"Get on with the business at hand"

This was surprisingly painful to watch (you can watch the rest on youtube). The name "Marcos" hits me straight in the solar plexus. My brother's father was a crony, so our family experienced what it was like to be in the periphery of that brand of power. My children carry the Lopez name and I know what the Marcos family did to their family. As with all families injured by that regime, their lives were forever altered.

I tried to watch this with a certain amount of openness and objectivity. I see Irene Marcos from time to time, walking around, and I ask myself what it must be like to be in her shoes. I try not to lay the sins of the father on the children, and yet I carry so many questions: Do they really believe their parents innocent? Have they participated, through their silence, in the crimes? Do they not question the source of their wealth? Do they burn to make restitution for charges against them, for the sake of their children and those yet unborn, but already fated to carry their name? Are they angry, defiant, in denial? What?

What about the torture, murders, lives torn apart, billions stolen and never recovered, plunging the country into misery, from which we have yet to recover? How can anyone living here today talk about healing this nation when all we do is gloss over the past? That's not healing.

President Noynoy Aquino said it himself, "There can be no reconciliation without justice." There can only be justice and healing if there is truth. This applies to every pain and trauma in life. We can only heal when we can see the truth and find our place in it. When we see the whole picture, we can make sense of it and define how to move within it. Only then can we "move on" and "heal" and "unite". Until then, there is no real resolution. How can anyone find peace in the face of darkness? We need to be able to see to make sense of things. You cannot keep travelling on a road strewn with debris. You have to create a path, the more well-lit it is, the better able you are to move. That's the way of humanity. Anything less diminishes it.

Let's stop this nonsense about "moving on" and "uniting" and "healing", as if we could just step into it with glee. Everyone wants that, but there is a process that must be followed. We have to take the steps that will bring us there authentically. There must be a plan that supports truth and justice. Once that road is paved and lit, everyone would gladly walk it.

Until then, the first and only step is the truth. All of it.

So It Is

I've said it before: President Noynoy was not my guy, but now that he's there, I want nothing more than for him to succeed.

I watched the inauguration on television, hoping to see something new--something infinitely more somber and dignified. I didn't expect it to look like a television special with all the singing and dancing. So, on that score, I was very disappointed.

It has become norm to infuse every occasion with "entertainment", as if we couldn't bear to sit through anything that didn't involve a celebrity or two. From weddings, to birthdays and anniversaries, and now to the Presidential Inauguration, everything looks like a TV special (and I use the word very loosely). That says so much about our culture today. We have lost the ability to keep things simple, yet full of dignity and meaning.

I woke up to a youtube video of the street party, which presumably was planned to make President Aquino start his term as a true leader of the people, but again there were the hysterical hosts who were whining and screaming like teenagers, asking the President to sing. And then once more. That was a bit much. I want a leader who can say no to all the shallow nonsense. I won't even talk about the quality of singing.

You can be a leader of the people by raising us up to the standard we know can be ours. It doesn't serve us to see you take on the variety show mantle. That isn't the best we can be. We can be so much more. If you believe that, help take us there by putting your foot down. Show us something new. Help us to transform the showbiz consciousness of the people. We are so creative and we can solve all our problems, if only we could stop the showbiz nonsense and channel all that creative energy towards transforming our country. Show us the way.

I write this with all hope that President Noynoy Aquino will be the leader we deserve. I wish him the very best.

Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

String Bags at the Whitespace Market

I love these ecobags. I own a few and always get asked about them, so on my last trip abroad, I decided to bring some home to sell. They can carry up to 40lbs (YES!), are very light and pretty, but expand to an unimaginable girth, too. So, if you are as committed as I am to quit using plastic and keep reusing, come visit our table at the Whitespace market today, June 27, at 2314 Chino Roces Ave., formerly Pasong Tamo Extension (look for the green gate). The market opens at noon and closes at 7pm. There's great food by Margarita Fores plus a lot of earth-friendly buys. We're also selling special books at 30% off, plus other Steiner Education materials.

See you there! (If you miss it, see you there every last Sunday of the month.)

Whistleblowing

Lakmodin "Laks" Saliao, a houseboy of the Ampatuans, is the latest witness to step forward to testify against the family.

I wish that whistleblowing in this country would rise beyond defiant acts of revenge and self-preservation. Saliao himself said that he would have kept their secret (they raised him after all), but when he heard his life had just been put on the menu, he decided he would speak out--and very bravely at that. He put his name and face out there, effectively reducing Koala Boy to Kung Fu Panda, the stuffed toy.

When the massacre was being planned (all within his hearing), the minutes before it happened even, as he he heard father and son discussing details as if they were talking about the weather, did not the lives of others -- the snuffing out of them -- push him to speak? No. It was the threat to his life that did it.

It isn't courage then, is it? It's self-preservation.

When will we get to the point where we feel pushed to do what is right because we actually care about human lives other than our own?

ST. JOHN'S TIDE: AN ARTICLE REVISITED

Today is St. John’s Tide, or the Festival of St. John. We celebrate this in the Steiner schools with a story about John, some songs, and a meal of fruit, nuts and honey. In our church, The Christian Community, this festival lasts four weeks.

What is this festival about? First, it is the festival of the human being—-not just any man but an extraordinary human being—-which is what John the Baptist was. Can you imagine being put on earth with the task of preparing the way for the coming of the Christ? I would probably turn back. But he faced it squarely, even if it did mean the end of his earthly life. He knew what his destiny was and fulfilled it with love.

St. John’s Tide is also a harvest festival; a celebration of the summer solstice. Ancient peoples, watching the sun reach its highest point at this time, lit evening bonfires to encourage it to shine and ripen their crops. We come dressed in flaming colors when we celebrate this festival. Some parents have even built real bonfires for their children to experience. I like to think this is a symbol of an inner harvest—a flame that drives us to be better, to purify the old, no matter what our circumstances are.

The message of St. John is clear: Change. Change your thinking. Make straight the crookedness in your soul and in your thoughts. Remove all the obstacles that have kept you stuck in negative cycles. Strengthen the will through spiritual work. In short, get your act together and be all that a human being ought to be.

I think this is particularly relevant today given the way things are in our country. The dissonance is deafening. We are such a Catholic country but also one of the most corrupt with probably one out of every two Catholic husbands fooling around with their Catholic girlfriends (or Catholic KTV girls) while their Catholic wives grin and bear it. Shudder. Let’s not forget the very Catholic president who prays fervently but calls (probably Catholic) Garci on the side.

Change yourself. Make things right, even if the path is difficult and unpopular, because you know that’s what needs to be done so that good can permeate the earth. That’s what John stood for even if it cost him his head. He knew his life meant serving others to make a better world possible. It was his destiny, he saw it clearly and accepted it fully. He met it with strength and grace.

I find these lessons simple yet so profound. If we go by his example, we have an idea of what it means to be human—-to be a vessel through which Christ’s work can be fulfilled. Sure, it no longer means moving rocks and stones that lie on his path the way John did; nor does it mean baptizing people in the river so that they awaken to who they are and change their ways. But it means making a conscious effort to change what we can about ourselves—things we already know must be changed– not just for ourselves but for others. Being a man means being faithful to the demands of the spirit, awake to our life’s task, guided by the courage to go for it. Being human means to harvest and transform the gifts of the earth within us to make our lives matter for mankind.

These are but a few thoughts to help us reconnect with the Christian festivals and discover what they mean for us. John the Baptist was a special man—but a man nonetheless–just like you and me. We celebrate his life and strength by cultivating that which can be extraordinary in us. A bountiful inner harvest to all!

June 2006

PLURK!!!

I remember the first time I was introduced to Plurk. It was at a weekend planning session two Decembers ago. The group was talking about Facebook and Twitter, when the youngest of us said Plurk was the best. It was real-time, interactive, micro-blogging. PLURK?! To begin with, what kind of name was that? The last thing I wanted was one more reason to STAY online. But pretty soon two laptops were up and running again and two people in the group were typing away. And giggling. Typing. Laughing. Before the night ended, we all had our laptops open and an online conversation was in full swing, in separate rooms. Ok, so that's a bit scary, given we were in the same house, but it was fun!! Thus, our little Plurk community was born.

What's interesting is that it has morphed into a virtual office for our group. Plurk has become more than just a space for idle chatter--though sometimes it is that--but a platform for virtual meetings. We've had a lot of "aha" moments chatting online that have led us to pursue certain new paths in our line of work (social transformation initiatives). We set meetings and make plans there and update each other on our joys and sorrows as well.

Plurk has been so useful also when we travel. There was a time two of us were California, another was in New York, and the rest of the team was at home in different parts of Manila. The work continued to flow, as our friendships did, and we continued to update each other on our lives and our work. You open your Plurk screen in the morning, and there everyone is.

Some people keep their Plurks open to the public and have fans. I've made a conscious choice not to do that and to limit my community to work, family, plus. That's one of the things I love about it: I can define it. I know what I want to use it for and that's what it has been for me.

I recently left Facebook, am trying out Twitter (so far, it doesn't do anything for me), but Plurk has remained my constant online window to a relevant world I have defined. I love the way it is organized (you have to experience it to understand what I mean). I love that you can really feel community there. It's one way I've kept in touch with a sister who lives in California, so that when we do see each other, it doesn't feel like we were apart at all. You can have silly chatter, but you can also have locked exchanges and have serious conversations, as many of us have.

I've accepted that it's impossible to be free of online social platforms, but I find that so far only Plurk gives me what I need--a true community, albeit online--that is safe, fun, and really useful.

If you have something to say online and don't need to shout it out to the often murky online world, Plurk it instead.

PLURK!!!

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL