lengua et pluma

Athletes have been smashing records at Beijing Olympics much to our awe and amusement.  Whether they are beating the world or Olympic records set in the recent Olympic Games or World Championships, or a world record unbeaten for more than a decade already, they are sure pumping more energy in this Olympiad. 

Tagged as the greatest Olympian after winning eight golds in Beijing, Michael Phelps has set seven new world records beating his own records set in his past games.  Of course, he now rewrites Olympic history replacing his compatriot Mark Spitz as the Olympian who won the most golds in a single Olympic Games.

In swimming alone, there were astonishing record breakers. Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain, not only set a record for being the only Briton to win two golds in a single Games in Olympic history, but also surpassing the world record in the 800 meters freestyle by a full two seconds at 8:14.10.  No body has beaten the record of Janet Evans set way back in 1989 in this category, until Adlington went crawling in the water of the pool in the Water Cube. 

Stephanie Rice of Australia was also fantastic in her 200 IM (individual medley) swim setting a world record of 2:08:45.  Kirsty Coventry also set a record at 2:05.24 in the 200M women’s backstroke.  She also set a new world record of 58.77 seconds. for the 100 M backstroke event at semifinals.  Italy’s Federica Pelligrini set a new world record in the finals of the 200 m freestyle with a time of 1:54.82, beating her own personal best and the world record she set in the heats. 

Kitajima Kosuke of Japan swam in Beijing just to beat his own records in the breast stroke events: 2:07.84 in the 200 M and 58.91 in the 100 M swim. Ryan Lochte of the United States beat his own record in 200 m backstroke with a 1:53.94 swim; while team mate Aaron Piersol set another world record with his 52.54 time in the 100 m backstroke event. It was also a sweet victory for Brazilian Cesar Cielo Filho who won the 50 M freestyle event at 21.30 seconds, beating his French rivals by split second and setting a new Olympic record.

Jamaica’s runners have surprised the world with their records going below the standard barriers.  Superman Usain Bolt has lived up to his name, as he ran like a lightning bolt striking out the favorite Americans out of the records and off the golds.  He broke his own record set in the USA earlier this year, with a 9.69 sprint at the 100 m event. He stashed his second gold with another world record of 19.30 at the 200m run.

The Jamaican men’s team also won the gold in the 4x100m relay with a new world record of 37.10 seconds.  Melanie Walker of Jamaica also walked off with a gold medal and an Olympic record of 52.64 seconds in the women’s 400 m hurdles.

Pretty Russian runner Gulnara Galkina-Samitova set a new world record of  8:58.81 in the Women's 3000m Steeplechase.  Compatriot Olga Kaniskina also set an Olympic record at 1:26:21 at the 20 km walk.

So what could have contributed to the amazing record breakers in Beijing?  The newly engineered swimsuit worn by most swimmers supposedly reduces drag. Some runners wore the controversial spring shoes in athletics.  Sports science is definitely far more developed this century, and new techniques have been applied in the athletes’ training programs.  The world’s athletes simply performed very well in Beijing.  The idea of the Olympic Games anyway is all about conquering human ability.The Evolution of men has simply not yet stopped.

 

This year's SONA protest in the Philippines is different in a lot of ways.  Since I still have this SONA hang over, here are some footnotes on our very successful PEOPLE's SONA 2008:

1) The SONA protest was NOT held in front of Ever Gotesco Mall in Commonwealth Avenue.  Commonwealth Avenue has changed in lot of ways since last year: It has already nine lanes, there are new pedestrian overpasses, and there are more MMDA pink fences.  In the hope to avoid people from loitering away from the rally site, and to make the mob more compact, rally organizers have opted to secure a permit for the space in front of the Capitol Hills Subdivision which is yards away from the Ever Mall.  And there we held the People's SONA.

2) Part of the effigy was suspended on air by a crane.  Instead of the usual giant effigies being rolled on with ball bearings and wheels, the truck's crane was utilized to hold the second part of the effigy.  The SONA's imagery is that of a sinking ship (M.V. Pilipinas) and PGMA aboard a US plane (flying away from the ship).  So the airplane had to be held by the crane so that it could appear like flying.  That was the idea, and that how it was done.  However, it didn't appear so much as we wanted it to be in the photos.

3) The SONA protest had two parts, and required two distinct stages.  So we had to use two flatbeds (trucks), and shift from a single flatbed use from the first program, to a double flatbed use for the People's SONA program. The transition had to be done in 30 minutes. And viola! Transformers!

4) The speeches were actually short.  We had a lot of speakers coming from different political and sectoral groups, and we had to limit their speeches to two minutes each, so that we could still end the program by 5:30p.m.  And it worked!

5) On the other hand, there were cultural numbers that went on too long, that they became actually boring or non-sustaining.  Isn't that odd?

6) Fil-Ams performing rap songs on stage have been a new addition to the program of SONA protests recently.  But this year, the Fil-Ams performed with our very own Pinoy rappers straight from Malabon.  Nice work ALAY!  And give it up for  Anakbayan Malabon!

7) And speaking of Fil Ams: were they the ones seen on TV jumping during the march? 'Cause I've never seen protesters jumping-marching during SONA protests.  You got our attention, that's for sure!

8) There was a time that it was raining really hard during SONA day, and last year, it was awfully hot and sunny.  During SONA, either it's hot or it's wet. This year, it's both rainy and hot.  Raincoat on, raincoat off, put it on again, take it off again, and then a lot of us got sunburned.  Ha? Ano? Aynaku!

9) I didn't see the effigy burning, even if I was on stage.  Usually, one way or another, even if you're far away from the stage, you would be able to see that the 10-15 feet effigy is burning.  This year, the 3-feet airplane that was suspended ten feet above the ground, had to be put down to the ground for the burning for safety considerations.  As usual, the mob, the media, the flags were crowding around the effigy.

10)  In fact I wasn't able to watch the program from the vantage point of the audience.  Not just because I was busy with the program and all that, but finally, I realized that this is my first SONA with my new group, and not with the YS anymore.

There goes our SONA Firsts.  To PGMA, next year promise, Huling SONA Mo Na!

Pinakamataas na Pagpupugay kay Kasamang Crispin Beltran!

The current rice situation is already in a state of crisis precisely because the country’s staple has ceased to be -according to the standard set by the National Food Authority- ‘affordable, available and accessible.’

Despite the sky-rocketing prices of commercial rice and the long lines at NFA retail stores, the government would still deny the crisis and its root causes.  Call it a crisis or not, the government approaches the rice problem with such arrogance, and has offered only band-aid solutions, that have no indication of any sustainability, and any prospect of lowering rice prices in the near or far future.

The government is quick to blame the traders, when it hides on the background its policies that pave the way for cartel operations and the declining rice production in the country.  This crisis that is brought about the overdependence on the importation of food, and an agriculture that is geared mainly towards the production of raw materials for export, has put on the forefront the long-running problems that beset our agriculture and farmers –lack of irrigation, lack of subsidy on the production of our farmers, land use and crop conversion, and the monopoly of land by a few land owners and transnational corporations, to name a few.

The debate does not stop on whether there is enough supply of rice in the country or not.  The question the government has to answer is whether this supposed supply would be made affordable and accessible to the public, and whether our economy could be geared towards self-sufficiency, so that it could secure rice and other food products for our people.

When the government’s response to a compelling demand for an immediate price control is “It’s a free enterprise” and Gloria rolling stores, then we could not expect much.  When this same government is tangled with multiple scams including the irregularities in fertilizer, irrigation and swine funds, then it is in deep trouble.

Then we understand why this government under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would not even at least admit the very obvious in the country’s rice situation.

Kare wa watashitatchi no ii sensei

Let us pay our highest tributes to one of the best teachers we have in the movement.

Mabuhay ang Siyam na Taong Pakikibaka ng Anakbayan!
Sulong tungo sa isang dekada ng militanteng paglaban,
masikhay na pag-aaral at puspusang pag-oorganisa!
Pahayag ng Anakabayan sa
kanyang Ika-9 na Anibersaryo
Pambansang Komiteng Tagapagpaganap
Nobyembre 30, 2007

Ipinagdiriwang ng Anakbayan ang ika-9 na anibersaryo nito sa diwa ng rebolusyonaryong tradisyon ng Kabataang Makabayan na itinatag noong 1964, at ng kadakilaan ni Gat Andres Bonifacio. Isa itong pagdiriwang kasama ang mamamayang Pilipinong patuloy na nakikibaka laban sa imperyalismo, pyudalismo’t burukrata kaptalismo sa tunguhing makamit ang pambansang paglaya’t demokrasya.

Hindi magiging maningning at matagumpay ang Siyam na Taong Pakikibaka ng Anakbayan kung wala ang militanteng paglaban, masikhay na pag-aaral at puspusang pag-oorganisa ng mga kasapi at balangay nito. Ngayong ika-9 na taong ng Anakbayan, mainit ang ating pagkilala at pagpupugay sa lahat ng mga magigiting na Anakbayan na walang-sawang nag-ambag ng kanilang lakas at talino alang-alang sa sambayanan.

Pinakamalugod na pagbati ang nais ipaabot ng Pambansang Komiteng Tagapagpaganap ng Anakbayan sa patuloy na lumalawak na mga balangay nito sa ibayong-dagat. Gayundin, pinakamataas na pagkilala sa mga Anakbayan na taus-pusong sumanib sa kilusan ng masang manggagawa at magsasaka; habang sadyang di matatawaran ang lumalakas, lumalawak at lumalabang pwersa ng Anakbayan sa mga komunidad at paaralan. Ang kasalukuyang malaking bilang ng mga kasapi ng balangay ng Anakbayan ang siyang buhay na testimonya ng Siyam na Taong Pakikibaka nito.

Higit sa lahat, pinakamataas na pagtatangi at pagpupugay ang iginagawad ng Anakbayan sa lahat ng mga dakilang martir nito na nag-alay na kanilang buhay para sa sambayanan. Sila ang nagsisilbing inspirasyon at huwaran ng mga bagong dugo ng Anakbayan sa kasalukuyang panahon at sa hinaharap.

The blast was so strong, it rocked the entire Batasan Complex; it was so deadly, it claimed lives, including one of our kasamas. 

Anakbayan pays tribute to Kasamang Marcial Taldo, or Tatay Tibong, as we call him in the youth sector.  For he was not just the driver of Rep. Luz Ilagan, but a kasama dedicated in serving the masses, engaged in a struggle to change the rotten system.  He was a father for a lot of the young activists.
 

The bombing of the Batasan Complex last November 13 was not the first one that shook the nation.  Barely a month ago, the explosion in Glorietta in Makati claimed twelve innocent lives, and injured dozens more.  The government was quick to announce that destabilizers and terrorists were the ones responsible for the ‘bombing.’  Nobody believed it.  The Police retracted everything after a week, concluding that the explosion was an industrial accident.  The US government even had to step in to throw its support behind the Arroyo regime’s cover-up of the Glorietta bombing.  Until now, no one is being held accountable for the deaths; and just like that, the search for justice came to another dead end.
 

Whether Cong. Akbar was the real target of the Batasan bombing is not the foremost issue: the mere fact that the bombing can be done without aversion, that the culprits of such crime could simply slip away, and that this incident effects an atmosphere of terror, is enough to conclude that the current state led by the US-Macapagal-Arroyo regime is responsible for the incident.  The culture of impunity and the state terror that the Arroyo administration has created, would explain why such things could happen in our country.  This government is senseless when it comes to the value of people’s lives.

Tatay Tibong was dear to us.  He and his wife, Ate Mayang would cook food and give money for the tibaks who frequented their house.  The couple would always attend Anakbayan’s cultural nights and tributes.  He became attached to us, as the father of one of our members, Ateng, who had earlier offered his life in the line of fire.  Ateng is a martyr of the people.  Even after Ateng’s death, Tatay Tibong remained a father for most of us.  He remained strong and supportive of the movement to which he did not deprive his own son.  He offered his own life in the service of the people; like how he gave his son to the masses, to wage a revolutionary struggle.

Like Ate Mayang said in last night’s tribute:  “It is important that we fight for justice.  Despite what happened (to my husband), I don’t lose hope, so as long as there are people like you, the youth, who would continue the struggle.

There’s no dead end after all.

The Iwakuni people of Japan held a conference and demonstration about the Japanese and US governments’ plan to expand the US Air Base in Iwakuni City in the Yamaguchi Prefecture.  The Conference gathered Japanese from all over the country, and some foreign activists who were in solidarity with the Japanese people’s struggle.  I came to Japan for this purpose.
 

In a referendum conducted by the Iwakuni City government, majority of the people voted against the plan to expand the base and build another airstrip.  Most of the people complained about the noise pollution and the destruction of the reefs and marine resources in the seas nearby the base.  The people have much more reason now to reject any expansion of the military base --now that one of its citizens, a 19 year old girl was raped by four US servicemen from the Iwakuni base.
 

A sequel to the Subic Rape Case in the Philippines, the Iwakuni Rape case is another display of the abuse that could be perpetuated by US troops stationed in various US military bases and other facilities all over the world under similar Status of Forces Agreements.  The US- Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement, for example, was used by the US government –with the full cooperation of the Philippine puppet government-- to take custody of the already convicted Daniel Smith, so that he could walk out of prison weeks after a Regional Trial Court in the Philippines sentenced him to life imprisonment last December 2006.  Now, the Japanese police would not even make an arrest, much more pursue a case against the US servicemen who raped the Iwakuni girl.
 

With the Japanese government unwilling to lift a finger on the rape case, combined with the conservative (read: feudal) culture in Yamaguchi and in the whole of Japan, the pursuit for justice could only start with the decisiveness of the Japanese to wage a struggle against US intervention in their country.  This on another hand should be complemented with a strong solidarity of other peoples of the world.
 

This was one of the main objectives of the Iwakuni Affair last October.  There were about a hundred people who joined the protest march towards the US military base.  When the protesters reached the gates of the military base, the protest atmosphere rose to a higher level, and the anger of the people was slowly being transformed into a collective action, and hopefully into a movement that is much needed to fight for justice, dignity and sovereignty of the Japanese people.

Japanese and foreign activists protested US war and bases in front of the US Air Base in Iwakuni City.

I delivered a short speech before the demonstrators in Iwakuni, in a rhythm and style that might not be familiar to the Japanese.  I wanted to agitate them, so I raised the tone of my speech higher towards the end, and used a typical slogan in Filipino, before I said it in English.  Our translator, good as he could be, but maybe because he got carried away with the speech, got lost in his translation at the end.
 

In Japan, as a matter of course, I always need a translator to facilitate communication with an audience.  I just feel bad that we do not speak the same language/s.  So I am very grateful for all the English translators that made the in depth discussions possible.
 

Without good translation though, things could turn out bad.  I almost missed my Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo, because I did not understand my companion about the train’s schedule.  In Tokyo my Filipino host was surprised that I was already coming to the city that day, because he did not understand my Japanese host when the latter was explaining my itinerary.  Understanding could be very limited even in the simplest conversations.
 

Even so, I do not blame the Japanese.  I actually envy them for their developed national language.  Filipinos may know a lot or some English because our nation has been a US colony since the last century.  Japanese on the other hand are just learning the colonial language recently.
 

The Japanese government is now encouraging its people to learn English so that, according to the government, they could be more globally competitive.  English instruction however is now primarily a business rather than a state initiative.  Many English schools have been raking money for teaching the language to students and even adults who already have careers. (Read about the Nova Corp. Scandal.)
 

Learning English is almost a necessity.  But learning another language –like Filipino, for those who don’t speak it yet-- could also be very useful and friendly.  So for now, I’m going to study Japanese.  I love the language already.

KodomoKuni Bansai!

A building in Shibuya, Tokyo that was
shown in the movie Lost in Translation.