Wednesday, June 22, 2011

RP: A ' JUNREY BALAWING' FOREVER?

by Herman Tiu Laurel

Hindi ko mapigilang hindi i.repost dito itong artikulo ni Ka Mentong na ito. Sobrang patawang nakakaiyak.

Ano kaya ibig sabihin ng dilaw na media sa pagsasabing “PH flexes naval muscle”--MIDGET muscle kaya o ANTIQUE muscle???

Photo art: JB

A mainstream daily came out with the headline, “PH flexes naval muscle,” with a huge photo of the BRP Humabon, a vintage World War II destroyer escort/frigate that is the only warship of the Philippine Navy. Why it decided to put out such a headline projecting the country’s total incapacity to present a credible naval deterrence is beyond me. Was it for self-ridicule (which it did rather successfully)? Or was it to provoke better armed foreign navies to “pick” on us?

As former US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld said of his country’s position in the world when he quit his post in 2006, “Today, it should be clear that not only is weakness provocative, but the perception of weakness on our part can be provocative as well.”

Thus, if you are a Filipino like Junrey Balawing, 23.5 inches in height, adjudged by the Guinness World Records as the shortest living man in the world, and acting menacing by flexing your pea-sized muscle, the neighborhood bully may well be provoked to beat the crap out of you even just for laughs.

Worse, if that pea-sized muscle is tied to a pea-sized brain, as what TV news anchor Noli de Castro exhibited on air a few days ago, then we know we have a really dumbed-down lot in our midst — unless we expose and discard each one in due course.

It was on one of De Castro’s evening programs, where news reporter Willard Cheng presented both sides in the current Spratlys issue in an even-handed and balanced manner, that the anchor followed Cheng’s closing blurb “Willard Cheng reporting for…” with a sarcastic “China ha… Cheng ha…” that oozed with prejudice and innuendo.

The fact that De Castro was installed as vice-president of this country already speaks a lot about our sad state of affairs; but to hear him blabber such nonsense without seemingly gaining a bit of depth from more than six years in high office certainly beats the midget Junrey’s shortness.

A little study of naval ships reveals the limited capabilities of the BRP Humabon, which is a mere escort ship. Compared to our Asean neighbors, the Philippines has fallen a long way off from the time of Marcos when the Philippine Navy was able to present an imposing presence.

I remember that at the height of the Sabah crisis, the Philippine newspapers presented graphic comparisons of Malaysian and Philippine naval assets, and those silhouettes of ships on the Philippine side outnumbered the Malaysian’s significantly.

Today, Malaysia has two Scorpène class submarines, two Leiku class frigates armed with Exocet missiles, two German Kasturi class frigates, plus an anti-submarine helicopter, corvettes, among others. Singapore has two new Swedish-made submarines launched in 2010, augmenting or substituting four Challenger class submarines. Thailand, meanwhile, is now the only Asean country with an aircraft carrier, the Chakri Naruebet.

Vietnam has spent $1.5 billion (or P64.5 billion) for 6 “Kilo” class submarines from Russia scheduled for delivery in 2010. By 2015, according to Chinese intelligence, Vietnam will receive from the Russian navy two 11,661-type frigates, as well as “Ruby” supersonic anti-ship missiles.

One Chinese view is that since Vietnam neither has nuclear submarines nor “Chinese Aegis” (Ballistic Missile Defense) class destroyers but has “the equipment in the coastal waters (with) anti-ship combat capability… (in the event of any) Sino-Vietnamese naval clashes in the South China Sea,” Vietnam’s occupied territories or facilities may not be lost to the Chinese Navy. In other words, Vietnam is capable of holding its own.

In stark contrast, the only acquisitions the Philippine Navy has made of late are several outmoded Hamilton class cutters which reportedly will be purchased out of the royalty earnings from the Malampaya natural gas production. Yet, these potentially include submarines that can’t resurface after submerging.

Philippine defense policy has always been skewed by a neocolonial, pro-oligarchy orientation. It is anti-insurgency insofar as only protecting the economic holdings of the ruling elite against a rebellious, impoverished people, while neglecting our naval and coastal defenses.

The then Armed Forces of the Philippines was still at its peak under Marcos and was to have been the perfect model for sustaining and expanding our country’s defense capabilities. But instead of building on it, the regimes that followed allowed it to rot. The arms manufacturing that was started during Marcos’ time went to seed while the ship-building facilities, which could have built most of the new naval assets the country needed, were allowed to rust into oblivion.

Our nation’s resource base eroded with the collapse of the “11 Industrial Projects” as well as the loss of Sabah (revenues upon which Malaysia built its wealth and defense capabilities). It will take a new leadership of the patriotic and nationalist kind let the Philippines outgrow its status as the Junrey Balawing of the region.

Should we continue to remain the air-weight of Asia, like Junrey Balawing at five kilos, deserving of a place only in a freaks’ gallery? Are we man or mouse? Are we sheepish slaves or free men?

Any muscle building begins first in the mind and the will. Muscles are built by nutritious food and strength training; hence, the need for national food self-sufficiency and accessibility, to heave against the proverbial Sisyphus-ian rock over the mountain. The will is strengthened by self-consciousness; hence, the need to restore our historical and nationalist education and cultural awareness. The sinews of a national economy are made up of iron and steel, and its blood, the energy industry; hence, our “nation-al” economic and industrial development.

At the top of all this is the set of goals in our consciousness, the ideology that unites all of the energies of our people. While the leadership that can carry this through is not in a position to take charge yet, we must therefore prepare the people’s consciousness for it today.

(Tune in to Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m., and Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8, on “GSIS Union Victory vs Winton’s Outrages”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com/ and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com/ for our articles plus TV and radio archives)

(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)


______

Source:

Tiu-Laurel, Herman. RP: A ‘Junrey Balawing’ forever? 20 June 2011. http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110620com5.html

Photo credits:

http://oks.ph/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/jun-rey-balawing.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/BRP_Rajah_Humabon_%28PF_11%29.jpg

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Musings on Gat Jose Rizal

MAYROONG isang artikulo sa isang dilaw na pahayagan na nagsasabing si Gat Jose Mercado Rizal daw ay isang "serial suitor of women around the world." Ewan kung totoo talaga iyon pero nakapagdulot iyon ng mga reaksyong ang dating sa akin ay parang hagikgik na para bang nakakatawang mainam na bagay ang sinasabing yaon.

Nakita ko ang nasabing link sa isang online friend ko sa isang social networking website. Hindi ko napigilang magkomento ng ganito (bilang reaksyong pangkalahatan sa mga naunang komento pero lalo na sa komentong nagsaad na "Si Ka Pepe pala ay: : "every port, REPORT!"". Eto ang aking naging tugon:
"is that a good thing [Rizal]  being playboy? another way of putting "every port, REPORT" is SEAMANLOLOKO, right? ooops...."

Naisip ko tuloy na kung sakaling totoo na babaero si Rizal ay ipinapakita lang nito na mas may moral discipline si Bonifacio na hindi napabalitaang naging salawahan kailanman. However, to the credit of Rizal, it seems that he was a very understanding man who was beyond the sexist beliefs of his time. There were later talks that his wife, Josephine Bracken had some sexual relationship with his adoptive father of supposedly dubious character, George Taufer. An American engineer, Taufer adopted Bracken as a baby who was supposedly illegitimately born to a Chinese woman and a British soldier. Worse, Taufer, who was syphilitic, is said to have given girls "in various ways...a grim time" and that he "clearly tried to seduce" Bracken. If such insinuations by historians now are true, that Rizal still loved and married in Bracken in Church rites is admirable and reveals the breadth and depth of the hero's sensibility.

Anu't anupaman, hindi naman sa kinakabitan ko ng "bisyo" si Rizal subali't nakita ko ang mga larawang ginawa kong mosaic na nagpapakita na ang isa sa ating pambansang bayani (si Andres Bonifacio ang isa; walang opisyal na pambansang bayani pero dahil may Rizal Day at Bonifacio Day tayo ay maituturing silang mga pambansang bayani) ay naging tema ng mga balat ng sigarilyo. Mga ilang taon din sigurong ginawang disenyo ng mga balat ng  sigarilyo ang tema ni Rizal noong pagpalit ng ika-20 na siglo.




Ipinakikita ng mga larawang ito kung gaano kasikat at hinahangaan si Rizal ng mga Pinoy noon. Nakatulong siguro dito na ang unang Rizal Day ay idineklara noong 1897/1898 pa (ni Hen. Emilio Aguinaldo, ang umagaw/humalili sa panghimagsikang kapangyarihan ni Supremo Andres Bonifacio). At pagkatapos ay ginawa si Rizal na pambansang bayani ng mananakop na Kalbong Agila. We should note that during that time, cigarette smoking was likely not considered a "vice" yet.

Tungkol kay Rizal at ang Himagsikan, naisip ko lang paano kaya ang nangyari kung ang mga Kastila ay hindi pinapatay si Rizal--dahil itinatwa na naman nito ang Himagsikan nina Bonifacio? Nakarating sana ito sa Cuba at ginagawa ang gusto niyang misyong medikal habang lumalaban ang mga manghihimagsik. Ano kaya ang nangyari kung sakali? Sasali pa rin kaya ang mga may kaya sa himagsikan? Malakas pa rin kaya ito? Nagkaroon kaya ng "class divide" na ang mga nasa mababang antas lang ng lipunan ang sumali sa rebolusyon?

Kung nangyaring hindi pinapatay si Rizal dahil nga mas ginusto nitong magpunta sa Cuba ay siguradong mas mahina ang himagsikan. Subali't malamang ay aatras na sina Aguinaldo sa himagsikan kung kaya't wala na ring magtratraydor at mangaagaw ng kapangyarihang panghihimagsik kay Supremo Bonifacio.

Malamang ay mas madali tayo sigurong nakuha ng Kalbong Agila. At maari ring sisihin si Rizal dahil hindi nito sinuportahan ang himagsikan. Nangyari na ang mga nangyari. Ang gusto siguro ni Bathala ay ipagpatuloy na lang sa ibang panahon ang hindi natapos ng Himagsikang Pilipino noong paglipat ng ika-20 na siglo. Siguro, ang ating saling-lahi ngayon ang dapat magpatuloy nito?


______


Raw photo credit:

http://pinoykollektor.blogspot.com/2011/06/rizal-on-cigarette-wrappers.html


References:

*Selection and Proclamation of National Heroes and Laws Honoring Filipino Historical Figures. *From the Reference and Research Bureau Legislative Research Service, House of Congress. NCCA Site.
http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/culture-profile-nationalhero.php

Valdez, Et Al. Doctor Jose Rizal and the writing of his story. Rex Bookstore, Inc., 2007. http://books.google.com/books?id=ixcoCv2o2NoC&pg=PT117&dq=%22josephine+bracken%22+taufer&hl=en&ei=3GL_TdfFD4X0vQPqpPyyAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22josephine%20bracken%22%20taufer&f=false

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Watawat ng Katipunan - Tunay na Sumasagisag sa Kalayaan

 (updated December 7, 2011)
 ni Jesusa Bernardo


ITO ang aking watawat dahil itong bandila ni Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro ang tunay na sumasagisag sa kalayaang hindi hango sa diwa ng Kanluranin kundi sa isang pangkapatiran o hubog-Pilipinong sosyalistang bansa. Ang watawat na ito rin ng  Kataastaasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan nang manga Anak nang Bayan ay walang bahid ng dugo na bunga ng kriminal na pang-aagaw ng pang-himagsikang kapangyarihan mula sa tunay na Unang Panghimagsikan Pangulo.

Ang watawat na gamit ngayon ng Pilipinas ay hindi lamang mukhang inspirado ng matatalas na bituin ng bandila ng imperyalistang Kalbong Agila kundi sumisimbolo pa sa isang pakikipagsabwatang nauwi sa pagnanakaw ng kalayaan ng ating bayan. Sa totoo, hindi tunay na kalayaan ang winawagayway ng bandila ng "Unang Republika" ni Hen. Emilio F. Aguinaldo.


Katipunan Flag of Supremo Andres Bonifacio y de Castro


Hindi tayo naging malaya ng Hunyo 12, 1898 dahil nagpaloko sa Kalbong Agila ang switik sa kapwa pinoy na si Aguinaldo. Hindi rin tayo tunay na naging malayang tunay noong Hulyo 4, 1946 dahil ginawa lang tayong tuta ng imperyalistang Amerika sa isip at sa pag-hawak sa ating mga prosesong pang-ekonomiya at pang-politikal.

The more real Independence Day for the Philippines is either the January 1892 conception of the Katipunan or the August 23/24* Cry of Balintawak, or the August 24 (1896) transformation of the secret revolutionary society KKK into a revolutionary government. The January 1892 foundational document of the Katipunan speaks for itself:
Principal orders

For the achievement of all that is set out in the foregoing Covenant, we are ordering the entire subject population of these Islands, which in time will be given a proper name, and we are appealing to them with the utmost fervour to implement and accomplish the following decisions:

1o
It is hereby now declared that from this day forward these Islands are separated from -[Spain]- and that no other leadership or authority shall be recognised or acknowledged other than this Supreme Catipunan.

2 o
The Supreme Catipunan is constituted forthwith, and will be the body that exercises sovereign power throughout the Archipelago.

********

While it is not clear exactly when the First Cry (or First Shout) was, the establishment of the Philippines' first revolutionary government based on the Katipunan organization on August 24 has been established by historians Milagros Guerrero, et al. The event itself is a good choice for Philippines' real independence day because it officially unveiled the Katipunan secret government, ushering in the national uprising against the colonizers.As the blog New Philippine Revolution puts it: "...when Bonifacio gathered the Katipuneros in Banlat, Kalookan, he was formally pronouncing to the whole world the existence of a Philippine government."  Ayon sa iginagalang na historyador at antropologo na si Dr. Zeus A. Salazar, mas tumpak na gawing simula ng pagiging bansa o estado (ang tinawag na "Haring Bayan" nila Bonifacio) ang petsa kung kailan inorganisa:
...ang pamahalaan, kasama ang hukbong sasalakay sa Intramuros, mula sa kasapian ng KKK na kumikilos at nakapagtipon...[Organisado at] determinado na sila na pabagsakin ang rehimeng Kastila sa pamamagitan ng pag-atake sa Intramuros. Nabigo man ang sabay-sabay na pagsalakay sa sentro ng kapangyarihang Espanyol sa Pilipinas, tuluy-tuloy na ang Himagsikan kahit na [sa di katagalan ay susuko sa mga Kastila] sina Aguinaldo sa pamamagitan ng Kasunduan ng Biyak na Bato.

The bottom line is that our real independence is predicated on the secret-society-later-turned-revolutionary-government Katipunan that has been conceived and organized to achieve full and complete separation from colonial Spain sans any compromise. Aguinaldo's June 12, 1898 declaration ridiculously stated that Philippine independence was "under the protection of the Powerful and Humanitarian Nation," the United States of America that did not send any representative apparently in refusal to officially recognize the declaration. The vile Bald Eagle nation, of course, was already cooking its imperialistic designs on us at that point. The same "great" imperialistic nation would next unfurl its neo-colonial  scheme on our country come July 4, 1946 and up to now has never really left us. Why we are still not really or fully free.

Kailangan ay palayain natin ang ating mga sarili at kung hindi ay malapit-lapit na tayo sa kangkungan. Upang magampanan ang tunay nating pagpapalaya sa ating Inang Bayan, kailangan nating balikan ang adhikain ng Katipunan at tapusin ang naudlot na Himagsikan ng 1896. :)


*May konting pagtatalo sa eksaktong petsa, kung Agosto 23, 24, o isa pang araw na malapit
_______

References:


http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?i=5&subcat=13

http://kasaysayan-kkk.info/docs.casaysayan.htm

http://newphilrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/06/june-12-is-not-independence-day.html

http://banlawkasaysayan.multiply.com/photos/album/6/Nasaan_Kailan_at_Alin_ang_Tunay_nating_Kalayaan?&album=6&view%3Areplies=reverse

http://www.filipiniana.net/ArtifactView.do?artifactID=PRR001000005&query=%20Philippine%20Revolution