Martyrs

It has been a long time since I've written on this blog. 

And maybe I should start writing here again with an overview of the things that have literally flooded every aspect of this country -- Pork Barrel rallies everywhere, a war in the South and the floods that left many homeless. What a whopper. And all these have things have one thing in common: The people have been turned to martyrs by their own leaders. 

The Pork Barrel rallies showed how the people are now waking up; the masses now cry for reforms and they are now very much awake, aware and critical of the people they have "enthroned" to power. They do not want to be sacrificed for somebody's pleasure now. It is a pleasing thought, how the people now are critical thinkers and not mere usizeros (although the latter still exists) who relish and believe in every chismis they hear. 

But, of course, like all fads... things got forgotten really fast.

After the million people march in Luneta, the people started to lay low again and watch telenovelas. 

We see the thieves roaming around, not inside jails, but inside the sacred halls of the Congress and Senate! And it's a pity. At this rate of the investigations, the hype is just going to die down and the judiciary is just waiting for that moment when the amnesia of the masses settle in.

***

On another note, we have floods. 

We have been having them for glob-damned decades now, centuries even. And why does no one ever try to make and act on it? Last year, we had floods here in Bacoor City. The government then dug the nearby estero. Now we still have floods. 

Why? Because it still overflows. 

In Manila, a few minutes of rainfall will guarantee a flood. And for eons, no one responded on this issue. Asphalting won't solve this nor would wifi sheds ever be effective unless proper security is enforced in the bowels of the capital. What we need is an effective drainage system that goes to cleaned-up and squatter-free esteros of a plastic-free, pollution-free city. 

It's really nice to daydream, right?

***

Bonifacio would've loved change. He called for that a century ago. 

He was quite a martyr. Killed for his beliefs by people who hungered too much for power. Killed for exposing flaws in the system of the traitors. One must remember that the Aguinaldo Government was one voted for solely by the people of Cavite in Tejeros and that Supremo dismissed the proceedings upon the knowing of fraud and cheating in the elections. 

He was killed for planning an elections with the representatives of all the peoples of the revolution, knowing the the government that will lead the republic must be voted upon by all its people, not only by Cavite-citizens. He was a martyr for change and justice and I wonder now as then, could we look with hope for brighter and fight for it like he did?

I hope we could.

Let there be hope for this nation.



***



SOUTH BIKE fully supports any inquiries on the facts noted on this page or for any question regarding this article, the pictures and other materials on this blog. All pictures are property of South Bike and Midsummer Daydreams Film & Photography and may be used for any non-profit material, post and/or article. Information stated here in this blog have been culminated from research.


SOUTH BIKE BLOGS also conducts tour-for-hire. See the official facebook page of SOUTH BIKE BLOGS atwww.facebook.com/SouthBikeBlogs for more details and for inquiries.


MIDSUMMER DAYDREAMS FILM & PHOTOGRAPHY is the official amateur photography blog/page used by the administrator of South Bike blogs. It also runs as an unofficial photography company of above-mentioned individual and may be hired for any local photography shoots for assorted purposes. For details regarding this, e-mail MDF&P at jhonlerygorme@gmail.com

Immaturity and "Nationalism"

IMMATURITY

We take pride as a nation from the accomplishments of some. Yes. There is something wrong with that.

Now, not everything is. We can claim that we are proud of them and that we support them as representatives of our nation but why is it that all of that support and pride in our athletes only appears when the athletes are winning? Where were we when they were still struggling to train? Yes. We can be proud of our race, but not for this reason alone. 

The immaturity part, now, hails from the fact that there are is a majority among this nation that chose to seek revenge by bullying the winners of the recent game between Smart Gilas (Representing the Philippines) and The Iranian National Team, they themselves working hard for their accomplishments, and in bitterment have gone to extremes by attacking the other team by insulting them. 

Why is it that there are some of us that act like kids? Where is our "pride"? What "pride" do we have now that there is a majority among us who lack sportsmanship?

 RACISM

On another note... there is something wrong with how racist some of us are -- how biased we tend to become. We hate it when other nations bash us but we feel pride when we defend our nationalism by insulting a single race due to a basketball game? Seriously? When did we have a right to call names and bully other nations? 

Does being nationalistic equate to us downing our fellow humans because of their race?

WE NEED REAL PRIDE AS A NATION. One that does not insult other nations and is defended fairly. We need to be a nation that recognizes that we are all humans and that we should treat other nations with respect due to fellow humans. We need to be a nation with real nationalism, one that cares and loves and takes pride in one's race during all times, not only during the times we are down. We need to be a nation that stands up when we are down, not pull others down while we are down.

We need to change.

***

SOUTH BIKE fully supports any inquiries on the facts noted on this page or for any question regarding this article, the pictures and other materials on this blog. All pictures are property of South Bike and Midsummer Daydreams Film & Photography and may be used for any non-profit material, post and/or article. Information stated here in this blog have been culminated from research.


SOUTH BIKE BLOGS also conducts tour-for-hire. See the official facebook page of SOUTH BIKE BLOGS atwww.facebook.com/SouthBikeBlogs for more details and for inquiries.


MIDSUMMER DAYDREAMS FILM & PHOTOGRAPHY is the official amateur photography blog/page used by the administrator of South Bike blogs. It also runs as an unofficial photography company of above-mentioned individual and may be hired for any local photography shoots for assorted purposes. For details regarding this, e-mail MDF&P at jhonlerygorme@gmail.com

Ang Aking SONA

I am no expert in law nor economics. But I just want to point out who we are as of late, our state as a nation:

We are a nation that has little to no love for culture nor an appreciation of it's past, neither are we one that draws inspiration nor wisdom from this illustrious past that we claim as Filipinos. How can we, therefore, move forward when we can't clearly see the past that we have gone through and how can we ever claim love for this country when we can't even claim any love for the people that have shaped our past. What nationalism can we ever have, or even claim?

We celebrate our past in ways that perfectly conceal it: ignoring the main sense of the celebration. What more is there for the people to celebrate occasions like flag day when the people that celebrate it don't have even the slightest idea about the importance of the history of this holiday nor any knowledge about the flag that embodies the very blood and soul of this nation.

The statues we build to honor the men and women that sacrificed everything for this nation are being turned into seas of filth -- the public urinals and toilets of the common people and the trashcan of the society. How can the people appreciate its past when the things that their government build to remember it is being ignored and left to be ruined slowly, dying in the congested metropolitans of this country?

The remaining places of beauty of times of old and the last gems of our cities are being left to rot to a stinking pile of refuse. And the people around them do not even care for whatever happens to these things.

How could the people feel safe in the cities and towns of these places when the police force cannot protect the people they are sworn to protect, evidence of this is the increasing number of crimes in the metropolitan and the suburbs, and when there are people inside the inner workings of the government who are blatantly protecting the people that commit crimes and are perpetrators of the crimes themselves?

We let the people destroy the remaining sites that hold anything of value in our cities... and we keep voting people who let other people break the law right beneath our noses or, in most cases, even right in front of our faces. And we still have this large majority that lets this happen over and over again.

Sure there is improvement: There might be traffic and all, there might be cleaner rivers in some towns and cities and other programs that help the nation...

but we usually forget that the problems are not always caused by those we elect, nor by those put there to manage and protect people, but by the people themselves. There is still a majority that cause problems and have the guts to claim the government as the sole source of all problems.

We forget to demand change and to seek out what is truly beneficial for all of us. We glorify dynasties and we still let them rule no matter how wrong those dynasties work: 

letting them rule for decades even though we ourselves see no change nor development under their rule in exchange for money that some of us get in exchange for votes --- for the future of the cities and towns.

And still we continue.

I hope our nation changes, not just this government. I hope we will all work towards a brighter future.

God Bless Us All.

In pictures:

1. The Fr. Mariano Gomez monument in Bacoor City which was covered by political posters and tarpaulins

2. Wagayway Festival (National Flag Day/Battle of Alapan Anniversary) 2013 in Imus City which was used by the city officials as a political event

3. The Legazpi-Urdaneta Monument, one of the oldest of it's kind in Manila. It is currently damaged by vandals and ignored by the city.

4. and 5. The GOMBURZA (Gomez, Burgos, Zamora) monument in front of the National Museum. Virtually unknown by many, the place stinks and the pond around it is color green due to the mass. Fr. Mariano Gomez, Fr. Jose Burgos and Fray. Jacinto Zamora happens to be the people whose death inspired the revolt of 1896 and many heroes, including Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, who honored them in their own ways.

6. The Manila Metropolitan Theatre sits in the heart of Manila and was once one of the jewels of pre-war Manila. An art deco theatre designed by Juan M. Arellano and Otillio Arellano and was built in 1935. The structure has sculptures by the Italian Sculptor Francesco Monti. The theatre is now unused and generally neglected.

7. The Carriedo Fountain found in Plaza Sta. Cruz, Manila was built in 1882 to honor “Manila's greatest benefactor” Francisco Carriedo y Pedero who donated Php 10,000 to install the very first water system in Manila. The fountain originally stood in Rotonda de Sampaloc until it was transferred to its present site in 1978. The fountain is currently full of dirty water that happens to be filled with trash.

8. The Meralco Headquarters was the masterpiece of Monti and Arellano, a structure that was home to the original Meralco. The building's demolition was halted temporarily. 

9. Aguinaldo Highway is one of main highways of the South. It is plagued by traffic.

10. Estero De Bacoor used to be filled with garbage until it was recently cleaned by the city government to prevent the floods that plague the city.

11. A jeepney loading besides an unloading/loading sign no explanations needed.

12. Bacoor District Hospital is the city government's hospital. Starting construction last year, not much has changed and up today only the ERs are finished.

The rest of the pictures The statue honoring Sen. Revilla Senior, who founded the ruling dynasty of Cavite by fathering children who soon became politicians under his care. The statue marks how the government can spend funds to honor themselves and their family and not the real heroes of the city (ie. Fr. Gomez et al)

SOUTH BIKE fully supports any inquiries on the facts noted on this page or for any question regarding this article, the pictures and other materials on this blog. All pictures are property of South Bike and Midsummer Daydreams Film & Photography and may be used for any non-profit material, post and/or article. Information stated here in this blog have been culminated from research.

SOUTH BIKE BLOGS also conducts tour-for-hire. See the official facebook page of SOUTH BIKE BLOGS atwww.facebook.com/SouthBikeBlogs for more details and for inquiries. 

MIDSUMMER DAYDREAMS FILM & PHOTOGRAPHY is the official amateur photography blog/page used by the administrator of South Bike blogs. It also runs as an unofficial photography company of above-mentioned individual and may be hired for any local photography shoots for assorted purposes. For details regarding this, e-mail MDF&P at jhonlerygorme@gmail.com

Missing Identity: Filipinas

What is in a name?

It has been decades now since we last used the name Filipinas. 

During that time we were still under the powers of a colonial power that our ancestors fought against... when there was still a government under the General Emilio Aguinaldo, who had himself declared the national president via an election of his province folk, and we were still struggling to stand on our two feet. We have thought of changing it, from the American Philippines and tagalized Pilipinas to the former proposals of using Maharlika and Rizal as the name of our country... and still we are not sure of what our name is supposed to be.

But this recent change speaks in volumes. It just shows everyone that we, after more than a century, still have no definite identity.

We keep on looking for who we are. For who we truly are. We still are reeling in from our days under the flags of different nations that left us scorching too long under suns and stars that we ultimately get blinded by it. We have no concept of what we are now and what we were that we still keep on holding to the culture of others in search for who we are. We are still the "brown Americans" and the "Indios" based on the way we act and define ourselves.

Yes. It is important to look at the past and learn from it but is it really necessary to be stuck in it? Is it really necessary that we have this terrible amnesia that makes us forget the remaining decades beyond those years?  The reason why we can not move on and not move forward is because we keep glorifying our past without making the steps to go back and regain that former glory. 

Look at our music, our films and our telenovelas. We say it is Original. That it is Pinoy. But is it, really?

Beyond the name

It is not the name of our country that needs changing. It is our nation that needs the scrubbing down.

Sure, merge our cultures. But never forget who we are.

This Gap: The growing indifference of the people

We have become indifferent.

There's no denying this... that there is this large majority among us that has turned blind and deaf with the plight of the people around us, especially the things that our poor brethren face in their daily. The society has taught us, as always, to be insensitive and to justify our actions by saying that they may just be con artists; thieves who use deceit to steal. In a world were we don't give a damn about others and only care only about our own needs, what could you expect?

There is this large lack of love, a large gap in our compassionate actions; we choose who to help, who to understand and who to share our pain with -- things that command that we help only those we can trust in this country so ironically called as the only "Christian" country in this region surrounded by peoples of different beliefs... a twist that just says that we are a people that's full of talk but lacks in any action. Religion aside, Christian or not, why do we not care about the people around us?

We say do this, share this, give this and that to help... but behind this mask of "kindness" what have we become? We only help the poor when everyone is looking at us, judging our every movement but when the spotlight is gone, how many among us could shed a light in this dark alley of hunger? We only help the people that we consider as friends, but how many among us care about the outcasts, those faces that we see each day but don't even bother to know?

We only care when people see.

How blind have we become!

We only hear once the worst has come.

How deaf of us!

We only act when disaster has struck... when the visible disaster has happened. But, beyond that, we make ourselves useless.

When will we change?

Flowing politics: The state of today

Why, oh, why would you start fixing the roads and making solutions to our flooding problems only when the need for it arises? 

The problem in our society is that we fail to foresee the future, and in doing so we are risking it for the pleasures (or problems) of now. We only act once the worse of the beast has shown itself, when the enemy has arrived and has carted its victims away and thus we are never truly prepared for anything. Look at Manila, the "great" capital of this dear country, it has been facing floods for decades now and still, there is no concrete action to fix this problem. 

And now, as always, there's always the blame game for every situation that arises: The people that prided themselves as heads and chairmen of departments pointing fingers at each other in the quest to finding the culprit! The drainage system of most of Manila, and probably the general islands of this country, are terribly inadequate to the amount of rainfall these areas face annually. Far too inadequate! 

Moving on, why do the problems persist? Or why in goth's sake do we fix the roads of Aguinaldo Highway over and over again at that very crucial area that dictates the outcome of the traffic in Cavite? Yearly, we do nothing! Or what we do is just not enough. Those living in esteros and the areas near it continue to throw waste to the waterways, the people continue on using plastic recklessly and we keep on using an inferior system in drainage. 

Wake up and smell the flood waters!

Malaya: A Definition of Freedom

Freedom: A question of Nationalism and Definition

"Hunyo a-dose, huwad na kalayaan!" (12th of June, fake independence!) They shouted as I looked forward. A sudden burst of noise in the somber celebration of the 115th anniversary of the declaration of Philippine Independence. Being the nosy person that I am, a news writer for some time for my school, I rushed to the back of the crowd to see the protesters being carted away and captured. (The video is on top)

What is freedom? The man being driven away by the police shouted at how we were not free. That this day is nothing more than a sham. That this day is nothing more than a show because how can we ever free if we cannot speak? To voice our problems, so he claims. They continued to shout, the teenagers struggled even as the cameras of different news networks pointed at them and even as the people blocked their faces, their mouths.

"Are we free?" The question lingered on as the speech of Senator Drilon blared through the speakers of the whole plaza of the Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine, once a simple home where independence was proclaimed from a humble window; the only act that I would ever admire from the man who killed and took the power of the masses for his own selfish purposes. 

Back to the 28th of May, there was nothing more than a small celebration for the rest of the country, a big party for the people of the City of Imus. Flag Day, so they called it, as it was the very day a century ago that the current Philippine flag was raised after the victory in the battle of Alapan; A marker and statue barely known to many stands proudly in the quiet of the school that now stands on what was once a battlefield. 

Flags waved, the colors the embodying what blares inside my chest: That want for a united Philippines that moves forward collectively and does not forget those that died when the light of independence was still dawning in the horizon. And that I am proud of me and the blood that flows through my veins, the blood of the heroes, the blood that flows through each and every pinoy's body.

I celebrated Flag Day with my flag. I waved it from my home to Imus City where I proudly waved it from my flag: some cheered, others murmured and some still sang the National Anthem as I passed by. From Alapan I biked on to Baldomero Aguinaldo's home: The home of the general-cousin of Emilio Aguinaldo, the falsely recognized first president of the country.

The first thing that greeted me are the flags the filled the outside of the house. And the flag that hung inside. 

Both flags being were from the war, the Old Glory and the Philippine Flag, I stood at gazed at it reverently... feeling the presence of the people that fought for it and died for the sake of this piece of cloth that embodies the body and soul of this humble nation and thought about the reverence people had for this flag: depending it and even displaying it even if went against the law of the American's during the occupation.

And now... well...

After that I went to the old city hall of the city of Imus, an old building from the days when the Americans governed this country, an evidence of this was the old seal of the commonwealth of the Philippines of the ceiling above the hall of the mayor. Everywhere, all around the city square there were flags that waved proudly atop every pole and every fence, they were there. 

Part of the celebrations, as always, was the performances and the concerts. The night lights glowed on the plaza dedicated to General Topacio, who would've been the candidate for presidency if he had not backed down. It was once beautiful, declared as one of the most magnificent ones in the whole archipelago the time it was built. Now it was the battlefield in the recent power struggles, defaced by the personal whims of the people that ruled the land.

I wondered, from my view of everything from the city hall's balcony, if they really understood what they were celebrating? Is this nothing more than a show of who is in power now like what they did later that night, announcing the winners of the recent elections on that very day? I went home, thinking about all this as I waved my flag, the flag that I loved for 11 years since I was a kid.

I was now used to the whispers. The ugly things they said as I passed by. But one comment stuck with me, and just hit me dead on: "Basahan lang yan (That's just a dirty cloth)." Something that a random citizen; a tricycle driver said as I passed by him. I dreaded it. Dead on, I just heard how some people see the flag I so much adored, this thing that people have fought for just to keep flying!

It pains me. Really. I asked to myself and to others: "What, to you, is this flag? Does it mean anything to you?"

Fast forward to the 12th of June. I wore my blue polo and leather shoes as I stepped on the wet ground, watching the parades as it passed in front of the crowds and the TV crews, carrying flags and banners of their own.

But what is freedom? Is it nothing more than a symbol? Are we, now, truly free?

There were still many questions from the crowds: From the internet and the people that protested there on the June 12th in Kawit, from moving the independence to the 4th of July once more to the protests of dismantling the government and the "imperialistic" system of this country.

For me, freedom is defined and can only be defined by the individual itself. 

Just like most things under the sun, we can define anything by our own standards. If we keep on defending the view that the government is at fault for the big number of unemployed people, does that not show a sense that you are dependent on the system? Then, in a sense, you are what makes you a prisoner. If you keep on blaming the system on your current financial standing, if you keep on saying that the government is why you are poor, then you are still dependent.

Because an individual is freed only by action made by oneself. We are what makes us free; but we are also what makes us prisoners, shackled by our own hands and made slave by our own desires. In the end, we are the key to freedom. If we keep on waiting for someone else to free us, then what's the point of seeking freedom?

To end this article, I would like to mention that the great Supremo, Andres Bonifacio, acted towards that. He was radical enough to see that change is in our hands. We can stop making the flag and the days that we celebrate as mere symbols, we have what we need to make them meaningful. We can have change ONLY if we move towards it.

We are change. We are freedom.

***

SOUTH BIKE fully supports any inquiries on the facts noted on this page or for any question regarding this article, the pictures and other materials on this blog. All pictures are property of South Bike and Midsummer Daydreams Film & Photography and may be used for any non-profit material, post and/or article. Information stated here in this blog have been culminated from research.

SOUTH BIKE BLOGS also conducts tour-for-hire. See the official facebook page of SOUTH BIKE BLOGS at www.facebook.com/SouthBikeBlogs for more details and for inquiries. 

MIDSUMMER DAYDREAMS FILM & PHOTOGRAPHY is the official amateur photography blog/page used by the administrator of South Bike blogs. It also runs as an unofficial photography company of above-mentioned individual and may be hired for any local photography shoots for assorted purposes. For details regarding this, e-mail MDF&P at jhonlerygorme@gmail.com