A poem for people I never knew, but watched as flies tickled their noses and bellies

Why were you there on November 23?

To the young girl of twenty four or twenty five:

The hem of your bright green panties peeps

on top of your yellow jeans

as men in black t-shirts pull you up,

desperately but carefully

as if you might tear too soon.

They are afraid their hearts will tear, too,

if you do.

But would you speak, please?

Who were you and why were you here?

Didn't you have a boyfriend waiting in the city?

Weren't you suppose to be wondering when he'd propose?

To the power lady at thirty five or forty-two:

Ma'am, your golden watch stayed still at the hour

when your rolled-up basic white long-sleeved shirt

ceased to be white.

Its buttons now burst open.

Same with the fly of your black, serious-looking jeans.

For sure, you looked a lot crisper the morning before,

while, perhaps, you turned on the TV to the local channel

as you prepared sinangag and eggs

for your husband and children.

But who were you, ma'am? And why were you here?

A can of sardines in the cupboard

was what probably your girl opened

for her father and brothers' dinner last night.

To the big fat lady who looks thirty five-ish:

It's a shame that your size 40 pants tattered

at the touch of shovels and hands,

and failed to cover your white, flawless butt

as men grasped you wherever they could.

Had you even dreamed of this scene?

Perhaps you did, just a weekend ago,

while you rolled in bed

reading a Tagalog romance novel

waiting for your maid to call you to dinner.

But who were you and why were you here?

You probably have nephews and nieces

who are waiting for you to send them their tuition fees.

To the sixty-something gentleman:

Sir, your kasimanwas felt shamed

to have to meet you in these circumstances.

They only have to look at the further receded hairline

on your clammy head,

and your famous name easily slid out of their mouths.

Words had spilled out of your mouth so easily back then-

which was probably only two days ago,

when you sat in a soundproof studio

on top of a tower somewhere in the city,

grasping the microphone with your powerful hands.

Now your hands are still powerful, grasping air with resolute stillness.

We know who you were, but why,

your estranged, now deranged, wife asks, why were you here?

There's a new scoop, and you could have been the one airing it.

Instead, that newly hired reporter would be the one,

and he'd look uneasy, sitting in your place.

To the good looking twenty-nine or thirty-two year old guy:

Damn!

If you still could, you could have sued them

for humiliating you this way--

your surfboard abs are no more

thanks to the bacteria that gave off gases inside you,

making your stomach balloon.

And now your Levis and your silk boxers has come off,

but thank God he gave you an enormous gift.

Your wife and your girlfriend will surely miss it,

especially since your editor has sent you to this place last week,

and you haven't phoned either of them.

You actually could have.

Your Blackberry is still in your pocket.

But you forgot about it when you started pissing in your pants.

Like that old man, we have an idea who you are.

But why, oh, ladies man of the papers, why were you here?

Why were you all here?

Did God tell you to go here?

Did He send you here?

What for?

Was it for you to hear the chorused voices of friends and strangers and gunfire?

Or to breathe the metallic smell of blood?

Or was it to feel the cold caress of a backhoe?

We could maybe feel better

if God brought you here to feel the warm embrace of the earth.

*Sometimes you have to see to feel. But when what you see is too much, it numbs the senses. The illegal DVD I have recently watched is a CSI episode's opening part multiplied several times. If it was not real, if it was a movie, it would be boring. But then, this is real. The sight of distorted corpses with their distended bellies and bleeding noses and burst heads and bulging eyes and flaked-off skin numbs me, yes. But think: These people used to have lives. They used to spend time with their families, go to work, attend a meeting, go to school, check their Friendster and Facebook, forward text quotes.Now they are no more. Thanks to those assholes that rule the place as if they are gods. May God bless these poor people's souls. And may He not show mercy to the souls of their murderers.

Do you know where your money goes?

If you are concerned about your future and your children's future, please take the time to read and repost the following email from Pathways. Thank you!

Dear Friends and Fellow Filipinos,

Good day to you! :)

In light of the recent spate of scandals and allegations of corruption in our government, we at Team RP believe that the call for Truth and Accountability in our government should not stop in the investigations that are being conducted by our Senate, Ombudsman and our Judicial System but this should also be complemented with a push for a Philippine Access to Information Law that would help prevent future graft and corruption practices by many of our government officials from happening again. By enacting this law, ordinary Filipinos will now be able to access public documents which would narrate what kind of agreements our government enters into on behalf of the Filipino people and at the same time show us how our public funds are spent. This will increase transparency in our government and will further hold our government leaders and officials accountable for their actions.

In line with this, we are launching a Signature Campaign to help convince our lawmakers towards prioritizing the immediate passing and implementation of this law. Here is Team RP's petition on pushing for a Philippine Access to Information Law:

"Secrecy breeds irregularity, fraud and crime. It allows chicanery, graft and corruption… A democracy based on ignorance, on misinformation, on conjectures, on suspicion is doomed to fail. The more enlightened the people have, the more guarantees there are for their success in their collective enterprises, and in the fulfillment of their social aspirations and purposes."

From the de Venecia-Lozada expose, the Hello Garci scandal and the Spratlys
mind-boggler to the North and South Rail questions, events of the recent past clearly highlight how very little we know about the workings of our government, how much difficulty is involved in getting truth to come out and how, albeit fundamental in any republican and democratic state that the government is accountable to the public, we Filipinos are in reality denied direct access to our government institutions and our public servants. As a country that prides itself with democracy, it strikes us with a disquieting reality that we Filipinos have no real access to information to empower us to properly and actively participate in governance.

We in TEAM RP believe that in order for there to be a responsible citizenry that can actively and meaningfully craft the future of the country, there is a need to give teeth to the policy of full public disclosure and the right of the people to be informed as contained in the fundamental law of the land. Moreover, we are aware that if people, especially those who have been bypassed by development, are unaware of laws andprocedures for availing themselves of their entitlements or of mechanisms they can use to remedy their plight, then they will always remain poor.

Let us call on our lawmakers to make top priority the passage of a Philippine Access to Information Law which, subject to reasonable and clearly outlined conditions, nsures unfettered access of the people to information of public concern, including government transactions involving public interest.

We urge our lawmakers, let us not delay this any further.

If you support our petition and call for the passage of a Philippine Access to Information Law, you can join and help us in any of the following ways:

a.) Sign our petition online by emailing "I Support the Campaign for a Philippine Access to Information Law" together with your complete name and contact information to team.rp.pail@gmail.com

b.) Forward this email to your friends and post this email in your website, blog, friendster, multiply or facebook account for all your friends to read.

c.) Volunteer for our campaign and help us get more Filipinos to sign our petition. If you want to volunteer and help, you can email Karen Naranjo at k_ren_naranjo@yahoo.com or you can send her a text message at 0918-9183685. We will send you copies of our petition so you can also help gather signatures in
your school, office or organization.

Thank you for your time in reading this email. We hope that you will consider joining Team RP's movement for Truth, Accountability and Reform in our country.

May you have a pleasant day ahead! :)

Sincerely,
Harvey S. Keh
Chairperson
Team RP

Team RP is an organization of youth leaders and young professionals who working together for Truth, Accountability and Reform in our country. We are part of the Buong Bayan Isinisigaw Tama Na, Itama Na (BUSINA) Movement. We believe that complaining and lambasting our leaders is not enough but we should proactively work towards finding concrete ways to help solve our present problems. As such, Team RP believes that issues should always take precedence over personalities thus, our programs and activities are always geared towards helping build our democratic institutions and furthering the development of every Filipino. If you want to know more about Team RP or join Team RP, please email us at team.rp.official@gmail.com