Nicaragua

Frente Sandinista de Liberacio'n Nacional


I had dinner last night with a Sandinista. His name is Alejandro Bendeña and he was the former Ambassador of Nicaragua (under the Sandinistas) to the United Nations. He spoke a couple of days ago at the University of the Philippines in a forum organized by Focus on the Global South (where Alejandro now sits as a member of the Board), the Institute for Popular Democracy and the Third World Studies Center. Alejandro spoke at UP about the Revolution and about power. Last nite over dinner however, our conversation drifted to more interesting subject matters -music and beer. I asked Alejandro what the staple drink of the Sandinista revolution was. “Ahh, that was something that was never in short supply.” Pointing to my bottle of San Mig light, he exclaimed “beer and rhum.” Music was never in short supply neither. "You can't have a revolution without songs" was the slogan written on a banner at Salvador Allende’s inauguration. The “nueva cancion” (New Song)- the movement of progressive, political songwriters and musicians the likes of Victor Jara-was still very much alive then and was instrumental in keeping the revolutionary spirit throughout Latin America burning.

As I was chatting with Alejandro, the song Nicaragua by Canadian songwriter Bruce Cockburn kept ringing in my ear. So I asked Alejandro if he’d ever heard that song. “it’s a sad song to listen to now” he said. Pointing out a particular line in the refrain that goes “In the flash of this moment, you’re the best of what we are” he went on to say “thinking about it now, am not sure if indeed we represented the best of what we are. But it’s a great song, a classic.”

Alejandro and Bruce Cockburn's paths crossed when the songwriter visited Managua in the early 80’s. I have been a fan of Cockburn eversince a friend of mine from Canada gave me a copy of Stealing Fire (where Nicaragua is included). Speaking in 1994, Cockburn said “To me, politics is an external expression of something that people carry round in their hearts. The songs I wrote in the Eighties touched on issues because they had touched me personally, not because I had an axe to grind or an ideology. The songs in support of the aspirations of the Nicaraguan people, for example, were written because I was there and the situation touched me emotionally in a very personal way. There's no great difference between the mechanics for songs like that and for love songs."

Cockburn continues to write and perform personal and political songs to this day. And he and Alejandro in many ways continue to be true revolutionaries.

“Vive en la lucha por la paz”

Tagay

rolly-folksinger. my bros. moustache, quezon city. 16 August 2004. photo by sep


Hinehele na ako ng tunog ng naguumpugang bote ng beer at mga nagbabanggaang opinyon sa Carliz nang magyaya si Ed na mag courtesy call kami kay Jessie Bartolome.

Inabot naming kumakanta ng JT si Rolly Maligad ng Coco Jam sa My Bros. Moustache sa Quezon City bandang 11:00 ng gabi, 16 Agosto 2004-kaarawan ng tatay ko.

Huli ko atang napanuod si rolly ay sa Mayrics nung 1997 pa ata yun. Kasama ko si Loy at Von, at si Leonard din ata. Nabilib kami sa suot na pantalon nung malupit na gitarista niya. Kulay pulang tight fitting na may malaking tatak na Versace sa likod. Sabi namin sa sarili, pagtanda namin at gumaling ng ganun kagaling sa gitara-bibili rin kami at magsusuot ng pantalong pula! Balik tayo kay rolly.

Ibang klase ang vibe ni rolly at ng Coco jam nung gabi na yun sa stage. Para silang naghahabulan ng tipa at ng hininga. Minsan parang kakapusin at mabibitin ang boses at gitara pero sa dulo ay nagsasabay din at maganda at malagkit ang performance. On the edge lagi ang tugtugan. May halong kaba sa panunuod. Sakto kaya ang mga bagsakan? Pag eksakto, ang sarap pakinggan at sarap palakpakan. Pag sablay naman, ok lang “next time bitter” (basa:better luck next time). Ganun ko naalala si rolly-stumbling. Stumbling with the words, stumbling through the dark pero malalim at madamdamin pa rin.

Kagabi ko lang narinig si Rolly na kumanta ng 'di reggae (although yung “dinamayan” ay malayo sa reggae at mas malapit sa kundiman) at mga “JT - folk”. Maraming requests pero parang na-miss namin ang tunay na boses ni Rolly kaya sinigaw ni Ed, “dinamayan” at pinagbigyan naman kami. Nagtuloy tuloy na ang mga original. “maskara” at ilang bagong (nung ko lang narinig) mga piyesa. Pagkatapos ng set, isinilid ang lumang gitara sa itim na garbage bag na tinalian sa neck ng strap ng gitara at nagpaalam.

Beterano si Rolly ng folk music scene sa bansa na nag blossom nung 1970’s. Pag-nagkwento siya tungkol sa panahon na yon parang nag-sit in ka na rin sa isang history lesson sa pinoy folk Asin, si Lolit, si Pendong, si Popong Landero, si Jess Santiago, si Nitoy Adriano (na bahista rin pala dati), si Chickoy, si Ronnie Duncan na “Bob Dylan ng Pilipinas”, at si Pete Velasquez na “Ronnie Duncan ng Malate” ang mga pangalan na dapat kabisaduhin sa leksyong ito.

Rolly Maligad- Folk Singer. Tapos na ba ang set niya o nagsisimula muli?

Tuloy tuloy ang tagay!

RP Taken for a (joy)ride

SLOW MARCH DOWN this picture seems to be saying as farmers from munoz, nueva are on their way to a Stop the New Round! forum on the WTO at CLSU. August 2003. photo by sep

Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Agriculture have expressed their elation over the outcome of the recent General Council (that in effect became a ministerial meeting) of the World Trade Organization in Geneva. The basis for their overwhelming joy?

Their belief that the framework agreement that came out of the meeting reflects the main demands of the Philippines in the negotiations; and that, consequently, the negotiations for the conclusion of the so-called Doha Round will be beneficial to the Philippines.

Interestingly, the last time the heads of these two departments expressed this much happiness in relation to talks in the WTO was in September 2003, right after the historic (second) collapse of the WTO negotiations in Cancun, Mexico. Both Secretary Cito Lorenzo and Secretary Manuel Roxas II then called the collapse a positive development for the Philippines. Roxas echoed the sentiment expressed by many developing countries: “No deal is better than a bad deal.”

So what’s the deal with the WTO framework?

To understand the source of DTI and DA’s jubilation, I read the General Council Decision dated July 31, 2004, outlining the framework for the WTO negotiations. I looked at Annex A outlining the framework for establishing modalities in agriculture and found nothing that should make us happy.

The framework on agriculture, instead of decreasing the trade-distorting subsidies given by trade superpowers -- the United States and the European Union -- to their agriculture sectors, gives a clear go-signal for these two superpowers to dodge their responsibility by expanding and strengthening further the Blue Box Category of minimally trade-distorting subsidies in the WTO.

To add insult to grave injury, the framework provides for greater flexibilities for the Members with large percentage of Blue Box subsidies (i.e. the US and the EU) to ensure that they are not called upon to make a wholly disproportionate cut.

Sure, there was mention of Special and Different Treatment, Special Products and Sensitive Products in the text. But the items and provision regarding these crucial demands from developing countries remain unclear and many are subject to further negotiations. So while the text is crystal clear when it comes to protecting the interest of the developed countries, it remains so conveniently vague when it comes to accommodating the demands of the developing countries.

The language does not go any further than saying that all of these concerns from developing countries will be noted in the negotiations. That is to say, what developing countries got out of the framework on S&D and SP are no more than empty promises.If the SP provision in the framework remain vague, then I am afraid DA Assistant Secretary Serrano’s statement on the government’s move to include rice under SP category in the WTO and SP as an alternative to seeking an extension of the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports are not only misplaced but dangerous.

Clearly, the flawed framework and our negotiators blind adherence to it may prove to be detrimental to our national economy.

true musician

true musician's certificate by bianca.

This was awarded to me by bianca last saturday in their beautiful farm house in Batangas City, after hearing me play two songs that she probably never heard before. bianca is eight years old. Thanks bianca. And thank you also to my other "fans" tasha (7 yrs old), gabe (6 yrs old) and trish (she'll turn 7 on sunday. happy birthday trish!). If only we could all be more affirming!!

The street's a stage

Actors-activists dramatize opposition to Arroyo's subservient policies that are holding us hostaged to US interests. Sona/ 26 July 2004, photo by sep

firing squad

photographers aim and shoot at an anti-war mobilization near the US Embassy in Manila. 21 May 2004. photo by sep 

Love and Beauty in the time of Decay

juan isip 

“Urbane”. I was searching for a word to describe the poetry and music of Bobby Balingit in Juan Isip. I encountered that term in a Billy Bragg CD called Back to Basics. Bragg’s music was called “urbane folk music”, whatever that means. So I looked it up. Urbane is an adjective for sophisticated, classy, refined. Whoever came up with that word must have lived at a time when urban still equated to sophistication and class; to confidence and certainty. The word must have been coined at a time when cities and the “metropolis” were the exclusive enclaves of the chic and off-limits to primitives. But was there ever such a time?

There have always been rats in the rat hole called Metro Manila , I thought. There has always been Cubao and its shiny black, slimy streets after the rain; with its young warriors throwing fluorescent bulbs like modern day spears; with all the sights and smells of decay. There has always been Quiapo with its pick pockets, fortune tellers and its fatalism. And movies like City after Dark and Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag. For me, the urban has always been about crowded, dirty and mean streets and the constant struggle for survival.


bobby balingit with the idiots. 10 July 2004. welcome rotonda. photo by sep 

And that’s exactly the urban landscape that Bobby Balingit and his gang paint in Juan Isip. The album is a storybook filled with musings of street kids and dreams of prostitutes-the princes and princesses of the streets. Juan Isip is like an ice-pick through the heart- a visual, verbal, aural assault on the senses. When Bobby sings "Makitid na silid/ at ilaw na bombilya/ kamang kutson na nangangamoy" in Saranggola sa Gabi it's as if you're actually there in that dilapidated, god forsaken room. You're a voyuer close enough to smell the sheets. The songs of Juan Isip are more than an introduction to the characters of urban Manila, they invite us to look at the world and search for hope and redemption through their weary and jaded eyes.

Juan Isip is no more urban than say Jess Santiago’s Obando rural. Bobby Balingit and Jess Santiago are landscape artists and both these albums are their modern masterpieces. Both convey our stories. Alternately whispering and screaming about hope, angst, beauty, truth,and love.

Stop the Killings! Little girl joins vigil for Angelo dela Cruz. Welcome Rotonda. 10 July 2004. Photo by sep. 

tambay kasama si tata gil at si koyang.June 2004. UP theatre. Photo by Jess Aznar 

howl

Mang Rudy and Leonard. Howl Session at PRRM. January 2002. Photo by sep 


Holy, holy, holy Mang Rudy
At ang mga musikerong namamahagi ng mga kanta sa kalye

Holy ang mga kundimang inipon at binaon mula Visayas at Mindanao
Holy ang mga kwento ni manang ng mga paboritong awitin sa mga amateur contests sa probinsya

Holy ang pagiibigan at alalayan ng dalawang kaluluwang ligaw sa maingay at magulong lansangan ng kyusi; Naririnig ko si Tom Waits at ang kanyang BLIND LOVE habang nakikita ko kayong papalapit; hinahawi ng inyong mga ngiti ang nakakabulag na usok ng barbecue sa carliz

The only way to find you, is if I close my eyes/ and find you with my blind love/ Must be blind Love/Only kind of love is stone blind love

Holy, holy, holy si Manang at si Mang Rudy
Long time no see.

(pasintabi kay G. Allen Ginsberg+)

shoe shine at goregaon east train station

Mumbai. January 2004. Photo by sep 


This photograph was taken on a dusty afternoon at Goregaon East train station in Mumbai, India. The trains(as everything else in Mumbai)move at a crazy pace and during rush hour are bursting with people. So this scene of a man nonchalantly having a shoe shine right at the station is like the calm before the storm.

My old friend Steve

I got hold of Steve Earle’s Transcendental Blues album a couple of months ago and it has been spinning oh so constantly in my cd player. If I were to compile a cd about my own struggle to transcend, two of Mr. Earle’s songs would surely be included- transcendental blues and the classic My old friend the blues. These two songs written almost 15 years apart (My old friend.. from 1986 album Guitar Town and transcendental blues in 2000) express so plainly and yet so eloquently the pain of lost love and yet almost in the same breath the soothing and liberating power of music over the pain. Thanks to steve earle’s blues I know its just a matter of time before I get my guitar and my harmonicas packing and hit the road to transcendence. Rock on!

transcendental blues

Steve Earle's Transcendental Blues 


I have spent most of my life (like most people) avoiding transcendence at all costs, mainly because the shit hurts, Merely defining transcendence can sometimes be painful. I once heard that "Transendence is the act of going through something". Ouch. I see plate glass windows and divorces. Someone else told me that it was "rising above whatever one encountered in one's path" but at this point in my life that smacks of avoidance as well as elitism of some sort. I am compelled to look back on years of going through, above, as well as around my life looking for loopholes to redefine everything including any and all of the ideas that I have held close to my heart along the way-Art-Freedom-Justice-Revolution-Love (a big one)-Growth-Passion-Parenting (a really big one)- and I find that for me, for now, transcendence is about being still enougn long enough to know when it's time to move on. Fuck me

Steve Earle
Chicago
January 2000