Lechon Or Why I am considering Vegetarianism

I watched a pig prepared for lechon two nights ago. It is a slow death encouraged by a quick and deep stab to the jugular. I would ordinarily say that the pig squealed its life away but that is what pigs do. Squeal. It was more of a horrific squeal from hell. A hoarse high pitched trembling sound of animal fear and pain. I could not watch the moment of murder but I heard a sudden forceful thud as Bai thrust the knife in the pig's throat. From the sound of skin hitting skin, I imagine that he plunged the blade in completely as is also evidenced by the size and shape of the entry mark.

When the squealing abated, I rested easier thinking the pig was out of its misery but twice more, horrific sounds emanated from the creature as the blood drained out of its body into a waiting cauldron. At first loud and fighting and then low and gurgling. As if her cries riled the remaining blood in her body. Then the gurgling stopped.

Mang Jesse and Allan then carried the pig to what I shall call the staging ground. Simply a small open area of the house where I normally sit, smoke and watch the beach but now covered with tarpaulin. The boys then poured boiling water over the sow and used a spoon to deftly shear off the hair.

With the same hands used to deal the death blow, Bais carefully and expertly cut the animal open. Using light strokes with surgical precision down the pig from the throat to her last teat. Burying the knife even deeper and with both hands, Bai then sliced through the bones. "Slice" is perhaps the wrong word. Too clean for the snapping and breaking of defiant bone. I stopped counting after the fifth cup of blood was ladled out of the body and I wondered if the smell of blood is the smell of life or the smell of death. Either way, it is not sweet. Jesse, apparently in charge of the blood collection casually dipped his fingers into the cauldron and then licked them the way you would taste spaghetti sauce or hot fudge. "A dog's blood is the best," he nonchalantly told Allan.

Wanted: Inspiration in the new millenium

Here now is my attempt to take a more disciplined approach to writing. Inspiration lives on a different planet it seems and I am left to my own devices. To reach inward, excavate and retrieve with only my bare hands.
This may be a last ditch effort at survival because truly, I feel that I am close to urging death to visit upon me.
I feel as if the time I live in is so crass. Caring only for technology and politics, money and success. Too sterile a tablecloth to allow the stain of passion to seep through and spread.
I am stirred right now by another world I wish I could live in. Characters I am in love with and in whose lives I plot to intrude in. It borders on madness but it keeps my heart beating beyond a regular pace and I must explore it.
It is a delicate situation however, because I know what I dream is impossible.
I will think of things I have seen and experienced that have moved me. They are few and small in this impossible universe but I know they were real. A poor lady rescuing abandoned kittens in a shoebox being eaten alive by ants. She placed down her plastic bag of fried bananas and had climbed over a leaning fence to the soft mews hidden in the brush. Another lady on the street with a young boy, a family member I gathered from the warmth exchanged between them, hunched over a book. The lady in garish clothes by our standards but her best in her world. I felt as if she was optimistic about looking for work and providing for this child. A little girl with a blind eye under a pedestrian overpass. The daughter of a cigarette and newspaper vendor. She waits for the rain to bring in some extra coins, so miniscule as to be unquantifiable in the world’s exchange but a windfall to her. She waits by the bookstore in the rain with an umbrella larger than her to keep you and I dry as we walk to our cars. I hope they are treated well by the world and are compensated for their suffering somehow. Yet I know if wish that, I must accept that I too deserve less when the balances are adjusted.

Fuck Sulpicio

Fuck Sulpicio. I think Sulpicio should be closed down. Considering that they have figured in at least four major incidents (including the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster for God’s sake) with a death toll of over 5000 in just over 20 years or so... come on. I don’t think it’s enough to say they should remain open because Filipinos need their service. We don’t just need any service, we deserve quality service.

I was reading some forums related to the topic and while many others share this sentiment, there was one person who pointed out that Sulpicio offers a service and that hey "their ports are clean and you can number two in their bathrooms". Call me crazy but I don’t think the victims of the relatives would be consoled by this. Watdahell? How about just getting from point A to point B alive?! None of the victims deserved that kind of end.

Aside from their dismal record and the manner in which they are dealing with the victims’ relatives, the latest discovery that toxic pesticides were on board the passenger ship and that Sulpicio did not divulge this just underscores the company’s total disregard of its patrons’ lives and even of those who are trying to help clean up their mess. Even if they claim they did not know about the cargo, that only highlights their incompetence or hints at something more ominous. They are just trying to get away with as much as they can, constantly passing the buck and to nonchalantly shrug everything off by saying “They provide a service” just cheapens Filipino lives even more.

Hodgepodge to fill in last six months...

Been a while since I wrote. Anybody miss me?... miss me... miss me... miss me... (the sound of my voice fading into the abyss).

Just a few random thoughts on some things without any thorough analysis although they have been on my mind lately and stopping sleep at the gates.

Firstly, the abduction of Ces Drilon and team by Abu Sayyaff bandits. Could care less. The only thing that pissed me off was ABS-CBN's plea for other media outfits to report on the incident with :consideration, caution and respect for the family members' privacy". Considering the channel's track record of irresponsible reporting and exploiting tragic situations and victims for their own ratings, the request is quite hilarious coming from them.

Anyway, after paying a hefty "board and lodging" fee Ms. Drilon et al. were freed after nine days. Currently the mayor of Indanan, Sulu and his son who helped mediate the negotiations with the captors and the victims' families are being held for their involvement on suspicions that they pocketed the majority of the ransom. $%#$@.

Secondly, the capsizing of the MV Princess of the Stars. As I write, hopefully there are still survivors and people being rescued right now. So far I think only some 30 people have been found alive out of the 800 or so passengers and crew. I could not sleep last night thinking about the disaster. The moments after the call to abandon ship played clearly in my mind. I imagine the panic and the fear as the waves pounded the ship, children crying and the elderly... The ship laid to rest just a couple of hundred meters from the coast of Sibuyan Island. Some bodies have been found on surrounding islands. Relatives await news at the Sulpicio Lines office in Manila.

Disenchantment with Media

Now that that’s out of the way, some more thoughts.
I think a lot of people are rightly disenchanted with the quality of media here in the Philippines. It is a personality driven circus, paparazzi masquerading as serious journalists with rare exceptions. Pardon my language but I feel as if media are acting like pussies, filing a complaint against the police with the Commission on Human Rights over the incident and simply refusing to even acknowledge the possibility that they may have overstepped some boundaries. As I said, from my own reading of the “pulse of the nation”, many people believe that this incident has showcased the arrogance of our media but unfortunately are unable to have their say because of course, media controls the mainstream sources of “information”. I suppose it would be too much to expect to read a headline saying “Media Admits Lapses In Coverage”.

Editorials in the aftermath of the Makati Standoff continue to hit the police for alleged harassment but none that I have seen have even made a substantial examination of the concept of “press freedom” or delineated their responsibilities in a democracy vis-à-vis law enforcement operations.

Media has also been talking about a “chilling effect” in the wake of the confrontation, saying that journalists feel threatened that there will now be impingements in the way they gather news. What’s the impingement? That they have to follow the law? Granted that there are many dangers to real journalists, I don’t believe that the Makati Standoff is the best platform from which to cry “press freedom”. If anything, I think it’s an opportunity for media to step back, conduct an honest assessment of themselves and reign in their excesses in the interest of restoring media credibility in this country or even just granting their profession the respect it deserves.

As seen from the footage, media attached itself to Trillanes, forming a shield around him and refusing to evacuate even after being warned that an assault was about to take place. Media were even heard cheering along with rebel soldiers when police General Barias left the building after pleading, “Come out. Please help your police”. Incredibly, media even showed live footage of the positions of the Special Action Forces as they prepared to storm the building.

Today, security officials and media representatives held a dialogue to air out their sides and while I only caught the tail end, I was dissatisfied with the conclusion offered by the executive director (and I paraphrase) that government had agreed to adjust to media practices. Now that’s the chilling effect for me, given the level of media we presently have.

Resorting to clichés, I am a strong believer that media is an important pillar in our democracy. But in the same vein, an irresponsible and unprofessional media is just as guilty of practicing and encouraging a ‘culture of impunity’ that other sectors have been accused of. That media claims to be doing this in service of the public is something I take strong exception to and while the pickings are slim, this one faceless member of the public’s respect will go to the media outfit that admits that coverage of November 29,2007 was less than desirable and exceeded the bounds of press freedom.

Media Coverage of the Makati Standoff

First on my plate is the recent Makati Standoff and particularly the manner in which the media conducted itself during the incident and in its aftermath. Frankly, I feel as if Trillanes and the media wasted everybody’s time that day and worse, used the incident to make themselves look like heroes.
I’ve joined some online discussions on the matter and am including here some of those posts, just so I can go on to my further thoughts on the matter.

My problem is with media practitioners acting as if they are above the law. I have no problem with journalists just ‘doing their jobs’ but take responsibility if your actions endanger others around you, makes a dangerous situation more volatile, or hampers the ability of security forces to resolve the situation. Media is there to cover news, not to be a part of it. I personally see no problem with police questioning media after the incident, to try and weed out rogue soldiers who may have embedded themselves in the swarm.

Security forces had warned reporters that the situation would escalate and some left and some stayed. I wouldn’t gauge one’s commitment to journalism on their decision. While I can applaud some for their bravery (even though I see this more as hardheadness) to stay, I can also commend the maturity of others who may have decided to let the soldiers do their job without pestering them and cover events from a distance even if they knew that their rivals were getting more ‘exciting’ footage.

I could care less about network wars for pete’s sake but I think media has to know its boundaries. Imagine what a laughable situation it is to have police trying to arrest a fugitive or terrorist but can’t because media is swarming him for interviews. Or imagine what a tragic situation it would be if media aggravated a hostage taker to the point that he would kill his hostage.

I have heard the term “freedom of the press” being batted around but not a great deal of examination of what it should provide. I don’t believe that it means to gives “journalists” free reign in the way they get their stories and absolve them from any responsibilities of consequences that arise as a result.

I've also heard some people saying that police should have known who the media personalities were and taken their IDs and onsite vouching by media members at face value in the immediate aftermath. Personally, I find the idea that media would expect concessions and exemptions from police SOPs because they consider themselves as personalities (even celebrities) disturbing, and frankly disgusting.Other people have also said that if it weren't for the media, we wouldn't know what was going on. But there is a difference between being updated and being informed. There is more to journalism than getting good angles and dramatic soundbytes. If the media is going to force themselves into a situation to "cover" it, they could at least ask critical and intelligent questions instead of simply following Trillanes up and down the stairs and parroting back to the viewers what he says.

I was with media before, both print and broadcast. I understand the drive to get the story and I can say with confidence that no Filipino reporter would hesitate about jumping into the fray to get the story. That’s why I personally see the stepping back of some media outfits as a positive indicator that some maturity is entering the practice of media. I think however that some journalists are using ‘the freedom of the press’ as a license to do whatever they want as if it lends them an air of immunity. Journalists perform a noble task but they have to act responsibly. Just as they were doing their jobs, so were the security forces. Their main priority is to resolve the situation and not to babysit reporters who have already been warned to evacuate. I’m actually happy to see them for once following standard operating procedures instead of cowing to personalities. As a reporter, I know of some colleagues who took potential evidence from the Oakwood mutiny as souvenirs.

Aside from journalists being more responsible, I think viewers also have to expect more from their media in the sense that they should not condone just any means to get information, especially when it tramples on other people’s rights or sets them above the law or when it is purely for sensational purposes but does not add depth to the story and instead prolongs a situation needlessly. I do agree that the presence of media is preferable to the absence of media which is precisely why I think concerns of irresponsible journalism have to be aired.