END IMPUNITY

 

 

English translation attempt. Original Filipino follows – for those who are interested in seeing the random rhymes that got lost in translation.

November 23: No One Can Bury Shadows
remembering those slain in Maguindanao and other places

1
The door is a gaping mouth,
the afternoon’s final gasp
before it goes dark.

Those footsteps
that left this morning
will never again
come knocking. In their place
news of violence
drags the weight
of darkness encroaching.

2
Is it a miracle, a blessing, or a ghastly
burden to escape
the piercing of bullets?

How heavy the echoes of silence
in pursuit of the last
drop of lead?

Pretending to be dead
in order to live.

3
What kind of joy
was set free
by those who pulled the trigger?

Whose voice unleashed
the dogs?

4
Dear President,
I presume you feel
loss such as this?

Your clan bears the stain
of those who usher darkness.

5
Tomorrow, as we turn
the day’s paper,
new names will darken
the pages, our fingers.

-o-

Nobyembre 23: Walang Makapaglilibing sa mga Anino
paggunita sa mga pinaslang sa Maguindanao at iba pang bayan

1
Bukang bibig ang pintuan,
nasa bingit ang huling hininga
ng hapon bago dumilim.

Hindi na kailanman papalapit
ang mga hakbang na pumalayo
kaninang umaga. Sa halip
kaladkad ng marahas na balita
ang mabigat at papalaganap
na karimlan.

2
Himala, biyaya, o malagim
na pasanin kaya ang makaligtas
sa pagtagos ng mga bala?

Gaano kabigat ang alingawngaw ng katahimikan
kasunod ng pagbagsak sa lupa
ng huling tingga?

Pagkukunwaring bangkay
upang mabuhay.

3
Anong uri ng ligaya
ang pinalaya ng mga pumisil
sa gatilyo?

Kaninong tinig ang nagpakawala
sa mga aso?

4
Kagalang-galang na Pangulo,
inaasahan kong dama mo
ang mga ganitong pagyao.

Maging ang iyong angkan
may bahid
ng tagahatid ng karimlan.

5
Bukas, pagbuklat ng pahayagan
iba na namang mga pangalan
ang magpapadilim
sa mga pahina, sa ating mga daliri.

-o-

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Maguindanao_massacre

Please tell me if the translation works? Or if the poem itself works? The date has been declared International Day to End Impunity – after this massacre.

Strangling the Whistleblower

From a Guardian Online article:

-o-

WikiLeaks could be driven out of existence by the new year if it is unable to challenge a financial blockade by banks and credit card companies including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal, the website’s founder Julian Assange has said.

Announcing a “temporary suspension” of the whistleblowing website’s publishing activities, Assange said the site had been deprived of 95% of its revenue by the “dangerous, oppressive and undemocratic” blockade, and now needed to direct its energy purely into “aggressive fundraising” to fight for the organisation’s survival.

“This financial blockade is an existential threat to WikiLeaks. If the blockade is not borne down by the end of the year the organisation cannot continue its work,” Assange told a news conference in central London.

The announcement is the most open acknowledgement of the site’s perilous financial situation since a clutch of financial operators blocked donations in the days after its publication of leaked US embassy cables in November last year.

-o-

The gang of financial institutions – Paypal, Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, Western Union and Post Finance – that have refused to take donations for Wikileaks since November last year must be laughing in their golden cages.

Disgusting!

READ THE GUARDIAN ARTICLE HERE.

UNDER THE STORM: an anthology of Contemporary Philippine Poetry

cover for UNDER THE STORM - red marks are places where journalists have been killed

Just found out that my poem, “Sea Fireflies of Mindoro,” has been included in this anthology of contemporary Philippine poetry. Yippeeeeee!!!!

Here is the list of authors and other details:

by Joel M. Toledo on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 3:49pm

1 Anne Carly Abad: December 18, 2008

2 Diego José Abad: The Unfaithful Men

3 Gémino H. Abad: THAT SPACE OF WRITING

4 Anina G. Abola: In Place Of Emotion

5 Jose Marte Abueg: I, Pontius

6 Ericson Acosta: Ika-anim na Sundang: GABUD [Sixth Knife: WHETSTONE]

7 Arbeen Acuña: eraserase002

8 Jim Pascual Agustin: Sea Fireflies Of Mindoro

9 Arnold O. Aldaba: Fruit Of Knowledge

10 Kislap Alitaptap: Wala Na Sa Quiapo Ang Nazareno [The Nazarene is not in

Quiapo]

11 Rio Alma: Seaman

12 Jovsky Almero: Train Dodge

13 Tofi Alonte: SHOES

14 Donato Mejia Alvarez: Apat Na Larawan Mula Sa Tagaytay Ridge [A Short Quartet

From Tagaytay Ridge]

15 Panch Alvarez: Pointing According To Heraldina

16 Angelo B. Ancheta: BIR-IT, JAN-NY!

17 Mark Angeles: F/LIGHT

18 Rebecca T. Añonuevo: Anumang Leksiyon [Whatever Abides]

19 Roberto T. Añonuevo: Dalawampung Minuto [Twenty Minutes]

20 Teo T. Antonio: Sa Dulo Ng Malay [At the Edge of Waking]

21 Lystra Aranal: Hands Down

22 Mesándel Virtusio Arguelles: EROS

23 Cesar Ruiz Aquino: THREE VARIATIONS

24 A.M. Azada: The Lion

25 Mads Bajarias: Entropy & The Shrike

26 Desiree L. Balota: manoy

27 Romulo P. Baquiran, Jr.: LABERINTO [LABYRINTHE]

28 Joi Barrios: Mga Tala Sa Isang Pagpatay [Notes On A Political Execution]

29 Melissa Villa-Real Basmayor: Futura

30 Ariel Dim. Borlongan: EKSENA SA SUSUNOD NA SIGLO [SCENARIO FOR

THE NEXT CENTURY]

31 Dave Buenviaje: Because Pandesal is never the same in another country

32 Regine Cabato: Touch Me Not

33 Jose Wendell P. Capili: Carnivalesque

34 Ronan B. Capinding: Pagdidilig

35 Ronaldo Carcamo: Ha-ha-ha

36 F. Jordan Carnice: Stones

37 Lito Casaje: Tsunami Blues

38 Ian Rosales Casocot: The Smallness Of The Everyday

39 Marella Castro: Hinatak Sa Kahulugan [A Catch Of The Infinite Pull]

40 Jose Jason L. Chancoco: Barber Shop Brainstorming

41 Ayrie Ching: Learning Curve

42 Frank Cimatu: THE YOYO ROUTINE

43 Mikael de Lara Co: Kundiman

44  Kristian Sendon Cordero: Stabat Mater

45 Michael M. Coroza: MAGNANAKAW [THIEF]

46 Keith Cortez: The Current

47 Lope Cui, Jr.: Multiple Choice

48 Dakila Cutab: P’wera Contra

49 Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr.: Bound For Saudi

50 Ramon Damasing: On the Feminine

51 Carlomar Daoana: Brutalism

52 Mes De Guzman: Ang Katiwala [The Caretaker]

53 Ainne Frances dela Cruz: Speed

54 Christa I. De La Cruz: After Impeng Negro

55 Khavn De La Cruz: ang dalawa ang puso [the twice-hearted]

56 Noelle Leslie dela Cruz: Absence Muse

57 Nikki De Los Santos: aporia

58 Karl R. De Mesa: Preparations For History

59 Iñigo de Paula: Paramdam

60 Ricardo M. de Ungria: The Ambivalence Of Staying A Tree

61 Lourd Ernest H. De Veyra: SUPREMACY OF THE TEXT

62 Noel del Prado: Rebolusyon [Revolution]

63 A Despi: Social Blowtorching Transcends Scab Worship

64 Glenn Diaz: Definition Of respite

65 Lav Diaz: IN MEMORIAM

66 Alain Russ Dimzon: Tinkling

67  Jan Brandon Dollente: The What

68 Jacob Walse-Dominguez: folding boxes

69 Simeon Dumdum Jr.: The Last Rain of Summer

70 Marjorie Evasco: In Baclayon, Reading Levertov’s For those whom the Gods love less

71 Israfel Fagela: Siberia

72 Bendix M. Fernandez: english lyrics to a japanese seduction

73 Boni Fojas-Almirante: Erotica

74 Luis H. Francia: SMOOCH KING

75 Marc Escalona Gaba: Blinds

76 Eric Gamalinda: Hydrazine

77 J. Neil Garcia: Coda

78 German Villanueva Gervacio: Procorpio’s Night

79 Lolito Go: What Else

80 Eva B. Gubat: Blind Date

81 Ramil Digal Gulle: bullet.X.press

82 Asterio Enrico Gutierrez: Death Poem Exercise 64

83 Luisa A. Igloria: What I Don’t Tell My Children about My Hometown

84 Neal Imperial: Tandang Sora

85 Marne L. Kilates: Morion

86 Phillip Yerro Kimpo: How The Americans Liberated Northern Luzon, 1945

87 Jeanilyn Kwan: The Revolution Will Be Printed, Not Televised

88 Jose F. Lacaba: Tagubilin At Habilin [Will and Testament]

89 Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta: Tampuhan

90 Marra PL. Lanot: Ina [Mother]

91 Christine V. Lao: What Ol’ Injun told the carnies

92 Gian Lao: Here, at your grave

93 Elaine Lazaro: O

94 John Francis C. Losaria: NPA mula sa Tatlong Daang Salita at Dalawang

Pulgadang Pagitan [from Three Hundred Words and Two Inches in Between]

95 Bienvenido Lumbera: Kartolinang Ibon [Craft-Paper Bird]

96 Soleil Erika Manzano: Ganoon dumating ang balita— [How the news broke—]

97 Carlo Angelo V. Marcelo: A Better Good Morning

98 Edgar B. Maranan: The life and times of a seditious poet

99 Luchie Maranan: Estranged

100 Pia Montalban: Saleslady

101 V.E. Carmelo D. Nadera Jr.: BALIMBING

102 Joanna Nicolas-Na: On The Way To Market

103 Homer B. Novicio: Dark Birds In Winged Chapel

104 Emil Os: hyperlink

105 Voltaire Q. Oyzon: Mag-aabroad inin akon mga buhok [My hairs will travel

abroad]

106 Doms Pagliawan: Philippine Eagle

107 Don Pagusara: Alibangbang Sa Ulan [Butterflies In The Rain]

108 R. Torres Pandan: Ars Poetica, As Actually Practiced

109 Ned Parfan: Disturbances

110 Allan Justo Pastrana: The Soul Of The Town

111 Carlos M. Piocos III: Prehistoria

112 Axel Pinpin: Nang Salakayin Mo Ang Aking Pananahimik [The Night You

Assaulted My Deep Silence]

113 Zosimo Quibilan, Jr.: Vers.

114 Jun Cruz Reyes: Bunso [Lastborn]

115 Fidel Rillo: Sa Ganang Akin Po Naman Ay Ito Lamang Ang

Ipinamamanhik [Thus Do I Humbly Express Myself]

116 Virgilio A. Rivas: Eternal Juju Recurrence

117 Deedle Rodriguez-Tomlinson: Euston Road on an Autumn Afternoon

118 Patrick Rosal: Despedida Ardiente

119 Darylle Rubino: Today After Time Immemorial

120 Roger B. Rueda: Carabaohood

121 Jose Leonardo A. Sabilano: SpaMusic

122 Joseph de Luna Saguid: CORRESPONDENT

123 Joel Pablo Salud: Meandering

124 Edgar Calabia Samar: Vocabulario

125 Rafael Antonio C. San Diego: Poem About Nothing

126 Benilda Santos: Púgot [Beheaded]

127 Oscar Tantoco Serquiña, Jr.: Massacre

128 Tanya Sevilla-Simon: Balikbayan Box

129 Danny Castillones Sillada: Yang Pagtagád Kang Alyana [Waiting For Alyana]

130 Bebang W. Siy: Ang Bisita [The Visitor]

131 Bert Sulat Jr.: I Love Poetry

132 Ramón C Sunico: HOW TO ENJOY A CONCERT: Mula sa Concert Notes ng

Francisco Santiago Hall ng PCI Bank [From the concert notes of Francisco

Santiago Hall of PCI Bank (now defunct)]

133 Christian Tablazon: BLUEPRINT

134 Alyza Taguilaso: Leviathan

135 J.I.E. Teodoro: Banal na Buntis [Pregnant, Holy]

136 Andrea B. Teran: Weight without gravity

137 Enrico C. Torralba: PARA SA FOUNTAIN SA HARAP NG POST-OFFICE BUILDING

[FOR THE FOUNTAIN IN FRONT OF THE POST OFFICE] 

138 Ricky Torre: An Appointment, And Variation On Federico Alcuaz (or Monologue

as Portraiture)

139 Denver Ejem Torres: where my Barbie was safe, lest, if it came out in the open

140 Charles Bonoan Tuvilla: Sa Panahon [On Seasons]

141 Roberto Ofanda Umil: Ang Tiwalag [The Defected]

142 RM Urquico: The Blues

143 Czeriza Shennille Valencia: Every dawn you dig your own grave

144 Eric Tinsay Valles: Independence Day In Hong Lim Park

145 Joel Vega: NIMBUS

146 Eliza Victoria: Crime Scenes

147 Santiago Villafania: Rekindled

148 Michael Carlo C. Villas: Vestibular

149 Arlene J Yandug: I think therefore I Ant

150 Alfred A. Yuson: The Ten Most Memorable Moments with D. Thus Far, & Why I

Can’t Let Her Go

Book Design: Piya Constantino

Cover Art: W Don Flores

“Reported Incidents, 9/27/09 to 9/29/09 2″

Acrylic on canvas

24 in. x 32 in.

2009

Translations by: Piya Constantino, Eduardo Dayao, Mikael de Lara Co, Paula Maria Diaz, U Z. Eliserio, Ryan Fuentes, Luisa A. Igloria, Cecilia B. Imperial, Marne L. Kilates, John B. Labella, Aila Lenard, Paolo Manalo, Mark Pangilinan, Chuckberry Pascual, Sue Prado, Nonilon V. Queano , D.M. Reyes, Sandra Nicole Roldan, Amoz Ezra Salazar, Ronald V. Verzo II, and Xenia-Chloe Villanueva

The Filipino is NOT a theory. We must weather these storms.

—————-

The 4th .MOV International Flim, Music, and Literature Festival

September 1-6, 2011

Book Launch: 2 September 2011

Ayala Museum, Makati City

6 PM

Naomi Klein’s THE SHOCK DOCTRINE

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first Naomi Klein book I have read. I might look out for more.

Klein starts with a clever, very intimate portrait of a Canadian woman who was given shock therapy for many years. The attempt was to erase her memory, make it like a blank slate, so that a new self could be created to replace the broken one she had. Sounds very sci-fi, really, but what horror. This woman has resorted to a strange ritual of trying to recover her memories by writing on bits of paper memory fragments that come to her out of the blue. This is the tortured self trying to piece together what had been damaged by “treatment,” an experiment fully funded by the CIA.

With this personal narrative set, Klein moves from country to country, examining dictatorships, invasions, disasters, and other nasties that have been splashed on most TV screens. She throws in astounding yet little known facts, or facts that were omitted by the perpetrators in order to support the myth of free capitalism’s shoulder to shoulder march with democracy.

It’s an intriguing book and does not apologize for its stance. Perhaps not as well written as Arundhati Roy’s The Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire, but the ocean of information that Klein has put together here makes it a worthy read.

View all my reviews

39 Strikes

Not as bothersome as what’s been happening in North Africa, but caught my ears as I was driving with the radio on, was a news item on the number of deaths caused by lightning in the Eastern Cape. 39 so far this year.

Quick Google search says Brazil (as of 2002) has the highest in the world at 100.  Well the Eastern Cape is doing a good job at challenging that right now.

Why the fascination?  Here goes… Alice, the amazing woman who took on the daunting task of helping new parents (me and my wife) take care of newborn twins, told me stories of mysterious deaths by people she knows.  Apparently lightning is one weapon someone with magical powers uses to inflict vengeance on an enemy – or so they believe.

Hmm. Enough blabber. Just throwing some thoughts around.

Here’s a LINK TO PHOTOS of lightning strikes in South Africa.  No, no mangled, burnt bodies.

-o-

Oh, bit of news.  My sample pages of my new books are now available for free browsing at Sribd.com — just type Jim Pascual Agustin — and they should come up.    enjoy.  And hopefully one day buy when they become available online at Avalon.ph.  I’ll keep you guys posted.  Thanks.

The ALIENS have landed

The cover for Alien to Any Skin, photograph and design by John Marin Flores

Well, the copies of Alien to Any Skin, that is.    Now “Skin” can keep her twin sister “Karu”  (Baha-bahagdang Karupukan) company.  They can both wait together for new homes.  A bit like orphans, but definitely unlike Annie.  Oh my.  I need my coffee.

The kind folks of UST Publishing House will need two weeks before proper marketing and distribution can start, not that there are masses of eager readers at the gate. 

This news comes as the world spins into further chaos and re-arrangement — floods, explosions in buses and airports, street protests, volcanic eruptions, drone fighter plane murders, new births.

ps I have foolishly convinced myself that a blog for each book should be put up.  so here: ALIEN TO ANY SKIN and BAHA-BAHAGDANG KARUPUKAN

Iraq war supporters fight a battle against time

Iraq war supporters fight a battle against time.

Not the Fluffy Chair

Three Colours: Red

If my foggy memory serves me right, the title I use here comes from Monty Python.  Tell me if I’m wrong.  In one hilarious scene someone is being whisked away to be tortured to death, apparently.

The person shouting orders goes “Take him to the fluffy chair!”

The victim begs “No!  Not the fluffy chair!!!!”

Imagine the rest of the sequence for yourselves.

This morning I was asked by Avaaz.org to sign a petiton to stop the stoning to death of a woman in Iran.  Here is part of the text:

Yesterday an Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, was saved by global protests from being stoned to death.

But she may still be hanged — and, meanwhile, execution by stoning continues. Right now fifteen more people are on death row awaiting stoning in which victims are buried up to their necks in the ground and then large rocks are thrown at their heads.

–Avaaz.org

Back when I was still giving lectures to university students, the matter of the death penalty came up.  I think it was around the time it was being debated by lawmakers.  The government through the years had been pressured by various differing lobby groups to either abolish it or have it reinstated – a number of times, if I remember correctly – like it was a game of table tennis, with the rules changing as the game went on it seemed.

One of my students posted the question: what if you were the child of a person set to be killed by the state?  What would you feel towards the government?

In the film Three Colours: Red (the final part in the magnificent trilogy) by the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, one of the main characters is a former judge who monitors his neigbour’s secret conversations.  It asks us how much do we know the people around us, or the people we may encounter very briefly?  In the end, how do we, indeed, how can we judge another person to a certain fate?  By appearance, police records, media, religious stands?  Yes, all of us tend to weigh each person’s worth, each person’s relevance to our lives.  Often it is a matter of perspective.

Here is a leap.  Why feel horrified by a pile of stones reserved for a person buried in the ground up to the neck?  Is lethal injection or the electric chair a more humane option?  (bitter laughter please)  How about torture (yes, I see that as slow killing) in a secret detention centre – no, what about a known detention centre, say Guantanamo and others like it in other countries?  Would that be more palatable?

Let us not forget that it is not just the act of stoning someone (a mere head protruding from dry ground, apparently) that should be seen as disgusting, but the very notion of capital punishment (which, in historical and literal fact, means severing the head!).

If you sign the petition, keep these thoughts in mind.  And be surprised at this list of countries that continue to impose the death penalty.

Yes, I did sign the petition.

Now, can someone tell me what that Monty Python movie is called so I can get it out of the video shop?  Please?

Was the Global Wake-Up Call too Festive?

Looks like great fun wasn’t it?

Initially it felt good taking part in this activity — but will this make a difference?  What about a targeted boycott of major products and industries that are major pollutants?  Are we willing to take a walk for a day?  Campaign for cleaner airplane fuels?  Dismantle the military industry?  Wait, how is that relevant?  You can’t put aside the War on  Terror (or was it War and Plunder?) just because of climate change.   Forgive the babbling.

Careful Where You Stand – for those who wish to attack another

Fazel Muhamad, 48, holding pictures of family members who were killed in the attack. Photograph: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad; The Guardian

In the past two days I have had three “curious” replies to a post in matangmanok regarding Yvonne Ridley, the British journalist who had converted to Islam.  I have approved one of the replies to show that if there is genuine discussion needed on a subject I am willing to open the doors.  But the two other replies to the same post that are now pending my approval have forced me to wonder if there is a new anti-Muslim wave I am unaware of.

I would like to invite the two people who have swamped me with these strange correspondences to please understand, I prefer to keep this space open for all who wish to contribute their thoughts without attacking another person’s choice of faith.

Mr Fulgente Antonio, I permitted your initial reply to the article concerning reports by Yvonne Ridley.  Your follow-up is far too long and too similar to the other person who posted a reply on the same day, forcing me to wonder if you know each other in more ways than one.

Mr Jeffrey Lang, this is how your reply started:

It is really a pity that an educated British lady converts to Islam and fails to get to know the realty of Jesus, the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. I had earlier went through the same experience of being led astray by the PROPHET OF DOOM, Mohammad, but later I realized that was stepping into hell. I would like to list  a comparison between the Lord of Light, JESUS, and the Prophet of Doom, Mohammad, so that the message would be made clear to Yvonne Ridley and all misled Muslims. I would like also to note that I have returned safely to the Lord Jesus and abandoned the bleak image of Mohammad.
Jeffrey Lang (project@genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu).

The rest of it, I am sorry to say, will take up too much space on my blog.  I will gladly forward the rest of the lengthy text to anyone who kindly requests it.

I grew up in a now predominantly Catholic country.  Before the Spanish colonizers arrived it had been largely Muslim, but there were many other belief systems among the myriad tribes.  The Europeans stayed for over 300 years, and in that time countless lives were lost in the effort to convert the population to the lovely religion of Christianity.  Numerous rebellions took place, villagers took to the hills to avoid being forced to accept a foreign belief system.

If you look at the history of religions – not just Christianity – that tried to impose their belief systems on others, you might just find that weapons of destruction accompanied such flag-waving campaigns.  In the end the “triumphant” religion seems to have taken over the pre-existing one, but in fact it often gets changed as well in the process.

The “subsumed” religion, just like any organism, seeks ways of surviving in the most amazing ways.  I dare say that animism and ancestral worship continue to bleed through the bandages of the Christian faith – one has to know where to look.  Though that is a matter for another time.

For now these are the things I would like to mention.  It is easy to wave a flag and brand someone.  With that, the flag-waver and brander calls attention to him/herself.  What cause are you fighting for?  What box do you stand on?  Or is that a coffin?  Have you measured it?

Choosing a faith – or for that matter, rejecting one or all – is a very personal matter.  And so there is an arrogance that carries with it a terrible blindness when one decries a particular religion, condemning every single person who might be its follower.

A few steps away from that dangerous activity is the closing of doors to a common humanity.