Mindaviews

COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/28 September) – When the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) started talking peace with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) on January 7, 1997, the former pushed for a single-point agenda for the peace negotiations, i. e., “How to solve the ‘Bangsamoro Problem’."

NEW YORK (MindaNews/26 September) -- It is a good time to be in New York.  Since I arrived here last week, the weather has been really nice: neither too hot nor too cold.  It's like being in Baguio during sunny days this time of the year, too.  The late summer flowers in the parks are still in bloom and the trees stand tall with thick foliage.

ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/22 September) -- I am deeply saddened and disturbed by the issue raised on the lecture of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, and I wish to be a voice of many silent Christians and Muslims who follow this issue with great concern.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/18 Sep) -- First off, some errata need to be made on that last article that came out on this column. My apologies. I submitted that to the Bong Eliab who, as Assistant to the University President, deemed it proper for the ADDU to put out a puff piece on Mac Tiu on the occasion of his winning the 2005 National Book Award for history. What I turned in to meet the deadline was a first draft, the details of which had yet to be validated by Mac who did not answer in time because he was out of text load.

The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.-  Oscar Wilde

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/09 September) -- Indie writer-producer Raymond Lee was certainly kidding when he said Angelo Ilagan, who plays the lead role in his Cinemalaya offering of Sarong Banggi (literally meaning One Night), is my long-lost son. He can't be. Hindi ho ako maaga naglandi to have a son three years older than my Liane.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/03 September) – The message came in at 5:12 pm, 31 August 2006. It baldly read, "My buk gets national buk award."
"Yes! I am so proud of you!" I texted back. I imagine Mac texting me the very first minute he could find a quiet space to share his newfound victory. That would have been all the press release he'd put out himself. Now it was up to me. The trust is well founded, I think. It's no secret that I am his number one fan.

Last of five parts
QUEZON (MindaNews/03 Sept) -- When I asked them how many they were in this samahan, he said that they speak in terms of balangays (clusters of families) and as of the moment, they have 71 balangays spread across the country with most of them being in Luzon. Most of those in Kinabuhian are members of their samahan; others live in various parts of the country.

4th of five parts
QUEZON (MindaNews/02 Sept) -- As Mt. Banahaw is considered a place for healing, the local herbs are aplenty and are sold in the various small stores spread all over Sta. Lucia. One could see barks of trees, leaves, limestones being displayed and sold for their medicinal value. Some of these find their way to Quiapo and other outlets for herbal medicine and the like. 

COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/01 September) -- What is there to celebrate on September 2, 2006?  Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos will the commemoration of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement of the government with the Moro National Liberation Front and even invited Professor Nur Misuari, chairman emeritus of the Moro National Liberation Front and a principal signatory.

ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/01 September) -- Ten years ago, on September 2 1996, I was in Malacanang with a few friends to represent Silsilah in the historical event of the signing of the peace agreement between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), represented by Nur Misuari and witnessed by representatives of the Organization of Islamic Conference.

3rd of five parts
QUEZON (MindaNews/01 Sept) -- For students of Spirituality - as an academic discipline - interested in indigenous mystical practices of our ancestors, here in the samahan one is afforded a glimpse into what could be one model or lived experience of mysticism that goes a long way back to our pre-colonial era. While listening to Nanay Isabel, I was conscious of a deep desire: that there would be serious Filipino scholars who would pursue this type of research as it would be most helpful in rediscovering our very deep sense of the divine as well as the roots of our own indigenous spirituality.

2nd of five parts
QUEZON (MindaNews/31 August) -- There are also landmarks placed in strategic areas by the National Historical Commission. One informs the nationalist pilgrim that the hero Macario Sakay and his men retreated to this part of Mt. Banahaw during the height of their anti-colonial struggles. The confluence of these signs and symbols - political, cultural, religious - provides the unique character of Mt. Banahaw as it affirms the sojourner's citizenship, cultural identity and religiosity.

1st of five parts
QUEZON (MindaNews/30 Aug) -- I had always wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Mt. Banahaw, perhaps the country's premiere indigenously Filipino pilgrimage site. However, the visit to the holy mountain remained elusive through the past more than five decades of my life. This desire intensified in the past decade during and after my UP studies and especially as I became more and more interested in knowing more about Filipino indigenous spirituality.

MAKATI CITY (MindaNews/28 August) -- Ten years after the signing of the “Final Peace Agreement” between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and five years after the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo agreed on a cessation of hostilities with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), uncertainty remains about the peace status of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago.  Disputes are continuous about the implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement, and MNLF Chair Nur Misuari is still detained.  At the same time, talks between the government and the MILF have gone through numerous informal sessions as representatives on both sides try to reach consensus on extraordinarily difficult issues so as to be able to present the Peace Panels with a final draft agreement.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/27 August) -- This Mindanawon rural banker looks more of a refined, meek and well-mannered person. Quietly placed in a corner seat, his attention was glued to the speaker through out the session.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/23 Aug) -- Many Filipino parents want their children to speak the English language in that they enroll them in exclusive schools. Without them knowing it, they have become easy preys of the highly commercialized Philippine educational system. But becoming themselves gullible to the demands of these exclusive schools they do not mind. It’s because they feel a certain degree of pride seeing and hearing their kids speaking like birds! In Cagayan de Oro City where I live, there are a number of exclusive pre-schools run either by religious groups or enterprising educators.

QUEZON CITY (MindaNews/20 August) -- Thirty years since "a group of people," in the words of the American news reporter John Nance, "walked less than 20 miles from their home in a Philippine rain-forest and traveled through 50,000 years of cultural and technological time", the debate on whether the Tasaday were truly from the Stone Age or not continues to rage in the country's anthropological circle.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 August) – "You know what the ironic thing about working overseas is? You actually get to be more patriotic."
"Why is that?"
"I never thought about how I felt about our country and our people. Not like you. All these years, I feared you'd someday worry yourself sick seeking answers to matters of fact."

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/10 Aug) -- In celebration of its 30^th year of service to the Southern Mindanao community, the Davao Medical School Foundation, Inc. (DMSFI) put together its first research journal dedicated to health research and development. Last June, the editorial board invited me to sit as editorial consultant on this maiden trip to the printing press. This is not the first time for me to work with DMSFI. Last year, we also helped them put together a magazine to showcase the endeavors of the Institute of Primary Health Care. That opportunity introduced me to the ongoing efforts for community health development that need to be documented. Their enthusiasm for the project got to me, and because I am eternally curious as to what others are doing, I agreed. In particular, I wanted to see if a creditable journal could be put out from scratch and on a shoestring budget in less than seven weeks.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/08 August) -- Some time back when I was still somewhat in touch with the rest of the world, a virtual acquaintance on the alibata e-forum wrote to the effect that a society's view of women is reflected in how it accepts gays. In our society today where to be out of the closet does not any more carry the kind of social stigma it did two generations back, I guess it implies that women are actually exalted in our time. Seen in that light, it makes sense why now we got a lot more guys singing "This boy has turned into a woman.”

DAKBAYAN SA DABAW (MindaNews/Hulyo 22) -- June 5, 2006 migawas ang artikulo alang sa usa ka pregnant cashier sa NCCC Mall sa Davao City. Usa ka paghinuklog sa kahimtang sa usa ka babaye sulod ug palibot sa iyang gitrabahoan. Usa ka kahimtang nga diin dili kaayo mahatagan ug pagtagad tungod kay ang uban milantaw lamang nga ang pagbuntis sa usa ka babaye natural lang ug dili angayan taagan og kabug-aton dili pareha sa kabug-aton sa sala sa usa ka politiko nga naglimbong sa eleksyon aron lang madeklara nga madaugon.

DAKBAYAN SA DABAW (MindaNews/Hulyo 15) -- “Kinaiyahan ug kinabuhi sa tawo usa ra, kung ang kinaiyahan namiligro, namiligro usab ang kinabuhi sa tawo busa kini atong panalipdan kay bugtong kining gasa sa kahitas-an.”
Sa atong inadlaw-adlaw nga kinabuhi, daghan butang ang kasagaran malikay sa atong pagtagad usa na niini mao ang atong palibot. Bisan asa kita motan-aw napalibutan sa atong kalasangan, kabukiran, ug katubigan. Apan ang pangutana aduna pa bay nahibilin niini? Dako tinuod ang problema sa atong kinaiyahan sa pagakakaron. Sa ingon niining kahimtang aduna pa bay maabutan sa mga mosunod nga generasyon? Dili ba aduna man kitay ahensya sa goberno nga mao ang DENR
kon Department of Environment and Natural Resources nga maoy nangalaga niini?

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/04 July) --As war in Mindanao again threatens to break wide open following a seemingly last-ditch attempt of the current administration to keep the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) loyal to it, it is perhaps fitting that we reflect on the effects of war on the ones who wish it least. Oh, yes, children wish it least. Ask the surviving Lost Boys of Sudan. Most of the data that follow were taken from the studies done by Geraldine Janier-Arendain and Andy Villa on children caught in armed conflict situations in Cotabato and in the Paquibato district, this city.

Eight-year-old Sage's voice whispered with hushed excitement against my ear. I could smell her sweet hair as she nuzzled me gently awake. I cracked one eye open in the predawn light and reached out an arm to draw her close. She rewarded me with a snuggle.

"Look out the window, Mom."

DAVAO CITY -- Don't look now, but Baby Boy Smith wants the judge to believe that he must be one hell of a lover. He has a hard time fighting off women who can't wait to get a piece of him. They're falling all over him like a ton of bricks. For his security, he has to have with him three buddies at least - products of the Marines boot camp where boys are turned into strapping men - to help him fight off sex-crazed females who can't keep their hands off his mouth-watering body. Smith really doesn't want to be treated like a sex object with all the inconvenience that go with it. See him go around with a condom to protect himself. Okay, you convinced us, boy. Go convince the judge.

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/11 June) -- Fellow MindaViews columnist Elson Elizaga, serious artist, unintended humorist (most times anyway), and unflinching activist for cultural heritage conservation, recently emailed me a thank you. In explanation, he gave me back my own words to haunt me:

To write is to be all consumingly self-absorbed. To go public is to set yourself up in the line of unfriendly fire from those out on a moral crusade who won't be able to take the shape of your soul. But in the end, you get to claim who you are. And that, I think, is all that matters.

CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews/06 June)  -- Driving from Opol on our way to do a photographic project at Museo de Oro, my palalabs and I were caught in a traffic jam of Biblical proportion at the highway along RER subdivision. To conserve gas, I switched off the ignition, but when I slid down the windows to get our quota of oxygen -- aacck! -- we got carbon monoxide instead.

TAGUIG CITY (MindaNews/02 June) -- Proponents of Charter change aggressively campaign for the shift to Parliamentary and Federalism. To gain support and appeal to the Moro people of Mindanao a Federal Bangsamoro state is alloted for them.

The GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) negotiating panel in the peace process emphasizes the need to change the Constitution to accommodate the demands of the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) that will reflect in their imagined peace agreement this year.

  By Gail Ilagan/MindaNews

(Speech delivered before the 23rd Buklod Atenista Leaders' Summit on 24 May 2006).

DAVAO CITY (Gail Ilagan/MindaNews/25 May) -- It is a distinct pleasure to address the 23rd Buklod Atenista Leaders' Summit and see bright young people come together to draw a measure of their shared reality. Community building begins with the individuals' acknowledgment of being party to a common experience and seeking to understand what the nature of that experience is in order to clarify and define one's involvement and commitment to leadership.