Tuesday, February 28, 2006

an update on the s.o.e.

a couple of updates on the situation:

  • the state of emergency (proclamation 1017), as of today, has not been lifted yet. pres. arroyo is planning to meet with her economic and security advisors to decide whether or not to lift it.
  • several petitions have been made to the supreme court of the philippines to strike down proclamation 1017; these petitions are questioning the legality of the proclamation (whether the whole thing is constitutional or not). in the meantime, a request for a temporary restraining order against the state of emergency has been denied.
  • during the state of emergency, police raided an anti-administration newspaper, the daily tribune. this is a newspaper that is obviously against pres. arroyo and has been for a long time. (and it isn't just the opinion section -- look at the stories they run.) an online version of the newspaper is here. because of this and other incidents, a lot of people (in the philippines and abroad) are condemning the state of emergency because it is attacking freedom of the press.
  • there was also a brief standoff involving several marines against the arroyo administration in fort bonifacio. the colonel that led this was protesting the sacking of his commanding general, and he was calling on civilians to gather around this area in protest. not a lot of people showed up, so these marines backed down.
  • several civilians, congressmen, and military personnel have been charged with rebellion and conspiracy to overthrow the government. these include gregorio "gringo" honasan (who has been implicated in many coup attempts going back to the aquino administration), reps. satur ocampo , teodoro casino, and joel virador of bayan muna, rep. liza maza of gabriela, and jose ma. sison, the self-exiled leader of the communist party of the philippines (who have an armed wing, the new people's army).
more to come as it develops....

Friday, February 24, 2006

breaking news: president arroyo declares state of emergency



yeah, this one's the kicker.

from inq7.net:

---
(3rd UPDATE) PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of emergency Friday and warned those planning to grab power that their betrayal will be dealt with under the full force of the law.

Arroyo's declaration is contained in Proclamation 1017, which she signed after a lengthy meeting with Cabinet members and police and military officials in MalacaƱang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.

"Ito naman ang babala ko sa mga nagbabalak laban sa bayan, babagsak sa inyong pagtataksil ang buong bigat ng batas [This is my warning to those who plan to grab power, your betrayal will be dealt with under the full force of the law]," Arroyo said in her statement aired live on radio and television.

Arroyo declared a state of emergency hours after the military thwarted a plot to oust her.

Arroyo said she had ordered the arrest of personalities involved in the plot, including their financiers.....

....In the declaration released to media at 11:20 a.m., Arroyo invoked Section 18, Article 7 of the Constitution that allowed the President to call on the armed forces to prevent or suppress rebellion.

The proclamation will also pave the way for warrantless arrests, government takeover of utilities, including media, and a ban on rallies, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor said.....
---

the rest of the article is here.
another article from cnn is here.

the following is the complete text of proclamation 1017 (from the pcij blog):

---
MALACAƑANG PALACE
MANILA

PROCLAMATION NO. 1017

PROCLAMATION DECLARING A STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY

WHEREAS, over these past months, elements in the political opposition have conspired with authoritarians of the extreme Left represented by the NDF-CPP-NPA and the extreme Right, represented by military adventurists — the historical enemies of the democratic Philippine State — who are now in tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted Government elected in May 2004.

WHEREAS, these conspirators have repeatedly tried to bring down the President;

WHEREAS, the claims of these elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media;

WHEREAS, this series of actions is hurting the Philippine State — by obstructing governance including hindering the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government and their faith in the future of this country;

WHEREAS, these actions are adversely affecting the economy;

WHEREAS, these activities give totalitarian forces of both the extreme Left and extreme Right the opening to intensity their avowed aims to bring down the democratic Philippine State;

WHEREAS, Article 2, Section 4 of our Constitution makes the defense and preservation of the democratic institutions and the State the primary duty of Government;

WHEREAS, the activities above-described, their consequences, ramifications and collateral effects constitute a clear and present danger to the safety and the integrity of the Philippine State and of the Filipino people;

NOW, THEREFORE, I Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Section 18, Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: “ The President…whenever it becomes necessary,…may call out (the) armed forces to prevent or suppress…rebellion…, “ and in my capacity as their Commander-in-Chief, do hereby command the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to maintain law and order throughout the Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence as well any act of insurrection or rebellion and to enforce obedience to all the laws and to all decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my direction; and as provided in Section 17, Article 12 of the Constitution do hereby declare a State of National Emergency.

IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and six.

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
President
Republic of the Philippines
---

this is going to unleash a lot of political chaos in the philippines and could blow up to something big.

expect a lot of rallies against this move (those against this think that this move is a precursor to martial law).

during these times the news radio stations over at www.eradioportal.com really come in handy if you want up-to-the-minute information.

(or look at this inq7 running account of this crisis here.)

one thing to note: saturday (the 25th) is the 20th anniversary of the first people power revolution that brought down marcos.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

community film screening: knowledge through exposure

three short social documentaries developed, directed, and edited by youth media arts project (ymap) youth.

ymap is part of people's core (remember the veteran's meeting).

screening will be held at barnsdall gallery theater in hollywood
4800 hollywood blvd
los angeles ca 90027

screening will be from 6 to 8pm (doors open @ 5:30pm).

admission is free.

contact me at raymond@troyphi.com if you want to come (i'll have a sign up sheet at tomorrow's meeting)

Friday, February 17, 2006

breaking news: hundreds feared dead in philippine mudslide

i hate to keep putting up bad news here but...

from cnn...

---
(CNN) -- A mudslide buried hundreds of houses and an elementary school in an eastern Philippine village Friday, killing an estimated 300 people and leaving another 1,500 missing, a Red Cross official said.

"It sounded like the mountain exploded, and the whole thing crumbled," survivor Dario Libatan told Manila radio DZMM, according to The Associated Press.

"I could not see any house standing anymore."

The initial confirmed death toll was 18, with 53 survivors found, including a child, said Rosette Lerias, the governor of Southern Leyte province. But she and Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross, said the number of dead was likely to rise into the hundreds.

The mudslide swept through the farming village of Guinsahugon in the municipality of St. Bernard town on Leyte Island, about 670 kilometers (420 miles) southeast of Manila.

The region has been drenched in recent days by heavy rains and flash flooding....

---

the rest of the article is here.
the article page should also have 2 videos. you'll realize after watching this the magnitude of this disaster.

please pray for the dead and missing.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

the harana and other filipino courtship/marriage traditions


this article is from the february edition of amb. just in time for the end of valentine's day.



The above painting is called “Harana” by one Carlos V. Francisco (1957). It shows a musician in the process of wooing a Filipina woman. The tradition of harana was widely used during the Spanish colonial period; nowadays, the practice has died down a bit, but this tradition, as well as other province-specific courtship/marriage rites, still lives on.

Basically a harana is when a man attempts to woo a woman by singing underneath her window during nighttime. The man continues to sing until the woman (if she so chooses) decides to let the man (and whatever company he has) inside her house for refreshments etc. When this happens, it becomes a impromptu mini-soiree of sorts. According to the Zambales Forum web site:

“Once inside, pleasantries are exchanged, sweets are sometimes served, and the serenaders and the young lady take turns singing songs heavy with traditional Tagalog poetry worthy of a Balagtasan.. The nocturnal visit is concluded with the serenaders singing a farewell song called, pamamaalam.”
(http://www.angelfire.com/on4/zambalesforum/musikeros.htm)

Granted, a man with a good voice and/or musical experience will naturally have an advantage when it comes to wooing a woman in this method. But for the young man whose singing voice is well, lacking, not all hope is lost. It was actually common back then for a man to enlist his friends to help him do the harana; he could also hire the best musicians in town if he wanted to.

Besides this tradition, in order for a man to successfully court a woman, he'll have to gain the favor of her parents:

“In the Philippines, if a man wants to be taken seriously by a woman, he has to visit the latter's family and introduce himself formally to the parents of the girl. It is rather inappropriate to court a woman and formalize the relationship without informing the parents of the girl. It is always expected that the guy must show his face to the girl's family. And if a guy wants to be acceptable to the girl's family, he has to give pasalubong (gifts) every time he drops by her family's house. It is said that in the Philippines, courting a Filipina means courting her family as well.”
(http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/love.htm)

The Filipina woman is traditionally expected to be pakipot, or play hard to get. It's one way to measure a man's sincerity. If the man is successful at courting the woman and the two want to get married, he and his parents must do pamamanhikan, or go visit the woman's family and ask for her parents' blessings to marry their daughter. Only after this can the couple be engaged and the wedding date be set.

There are other Filipino courtship/marriage traditions out there, and many of them are province-specific. Here are a couple of examples:

  • In the province of Leyte, a man who wants to wed into a traditional Filipino family must perform household service or Pangagad to the bride's family in order to show his sincerity and fortitude. This usually lasts for about 1 year.

  • In the province of Batangas, the groom's parents, relatives, and anyone else involved in the wedding walk from the groom's house to the bride's house in an orderly procession the eve of the wedding day. This is called Bisperas, and this is done in order to bring all materials/food needed to the bride's house to prepare for the wedding feast the next day. “Everything from the cows and chickens, to the vegetables and rice, down to the condiments and the cutlery are carried in the procession” (http://store.escalate.com/store/turoturo/article4.jsp).

In today's world one wouldn't see these traditions practiced by younger, more urban, more “Americanized” Filipinos as often as they were before. But perhaps your parents or grandparents went through these traditions in their younger years.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

volunteer volleyball coaches needed @ sipa...and pakiramdaman

relaying a message i got from sipa's paolo...let me know if you would be interested in volunteering as volleyball coaches @ sipa on saturday mornings and some friday nights...they could use the help.

continuing the excerpts from andres's dictionary of filipino culture and values:


"Pakiramdaman.
This is the Filipino way of communicating feelings, emotions, reactions, reprimands, caution through body language. Filipinos are keen on body language--how a person says what he says, his whole composure, the tone of his voice--the totality of the person makes up the whole message. 'Pakiramdaman na lang' is a common expression among Filipino employees when their boss is not so communicative."

Friday, February 03, 2006

tragedy at the philsports arena

really sad news from manila today.

"OVER 70 people were killed and as many as 201 others were injured Saturday when a stampede broke out at a stadium in Pasig City..."

the rest of the story can be found here.

stampede riots/tragedies have occurred around the world before, and in the past, this sort of tragedy usually occured during major sporting events such as big soccer matches. the heysel and hillsborough stadium tragedies of 1985 & 1989 respectively come to mind. (both involved the english soccer club liverpool fc.)

but this wasn't the case here. this tragedy didn't occur during a major sporting event, even though it was in a sports stadium.

people were stampeding into the stadium to attend a live broadcast of the variety show "wowowee", which was celebrating it's 1st anniversary.

they were going to give away big prizes, such as a million pesos, a house/lot, and a car. and to the poor that comprised the majority of those attending the show, that is a fortune.

obviously the show was cancelled for the day.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

sosyal

from andres's dictionary of filipino culture and values:

"Sosyal. This term has the derogatory connotation of being a social climber. When one belongs to the more affluent class of society and manifests it by following the latest fashion trend, being seen at places where the "beautiful" people are seen, being a member of exclusive clubs, etc, he or she is considered "sosyal." This negative value is also followed by those who wish to be identified with the rich and are called the "trying hard." In the 70's, the term used for the "sosyals" was "burgis."