Time, the Plunderer, the House of Ilocano Writers*

What is time to you? Is it a one-way affair that originates from a certain point and ends in a permanent terminal? Or does it start from that terminal and ends where it started? In Albert Einstein’s quantum physics, there exists another physical reality where time is not measured on a 24-hour basis. Or we can posit the question: when does time begin?
In another domain, there is neither night nor day nor morning nor dawn. There is only the constant sun and the cold and indifferent moon.

For us poets, time is a dry leaf that begins as a seed and ends in decay and becomes part of the soil. For one-way humans that begin as eggs, time ends in death and the human suffers the same fate as the dead leaf.

Apply whatever is the theory to Joseph Estrada, the convicted economic plunderer whom Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Reynato Puno had, in a jiffy, secured Gloria Arroyo’s presidential pardon. Why the abominable act of Puno to the chagrin of government prosecutors and those scandalized by the seven mansions of Estrada’s seven wives and his Manila Boracay hideaway equipped with a beach and the whitest of sands?

We can only recall that the man was supposed to have gotten P545-million in illegal gambling pay-offs and P189-commission from stock market purchases using our hard earned SSS, GSIS pension funds. Not to say the millions in the garnished Velarde account that dissipated in the bank soon after he obtained Gloria’s pardon.

Now he wants to be president again, not because the people want it, but because of his belief that Gloria is miserably failing in her job that was originally given to her in a silver platter by a civilian-military coup. The little woman must be replaced by the womanizer.

He must be Asiong Salonga whose life was made into a prize-winning movie that featured him (Estrada) in the title role. Asiong Salonga was a shady Tondo character, the lord of thugs, a Robin Hood who helped the downtrodden in his turf in the 1950s.

Asiong Salonga the movie is the story of a life frozen in time. Estrada, it appears, is living that role since then—hero to the poor, a hero who did not and will not live among them but whom he successfully exploited in his political ambitions.

Estrada must be the major character of Martin Amis’ Time Arrow, a novel about the life of Tod T. Friendly. The story which is actually a history of Europe and the gassing of the Jews begins with the death of Tod in modern America. Time, of course, is reversed as the story is narrated in a sort of flashbacks, a tool in the shorter fiction which employs it as brief as possible. Can the reader see the comparison? Will the great unwashed be exploited again by this man who wasted two years of a chance to improve our economic life?

Shall our collective life as a nation be frozen again in time because we never learn?

Time is also frozen to condemn officials of the Gunglo dagiti Mannurat nga Ilocano iti Filipinas(GUMIL)? We have written about their patta in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur. According to GF financial report, more than P500,000 was spent for the construction of the house but the unfinished house speaks for itself. The rotting iron bars and the deteriorating concrete and stones speak volumes of perfidy and dishonesty? Martin Rochina, chair of the GF building committee, never bothered to answer our letter sent via LBC to his Pasig, Metro Manila address regarding receipts of purchase of construction materials and the payroll. Jose Bragado, then GF president, spearheaded the construction sometime in 2002. In April 2005, in a report before a gathering of mannurat in Suso, Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, the so-called Iluko literary icon claimed there was still P200,000 of the Gumil house money when Dionisio Bulong took over the presidency of the writers’ association. Was the amount--how it was spent--indicated in subsequent GF financial reports?

They froze the money in the bank or dissipated it like the Velarde account? Time will tell even as we freeze the issue at this point.


*in EYES WIDE OPEN, weekly column in a San Fernando, La Union tabloid

SINGAPORE: MAYSA NGA ESTADO A LINTEG TI AGTURAY

SSssSSINGAPORE: MAYSA NGA ETADO A

I will not speak of a thousand wonders/but come again, stranger,
come again and discover/these isles of songs and poems. --Naadaw iti ” Umayka Manen, Ganggannaet/Come Again, Stranger”, antolohia dagiti dandaniw ti autor.

SINGAPORE—Sumagmamano a minuto kalpasan ti alas kuatro iti malem, pinanurnoren dagiti pilid ti Tiger Airways airplane ti tarmac ti Diosdado Macapagal International Airport idiay Clark, Mabalacat, Pampanga. Tinarimaanmi ken baket dagiti seat beltmi. Addakami iti maikapat nga intar dagiti tugaw manipud iti sango, ni baket iti denna ti desarming a pannakatawa ti eroplano. Iti makannawanko, nakaul-ulimek nga agngatngatingat ti maysa nga agtutubo a Filipino a nagbakasion iti Filipinas ket agsubli iti trabahona iti isla nga estado.

Pekpek ti lugan. Tallo wenno uppat la ngata a tugaw ti bakante iti likud. Kaaduanna a Filipino dagiti pasahero. Adda innem nga Indian nationals (nangisit-kayumanggi a Tamil wenno dagiti patneng ti Southern India)—tallo a nalulukmeg ken nataengan a babbai a nakaarruat iti nakaisigudan a pagan-anayda a dagiti sari naibalabal kadagiti abagada, ken talllo a lallaki a nakapolo ken nagpantalon iti maong. Adda met sumagmamano a Singaporean ken maysa a Puraw ken ti girl friendna a Filipina. Nakatugawda iti maikadua nga intar ti sango iti kannawan a paset ti eroplano.

Nagin-iniin a nagpangato ti eroplano iti baet ti wanerwer ti makina, ket in-inut a nagkalma ti tayabna idi makadanon iti 35,000 a kadapan iti ngatuen ti taaw. Nakusnaw nga asul ti tangatang, sumagmamano dagiti naingpis nga ulep nga agam-ampayag. Manipud iti peephole, maaninawmi dagiti isla wenno puro a nalabit a paset ti probinsia ti Palawan.

Naannayas ti biahe, awan nadalapusmi nga air pockets a mamigerger koma ti panaglayag ti eroplano. No kuan, mailibayak bayat ti panagbasak iti “The Secret”, ti US best-selling a libro ni Rhonda Bryne a ginatangmi ken ni baket itay napan a tawen idiay New York.

Agarup alas siete ti malem iti relok a Fossil idi nagkarasakas ti intercom. Timek ti kapitan ti Tiger Airways: sumanglad ti eroplano iti Changi International Airport iti sumagmamano a minuto. It is 29 degree Celsius in Singapore, impakaammona. Agpada ti time zone ti Filipinas ken Singapore, ngem nalawag pay laeng iti tangatang uray no nalneden ti init.

Alas siete y media idi bumabakami iti rampa a bitbitmi dagiti hand-carrried a bagahemi. Nagsasarunokami a pasahero a nagna iti runway. Simrekkami iti pasdek ti budget terminal, nagpangatokami a nangpanurnor iti atiddog a pasilio, ket bimmabakami iti immigration booth a nangidatagan ken nangdeppalanda kadagiti pasaportemi. Iti lobby, innalami dagiti check-in luggagemi iti agpulpuligos a conveyor.

Napankami ken ni baket iti duty-free shop iti uneg ti budget terminal ket gimmatangkami iti pasarabomi kadagiti dua a lallaki nga annakmi nga agtartrabaho iti maysa a Singapore multinational company.

Iti ruar ti budget terminal ti nagurayanmi iti maysa kadagiti annakmi a mangsukon kadakami. Rumimatrimat dagiti silaw dagiti pasdek, nadalus ken naurnos ti aglawlaw. Sumarungkarkami iti maysa a bassit a pagilian ti Asia (tulnek laeng iti mapa ken kabassitan iti Southeast Asia).

Ngem yarigmi ti Singapore iti maysa a siudad ti America nga addaan kadagiti skyscrapers ken efficiently-run transportation system. Maipalagip kadakami ti maysa a lugar idiay Amarillo, Texas a masansan a paggatangami iti groseria ken dadduma pay a kasapulan idi simmarungkarkami iti Estados Unidos idi 2006-2007.

Dimteng ni Christoffer, binagkatmi dagiti gargaretmi ket naglugankami iti maysa kadagiti agur-uray a taksi iti abay ti terminal. Iti uneg ti erkon a lugan nga ingget dalusna, nabanglo, spic and span, kas kunada iti Ingles, baro a kasla nagatang laeng iti paktoria ti kotse idi kalman, binuyami dagiti malabsanmi—berde a kaykayo, dagiti sumilsilap a kotse, well-manicured lawns iti sango dagiti natatayag nga estraktura nga agan-andap iti silaw.

“Kasla addata met laeng idiay America,” kinuna ni baket bayat ti naulimek a panagtaray ti lugan iti naunday ken sementado a kalsada.

Dimtengkami iti Serangoon Avenue North iti Hougang residential area iti akindaya a paset ti Singapore. Nagpondo ti lugan iti parking area iti asideg dagiti agkakadaeg a pasdek.

“How much, Uncle?” sinaludsod ni Christoffer no mano ti pletemi manipud iti eropuerto agingga iti Hougang.(Kas iti dadduma a paset ti Filipinas, “uncle” wenno “auntie” ti awag dagiti baro a henerasion a Singaporean kadagiti nataengan a kas pakakitaan ti panagdayawda kadakuada.)

Kinuna ti draiber, maysa a lakay ken ubanan nga Insik, a $15 ti pletemi (Singaporean dollars, 32 peos ti exchange rate)agraman ti $3 surcharge a makolekta kadagiti pasahero nga aglugan iti taksi manipud iti eropuerto iti dayta a tiempo ti aldaw.

Innalami dagiti kargami iti luggage compartment ti taksi ket nagturongkami iti maysa a 14-story a pasdek a pangab-abangan dagiti annaklmi iti maikalima a kadsaaran. Adda pay dagiti natatayag nga estraktura iti aglawlaw nga addaan iti bukodda a numero a kas iti 542, 543, 539. Kas iti papanami a pasdek agpapada ti disenio-arkitekturada ken pintada a derosas ken krema (duyaw).

Idiay Filipinas, dagitoy a pasdek ti mangbukel koma iti Philippine housing area a maaw-agawan iti subdibision a kas iti Legaspi Village. Ngamin, gapu ta limitado ti kalawa ti daga ti Singapore, kasapulan a mabangon dagiti pasdek a pagtaengan ken dagiti balay ti negosio iti uneg ken ngatuen ti daga.

Iti asideg, nakitami iti maysa a children’s park, ken kaykayo iti nagbabaetan dagiti pasdek—Indian neem, algarrubo, ken dadduma pay a kita ti berde ken nasasalun-at a pinuon, ti dadduma agsalumpayak, ket dumanon dagiti aringgawisda agingga iti maika-6 a kadsaaran.

Nakaad-adu ti makapikapik a buya ken maadal iti daytoy 725 a kilometro kuadrado nga island-state, a paset idi ti Malaysia, ken pagnaedan ti 4.5 a riwriw a tattao. Ditoy ti pagtaengan ti nadumaduma a puli—Malay, Insik, Indian, Indonesian, Caucasiano, Americano ken dadduma nga Asiano a pakairamanan dagiti Filipino. Kaaduan nga inhiniero dagiti kailiantayo (electronics communications, civil), construction workers, ken domestic helper nga adu ti Ilocana, a sumagmamano kadakuada ti taga-Echague, Isabela a nakaam-ammomi iti maysa a Domingo iti Church of Alphonso iti asideg ti Velocity, maysa a mall a kapada ngem narangranga ngem ti Center Mall idiay Baguio.

Part 2

SINGAPORE--Lee Kuan Yew became the first Prime Minister of Singapore when Ferdinand Marcos was in his second year as president of his country. That was in 1965. The Philippines was then far more economically advanced than this rules-based island-state. We were second to Japan in economic development whereas Singapore, along with Malaysia and Indonesia, were just backwaters.

Lee and Marcos had one thing in common: they ruled with an iron hand. But the similarity stops there. Undoubtedly, they had different agenda as evidenced by what we see now in Singapore compared to the pitiful state—economically and politically-- of the Philippines.

Whatever Marcos dreamt for his country, we never knew. (But he should be credited for building infrastructures, the North and South Expressway, the Heart Center, and cementing roads from Aparri to Jolo. The LRT represented a vision of his country’s modern transportation system.) He is already dead, the most hated president of his country, after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose government, it is claimed, is the most corrupt in the history of the Philippines.

But Lee Kuan Yew, now pushing 84, is still alive and kicking, providing advice and guidance to the Singaporean government. In fact, he has a title—Minister Mentor. His son, Lee Hsien Loong, is the incumbent Prime Minister.

Under the elder Yew’s aegis, this nation with practically no raw materials to speak of and the tiniest country in Southeast Asia in terms of land area is now the 6th wealthiest in the world. Lee Kuan Yew’s achievements speak volumes of his mind-set and noble goals for his beloved Singapore.

We ride their MRT underground train network, public buses and cabs and we could only gush at the efficiency of its transportation system. We have already written how clean and good-smelling these transport vehicles are. The trains are air-conditioned and are always overcrowded, especially on week-ends, but there is no hustle and bustle, no fear of delays or sudden stops or a stranger picking your pocket. (Such overcrowding could be attributed to the growing population and the spike of foreign workers, a big number of them Filipino professionals and domestic helpers. The local paper, Straits Times, also noted a squeeze at the malls in Takashimaya City, The Plaza at Orchard Road, Vivo City and Velocity and even at Compass Point.)

This is also true to their cable cars, some 90 of them running from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm, crisscrossing from mainland Singapore at Harbour Front (note the spelling of harbor, a remnant of Singapore’s British cultural and language past) to Sentosa. This little island, some portion of which was reclaimed from the sea with earth fillings from the Singapore hills, is a tourist paradise that could put to shame our own Boracay. (There is a beach here called Palawan, where natives and expatriates play volleyball on the clean yellow sands.)
One bright afternoon in Sentosa, arriving here via a cable car overlooking the sea, we climbed a rise of land to the 10-story statue of the merelion (from the words mermaid and lion). This circular creamed color structure, Singapore’s symbol, is also a fixture, at the Singapore River Bank, forever spouting water from its lion mouth into the river. There is a shop at the base of the structure where they sell souvenir items and give tokens for tourists who scale the summit via an elevator. My wife, Christoffer and his girlfriend, and I joined a group, who gawked and gushed at the sight from the top, which is actually the head of the merelion. We saw as far as our eyes could see the narrow Straits of Singapore which separate the island-state from the Indonesian island of Batam, now being developed as a tourist and commercial area.

We saw a lot of activities in the sea—boats, ships, barges plying the ancient waters. The straits are the confluence of shipping lines which make the port of Singapore the busiest in the world.

DAGITI BARO A TIMEK-DANIW ITI AMIANAN

Iparangmi ditoy dagiti daniw a gapuanan dagiti estudiante kadagiti kolehio ken unibersidad iti Amianan. Naadaw dagitoy a daniw kadagiti literary folio a naisalip iti tinawen a Higher Education Luzonwide Press Conference a pagtitiponan dagiti campus journalists ken writers iti sibubukel a Luzon agraman dagiti probinsia ti Palawan ken Mindoro. Masansan nga aglektiurkami iti daniw, editorial ken salaysay kadagitoy a pasken. Pinilimi dagitoy ta mamatikami a mabalin a yabay ida kadagiti gapuanan dagiti nakaipablaaken iti Bannawag.


MASSAYAG

Rommel Pascua
Mariano Marcos State University
Batac, Ilocos Norte

Agmurmurayka iti piningpining, Sadiri,
Wenno iti kayasakas dagiti mapinggit
A paris-bulong.
Agriingka kadin ta inta manen sekseken
Dagiti nayatang a gasat ta bareng agtong-it
Dagiti maipasngay nga agsapa.
Saan. Saannak koma a turogan
Ta diak la ketdi kabaelan a sungrodan
Ti atong a yur-orta kada Jodi ken Ismael.
Apay, ad-adda kadi a mailibayka
Kadagiti umuli-umulog a danapeg
Dagiti immay nakimassayag a kararua?
Adda kadi duayya kadagiti mailimog a baso ti iliw?
Salsaludsodek iti sakaanan ti puraw a kurtina:
Daegen kadi ti kararag ti rayray dagiti bombilia
Iti uluanan ti balay?
Ay, iti saan unay a mabayag ilibutminton
Ti alibungobong ken ti lungon ti ila
Nga agturong kadagiti puraw a balaybalay.
Ket innakto makimisa iti danggay
Dagiti padak a napanawan.

APAG-APAMAN A RANIAG

Glen C. Hufancia
Divine Word College of Laoag
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte


Kellaat a simmangbay
Salemsem ni rabii
A naulesan daydiay baybay
Iti ulimek ni balligi.

Sumro nga umayamuom
Sam-it dagiti sabsabong
Nadarisay a kasla iti danum
A mangbibiag narurusbo a bulbulong

Pati bulan ket maaspelanen
A mangbulbuli
Rimrimat dagiti bituen
Ken ti nakapsut nga awis ni tagari.

Agingga nga agpakadan
Ti nalidem a nagpatnag
Agraman dagitay pagwadan
A nangtulid apag-apaman a raniag.



ADAL: ALAD WENNO LAAD?

Newton John Rarama
Philippine Normal University
Isabela branch
Alicia, Isabela

Maysa laeng a sao-balikas
A buklen dagiti uppat a letra
No pagsisinnukaten ti urnosna
Makabukel agsisinnupadi a sarita.

Daytoy ADAL nga inted
Nagannaktayo a napnuan kired
Ket bukel ti kinagaget nga immula
A no iti tiempona agtubo, agbunga.
Ket dayta ADAL nga iggemmo
Napatpateg pay ngem piso
A di pulos matakan, nga isu’t pudno!
Agingga a mapugsat ti angesmo.

Iti inka pannakidangadang
Ditoy daga nga adu ti kabusor
Anian a nagsayaat nga ALADmo
Dayta ADAL a gupitmo.

Ngem no dayta ADAL inaramatmo
Iti kinadakes ken kinakillo
Inusarmo pay a bulsekem padam a tao
Anian a kinaLAAD ti ginALADmo.



LAMENTATIONS TO THE MOON

Javier Duran

Northwestern University
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

Basho bathed in the light
His house was burned. Nothing left
The Kon Tiki never returns.

The form passed by. I stood there
Idle. A leaf fluttered out of
the canopy.
Virtues abandoned can’t be cultivated
Nor can it be fertile to the barren
Ground in terra incognita.

But I stayed tonight. My windows
Follow you in your journey. You have to leave.

A farewell can’t ease this departure’s bitterness
(I, too, will depart, soon.)

Tepid blooms. And the cricket sounds waning
Diminishes your pace away.

I have seen you, a million photographs.

Emitting nothing, yet I long
To believe you are my Mother.

I need to return, where I came from.

Your solitude is intoxicating.
There will be birth.
I was your son.



KANKANAEY HAIKUS

MArivic Langan
University of the Cordlleras
Baguio City


Kadunduntugan
Sinapon di Kabunian
Pan-ay-ayaman.

Saleng ay kaew
Tinmatakdeg sin gawa
Linong di sey-ang.

Talaw ed daya
Buwan kadkadwaenda
Labi, ragsakda.



DADDUMA A BARO A TIMEK-DANIW ITI AMIANAN

Ipaskilminto ditoy dagiti gapuanan dagiti dadduma nga agdadamo a mannaniw a kas kada Remy Espero Piano ,Derick Thor Yabes, Nexon Agcaoili, Macario Soliven, agraman ni Junley Lorenzana Lazaga iti University of the Philippines Baguio, a nangabak iti umuna a gunggona iti salip ti daniw para kadagiti agdadamo a mannurat..

PRINCESS LV JOY: SIKA DAYDI BATONLAGIP
A NAITALIMENG ITI NATIKAGAN A NAMNAMA

ni Nexon DN Agcaoili


Diak kayaten
a lagipen batibat ti napalabas
ta umukuok laeng daydi a saem
a nabayagen iti appupo ti panawen.

Diak kayaten
a taldiapan anniniwan nalidem a kalman
a ngangibati't apges ken sanaang
iti lansad ti barukong nga itan masmasnaayan.

Diak kayaten
a timuden manen natinggaw a garakgak
daydi libnos, daydi samiweng ni ayat
ta itundanak laeng iti yuyeng
nagmanto, nagpanes a darikmat.

Diak kayaten
a lagipen dagidi tinagibik nga arapaap
nga indatonko iti sakaanam, imnas


to be completed




MAIPAPAN ITI LAGLAGIP ITI KALGAW

Junley Lorenzana Lazaga
University of the Philippines Baguio

1. Cuaresma

Iti naiduma a pul-oy iti naladaw a rabii iti sapa ti kalgaw,
A nakalugan iti traysikel nga inarkilak manipud iti wangawangan ti kalsada
Ti purok a mangitulod iti pagtaengan ti kamang ti kararua a kas anak,
Naiwirwirwir kaniak ti pangta daydi a bet-ang a sinursurot idi dagiti nuang
Nga agitulod iti apit wenno dagiti arimpadek dagiti umudong iti castoy
Met laeng a yirmpo. Nakaskasdaaw man, wen, agpayso, nacascasdaaw
Ta awan ti lagipko iti maysa a bet-ang nga uray pay nakailawlawlawan
Ti bulos a calding iti daytoy nga away a nagtaenganmi iti di pay nabayag!
Adtoy ti tangatsng, ti kabus a bulan, bangbangkag, ti baac a samiweng.
Ket nawatwat daydi balikas a nalipatanen dagiti dapan ti agdama a panawen.

2. Fiesta

Naiyanac ken dimmackelak iti poblacion, ngem adda met (malacsid cadagiti kariton
Ken dagiti kanal a nangrikos iti uneg ti ili) pudno nga ammok ken napuotak
A bet-ang ngem iti away iti sabali a turong ti ili; daydi bet-ang a nagkamanganmi
Idi kamatennakam' ti puraw a baca idi nagsursurkamin nga agkakaescuelaan
Iti tengnga't aldaw iti naladaw a kalgaw, nga agpana kadagiti itunomi a pirpirroca.


to be completed



Oktubre

Ronnie Es. Aguinaldo
Sta. Teresita, Cagayan

nalam-ek a sang-aw ti angin
a mangyubuyob iti agarinara
a taraudi ti dagaang
agmaris kiawen dagiti bulong
dagiti kinelleng dalapdapanen
ti balitok
agpellesen dagiti abuyo
agdungsa dagiti alimuken
dagiti alingo agwalayen

to be completed

Photo captions: Relatives mourning a dead kin before being buried at the Aglipayan cemetery in Laoag; the Laoag (Padsan) River