komentaryo

Kuya Joseph, Brgy. Burayan, San Jose, Tacloban City

Kuya Joseph. From Brgy. Burayan San Jose. Interviewed in early December 2013, less than a month after Typhoon Yolanda. He drove us around when we volunteered with Kusog Tacloban. His experience in his own words, just re-organized as this happened in various conversations. Will translate at some point, though will gladly let others do it. Because I still think there is no writing people’s stories that will do justice to their voices. Making it pretty is not just an injustice, it also effectively silences. (more…)

komentaryo

Balangiga, Eastern Samar

there is a general sadness to this space, so historically vibrant, and such a measure of how we do not care about this history. the bells are missing from the church’s bell tower, and the church itself is closed and under renovation. in May its doors were open, masses were being celebrated, a choir practiced in between. in the plaza in front of the Church there is a monument by Napoleon Abueva showing how 500 Filipino revolutionaries launched a surprise ambush on Company C of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment on September 28 1901.  (more…)

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Quinapondan, Eastern Samar

the show was missing an audience when we arrived. a huge tent had been set-up at the barangay hall’s basketball court, the monobloc chairs for a hundred arrived, but there was no audience. in Guiuan where our first shows were, our venues were filled to the rafters, many women arriving with their children who wouldn’t understand the show, and would be crushed in the crowd. it took one show to realize that unbeknownst to us, these women were required to watch the show as part of 4Ps — Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. it meant registering to watch the show would be equal to a cash dole-out of P500 pesos per child — which explained too why they had brought their children. they were proof of how many children each woman had.  (more…)

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Guiuan, Eastern Samar

when I was doing reliefph.com at the height of Yolanda / Haiyan last year, one indication I had that things were really bad was the number of phone calls and pleas for help that we received through the site. this was when there was a news blackout about the aftermath of the storm, and very little was getting through to Manila. relatives had started getting in touch with the site to tell us about the last time they had contact with family from Eastern Samar and Leyte, and what they found out before communication lines died. for Guiuan in particular, the news was grim, the first images were of communities by its shoreline had been reduced to ground zero, how Haiyan’s winds and the storm surge had practically taken whole barangays with it.

a year since, this is what I saw of Guiuan in October. it does not capture the anger that is here, and the pain. ruins do not say much. (more…)

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Justice for Jennifer

But first we decide not to be confused about the fact of this death.

Because media is truly messing it up, even with just getting Jennifer’s name right, as they refuse to call her by the name that she identifies herself with, insisting on calling her by her birth name Jeffrey. Worse, many put Jennifer in quotes, or say Jeffrey Laude alias Jennifer, which already layers her name with the idea of deception.

Because Jennifer is transgender, a trans woman. Woman being the operative term, and common sense tells us that she is a “she” and nothing else. There is no reason to be confused. Of course, media will be its hardheaded heartless unthinking self, and refuse to identify Jennifer as she identified herself. (more…)