received, according to George Robusa, when he retired from the service.)She also had an unsent letter to the host of "Wish Ko Lang", a popular television program. All she wanted in her wish list was a bicycle, a school bag and jobs for her parents

We cried when we read Marianne's story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, where we used to be a correspondent for the Northern Luzon Bureau.

DENGGEMTO SADI LANGIT TI PANNAKARASAW DAGITI PADAM NGA UBBING

Denggem ti pannakarasaw
dagiti padam nga ubbing iti dayag ti bigat:
Awan arimekmekda,
babassit dagiti angesda
nga agsingsinglot iti pamedpedda nga aglayag
sadi langit idinto a marangawda
iti kagangganusanda.


Makita kadi ida dagiti agpipiapi iti imeng
dagiti marmol a taeng iti laksid dagiti alingasaw,
atibuor ken langsi dagiti kaeskuaterarn,
agraman ti angdod dagiti nagsasaip a karton
naagsaw a kayo ken periodiko
a kobrekama dagiti pagtaktakawanda?

Siasino ngamin ti makaammo kadakuada
Kalpasan ti basingkawel a nagiwarasanda
Iti kaibatogan ti maysa wenno dua nga aldaw
Ti taraon ken lang-ay iti sukmonan
A mangirarem kadakuada iti gayong-gayong
Dagiti ubbaw a namnama ken ararawda?

Ket dagiti nagtawataw iti sidong dagiti dadakkelda?

Awanto, ay, awanto ti makalagip kadakuada
No saan laeng a dagiti inna a mangunorto
Kadagiti basura a namurumoran iti igges,
Kadagiti kalsada a rugarrugak a nakapasaganda
A nakidangadang piman a situtured
Kadagiti saem ken damsak ti biag
Iti ina a daga.

Denggem ti pannakarasaw daiti padam nga ubbing
Awan arimekmekda nga agsagsagana iti ipupusayda.

Marianne's death came at a time of unabated killings in the country including the Batasan blast that killed four people including Basilan Representative Wahab Akbar, the founder of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf that sowed, and still sowing terror, in violent Mindanao.


naipablaak iti bannawag ken dadduma pay nga aglinawas a pagiwarnak iti amianan idi noviembre 2007

to be completed