Remember the Dates
November 16, 2004.
I was back from school.
From pissing off another classmate,
and happy serving the Chinese department.
I glued to the TV.
Looking at very graphic scenes.
My young mind wondered what it was.
It was from a hacienda.
Haciendas were a teleserye fantasy.
Rich people live there.
But no. I was wrong.
The real people who live in these fields
were peasants, struggling for living.
Nais makamtan ang kapayapaan.
Laban sa mapanupil na kapitalista.
Huwag kaming palayasin,
hiyaw ng mga maralitang manggagawa,
ngunit ang pamahalaa'y bingi sa kanilang sigaw.
Gunshots. Bang. Bang!
Stones. Klunk. Klunk!
Blood and Gore. Splat. Splat!
And death laughed at them.
Twelve farmers. Two children.
Drowned by their own blood.
Good riddance to their lives, Gloria taunts them.
But we will never bade goodbye to their struggles.
It's still there, crying in anguish and pain.
Where is katarungan?
Saan na ba siya?
She may be hidden behind Noynoy's cloak.
Remember November 16.
November 23, 2009
While I was doing my jobs at school,
News broke. From local, national, to international.
I wondered.
Back at home, watching CNN
the yellow banner flashed. It was indeed Breaking News.
I didn't wonder.
His enemy was tough.
But he wants to take the risk.
He asked women, media.
Get out there,
for me.
In broad, harsh daylight, came the
women with their cameras, cellphones
and papers. In Maguindanao.
And from out there, came
men with guns, rifles,
and phalluses. In Maguindanao.
Men blocked the women's way.
Silence engulfed the parade.
And noise broke.
Gunshots. Bang. Bang!
Screams. Aaah. Aaah!
Blood and Gore. Splat. Splat!
And one sound came
to finish it.
Soil. Crush. Crush!
Backhoe, crush them.
The mastermind cried.
As if they will not be found.
The land engulfed them. Whole.
Their bodies crushed. Whole.
Their lives taken. Whole.
But later,
they were found.
Dead. Dead.
And death laughed at them.
Fifty-seven people. Eighteen of them... journalists.
Crushed by their own land.
Good riddance to their lives, the Ampatuans taunt them.
But we will never bade goodbye to their struggles.
It's still there, crying in anguish and pain.
Where is katarungan?
Saan na ba siya?
She may be hidden behind Noynoy's cloak.
Remember November 23.
Never Forget.
Never Again.
KENNETH
