SWAT: Special Weapons ‘Alang Tactics

The Quirino Grandstand Bloodbath happened two nights ago. Ang bida ay walang iba kundi ang sinibak na si Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza at ang mga katunggali ay ang mga alagad ng batas – ang pambansang kapulisan. Ang eksena ay kinunan sa malawak na Quirino Grandstand kung saan dinaos ang panunumpa ni P-Noy magda-dalawang buwan pa lang ang nakalipas. Ang eksena ay may mga turistang banyaga galing ng Hong Kong na gawing hostages sakay ng isang magarang bus at aakmain ng mga kapulisan na isalba sila sa isang naghuhuramintadong sinibak na pulis na pinarangalan pa noon na isa sa sampung pinakamagaling na pulis sa buong bansa.

Ang masaklap dito ay hindi ito isang eksena sa pelikula bagkos ay isang totohanan at kasindak-sindak na pangyayari na ikinagimbal ng buong sambayang Pilipino at ng mundo. Kitang-kita ng buong mundo kung papaano naresulba ang krisis na ito. Ang isang di kaaya-ayang katapusan ng hostage drama – patay ang nang-hostage at walo rin sa naging hostages ang nakalasan ng buhay.

Napanood ko lang yong eskena ng nakauwi ako ng bahay ng gabing iyon. Kita sa mga live video (buhay na bidyo ba tawag sa Filipino nito?) na nahagip ng kamera ng mga nag-uulat sa telebisyon ang mga pagkukulang ng kapulisan sa pagresolba ng krisis. Kitang-kita din ang kawalan ng sistema at kagamitan ng kapulisan ng tangkain na lusubin nila ang bus. Nakakabahala din ang pag-aresto nila sa kapatid ng suspek, na sa pahayag ng tsuper ng bus ay ang naging simula ng paghuhuramintado ng suspek sa loob ng sasakyan. Nakawala kasi ang tsuper sa kanyang pagkakaposas sa manubelo gamit ang kanyang nail cutter.

I had watched a movie before whose plot was somewhat similar to what happened at Quirino Grandstand. I could not remember the title of the movie. The guy was axed by his employer and took hostages to ask his employer to give back his job. The family of the hostage-taker knew nothing about his plan. The drama as it unfolded was covered by the media but they (media) had played a different role, instead of just focusing on the crime scene. They took a bold step to interview his colleagues, friends in the community, and including his family. They highlighted in these interviews the good deeds the hostage-taker had done to his family, colleagues, and community. The media played generously the good perception about him by people close to him. The movie ended with a hostage-taker freeing his hostages and him surrendering to the police force.

The police should have used Mendoza’s family to pacify him. The negotiator should have granted all the demands of Mendoza. Sigurado di yon mag-amok kung pumayag sila. Sabi nga ng kapitbahay ko na sana daw pumayag na lang yong negosyador na ibigay yong kahilingan nya tapos di na nila tutuparin pagkatapos pakawalan yong hostages. Ang importante lang daw ay makawala yong hostages. Meron point naman si neighborhood. Di bitaw sila Bol-anon na tumanon. (Hindi sila taga-Bohol na gagawin lahat ng sinasabi.) Pulis Maynila naman sila.

Nang nagsimula na ang assault sa bus, ako ay natatakot para sa mga pulis. Pinalagay na kasi nila na patay na ang mga hostages. Sino naman hindi matatakot para sa ating mga kapulisan na kung lumusob ay para naman dalagang pilipina. Ang hinhin naman nila at wala pang mga protective gears. Lulusubin ang harapan ng bus, tapos aatras; pagkatapos ay lulusubin naman ang likuran ng bus, at aatras ulit. Ano ba yon? It wasn’t like in the movies! (laugh) Dapat kasi magkasabay yong pagpasok ng special police teams sa bus – isang grupo ang papasok sa likuran at isa namang grupo sa harapan. At hindi kilos bakla dapat ang paglusob. It should be a surprise assault. Quick and fast but calculating. Hindi ‘yong hahampasin mo ng maso yong pinto tapos aatras. Gagamit ng lubid at hindi kadena para mabuksan ang pintuan. Hindi yong maghahagis nag tear gas pero di naman lulusob. The assaulting teams, teams kasi dalawa, should have entered the emergency exit while the other team penetrates the front part of the bus. Mabilis at sabay-sabay dapat ang pagsalakay. That’s what I saw in the movies and it also makes sense.

Anyways, kaya ngayon may mga opinion yong mga tambay sa kanto na ang ibig sabihin ng SWAT ay hindi Special Weapons and Tactics Team, kundi ay Special Weapons ‘Alang Tactics. Ano bang sinasabi nyo na special weapons? Eh, ano ba tawag nyo doon sa maso at lubid na ginamit? Ano rin tawag nyo doon sa pahagis-hagis ng tear gas na wala naman pala silang mask? Blind and teary tactics?! You will be the judge.

Jare nay uyan (Here comes the rain)

Panahon na daw ng “suddenly” which literally means that our country is already experiencing the rainy season. It is also being referred to as a time when our country will be bombarded by tropical storms and typhoons. Panahon na ni Ondoy at Pepeng, ika nga.

We had been hit already by two storms; last July and early this month. Sinalubong nga sa P-Noy na kakaupo pa lang bilang pangulo ng bansa. ‘Yon tuloy nalaman ng sambayanang Pilipino na di maaasahan ang ating weather bureau. Laos na equipments nito. As in capital PAG-ASA pa naman ang acronym nito. So ironic!

Sa loob ng dalawang taon na pamamalagi ko dito sa kanlurang bahagi ng Mindanao, ngayon ko lang naiintindihan ang two seasons ng bansa. Iyon tag-init o tag-araw at saka ‘yong tag-ulan. Sa taon lang ito, malala yong epekto ng tag-araw dahil halos natuyo na yong Lanao Lake at naapektuhan ang supply ng kuryente sa buong Mindanao. Nasa 60% kasi ng electric power ng Mindanao galing sa hydro-electric plants. Kaya tuloy nasa anim na oras kada araw na walang kuryente dito sa Cagayan de Oro.

Sa aking probinsya, dalawang klase rin yong season doon – wet season and very wet season. Dati pag very wet season na sa amin, ibig sabihin na noon na meron namang bagyo na tatama sa aming probinsya. Salamat na lang sa pagputok ng Pinatubo dahil simula noon, di na namin naranasan ang bagyo. Parang binago yata ni Pinatubo ang daang-baluktot. Binabaktas na yata ngayon ng bagyo ang daang-matuwid.

At dahil hindi naman ako ngayon nakatira sa aking probinsyang kinalakihan ay damang-dama ko ngayon ang hirap tuwing sumasapit na ang tag-ulan. Una na kinakatakutan ng lahat dito ay ang baha. Last year lang yata napauso dito sa Cagayan de Oro ang baha. So dahil nasimulan last year yong pausong pagbabaha dito ay di na nakakatulog ang mga tao paglumalakas ang buhos ng ulan lalo na kung gabi. At kung malakas naman ang buhos ng ulan sa araw ay malabo naman makakauwi ng bahay dahil kakailangan mo naman languyin ang kahabaan ng highway mula Kauswagan hanggang Opol. Ok lang kung feeling mo na ikaw si Michael Phelps. Magandang training din ‘to.

Ang ibang hassle na dala ng tag-ulan ay ang mapapadalas ang pagpapakintab ng sapatos mo naman. Kung dati isang beses lang sa isang linggo, ngayon ay araw-araw na. Eh ano naman magagawa ko kung tamad talaga ako na magpakintab ng shoes ko. Mahal pa naman itong KIWI. Naisip ko tuloy na bumuli ng liquid shoe polish para instant kintab agad ang Bristol na sapatos ko.

May isa pa akong reklamo sa tag-ulan. Di pa kasi sementado ang daan papasok ng subdivision. Kapag umuulan eh parang tsokolate de churros ang drama dito. Churros yong saksakyan, tsokolate yong daan. Eh papaano, dahil sa putik na nabasa ng ulan, parang chocolate dip yong daan mo. At kung tarantado naman magpatakbo ang driver na nasakyan mo, ‘yong damit mo ay chocolate-sprinkled dessert naman to the highest level.

Di ko inikala na ganito rin ang magiging karanasan ko sa probinsyang, sasabihin nating, mas maunlad kaysa sa kinalakihan kong probinsya. Naisip ko tuloy na nauto siguro ako ng real estate agent kaya nakabili ako dito. Ika nga ng mga kapitbahay ko na baka daw aabutin pa kami ng tatlong eleksyon bago matapos o maipagawa ang daan. May naipagawa kasi na 400 metros ang haba na daan ng nakaraang eleksyon courtesy ng isang kongresman. Talagang aabutin ng ganoon kahaba na panahon kung sa bawat lokal eleksyon lang ay may 400 metros ang nasesemento.

At ang pinakahuling ayaw ko sa tag-ulan dito ay ang maranasan ang ganito sa lood ng jeep. Pag-umuulan alam naman natin lahat kung ano ang ginagawa sa jeep. Alam mo kung ikaw ay pinanganak o nailuwal sa mundong ito na hindi nakasakay sa isang Lamborghini. Ang may-ari lang ng Villarica Pawnshop ang may ganoon sabi ng BIR. Alam din natin na walang aircon jeepney dito sa Mindanao, nasa Makati City lang yon. Ganyan sila sa Makati, hindi ganoon sa buong bansa. Kaya pag-umuulan ay binababa ng mga PhD ng jeep ang kanilang kurtina. Ang kurtina na gawa sa makapal na plastik. Dahil walang hangin na nakakapasok ay tuloy feeling mo na isa kang steamed siomai o siopao. Kung minsan naman ay pumapasok pa yong usok ng jeep sa loob nito. Mapapadali ang pagkikita nyo ni Lord kung lagpak yong jeep sa emission test. Eh daig mo pa yong Askal na tinambutso. Feeling mo na para kang dengue-mosquito na nahagupit ng fogging operation ng barangay mo. O feeling mo na isa kaw ka kopras na pagatapahan.

Sa kabilang banda, masarap at masaya naman ang magtampisaw sa ulan lalo na kung kasama mo jowa mo. Feeling mo nasa pelikula ka. Ang cheesy naman! Ika nga ng kanta, “…talagang mapapasayaw ka sa ulan…”

Amargoso

Our country is plagued by poverty. As such, many of us are confronted with underemployment and unemployment problems. Malisod maghanap nan trabaho especially that many are now becoming choosy on what type of job they want.

In my hometown, mostly all the new graduates are no longer living there. They somewhat found work in another part of the country or abroad. Actually there was an observation that most of the unemployed kababayan ko are working in the Arab world.

Years ago, I had an observation among my circle of friends that once one felt stressed by their work or are no longer satisfied by their work, they easily change employer, like the way they are changing their outfit. There was one time that an employer had banned jobstreet.com in their office because his company suffered faster employee’s turnover. This is common to workforce in the urban areas while in rural areas, workers fight to teeth to get a regular work.

Many want an easy job with a higher pay. But the many high paying jobs are those who will test your ability exponentially. It may be taxing to a person but it proffers a person a chance to test his limit. There is more growth, professionally or career-wise, in works which requires your initiative and creativity more often.

There is no challenge in a familiar field. This is maybe the reason I accepted my present job. I am no marketing person. Mas nauuna pa yong hiya ko sa akin. But I have to rise above so I can deliver what is expected of me. Uno say mawa sa ako kon dili ako masipog o magpabaga ako nan bayho? I will lose nothing if I muster courage to talk to people. I would get an account instead and that’s an accomplishment personally and professionally. I may be the help they long wanted. There is actually no losing party in the equation.

Only hardworking people get successful in their chosen field because they rise above their limits. Success starts with hardwork. No wonder it’s called hardwork for it isn’t, after all, an easy job. Success breeds another success.

Parehas nan amargoso, you need to eat it more than once to appreciate and love its taste.

Even Parents need Sex Education

There was a big issue at the start of the school year when the Department of Education (DepEd) informed the public that it will incorporate sex education in the curricula of elementary and high school students. A case was filed by a group of parents arguing that said module strips them of their rights of being parents to their children. It further argues that educating children about sex is the responsibility of the parents.

The Catholic Church, on the other hand, criticizes the government. Value formation should be the focus of education in the early stages of child development and not promiscuity, the church said. Nobody can argue with that but is the sex education the department is pushing actually teaches sex acts? Education officials denied that. I believe education should provide a holistic development of the child/person. Thus, all areas that will promote and make a person an asset of the society will be tackled in his growing up.

I went to public school during my elementary years; attended a school run by nuns during my secondary education and finally attended a Catholic Diocesan-owned school in college. Never in my early formation was there a comprehensive teaching about reproductive health. But I am certain we never lack value formation lessons and activities in school and in our home.

Surely, we were taught about hygiene particularly the girls. I can only remember my elementary teacher telling my female classmates that it’s important to change their underwear twice daily. And nothing else except of the usual you should take a bath daily, brush your teeth regularly, washing your hands frequently and so forth. Nothing more about sexuality. You face something sexually-related topic when you discuss the reproductive system of the body. But even teachers are ashamed to say the word “vagina” and “penis”.

Students are kind of more aware of how plants and animals reproduce. We even memorized the many terms associated with them so we can get good score during science exams. But not on how children came to earth.

Did we discuss about reproductive health hazards in school? I can’t remember. Did we discuss about AIDS? One time, perhaps, and we even consider HIV as AIDS. Did we learn straight from our teachers’ or parents’ mouth how children were created? Never. Often, we heard them explain, you were created by love of your parents. You were created in the image and likeness of God, the Church taught us.

Of course, we are created by the hand of God and we are the product of our parents love and sex drive. But does loving a person get the woman preggy? This left us wondering. The dad’s sperm-entering-mama’s vagina-and-fertilizing-her-egg explanation left many confused. Many even believe that if their private parts are touched, they are kissed on their lips by the opposite sex, they will get pregnant. They thought of these because they are uninformed.

Many Filipino parents are still ashamed to talk about the realm of sexuality with their children. We learned about sex and the perils of engaging in it early through reading materials found in books, magazines, novels, comics, and internet. We saw a sexual act on TV after sneaking on the x-rated collection of our friends’ parents and plugging it in the VHS player. (Wala kaming TV dati kaya doon sa bahay ng classmate ko kami nanood after we skip our afternoon Home Economics class.)

Children of this generation have more access to vast information sources in the fast evolving media. The internet is host to many of these materials. They also have easy access to the many sex-related DVDs being peddled on the streets. The youth are creative in ferreting sources to satisfy their curiosity. FHM, Cosmopolitan and Playboy Philippines magazines educate the youth.

Sex education in school will not feed nor fire up their curiosity. It will make them well informed of the pros and cons of their sexual actions. It would even help them become more wary of the consequences of early pregnancy. It will even cause them to fear the perils of sexual encounters.

Value formation activities and sex education should go hand-in-hand in the early formative years of the children. If we can inculcate strong values on them, I don’t think we are leading them wrongly in their sexual growth.

An informed child will have a sound decision. Sex education will be their guide for an informed take on their sexuality.

Many parents should attend sex education classes. Many of them think the proposed sex education module is about teaching their children how to have sex and how to perform the Kamasutra, a manifestation of how uninformed they are.

Ang dami na ngayon malilibog na mga bata. They are showing it publicly than the generation ahead of them. Look around and you’ll find an ample supply of sex scandals starred by students. Madali lang kasi ngayon sa kanila ang maglandi having internet and cellular phones in their disposal. Dati you need stationeries to write love letters, ngayon pa-jejemon jejemon ka na lang para di mahuli by the suspecting parents.

I believe with sex education in school, they will know and wait at a proper time to engage in sexual activities. Kung makati na talaga at kailangan na ipakamot, well, they at least have the proper knowledge on how to deal with it. It is more worrisome when they are into doing it without receiving proper guidance.

I also believe that with this module in school, children and parents will open up to discussing it at home. This will also give a hint then to the parents on how mature their children are in terms of their sexuality. Parents can always infuse values education and warn them of its hazards while discussing the subject with their children.

Suck it in

The Reproductive Health Bill was not passed by the last congress and proponents of it who won during the last successful first nation-wide automated poll on May 10, 2010 are bent on re-filing it again in the new congress. As expected, the Catholic Church, where I belong, is vehemently and using its influence to stop it for they consider it immoral.

 The newly appointed secretary of health, Secretary Ona, is also supporting the idea being espoused by the bill that Filipinos should have better access to different methods of family planning. He had opined that the government should make available contraceptives for Filipino families. What method of family planning the family will use depends on their choices. The government will not impose a particular family planning method; that is how I read the message of the health secretary. The church is again lambasting it for being contraceptive-minded. The church is promoting natural method of family planning.

I remember a street philosophy or street joke about the Church’s stand. Bakit parang expert yata ang Church sa family planning? Wala naman silang pamilya - asawa at anak. Ika nga nila, expert ka kung nararanasan o napagdadaanan mo ito.  Sabagay, magaling talaga yong father kasi walamng nabubuo sila ni sister. 

I am not against natural family planning but for me family planning is not a function of the church and the government. It is the obligation of the husband and wife. As such, the church and the government are present not to impose what the family must do. They exist to provide these families with good information so they can make better and informed choices and support these choices. For me, a mix of family methods is useful than applying only one. You can incorporate modern methods with traditional practices.

Contraceptive pills should be available to the poor. The poor families should have access to these modern technologies or methods. Ask many poor families if they wanted to have a bigger family and they will shout back that they don’t want it. But they can’t suppress their biological needs. Sipyat lang! Wala gihapon madala sa withdrawal method!

What’s immoral about married couple having responsible and lively sex life? I believe, none. It is, however, immoral for me to see families who can’t afford raising their many children because they don’t have access to contraceptives and can’t suppress their libido for five days or a week. Go to the slam areas in the cities and even in the provinces, you will be faced with this pitiful scenario. Many large families can’t afford to place enough food on their table.

 You see middle-class and upper-class families with few children. Why, because they make informed choices and they can afford and have access to other means besides the natural way.

The Health Department should conduct reproductive health seminars in the barrios. Provide free condoms, pills, etc to the poor families. This way you have given them the first stepping stone in their rise above poverty line. Simply because another unwanted child (unwanted in a sense because it was not planned but a product of a rising libido) would not eat into the existing budget of the family.

The father and the mother would double their income to provide for the new child. Up to how much can the parents find another supplemental income for a growing number of members in their family? You can’t stretch it forever. The chances are limited. We are not superheroes.

Families can’t have a fuck-and-bear-a-child routine forever. Certainly, you can have an exciting sex life without having to bear a child, of course, with proper choice of family planning method.