DAGITI KAKADUA ITI RUAR

ANDREW C. LABAYOG


INTERVIEW KEN ni Isabel Sison Sandi, tubo ti Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, a kaanakan ti exilo a sigud a caudillo ti Communist Party of the Philippines ken ti armado a takiagna, ti New People's Army. Nagpaay ni Maestra Isabel a kas principala ti Burgos National High School ken ti Bacarra Comprehensive National High School in Ilocos Norte.

Naisar-ong ti nagsurat iti BCNH idi naglektiur iti journalism bayat ti Ilocos regional student press conference a naaramid iti pagadalan.

From a tape recorder. Unedited

Adda ti Tanap iti kabambantayan ti akindaya a Burgos a nagrairaan idi dagiti kadre ti NPA.

Sakbay a marugian ti interbieu, nadakamat ni Maestra Isabel ti pannakatarimaan ti eskuelada (BNHS). Ngem hot lumber kano ti nagatang ti pagadalan babaen ti panangibabaaet ti pangulo ti Parents-Teachers Association.


NO APAY A NAGPATULONG KADAGITI TAGA-RUAR

I was threatened with an armalite gapu ta diak kayat ti insuplayda a hot lumber, kinunana. Addakami iti uneg ti oficinana iti BCNHS.

The large woman with big earrings and ready smile continued, So I invited him for the second time tapno agsaritakami maipanggep iti panangbutbutengna kaniak iti armalait.

Naammuak nga isu ti presidente ti Parent-Teachers Community Association iti eskuelaanmi. So I invited him for a dialogue. He never came. Ket gapu ta ipapilit ni Apo Bise-Mayor a questionable dagiti kayo a pangpatarimaan iti eskuela, imbagak iti utility worker in our school to bring out from the school campus dagidi a hot lumber. Kasta unay unget daytoy a tao. Binutbutengnak ket impangtana nga anytime I would disappear.

Siamkami iti familiami--ni nanangko ken dagiti kakabsatko a lallaki ken babbai, natayen daydi amami. I made letters for all of them, informing them that whatever happens to me the person whom you will file charges is this person. Baka mapukawak in a day or two--daytoy a tao ti mapabasol.

I was helpless and referred the matter to higher authorities, my bosses in the province. Imbes a tulongandak, ibagada no ania ti aramidek, kasla pay kunada ketdin, ket dimo met ammo ti makisala iti tokar. I was alone. I had to do something. Ammom ti napanunotko nga aramiden, sir? And I knew it was very wrong for me to have done it.

DAGITI AMAZONA

Kapigsa idi ti NPA (New People's Army) ditoy provincia. Wen, kapigsa idi ti NPA. Aduda. Isuda pay ti ag-checkpoint, even in broad daylight. Yantangay ta awan metten ti namnama--I have no other recourse, pudno a helplessak, ti met napan iti panunotko ti sinurotko. Balasangak pay met laeng, awan dagitay mapanawak. I have to refer the matter to these people, no ania met ti maibagada kaniak, kunak metten, a. Talaga nga I did it.

So at 12:20 noon I went to Tanap, Burgos, Ilocos Norte, in the guise a mapanak gumatang iti bawang. (One time a nagpasig kaniak ni Bettina, our finance officer at the regional office ti Department of Education, Culture and Sports idiay San Fernando City.) So I went there a kasla gumatangak iti bawang.

Awan ti ammok maipapan iti komunismo. They tried to feed something in my mind.

Kunada, "Haankami a basta agpapatay iti tao. There is still a social investigation. Agimbestigarkami no ania ti klase ti maysa a tao. No recidivist ti tao, ket agar-aramiden iti dakes, talaga a kednganmin. Tumultulongkamin iti gobierno a mangdalus iti sociedad.

Well, I think I am not in a position to discuss with you about these things. No ania ti nabukelyon a prinsipio, dayta ti surotenyon. No ania met ti naimula iti panunotko, isu met ti surotek.

Kuna ni Kumander Bakung, "Apay, ma'am, haanka nga immala iti ulitegmo?"
Imagine nga ammoda pay nga ulitegko ni Jose Maria Sison! Inamadko, "Kasano nga ammoyo nga ulitegko ni Joma?"

"Mamatikayo man wenno saan, makitami pay no kua nga agtravtravelka on your way home very late in the evening. No makitkitadaka, pagsasaritaandaka. Apay a nagtureden daytoy a bimmabaian a principal nga agbibiahe iti naladaw a malem ken naladaw a rabii? Naminsan, nakitadaka pay a naglugan iti dump truck."

Pudno met ta no maminsan awanen ti lugan (passenger jeep wenno minibus) nga agawid idiay Laoag a pagkaseraanmi.

Diak mailibak nga ulitegko ni Joma gapu ta agkasinsin da Joma ken daydi amak. Ngem ni ulitegko ken siak, kas kadagiti kakabsatna, agsasabali iti prinsipio. Saankami nga agpaparis.

Kinunada, "It's as good as saying nga haanka nga umanamong iti daytoy nga ipagpagnami."

"Talaga a saan, ta maysaak nga educator," kinunak.

"Ala, saandaka a mapilit. Ti la ngarud maibagami: Inton maminsan, haanka a basta umay ditoy, nga adda makakitkita kenka. Ta no adda makakita kenka, ket addakam met ditoy, no adda enkuentro, amangan no maalaka iti crossfire. Kaasi pay ti familiam no kua."

Diak met ammo nga addakay ditoy (itay immayak), kunak lattaan, a, ta no ibagak ti panggepko, saan a nasayaat.

Ala, ammokton no maminsn. Ngem ti innak man kalikaguman bassit ket kasaritak man dagiti ubbing a simmurot kadakayo.

"Wen, a, "kinunada.

Isu a pinaruarda ida iti kuarto. Ket nakitak daydi maysa nga ubing a nakakutkuttong. Ay, nakakutkuttong ket naasianak unay kenkuana. Inarakupnak.

"Apay, anakko?"

Daydiay laeng ti insaok, imbes koma a kinunak, "Apay, anakko, apay a simmurotka kadakuada?"

Ammom ti insungbatna?

"Ma'am, naragsakak. I feel contentment in joining this organization."

Agasem, awan pay maysa a lawas a naalda ida ket nabrainwashedda ti isip ken panunotda.

Dua a babbai--da Margie ken Heidi, a second wenno thirdyearda ngata iti eskuelaanmi.

Are they still living. Addada pay la ngata?

Addada pay, sir.

Kinuna kaniak ni Margie, "We feel happy iti kaaddami ditoy."

Inyarasaasko, "No naragsakkayo, apay ngarud a nakuttongkayo?"

"Apo, Ma'am, ti aldaw isu ti pannakarabiimi. Ket no adda man masarakanmi a kanen, isu ti kanenmi. Ket uray no kasdiay ti panagbiagmi, we find enjoyment and satisfaction iti kaaddami iti daytoy a bunggoy. Mayat, Ma'am."

Natakuatak kalpasan iti sumagmamano nga aldaw nga iti dayta a bunggoy, adda met dagiti pro-military, anti-military. Ta kasano koma a nakadanon iti military a nangtedak iti 200 a pisos iti daydiay nga ubing?

Idi kuan, kunada, "Ma'am, dika pay la agaw-awid ta aggigiddantayo a pumanaw ditoy."

Kinitak ti oras iti relok--12:20 pm nga napanak iti dayta lugar -- alas dos pay laeng iti malem.
Anianto kad nga oras nga pumanawtayo?

Alas sais, kunada.

Alla, apo. Ket kasanoak kad ngaruden ditoy? Dinto pay rabiin nga agawidak?

Ket nasanayka met nga agawid iti rabrabii, kunada.

Didak pay ketdin sapulen idiay eskuela? Napananna ngata? Siempre, paipoliceblotterdak a magpukawak, a nagpukawkami ken ni Lisa. Palubosandakami koma. No didakami palubosan, ad-adda a sapulendakami. Ad-adda ngad nga umay dagiti military nga isu ti kunayo a kalabanyo.

Saan a mabalin ta dayta a talaga ti pagannurotanmi.

Ala, awan ti mabalinko. Ngem no koma no mabalin, ala singko a pumanawkami.

Kasla nakonsensia ti kumander, ket kinunana," Kastoy ngarud, Ma'am, palubosandakan on condition a kandaduam ta ngiwatmo. Ta no dimo kandaduan, ket no apagpanawmo ket immay ti military, awan sabali a tuduenmi a napan nagipulong no di sika."

Alas tres idin iti malem.

POSTSCRIPT:

Saan a narisut ti riri da Maestra Isabel ken ti presidente ti PTCA agingga a nayalis ti immuna a kas principal ti BNCHS. Babaen iti tulong ni Maestra Isabel, simmuko da Heidi ken Margie iti gobierno ti probinsia nga idauluan idi ni Diputado Rodolfo Farinas iti umuna a distrito ti Ilocos Norte.

ACL: Parbo a nagan ni PLJ

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"

NO COUNTRY FOR LITTERERS, OLD MEN

                 Grandchild Jasmine Julian, daughter of Rene Rafael
            who works in a multinational company in the island-state

SINGAPORE--We were waiting for an underground train at an MRT station in the Serangoon area when my recurring cough irritated my throat, and I was about to expel phlegm. My son, who works in a multinational company here, restrained me, pointing to the closed circuit TV camera above us.

Personnel of the Manpower Services are nearby, ready to pounce on the would- be phlegm thrower, hail him to court that will impose a fine of no less than S$500. Of course, after a quick due process.

In this rules- based island, the 6th wealthiest nation on earth, the law is the law. You can not escape it. Remember the Flor Contemplacion case? Death was her penalty for the killing of fellow Filipina Delia Maga. No amount of representation from the Philippine government stopped the implementation of their death penalty.

What did I do to my phlegm? Think about it and laugh aloud. Like the former Prime Minister of India who used to drink his own urine? For health purposes, according to some medical journals. I don't know if phlegm has health benefits.

My friends have asked me whether life in this expensive country is easy for everybody-- citizens and permanent residents.

I have seen old men--Chinese, Tamils, Malays, Indonesians--driving cabs and wiping tables and floors in restaurants.

I have seen old women--Chinese, Tamils, Malays, Indonesians--waiting on tables. Sometimes they look at me with their said, sunken eyes and my heart is broken.

They have to work to keep with the rent and the high cost of living here, says one of my sons who will be married to a Canada-based Ibanag maiden in December.

Singapore not a country for old people?

Quote of the week: "One who pursues spirituality alone goes into great darkness; one who pursues spirituality alone goes into even greater darkness. Yet one who pursues materialism and spirituality side by side (like the two wings of a bird) is happy in this world and the next." --Isopanishad

NO APAY NGA INSUBLIK TI PEDRO BUCANEG AWARD

The Pedro Bucaneg Award is the highest medal of honor in Iluko literature. The award was given to me during a convention of  Ilokano writers in Suso, Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur sometime in the summer of 2001, in the presence of Dr. Godofredo S. Reyes, 13-time president of the association. But I tried to return it in support of a cause--the vicious "attack" by writers identified with Gumil Filipinas in the Internet against Apo Ariel Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the unexplained expenses of funds of the major national association of Ilokano writers. The political act was made through a letter dated August 5, 2009 to Ms. Elizabeth Madarang Raquel, then president of Gumil Filipinas, through Mr. Ariel Tabag, then secretary- general of the organization.

Iti suratko, imbatadko nga adda dua a kondision iti panangisublik ti PBA ket maisurat koma iti pakasaritaan ti Gumil Filipinas:

1. "Peter La. Julian, Pedro Bucaneg Award insublina a kas simbolo ti pannakipagriknana ken pannakitaktakunaynayna ken ni Apo Aurelio S. Agcaoili a nangtunton iti husticia iti pannkarabrabngis iti dayawna."

2. "Peter La. Julian, Pedro Bucaneg Award insublina a kas simbolo ti luksawna iti saan a nalawag a pannakadagup iti nau-or a pondo ken pannakagastos iti kuarta iti pannakabangon iti Balay ti Gumil idiay Suso."

Saan a nasungbatan ti suratko ngem inikkatda kano ti naganko iti listaan dagiti immawat iti kangatuan a pammadayaw ti Literatura Iluko.

(Siasino ngamin aya ti makailawlawag iti pudno a nagasto iti patta a idiay Suso a namkuatan ni Dr. Dedicacion Agatep-Reyes a nangibaga  a "bulok" ti gunglo?)
Incidentally, Ms.Raquel used the name of Mark Limon, a young MMSU instructor, in an article published in the Ilocos Times,  that maligned Apo Agcaoili.

BEARERS OF BLACK NAMES

scions mikey and jv looking good on
philippine TV

arrogant owners of chubby cheeks
grabbers of the biggest pie?
well-fed fellows arguing
in lifeless ire

debate never never
bloody facts are naked and bare.


inheritors of dirty millions while
a million zombies
filch wrapped throwaways
sons and daughters dying
of garbage bread.

let this cup pass
unto the mouths of plunderers
rue, rue the eternal bitterness

let soothsayers be damned
but hear ye hear ye
the cruel Jehovah Christ sayeth
doomed are bearers of black names
born of kleptomaniacs
playing Abel and Cain
walking the earth
to purgatory
where robber barons
and ill-gotten riches
burn in the sulfur
of eternal fire



singapore, july 8, 2011
Caption; PLJ with Singapore-based BBC news presenter Filipino Rico Hizon