Executive Secretary is finding it hard to understand why the Filipino people do not like Gloria Arroyo despite her working so hard, traveling all over the country doling out crumbs from the billions of pesos that she rakes in from the citizenry.

Following the release of the SWS survey for the period June 27 to 30 where dissatisfaction over how Arroyo runs the country was reflected in an all-time low rating of -38 , Ermita said, “Of course people have to wonder why after the many things that she is doing for the well-being of our citizens that that should still be the perception.”

Ermita is wrong. People do not wonder because they know and they feel it. It’s the economy, stupid.

(The phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid” was used widely during Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush, father of the current U.S. President. Coined by campaign strategist James Carville, the phrase harped on bad shape of the U.S. economy at that time which they blamed on Bush’s mismanagement. )

Read the full story

Letter writing is still believed to be an indispensable tool in developing love, friendship and strong family ties.

To make the young people aware that writing lettese still plays a key role despite the presence of other modern means of communication, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) and the Universal Post Union (UPU) launched the 37th International Writing Competiion for young people to promote better understanding around the world through Post Office.

With the theme

Very rarely in our people’s history do individuals stand out for their great practice of service to their fellow Filipinos, even in the midst of the utmost repression and adversity. It is with honor that the members of BAYAN USA salute the life and work of Monico “Sir Nick” Atienza, a professor of Filipino literature at the University of the Philippines (UP), who quietly passed away last night after being comatose for more than year.

People like Sir Nick live on in the people they inspire to continue with the revolutionary task of arousing, organizing, and mobilizing the Filipino people to struggle for basic social change in the Philippines. In his case, Sir Nick inspired not only scores and scores of his young students at UP, but even his contemporaries as a young student activist with the Kabataang Makabayan (KM) during the tumultuous eve of Martial Law known as the First Quarter Storm (FQS) in the late 1960′s into the 1970′s.

For his work as a student leader and activist, Sir Nick went underground in 1972 upon the declaration of Martial Law. In the underground, he was simply known as Ka Togs. His work and friendship with then-CPP Chairperson Jose Maria Sison placed him in the CPP’s Central Committee.

In 1974, Atienza was arrested and detained by the military. He underwent unspeakable physical and psychological torture, including an overdose of truth serum. After he surfaced back to the above-ground movement, he continued on by helping to found the Partido Ng Bayan (PnB), the first truly progressive partylist of its time and a precursor of Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela Women’s Party today.

In an ambush on PnB leaders by a suspected military death squad in 1987, Atienza was seriously wounded, together with PnB senatorial candidate Bernabe Buscayno who was a leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) during Martial Law. Even a severe injury to the head and leg that never fully healed did not deter Nick from continuing on with his activism.

When asked decades later by one of his students why he did not apply for the compensation offered to victims of torture under the Marcos Regime, he simply replied “No amount of money could ever make up for what they did to me.”

Sir Nick continued on with his activism as a UP Professor and President of the First Quarter Storm Movement (FQSM) till the day of his death. He had suffered a severe heart attack last year as well as a surgical extraction of a mysterious mass found growing in his throat. The impact of both had placed him in a coma for the last year of his life.

We in BAYAN USA, although thousands of miles away from our motherland and from the homefront of our struggle, will learn great lessons from Sir Nick’s selfless example and strive to continue with his legacy of great and humble service to our compatriots.

I had always aimed that this blog would not contain political issues about the Filipino. But ordinary Juan is a political animal. For an ordinary Pinoy, every serious news is an inspiration to a new breed of humor. Take the Manila Pen siege for example.

Several hours after the attempted coup led by General Danilo Lim, Former Marine Lt. and now Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, together with Former Teofisto Guigona failed, a new brand of humour aroused.Titled “Lessons Learned from Manila Pen” , the new

[Ed's Note: This article was written by Professor Randy David in his column PUBLIC LIVES in the Philippine Daily Inquirer December 1, 2007 Issue].

MANILA, Philippines — Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a former Navy lieutenant senior grade, are two of the smartest officers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. They are highly regarded by their men and by their contemporaries in the officer corps. Few senior officers in the Philippine military today can match their popularity among the soldiers. It is significant that they have also led repeated coup attempts against the government of the day. They are not novices in the art of military mutiny.

Knowing this, one is hard-pressed to understand why they would venture into something like Thursday

Writers Night on December 8 in U.P. Diliman promises to be more than a chance to meet the idols of Philippine literature. If one stays on long enough, one will actually see many of them do poetry performances. Or sing. Yes, many writers are singers. And band members too. So expect this December affair to be a party experience that will be just as fun and memorable as the previous writers night.

The event starts off at 5:30 pm with the awarding ceremony of the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award at the Teatro Hermogenes Ylagan, Bulwagang Rizal, Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura, U.P. Diliman, Quzon City. The award was established in February 2001 through the initiative and generosity of the Madrigal-Gonzalez family. It encourages writers who have published a first work in English and Filipino to continue in the pursuit of excellence in the literary arts. The award is yearly and alternates between works in English and Filipino. The 2006 winner was Kristian Cordero

Filmmakers and activists screened two films banned by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), “A Day in the Life of Gloria” and “Mendiola”, in protest of what they called “repression” by the Arroyo administration.

The “X” rating given by the MTRCB to the two films resulted in their exclusion from a short film festival called “Kontra-Agos” .

The films were shown during a press conference on Friday by filmmakers and activists to express alarm over what they perceive to be an attempt to suppress media coverage of the failed rebellion in Makati led by former Navy officer turned Senator Antonio Trillanes and Army Brigadier General Danny Lim.

Short filmmaker King Catoy said, “Nananawagan kami sa mga kapwa natin artists, i-defy natin ang admnistrasyong ito, this is martial law (We call on our fellow artists to defy this administration. This is martial law).”

During the press conference, National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera joined other artists and activists in having their hands tied, recalling images of ABS-CBN reporters and crew who were handcuffed and detained by police in the aftermath of the Makati incident.

Lumbera said recent events, including the so-called “censorship” of an artist’s collective in Angolo, Rizal, bear out a clear and present danger to artists and to freedom of expression.

“Mayroon litaw na panganib sa atin. Karapatan natin magkaroon ng layang ipakita ang katotohanan (There is an obvious threat against us. It is our right to have the freedom to tell the truth),” said Lumbera.

MTRCB reviewer Mark Castrodes however dismissed the artists’ accusations as baseless conspiracy theories. According to Castrodes, the films were given an X-rating because they put the government in a bad light.

One of the films, “A Day in the Life of Gloria”, is in animated format and shows a cartoon caricature of President Arroyo saying “I am sorry” after which her nose begins to grow. It is a scene that recalls the fairy tale character Pinocchio, whose nose elongates whenever he tells a lie.

Castrodes said that contrary to the artists’ wild claims, there is no “institutionalized political repression” and that the film reviewers simply did their job.

“We are not in cahoots with anyone else here, for us, it was simply a day’s work”, he said, adding that the filmmakers could have appealed the rating and asked for a second review but they chose to no longer do so.

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/ storyPage. aspx?storyId= 100968

1. Aanhin ang palasyo kung ang nakatira ay kuwago