komentaryo

tungkol kay Nicole ni Joms Salvador

hindi ko mapigilang magkomento sa ilang mga naging pahayag hinggil sa note na ito.

una, sa pamantayan ng ‘preferable’ o hindi, totoo namang mas maganda sana kung hindi “umatras” si nicole at ang kanyang pamilya. kung hindi sana sila napagod at nagtuloy-tuloy na lang sa laban. sa anumang punto de bista — bilang kapwa babae, bilang kapwa Pilipino, o kahit pa bilang biktima — walang puwedeng magkaila na mas maganda at kaayaaya sa mata ng publiko kung hindi inexecute ni nicole yung huli niyang affidavit.

pero sa punto ng tama o mali — iyang moralistikong pagwawasiwas na iyan ng kaugnay ng pamantayang duwag ba o matapang, makasarili ba o selfless, kahiya-hiya ba o marangal — hindi dapat diyan hilahin ang usaping ito.

simple lang ang dahilan: hindi tayo si nicole, hindi tayo ang babaeng kailangang humarap sa alimura o ambivalence ng publiko, hindi tayo ang biktimang pinay na kinakalaban ang isang rapist na protektado kapwa ng gobyerno ng US at ng pilipinas.

pangalawa, kung sumuko man ngayon si nicole, ibig bang sabihin hindi na siya ni-rape? kung uuriratin ang bagong affidavit niya, wala siyang sinabing hindi siya ni-rape. ang sinabi niya ay hindi siya sigurado kung may rape na nangyari. sabi niya baka raw kasalanan niya, baka raw may ginawa o sinabi siya na naging dahilan para maging “intimate” sila ni smith.

wala ni isa man dun sa recent niyang affidavit ang nagsasaad na binabawi niya ang mga sirkumstansya ng rape sa subic noong nov 1, 2005 : binuhat palabas ni smith ang isang halos unconscious na si nicole mula sa neptune bar na parang baboy; ni-rape habang nasa loob ng umaandar na starex van; pagkatapos ay itinapon sa gilid ng daan sa may alava pier na nakababa pa ang pantalon at may nakadikit na gamit na condom. walang bumabawi sa ganitong mga paglalarawan at pagpapatotoong may nangyaring rape. ni-rape si nicole noong 2005 sa subic. at si daniel smith ang nang-rape sa kanya.

malinaw ang sinasabi ng batas at ang desisyon ng makati regional trial court sa verdict nito kay smith: sinamantala ni smith ang ganung state ni nicole. pinatunayan ng physical at circumstancial evidences na ni-rape ni smith si nicole.

o baka naman pati ito kinalimutan na ng ilan para lang sumakto sa iskema ng pagkastigo kay nicole?

huling punto na lang: para maunawaan si nicole at ang naging desisyon niya nitong huli, kailangang unawain kung ano ang rape at ano ang nangyayari sa mga babaeng biktima ng rape, lalo na iyong mga katulad ni nicole na ang nanggahasa ay sundalo ng pinakamakapangyarihang imperyalistang bansa sa daigdig na hawak sa leeg ang pinakatutang gobyerno sa asya.

mas mainam na gawin ito, kaysa magwasiwas ng kung anu-anong moralistikong retorika para manisi ng isang biktima ng rape.

komentaryo

FrancisM! National Artist?

it’s just too much. maybe, too soon.

anyone who has seen me since FrancisM’s death, anyone who has read this blog’s past two entries, would know that I love FrancisM. that i’m a fan, that i respect him as an artist and person, that i admire the kind of convictions that he had, the lines he crossed to prove that he would die for them. (more…)

kultura

today: grieving for FrancisM

a version of this essay appears in the Philippine Daily Inquirer: Mourning for FrancisM

I can imagine that this doesn’t apply to many Filipinos of a different social class and generation from mine. But for a particular sector who, in the 1990s, was enamored by American pop and rap, who were at an age in which they needed a sense of identity in the context of this country, there was Francis Magalona.

And this is not to say that he began in my consciousness as a rapper. If memory serves, he was singing and dancing on That’s Entertainment, acting in Bagets 2, and rapping the top 10 song countdown on Lovli-Ness, before he became the Master Rapper of this country. In fact, when he broke out as a rapper in the album Yo! and the song “Mga Kababayan”, it seemed to me like the most natural progression, for someone like FrancisM who seemed more intelligent than many of his generation, and who really did have something to say that was different and new. At least to my 14-year old ears, and my 17-year old brother’s, and I guess to many friends I’ve met since then, who now mourn with me and cry the tears we would normally only have for loved ones. (more…)

kultura

in mourning

the real thang is coming out in the Inquirer daw this week. but just had to get this out of my head, about why exactly i’m so sad, and am in fact, in mourning:

because FrancisM just might be able to take credit for the kind of activism I found I was open to, having been exposed to him as a rapper and as a Pinoy when i was a 14-year old girl, who thought that rap — among many other things — could only be for Americans. (more…)

kultura

On losing the grit and grime*

*a version of this was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on March 5 2009.*

It is difficult not to like these guys who make up Red Jumpsuit Apparatus even when they have easily been dismissed as just another emo band. Because in truth, Ronnie Winter (lead vocals), Duke Kitchens (guitar, piano), Joey Westwood (bass), Jon Wilkes (drums) and Matt Carter (guitar), will not presume you like them. They won’t even assume that you know them from Adam. Instead they will ask you with all honesty: “Oh, there are people who know us here?” (more…)