Cyborg, Mutant at Teknolohiya (Sapantaha Column)

Cyborg, Mutant at Teknolohiya

Bilang bahagi ng service sektor, tayo sa unibersidad ay may trabahong nagbibigay serbisyo--ang edukasyon ng mga estudyante at ang produksyon ng bagong kaalaman. Sumusunod tayo sa siklo ng mga semestre at akademikong taon. Malamya sa simula, at pamatay sa pagtatapos.

Dito tumitingkad ang ating pagiging cyborg. Ang mga mata natin sa pag-check ng mga exam at report ay para nang scanner. Alam na ang hahanapin. Alam na rin kung gaano ka-otentiko ang mga sagot sa mga orihinal na sources. Tila may sariling buhay ang red ballpen sa ating mga kamay. Marunong tumantos ng tama at mali.

Sa sariling pagsasaliksik naman, kaulayaw na natin ang computer. Tila ito visual recipient ng ating sariling processing ng mga data sa ating utak. Naka-hook ang ating mga sariling computer chip sa utak sa monitor.

Walang katapusan ang siklo ng produksyon ng ating sektor. Sa housing complex ko nga sa Hardin ng Rosas, ini-imagine kong bawat isang kwarto rito ay may kanya-kanyang taong naka-hook-up sa computer at iba pang teknolohiya, walang katapusang lumilikha ng publikasyon at mga pangangailan sa klase. Parating may dakilang kaluluwa na nagpupuyat hanggang sa pagliwanag. Parang gestating cell units ng mga bubuyog ang disenyo nito, kung isasapelikula. Di nga ba’t ang Faculty Center ay isang malaking bee hive ng paglikha ng pulot at pagsupling ng bagong gatherer bees? Tunay na postfordist sci-fi, pero realistic naman itong imahen.

Ang teknolohiya ay nilikha ng tao para magsilbi sa kanya. Sa kalaunan, gaya nga ng sabi sa pelikulang Fight Club, “things you own, eventually own you.” Tayo na mismo ay hine-herald ng makabagong teknolohiya. Sabi ng isa kong estudyante, hindi siya kumpleto kapag hindi niya dala ang kanyang cellphone. Ang isa naman ay pakiramdam ay hubad kapag hindi suot ang relo. Maliban sa paliligo, hindi niya tinatanggal ang relo sa kanyang braso.

Ang mga teknolohiya ay aparato ng mga abstraktong construct na ginawang makabuluhan sa kolektibong buhay. Ang relo ay simbolo nitong pahiwatig ng oras at panahon. By itself, walang sinasabi kapag ala-sais na ng umaga. Pero lahat tayo ay hinahatak sa ating mga kama para simulan ang bagong araw, ang repetisyon ng siklo ng buhay sa unibersidad. Santa Gloria Romero, ano ang ligaya nitong buhay?

Kamakailan ay ipinalabas ang pelikulang X-Men. Ito ang isa sa biggest hit sa U.S. at Pilipinas ngayong taon. Kung kayo ay nawalan ng malay sa planetang ito, ang pelikula ay tungkol sa susunod na mutation ng human. Mayroon nang mutants na mayroong kakatwang kapangyarihan. Si Rouge, halimbawa, ay may kapangyarihan kuhanin ang enerhiya ng mga taong kanyang nasasalat. Pero lahat ng mutants ay mayroong achilles hill. Si Mutant, halimbawa, ay hindi kailanman makakaranas ng pisikal na pagmamahal.

Sino ang hindi gustong maging si Wolverine? May extra-ordinaryong lakas na’y may regenerative power pa. Kahit bugbog sarado na ay maaring gumaling kaagad. May lumalabas pang metal knives sa kanyang mga knuckles sa kamay, mga appendages ng katawang phallic ni Wolverine.

Nag-tap sa ating kolektibong kamalayan ang fantasya ng mutants sa X-Men. Tinanong ko ang klase kung ano ang gusto nilang superpower, sakaling tunay ngang makapag-mutate tayo. Mayroong gustong ma-freeze ang time sa panahong harassed sila o kaya para mawasto ang mga nakaraang pagkakamali. Mayroong gustong makapagbasa ng utak ng iba.

Tinanong ko rin, in fidelity sa nature ng mutants, kung ano naman ang maaring drawback ng kanilang kapangyarihan. Ang gustong makapagfreeze ng panahon ay tumatanda ng bawat saglit ng kanyang pag-still sa kapaligiran. Yung nakakapasok sa utak ng iba ay nai-internalize rin ang pain at anguish ng mga ito.

Kaya may fasinasyon sa mutants ay dahil sa fantasya ng pag-angkop sa kasalatan ng sarili laban sa kalabisan ng aktwal na kapaligiran. Ibig sabihin nito, kung ano ang nais na maging superpower ay yaong kulang sa indibidwal para lubos na makaangkop sa kanyang opresibong kalagayan. Pero tulad ng nature ng mutant, meron pa ring drawback.

Sa pelikula, ang naging drawback ng mga mutant para sila tunay na hindi maging tao ay ang kanilang nostalgia sa kanilang pagkatao o humanity. Bakit gustong yumakap at makayakap ni Rouge? Bakit si Wolverine ay nagdesisyong pumaloob sa formal na grupo ng X-Men?

Itong pagnanais na manatiling tao, sa aking palagay, ang impetus kung bakit nananatili tayong epektibong cyborg at mutant. Bakit patuloy na ipinaglalaban ng isang profesor sa UP-Los Banos ang kanyang posisyon sa kampus matapos ng 25 taong serbisyo gayong pinatalsik na siya ng kanyang unit at in-affirm na ito ng Board of Regents? Bakit napakadaling mag-hire ng young teachers sa mga tinanggal na mas senior na guro sa UP-San Fernando?

Sa unang usapin, ang bawat kaganapan sa unibersidad ay issue ng human rights, ng dignidad ng tao at ng kanyang pagkatao. Pero ang mismong kapaligiran ng unibersidad ay hindi lubusang umaangkop sa produksyon ng pagkatao, nakaangkop ito sa produksyon ng kaalaman at edukasyon. Lalo pa itong pinapatingkad ng kasalukuyang diin sa academic excellence. Dulot na rin ng kaliitan sa sweldo, kahigpitan ng gobyernong burukrasya, napapatingkad ng mga ito ang pangangailangang maging efficient cyborg para makaugma sa piniling buhay sa unibersidad.

Bilang mga mutant at cyborg na nilalang, ang ating humanity ang nananatiling ating kalakasan at pagbagsak.

Ang Frontalidad ng Acacia Lane sa University Oval at SM (Sapantaha Column)

Ang Frontalidad ng Acacia Lane sa University Oval at ng S.M.

Kakatwa na matutunghayan lamang ang frontality ng acacia lane sa university oval at ng ShoeMart malls mula sa isang vantage position. Kapag nasa sasakyan ka. At matutunghayan naman ang overview ng ganitong massive structures mula sa isang matayog na posisyon, tulad ng sa eroplano. Ang karanasan ng pagtunghay sa acacia lane at SM malls ay magagawa lamang sa isang posisyon ng pagkilos o mobilidad.

Ang katotohanan ng isang bagay ay natutunghayan sa pamamagitan ng bisyon. Sa partikular, sa pamamagitan ng frontalidad nito, ng face value ng pangharap. Fiat ito, dahil tila mas mabigat ang halaga na ibinibigay sa bisyon na ito kaysa sa aktwal na halaga nito. Sa edad ng maturing kapitalismo sa bansa, ang bisyon ay dinidirekta ng pagkilos ng kapital. May kapamaraanan ang kapital na baguhin ang ating persepsyon sa realidad. Tulad ng roads-to-market, halimbawa, ginagawang compressed ang nosyon ng panahon at espasyo. Ang U.P. lamang, sa Metro Manila, ang may patuloy na expansyon ng bisyon batay sa kapital. Ang techno parks at vested scholarship ay patunay sa kolaborasyon ng multinasyonal na negosyo at akademya. Ang bisyon ng U.P., tulad ng acacia lanes, ay patuloy na umaakibat sa nagbabagong kasaysayan ng kapital.

Nang nagtuturo na ako sa U.P. Diliman, iniisip kong kung dahil man lamang sa bisyon ng acacia lane, lalo na kung kasama pa ang sunset sa may bukana ng campus, ay sulit na. Sa dinami-rami ng aktwal na problema sa U.P. bilang isang guro at bahagi ng akademikong komunidad, naiibsan ang mga ito sa pamamagitan ng halaga ng aura ng bisyon. Kaya nga napakalungkot para sa akin ang tag-ulan dahil naitatago nito ang iniisip kong kabuuang bisyon. Pero ako lamang ang nagtalaga ng halaga nito. Sa realidad naman, wala namang halaga ang mga punto sa takbo ng aking pag-iisip at disposisyon sa klase. Baka rin naman napaka-precious at priceless ng bisyon na hindi kayang tumbasan ng ekonomikong halaga. Parang ang kanya-kayang bisyon: kung bakit sa dinami-rami ng problema at limitasyon ng U.P. ay naririto pa rin tayo at wala sa ibang lugar.

Tulad ng mga pagpapakita ng birhen, nasa U.P. ang inaakalang pook ng milagro. Ang bisyon ng milagro, ng pananatili ng maraming namamanata at deboto, ay ang acacia lane sa university oval. Narito, higit sa mga building na naagnas o di pa lubos na maitayo, ang katuparan ng isang ideal na university setting: ang puno ng kaalaman sa paraiso ng mga skolar, ang punong tumambad sa pagtuturo ng Thomasites sa mga natibo, ang puno ng buhay.

May isang visiting profesor na Amerikano na taunang bumibisita--at namamanata--sa U.P. Sa kanya ko lamang narinig ang obserbasyon na tila mas malalaki na ang mga puno sa university oval kaysa sa kanyang huling dalaw. Sa loob ng field of vision, hindi natin namamalas ang paglaki’t pagkaunlad. Naging statiko ang ating bisyon, tulad ng ating verbalisasyon ng hinanaing sa U.P., kahit pa ito ang isa sa pangunahing paksa sa usapang faculty, kundi man libangan.

Sa ibang banda kasi, mula sa ground level, ang natutunghayan lamang ay ang karanasan ng puntodebista, hindi ang kabubuang dulot ng masibong pangharap o itaas. Ang karanasang ng puntodebista ang nagsasaalang-alang sa isa o ilang anggulo lamang ng karanasan, hindi ang kabuuang dulot nito. Kinakailangang pagtagpi-tagpiin ng tumitingin sa ground level ang mga puntodebista, na paratihan, ang mga bahagi ay hindi magdudulot ng kabuuan.

Lubhang napakalaki ng struktura na hindi kakayaning madanas sa pamamagitan ng ordinaryong pagtingin lamang sa ground level. May nagaganap na mortalidad sa ordinaryong bisyon sa pagpabor sa bisyon ng panggitnang uri. Matutunghayan itong huling bisyon sa pamamagitan ng pagdanas sa paraan ng pagtunghay dulot ng kasangkapan at marka ng panggitnang uri.

At ang kakatwa sa panggitnang uring bisyon ay hindi ito institusyonal. Kanya-kanya ang pagdadala ng kanya-kanyang sasakyan para masaksihan ang bisyon. Walang literal at figuratibong tulong ang university institution para likhain ang panggitnang uring bisyon. Bagkus, ipinapataw pa na ito ang maging pamantayang bisyon. Kaya hindi magkandaugaga ang maraming walang sasakyang guro, halimbawa, sa pagkatalaga ng kanilang mga klase sa iba’t ibang building sa campus. Kahit pa may shuttle service para sa kanila, hindi kinakaya ng institusyon na mairaos ang pangangailangan. Parati nitong ginagawang kulang, nang ang guro ang umalinsabay sa bisyon. Ang tanging kayang gawin ng guro ay magtalaga ng halaga sa bisyon na ito, tulad ng ginawa kong pagsusulit ng kakulangan batay sa acacia lanes at sunset dito.

Ang imposiveness ng struktura ay ang pagkakaroon ng epekto na mortal lamang ang taong nagmamasid sa tabi nito. Hindi kayang madanas ang kabuuan ng struktura dahil hindi naman pwedeng pagsama-samahin ang mga bahaging nagbibigay ng iba’t ibang puntodebista. Paratihan, ang puntodebista ay isang labi lamang ng di mawaring kabuuan ng ordinaryong mamamayan.

Ang kakatwa naman sa posisyon ng panggitnang uri ay nangyayaring lamang sa serialisasyon ng struktura. Ibig sabihin, hindi kabuuan ang natutunghayan kundi ang tila pare-parehong pirasong bumubuo ng struktura. Ito ang paradox frontalidad ng mga masibong struktura--ang inaakala ng ground level na bisyon na kabuuan ay isa lamang palang series ng iisang imahen. Ang singular na puno ng acacia na siyang bumubuo ng karanasan ng university oval, at ng fraction ng kongkreto ng SM.

Sa guro, may imahen ng estudyante ng U.P.--matalino, may opinyon, may paninindigan, masipag. Ang nangyayari, tulad ng imahen ng puno at kongkreto, ay nagiging robotics ang ating konstruksyon ng bisyon. Hindi binabago ang bisyon, ginagawang aktibista sa dinamismo ng panahon. Nagmimistulang teknolohikal na mekanikal ang imahen. By themselves, ang mga estudyante ay walang sariling kakanyahan. Naunang ipakat ang itinakdang kakanyahan kaysa sa aktwal na paghahalawan. Maging ang guro ay naging bahagi ng postFordist na era, assemblyline ng produksyon ng pagkatao at karunungan.

Totoong matutunghayan ang overhead na bisyon o overview ng mga struktura sa pamamagitan ng mas matayog na bisyon. Halimbawa, mula sa ikatlo o ikaapat na palapag ng Palma Hall o Engineering, makikita ang foliage ng acacia at iba pang higanteng puno sa U.P. Pero hindi ito nagdudulot ng frontalidad. Ang foliage halimbawa ay hindi nagpapakita ng lokasyon, ng halaga ng lunan at order. Ang dulot nito pa nga ay chaos na nangangailangan ng architectural landscaping para lagyan ng coherence at ugnayan ang mga bagay-bagay ng asembliya.

Ang nagagawa ng frontalidad ay naitatago nito ang aktwal na realidad, kaya ito ang preferred view. Hindi ang overview. Sa U.P., ang ating naagnas na buildings at facilidad, ang kakakurampot na sweldo ng guro’t kawani; gayundin, ang mga pangako ng global competitiveness sa gitna ng napakalimitadong resources. Sa SM, ang malaganapang kontraktwalisasyon ng labor at mababang pasahod. At any given point in time, may 10,000 contractuals sa SM gayong 1,447 lamang ang regular nito. Sa tanya ng isang resource center, may 80,000 contact hires ang SM taon-taon. Ibig sabihin nito, terminated ang kontrata bago pa man umabot ng ika-anim na buwan, ang mandated sa batas na kailangang gawing regular kapag hindi tinapos. Maging ang welga ng unyon ay hindi nakikita. Ang SM North EDSA ay dalawang beses nang binubuwag ang picket--una, ng may 400 na security guards; ikalawa, ng mga polis at militar.

Dahil nga sa ground level ay hindi nakikita ang kabuuan, ang mga estudyante’t guro ay patuloy pa rin sa pagpasok sa kanilang klase, mga empleyado sa kanilang opisina, pagkatapos ay tutungo sa SM dahil may katagumpayan na ang implementasyon ng pagkilos ng at preferensiya ng pambansang pamahalaan sa kapital. Kaya naririto pa rin tayo at wala sa ibang lugar. Robotiko nating nire-reproduce ang sistema ng pagtingin at produksyon ng kaalaman. Sunny smiles, friendly faces, the latest in fashion... sa U.P. at SM.

Pahayag ng CONTEND para sa SONA ni GMA 2006

PAHAYAG NG CONTEND-UP PARA SA SONA 2006

(CONGRESS OF TEACHERS/EDUCATORS FOR NATIONALISM AND DEMOCRACY)

Ang Krisis ng LehitimongPamumuno

Ang “krisis ng lehitimong pamumuno” ay ang pinakamatunog na pagsasalarawan sa nakaambang hamon sa kasalukuyang administrasyon. Sa aktwal, ang pagsasalarawang ito ay sumasaklaw sa iba’t-ibang realidad na kinakaharap ng mamamayang Pilipino sa ilalim ng pamumuno ng pangkating Macapagal-Arroyo.

Graft and Corruption

Ang krisis ng lehitimong pamumuno ay isang ekspresyon na tumutukoy din sa kahirapan na dinaranas ng mamamayan habang walang dangal at walang habas ang pangungurakot at pagnanakaw sa kaban ng bayan ng pamilyang Arroyo at ng mga kapaksiyon nito sa gobyerno. Habang ang mga magsasaka’t manggagawa ay namamaluktot na sa mistulang sahod alipin kapalit ng nakapapatang pagkakayod sa araw-araw, nagpapasasa sa yaman ang pamilya ni Gng.Arroyo at pilit nitong tinatakasan ang mga kaso ng korupsyon na isinampa laban sa kanila. Hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin maipaliwanag ang anomalya sa likod ng mga kontrata sa pagitan ng gobyerno at ng NorthRail, at ng Piatco NAIA Terminal III projects. Hindi na rin kaila sa atin na ang perang panuhol ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sa mga opisyal ng gobyerno at ang puhunan niya sa eleksyon ay mula sa ilegal na jueteng payola. Ginamit din niya ang PhilHealth cards at Road Users’ Tax Projects para sa kanyang kampanya sa pagkapangulo. Hindi ligtas ang mga empleyado ng gobyerno at mga manggagawa’t propesyunal sa pampribadong sektor sa matinding hagupit ng krisis pangekonomiya. Malaki ang papel ng gobyernong Arroyo sa unifikasyon ng merkado at ng buong lipunan sapagkat pangunahing papel ng larangang burukrasya, bilang macroeconomic stimulator, ang pagsisiguro ng katatagan ng ekonomiya na sa kasalukuyan ay walang ibang batayan kundi ang konsentrasyon ng kapital at likhang yaman sa iilan.

Patakarang Neoliberal sa Ekonomiya

Ang deregulasyon ng langis ay nagresulta sa halos linggo-linggong pagtaas nito. Ang pribatisasyon ng mga mga batayang serbisyo gaya ng patubig at serbisyong pangkalusugan ay umabot na sa puntong kawalan ng mga ito sa maramaming komunidad. Hindi liban dito ang komersaslisasyon ng edukasyon na nagaganap dahil sa budget cut ng gobyerno sa edukasyon. Ibig sabihin, mas maliit ang inilalaang budget para sa mga pampublikong paaralan at unibersidad kumpara sa aktwal na budget na kailangan upang makapagbigay ng isang mura at dekalidad na edukasyon sa nakararaming mamamayan. Sa kalagayang napipilitang maghanap ng ibang pamamaraan ang mga pampublikong paaralan para maibsan ang kulang na budget sa pamamagitan ng mga income-generating schemes at tuition fee increase. Marapat lamang tukuyin na ang anumang porma ng komersalisasyon ay dumudulo sa pribatisasyon ng pampublikong edukasyon. Samantala, ang pagdagsa ng mga produktong dayuhan, kasama pati gulay at iba pang produktong agrikultural na dala naman ng liberalisasyon ng kalakal ay naging sanhi ng kawalan ng hanapbuhay ng maraming magsasaka at pagkabansot ng mga lokal na mamumuhunan.

Samakatuwid, ang deregulasyon, pribatisasyon at liberalisasyon ay tatlong salik ng polisiyang neoliberal ng rehiming Macapagal-Arroyo na walang ibang epekto kundi ang palalain pa ang kahirapan ng bawat pamilyang Pilipino, liban sa pamilyang Arroyo at sa iilang kasabwat nito sa gobyerno. Kung gayon, ang pag-unlad ng bayang ito ay pangunahing sinasagkaan ng rehimeng Arroyo. At sa kalagayang pagkalugi rin naman ang aabutin ng pamumuhunan sa lokal negosyo, hindi na palaisipan kung bakit ang mga katulad ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ay namuhunan sa isang istratehikong pwesto sa isang istratehikong pwesto sa gobyerno dahil doon, sigurado ang kita sa pandarambong.

Pandaraya sa Eleksyon at Panunupil

Kaya naman walang takot na nandaya si Macapagal-Arroyo sa eleksyong 2004. Kapansin-pansin ang padaskol-daskol niyang hakbang upang ipatupad ang kanyang layunin at iligtas ang sarili sa kasong isinampa laban sa kanya dahil sa Hello Garci scandal. Ngunit hindi lang siya napansin ng mga mamamayang Pilipino kundi tahasan tayong nanawagan sa kanyang pag-alis sa Malacañang. Pasismo ang isinasalubong ni Macapagal-Arroyo sa isang nasyunal at popular na panawagang siya’y patalsikin hindi na lamang dahil sa pandaraya at korpusyon kundi lalu’t higit sa patuloy na pagkitil ng rehimen sa mga kalayaan sibil. Sa anibersaryo ng People Power, PP 1017 ang sagot ni Ginang Arroyo sa mga mamamayang naghahanap ng katotohanan at nananawagan ng mga demokratikong reporma sa gobyerno. At upang durugin ang pinakamatalas na pangkat ng oposiyon sa kongreso, pilit na idinikit ng rehimeng Arroyo ang mga representante ng mga progresibong kinatawan ng partly list o ang Batasan 5 sa Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas. Hanggang ngayon, si Rep. Crispin Beltran ng Anakpawis ay hindi pa rin pinapalaya. Literal naman ang pagkitil ng buhay ng mga aktibista, mamamahayag, taong-simbahan at ang sinumang mamamayan na may kritikal na tindig sa kasalukuyang rehimen. Mula Enero 2001 nang maupo si GMA sa Malacañang , 705 na ang napaslang habang 181 naman ang dinukot at hanggang ngayon ay nawawala.

Ang Taktika ng Diktador sa Panahon ng Krisis

Sa kasalukuyan, dalawang mukha ang inihaharap ni GMA sa taumbayan na matutunghayan sa kanyang sabayang paggamit ng dalawang uri ng kampanya: 1)ang kanyang kampanyang pulitikal para sa CHA-CHA at 2)ang kampanyang militar laban umano sa mga “rebeldeng komunista.” Ginagamit niya ang una upang palabasin na kaya pa niyang pahabain ang kanyang pananatili sa Malacañang sa pamamagitan ng binagong konstitusyon. Subalit agad namang nabuko ang maanomalyang People’s Initiative kung saan pondo mismo ng gobyerno ang ginagamit upang makapangalap ng pirma para sa CHA-CHA. Bukod dito, ang mga rebisyon sa konstitusyon ng CHA-CHA ni GMA ay naglalayong tanggalin ang mga probisyon na nagbibigay ng proteksyon sa mga mamamayan laban sa diktaturya, pandarambong, kawalan ng karapatan sa sariling likas na yaman at pagbebenta ng absolutong karapatan, kontrol at pagmamayari ng mga institusyon at kumpanya sa mga dayuhan.

Kung susumahin ang mga kasalanan ng rehimeng Arroyo sa sambayanang Pilipino at kung tatasahin ang pambasang sitwasyon, malinaw na bumabalik ang sambayan sa madidilim na araw ng Batas Militar noong panahon ng diktaduryang Marcos. Ngunit may pinagkaiba. Ideneklara ni Marcos ang Batas Militar sa panahong mataas ang konsolidasyon ng sandatahang lakas. Subalit maging ang batas militar ay hindi naging sapat upang pigilin ang silakbo ng mamamayang handang lumaban para sa kalayaan at katarungan. Samantala, ang All-Out War ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ay kanyang idineklara sa panahon na mahinang-mahina ang konsolidasyon sa panig ng sandatahan lakas dahil marami na ring mga sundalo at lider-sundalo ang nanawagan para sa kanyang pagpapatalsik. Kung gayon, walang batayang lakas ang pandarahas ni Arroyo at ng alipores niyang si Hen. Jovito Palparan. Abot-abot na ang galit ng mga Iskolar ng Bayan ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas sa ginawang pagdukot ng mga pwersang militar sa Bulacan sa dalwang kapwa iskolar na sina Sherlyn Cadapan at Karen Empeño. Habang sila’y hindi inililitaw ay mabilis na namumulat ang mga Iskolar ng Bayan sa katiwalaan ng gobyernong Arroyo.

Walang duda na ang paghahasik ng pasismo ng estado ay isinasagwa mula sa pusisyon ng kahinaan at umaasa ito na sa pamamagitan ng dahas ay makonslolida muli ni Arroyo ang kanyang kapangyarihan. Pero wala ni isa sa kanyang taktika ang nagsisilbi sa kanyang interes na manatili sa Malacañang.

Pagbabalikwas ng Sambayanan

Ang taktika ng panlalansi at dahas ay sintomas ng isang rehimeng wala nang kakayahang mangumbinsi ng taumbayan upang mapagwagian ang kanilang tiwala at suporta para sa kasalukuyang gobyerno. Walang ibang sagot ang taumbayan kundi paniningil sa gobyernong Arroyo. Patunay dito ang daan-daang mamamayan—mula sa iba’t-ibang sektor, may samu’t saring pampulitikal na paninindigan at paniniwalang pang-relihiyon—ang nagsampa ng impeachment complaint laban kay Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Ang kasalukyuyang impeachment complaint ay isang makapangyarihang pananagisag sa pinagsama-samang lakas ng mamamayang Pilipino laban sa pinakapasista at pinakapapet na rehimen sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Laman ng impeachment complaint ang makasaysayan at dumadagundong na sigaw ng mamamayan para sa kalayaang sibil, karapatang pantao at progresibong reporma sa gobyerno. Ang mga karapatan at pagbabagong ito ang siyang ubod ng nasyunal-popular na interes ng mamamayan sa kasalukuyang yugto ng pakikibaka ng sambayanang Pilipino, at ito ang ating paninindigan at ipaglalaban. Ang pagkakaisa ng sambayanan laban kay Arroyo ay nakabatay sa taglay na lakas nito. Kabaligtaran nito ang pangil na isinusuot lang ni Arroyo upang mapagtakpan ang kabulukang umuukuk sa kanyang rehimen. Kung gayon, nasa atin ang lakas. At sa tunggalian ng mamamayang Pilipino laban kay Arroyo, tayo ang magpapasya at tayo ang magwawagi!

Isulong ang Impeachment laban kay Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!

Itigil ang Pulitikal na Pamamaslang!

Palayain sina Sherlyn Cadapan, Karen Empeño at Ka Bel!

Patalsikin si Gloria Macapgal-Arroyo!

Makilahok sa martsa ng mga Iskolar ng Bayan laban sa paglabag sa mga karapatang sibil ng mamayan at sa patuloy ng pagkawala ng dalawang estudyante ng UP sa Hulyo 20 “Tagulaylay:Hinagpis at Pakikibaka 5 n.h. Quezon Hall papuntang Sunken Garden. Magsuot ng itim at pula.

Sumama sa SONA ng Mamamayan sa July 24, Lunes 10 n.u. pagtitipon sa Quezon Hall papuntang Sandiganbayan

United's Wing, May 06

Polar Caps, view from United, May 06

Construction Site, Chicago Suburb May 06

The Body and City in Film

The Body and City in Film

The body and city are related in terms of both being socio-political geospaces. They are both emblematic and symptomatic of modernization and development paradigms. The city is the center of national development, the model in which the regions are to be developed. The body is the site of national identity formation. In here is where the primary models of citizenship and citizenry are formed and transformed.

As both are primary sites of national development, the body and city also match the nation�s transnational anchoring of national development. They are the also the primary markers of the nation�s uneven development. Although primarily seen through the cultural category of class, the nation�s uneven development is also magnified through discrepancy in gender, sexual, racial and ethnic divides. They do not only harp the nation�s success, more importantly, they signify the nation�s failure to fully develop.

Another important configuration in the relationship of the body and city involves its dialectics. The city obliquely manifests the corporeal development and maldevelopment of urbanized bodies. The body represents the city�s own coming into metropolitan being and its failure. On the one hand, just like the body, the city is corporealized. The high level of respiratory diseases, for example, among urban bodies is similar to the city being a choke zone.

One just has to view the skycrapers of Ortigas and Makati from the hills of Antipolo to see the smog enveloping the city. The city�s clogged lung system, in turn, points to the failure of the Clean Air Law to be fully implemented, the lack of green spaces in urban planning, overpopulation of people and vehicles, the lack of roads, and so on.

Although banned in Metro Manila, the continuing proliferation of leaded gasoline is prevalent in its exteriors. The city is unable to expel its own excessive polluted emissions. On the other hand, the body is also citified. Just as the city acquires the markers of a transnational national development, such as skyscrapers, mass transportation system, skyways, malls and new entertainment complexes, the body also acquires the cosmopolitan and urbanized ways of the city. Transnational toiletries clean and maintain the body. It is also clothed and accessoried by transnational produce sold and bought in malls.

The body learns the ways of citified living. It acquires the necessary skills to compete, survive and triumph in the city. In sports, for example, it is through wall climbing, squash, fencing, table tennis, all requiring use of limited precious space to optimally release tension, or even the machine-driven dance revolution that lets paying clients test dance mimicking skills through computer-generated images and steps. The contemporary body is transformed in the ways of the city.

Film becomes the preferred media to filter the relationship of bodies and cities. Film has been referred to as the art of the twentieth century, a century characterized by mass dissemination of technology. It provides a bridge to the present postmodern experience � imagining fictional identities and identification with reel characters and narratives, ability to internalize the mass medium, probing into individual psyches and collective wellsprings of being, all drawn from the power of the image to transform real experience.

Film provides a historical link between the modern � the unevennes of development �and the postmodern experience � the plurality of identity, fictive subjectivity, eclectic aesthetics, among others. Postmodern aesthetics, after all, can be found in the very characteristics that so define the film medium. Film becomes the collective consciousness that mediates the liminal experience of the politics in the age of excessive consumption, ethical prioritization in the age of plurality, or real pain and anguish in the inability to materialize the simulated ideals. What film provides is a communal translation of the historical and aesthetic moment of development, the experience in which uneven development can be aestheticized.

At the onset of film�s introduction into the country, the city provided the landscape of locating the nation in the new landscape of new global georule under the US. Geared primarily for the American audience, Edison and other producers sent out camera men to shoot footage of exotic landscapes. While Edison also did short feature films on the Philippine-American War, the images seen on screen were shot in its studios in New Jersey.

The �authentic� images of the Philippines dwelled on shots of Manila and its nearby areas. Escolta, for example, showed people and buffalos crossing a bridge. What these films undertook was to orientalize the local scene, to utter them different, and subsequently, to justify colonialism. Such images fused the distinction between city and bodies, drawing attention to their geo-difference from the American colonizers.

Mga Ligaw na Bulaklak (1957) showed the post-war migration of women into the city. Here, two sisters get entwined to Manila�s highly lucrative postwar underground economy. The elder sister works as a clerk in a private office owned by a woman boss. The seeming liberation of women is historical. Women were allowed access into the white collar labor force via the public school system introduced by the American colonizers. Education was disseminated to fill up the American colonial bureaucracy.

Though locals assumed the clerical positions, the employment provided for social mobility never realized before. Thus, the post-war era reified the place of women in the bureaucracy or even beyond. The younger sister is seduced by the material affluence of the woman in the syndicate. Envious of the woman�s private markers of affluence, the younger sister is introduced to the ways of the syndicate, doing menial work for it. In the end, her traditional rootedness gives way to her squealing to the police. She falls in love for the man and allows herself to once again be used by another patriarchal institution. The film closes in a moral positivity � that evil, in the end, is conquered by the forces of good.

In the opening scene, Curacha (1998) stares at her naked body as sounds of the first mass rail transport system in the country is heard. She speaks to herself, locating each bodily part to a section of the city. All sections, however, connote an aberration, a negation of the developmental promise of city parts to be realized. The body of the torera (live show performer) is analogous to the corporeality of the city. Just like the city, the female body manifests the impossibility of development to fully materialize, the disjuncture of corporeal parts to cohere into a benevolent geospace, and the promise of development always dangled yet never fully realized. However, the female body is twice abjected � first, in the performance of sex work, and second, being woman.

The female body is made symptomatic and receptacle of the city. On the one hand, the city is a socializing space for norms of sexuality and gender, and development for its constituent bodies. On the other hand, bodies inhabit the city and imbue it with counter-claims to national, urban, sexual, gender, generational and religious citizenship. Thus, both bodies and city are sites of contestation, each claiming to represent the ideal corporeality that materializes national development.

Beginnings of Philippine Animation

Beginnings of Philippine Animation

The United States� colonization of the Philippines at the turn of the twentieth century inevitably shifted the trajectory of development of the Philippine nation. Coming at the heels of victory against the Spanish colonizers, Filipinos were all too ready to seize the historical moment of defining and implementing their own vision of nationhood. However, the United States� colonization shifted the forces in the decisive calibration of the development of the nation--from a mass-supported local leadership to a rule by feudal elites and American colonizers. Since the Philippines provided for the United States its own defining moment at empire-building, the Philippines being its first colonial venture outside its own national domain, the model of enlightened colonialism was implemented.

This means that as the national resources were exploited for colonial interests, so too were the modern areas of cultural life--health, sanitation, education, and communications--also engineered to provide a conducive system for American capital to take root. Just as the American colonial period endeavored to modernize the colony by introducing the rice thresher and artesian well (1904), electric streetcars and telephone system (1905), postal savings bank and electric iron (1906), it also introduced ice cream, movies and rat control (1899), public school system (1901), and golf clubs (1902). Side by side with the economic and political circuiting of the colony, its cultural transformation was also at stake. Today�s Philippine modernity has become indelibly inscribed in and by American colonialism.

Philippine animation takes root from two major sources, both grounded in American-introduced capitalism: service businesses and print capitalism. The two sources, however, started with a similar beginning in cartooning. Antonio S. Velasquez, known as the "Father of the Tagalog Komiks," began in cartoonised advertising, creating characters that personify consumer products and businesses being introduced in the American colonial era: "Isko" for Esco shoes; "Tikboy" for Tiki-Tiki, a children�s vitamin syrup; "Nars Cafi" for Cafiaspirinia; "Captain Cortal" for Cortal; "Castor" for Botica Boie�s Castoria; "Aling Adina Comadrona" for United Drug products, "Charity" for Philippine Charity Sweepstakes, and so on. The corporate and brand mascots created by Velasquez were concentrated in the health and drug industry, a major focus of American social engineering. Even the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes was founded to primarily subsidise health programs.

Velasquez, however, was famous for creating the comic strip based on the character Kenkoy in 1928. Collaborating with Romualdo Ramos, a translator in the advertising department, Velasquez�s "Kenkoy" became a success. Kenkoy reflected the contradictions of Filipinos colonised into American rule, sporting a "gleaming Valentino hairstyle and wore baggy pants," and spoke pidgen English.

"Kenkoy" was translated in six other vernacular publications, enabling the character to reach a national audience. It also gave birth to other strips. Velasquez�s design for Kenkoy�s clothing was copied by readers. Poet Jose Corazon de Jesus, more famous as Huseng Batute, wrote a poem "Pagpapakilala" (Introduction), subtitled as "Ay introdius yu Mister Kenkoy" (I Introduce you to Mister Kenkoy). Composer Nicanor Abelardo wrote the song "Ay, Naku, Kenkoy!" (Oh my Kenkoy) and "Kenkoy Blues," a march. The character Kenkoy gave rise to spin-offs, depicting his family, parents, sweetheart, archival, community members, side-kick, children, and others.

"Kenkoy" made the Philippine komiks industry. More so, it provided both humor and a cultural idiom during the anxious period of maintaining nationalism and awaiting for Philippine independence. After the violent Filipino-American War (1899-1902) that claimed over 600,000 lives in Luzon alone, the postwar period was marked by continued resistance, specifically from the swelling labour ranks incorporated into American colonial capitalism. Education, the key to social mobility for the local majority promised by the American colonisers, could no longer sustain the egalitarian dream.

Daniel Doeppers states, "By the late 1920s, the major avenues for career mobility were increasingly constricted." However, from 1920 to 1930, increased production of agricultural products surged--sugar exports by 450 percent, coconut oil by 233 percent and cordage by 500 percent. Such economic profits, owned by local elites, bolstered confidence in the American presence in the colony. With the popular sentiment wanting independence, the Commonwealth was inaugurated in 1935, paving the way for imminent Philippine independence. By this time, however, structures of American colonial capitalism were already institutionalised and wrecking havoc in the national lives of Filipinos because of the inequitable policies enacted during the earlier period of colonial rule.

An even earlier aspect of print capitalism that provided for a more parodic introspection into the American colonial rule were the politically-oriented publications in the early 1900s--the Telembang and Lipang Kalabaw (1907). These two publications regularly featured political cartoons, commenting on the colonial figures, their policies and era. The political cartoons provided an avenue for churning social commentary at a time when the colonial set-up imposed stringent policies on the articulation and display of Philippine nationalism.

The Sedition Law, passed in 1901, as historian Renato Constantino explains, "imposed the death penalty or a long prison term on anyone who advocated independence or separation from the United States even in peaceful means." It also punished any person who would "utter seditious words or speeches, write, publish or circulate scurrilous libels" against the United States government or the Insular Government. Through cartooning, with minimal use of the written word, Lipang Kalabaw provided for an edgy commentary on the colonial condition, usually, the contradictions of colonial rule that continues even in the postcolonial times: the perennial floods of Manila, the corruption of the police, the Frankenstein-growth of politicians sporting guns and over-sized egos, the Americanised manners of the emerging youth, the death of Spanish language and culture, the captive nature of the English language over traditional values, profligate lending scandals at the Philippine National Bank, public hospitals that denied citizens basic service, the gun-happy constabulary, and so on.

Cartooning provided for a dual contradictory purpose--it reified the operations of American colonial capitalism, and it also subverted the colonial set-up. While the American colonial set-up harped on liberal democracy, press freedom, and free speech, contradictory policies, however, allowed only for their oppressive and limited articulation. Such contradiction is best embodied in the figure of the cartoonist. As Alfred McCoy observed, the Filipino cartoonists were "often the leading artists of their generation seeking survival in a colonial society with little use for their talents." The Filipino cartoonists worked for both the interests of print capitalism and advertising. Like artists Velasquez and Fernando Amorsolo, other renowned Filipino cartoonists worked for the interest of both print capitalism and advertising. They served the business interest of growing areas of the service industry, creatively providing for mascots and other advertising needs. They also served the Filipino nationalist cause, drawing political commentaries through the komiks and satirical publications, even at the expense of producing racist cartoons.

Animated Films and national Development

Animated Films and National Development

American enlightened colonialism brought new levels of consciousness and opportunities for businesses. As disseminated through the public school system, English became a prominent language. English literacy was a key factor in the growth of mass circulation papers. By 1939, the total circulation of all Philippine publications had reached to 1.4 million, of which 722,000 were in English.

It was only during the postwar and post-independence era that Philippine animation took a serious turn. Philippine animation prior to 1953 was mostly focused on commercial advertising, churning cartoons for print and television commercials. In 1953, komiks cartoonist Larry Alcala, made an 8mm film, a black-and-white exercise in movement of a girl jumping rope and a boy playing with a yoyo. Other pioneers in animation were Jose Zaballa Santos and Francisco Reyes, who did a cooking oil endorsement, Juan Tamad (1955), a six-minute work based on a popular folklore character; and Nonoy Marcelo, who did Biag ni Lam-ang (The Life of Lam-ang, 1979), a 60-minute feature on the adventures of the Ilocano epic hero, and Annie Batungbakal (1974), a seven-minute clip for the Nora Aunor movie. Animation in film was used for special effects, like in Ibong Adarna (The Adarna Bird, 1941) and Ang Panday (The Blacksmith, 1983). One can still observe the latent economic imperative at work in these animation pioneers; work was done for advertising and the film business. There is also the political imperative, as Marcelo�s feature dealt with the ethnic epic from the region of then President Ferdinand Marcos.

Such dual purpose in cartooning remains emplaced even in present-day animation. Contemporary Filipino cartoonists are also imbricated in both multinational advertising and subcontracting work, and a purer artistic quest for a national idiom. The Marcos period provided a space for animation production both useful to and subversive of the national administration ideals. No other president in Philippine political history has been so conscientious in conceiving and implementing a national development program than Marcos. He built massive infrastructures and enacted laws that primarily supported multinational businesses. In his dream of a New Society (Bagong Lipunan), unfolded after the declaration of martial rule in 1972, he envisioned to clear the national space for both nationalism to firmly take ground and foreign businesses to flourish.

With a background in animation from a New York film school, Marcelo did animation work for the administration. Though only the first episode was produced, Tadhana (Destiny) was envisioned to popularize Marcos�s rewriting of national history. In the only episode, the war between Spain and Portugal for global colonial rights was done through zooming and intercutting images of illustrations and maps. In preparation for war, the Spanish armada moves in with music from the Star Wars theme. Marcelo also did animation for Kabataang Baranggay (Youth League), the national youth organization headed by Imee Marcos, the eldest child of Marcos. He also did the animation sequences for an education series produced by a Marcos office intended to create local entrepreneurs. Episodes dealt with the Green Revolution themes of self-reliance in food using popular technology, such as tilapia (carp) raising and bee farming. However, Marcelo was also to be made famous by a newspaper comic strip Tisoy that documented and satirized the conditions of the Marcos administration.

By the 1980s, however, the Marcos circuiting of the nation in global multinational work had already been institutionalized. The period was also marked by economic and political turmoil that led to the Marcoses� downfall in 1986. One major development in animation that grew out of the direct development policies of Marcos was the operation of foreign studios in the country. Subcontractual work was used by Marcos to entice foreign business. Harping on cheap but highly skilled local labor, Filipino cartoonists were employed in foreign animation studios to do episodes of various Hanna Barbara and Toei series. The Australian-based animation firm, Burbank Studios, pioneered animation subcontracting in the Philippines in 1983. Given tax incentives and other investment lures, Burbank Studios focused on the animation needs of the local advertising market in its beginning. Eventually, it also produced an educational animation series for the Middle East. Burbank Studios wanted to break into the American market. It needed the proximity of the Philippines to the United States as a base of operation, and the skills of Filipino laborers as chief resource. It trained local animators who either established their own advertising firms or transferred to other multinational studios when Burbank Studios folded in the late 1980s.

Presently, the big players in Philippine animation are FilCartoons and Philippine Animation Studio, Inc. (PASI), owned by foreigners. FilCartoons, for example, does work on Mad Jack the Pirate and Toonsylvania, cartoon shows for the American firms Saban and Dreamworks SKG. Their artists have done much of the acclaimed work in Fox Studios� Anastasia and Disney�s Mulan, among others. Such developments have led critics to believe that Filipino artists have been reduced to artisans: subcontractors for foreign animation studios, it is quite obvious that FilCartoons artists are reduced to craftsmen who follow a codified set of rules, without free rein in their art. Another employment track for Filipino cartoonists involves overseas contract work, a program institutionalized during the Marcos period that relies on exporting Filipino labor for precious dollar remittances. The systematic export of Filipino labor has presently deployed four million overseas contract workers that yield some $6 billion annual remittances, about two-thirds of the present national budget. More and more Filipino cartoonists work for overseas Disney, Malaysian, and Singaporean studios.

Filipino cartoonists find affinity with their fellow nationals doing multinational and overseas contract work. They are hired because of their pleasing personalities, command of the English language, high skills, western disposition, and their acceptance of lower salaries than their counterparts in the West. A recent Philippine subcontracting project was the Chito Chat series on MTV Asia. The character Chito provides onscreen chatter about the music video being shown. Cartoonists also find themselves doing work in advertising companies, Star Animation, owned by the local entertainment conglomerate ABS-CBN, and the children=s show, Batibot, that regularly features animation segments. Recently, however, there is a slight reversal of the situation as Filipino artists and enterpreneurs came up with the Stone comic book series, stylishly drawn, based on Philippine lore, and sold at comic book conventions in the United States.

With its immense pool of creative talents, Philippine animation has yet to commercially take off. The first and only locally animated television series, Ang Panday, produced in 1987, only drew a curious audience, and the first full-length commercial film, Ibong Adarna (The Adarna Bird, 1997), also proved dismal in attracting a local audience. The major figure in feature animation in the Philippines is Geirry Garccia. Paling by comparison to big-budgeted Hollywood and Japanese animation, local animation has yet to be commercially competitive. This is also the drawback of global competition conceived during the administration of Marcos� successor, Corazon Aquino, and implemented by her successors, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada.

Barring protectionism, local businesses have yet to rise above the competition, becoming lowly placed in the global division of capital and labor. The export-processing zones started during the Marcos dictatorship allowed for a wide-ranging incentive package to foreign businesses, even the promise of a strike-free environment. In the former American airforce base, Clark, now primarily transformed into one such zone, two companies, GM Mini Computer Exchange and Cerulean Digital Colors Animators, have located in the Clark Special Economic Zone, hiring some 450 workers for its digital animation workload.

Animation inscribed the nation in colonial and transnational imaginaries. During its preconception, cartooning allowed for conservative and contrary ideals of the colonial set-up to be articulated and popularized. Cartooning in advertising and print capitalism, involving the same set of artists, articulated the dual position of colonial rule and national selfhood. Up until the mid-1980s, Marcos� emplacement of national ideals toward the service of multinational businesses provided a divide between business in the new world order and the further interrogation of selfhood. FilCartoons artisans, for example, are responsible for shows like Chicken and Egg, Johnny Bravo, Captain Planet, and Johnny Quest. Every Filipino cartoonist participating in big-budget feature animation projects by Disney or Dreamworks gets high media publicity, specially in the national dailies. It is only in the recent times that commerce and national ideals are again merging, as the artists of the 1980s developed their own animation companies that service various businesses. In the 1990s, a newer breed of animators is emerging. Unlike the prior generation that made various attempts at inscribing a national idiom in this form, the 1990s artists are more vocal in the articulation of the politics of newer social movements, such as environmentalism, feminism, social injustices, and so on.