Monday, April 11, 2005
The People Will Build Their National Culture
Under the present prevailing system, there is little hope that mass culture will be liberating, if at all, represent the hopes and aspirations of the exploited classes of people. It does otherwise; it consciously or unconsciously protects the status quo by producing cultural works without even the simplest intrinsic humanistic values. As a result, Adorno says, “The attitude of the public, which ostensibly and actually favors the system of the culture industry, is a part of the system and not an excuse for it.” In this era of nonsensical cultural forms and cultural monopolies, the current order has succeeded in creating a tit-for-tat relationship among the purveyors of idiotizing mass culture and the people, in which the former provides the drugs for cultural addiction while the latter forgets the contradictions of their situation. It has also reached the stage in which mass culture is not coerced and forced upon the people by the ruling class but has turned into a consensual affair, with the ruling class asserting its hegemony over the masses, according to Antonio Gramsci. The cultural situation has been so problematic now that they have placed the people within its cultural structures instead of the people being separate from it all and producing their own kind of organic culture springing forth from the exploited classes. Moreover, all efforts to create this kind of organic culture into a culture of the masses has always turn to naught as it is not the people and its vanguard who hold the keys to economic and political power as the ruling class will always be the ones to dictate the norms and limitations of cultural form and substance.
The National Democratic Front best describes the entire situation:
Centuries of foreign and feudal rule have built up a culture of subservience, blind imitation of foreign things and backward thinking, a culture which has made foreign and feudal exploitation and oppression palatable or unrecognizable.
As such, forcing a national culture in this kind of system will be a quixotic dream. The only recourse then is for the people to wage a national-democratic cultural revolution to create the consciousness that will impel the people to fight and overthrow their oppressors and in the process, give birth to a national and progressive people's culture. (NDF 12-Pt Program) But such mass culture in that scope will never be complete unless the national-democratic revolution through revolutionary armed struggle has been finally won, as the prevailing cultural structures have been so ingrained in the minds of the people that purging altogether is a very difficult process.
On the other hand, the revolutionary vanguard must take it upon itself to propagate and advance a nationalist, scientific and mass-oriented culture. It is nationalist because it upholds and defends the sovereignty and independence of the Filipino nation, combating colonial mentality and subservience. It expresses a distinct Filipino character and embodies the richness of the cultures of various regions and areas, as well as those of the Bangsa Moro, the peoples of the Cordillera and other indigenous peoples in the country. (NDF 12-Point Program) It is scientific because it upholds the scientific outlook and methodology, and opposes feudal thinking, superstitions and ideas which keep the Filipino people in a world of ignorance and unfounded beliefs, values, practices and prejudices which render them resistant to revolutionary and liberating change. (NDF 12-Point Program) It is mass-oriented because it emanates from, and serves the interests of, the broad masses of the Filipino people, reflects their conditions and expresses their needs and aspirations, and combats prevailing decadent, bourgeois and feudal, anti-people and anti- women values embodied in cultural forms and their introduction and propagation. (NDF 12-Point Program)
The national-democratic cultural revolution against feudal-bourgeois forms of culture must take place now. It should be an intrinsic part of the propagandist agenda of the revolution in all fronts, especially the youth sector, as they have more luxury in engaging in cultural activities under the present reactionary system. The culture that we have now is part of the state’s wide array of ideological apparatuses to subvert the growing revolutionary fervor brought about by the intensifying social contradictions of the day. It is then essential for the revolutionary forces to provide an alternative mass culture which the masses can turn to and believe in, to inspire them to liberate themselves from chronic oppression and exploitation.
The National Democratic Front best describes the entire situation:
Centuries of foreign and feudal rule have built up a culture of subservience, blind imitation of foreign things and backward thinking, a culture which has made foreign and feudal exploitation and oppression palatable or unrecognizable.
As such, forcing a national culture in this kind of system will be a quixotic dream. The only recourse then is for the people to wage a national-democratic cultural revolution to create the consciousness that will impel the people to fight and overthrow their oppressors and in the process, give birth to a national and progressive people's culture. (NDF 12-Pt Program) But such mass culture in that scope will never be complete unless the national-democratic revolution through revolutionary armed struggle has been finally won, as the prevailing cultural structures have been so ingrained in the minds of the people that purging altogether is a very difficult process.
On the other hand, the revolutionary vanguard must take it upon itself to propagate and advance a nationalist, scientific and mass-oriented culture. It is nationalist because it upholds and defends the sovereignty and independence of the Filipino nation, combating colonial mentality and subservience. It expresses a distinct Filipino character and embodies the richness of the cultures of various regions and areas, as well as those of the Bangsa Moro, the peoples of the Cordillera and other indigenous peoples in the country. (NDF 12-Point Program) It is scientific because it upholds the scientific outlook and methodology, and opposes feudal thinking, superstitions and ideas which keep the Filipino people in a world of ignorance and unfounded beliefs, values, practices and prejudices which render them resistant to revolutionary and liberating change. (NDF 12-Point Program) It is mass-oriented because it emanates from, and serves the interests of, the broad masses of the Filipino people, reflects their conditions and expresses their needs and aspirations, and combats prevailing decadent, bourgeois and feudal, anti-people and anti- women values embodied in cultural forms and their introduction and propagation. (NDF 12-Point Program)
The national-democratic cultural revolution against feudal-bourgeois forms of culture must take place now. It should be an intrinsic part of the propagandist agenda of the revolution in all fronts, especially the youth sector, as they have more luxury in engaging in cultural activities under the present reactionary system. The culture that we have now is part of the state’s wide array of ideological apparatuses to subvert the growing revolutionary fervor brought about by the intensifying social contradictions of the day. It is then essential for the revolutionary forces to provide an alternative mass culture which the masses can turn to and believe in, to inspire them to liberate themselves from chronic oppression and exploitation.
The Death of Pope John Paul II: A Collective Outpouring of Grief That Misfocuses His Life
For the past three days, I kept a right watch on the developments at the Vatican, on how soon the Pontiff would pass away. Left-wing as I am, the man was part of my childhood as he seemed so strong-willed a person, despite his illnesses and jet-setting ventures. As a kid, he was the only Pope I ever knew that made me reaffirm the traditional faith that I had, before being seduced into the progressive world of liberation theology. Although he fought stringently against the revisionists in Eastern Europe, hell, he was one great man of the world.
But the focus of this piece is not to focus on how great his life was, but on the manner Western propaganda perceives him as such. If one was not too critical about it, it can be safely assumed that the guy is a candidate for sainthood! The West is winning a propaganda war, even before the old man died. With comprehensive coverage by its top media running dog CNN, they are making the world believe that his death was so significant an event to permit a world in mourning, even in the world’s rogue states such as China and Cuba.
But they had a serious error yesterday, when they interviewed Daniel Alvares, a Latin American Professor teaching in a Florida University, regarding the Pope’s impact in Latin America as a whole. The CNN anchorwoman was dumbfounded at his recalcitrant remarks because the Pope was lambasted for failing to address the deeper issues which the Church should have focused on, especially in the Third World, such as social justice and social equity. He quipped that his impact in Latin America is ambivalent and mixed. The Pontiff criticized the United States for its embargo in Cuba but crushed the brewing liberation theology movements in Latin America during the early years of his Papacy. He assigned right-wing clergy from the likes of Opus Dei as leaders of the Latin American Church, in the name of Christ, to suppress the growing unrest in these underdeveloped nations. The Pope played silent as the Latin Americans were punished by extreme foreign debt and backbreaking neo-liberal globalization, and the Church even supported CIA-inspired dictatorships in the region such as Pinochet in Chile. As the professor talked further on, he was cut by CNN.
Most might say that the timing for his discourse was wrong, but what he simply did was to put into perspective the life of John Paul II which merely gave the faithful pipe dreams of liberation and lip service on being the Church of the Poor. I would like to believe that hew really was sincere in his live for the youth, but sincerity and love does not take people out of generations of poverty and injustice. He did criticize wars of aggression but his conservatism even on life issues such as contraception and abortion and clergy matters such as celibacy and the involvement of women alienated a lot of the faithful who longed for a more progressive Church doctrine, veering away from the centuries-old feudal and patriarchal dogma. Although I am not sure on how to feel that he toppled the revisionist regimes in Eastern Europe, I am saddened at the fact that he never understood what the communists sacrificed their lives for – that it was also for human dignity and human freedom, and not otherwise, that he even decimated doctrinally the left-of-center liberation theology movements in the Third World, to the delight of his CIA friends.
Saying things like such are enough for me to be thrown stones at, especially at this time of mourning as the propaganda machine blinds the whole world about the value of his life. He was a good man, yes, and he did give hope and moral leadership. He did make history in apologizing to the Jews and the Muslims for centuries of Christian chauvinism and discrimination. But forgive me for saying that he was only playing his part in the good-cop, bad-cop arrangement of world leaders who back the current world order, to make the capitulation of the world’s people to capitalism more bearable and consensual at face-value. Consciously or not, the things that he did for the world were things that he had to do to maintain the existing status quo. He called the people to sacrifice in the face of poverty and injustice but did little to concretely address the roots of it. Contraception should have been a key proposal rather than the idealistic call to fidelity and abstinence in dealing with rising Third World population rates and AIDS.
CNN is now hailing him as an infallible hero of the world. The local media internationally is now using that line too. His death is now being used as a much-needed breather for the powers-that-be to suppress reports of rising death tolls in Iraq, increasing world oil barrel prices and criticisms over Paul Wolfowitz’ ascension to the World Bank. The inspiration and charisma he leaves to the world is being exploited now to make people forget for a while how sorry their lives are, reaffirm their faith and shun the overwhelming contradictions of their condition. Events like these put an ebb on struggle as most people sink to grief and sympathy rather than be inspired to struggle further on. It gives a needed respite for the oligarchs of the world from the intensifying pressure of the world’s people. It reproduces the relations of production to endurable heights once again.
The Pope will be buried in a few days and he’ll perhaps be drinking beer with Christ in heaven. But the suffering people remains and will again remember how impoverished their lives are, and hopefully struggle on and triumph soon enough.
But the focus of this piece is not to focus on how great his life was, but on the manner Western propaganda perceives him as such. If one was not too critical about it, it can be safely assumed that the guy is a candidate for sainthood! The West is winning a propaganda war, even before the old man died. With comprehensive coverage by its top media running dog CNN, they are making the world believe that his death was so significant an event to permit a world in mourning, even in the world’s rogue states such as China and Cuba.
But they had a serious error yesterday, when they interviewed Daniel Alvares, a Latin American Professor teaching in a Florida University, regarding the Pope’s impact in Latin America as a whole. The CNN anchorwoman was dumbfounded at his recalcitrant remarks because the Pope was lambasted for failing to address the deeper issues which the Church should have focused on, especially in the Third World, such as social justice and social equity. He quipped that his impact in Latin America is ambivalent and mixed. The Pontiff criticized the United States for its embargo in Cuba but crushed the brewing liberation theology movements in Latin America during the early years of his Papacy. He assigned right-wing clergy from the likes of Opus Dei as leaders of the Latin American Church, in the name of Christ, to suppress the growing unrest in these underdeveloped nations. The Pope played silent as the Latin Americans were punished by extreme foreign debt and backbreaking neo-liberal globalization, and the Church even supported CIA-inspired dictatorships in the region such as Pinochet in Chile. As the professor talked further on, he was cut by CNN.
Most might say that the timing for his discourse was wrong, but what he simply did was to put into perspective the life of John Paul II which merely gave the faithful pipe dreams of liberation and lip service on being the Church of the Poor. I would like to believe that hew really was sincere in his live for the youth, but sincerity and love does not take people out of generations of poverty and injustice. He did criticize wars of aggression but his conservatism even on life issues such as contraception and abortion and clergy matters such as celibacy and the involvement of women alienated a lot of the faithful who longed for a more progressive Church doctrine, veering away from the centuries-old feudal and patriarchal dogma. Although I am not sure on how to feel that he toppled the revisionist regimes in Eastern Europe, I am saddened at the fact that he never understood what the communists sacrificed their lives for – that it was also for human dignity and human freedom, and not otherwise, that he even decimated doctrinally the left-of-center liberation theology movements in the Third World, to the delight of his CIA friends.
Saying things like such are enough for me to be thrown stones at, especially at this time of mourning as the propaganda machine blinds the whole world about the value of his life. He was a good man, yes, and he did give hope and moral leadership. He did make history in apologizing to the Jews and the Muslims for centuries of Christian chauvinism and discrimination. But forgive me for saying that he was only playing his part in the good-cop, bad-cop arrangement of world leaders who back the current world order, to make the capitulation of the world’s people to capitalism more bearable and consensual at face-value. Consciously or not, the things that he did for the world were things that he had to do to maintain the existing status quo. He called the people to sacrifice in the face of poverty and injustice but did little to concretely address the roots of it. Contraception should have been a key proposal rather than the idealistic call to fidelity and abstinence in dealing with rising Third World population rates and AIDS.
CNN is now hailing him as an infallible hero of the world. The local media internationally is now using that line too. His death is now being used as a much-needed breather for the powers-that-be to suppress reports of rising death tolls in Iraq, increasing world oil barrel prices and criticisms over Paul Wolfowitz’ ascension to the World Bank. The inspiration and charisma he leaves to the world is being exploited now to make people forget for a while how sorry their lives are, reaffirm their faith and shun the overwhelming contradictions of their condition. Events like these put an ebb on struggle as most people sink to grief and sympathy rather than be inspired to struggle further on. It gives a needed respite for the oligarchs of the world from the intensifying pressure of the world’s people. It reproduces the relations of production to endurable heights once again.
The Pope will be buried in a few days and he’ll perhaps be drinking beer with Christ in heaven. But the suffering people remains and will again remember how impoverished their lives are, and hopefully struggle on and triumph soon enough.
Awit ng Pag-Asa: Awit ng Masang Nakikibaka
Kahit kay haba ng lalakbayin
Daang tag-araw man ang humagupit
Kahit ilang libong tag-ulan ang sumapit
Hinding-hindi tayo titigil
Ang Awit ng Pag-asa ay simbolo ng pakikibaka ng pambansa-demokratikong kilusan. Walang tigil ang pakikipaglaban para sa sambayanan hanggang sa makamtan ang tagumpay. Hindi mapapagod ang mga kasama sa pag-oorganisa at pagmumulat ng masa sapagkat tunay at totoo ang mga prinsipyo at adhikain ipinaglalaban. Matagal man ang panahon bago mapalaya ang sambayanan api, matagal man ang digmang bayan, hindi dapat napanghihinaan ng loob ang mga kasama sapagkat dalisay ang hangarin at kailanman hindi makasarili kundi para sa mas nakararami.
Malinaw ang mithiin ng pambansa-demokratikong kilusan. Hindi natitinag ang ideyalismo ng mga kasama, lalo na ng hukbo, kahit tuyo at gulay ang lagging pagkain sa mga sonang gerilya; kahit kulang ang pambayad sa mga pambansang opisina; kahit talo man sa eleksiyon sa mga konseho; kahit sa punto man ng kamatayan sa kamay ng mga kaaway. Tuloy lang sa pakikibaka sapagkat hindi langit ang pagitan ng pagtutupad ng mga pangarap ng kalayaan at katarungan. Sa puspusang pakikibaka, darating din ang araw na magtatagpo rin ang pakikibaka at tadhana ng sambayanang pinagsasamantalahan.
Tayong manggagawa at magsasaka
Sambayanan ay muling babangon
Ipagtatagumpay ang bawat labanan
Sa buong daigdig
Ang kantang ito ay hindi lamang tungkol sa simpleng pagmamahal sa kapwa, o sa sambayanan man, kundi ang higit na mahirap na tungkuling mulatin ang masa at ikawing ang kanilang pakikibaka sa pambansa-demokratikong linya upang sila ay ganap na lumaya mula sa tanikala ng mga saligang problema ng bansa. Subalit ang mga kantang itong tigib ng ahitasyon ay hindi bahagi ng kulturang masang tinatangkilik ng mamamayan sa ngayon. Mga kasama lang sa kilusan ang nakaaalam ng kantang ito pati ang masang naiimpluwensiyahan lamang nito. Ang malawak na hanay ng di-organisadong masa hanggang ngayon ay nababaliw pa rin sa mga hungkag na kanta ni Bayani Agbayani at Sex Bomb Dancers. Ang paborito kong kantang Kanlungan ng Buklod nga ay hindi nakilala sa loob ng mahabang panahon subalit naisambulat sa kamalayan ng masa dahil naging kanta ito ng isang komersyal ng McDo. Kinilig ang masa sa kanta sapagkat maganda naman talaga ang himig, ngunit pupusta akong hindi nila naunawaan ang malalim na teoretikal na basehan ng buong kanta. Imbes na magamit bilang kantang nakapagpapalaya, naging daan pa ito upang pagsamantalahan ng mga taong siyang nanlilinlang sa damdamin ng masa. Ang nais ko lang naman sabihin ay ang mga kantang ito ay hindi dapat para lang sa atin, kundi, higit pa, bilang instrumentong nakapagpapabago ng pag-iisip at nakapaggaganyak sa masa upang magsimulang makibaka para sa kanyang karapatan. Alam ko namang tulad ng pag-oorganisa hindi rin ganoon kadali ang sinasabi ko, sapagkat sa pakikibaka at kontradiksyon naman unang napapanday ang pagkakaisa ng mga tao.
Subalit nakita ko noon sa Hacienda Luisita ang kapangyarihan ng mga kantang rebolusyunaryo tulad ng Awit ng Pag-asa. Ang mga kantang ito ay may kakayahang makapagkonsolida ng hanay ng masa, lalo ng kabataan upang pukawin ang ideyalismo nila, sapagkat ang mga kanta, ay bahagi rin naman ng kolektibong karanasan ng mamamayan Saan ka nakakita ng batang kinakanta na ng buo ang Sayaw sa Bubog! Hindi man nila gaano maunawaan pa ang kanta sa musmos nilang edad, siguradong nakatatak na sa likuran ng kanilang mga utak ang mensahe ng pakikibaka nakapaloob sa talinghaga ng mga kanta, at kung dumating man ang panahon na sa kanila na nakaatang ang responsibilidad na magpatuloy ng laban, wala akong dudang sila ang mauuna sa pagtugon sa kahilingan. Kultura ang sumusuporta sa pampulitikang konsolidasyon.
Patunay lamang ito na walang nagbabago dahil sa ganda o tindi ng ahitasyon ng isang kanta. Hindi naman napabagsak ng Imagine ni John Lennon ang kapitalismo, o ng Winds of Change ang Berlin Wall; o napatigil ng Blowing in the Wind ang digmaan sa Vietnam, lalong hindi maipagtatagumpay ang pambasa-demokratikong rebolusyon sa pamamagitan ng Awit ng Pag-asa. Huwag na nating pangarapin na sisikat pa ito at mamahalin ng masa tulad ng pagmamahal nila sa Ocho-ocho sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang sistema. Siguro kung gamitin ito sa komersyal o gawing theme song ng World Youth Day, puwede pa siguro. Pero malabong mangyaring patugtugin ito sa radyo upang marinig ng mamamayan. Walang puwang sa ilalim ng ganitong uri ng kalakaran ang mga awit na nakapagpapalaya ng isipan.
Subalit ang mahalaga ay magsilbing inspirasyon ang kanta sa maraming kasama, lalo na ang masang aktibista, upang pag-ibayuhin ang pagpapalawak ng hanay ng masang naoorganisa nang sa ganoon, higit na maraming mamamayan ang mapukaw sa landas ng pagrerebolusyon. Hindi naman kasi tayo ang may hawak ng susi ng tagumpay.
Ocho-Ocho Na Naman!
I have a three-year old niece who happens to be very cute and cuddly. She is the quintessential bibo – blabbering about, biting people, sticking out her tongue to a crowd, endlessly repeating a favorite incomprehensible phrase and dancing to the tune of Chocoleit, Ocho-Ocho and Ispageti. What a stunning contrast to the chill out dance tunes I rave about for weeks on end! But boy is she great in mimicking the afternoon dancers as they dance the songs by Bayani Agbayani and the Sex Bomb Girls!
There seems to be a resurgence in Pinoy novelty songs lately – those funny gibberish songs meant to please and amuse people, particularly the masa, coupled with dance steps by girls in skimpy clothes and dance contests by Eat Bulaga or Wowowie. And the tradition of songs like such stretches further back, earlier than the Porkchop Duo and Yoyoy Villame’s Abutsikik. Novelty songs these days have been so popular and have gained so much airplay that Ocho-Ocho is more recognizable to the youth than any other traditional Filipino song, next, sadly, to the Philippine anthem, with matching body jerks!
There, then, goes the rub. I fully understand that one of the reasons of the resilience of the Pinoy spirit despite tremendous odds is our sense of humor and happiness and penchant for comedy, including all the Filipino values such as persistence and perseverance, inherent therein. But Ocho-ocho has pushed the threshold a little bit too far. A year after its release in the airwaves, it is still being danced on television with matching music video, played on the YES FM and Love Radio and even on school gatherings! And my niece, who’s only three years old, knows the steps already! This phenomena says a lot of the culture that the masses adhere to and cherish; the songs they sing and dance to, radio stations they listen to, and the kind of lives they all lead. And it is a stupefying experience. It is an addiction that makes the watch-your-car kid along Quezon Avenue happy whenever he sees someone dancing it. It makes the lolo and the lola(my parents) excited when they see my niece do the body jerks. It makes the passengers of an FX taxi tuned to Kailangan pa bang Imemorize Yan YES FM forget their troubles at work, if at all, they’re employed. It makes the audience of the urban poor barangay’s gay beauty pageant jeer with glee when the gay manikurista shakes his booty during the talent portion. The song is creating zombies out of the people, leaving them dumb in their enjoyment.
While it is true that no song can change the world, but Ocho-ocho and others are the new opium of the masses. It makes them forget the backwardness of their lives, the contradictions of their situation. It desensitizes them from feeling how deeply enmeshed they are in the quagmire of poverty and ignorance. A culture, then, that permits this is a culture without conscience, a way of life without meaning. It turns the people into drones detaching from them their capacity for intelligent social critique and struggle.
Who then stands to gain from a people seduced by an irresponsible popular culture? Who else but the reactionary ruling class, doing all means to quell the ever growing struggle of the people, from armed force to low-intensity conflicts such as penetrating the elements of mass culture. It is an elaborate schema. As they strangle the people in their misery, songs like such serve as the perennial morphine to take the pain away for a little while; as the people start rotting in their wretched conditions brought forth by the contradictions in the relations of production.
The makes them forget the conflicts in which their class has always been the exploited one. It makes them turn to short-term solutions to age-old problems such as joining the afternoon variety show contests for its daily prizes and entering charismatic groups to create a quasi-power center for the forever marginalized people. Though the song puts smiles on the faces of our impoverished people, it does not destroy the structures that rendered them ignorant and disempowered in the first place. Songs like these does not liberate the people from their chains. The kind of happiness they know now is too temporary and too transient.
It obliterates the urgency of struggle.
There seems to be a resurgence in Pinoy novelty songs lately – those funny gibberish songs meant to please and amuse people, particularly the masa, coupled with dance steps by girls in skimpy clothes and dance contests by Eat Bulaga or Wowowie. And the tradition of songs like such stretches further back, earlier than the Porkchop Duo and Yoyoy Villame’s Abutsikik. Novelty songs these days have been so popular and have gained so much airplay that Ocho-Ocho is more recognizable to the youth than any other traditional Filipino song, next, sadly, to the Philippine anthem, with matching body jerks!
There, then, goes the rub. I fully understand that one of the reasons of the resilience of the Pinoy spirit despite tremendous odds is our sense of humor and happiness and penchant for comedy, including all the Filipino values such as persistence and perseverance, inherent therein. But Ocho-ocho has pushed the threshold a little bit too far. A year after its release in the airwaves, it is still being danced on television with matching music video, played on the YES FM and Love Radio and even on school gatherings! And my niece, who’s only three years old, knows the steps already! This phenomena says a lot of the culture that the masses adhere to and cherish; the songs they sing and dance to, radio stations they listen to, and the kind of lives they all lead. And it is a stupefying experience. It is an addiction that makes the watch-your-car kid along Quezon Avenue happy whenever he sees someone dancing it. It makes the lolo and the lola(my parents) excited when they see my niece do the body jerks. It makes the passengers of an FX taxi tuned to Kailangan pa bang Imemorize Yan YES FM forget their troubles at work, if at all, they’re employed. It makes the audience of the urban poor barangay’s gay beauty pageant jeer with glee when the gay manikurista shakes his booty during the talent portion. The song is creating zombies out of the people, leaving them dumb in their enjoyment.
While it is true that no song can change the world, but Ocho-ocho and others are the new opium of the masses. It makes them forget the backwardness of their lives, the contradictions of their situation. It desensitizes them from feeling how deeply enmeshed they are in the quagmire of poverty and ignorance. A culture, then, that permits this is a culture without conscience, a way of life without meaning. It turns the people into drones detaching from them their capacity for intelligent social critique and struggle.
Who then stands to gain from a people seduced by an irresponsible popular culture? Who else but the reactionary ruling class, doing all means to quell the ever growing struggle of the people, from armed force to low-intensity conflicts such as penetrating the elements of mass culture. It is an elaborate schema. As they strangle the people in their misery, songs like such serve as the perennial morphine to take the pain away for a little while; as the people start rotting in their wretched conditions brought forth by the contradictions in the relations of production.
The makes them forget the conflicts in which their class has always been the exploited one. It makes them turn to short-term solutions to age-old problems such as joining the afternoon variety show contests for its daily prizes and entering charismatic groups to create a quasi-power center for the forever marginalized people. Though the song puts smiles on the faces of our impoverished people, it does not destroy the structures that rendered them ignorant and disempowered in the first place. Songs like these does not liberate the people from their chains. The kind of happiness they know now is too temporary and too transient.
It obliterates the urgency of struggle.
Personal ni Rene Villanueva: The Individual and Society
I am retracting what I said regarding Villanueva’s autobiography as reflective of the story of the people.
Although the chapters did present common stories of the masa and the lower middle classes during the pre-martial law years, especially on the matter of the disintegration of traditional customs to give way to the urban way of life. He talked passionately about the bargain techie center of Raon and the rundown theaters of Avenida. Also, he contemplated on the dysfunctional traditional family that he have which persisted in upholding traditional Pinoy customs in the middle of suburban La Loma. It presented serious problems to Rene especially when he was not allowed to take the UPCAT by his parents.
Yes, the book did talk about common stories of the people in the urban areas, but he stopped short of creating an autobiography that contained nuances on the politics and crises of those times. It played silent to the gripping issues that should have had been a part of the psyche of an urban row of apartments cum slum in Quezon City. It did not and instead focused on day-to-day activities such as the amazement of people over television and radio and the black-and-white girlie mags of those days, and the double-header films for cheap-ass poor folk.
It did reflect mass culture, but it failed to capture the struggles, hopes and aspirations of a people exploited and oppressed. Hell, he did not even talk about an evicted apartment tenant who could not pay, which was common place in any lower middle class apartment. He looked down with pity and compassion on those people he left in La Loma went he rose to fame writing his plays but ended at just that – feeling pity to stop feeling guilty that he left them behind to rise on his own. He reflected on his grade school days in the burned Ramon Magsaysay Elementary School and boy was he proud of his being a product of the public education system. But none in the book were there mentions regarding why the public schools now are at the gutters of education indices.
He probably idolized Saarte with his existentialist angst, and the individualism brought forth by the entire postmodernist urge to cease problematizing things, especially grand narratives such as that of the collective spirit of struggle and hope. I would have to admit that I was swayed by the talinghagas of the book but in retrospect, towards what good are books like such if it does not even liberate us petty-bourgeois intellectuals about our responsibility to take up the cudgels of struggle in alliance with oppressed sectors and classes of Philippine society. To write even an autobiography like such is saddening even, because he himself came from down below and stopped short at criticizing the poverty he was enmeshed with for a good number of years. I know that he is a prolific writer, that he has the poetic license to write such things, as though it were only for art’s sake and posterity. But that precisely is the critique of this piece on writers and intellectuals who put themselves on a pedestal far from the experiences and struggles of the people. It was great to learn about his childhood and nuances in cultures of those times, but at the same time, the period in which he lived contained people’s struggles that deserved notice other than talking merely about one’s growing up years as people can never separate themselves from the society in which they live, no matter how sorry their fate is. Society itself dictates how they are supposed to live.
I’d like to theorize though, that sometimes this is the tragedy of brilliant and gifted people who were born poor but made it out big in their fields of expertise. They lose track of the concept of their class and devote themselves to the lifelong dream of upward social mobility and leave their sorry neighbors and friends in their quagmire of poverty. They tend to forget to whom they owe their lives and for whom they should sacrifice their lives. Instead of fighting for the people’s rights writers like these are the one who even capitulate to the fangs of the ruling system and evens ell themselves to be living showcases in state infomercials on how the poor boy can fulfill his dreams through luck and perseverance.
Gripping poverty drives people to anger and desensitizes them from believing that one day everyone can be champions of their own destinies, as a class and as a people. I hope such did/does not happen to Rene Villanueva. The revolution needs more writers who can explain the struggle to the broader masses of people.
Although the chapters did present common stories of the masa and the lower middle classes during the pre-martial law years, especially on the matter of the disintegration of traditional customs to give way to the urban way of life. He talked passionately about the bargain techie center of Raon and the rundown theaters of Avenida. Also, he contemplated on the dysfunctional traditional family that he have which persisted in upholding traditional Pinoy customs in the middle of suburban La Loma. It presented serious problems to Rene especially when he was not allowed to take the UPCAT by his parents.
Yes, the book did talk about common stories of the people in the urban areas, but he stopped short of creating an autobiography that contained nuances on the politics and crises of those times. It played silent to the gripping issues that should have had been a part of the psyche of an urban row of apartments cum slum in Quezon City. It did not and instead focused on day-to-day activities such as the amazement of people over television and radio and the black-and-white girlie mags of those days, and the double-header films for cheap-ass poor folk.
It did reflect mass culture, but it failed to capture the struggles, hopes and aspirations of a people exploited and oppressed. Hell, he did not even talk about an evicted apartment tenant who could not pay, which was common place in any lower middle class apartment. He looked down with pity and compassion on those people he left in La Loma went he rose to fame writing his plays but ended at just that – feeling pity to stop feeling guilty that he left them behind to rise on his own. He reflected on his grade school days in the burned Ramon Magsaysay Elementary School and boy was he proud of his being a product of the public education system. But none in the book were there mentions regarding why the public schools now are at the gutters of education indices.
He probably idolized Saarte with his existentialist angst, and the individualism brought forth by the entire postmodernist urge to cease problematizing things, especially grand narratives such as that of the collective spirit of struggle and hope. I would have to admit that I was swayed by the talinghagas of the book but in retrospect, towards what good are books like such if it does not even liberate us petty-bourgeois intellectuals about our responsibility to take up the cudgels of struggle in alliance with oppressed sectors and classes of Philippine society. To write even an autobiography like such is saddening even, because he himself came from down below and stopped short at criticizing the poverty he was enmeshed with for a good number of years. I know that he is a prolific writer, that he has the poetic license to write such things, as though it were only for art’s sake and posterity. But that precisely is the critique of this piece on writers and intellectuals who put themselves on a pedestal far from the experiences and struggles of the people. It was great to learn about his childhood and nuances in cultures of those times, but at the same time, the period in which he lived contained people’s struggles that deserved notice other than talking merely about one’s growing up years as people can never separate themselves from the society in which they live, no matter how sorry their fate is. Society itself dictates how they are supposed to live.
I’d like to theorize though, that sometimes this is the tragedy of brilliant and gifted people who were born poor but made it out big in their fields of expertise. They lose track of the concept of their class and devote themselves to the lifelong dream of upward social mobility and leave their sorry neighbors and friends in their quagmire of poverty. They tend to forget to whom they owe their lives and for whom they should sacrifice their lives. Instead of fighting for the people’s rights writers like these are the one who even capitulate to the fangs of the ruling system and evens ell themselves to be living showcases in state infomercials on how the poor boy can fulfill his dreams through luck and perseverance.
Gripping poverty drives people to anger and desensitizes them from believing that one day everyone can be champions of their own destinies, as a class and as a people. I hope such did/does not happen to Rene Villanueva. The revolution needs more writers who can explain the struggle to the broader masses of people.
Ang Pelikulang Dekada ’70: Malabnaw na Melodrama ng Henerasyong Nakikibaka
Two birds with one stone ito. Collectivist supposedly na nahulog sa bitag ng indibidwalistikong kadramahan.
Una kong nabasa yung nobela ni Lualhati Bautista noong 2nd year high school, taong 1999 sa Filipino class ko sa Mataas na Paaralan ng Ateneo at naantig na ako noon pa lamang sa buhay na tinahak ng mga aktibistang kabataan sa pakikibaka laban sa rehimen. Hindi ko nalimutan ang pangako ng payapang pampang para sa mga sumuong sa mga alon sa panahon ng unos.
Ganunpaman, napanood kong muli ang Dekada habang walang magawa noong Holy Week. Ang pagsusuri ko noong lumabas ito para sa filmfest at ang pagsusuri ko noong Mahal na Araw ay hindi nagbago. Totoo, ito ay kuwento ng panahong pambihira. Ang mga tauhan mismo ng Dekada ay sumasalim sa mga klase ng tao, kabataan na umiiral noon sa panahon ng diktadura, kasama ang iba-ibang personal tunggaliang kaakibat nito. Subalit hindi nasinsin ng pelikula ang esensiya ng nobela ni Lualhati Bautista. Totoo na bahagi ng mga tunggalian ang it’s a man’s world na tema at ang pakikibaka para sa emsipasyon ng kababaihan mula sa isang patriarkal na lipunan. Kaya lang sinobrahan naman nila. Naging simpleng usapin na lamang tuloy ito ng pagmamahal ni Vilma sa kanyang mga anak na tumahak ng iba-ibang landas na may asawang chauvinist pig. Hindi ko naman minamaliit ang temang ito na sinubok nilang ipalabas, subalit nagmukha kasi siyang pilit habang pinipilit ni Vilma na umiyak sa pamumundok ni Piolo Pascual. Haluan ba naman ng melodramang may masang panlasa ang isang adapatasyon ng isang dakilang nobela! Dahil dito naging hungkag ang buong pelikula sa pagpapakita ng kadalisayan ng pakikipaglaban at pakikipagdigma laban sa pasismo ng bansa, para sa pagpapalaya ng sambayanang api! Naging simpleng pelikulang pampamilya na lamang siya, ala Tanging Yaman na may pintig sa puso sa sukdulan. Hindi rin naman kasi ito dapat simpleng usapin ng pagninilay ng isang nanay ukol sa kanyang sarili at kanyang pamilya kaya lang ito mismo ang siyang temang tanging matatandaan ng masa manonood kung hindi nila palalalimin ang kanilang pagsusuri. Tipong kahit nasa gitna ang lipunang Pilipino ng isang matinding krisis, basta’t tayo’y sama-sama, ok lang iyon. Magkakasama naman tayo bilang pamilya. Pinilit na nga rin yung pagiging repormistang pamilya nila sa dulo ng pelikula. Sa esensiya kasi, si Vilma lang naman talaga ang nabigyan ng masusing pagpapalalim sa istorya na bagamat ang kuwento niya ay marahil kuwento ng napakaraming maybahay ng bansa, hindi naman naging malinaw ang mga dahilan kung bakit sila nalugmok sa ganoong pagkakapahiya sa simula’t simula.
Dahil ang kuwento naman talaga ng Dekada 70 ay kuwento ng isang henerasyon; silang kabataan noong dakilang dekadang iyong nangahas na lansagin ang lumang konserbatismo ng bansa at manindigan para sa pagbabago ng lipunan sa pamamagitan ng iba’t ibang porma ng pakikibaka habang bitbit lamang ang ideyalismo at pangarap para sa isang lipunang makatarungan. Sinubukan ng dekada 70 na magpalalim sa mga klase ng kabataang humubog ng mga makasaysayang taong iyon at bahagyang nagtagumpay sa pagpapakita nito. Maganda rin naman ang mga eksenang inilahad ang buhay ni Jules bilang masang aktibista, konde, kadre at hukbo ng rebolusyunaryong kilusan sapagkat hindi nagkimi ang pelikula sa pagsabing kinailangang gawin ito ng libo-libong kabataan tulad nina Eman Lacaba at Edgar Jopson para tiyaking may kinabukasan pang dadatnan ang susunod na mga henerasyon ng kabataang Pilipino. Naging magulang sana natin sina Jules, Eman, Edjop at Lorena ngayon kung hindi sila nagsakripisyo ng buhay para sa sambayanan. Mabuti at binigyang puwang ang katotohanang ito ng pelikula.
Kaya lang sa kadulu-duluhan, ang problema naman lagi ay hindi ang pagka-unawa ko ng katotohanang ito, kundi ang pagkatanto ng masa rito, higit sa iyak at tangis ni Vilma. Tataya akong hindi, sapagkat hindi naman ito talagang ibinandera ng pelikula sapagkat malamang, hindi rin naiintindihan ng mga prodyuser ng pelikula ang simulain at adhikain ng kilusang pinagbuwisan ng buhay ng finest sons and daughters ng bayan, kundi ang simpleng pag-iisip siguro na sign of the times lang iyon, at hindi pangmatagalan, kaya nga ginawa na lang silang Cory reformers sa katapusan. Ang hindi nila alam, pinanindigan noon ng kabataan ng Dekada 70 ay pareho pa rin ang pinaglalaban ng kabataan ngayong bagong milenyo, sapagkat wala naman talagang nagbago, may Marcos man o wala, globa man ngayon o hindi. State apparatuses nga naman talaga.
Una kong nabasa yung nobela ni Lualhati Bautista noong 2nd year high school, taong 1999 sa Filipino class ko sa Mataas na Paaralan ng Ateneo at naantig na ako noon pa lamang sa buhay na tinahak ng mga aktibistang kabataan sa pakikibaka laban sa rehimen. Hindi ko nalimutan ang pangako ng payapang pampang para sa mga sumuong sa mga alon sa panahon ng unos.
Ganunpaman, napanood kong muli ang Dekada habang walang magawa noong Holy Week. Ang pagsusuri ko noong lumabas ito para sa filmfest at ang pagsusuri ko noong Mahal na Araw ay hindi nagbago. Totoo, ito ay kuwento ng panahong pambihira. Ang mga tauhan mismo ng Dekada ay sumasalim sa mga klase ng tao, kabataan na umiiral noon sa panahon ng diktadura, kasama ang iba-ibang personal tunggaliang kaakibat nito. Subalit hindi nasinsin ng pelikula ang esensiya ng nobela ni Lualhati Bautista. Totoo na bahagi ng mga tunggalian ang it’s a man’s world na tema at ang pakikibaka para sa emsipasyon ng kababaihan mula sa isang patriarkal na lipunan. Kaya lang sinobrahan naman nila. Naging simpleng usapin na lamang tuloy ito ng pagmamahal ni Vilma sa kanyang mga anak na tumahak ng iba-ibang landas na may asawang chauvinist pig. Hindi ko naman minamaliit ang temang ito na sinubok nilang ipalabas, subalit nagmukha kasi siyang pilit habang pinipilit ni Vilma na umiyak sa pamumundok ni Piolo Pascual. Haluan ba naman ng melodramang may masang panlasa ang isang adapatasyon ng isang dakilang nobela! Dahil dito naging hungkag ang buong pelikula sa pagpapakita ng kadalisayan ng pakikipaglaban at pakikipagdigma laban sa pasismo ng bansa, para sa pagpapalaya ng sambayanang api! Naging simpleng pelikulang pampamilya na lamang siya, ala Tanging Yaman na may pintig sa puso sa sukdulan. Hindi rin naman kasi ito dapat simpleng usapin ng pagninilay ng isang nanay ukol sa kanyang sarili at kanyang pamilya kaya lang ito mismo ang siyang temang tanging matatandaan ng masa manonood kung hindi nila palalalimin ang kanilang pagsusuri. Tipong kahit nasa gitna ang lipunang Pilipino ng isang matinding krisis, basta’t tayo’y sama-sama, ok lang iyon. Magkakasama naman tayo bilang pamilya. Pinilit na nga rin yung pagiging repormistang pamilya nila sa dulo ng pelikula. Sa esensiya kasi, si Vilma lang naman talaga ang nabigyan ng masusing pagpapalalim sa istorya na bagamat ang kuwento niya ay marahil kuwento ng napakaraming maybahay ng bansa, hindi naman naging malinaw ang mga dahilan kung bakit sila nalugmok sa ganoong pagkakapahiya sa simula’t simula.
Dahil ang kuwento naman talaga ng Dekada 70 ay kuwento ng isang henerasyon; silang kabataan noong dakilang dekadang iyong nangahas na lansagin ang lumang konserbatismo ng bansa at manindigan para sa pagbabago ng lipunan sa pamamagitan ng iba’t ibang porma ng pakikibaka habang bitbit lamang ang ideyalismo at pangarap para sa isang lipunang makatarungan. Sinubukan ng dekada 70 na magpalalim sa mga klase ng kabataang humubog ng mga makasaysayang taong iyon at bahagyang nagtagumpay sa pagpapakita nito. Maganda rin naman ang mga eksenang inilahad ang buhay ni Jules bilang masang aktibista, konde, kadre at hukbo ng rebolusyunaryong kilusan sapagkat hindi nagkimi ang pelikula sa pagsabing kinailangang gawin ito ng libo-libong kabataan tulad nina Eman Lacaba at Edgar Jopson para tiyaking may kinabukasan pang dadatnan ang susunod na mga henerasyon ng kabataang Pilipino. Naging magulang sana natin sina Jules, Eman, Edjop at Lorena ngayon kung hindi sila nagsakripisyo ng buhay para sa sambayanan. Mabuti at binigyang puwang ang katotohanang ito ng pelikula.
Kaya lang sa kadulu-duluhan, ang problema naman lagi ay hindi ang pagka-unawa ko ng katotohanang ito, kundi ang pagkatanto ng masa rito, higit sa iyak at tangis ni Vilma. Tataya akong hindi, sapagkat hindi naman ito talagang ibinandera ng pelikula sapagkat malamang, hindi rin naiintindihan ng mga prodyuser ng pelikula ang simulain at adhikain ng kilusang pinagbuwisan ng buhay ng finest sons and daughters ng bayan, kundi ang simpleng pag-iisip siguro na sign of the times lang iyon, at hindi pangmatagalan, kaya nga ginawa na lang silang Cory reformers sa katapusan. Ang hindi nila alam, pinanindigan noon ng kabataan ng Dekada 70 ay pareho pa rin ang pinaglalaban ng kabataan ngayong bagong milenyo, sapagkat wala naman talagang nagbago, may Marcos man o wala, globa man ngayon o hindi. State apparatuses nga naman talaga.
