I Am Buraot

In just a matter of minutes, after that quick anesthesia-less operation and humiliation inside the operating room, I was in a wheelchair being pushed by that UP volunteer all the way to the x-ray room and unto my assigned room, which was the orthopedic ward.

Weird. I don’t think I had any broken bone or whatever that needed me to be confined to that section. Unless some doctor thought a broken skull would be enough to be categorized as orthopedic.

I saw some empty rooms and wards along the way so I asked the guy why I was being put here. He said he got no idea but we both think it would be safer for me since it’s almost full and lots of people would see me, just in case. Continue Reading…

It was November 1996. The APEC Summit was being held in Subic Bay, Philippines.

It was a time for the country to show off its newly established Subic Bay after the former bases were left by the Americans under piles of ashes brought by the Pinatubo eruption. It was also the time for then President Fidel Ramos to showcase his Medium Term Philippine Development Plan. It was Ramos’ Philippines 2000. It was globalization. It was Olongapo.

Like most people in the progressive left, I was against it. I believe that if businesses can be allowed to globalize, we should also allow the workers to globalize. If capital can go around the world looking for cheap labor, then labor itself should also be allowed to find better pay anywhere in the world. What I’m for is simply for fairness.

The stage was set for mass demonstrations against globalization. And so we at the Sanlakas Olongapo were ready. Continue Reading…

I was a fan of Dick Gordon, the man who they called The Flash. He was full of idealism and a natural leader. I would love to be seated next to him. I would love to catch the same breath of air that passes through his sense of national pride.

I first saw him on TV after the tragic 1990 major Luzon earthquake. He was there saving lives in the cities of Baguio and Cabanatuan. Those cities were the hardest hit with several collapsed buildings and hotels. He was then armed with his advanced SBMA units doing search and rescue operations. His efforts are rarely seen from politicians and public servants anywhere in the country. And to think that Olongapo is actually hours away from these cities makes it even more heroic.

Gordon, gadgetry, flash, hero. Who wouldn’t fancy any young guy’s idealism and imagination? Continue Reading…

Jan. 21, 2010. This is the day a miniscule blogger was picked on by a pea-size brained Philippine government official. A blogger named Ella of Blog ni Ella is now facing libel charges from an article about those “rotting” merchandise inside the DSWD warehouses.

If you guys can remember, the Philippines took a beating from typhoon Ondoy last October 2009. It was October 23, 2009, when this site issued an article in reference to the original article of Blog ni Ella regarding the state of of some government relief efforts in some warehouses owned by the Department of Social Welfare and Deveopment (DSWD). Continue Reading…

Do you see the whole picture, or read between the lines? Can you discern the pattern of words and thoughts formation that leads you to a certain pre-destined conclusion?

Are they just written syllables to fill your wandering mind? Or a well orchestrated move to stab your back and rob you blind?

Storytellers are full of talk, they’re cheap.

You could find them everywhere, but you can’t see them anywhere. Subtly, and ever so charmingly, they can suggest thoughts into our minds, mumble words into our mouths. They can move us and leave us on our tracks. They can, publicly, make us live or die. Continue Reading…

Some conspiracy theorists had it coming.

They theorized that the Maguindanao Massacre might be a ploy to justify the issuance of a declaration of Martial Law. Besides, they say, the alleged culprits, the Ampatuans, are known to be supporters of the Arroyo administration.

Far-fetched at it may seem to be, I remember the same argument of post 9-11 conspiracy theorists that argue up to this day that the Bush administration’s and the neocons of Washington had something to do with the 9-11 attack.

And given the Arroyo family’s unsatiable thirst for power and plunder, it may not be so hard to think so. Continue Reading…

Ten days after Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed an order creating a special commission for the country’s reconstruction after the country was ravaged by typhoons, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which was tasked to lead the effort is now being questioned due to “rotting” goods in one of its warehouses.

An article from a long-time blogger and alleged DSWD volunteer named Ella had been circulating over the internet Friday morning and blogs accusing the department of hoarding donated goods and supplies instead of sending them out to the people. Continue Reading…