Accents
Aliwasa: concert by the river
Friday night of Sept. 29, the Barbecue Park by the Iloilo River was alive with the sound of music -- protest songs that pulsate with restlessness in the heart, passionate love for Bayan Ko, yes, your country and mine, and a solemn call for action.
ALIWASA is the name writ large on the ticket which for P100 (food included) was unbelievably cheap on these unglory days of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration. Mga lanton sa paghangkat sa ti-on sang kadulom (songs that challenge in the hour of darkness) bannered the concert's name. ALIWASA -- its closest English equivalent is "restless -- indi mapahamtang sa mga nagakalatabo," said concert organizer Leeboy Garachico of Panay Alliance-Karapatan. Restless because some things gotta give about the 754 political killings, 184 desaparicidos or disappearances, and 46 murders of media practitioners since 2001 when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed office. The latest tally in the spate of extrajudicial killings is the death of human rights advocate Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Philippine Independent Church last Oct. 3. Robbery as the alleged motive did not convince the majority.
A documentary, State of War in Trinidad, Bulacan, by the ABC News & Public Affairs was shown on video as the crowd in the Barbecue Park thickened. Other situationers on the times brought to mind the atrocities of the Marcos regime. Relevant to point out what Neal H. Cruz wrote in his column, As I See It, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Sept. 2, 2006: "What is happening now is worse than Martial Law. It is dictatorship disguised as democracy." The same national daily editorialized the "climate of impunity" in the Arroyo administration. Whether or not one General Palparan gets convicted of political killings remains to be seen.
The strumming of guitars followed the video-showing. Leo Lasaga and Jojo Pineda of Ambon (Artista at Manunulat nga Makibanwahanon) belted out songs to refute that "kasagana-an daw ay sa Cha- Cha makukuha," songs that awaken, shake the complacent, and stir up the uninvolved to "Magmulat, Kumilos, Magparami." Ruth Bebit Sucalditos, Noel Pajarillo, and Boyet Zoluaga added rousing numbers.
What's the bulk of the audience? To show the throng of dissenters vis-a-vis the state of the nation under the Arroyo administration, I'd like to enumerate the progressive, militant organizations whose members came to grace the affair: Bayan Muna, Courage (Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees), Act (Association of Concerned Teachers), Migrante, Gabriela (General Assembly Binding Women in Reform, Integrity, Equality, Liberty and Action), Madia-as Ecological Movement, Kaisog (Katilingban sang Imol sa Siudad), LFS (League of Filipino Students), Junior Red Guards, Piston-Drivers, PFTC (Panay Fair Trade Center), Selda (Samahan ng mga Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya), ILAC (Iloilo Legal Assistance Center), NUJP (National Union of Journalists of the Philippines), and did I miss one to show that indeed the protesters are legions?
Call them activists, radicals, revolutionaries, they are all restless, uneasy, impatient over the happenings obtaining in the country: human rights abuses, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, electoral fraud and cover-up, etc., etc., ad nauseam. Veterans of the Marcos detention cell sang with the Ambon concertists along with young students and street parliamentarians past their prime who, in many a demo, put to shame the Cha Cha dancers and their so-called parliamentary system.
When Jojo Pineda summoned John Lennon from the Great Beyond by singing the inspiring, uplifting, ennobling Imagine, I knew the idealists count in the audience, that in many there beats a humane and compassionate heart that will wrestle and stand strong against the onslaught of exploitation, oppression, and human rights violations. Hearts steadfast to fight what seems to be an unbeatable foe, resolute to right what seems to be an unrightable wrong in order to reach the unseemingly unreachable stars, to paraphrase the song.
Yes, Imagine all the people sharing all the world...no greed or hunger...a brotherhood of man...all the people living life in peace...I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one...I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one...
(Comments to lagoc@hargray.com)