PROCLAMATION 1959, IS THIS JUST A PRELUDE TO A BIGGER DARKENESS?

When I was a kid(I was 6 or 7 then if I remember it right), I've openly asked at my late aunt's sala (living room) what is martial law. My cousin, her daughter, who was at high school then answered me that it means that it is forbidden to talk. If I remember it right then, that time the radio announcer was having a commentary about martial law's declaration and the possibility that it would be declared again. My innocent self terrified at my cousin's reply to my question since I was known then to be very talkative, being natural for me as a kid since I tend to question a lot due to curiosity. This childhood nightmare of mine came alive in flesh just recently.

*****

Almost two weeks after the mass killing of innocent civilians, politicians and journalists, the Malacanan Palace made its formal declaration of Martial Law in the entire Maguindanao Province on Saturday, the fifth of December.

This led to warrantless arrests of several personalities especially members of the Ampatuan clan who mostly hold high executive and legislative positions over the province. They were eyed to be the perpetrators for the said massive bloodbath along with some members of police, rank and file government employees and a large number of private armies by the clan tagged as Civilian Volunteer Organization.

Investigations of the national army led to the discovery of hidden fire arms in places that are said to be connected either to the Ampatuans or the CVO. It is also said by several reports that the said armed groups hostile to the government can reach up to more than 2,000 individuals.

Government officials are convincing people that this is a different form of martial law and the people shouldn't be afraid of it. To sugarcoat it, they even encourage media coverage of arrests, searches and other operations by the military. It is said that this will assure transparency and avoid various violations of human rights.

*****

Whatever it is the intention of the Manila government on the declaration of Martial Law, some of us are not forgetting the memories of the past. A lot of us are questioning, is this just a dry run of a bigger thing to happen?



There are reports on television already out of anonymous text messages that there are members of the military who are forcing entrance to houses, violently confiscating goods such as rice, and up to molesting women. The veracity of this particular report is still in question but why is that residents are fleeing already out of the the province? Even local commerce if affected by the take over and business establishments suspended their day to day operations.




If the military is playing the role of the savior, why are the locals so terrified of them taking over the province?

*****

Also a lot of speculations are coming out of the martial law declaration.

*****

One theory is that the Arroyo administration declared it in order to have the killings be elevated to the level of rebellion. It is said that this is a move to save the suspects from the crime of mass murder since the rebellion charge does not have too much merit and it could easily get dissolved and have them free as a bird right after the blood bath.



The Ampatuans who are the current main suspects of the military are known to be a loyal ally of the administration. It has been reported that they have all the ingredients a TRAPO could have: GUNS- see the massive number of ammunition found near the grounds of the residence of one of them, GOONS- the more than two thousand private armies they have and GOLD- look at the several palatial mansions they built despite the spread of poverty in their constituents (they are a third class province, as per the reports).


People from the side of the opposition are pointing that they are the ones who are behind the alleged massive cheating in the Mindanao region during the 2004 Presidential Election (do not forget the Hello Garci Gate Scandal).

an artist's work we found over the internet:

It may be possible that this is an I cover your ass, you cover my ass move.

*****

Another theory, and this is much frightening, this is just a showcase of what the current administration can do to the whole country.

Stepping back forty years ago, can we remember the scenarios that happened before the declaration of the 1972 Martial Law? Due to the massive protests and oppositions against Ferdinand Marcos' administration, spread of violence and terror occurred.

The Plaza Miranda Bombing and several ambush attempts to government officials led to the declaration of Proclamation 1081.

And the rest is history...

*****

Whatever it is, we as a people should be guarding ourselves. Or else, a curse. We are a nation that is very notorious for being forgetful of the past. And as George Santayana put it: "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

picture of Adolf Hitler

picture of former President Ferdinand Marcos and some artists' work we found over the internet (particulatry kilusan.net and others), we say these people are so creative.

TINY THOUGHT: IS THIS A FASHION PROPHECY OR WHAT?

I just noticed that in the movie Igorota (featured on the previous post), it made some fashion forcast at that time.


As we observe on the movie clip that was posted previously, all the glamour girls (the "society bitches") was all dressed up in mini skirts and probably clogs, fashion items reflecting the 60's.

But the heroine played by Charito Solis was dressed up in a dress with symmetrical stripes pattern on its print (or knit, whatever).

This kind of clothing became a boom on the next generation, the late 70's disco era (which was the time of Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos, Annie Batumbakal, Studio 54 and probably Charlie's Angels as well).

Is that trend inspired by this movie? Or is it mainly coincidence? I wonder...

A ROYALTY IN THE FILM AND REAL LIFE

Hello again Fellows! Little Quiapo searched over the internet for some Filipino movie classics and now he remembers one of the best local films he watched. I am featuring here a classic of the original Ina Magenta herself (Queen Mother of Engkantasya, the fairy kingdom in Okay Ka, Fairy Ko TV series), Charito Solis.

"Igorota" stars Charito Solis and another contemporary known actor, Eddie Garcia. We remember this as it was last shown in ABS CBN around 15 years ago. Local classics were shown then in a whole week in celebration of an International Film Festival then that was held in Manila (we can't remember the name of the Festival, but it focused on saving old films that are on the verge of full decay and eventually being lost forever).

The film was originally released in 1968. It can be considered as a ground breaking film in some aspects, simultaneous with the counter culture movement that was rising in that generation.

This film is not the typical old school Filipino movies of having very little conflict, having a scene where casts are singing and dancing fandango and having "and they live happily ever after" finale. The ending of the film is rather tragic where we see Maila (Charito's character) committed suicide.

Also, Charito Solis here stepped out from the stereotype of a glamorous Mestiza that was typical for the roles at that time by local actresses. She portrayed a native that came from the mountains up North.

In the original edition of the film, we see frontal nudities not just from Charito but as well as other casts/ extras. It is not so common for popular celebrities of the then Sampaguita-LVN era (which Charito belongs to) to have graphic nude scenes.

There is a lot of unforgettable lines in the film like: "Malice is in the eye of the beholder," delivered by Charito herself.

Apparently, this film was made not just for local mass consumption, but also for international release for the English language was used all through out the film (its not dubbed, scripts were read by the casts as they act on it).



The film bagged 8 FAMAS awards, but sadly most of the younger generation don't know about this film.

And of course, this film made Charito a legendary royalty not just in the story, but a royalty of the kingdom of Philippine Movie Industry. Although she passed away already, films of hers like this one made her craft immortal.

NATIRIS ANG COTTO (COTTO WAS CRUSHED)

Please do not take some content of this entry seriously, just for entertainment.



Little Quapo was pushed by his colleagues to watch the live feed of the recent Manny Pacquiao in a bar in Quezon City. LQ is not a big fan of boxing, but he said, what the heck, this fight is something to be proud of as a Filipino.

They finished the given number of fights before the referee referee stopped the game and declare Manny as the winner.

In the befinning we were anxious that manny might lose this one since Cotto is physically bigger and ont he first rounds Cotto made some serious attacks and Manny seemed not to fight those punches too much.

At any rate, at the latter rounds, we all saw Cotto bled on his face and had several knock downs.

Well, the lice (Cotto, sounding like "kuto," which is the Filipino term for lice) was crushed by Manny, Kudos!

A MASSACRE OF FREEDOM

Greetings fellows! I know, I know, it took me a long time before I make another entry again. A lot of things happened around and Little Quiapo fails to write something about those but this recent tragedy moved him to at least make an entry about it.


57 people were killed in a massive showcase of barbarism in Ampatuan, Maguindanao in Southern Philipppines.

Earlier, there were reports already that there was a kidnapping perpetrated involving more than 40 victims. Everyone was shocked when corpses of the said kidnap victims were found buried on what they termed as killing fields.


Television news made vivid description of the killings. Guns were fired on heads, faces and genitalias. Even limbs were seen missing on the corpses.


Clearly, its a politically motivated killing involving the ruling Ampatuan clan against their nemesis, the Mangudadatu Clan. But large number of journalists had been caught on fire being included on the 57 dead bodies.

This is a week of mourning not just for the casualties but also for for the death of press freedom.

When are we gonna learn?