BRUTAL FACTS
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr. from his column LINKS
The Featinean publication
July-October 1996, pages 28-29
In his article, "Journalism versus Literature," multi-awarded writer Nick Joaquin wrote, "We do not want mere fancies. We want facts as brutal as possible." And that's what most journalists are made of. They want to inform. To make interpretative news stories. To search for and uphold the truth. Being an investigative journalist is a tough job, as there have been many issues or subjects we have to research, investigate and expose. That's our sole responsibility to our readers, even if it will cost our life. Here are some of the expose:
A Tale of Fallacy? The Ramos government pronounced in his July 22 State of the Nation Address (SONA): 7.69% growth in the second quarter of 1996, creation of 1.2 million new jobs annually and reduced poverty incidence from 39.9% in 1991 to 35.7% in 1994. Let's see these brutal facts: almost 16,000 families will be displaced in relation to the APEC meeting in November; almost 3.5 million individuals live in slum areas in Metro Manila alone; the cost of living in MM is P359 a day; a gasoline increased 50 centavos per liter. In 1994, there were 36,000 prostitutes. In 1996, the Philippines has about 5 million working children between 5 to 17 years old, including 1.5 million street children, thousands of whom were engaged in sex trade. Based on Metro Manila Housing Plan for 1995-1998, there are 482,275 families in priority areas targeted for demolitions.
Sometimes, sword is mightier than pen. In their newspaper, Press Freedom Advocates, the Philippine Movement for Press Freedom (PMPF) reported the number of journalists killed: 79. These were distributed as follows: Marcos regime - 32; Aquino administration - 34; Ramos time - 13. In 1985 alone, 16 journalists were killed, half of the total listed during Marcos time. Take note of this brutal fact: they were killed and did not die of natural causes. Exposing the truth against bad elements of society rally has a price.
Our First President. The Katipunan's transformation into a democratic national government signaled "the birth of the nation", and the start of the revolution. According to UP history professor, Milagros Guerrero, scientist Emmanuel Encarnacion and writer Ramon Villegas, with the support of Kamalaysayan (Campaign for the Sense of History), Andres Bonifacio was our first president, from August 24, 1896 to May 10, 1897. On August 24, 1896, Bonifacio convened the KKK at Tandang Sora's barn in Banlat, then part of Kalookan. They arrived at a decision to establish a national government which they called "Republika ng Katagalugan". Katagalugan means all the people in this island whether Ilokano, Visayan, Bicolano, etc. were also considered Tagalogs. There was no concept of regionalism. In the late 1980s, three letters and one appointment letter dated from March 8 to April 24, 1897 were found to prove that Bonifacio was the first president of the national government. Historians said that the government headed by Bonifacio was democratic in nature and national in scope, contrary to some post war historians' contention that Bonifacio attempted to establish a government separate from Aguinaldo only after the Tejeros Convention. Aguinaldo lived until 1964, sixty seven (67) years after he ordered the brutal killing of Bonifacio in 1897.
Victory Unclaimed. Many people in Pasig celebrate "Nagsabado", the first victory of Bonifacio-led Katipunan which was never written in the pages of history. Pasig historian Carlos Tech wrote on his account dated October 8, 1956 that he had interviewed Gen. Valentin Cruz, one of the Katipunan generals who was present with Bonifacio in Hagdang Bato in Mandaluyong on August 29, 1896, Saturday. That day, Gen. Cruz led his men, about two thousand Pasigueños, in an attack at the guardia civil headquarters of the biggest garrison outside Manila. They managed to overrun the Spanish defenses and had confiscated three Remingtons and seventeen "de piston" rifles. Their triumph was cherished by Pasigueños as first victory of the Katipunan. It was celebrated in Pasig as the victory of the "Battle of Nagsabado" as it happened on a Saturday. Let's give them what they deserve, a page in our history.
Fake Marxists. Written in the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chain!" Russia's Josef Stalin and China's Mao Tse Tung were not Marxists, but bloodsucker dictators. They didn't care for the workers, but only themselves. They were responsible for the death of millions of workers and peasants in many parts of the globe. For the Maoist cult, revolution comes from the barrel of the gun. For Marxists, revolutionary change comes from the power of the workers. No wonder, they reject Stalin and Mao. These are based in reality.
Labor Power? In 1993, DOLE inspected 38,220 commercial establishments out of more than 300,000 to be inspected. Out of 38,220, almost 20,250 or 52.8% violated the prescribed labor standards under the Labor Code. For 1996 alone, there were 2,744 companies that didn't give 13th month pay to their workers; 1,791 didn't give holiday pay; 1,591 didn't integrate the cost of labor allowance (COLA); and 2,138 companies didn't pay the SSS. This year, labor force stood at 29.92 million.
Massacre Without Corpse. This year, we were welcomed by series of demolitions, such as the Freedom Island in Parañaque, Damayan Lagi in Quezon City and the Muslim Community in Quiapo. This is perhaps a part of the government campaign to get rid of the so-called eyesores in the metropolis in conjunction with the forthcoming APEC meeting in November. What transpired in the urban poor community in Del Pan Bridge was really a "massacre without corpse". Demolition teams destroyed their houses and burned all of their things. Including those which have sentimental values for them.
C is not for Cooperation. The C in APEC which stands for cooperation is not really cooperation in the real sense of the world. The C in APEC stands for... Do you want to guess? Yes, you're right! The C in APEC stands for "conspiracy of industrially advance countries". Therefore, there's no cooperation, but Competition. How can you say that there is cooperation when in fact you compete your product with those of the more advanced countries, economically and technologically wise? We have no capacity to compete with others without fast destroying our natural resources which seem degrading. Environmental degradation results from competition. Because capitalists crave for profits, they don't care for the environment. Remember what happened in Ormoc, Chernobyl and Marcopper? These are brutal facts! It is really true that the law of profit doesn't care for the laws of nature. APEC is a capitalist invention. Under capitalism, as the cost of living goes up, the cost of life goes down. It reduces life's purposes in the individual act of consumption.
Death Wish. Those who fear death don't care for life because they only care for themselves. What is the value of life if we reached the age of seventy or eighty and we have done nothing except to work and live for ourselves alone? It's better to die even before the age of thirty as long as you live your life to the fullest. Death is inevitable, and if our time is up, we must gladly go. Just do what you think is right and be happy of what you are doing. Then you live your life to the fullest not only for your own sake, but also for the sake of our fellow human beings and the environment we live in. You know, I don't care if I die tomorrow, because I know that if death will come to me, I can face it squarely and fairly. It's because I live my life to the fullest. I wish that if I would die, my corpse would not be buried inside the casket but honorably laid in the soil so that in the cycle of life, I can still contribute. My dead body can help make new life, make plants grow, so that others may continue to live. Anyway, how I love to feel death at the age of seventy! Lastly, take good care of your family always as well as your health. See you next issue. I'll be back.
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr. from his column LINKS
The Featinean publication
July-October 1996, pages 28-29
In his article, "Journalism versus Literature," multi-awarded writer Nick Joaquin wrote, "We do not want mere fancies. We want facts as brutal as possible." And that's what most journalists are made of. They want to inform. To make interpretative news stories. To search for and uphold the truth. Being an investigative journalist is a tough job, as there have been many issues or subjects we have to research, investigate and expose. That's our sole responsibility to our readers, even if it will cost our life. Here are some of the expose:
A Tale of Fallacy? The Ramos government pronounced in his July 22 State of the Nation Address (SONA): 7.69% growth in the second quarter of 1996, creation of 1.2 million new jobs annually and reduced poverty incidence from 39.9% in 1991 to 35.7% in 1994. Let's see these brutal facts: almost 16,000 families will be displaced in relation to the APEC meeting in November; almost 3.5 million individuals live in slum areas in Metro Manila alone; the cost of living in MM is P359 a day; a gasoline increased 50 centavos per liter. In 1994, there were 36,000 prostitutes. In 1996, the Philippines has about 5 million working children between 5 to 17 years old, including 1.5 million street children, thousands of whom were engaged in sex trade. Based on Metro Manila Housing Plan for 1995-1998, there are 482,275 families in priority areas targeted for demolitions.
Sometimes, sword is mightier than pen. In their newspaper, Press Freedom Advocates, the Philippine Movement for Press Freedom (PMPF) reported the number of journalists killed: 79. These were distributed as follows: Marcos regime - 32; Aquino administration - 34; Ramos time - 13. In 1985 alone, 16 journalists were killed, half of the total listed during Marcos time. Take note of this brutal fact: they were killed and did not die of natural causes. Exposing the truth against bad elements of society rally has a price.
Our First President. The Katipunan's transformation into a democratic national government signaled "the birth of the nation", and the start of the revolution. According to UP history professor, Milagros Guerrero, scientist Emmanuel Encarnacion and writer Ramon Villegas, with the support of Kamalaysayan (Campaign for the Sense of History), Andres Bonifacio was our first president, from August 24, 1896 to May 10, 1897. On August 24, 1896, Bonifacio convened the KKK at Tandang Sora's barn in Banlat, then part of Kalookan. They arrived at a decision to establish a national government which they called "Republika ng Katagalugan". Katagalugan means all the people in this island whether Ilokano, Visayan, Bicolano, etc. were also considered Tagalogs. There was no concept of regionalism. In the late 1980s, three letters and one appointment letter dated from March 8 to April 24, 1897 were found to prove that Bonifacio was the first president of the national government. Historians said that the government headed by Bonifacio was democratic in nature and national in scope, contrary to some post war historians' contention that Bonifacio attempted to establish a government separate from Aguinaldo only after the Tejeros Convention. Aguinaldo lived until 1964, sixty seven (67) years after he ordered the brutal killing of Bonifacio in 1897.
Victory Unclaimed. Many people in Pasig celebrate "Nagsabado", the first victory of Bonifacio-led Katipunan which was never written in the pages of history. Pasig historian Carlos Tech wrote on his account dated October 8, 1956 that he had interviewed Gen. Valentin Cruz, one of the Katipunan generals who was present with Bonifacio in Hagdang Bato in Mandaluyong on August 29, 1896, Saturday. That day, Gen. Cruz led his men, about two thousand Pasigueños, in an attack at the guardia civil headquarters of the biggest garrison outside Manila. They managed to overrun the Spanish defenses and had confiscated three Remingtons and seventeen "de piston" rifles. Their triumph was cherished by Pasigueños as first victory of the Katipunan. It was celebrated in Pasig as the victory of the "Battle of Nagsabado" as it happened on a Saturday. Let's give them what they deserve, a page in our history.
Fake Marxists. Written in the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chain!" Russia's Josef Stalin and China's Mao Tse Tung were not Marxists, but bloodsucker dictators. They didn't care for the workers, but only themselves. They were responsible for the death of millions of workers and peasants in many parts of the globe. For the Maoist cult, revolution comes from the barrel of the gun. For Marxists, revolutionary change comes from the power of the workers. No wonder, they reject Stalin and Mao. These are based in reality.
Labor Power? In 1993, DOLE inspected 38,220 commercial establishments out of more than 300,000 to be inspected. Out of 38,220, almost 20,250 or 52.8% violated the prescribed labor standards under the Labor Code. For 1996 alone, there were 2,744 companies that didn't give 13th month pay to their workers; 1,791 didn't give holiday pay; 1,591 didn't integrate the cost of labor allowance (COLA); and 2,138 companies didn't pay the SSS. This year, labor force stood at 29.92 million.
Massacre Without Corpse. This year, we were welcomed by series of demolitions, such as the Freedom Island in Parañaque, Damayan Lagi in Quezon City and the Muslim Community in Quiapo. This is perhaps a part of the government campaign to get rid of the so-called eyesores in the metropolis in conjunction with the forthcoming APEC meeting in November. What transpired in the urban poor community in Del Pan Bridge was really a "massacre without corpse". Demolition teams destroyed their houses and burned all of their things. Including those which have sentimental values for them.
C is not for Cooperation. The C in APEC which stands for cooperation is not really cooperation in the real sense of the world. The C in APEC stands for... Do you want to guess? Yes, you're right! The C in APEC stands for "conspiracy of industrially advance countries". Therefore, there's no cooperation, but Competition. How can you say that there is cooperation when in fact you compete your product with those of the more advanced countries, economically and technologically wise? We have no capacity to compete with others without fast destroying our natural resources which seem degrading. Environmental degradation results from competition. Because capitalists crave for profits, they don't care for the environment. Remember what happened in Ormoc, Chernobyl and Marcopper? These are brutal facts! It is really true that the law of profit doesn't care for the laws of nature. APEC is a capitalist invention. Under capitalism, as the cost of living goes up, the cost of life goes down. It reduces life's purposes in the individual act of consumption.
Death Wish. Those who fear death don't care for life because they only care for themselves. What is the value of life if we reached the age of seventy or eighty and we have done nothing except to work and live for ourselves alone? It's better to die even before the age of thirty as long as you live your life to the fullest. Death is inevitable, and if our time is up, we must gladly go. Just do what you think is right and be happy of what you are doing. Then you live your life to the fullest not only for your own sake, but also for the sake of our fellow human beings and the environment we live in. You know, I don't care if I die tomorrow, because I know that if death will come to me, I can face it squarely and fairly. It's because I live my life to the fullest. I wish that if I would die, my corpse would not be buried inside the casket but honorably laid in the soil so that in the cycle of life, I can still contribute. My dead body can help make new life, make plants grow, so that others may continue to live. Anyway, how I love to feel death at the age of seventy! Lastly, take good care of your family always as well as your health. See you next issue. I'll be back.
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