The Other Luna: Theories of Memories

Ilokano writers  more than 40 years ago. 
Front row: Severino V. Pablo, 
Jean Alejandro (5th) and Peter La Julian
Standing: Joe Gonzales (in dark glasses)  of San Fernando, La Union 
and Pelagio Alcantara (in polo shirt) of Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur

Drying laundry at the Padsan in Laoag City

a red rose inlaid on her cheek,
she shudders at the sight of a lover
under a full moon.

it was a season when water lilies
were abloom
and the crickets sung sans end.
in the late afternoon
the other sonja, balancing a jug on her head,
climbed the bank of Padsan.
it was the last time he saw her,
a little girl in pigtails.
when she came back she was a woman
of intellect, her brains brimming
with theories of knowledge and memories,
a career secured in a university
in the mountain city.
and the boy? he followed her to the end
but he lost the way, his sad poems
etched in a corner somewhere in a garden
of sunflowers.
*****


the young woman in a corner of his mind

now i have you at last, the old man said to himself, delirious. i have you now, he heard himself whispering. 
she was lying naked on top of him on the bed, her young body pressed against him like rock and he could feel her fibulas and femurs, sacrum, breasts, her ribs. a, the fragrance of her searing flesh. she was kissing him with wet, delicious lips, opening her hot, strong legs to heaven. and he almost passed out in ecstasy and bliss.
bad, bad old boy.
***
view

this place is ugly
yet i can't see ugliness
in the presence of a goddess,
her hair flowing in the wind
her eyes sparkling like the far-away stars
in a night of dreams

AQUINO'S infantile COMMENTS ON THE MARCOSES

"Filipinos will never forgive the Marcoses," runs SBA yellow media refrain.

Ilokanos are also Filipinos.

Decades after the fall of Ferdinand Marcos, Simeon Benigno Aquino III and his ilk are still stuck with the "Never Again" syndrome. This is a poisonous psychological baggage, divisive and fascistic, that follows the logic and discourses of what they have been hating all these years.

Simeon Benigno's mental aberration is a curse that has been preventing the country from moving forward.

No matter what other Ilokanos say to the contrary, there will always be an Ilokano insurrection against the Aquinos and their oligarchies that include oligarchy-controlled media outfits like the ABS-CBN television network and other media personalities and Marcos bashers.

It is Simeon Benigno III who owes Filipinos a lot of explanation:

1. Why did he allow the then suspended Philippine National Police Chief Alan Purisima to run the Mamasapano operation, where Muslim rebels and other Muslim groups in Maguindanao killed 44 PNP Special Forces? Why was he not held accountable for this fiasco?
2.  Why did his father, Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr., promised in 1983 to then Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammad Mahathir to drop the Philippine claim to Sabah in exchange for his support for the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos? That is, when the late senator himself would replace Marcos as President of the Philippines.*
3. Why did the father of Simeon Benigno III hobnob with the former caudillo of the Communist Party of the Philippines? This Red Pope of Philippine communists now leaving in style in some European country? 
4. Why did the 1987 Cory Aquino Constitution delete Sabah as part of Philippine territory?
5. Why is he tolerating Budget Secretary Butch Abad who mentored Janet Napoles, the mastermind the P10-B scam filch from lawmakers' pork barrel funds?
6. Why is Simeon Benigno III in a hurry for Congress to approve the Bangsamoro Basic Law that would give Muslims a big chunk of Philippine territory? The envisioned Moro substate would be ruled by Sharia law that is incompatible with Philippine laws.
7. Did he eat his boogers when he was a young boy? Was he not then a psychiatrist case?
8. Ad infinitum

*Read Inquirer article: "Ninoy Vowed to Drop Sabah Claim to get KL Support vs. Marcos"

Quote of the day: "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."-- Mahatma Gandhi

PILLAR OF ILOKANO LITERATURE DIES, 91

SANTA MARIA, ILOCOS SUR--Dr. Dedicacion Agatep-Reyes, the other half of the so-called Main Pillars of Ilokano Literature, died of a lingering illness last Saturday in her hometown of Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur.  She was 91.

Dr. Agatep-Reyes,  was the first President of the University of Northern Philippines based in Vigan City, which is celebrating this year its 50th anniversary. She was the widow of Dr. Godofredo S. Reyes, 13-time president of GUMIL-Filipinas, the national association of Ilokano writers, who died several years ago, also in Sta. Maria.

Dr. Cion, as she was popularly known, will be buried in the Catholic Cemetery in her hometown on October 30.

The Reyes couple used to host Ilokano writing seminars and conferences in their house in the coastal village of Suso here.

Ilokano literary luminary, Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who is currently in the country in connection with the Mother Language Education Program, in a statement,  said of Dr. Reyes:

"She is a pillar of Ilokano life, letters, language and academic life. As president of the University of Northern Philippines, she worked through the filth and mud, and nonetheless, made it sure that her province would have its share of the best in thought and professional training for its young. Today, the university ranks as one of the best in the country.

"Through Nana Cion and Dr. Godo Reyes, who was also Ilocos Sur governor and congressional representative, Ilokano writing had its heyday despite the challenges, opening their home and their Suso Beach Resort for those numberless gatherings where we had to talk about the lyricism of our sad, sad, sad Ilokano lives."

US-based journalist and creative writer, Peter La. Julian, in an e-mail message, said that the Reyes spouses left a wide void in Literatura Ilokana that would be hard to fill in the coming years. "They had always been supportive of Ilokano writing since the inception of seminars and conferences as activities for the improvement of the regional literature, " he said. (Guerrero Coloma)

The late Dr. Dedicacion Agatep- Reyes poses for posterity with Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili
 of the University of Hawaii during an Ilokano international literary conference
in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte in 2011.

TIME WASTED and THE UNDISCOVERED WORLD OF SENIORS

Just wasted time reading an article about Felix Manalo, the founder of Iglesia ni Cristo.

It was a well-written piece, a kind of "praise" article designed to promote an indigenous church whose leader was once a member of the old Philippine churches.

The writer did not go deep into his subject, relying mostly on second-hand information and what he saw from the outside--for example, the INC's magnificent and imposing houses of worship across the country including the Philippine Arena, billed as the world's biggest of its kind, which is an income-generating project.

INC followers and ministers believe that Felix was the last messenger of God, citing some verses of Isaiah in the Old Testament and the Apocalypse of the New Testament. This is questionable. This is a big lie.

A Filipino as the last messenger of God?  This is a desecration of the Holy Writ.

It appears that the writer swallowed Felix hook, line and sinker.

Anyway, he is not an investigative reporter who goes for the bloody facts about this church that is being at present wracked with corruption and that has illegally detained some members who bravely spoke about wrongdoings committed by ministers. Including high-ranking officials who have been accused of high living.

***

They have eyes that can't see the blue mountains and beyond where a flock of black birds in V formation disappeared in a sky of utmost blue.

A senior citizen's lament:

This is a world probably of no return, where voices of young children are seldom heard and silence is an eternal presence. Finally, you are aware that you are indeed old but it should not be a reason for sadness.

The best is yet to come, they say, and so we keep busy and look forward for the undiscovered gifts of an unexplored world.
  

SCUTTLE FB ACCOUNT?

Reply to Apo Crispin Dannug, Jr. to his reaction in Facebook:

After 43 years, we are still stuck in the "never again" syndrome of martial law that we judge as wholly evil. Is there a man that is entirely evil? This is a poisonous mental baggage, divisive and fascistic even as it follows the logic and discourse of what we have been hating all these years as we look back in anger--an undercurrent that consumes us, that we refuse to confront, that has blinded us to look and move forward.

****
Facebook account. Knocking it out of sight today. Maybe forever. Let them rage, let them raise hell to kingdom come, let them, let them proclaim their righteousness. But have they noticed that their minds ceased to exist? They have become what they hate--dictators to the max.

ITI PANNAKAITAL-O NI NICK DE SADUT

Nagasatka, lakay.
Panawen ita ti uleg
Kasinsin ti kuton
Dagiti kalapati
Ken rumkuas ti bagio
Ken allawig.

Anian a pintas, daeg
Iti tapaw dagiti bantay.

Anian a gunggona
Ti sangatersia nga agawa:
Maysa a kontrata
Agingga nga aggargarawka
Iti rabaw ti daga.
(Dida la ketdi apiten a masapa
Ti Chivas Regal ken Larkmo.)

Rebbengna a maidayaw
Ni bossmo:
Inimdenganna ti kantam
Ken dagiti sagut
Ni kasimpungalam.
Nagdissoda iti nalukneng
A paset daytoy a parsua
A ti isipna ababaw
A kas iti bubon-kastila.
Iti mabiit bumagunton
Ti palasio ti darepdepmo
Ket makisalipton
Ti stereo ken telebisionmo
Kadagiti riaw ken ariwawa
Dagiti dungrit nga ubbing
Iti nakayanakam a kalsada.
(Ania ngata ti sumaruno
Nga aramiden ti tao
Kalpasan ti idadanonna
Iti lubong ket makitana
Dagiti kinawaengna?
Agsurat iti pakasaritaan
ti biagna, iti libro a tapoken
Iti maysa a suli ti bassit
a biblioteka?)

Nagasatka, lakay
Panawen ita ti uleg
Kasinsin ti billit ti bato
Bumtak dagiti bulkano
Ket maipasngay dagiti nalungpo
A maladaga a naikari
Nga umuli kadagiti tronoda.

THE BANALITY OF GRACE POE AND CHIZ ECUDERO

     Release us from the chains of mediocrity and banality of Ms. Grace Poe and Sen. Chiz Escudero who want to lead Las Islas de Los Ladrones, whose dysfunctional culture has elected into powerful public offices denizens like clowns, criminals, womanizers.

     Poe and Escudero, motivated by surveys, have gone on the campaign trail--this activity is only legally permitted in 2016. They are telling gullible Filipinos they would be doing things to improve their lives--this is also the promise of the other presidential tandems that include Vice-President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Gregorio Honasan.

     This was also the promise of Fidel Ramos, Gloria Macapagal and the convicted economic plunderer Joseph "Erap" Estrada who boasted of having seven wives and building each a house of their own.

     Such promise will always be broken. When the past presidents came to power, they led in the corruption and the ransacking of the national treasury. They created more political dynasties whose insatiable lust for power and wealth defies reason and control.

     Such has been done and will always be done.

     Yet, is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Is there hope in Miriam Santiago and Bongbong Marcos, both of whom, along with the late Sen. Joker Arroyo, did not vote for the ouster of Chief Justice Renato Corona in a rigged impeachment trial?

    Now come Poe and Escudero, behaving like second rate actors adored by a nation of dumb oxen, with their sterile, obsolete and corrupt minds. They are making noises, trivializing the campaign, as if it is easy to be president and vice-president, respectively. 

    These are supposed to be exalted positions.  Believe it or not, here we are again, in a country where such contested seats of power are just domains of popularity and beauty pageants.  As if Poe is running for mayor in some obscure Philippine town, and Escudero, as chief executive in an urban area.

    Here they are insulting our collective minds.

    There are no debates, no platforms to speak of?

TIME IN THE TERRITORY OF NIGHT

for Sonja

So many books to read:
Colorless Tsukuro Tazaki and His Years
of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami;
The People in the Trees;
Into The Wild; Les Miserables by Victor Hugo;
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee;
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels;
Life of Pi (winner of the Man Booker Prize)
by Yann Martel;
Bhagavad Gita As It Is;
Pranic Healing; Writ of Execution;
It is All About Islam by Glenn Beck;
Recuerdo/Memento by Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili;
Puraw a Balitok;  The He(a)rd Mentality
by Herdy La. Yumul; among others.

But time is always in the territory
of night and the dawns are saddled
with memories.
The morning waits even as the sun's splendor
passes by like silence prancing
before a storm.

 "Men of small intelligence worship the demigod, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach my Supreme planet."--Bhagavad Gita as It Is, page 314

THE FIRST FILIPINO RECIPIENT OF THE U.S.CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR

BY PETER LA. JULIAN

(last of two parts)

SAN FERNANDO CITY, LA UNION--Records show that Jose Balinton Nisperos, a private of the then 34th Company, Philippine Scouts, U.S. Army, received the U.S. Congress Medal of Honor in a military ceremony at the Luneta on February 3, 1913. Maj. Gen. Franklin Bell, the commanding General of the Philippine Division, U.S. Army presented him the medal.
   
Raul R. Ingles wrote about the even in an issue of the Manila Times the following day, February 4. Citing sources, Ingles recounted the battle with Yakan outlaws at Lapurap Island in Basilan, in which Nisperos participated and for which the Ilokano soldier was cited for gallantry in action. His account:

"After having his left arm shot above the elbow, Nisperos had dug the stump of his (left) arm into the ground and continued firing his rifle with one arm (right), saving his small party from complete annihilation and preventing the mutilation of the bodies of his fallen comrades."

Primitivo C. Milan, writing in the Sunday Times magazine that came off the press sometime in 1958, said that Nisperos was listed along with American winners of the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor in the "Medal of Honor", a publication of the U.S. Army. He claimed in the article that a copy of the publication was then available on file in the office of the Army Attache in the American Embassy in Manila.

Undoubtedly, Milan, a captain of the Philippines' armed forces, based his article on the "Medal of Honor" magazine--supposedly published in South America--and interviews with Nisperos's surviving relatives in San Fernando.

In the first part of this article, we raised the question: Was Nisperos the first Filipino to receive, as he did, the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor?

In an article that appeared in the defunct Ilocos Times dated Nov. 25, 1977, the late San Fernando Mayor Antonio T. Ferraren was quoted as contradicting a news item in one of the Manila dailies that a certain Capt. Jose Calugas of Cebu, a veteran of World War 11, was the first Filipino to win the U. S. Congressional Medal of Honor.

Dr. Gilbert Perez, chief of the vocation education division of the bureau of public schools also disputed the claims of the national daily. He had met with Nisperos' widow Potenciana in the eaarly part of 1952, and promised to look into the case regarding the latter's survivor's pension.

Romeo J. Arceo, also of the Manila Times, said that Dr. Perez lamented the fact that the United States Veterans Administration did not inform him (Perez) what action Washington had taken almost six years after he presented USVA the case of the Nisperos widow.

At any rate, Calugas, who was a special guest of the Philippine government during cermonies marking the 10th anniversary of the Fall of Bataan in March 1952, acknowledged to the press at that time that there were two other Filipino recipients of the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor.

Milan, writing in the Philippine Free Press issue of Oct. 17, 1957, mentioned the names of the Filipino recipients--Nisperos, as the first recipient of the award, followed by a certain Telesforo Trinidad who was with the U.S. Navy (1915) and Calugas, then a sergeant with the U.S. who fought in Bataan in 1942.

Will justice be given to Nisperos as the first Filipino to win the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor? Will justice be given to his widow Potenciana, who died penniless years ago, with respect to her survivor's pension claims? (We met the widow sometime in the late 1990's in their house in San Fernando when we interviewed her in the late 1990's for an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Vic Alhambra, Jr. , then PDI photographer, took a photo of Potenciana, which was published in the Inquirer accompanying said article.)

"THE LITANIES OF OUR HOPE AND DESPAIR"

     A million thanks, Estela Bisquera Guerrero, for reading and liking some of the lines of the protest poetry, "The Litanies of Our Hope and Despair". 

     The poem was one of the five that I submitted to Prof. Junley Lorenzana Lazaga of the University of the Philippines Baguio for his Ilokano Project-- an anthology of Ilokano poems written from 2000 to 20015. I submitted at least 5 poems, three of which are parallel texts (Ilokano with English translations.)

Here are the lines that interested Estela, a mannurat who writes for Bannawag, the Ilokano weekly magazine printed in the Philippines. This appeared on my timeline in my FB account:

  "Ania ngamin ti kinapudno?/ What then is truth?
 Ti kinapudno iti imatang dagiti politiko?/Truth in the eyes of politicians?
 Ti kinapudno iti amiris dagiti tattao?/Truth as analyzed by the people?
 Wenno ti pudno a kinapudno?/Or the truth that is truly true?
 Salakniban kadi iti bassawang-retorika ti politika/Shall we defend it from the pompous political rhetoric
 A manglenglengnges iti ina a daga?/That is choking the motherland?"