Noynoy Aquino's Presence in the presidential race

Today is supposed to be a lucky day. Three 9s.

Senator Noynoy Aquino would surely need more than luck as he announced his intention to seek higher office! I was expecting that he would join the presidential race, as he had vowed to continue the work of his parents!
"I will be there because of the people, I will stay there because of the people and hopefully I will be true to my word to serve the people," says Aquino.

He made his announcement at Club Filipino. This is the same place where history witnessed Tita Cory be sworn in as president after the 1986 EDSA Revolution. I wouldn’t say the late president led the revolution as it was the the thousands in the streets of EDSA during those four days in February who risked life against Ferdinand Marcos.

The young senator, who is one year older than me, will run under the opposition Liberal Party which has been a fierce critic of the present government.

He says, "I want to make democracy work not just for the rich and the well-connected, but for everybody."
Now, will Noynoy’s presence in the political arena be strong enough to bring Filipinos out of their homes and into the public arena? Whether it be in schools or in the streets, Filipinos, specially, the youth need to get involved and make their own presence felt to support the right candidate who will lead by example with good governance! Photos taken with my Canon "Rebel" DSLR during the anti-Con Ass rally held in Makati City last June 2009.

Good luck Noynoy!

Thomasians For Cory

Around 5pm, Tuesday afternoon, I had moved to the front of the Palacio del Gobernador. A couple of hundred students had slowly started to gather here. Many of them were wearing yellow. A few wearing their uniforms. Some wore shirts with “glowing tigers” mascot. Their lynards said it all. Glowing Tigers. Faculty of Civil Law. College of Fine Arts and Design. Education. Arts and Letters. Physical Therapy. Clearly, these students were Thomasians.

I had learned that Thomasians had been called to attend the Tuesday 9pm Mass at the Manila Cathedral. There was some commotion, specially, as the rain poured. But that didn’t dampen the spirit of the students. Most, if not all of them, had not been born during the assassination of Ninoy Aquino back in 1983 or EDSA Revolution in February 1986. This was probably their first and closest experience to a “people power” type of gathering.

Now, I feel old as I had lived through those times and been a part of EDSA Revolution. Yup, I was on top of the gate Camp Crame when Enrile and Ramos crossed from Camp Aguinaldo to Camp Crame. I snapped hundreds of photos during those days. Now, I just need to post them in Facebook or Blogger. But need to digitized them first.

I could sense that these Thomasians wanted to be part of history as cameras were snapping and clicking, using the Manila Cathedral as their background. Many proudly raised the “Laban” sign. I saw a couple of priests. The elder one even lent his umbrella to me and a middle-aged lady.

I wish and pray that behind all these “Kodak” moments, students, regardless of affiliation or course, channel all their youthful unadulterated values into specific action that will lead to change. It starts with their registration as voters, choosing and even campaigning for the right candidates, protecting their ballots and staying vigilant as the winning candidates take office.

The challenge of Ninoy’s death in 1983 and EDSA Revolution remains the same today. Food on the table for majority of the poor. Less of corruption, more of basic services. Simply, just honesty and integrity in government.

Words for President Aquino

It was a Tuesday afternoon when I made my own presence felt, among the thousands who gathered for the wake of the late President Corazon Aquino. I had left our Greenhome around lunchtime and just wanted to grab a quick lunch at the Jollibee outlet near Convergys, but the place was full. “Forget it,” I said to myself.

It was a slow bus ride to Manila. The rains made it more complicated. “I should have taken a taxi.” But I was in “tipid-mode.” Plus, I wanted to feel the community around me during these times of bereavement.

I was not able to enter the Cathedral itself. But I really opted not to queue as I just wanted to capture the emotion outside the Cathedral. It was by accident (or by fate?) that I strayed into the parking lot near the Manila Cathedral, 3pm, Tuesday afternoon.

Not known to many Filipinos near the Cathedral, there was a parking lot. Here, cars of relatives and friends found parking. Flowers were found there way near the gate. But most of all, hundreds of Filipinos wrote their thoughts to pay their respects to the late President Corazon Aquino.

In this parking lot, there was three large-format print out of Cory’s images. Besides these larger than life images, where white tarpaulins where Filipino can write their messages for their hero.

Here are some of the messages that expressed how Filipinos feel about the late president and what she had achieved for the country and Filipinos.

A couple of young volunteers, wearing black T-shirts and jeans, warned a few who tried to find space inside the actual image of President Aquino. Earlier, a few wrote on the face of the late president. How could they do that?
What would my own message be for the late president?

Words can't fully express how the presence and governance of President Aquino has influenced the lives and history of the Philippines. She is both an icon of democracy and an inspiration to Filipinos to pursue the greater good for our country. The challenge today is how to translate these outpouring of love and respect for the late president into specific action that results to change and fulfillment of the dreams that remains to be realized 23 years after the EDSA Revolution.

Crisis in Tehran

In 1989, around 20 years ago, hundreds of thousands of young students and workers gathered in Tianamen Square. Nobody would really know how many got killed or hurt in the Tianamen Massacre. Thousands probably?


These days Iranians are making their presence felt in the streets of Tehran. Reports say that police have fired tear gas and water cannon to the protestors who are openly defying the government. Witnesses claimed some marchers were beaten with batons or metal pipes and heard protesters also shout "Death to Khamenei!" Photo by REUTERS/Farhad Rajabali.

Tehran University was also cordoned off by police. It is the oldest and largest university in Tehran. But not as old as my alma mater, the University of Santo Tomas. It was officially opened in 1934.

This is the most serious presence in the streets of Tehran, specially, around the Revolution Square, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tehran is the largest city in the Middle East with a population around 7 million. The city dates back 6000BC and has rich historical and religious sites of mosques, churches and synagogues.

The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had already warned of a bloodshed. Tehran Province Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan had said, "Police forces will crack down on any gathering or protest rally which are being planned by some people."


Reports say that the streets also are marked by the presence of police and plainclothes security personnel, plus fire trucks. Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have continued to increase their presence, calling for the government cancel the results of the recent June 12 elections which declared victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Photo by REUTERS/Farhad Rajabali.


Opposition leader Mousavi , who served was prime minister during the 1980s, says he won. But many feel he is after the collapse of the Islamic system? A statement on his website says “He and his supporters were not seeking to confront their "brothers" among Iran's security forces or the "sacred system" that preserves the country's freedom and independence. Photo shows Mousavi speaking before a crowd. Courtesy of AP.

President Barack Obama has also urged Iranian leaders to halt "all violent and unjust actions against its own people." “The United States stands by all who seek to exercise" the universal rights to assembly and free speech,” says Obama. Please note there is little news coverage coming out of Tehran and protestors are using technology and Internet sites like Tweeter to get news out of the country.

Let us hope and pray that what is happening in Tehran doesn’t end up like Tianamen. People’s right to a peaceful assembly and free speech is an inherent right for all human beings, irregardless of country or culture.

Will this presence in the streets of Tehran lead to people power?

No way for any Constituent Assembly

Constituent Assembly?

No way for all these Filipinos present at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas last June 10, 2009!

Yes, I snapped these pictures of Filipinos who oppose the House of Representatives being set as a constituent assembly. Many see the passage of HR 1109 convening a Constituent Assembly to amend the 1987 Constitution as a step for PGMA to become prime minister, thus extending her stay in Malacanang. All 23 senators signed a resolution expressing their opposition to a Senate-less Con-Ass. They claim it is unconstitutional.

Am sure even Senator Trillanes would have, if allowed, make his presence felt in these street protests. Groups like Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Kilusang Mayo Uno, Gabriela, Kabataan, Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, Pagbabago! movement and Artists Revolution are making their presence felt. They believe that HR 1109 was intended “to strengthen” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “hold on the reins of power."


A joint statement by the United Opposition, civil society and militant groups says, "We believe the resolution is intended to change the Charter in order to strengthen Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s hold on the reins of power either through term extension, a shift to parliamentary system or any other underhanded device.”


Even the religious made their presence felt in this last rally. “Hindi democratic ang ginagawa nila sapagkat sinosolo nila ang pagpapalit ng ating konstitusyon. Kahibangan na yan," said Jaro archbishop Angel Lagdameo. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is taking a stand. "What happened last night... it’s like they are betraying the people. When power corrupts, it corrupts absolutely," the CBCP president added.


Many of us, including media, have been through this road before. The parliament of the streets. From the days of EDSA 1, back in February 1986 to these days, when recession and swine flu share headlines in con-ass!

Mabuhay ang malayang Filipino!