Duha kadupa nga dekada an lumabay ha aton,
an nadistrungka ha hininga han sanga, rahundahon,
nakadugtong ha matambok nga karamoy
han nahitaas nga kahoy ha empresa ngan kaumhanan.

 
Isipa an tumarag nga dahon han pagbay-og, Ka Satur:
Diri ko aram kun pira kayukot,
kay waray hira ngaran
ha damo nira nga mga ngaran.

Hain kam’ mga Emman Lacaba,
an mga ngaran ni Polana, Polano? 

Ginbaktas an simang nga dalan,
“Pag-aapras han pagdaug.”
– Nag-aahos an hulas, an dugo,
han nagkasaralakot nga type AB ngan type KY. 

Nakalabay na it’ hira,
“Itul-id an sayop…” 

Parabunga an laya nga mga dahon
para ha pagpakalayo han kagurangan,
magdadalagan tipakadto ha metropolis!

Kudos Fhen han imo bag-o nga siday [Oh Gugma ko nga Juliet ngan Manuel]!

Naaabat ko na an pag-uswag (improve) han imo siday, diri la ha teknikal na aspeto, maging ha iya sinasakob (content).

Gumamit ka han metodolohiya han ‘personification’ ha imo natura nga siday, sugad han, Mayo, yatot, bantay, ngan iba pa.

Diri hiya ‘dedactive,’ mayda na hiya ‘talinghalaga.’ – usa ini nga pagpapakita han pamaagi han New Critics!

Para naman ha usa nga pasaway ngada, ambot kon kay ano nagpost hiya hin komento nga waray man kalabutan (not related) ha imo siday. Unang-una, waray hiya maghatag han iya interpretasyon han imo siday, ha himangraw man han teknikal o sinusulod!

Aada na naman an iya ‘communist movement,’ ngan papaano dawla iton makokonek ha imo natura nga siday?! – utro, aadi na naman an aton ‘insinuating friend,’ nagpipinasaway! Kairo man.

Para ha imo, paghimo hin imo kalugaringon nga siday, para hikit-an ta kun gaano ka kakarit/kagaling ha paghimo hin siday. Padayon an imo mga critique ha mga siday, pero waray ka man ginhihimo nga siday nga imo himo gud. Puros yawyaw, waray buhat!

Tinag-iya niya an tuna.
Tinag-iya niya an tubig.
Tinag-iya niya an langit.
Tinag-iya an nga tanan.

Ngan ini nga tag-iya
pagtatag-iyahon
han tuna
han tubig
han langit
ug nga tanan.

I agree to Archbishop Angel Lagdameo (in a Manila Standard article entitled, ‘Church hits plan to buy P1b worth of ‘protection”), as the current vocal and visible ‘representative’ of the Catholic Church in artificial contraceptive issues, in his position to re-channel the budget (amounting to P1 Billion) for ‘protection’ towards the venue in helping the ‘poor and the hungry.’

The issue boils down to the present ‘conventional wisdom’ that over-population is the principal source of poverty in the country. In my perspective, this is the primary reason why the Arroyo government wanted to pursue this artificial contraceptive or ‘reproductive health’ program to the Filipinos including the Estehanons.

Archbishop Lagdameo, however, disagrees [subverted even] to this ‘conventional wisdom’ by implicitly stating the need to prioritize the ‘poor and the hungry’ rather than the untimely and ungodly contraceptive program. The poor Filipino/Estehanon does not need condoms, pills and other artificial contraceptives rather food, land, housing, and employment.

Precisely, the Arroyo government fails to see the necessity to uplift the economic and even moral life of the Filipinos/Estehanons. With the issues of NBN-ZTE, and ’suhulan’ (bribery), the Church people and the Filipino/Estehanons themselves fully know that GMA has been and is currently in, aside from political, moral crisis.

Juliet Fernandez, 32, a former campus editor easily bursts into giggles and jokes as she recounts the lives of poor peasants she has known and to whom she has devoted her life to.

Among other things, these are the moments which the family and friends of Juliet sorely miss. They have not seen her since she was abducted last May 11, 2007 along with her husband Manuel Pajarito and a companion only known as Jepoy, in a remote area in Sitio Caman-ilao, Barangay, Nabong, Pinabacdao, Samar.

Juliet is the eldest of three siblings from a working class family residing in Mandaluyong City. She was a sociology student at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) from 1992 to 1996 where she also wrote and edited for the campus paper, The Catalyst. She was an active member of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP).

Juliet later joined the GABRIELA-Youth and was elected the organization’s secretary general in 1997. As a GABRIELA-Youth leader, she often volunteered to join fact finding missions on cases of human rights violations. She also joined her organization’s Basic Masses Integration Program in a peasant community of Amihan (National Federation of Women) in Naic, Cavite.

Her passion for helping the peasantry was kindled, all the more so because of her own family’s peasant roots. In 2002, after her stint in the rural communities in Cavite, she went to do research and later full-time organizing among the peasants in Eastern Visayas where her mother hails.

Abducted and tortured

KARAPATAN-Eastern Visayas (KARAPATAN-EV) reported that Juliet, Manuel and Jepoy were on board a van travelling along the Maharlika at dawn on May 11 when soldiers belonging to the army’s 62nd IB under Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce blocked their way and forcibly took them blindfolded to a military detachment in Barangay Botoc, Pinabacdao.

The three were later transferred to the 62nd IB’s camp in Barangay Polangi, Calbiga where they were detained in separate but adjacent quarters, interrogated and tortured. Juliet was allegedly raped, according to KARAPATAN-EV.

But on May 19, after eight days of being tortured Jepoy was able to escape from the military camp. Jepoy recounted to KARAPATAN-EV that he was tortured with his hands tied and hung and deprived of food and water. Jepoy was the main source of information in the investigation of the incident.

Fact finding mission

In response to requests of Juliet’s and Manuel’s family to investigate the abduction and to locate their whereabouts, KARAPATAN and GABRIELA conducted a fact finding mission on June 20 participated in by the Commission on Human Rights-Samar representative Sami Malinao, and representatives from the academe, medical profession and media, as well as the victims’ relatives.

The mission went to two military camps and two police stations in search of the victims. At the 62nd IB’s headquarters in Barangay Polangi, Calbiga town, a certain Lt. Ayroso said he was not authorized to give information regarding Juliet and Manuel and that he could not issue a certification stating that they were not being held at the camp’s premises.

At the Calbiga police station, Deputy Chief Danilo Baldicano Getigan told the mission they had no record of the incident and suggested that the team check with the PNP station in Barangay Pinabacdao where the incident occurred. The team proceeded to the station in Pinabacdao where the team was also told they have no record of the incident.

The mission also went to Camp Major Eugenio Daza, headquarters of the 801st IB in Fatima, Hinabangan, Samar, where they were told by Major Armand Rico, 801st IB civil military operations officer that he has no knowledge of the incident but declined a request to issue a certification that the victims were not detained at the camp.

Witnesses

The mission also went to the area where the abduction took place to gather testimony from witnesses. The witnesses’ identities were withheld to protect them from possible harm.

A woman resident confirmed that such an incident occurred on May 11. She said the victims were first brought to a camp in Brgy. Botoc and were then transferred to the 62nd IB camp in Barangay Botoc, Pinabacdao.

She also said she knew one of them was able to escape. She told the mission that the victims were tortured and that Juliet was raped while her husband was forced to watch the atrocity handcuffed. She said the abduction occurred along Maharlika Highway in Sitio Caman-ilao, Barangay, Nabong, Pinabacdao.

The team them proceeded to Sitio Caman-ilao and interviewed some residents, who confirmed that Juliet and Manuel were indeed abducted by the military on that date.

One couple reported that Juliet and Manuel stayed in their house before proceeding to the highway where they were abducted at around 3:00 a.m. Later during the morning, elements of the 62nd IB came to their house and demanded that they explain why they allowed Juliet and Manuel to stay in their house and why they fed them. The soldiers also alleged that Juliet and Manuel were members of the New Peoples’ Army, the witnesses said.

In the morning of 20 May 2007, the same g1roup of military men visited their house looking for “Jepoy,” whom the soldiers said was able to escape from detention. The couple denied having seen Jepoy.

Sometime during the second week of June, the children of a resident of Sitio Caman-ilao who knew Juliet and Manuel told their parents they saw the victims on board a pick-up vehicle in the company of soldiers. The children identified the vehicle as owned by the military.

Alinsunod sa EO 210, simula Grade 1 ay ituturo ang Ingles bilang ikalawang lenggwahe. Pero simula Grade 3 ay ito na ang siyang pangunahing wikang gagamitin sa pagtuturo ng matematika at mga subject na may kinalaman sa agham at kalusugan, bukod sa pagtuturo mismo ng English. Ito na rin ang gagamiting pangunahing wika sa pagtuturo sa lahat ng hayskul, pribado man o pampubliko. Ibig sabihin, Ingles ang dapat umanong gamitin sa di bababa sa 70% ng kabuuang panahon sa pagtuturo ng lahat ng aralin.

Isang petisyon laban sa EO 210 ang isinampa ng Coalition for a Correct Language Policy (CCLP) sa Korte Suprema. Ang koalisyon ay kinakatawan nina Dr. Patricia Licuanan, presidente ng Miriam College; mga National Artist for Literature na sina Bienvenido Lumbera at Virgilio Almario; Randolf David, isang propesor sa University of the Philippines; Isagani R. Cruz, kritiko at presidente ng WIKA Inc.; at Efren Abueg, isang premyadong manunulat. Pumirma rin sa petisyon ang iba pang batikang manunulat at guro.

Sinasalamin ng CCLP ang patriyotikong pagtutol sa EO 210. Ayon sa CCLP, sasagka ito sa kakayahang matuto ng mga mag-aaral. Tinukoy nito ang resulta ng mga pananaliksik na ginawa ng United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) na nagpapakitang mas mabilis matutong magbasa, magkwenta at umunlad sa pag-iisip ang mga bata kapag ang ginagamit sa pagtuturo ay ang kanilang wikang kinagisnan.

Kinukumpirma ito ng karanasan ng Summer Institute of Linguistics sa Bukidnon. Ang mas matataas na gradong nakukuha ng mga batang katutubo rito sa mga pagsusulit sa literasiya at numerasiya ay patunay na mas madali silang natututo gamit ang lokal na wika sa pagtuturo.

Sa kalagayang hindi ginagamit ang Ingles sa kanilang pang-araw-araw na buhay, mahihirapang matuto ang mga mag-aaral sa elementarya at hayskul kung ito ang pangunahing gagamitin sa pagtuturo. Kadalasan ay mabilis na nawawala ang anumang kaalaman sa pagbabasa at pagsusulat kapag itinuro ito sa wikang Ingles. Palalalain ng EO 210 ang dati nang suliranin sa mapurol na gagap sa syensya at matematika ng mga Pilipinong mag-aaral. Ayon sa sarbey ng Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) nitong 2003, sa 45 bansa ay pang-41 ang mga mag-aaral ng hayskul sa Pilipinas sa kaalaman sa matematika. Pang-42 naman sila sa kaalaman sa syensya.

Ayon sa koalisyon, labag din ang EO 210 sa konstitusyon na nagtatakdang pambansang wika ang Pilipino at siyang gagamitin sa pagtuturo sa buong sistemang pang-edukasyon. Taliwas din ang EO 210 sa rekomendasyon ng Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) noong 1991 na gamitin ang Pilipino at ang lokal na wika sa pagtuturo ng batayang edukasyon. Inatasan ng EDCOM ang Department of Education (DepEd) noong 1991 na magbalangkas ng mga libro at iba pang materyales sa pagtuturo na nasusulat sa wikang Pilipino. Lahat ng subject sa elementarya at hayskul, maliban sa English at iba pang pinag-aaralang lenggwahe, ay dapat nang ituro sa wikang Pilipino pagsapit ng taong 2000, ayon sa EDCOM.

Ipagkakait din ng EO 210 sa mas maraming mamamayan ang karapatang matuto at maging bihasa sa pambansang wika. Lalo lamang nitong palalakasin ang neokolonyal na sistema ng edukasyon sa Pilipinas na nagsisilbi pangunahin sa interes ng mga dayuhan at nagpapanatiling mahirap at atrasado sa bansa. “Hindi Ingles ang solusyon sa kahirapan sa bansa. Bagkus, maaaring isa pa nga ito sa mga nagpapalala ng kahirapan ng mga karaniwang masang Pilipino,” ayon sa mga tumututol sa EO 210.

Sa kabila ng mga syentipikong ebidensyang nagpapakita ng mga pinsalang idudulot ng bagong kautusan sa mga mag-aaral at sa kabila ng mga batas at aksyon ng Kongreso na taliwas dito, ipinipilit pa rin ng Malacañang ang EO 210. Dahil ito sa tulak ng isang bagay na di hamak na mas mahalaga sa rehimen kaysa sa pagkatuto ng mga Pilipinong mag-aaral: ang milyun-milyong dolyar na kikitain ng bangkaroteng gubyerno mula sa mga remitans ng mga Pilipinong manggagawa sa ibang bansa at mga puhunan ng maraming call center na nagsusulputan ngayon sa Pilipinas. Nadismaya raw si Gloria Arroyo nang mapag-alaman niyang wala pang 5% ng mga aplikante sa mga call center ang natatanggap dahil sa kahinaan ng karamihan sa Ingles. Kailangan aniyang tugunan ang pangangailangan ng mga call center at iba pang mga dayuhang kumpanya ng mga Pilipino na mahusay magsalita ng Ingles.

Sa katuus-tuusan, tanging ang pambansa-demokratikong patakaran ng sistematikong pagtataguyod ng pambansang wika at panitikan, kasabay ng pagpapayaman ng iba pang lokal na lenggwahe at paggamit pangunahin ng sariling wika maging sa pag-aaral ng syensya at teknolohiya, ang titiyak na natututunan ng mga mag-aaral ang kaalamang makapagbibigay sa kanila ng kakayahang makapag-ambag sa pagpapaunlad ng pambansang ekonomya at lipunang Pilipino.

[Ang artikulong ito'y muling ipinost sa aking sayt. Hindi lantad (anonymous) ang awtor nito.]

Marisyo an imo siday Fhen — an may titulo nga “Ha Sakob han Besenal.” Naayon gud ako ha iya.

Pansin ko an ‘hilaw’ nga paghubad nimo hini nga siday. Asya pa man, nalilipay ako nga abre ka ha pagpapauswag han imo kinaadman ha pinulungan nga Waray.

Aadi man an baltok naton nga sangkay, hi Maverickjockey, mayda ada hiya kaaram ha paghubad niya, nga asya na gud an iya kahulugan basar han Ingles nga bersyon niya…

Saludo ako ha imo Fhen! — Ipadayon la an imo pagsurat han sugad hini nga mga siday!