ANASTACIA, KASAOM TI BULAN*/ANASTACIA, SPEAK TO THE MOON

Bessag ti basikaw a bulan/Pale is the full moon.
Aggargaraw dagiti anniniwan/The shadows are moving
iti naulila a kapanagan./In the lonely river sands.

Makaipas dagiti lagip:/Memories cut deep inside:
Dagiti nalamiis a turod/The cool hills
Idiay Samoki ken Sagada/Of Samoki and Sagada
Ti karayan iti uneg ti daga/The underground river
idiay Palawan,  dagiti orkidia/in Palawan, the orchids
Idiay Davao, dagiti agila/in Davao, the eagles
Idiay Sierra, ti batonlagip/in Sierra, the monument of stone
diay Batac: daytoy ti bannawag./in Batac: this is the sunrise.

Anastacia, agsaoka/Anastacia, speak.
Kasaom ti bulan/Speak to the moon.
Kasaom ti lunod ti bulan/Speak to the curse of the moon.
Kasaom ti samiweng/Speak to the song.
Kasaom ti saem ti samiweng./Speak to the pain in the song.

Anastacia, agsaoka koma/Anastacia, please speak.
Diak maitured nga imatangan/I could not bear
Dagiti agarimayang a lua./The tears flowing down your cheeks.

Wen, dagiti sagibo, dagiti sagibo!Yes, the children, our children!
Pimmanawda iti sidongta,/ They left us.
Nagpakadada met, Anastacia./But they bade us goodbye, Anastacia.

Ay, nakalawlawa ti salas/Ay, how wide is the sala
A nagay-ayamanda idi, ay!/ Where they used to play, ay!
Naliday dagiti lukat a tawa/Lonely are the open windows.
Agsasaibbek ti agdan/The stairs wail.
Agsangsangit ti dap-ayan/The porch is crying.
Mangngegko dagiti timek/I can hear their voices
ken katkatawada/and their laughter
Ngem nairteng ti manto/But thick is the veil
Kadagiti kuarto/Shrouding the rooms
A nagtaraytarayanda./They ran to and fro.

(Agsayukmo met nga agsubli/(The words, drenched in sadness,
Dagiti balikas.)/Also return.)

Sapulenta kadi ida/Shall we look for them
Ket inta kadagiti adayo a daga?/And go to far-away lands?
Ngem sadino ti pagbirokanta?/ But where search we?
Diak ammo dagiti lugar/Scattered they are in many places
A nakaiwaraswarasanda./And I know not where to go.

Kasano a pagsublien ida/We ask them to come back
Ket nakaro ti bisin ken rutayrutay/While hunger roils and poverty
Ti Santa Maria ken Darayday?/Reigns in Santa Maria and Darayday?

Bessag ti basikaw a bulan/Pale is the full moon.
Agsaoka, Anastacia, agsaoka./Speak, Anastacia, speak.
Kasaom ti bulan./Speak to the moon.

Originally published in Bannawag, the Ilokano weekly magazine

*Nairaman iti expanded version ti antolohia dagiti Ilokano ken Ingles a dandaniw ni PLJ, "Umayka Manen, Ganggannaet/Come Again, Stranger"

LITANIES AGAINST MICHAEL LINGA, THE PRIEST WHO IMPRISONED GOD IN THE ALMIGHTY'S HOUSE IN ISABELA

      Members of the Basic Ecclesiastical Community in Oscariz village has given me a copy of a one-page letter dated March 23, 2011 and addressed to Rev. Fr. Constante Dannug, Provincial Superior of the La Salette Fathers, the superior of Fr. Michael P. Linga, who closed the church of Oscariz, Ramon, Isabela last May 25. 

Attached to the letter are two long-sized coupon bonds detailing the community's grievances against the priest and signed by at least 80 persons. 

One grievance was a statement made by Fr. Linga, probably in his early 30s, during a meeting with BEC members, when he said, " It would be better to close the church, convert it into a basketball court and rent it out."

What? Wreck the building of the church?

I recently talked to Estrella Arellano, a fellow mannurat of San Mateo town, the mother of the priest who preceded Linga as Ramon parish priest. She has met the priest a number of times in the past. "Nagbalbaliwen," she said, referring to Fr. Linga, after reading the Dannug letter.

One incident that should have been included was that of the marriage of a young couple at the church in Ramon. The bride came late, but Fr. Linga proceeded with the ceremony--the groom alone marched in the aisle. The bride was crying when she arrived and it took some prodding from her relatives to join her future husband in the tying of the marriage knot.

Fr. Michael has a huge deposit in one of the banks in Santiago, according to reliable sources. Where did he get the money? The 50 percent collections from the Catholic chapel at the NIA building in Aguinaldo village near the Magat High Dam and the 50 percent from the nearby Ambatali chapel?

Incidentally, Jun Yee who has resigned as BEC president told this writer that Bishop Joseph Nacua of the Diocese of Ilagan was biased for Linga. The priest succeeded in obtaining the imprimatur of the bishop as reflected in the pastoral letter that was posted at the gates of the Oscariz Catholic church explaining the circumstances behind its closure.

Postscript:

In that year, Fr. Linga was transferred to an obscure parish in Pangasinan.

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH PADLOCKED

Ramon, Isabela--The Catholic church of Oscariz village has been shut down for the last five months following arguments over Church collections and other issues against the local priest and members of the parish pastoral council.

The church was renowned here for keeping twin bells that were cast in Europe in 1822. It had served the community since the Spanish colonial period and had even survived World War II.

Photographs of the church show a a heavy padlock over its gates and a pastoral letter that tried to explain the circumstances behind its closure.

The pastoral letter was signed by Fr. Michael Linga, Ramon parish priest, Bishop Joseph Nacua of the Diocese of Ilagan, and Dr. Mariano Guiab, parish pastoral council president.

The letter also said that by their act, the people who quarreled with the church leaders "did not respect the house of God."

Francisco Yee, Jr., president of Basic Ecclesiastical Community (BEC), said his group was only expressing its sentiments on issues affecting the Church when they confronted the priest.

He said one of the concerns was a new policy that required the Church to collect up to 30 percent in money and other donations.

Only 20 percent was collected for the local parish during the time of Bishop Sergio Utleg, who was later reassigned as bishop of the Diocese of Laoag City.

The BEC also had issues against Linga, who allegedly berated BEC officials for the low Sunday church attendance.

Interviewed at the parish house, Linga confirmed making these statements. But the utterances were "contextual." He did not elaborate.

"There are ecclesiastical issues that will be decided by the bishop (of Ilagan)," said Linga who has been Ramon parish priest since 2009.

"The church building is owned by the people. The Ramon parish and the diocese did not spend a single centavo in its construction," said Nila Lopez, 51, a university instructor.

Mariano Jacinto, 81, whose great grandfathers founded Oscariz and helped build the original thatch and cogon church said he could not understand why it was closed. "It is the first time the church (has been) closed, " he said.

Emil Paddayuman, 63, a volunteer church worker, said, "The priest actually scattered his flock because we have to go to Santiago City, 16 kilometers away, for church services."

"Did the priest (Linga) and the bishop (Nacua) also commit lapses in judgment as did the Mindanao bishop who asked former President (Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo for money for the purchase of an expansive car as birthday gift?" said Estelita Pasion, 45, who claimed to have attended every Mass at the Oscariz Church for the past 20 years.

Virginia Antalan, 75, of the neighboring village of Ambatali said she cried when she learned about the closure of the church. "That's where I was baptized, " she said.

by-lined by Peter La. Julian and published in the Sept 10, 2011 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, billed as the Philippines most credible daily, with the title, "Quarrel leads to closure of church in Isabela town"