Communist Manifesto vs. Animal Farm

Itong agiw-tala ay para kay Karlee na sa pagkakaalam niya ay ipinangalan kay Karl Marx. Gustong gusto kasing inuulit ulit  ng aming kapitbahay na si Caroline ang alamat ni Karlee. Pero si Karlee, tila hindi  natutuwa. 

"Why did you name me after Karl Marx?"
"And what do you know about Karl Marx?" 
"He was a communist!"
"Was he?“

Si Karl Marx ang pangunahing may akda sa Communist Manifesto pero kilala siya bilang philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, journalist at iba pa, maliban sa pagiging komunista.  Binigyang kahulugan ni Marx ang komunismo sa paglalathala ng Communist Manifesto para sa mga manggagawa at komunidad noong 1848 . Pananaw niya  ang pamununo at pagbibigay kakayahan ng mga proletariat   o manggagawa na mapasakanila ang mga ari-arian na ginanagamit sa pangkabuhayan at paggawa katulad ng mga lupain  at makinarya.  Halimbawa, ang mga magsasaka ay mapasakanila ang mga lupang sinasaka nila at ang mga mangingisda naman ang mapasakanila ang mga sasakyang pandagat na ginanagamit nila upang sila'y makapamalakaya. 

Pero noong 20th century, nagkaroon ng mga bagong interpretasyon ang komunismo na salungat sa pananaw ni Karl Marx.  Noong 1917, sinaklaw ni Vladimir Lenin ang Russian Empire na  pinamumunuan ng Tsar. Si Lenin ay pinuno ng Bolshevik Party, isang pangkat ng tinawag na Russsian Socialist-Democratic Party. Si Lenin ang naging unang pinuno ng Union of Socialist Soviet Republics na kinabibilangan ng 15 bansa tulad ng Russia, Georgia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania at Estonia. Nabuwag ang USSR noong 1991. 

Noong 1949, si Mao Zedong, isang komunistang rebolusyonaryong Intsik ay naging unang pinuno ng People's Republic of China at tinagurian ding pinuno ng Communist Party ng Tsina. Noong 1950, ang North Korea ay naging Democratic Republic of Korea matapos  makipag-alyansa sa USSR at People's Republic of China. Habang nakikipag-alyansa ang North Korea at China sa USSR, libu-libong mga Amerikano naman ang pinagbibintangang mga komunista ni Joseph McCarthy, isang Amerikanong senador. Ang komunismo sa America ay tinaguriang McCarthyism at ito ay nauukol sa mga mga salang espionage, subversion at treason at wala itong kinalaman sa pamumuno at pagkakaisa ng mga manggagawa.

Salungat din sa mga teorya ni Karl Marx ang uri ng pamumuno  ng dating USSR o ang   kasalukuyang Russian Federation na pinamumunuan ni Vladimir Putin. Ang komunismo ay hindi katumbas ng totalitarian rule na kung saan ang ekonomiya, paggawa at pangkabuhayan ay kontrol at tila pag-aari ng pinuno ng bayan. 

Pinadali ni George Orwell ang pagpapaintindi  sa konsepto ng komunismo sa pamamagitan ng kanyang maikling nobelang pinamagatang "Animal Farm". Ang alegorya ay nagsimula sa isang pagpupulong na tinawag ni Old Major, isang bulugan sa Manor Farm, ang bukirin na pag-aari ni Mr. Jones, isang human at bourgeoisie o burgis. Ipinamahagi ni Old Major kina Napoleon at Snowball, mga kapwa baboy  ang kanyang panaginip o pangarap para sa isang mundo ng mga baboy na walang taong nang-aapi, kumukontrol at umaangkin sa mga produktong pinagpawisan ng mga hayop.  Hindi nagtagal, pumanaw si Old Major at ipinagpatuloy nina Napoleon at Snowball ang pagpapatupad ng kanilang inspirasyon para sa isang mundong walang mapang-aping mga tao na umaangkin sa mga bagay na kanilang pinaghirapan. Pinalayas si Mr. Jones sa kanyang bukirin at sinakop ito ng mga hayop at pinangalanang  Animal Farm. Naging pinuno sina Napoleon at Snowball a madalas silang magkasalungat.  Nagbuo ng army ng mga tuta si Napoleon. Nagkaroon rin ng mga kanya kanyang katungkulan sa pamunuan ang ilan pang mga hayop. Si Squealer, isang baboy,  ay naatasan sa pagpapalaganap ng mga propaganda. Si Mollie, isang kabayo na may katungkulan ay nahilig sa mga ribbons at sugar at makasarili. Si Boxer naman,  isa pang kabayo, ay laging handang lumahok sa ano mang gawain sa bukirin. Si Clover, kabayo rin, ay tahimik na hindi sumasang-ayon kay Napoleon at si Benjamin, isa pang hayop na donkey o asno  ay cynic naman. Isa sa mga babala ni Old Major ang  hwag sanang gayahin ng mga hayop ang mga masasamang ugali ng mga tao. Sa bandang huli, hindi na makita ang pagkakaiba ng mga pamunuan ng mga hayop sa mga tao, naging mapang-abuso na rin sila. 


Friedrich Engels  wrote the preface of the Communist Manifesto  in London on January 30, 1848 and credited Karl Marx for most of the concepts of the founding documents of communism.  The manifesto which was initially drawn in German was subsequently written in English, French, Danish and Polish editions comes  comes in 4 parts: 1) Bourgeoisie (pronounced as bor-zhwaa-zee) and Proletarians; 2) Proletarians and Communists; 3) Socialist and Communist Literature; and 4) Positions of the Communists in relations to the various Opposition Parties.

In Section 1, Marx described the conflicts between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie are the rich capitalists who control and own  the means of production such as factories, heavy machinery and agricultural land  cast  power over  the proletariat or  workers whom they employ and tend to exploit for their own profits.  The conflict is further discussed in Section  2 wherein  the rich capitalists accuse the workers of taking over the means of production and putting them in the hands of the community. This is where the concept of communism comes in. In communism, the community solely owns the means of production. Capitalism, as opposed to communism, is a political system in which a country's leadership and industry are controlled by private ownership for profit. The immediate aim of communism is the formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow the bourgeois supremacy and the conquest of political  power by the proletariat.

Section 3 presents different concepts of socialism under three major concepts. These are 1) reactionary socialism; 2) conservative or bourgeois socialism; and 3) critical-utopian socialism and communism. Reactionary socialism constitutes feudal socialism, petty bourgeois socialism and German "true" socialism. Conservative socialists include economists, philanthropists, humanitarians, organizers of charity, members of societies of the prevention of cruelty to animals and advocates of the working class. Critical-utopian socialism and communism seems to be the ultimate vision for  socialism and communism when workers or the proletariat will work with political parties that will "support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things" (page 63). The Communist Manifesto concludes with a worldwide cry for all workingmen of all countries to unite.

Karl Marx defined socialism and communism in favor of workers and communities in the middle of nineteenth century. Since then as a political and economic theory of groups and and social organizations, socialism and communism have been variously interpreted. In 1917, Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, a faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party seized control of the Russian Empire and became the dominant political power Russia. The Bolshevik Party became the Communist Party and Lenin became the leader or the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR). In 1949, Mao Zedong, a Chinese communist revolutionary became the founding father of the People's Republic of China and ruled as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China. In 1950, North Korea officially known as Democratic Republic of Korea and  with the USSR and the People's Republic of China as allies invaded South Korea. At about the same time in the US, thousands of Americans were being accused as communist by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Communism in US famously known as  was being associated to espionage, subversion and treason.
Nowadays, socialism is being associated  to either "free stuff", medicare for all, student loan forgiveness or Venezuela's collapse.  USSR had since became the Russian Federation following an unsuccessful coup by with  the Communist Party in late 1991. Contrary to what Karl Marx espoused, then USSR and the present Russian Federation has always been under a totalitarian rule where a single leader or party possesses supreme or absolute government power. As for China, the country up to this day is still dominated by the Communist Party but had since transitioned  from centrally-planned system to a more market-oriented economy.  The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, more popularly known as North Korea and led by its supreme leader Kim Jong-un is listed as a communist and socialist state under a totalitarian dictatorship.

My simplistic understanding of communism is  based on George Orwell's novel "Animal Farm". The short novel is an allegory depicting pigs as the proletariat and humans are the bourgeoisie. Old Major, a prize-winning boar gathers  Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer, his fellow pigs  for a meeting and tells them about  world ruled by animals with no human beings to oppress and control them.  Old Major passes and the three pigs stages animal revolt. Mr Jones, the owner of the Manor Farm is chased out of his own farm and Snowball and Napoleon emerge as leaders and take over the Manor Farm which they rename Animal Farm. Snowball, as a privileged leader and educator is later challenged and over thrown by Napoleon who tries to stay in power by training a personal army of puppies and relying on his loyalists: Squealer who becomes  his minister of propaganda. The allegory illustrates what happens in emerging factions. There are rules that would be initially be broken by the leaders and later be justified, there are dissenting opinions coming from the likes of Clover, a horse who silently questions Napoleon and cynics like Benjamin, the cynical donkey. In the long run, leaders abuse their power become themselves the oppressors and declare: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

America Is Not In The Heart

Tila ba ako'y nagbalik bayan at nag stop-over sa ay sa Pangasinan:  "Gali na!"

Sumaglit ako sa Baguio kung saan nagsimulang mag-aral ng nursing o Pacita, isa sa mga pangunahing tauhan ng nobelang nilikha ng isang millennial na lumaki sa California. Pangarap ni Paz ang makapunta sa America kaya siya naging nurse. Bumalik siya sa Dagupan para sa kanyang clinicals at nakilala si Dr. Apolonio  "Pol" de Vera isang nakakatandang surgeon na sa di nagtagal nanligaw sa kanya. Nagsimula sa tupig. Ang tupig ang paboritong kakanin ng nasirang ina ni Dr. Pol. Mula sa isa sa mga provincia ng Ilocos Sur ang angkan ni Dr. De Vera at pangkaraniwang kakanin ang tupig sa buong rehiyon ng Ilocos. May halong pang-uuyam  ang sagot ni Paz noong sabihin niyang paborito niyang kakanin ang tupig.

Nagkatuluyan si Paz at si Dr. De Vera at di nagtagal, iniwan ni Dr. De Vera ang kanyang practice bilang surgeon sa Dagupan para doon na manirahan sa Milpitas, California makasama ang kanyang asawang si Paz na nagtatrabaho bilang nurse sa Veterans Hospital  sa dakong Bay Area. Isinalarawan sa nobela ang pamumuhay ng mga Pilipino sa America. Andoon na yong dalawa o tatlong trabaho ang mga main breadwinners tulad ni Paz. Si Pol naman, ang dating surgeon ay nagtrabaho bilang security guard at may part-time job din. Ipinangalan ni Pol ang kanyang nag-iisang anak ng Geronima, mula sa kanyang ina at paboritong pamangkin na kapwa sumakabilang buhay na. Roni ang palayaw ng kanyang anak na si Geronima. 

Mag-aaral ng medisina sa University of Santo Tomas (UST) ang pamangkin ni Pol na si Geronima  o Nimang noong siya ay naglaho. Si Pol ang naatasang kumilala sa mga labi niya  noong siya ay napamalitang mapaslang sa isang enkwentro ng militar at New People's Army (NPA). Sa loob ng sampung taon, nanilbihang doctor sa mga komunidad na kinabibilangan ng kanyang  NPA unit sa mga bulubundukin ng Isabela si Nimang. Nadakip si Nimang habang nagsasagawa ng medical mission at siya ay ikinulong at pinahirapan sa pag-aakalang siya ang hinahanap na commander ng kanyang unit. 

"Sibibiag ni Nimang!"

Sinikap ni Nimang ng manahimik habang pinapahirapan siya ng kanyang interrogator. Sa bandang huli, nakilala siya sa kanyang isinulat na salawikain sa salitang Ilocano. Walang maputik na tubig ang hindi lilinaw.

Itinakwil si Nimang ng kanyang sariling ama na naging alkalde sa isang bayan sa Ilocos. Ang kanyang tiyuhin na si Pol ang sumagip sa kanya, sa tulong ng kanyang tiyahin na nakatira sa Kamaynilaan.

Matapos mapagamot si Nimang sa kanyang mga pinsala dala ng pag to torture sa kanya ng kanyang mga investigators, siya ay naglakbay papuntang America upang doon na manirahan sa piling ng pamilya ng kanyang tiyuhin si Pol sa Milpitas. Taga hatid at sundo siya sa paaralan ng kanyang pinsang si Roni. Si Roni ang nagpangalan sa kanya ng Hero. Yes, as in super hero, ika pa ni Nimang. 

"Tangken tabungaw!"

"

Sa Ilocano, heto ay tumutukoy pagiging magulang ng upo, ang gulay na tinatawag na bottle gourd sa Ingles. Sa isang bata, nangangahulugan ito ng pagiging matigas ang ulo o ang pagiging stubborn. Ang pagiging matigas ng ulo o maari ding pagmamatigas o conviction sa Ingles. 

Inilarawan ng may akda ang pangkaraniwang kaugalian ng mga Pilipino sa America sa bagong pamumuhay ni Nimang na naging Hero. Andoon na yong pagpupumilit na magkilos mayaman at maging exclusive ang ilan. Hindi ko lubos maisip kung anong klaseng matanda ang magbigay ng chewing gum na galing sa kanyang bibig at ipahawak na parang ipinagkakatiwalang alahas ito kay Roni. Pero hindi lahat ng kwento ay pura mga pagkukunwari at paligsahan ng mga tauhan kung sino ang pinakamatagumpay, ang may pinakamarangyang bahay o kung sino ang pinakasikat. Nandoon ang pagtutulungan at pagmamalasakit ng bunga ng mga pagkakataon. Malalim ang kwento, pero hindi ito parody ng America Is In The Heart bagama't heto ang kwento ng mga pangkaraniwang Pilipino sa America. Maraming Pinoy sa America ang tila nandoon lang dala ng pagkakataon  at walang inisip kundi bumalik sa lupang tinubuan. May mga bahaging nakaaliw tulad ng mga pagsasagawa ng mga ritual ayon sa mga naging kaugalian noong ng mga tauhan na isinilang at lumaki sa Pilipinas. Anak na lasi!

America Is In The Heart

Carlos Bulosan is a prominent figure at  the centers for Filipino-American studies in the University of Washington in Seattle and the University of California-Davis in the US. I didn’t learn  about Carlos Bulosan, a writer, poet or a labor union leader,  until lately while reading Luis Francia’s  “Eye of the Fish”. As I read Carlos Bulosan’s account of his struggles as a migrant worker in US, a long ago exchange with Sam came to mind.  Fresh-off-the-boat, so to speak, I held on  to the ILO definition of  my presence in America and declared myself as a migrant until  Sam corrected me:  you’re an immigrant.  The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines migrant as a person who moves or migrated from one country or another for the purposes of employment. Google further explains that immigration is like in-migration where an individual goes into another country to live there permanently while emigration is like out-migration where an individual leave his country for another. 

Carlos  Bulosan’s book “America Is In The Heart” comes in four parts. First part details his childhood as a child laborer  in the Philippines  long before ILO even thought  about the Intenational Programme  on Elimination of Child Labour.   Carlos did not go to school in order to help his father in the farm or assist his mother in selling “boggoong (p.33)” at their town market in Binalonan or the nearby town market of Pozorubio. His brother Macario who was studying to be a teacher provided most of Carlos’ early informal education where he learned to read and write. It was Luciano, another brother, who encouraged Bulosan to read and suggested that he could become a journalist someday. 

“‘Reading is food for the mind. Healthy ideas are food for the mind. Maybe someday you’ll be a journalist....(p.56)’”

Extreme poverty which led to an insurrection  of tenants against landlords during the Colorum Uprising that started in 1924 reinforced  the resolve of Carlos  and his brothers Macario and Amado to leave Pangasinan for the US separately.  Part 2 revolves around  the author’s steerage passage to the US and arriving in Seattle on June 22, 1930. A few of Carlos’ fellow passengers died while ship’s in transit (yep, that’s SHIT for you).  Steerage passengers are confined and hidden the lower decks of the ship. Carlos soon realizes that life in America is not any different from the life he left behind in Pangasinan. It is the time of Great Depression and life is difficult for everyone including native-born Americans whom the author referred to as “whites”. 

“I came to know afterward that in many ways, it was a crime to be a Filipino in California. I came to know that the public streets were not free to my people; we were stopped each time these vigilant policemen saw us driving a car. We were suspect each time we were seen with a white woman. (p.121)”

Parts 3 details the author’s deepening involvement in organizing Filipino migrant workers  to thwart off unfair labor practices amidst an often hostile and exploitative working conditions. Often out of money and living on his own, the author traveled from the state of Washington  to California in the south  or Alaska to the north, looking for  seasonal  and agricultural jobs.  One time hunted, beaten and left for dead because of his involvement in organizing of labor unions, the author is constantly on the move either looking for jobs or searching for his brothers. The author who initially found comfort in meeting friends who come from Pangasinan and its neighboring provinces soon felt that such “regional friendship developed into tribalism which obstructed all efforts toward Filipino unity in America (p.98)”.  I know you can relate, but then, there are also wonderful  moments, of course!

Part 4 of the book accounts the author’s deepening involvement in the labor movement, his declining health and his flourishing as a writer and poet.  The last part of the book is also set during the McCarthyism era when labor leaders and activists were labeled as “communists” and  accused of subversion or treason to discredit their progressive causes.  Yep, it does sound familiar.

Like the ending of a movie, the author muses while looking at the passing scenery out while enroute to Portland on a bus:  “I glanced out of the window again to look at the broad land I had dreamed so much about, only to discover with astonishment that the American earth was like a huge heart unfolding warmly to receive me.”

In his flowery prose, the author sums up the book based on his experiences and sentiments: “it came to me that no man—no one at all—could destroy my faith in America again. It was something that had grown out of my defeats and successes, something shaped by my struggles for a place in this vast land, digging my hands into the rich soil here and there, catching a freight to the north and to the south, seeking free meals in dingy gambling houses, reading a book that opened up worlds of heroic thoughts...” 

The  author died in Seattle on September 11, 1956. 

Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson

.  

Three years before the publication of the novel titled "Ramona", Helen Hunt Jackson published “A Century of Dishonor: The Classic Exposé of the Plight of Native Americans”.  Both publications describe the displacement of of Native Americans from the land that they have inhabited for the last 10 to 15 thousand years.

The author referred  to these indigenous peoples  as “Indians”, the name that was supposed

to have been mistakenly given by Christopher Columbus to the first first people  he saw when he  sailed into what became the Americans continents. He thought he was in India. Oh by the way, did you know that Columbus never set foot in   North America, much less to its southern part like Mexico?

California became a US territory in 1847 as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo  which ended the Mexican-American War. Ramona, Helen Hunt Jackson second book was set on an era where Mexicans of Spanish ancestry were downsizing their ranchos and conceding portions of their lands to land grants as stipulated in a US Congress act. Set in a Spanish era California amidst Catholic missions run by Spanish friars and ranches owned by criollos, the novel depicts a more functional  relationship between  criollos and  Native Americans. Throughout the novel, the author aptly described the prejudices first by  Mexicans of Spanish ancestry then by white men (Europeans) against indigenous  Americans. The novel Ramona is more of an idyllic re-enactment of the prior book. The novel revolves around the story of Ramona, the daughter of a Scottish sailor and a Native American woman referred to in the novel as a “squaw” who were married by a priest in the San Gabriel Missions. The Gabrielino Indians are believed to have been from the Tongva tribes.

Helen Hunt Jackson's initial publication is a documentation of how the indigenous population was treated in the 1850's.  This was the time when Mexicans  born in Spain and living in Mexico were called "peninsulares" and all other Mexicans of Spanish ancestry were called "criollos".  The Olmecs, the first known inhabitants of Mexico along with the Teotihuacans, the Aztecs, the Yaquis, the Kumeyaays and the Ipais among other tribes were called "Indians". According to the 2010 US Census, California has the highest Native American population in the country.There are currently 109 federally recognized tribes in California alone. To this day,  40 to 50 percent  of  the  Mexican population still identify themselves to their indigenous tribes while many trace their ancestry  origins to  Iberia or Portugal.

Helen Hunt Jackson's protagonist in her second book is Ramona.  Ramona is raised by Senora Gonzaga-Moreno, the sister of her foster mother, her Scottish father's former fiancee whom she is named after. Senora Moreno raises Ramona as part of the Moreno family and foster sister to the senora's only child, Felipe. Native Americans are contracted by the Moreno household as laborers and during a sheep-searing season, Ramona meets Alessandro, a chieftain's son  from Temecula who is designated to be the foreman of the sheep-searing team after one of the Moreno household staff gets incapacitated.

Ramona falls in love with Alessandro. Senora Moreno confronts Ramona and threatens to deny her of the valuables her Scottish father left her. Ramona elopes with Alessandro with the help of Felipe and taking along Baba, her horse and Capitan, a dog. Ramona and Alessandro is married by a priest from the San Diego missions. The couple goes to San Pascual Valley  and eventually gets displaced by European-Americans who drive them off their homesteads. The couple moves to the San Jacinto mountains and loses their daughter when a white doctor refuses to treat her because the couple are not his "Indians".  Alessandro  who  loses his mind (likely due to  PTSD) one day rides off with a white man's horse and the white man follows and murders him.

Meanwhile, Senora Moreno dies and Felipe sets off to look for Ramona and Alesandro. Felipe one day recognizes Baba, Ramona's horse. Felipe is led to a Cahuilla village by a white woman (Aunt Ri') and his son. Ramona who gives birth to another daughter gets deathly ill and a Cahuilla village woman nurses her infant daughter while Aunt Ri' works her health remedies to get Ramona well. Felipe lets Ramona stay with Aunt Ri' a little longer to recuperate and be doted on by Aunt Ri' like a daughter. Felipe brings home Ramona and her infant daughter who is also named Ramona. Felipe eventually marries Ramona and adopts baby Ramona. Felipe and Ramona have several sons and daughters together but their favorite is Ramona. The family moves south  to Mexico where they live happily ever after.

eye of the fish, a personal archipelago

Luis Francia,  the author, received  a PEN Open Book Award and Asian American Literary Award for the book. PEN which is short for poets, essayist and novelist is a literary award that started in 1963 honoring  outstanding voices in literature. The book which is a memoir is, to me, more of a sociological account of a participant observer. 

The title of the book which sounds like a line from one the author’s poems reminds of that cringey feeling I get every time someone refers to my country of origin as PI. 

“Kailan ka uuwi sa PI?”

“PI?”

“Philippine Islands, didn’t you know that?”

I am always reminded of my conversation with Nida Halud, my room mate at Muhayl in Abha, Assir Region of KSA.  Some years earlier I heard about the PI acronym from Romy Panisales, a classmate at Asian Social Institute or ASI for short. 

“PI nila!”

“PI?”

“Puta’ng ina.”

“Ahh...”

Nowadays, I remember both Nida Halud and Romy Panisales every time somebody mentions about PI. Most of the Pinoys I work with or I know refer to the motherland as PI. Most of them are annoyed every time I get the chance and tell them that we come from an archipelago. An island is defined as a strip of land sorrounded by water.  Philippines and all of its  more than 7,100 islands is an archipelago. The PI misnomer must have come from  BPI which is short for Bank of Philippine Islands. The bank was established in 1851 and originally known as El Banco Español Filipino de Isabel II. 

I somehow think that the PI misnomer was further reinforced or popularized by US servicemen who were stationed in the country  and considered the country as a pit stop and a shit hole. During my first year in the US, I came upon an article in the New York Magazine that listed Philippine Indepence Day as July 4, 1946. Later, when Richard and I moved to San Diego, this then Navy Seal neighbor gave me a the “true” historical account of my country of origin which he referred to as “PI”.  He talked about Aetas and the “cannibalistic head-hunting Igorots” while proudly spewing nasal Tagalog words. I flinched some more and bit my tongue as I thought of Romy Panisales: PI!

Luis Francia’s book sounds like a timeless rejoinder to age-old myths and misconceptions about the Philippines, his personal archipelago.  The popular fill-in-the blank saying that goes like “ you may be able to take the blank out the the blank but you can never take the blank out of the blank”. I know this doesn’t make sense to you so let me say get it straight: “ You can take the Pinoy out of the Philippines but you can never take the Philippines  out of the Pinoy”.  

Got it? 

Corny?

Bakya?

Not to me. For me, Luis H. Francia has MTE. 

(MTE is my thoughts exactly, Evangelista!) 

But I don’t mean to devalue anyone’s thoughts. This is why I never use MTE for Facebook comment. IKR? Lol ka rin!

The author likened himself to an awkward fish swimming simultaneously in different oceans: upstream to home, his personal archipelago,  from another sea called NYC. Practically covering the whole archipelago from Batanes to Jolo, the author presented characters and images ranging from tragic to nostalgic amidst a  mostly rustic landscape.  Dead or alive, there was this  body in a bag fished from the Pasig River, a retired schoolteacher in Vigan who sat perfectly stil  by her window every morning reading pulp fiction by Danielle Steele or Judith Krantz, a woman shaman at Mount Banahaw, the magicians of Siquijor and so on and so forth.  

There are characters I recognize. Sr Myrna, ICM, the author’s sister who had since passed according to Google, may well have been my religion teacher at my ICM-run high school in Bauang, La Union. Elieza Dadap in Hnunangan Southern  Leyte who went to ASI sounds  like a community organizer I knew. Joey Ayala, the son of one of the author’s contacts in Davao City is still a favorite Original Pilipinong Mang-aawit and of course then Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who is the current Philippine president is someone I would never compare to President Donald Trump.  Duterte  was a lawyer known for his vigilante style  of local government. He is not a dictator and is a lot smarter than the Donald. 

I enjoyed the book for all its worth. Had it been a foreign author describing  the absurdities of my culture, I would have taken offense.  Francia’s subtle humor or sense of irony are to me LOL moments.  I am quoting some of these in this blog so I can always read them in the future to entertain myself. 

“Right outside Quiapo church was another, smaller open air market, a talipapa, offering products for the soul, for the future, as well as for your health. Here notions of the sacred outdated and often contradicted Catholic ones. Plaster images of the saints, of the Virgin Mary and rhe Santo Niño, were displayed alongside anting anting, bronze amulets with inscriptions of  pig Latin that could, for instance, make you bullet-proof  or irresistible to a beloved, as was the case with one that  depicted the Christ Child with an erect penis, his left hand holding the globe, his right hand in greeting. The charm worked by rubbing the divine penis while chanting the beloved’s name.”

Somehow I see myself in the book. 

“During mass,  one of the sisters asks me to do the first gospel reading. Nervous, I begin reading;  it has been a long time since I have done this. And it shows, for I inadvertently start reading even the instructions to the congregation before I catch myself. The Catholic schoolboy in me wants those nuns to think well of me, so I am tempted to receive Holy Communion. When was it I lost my faith exactly? What is it I have lost? Is it faith in the institution, in a heirarchal church that is just as feudal as any other power-wielding group? Should it matter then whether I consume the sacred host or not? The wafers and the wine-filled chalice are passed to me. I pass them on. Let the nuns judge me, though I doubt it they will.”

Bagong Kasal na Mangga at iba pa

Patungkol sa mga alipin at mga foreign brides ang nobelang pinamagatang "Mango Bride"  ni Marivi Soliven. Mula sa www. palancaawards.com.ph, napag-alaman ko na ang nobela ay dating pinamagatang "In the Service of Secrets" at ang nobela ay nakatanggap ng  Carlos Palanca grand prize award noong 2011. Si Carlos Palanca ay isang matagumpay na negosyanteng Intsik. Kilala si Carlos Palanca bilang  Tan Quin Lay bago siya bininyagan sa pagka Kristiyano. Ipinanganak  si Tan Quin Lay  sa  Xiamen, Fujian, China noong 1869 at nag migrate sa Pilipinas noong 1884.

Minabuti ng mga iniwan ni Carlos Palanca na kilalanin  at panatiliing buhay ang kanyang alaala sa pamamagitan ng pagtatag ng taunang gantimpala sa kanyang pangalan.  Layunin  ng Carlos Palanca awards ang  mag ingganyo sa  mga manunulat sa paglikha ng mga  namumukod tanging panitikan; para bumuo ng collection ng mga likha ng mga mahuhusay na manunulat; at palaganapin ang panitikang Pilipino. Tinagurian ding Pulitzer Awards ng mga Pilipino ang Carlos Palanca Awards.

Kung hindi pa ako nag attend ng forum sa San Diego Central Library kung saan panauhin at facilitator ang may akda na  si Marivi, hindi ko babasahin  ang nobela niyang Mango Bride. Sa pamagat pa lang, nakikinita ko na ang mga stereotypes at label na laging nakakabit sa mga Pilipino, lalo na ang mga kababaihan at mga maralita. Hindi ko maintindihan kung paano naging bagong kasal na mangga ang pamagat ng nobela.

Habang binabasa ko ang nobela, naaalala ko ang sinabi ni Marivi sa  forum. Hindi raw niya inisip na kayumanggi siya hanggang di siya pumunta dito sa America. Nandoon din yong kwento niyang tuwing sinasabihan siya ng kanyang mga mayayaman na kakilala na nakatira sa La Jolla, isang lugar sa San Diego na kung saan nakatira ang mga multi millionaires at billionaires, na ang mga tagapag-alaga ng kanilang anak ay mga "Filipina", sinasagot ni Marivi ang mga ito ng "So are mine!".
"And the conversation goes downhill from there!" Dagdag pa  ni Marivi habang nagkukuwento siya sa forum na pinamagatang “Immigrant Writers Respond to President Trump” na ginanap sa San Diego Central Library noong nakaraang taon.

Mas angkop ang orihinal na pamagat ng nobela na "In the Service of Secrets". Pang Carlos Palanca grand prize award nga ba? Siyempre, familiar ako sa mga  kwento ni Manuel Arguilla at Carlos Bulosan  at minsan din akong nangarap na makapagsulat ng mga  kwento na sing husay ng mga isinulat nila. Naingganyo din ako ni Ryan, nabasa niya at nagustuhan niya ang kwento. Natuwa ako at nagustuhan ni Ryan ang kwento.

Pero naging kasanayan ko  habang  nag-aaral ako  sa ASI (Asian Social Institute) na maging mapanuri. Sa  madaling salitang Ingles, tinutukoy ko ang aking mga critiquing skills. Bago mo ako kontrahin, gusto ko lang ipaliwanag sa iyo na hindi pareho ang pagiging mapanuri at pagiging critical o mapamintas. Nakatanggap din pala ang may akda ng gantimpala na tinawag na Hedgebrook writing residency noong 2012 para sa  kanyang pagtatanggol at pagtataguyod ng mga issues ng mga kababaihan sa kwento. Ang mga kababaihan sa kwento ay sina Amparo Guerrero, ang bida at anak mayaman katulad ng may akda, si Nanay Marcela  ang kusinera, si Senyora Concha, ina ni Amparo, si Beverly, anak sa labas ng tiyuhin ni Amparo, at Lisa, kaibigan ni Beverly  na naging foreign bride.

Pangkaraniwan na drama  sa telebisyon ang kwento, maliban sa pagkakasulat sa English.  Andoon yong matapobreng amo, ang mga naninilbihan bilang tsimay, kusinera o tsuper, ang mga anak o kamag-anak ng katulong at ang mga anak ng amo. Kung drama sa telebisyon o isinapelikula ang nobela, malamang hindi ko ito papanoorin. May hawig din ang kwento sa "The Help" by Kathryn Stocket, yong tipong eat my shit ang drama.

Sa murang edad, nabuntis at nagpalaglag si Amparo kaya siya pinarusahan  at pinadala sa America para maitago siya sa  kahihiyan dala ng kanyang pagka disgrasyada. Sa Oakland siya napadpad at nagtrabaho bilang interpreter sa mga Pinoy. Nakilala din ni Amparo si Beverly na nakapag-asawa ng kano  kaya nakapunta sa America. Aray!

Mas naaangkop ang original na pamagat ng nobela na "In the Service of Secrets". Corny na kung corny. At parang mismong karanasan o nasaksihan ng may akda ang mga detalye na ginamit sa paglarawan ng mga tagpo sa loob nga sambahayan ng mga mayayaman. Ginamit din ang mga mura na nag-uugnay sa mga mayayaman at mahihirap: puta'ng ina, punyeta at iba pa!

Tuwing nakakabasa ako ng kwento na iniakda ng isang manunulat na Pilipino sa wikang Ingles, naghahanap ako ng kasagutan kung sino ang kanilang target na mambabasa. Ang mga banyaga kaya at gusto nilang ikwento ang malaking agwat ng mga mahihirap at mayayaman sa bansa? Pakiwari ko sa kwento, gustong panatiliin ng mga mayayaman as in  status quo baga, kung saan kabilang ang may akda,  sa mga nakagawian na. Halimbawa, ang mga pamilya at angkan ng mga naninilbihan ay manatili sa paninilbihan. Kung makawala man sila sa kanilang sitwasyon katulad ng pangingibang bansa, hanggang foreign bride lang sila at mangangailangan pa rin ng interpreter sa tuwing sila ay nagigipit. Sa totoo lang, wala pa akong nakilala Pilipino sa America na nangailangan ng interpreter. 

“Where’d you learn to speak English so well?”

“I learn it on the plane while coming  to America.”

Obvious ba na hindi ako nasiyahan sa kwento? Pero sa totoong buhay, may mga ilan rin akong kilala na nakawala sa paninilbihan bilang katulong sa sambahayan. Saludo ako sa mga kilala kong guro na nanilbihan sa Hong Kong at nakapagpaaral ng kanyang mga anak na ngayo'y mga propesyonal: doctor, abogado at mga nurses na ngayo'y maari ding nandito sa America.

Paano nagtapos ang kwento? Battered wife ang dating foreign bride na si Beverly at nabaril ng kanyang asawang Kano. Pasok naman itong si Amparo na interpreter at nagulat siya noong ang contact number ni Beverly sa Pilipinas ay ang numero ng telepono sa kanyang sambahayan sa Manila or New Manila or Greenhills or saan mang mararangyang lugar sa National Capital Region. Si Beverly pala ay pamangkin ng kanilang kusinera, si Nanay Marcela. Ang nanay ni Beverly ay minsan din nilang katulong hanggang sa mabuntis siya ng kanyang Tiyo Aldo na ngayon pinatapon din sa Oakland, California para hindi pag tsimisan ng mga alta sociedad na kinagagalawan ng pamilya ni Amparo. Happy ending para kay Amparo dahil inampon niya ang anak ni Beverly. Noong nabuntis at nagpalaglag si Amparo, nasira ang kanyang matris at di na siya puedeng magka anak.

Carlos Palanca grand prize award noong 2011 at Hedgebrook writing residency award noong 2012 para sa pagtatanggol at pagtataguyod ng mga issues ng kababaihan ang nobela ni Marivi. Ganoon nga!

Katutubong Kano

Katulad ng Los Angeles, irrigated dessert ang San Diego. Ang mga mababang lugar ay mabuhangin at bato-bato  pero may mga bulubunduking lugar na madalas ulanin, paminsan mindan may snow din. Ang ulan at natutunaw na snow ay umaagos sa mga sapa ay waterfalls bago sila maging bahagi ng mga ilog. Sa mga di kalayuan ng mga sapa at ilog nanirahan ang mga sinaunang tao, mga Native Americans o mga katutubong kano.  mga tepee ay naging mga nayon o sitio, ang mga sitio ay naging komunidad, lumaki sa pagiging bayan o siudad hanggang sa maging county. Ang county ay tila katumbas ng lalawigan sa ibang bansa,  katulad ng Pilipinas.

Ang larawan ay kuha sa Warner Springs na minsa'y komunidad ng mga katutubo  bago sila sinaklaw ng mga puti mula sa Europa. Kilala ang mga Katutubong Kano na naglakad patungong  America mula sa Eurasia sa pamamagitan ng nga lupang nagsilbing tulay mula  Siberia, isang rehiyon ng Russia sa bandang Eurasia o North Asia. Ang lupang nagsilbing  tulay ng mga mandarayuhan o migrant mula sa Eurasia ay tinawag na Beringia. Ang Beringia ay pinapaniwalaang nabuo dahil sa Quaternary glaciation o ang  kilalang terminolohiya na Ice Age o Pleistocene glaciation. Minsan, mas mababa ang dagat kesa sa mga lupa kaya nakatawid ang mga unang mandarayuhan o migrants patungong America.  Ang bahagi ng North America na ngayon ay kilalang Alaska ang minsa'y naging port of entry ng mga unang mandarayuhan na tinawag na  First Nation sa Canada at napagkamaliang ding Indians ng mga sumakop sa bahagi ng America na naging  Estados Unidos.

Kabilang ang Pilipinas sa mga bansang isinaalang-alang na Eurasia pero di ko maisip-isip na  lumangoy at naglakad ang aking mga ninuno ng mahigit na dalawampung libong milya para marating ang America. Pero ang aking mga ninuno ay nagmula din sa China kaya may posibilidad din na bahagi rin sa aming angkan ang mga naging First Nations ng Canada at mga Katutubong Kano. Ang likas na pagpapahalaga sa kalikasan ang ilan lang sa mga katangian na aking ipinagmamalaki sa aking mga ninuno. Malamang ang aking pagiging gala ay isa sa mga katangian na namana ko sa aking mga ninunong Katutubong Kano.

FIIK

"IKR?"
"I don't think so, Evangeline!"
And if you ask me why? FIIK!"

One more book for my Goodreads goal while catching VTachs and FURs.
"Tran's coming!" Muffin warns me.
God, I love this place. Made it two years and hoping this place to be my last workplace. I have only Ayyeddis Vahkkenjaab of Scripps to thank for. I didn't want to die as a certified nursing assistant just like Bing. I guess I am lucky, thank God. Now I am thinking of my own burial arrangement. In case I die stupid like taking a self-portrait off a cliff at Mount San Jacinto or not bringing enough water while hiking El Cajon Peak.
I don't really care. Did I just want to disappear at Desolation Wilderness and be declared dead within a year? I never want to be declared dead at Facebook. I want to live forever at Facebook, just like Priscilla does. I still see her daily horoscope.
How stupid was I to expect to walk into a wake at Oceanside. I imagined a single story house and the coffin would be at the receiving room and two upright floor lamps both at the end of side of the coffin. Names of next of kin that include Vicki's, her husband's and her children's pinned on the satin lining of the coffin lid. I expect other visitors exclaiming that Vicki's sister seemed to look like she's just sleeping.
Shame on me for thinking that the best practices of Filipinos paying respects to the dead would be alive in America.
FIIK!
Did I wish to be cremated or be interred in a cemetery after an elaborate memorial service eulogized by a Catholic priest? Karl will be playing a rendition of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World on flute and Georgia will tell how good a social worker I was at one time in the Philippines inspiring her to pursue her MSW program in Washington state.
FIIK!
Sybilla Flanagan didn't really die hiking Desolation Wilderness. She faked her own death and moved on to Denmark. I don't know why the main character's name reminds me of a part of the female genital. I found the book on OverDrive.