Iskra needs fire.
Efren Penaflorida arrived home, only to find his People weeping and gnashing their teeth over a senseless killing that exposed the primal nature of his society’s leaders. Penaflorida wanted to inspire. Penaflorida wanted to spark a revolution of renewed consciousness. And like all others before him, Penaflorida faces a tough battle, a challenge probably insurmountable, and the brutality of it all looks at him straight in the face.
Flash back and let’s guess how Jose Rizal probably felt when he saw the Philippines after his arrival from Europe. Rizal was an optometrist. He probably thought he needed corrective lenses despite having 20/20 vision because despite all his struggles, things remained the same.
The problem of idealists and revolutionists is one and the same—they want to live in a world which their minds think as the best place to be in. And they want others to live the same way. They forgot one thing–that place is still in the realm of possibilities, of dreams, if you will. Mind power does not change things without the mind telling the hands that it need to work and transform a bigoted land into Palestine.
Rizal and his fellow Ilustrados wanted a world filled with Iberian dreams; Penaflorida wanted nothing of Iberia but of “kariton-nella” where boys study under the harsh sun protected by a makeshift tent. Rizal wanted reform while most of his fellow Filipinos dream of nothing else but freedom.
When Luis Taruc created his army of peasants, he just dreamt of a place where all farmers are free. Free from Japanese enslavement and free from brutal landlords. He nearly won that struggle only to find an army of wily politicians talking him out of it. The revolution lost due to compromise and Luis Taruc lives with it.
Joma thought of a world full of Russians and Chinese Maoists singing just one tune, that of Socialism. He thought that the best way to replicate such a world right here is go to the mountains and create his own Yunan mountain. It has been forty years since and his Yunan became a lush green full of vegetables. In some way, Joma was right—the Revolution did benefit the peasants. They get good cash out of those crops planted in his Yunan.
In all certainty, those who sacrifice their lives for the People’s Cause must realize one simple thing—that they need not just dream, but rise up from their chairs and do the work themselves. The pen is not mightier than the sword in these places, for those in Power do not know how to read. Words are surely not enough to transform hearts made of stone. Words can’t melt corrupted hearts. The rule of the game is simple enough—FIGHT, FIGHT FOR WHAT IS RIGHT AND CONDEMN THE WRONGS BY USING THE LANGUAGE KNOWN BY BRUTISH MEN TO BE TRUE—VIOLENCE.
We are no Gandhi. We are no hippie. Hippies live in the hashish and LSD-filled world which made them preach peace only to find that peace is just an induced state of consciousness.
We face an enemy who do not know how to read. We face an enemy whose hearts do not know God. We face an enemy who do not listen, who has 20/20 vision of what they’re supposed to do, and who do not want to be lectured.
We face an enemy who has survived a harsh jungle and knows only one thing—violence towards their fellowmen. In these parts, violence does not beget violence, that propaganda is just as shallow as a coconut shell. When we use the language of violence against brutes, we achieve peace.
So, for Sparks and those who dream—dream if you will, even forever. But until we realise the inevitability of armed struggle as the way to go, those dreams will forever be relegated to our greyish files of useless matter.
Popularity: 1% [?]
We were idealists during the early seventies. Prof. Jose Maria
Sison comes from Cabugao, Ilocos Sur. He saw the tyrany of the
Crisologo family. Father, son, and mother monopolizing the political
power in his Province of Ilocos Sur. Same way, as the Ampatuans are
monopolizing power today in the Province of Maguindanao. Life and death of political opponents were determined by the ruling families.
I know that a Maoist type of revolution was in Prof. Jose Maria Sison’s mind. China under the Koumintang led by Chang Kai Shiek was
full of Political Warlords. Only Mao Tse Tung and his dedicated
peasant fighters could end the political nonsense of China. The
New People’s Army ideology was appealling then.
However, I did my own studies on Revolutions. The French Jacobin
Revolution produced the Reign of Terror. Almost all people who were
suspected to be enemies of the Republic, perished in the French Guillotine. The Russian October Revolution produced a Ruling Political Aristocracy.The Politburo ate well, lived well. While the rest of the people lived in rationed poverty. No Freedom of Speech. Political enemies were deported to Slave Camps called GULAGS in Seberia. The KGB held a tight grip on the lives of the people. It produced a mass murderer named Stalin. Who killed almost 30 million
people in the Gulag Camps.
The Chinese Revolution produced dictatorship of the ruling class.
It had its political nonsense of its own, like the Cultural Revolution.
So, I decided to disagree with their ideology. I was right. We
can work to make things better. If we all try. A unified voice and
effort can rattle any power. Remember, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. It comes with a very dear price. It does not just fall on your hands.
nice… you either kill the oligarchs or educate them!
I do admire Jose Rizal and Efren’s achievements. Both are role models for the many filipinos at individual level. We need a different kind of model. A model that can transform a dirty city into a clean city. We need a model that can transform a poor city into an acceptable standard of living. We need a model that can transform a city of fear into a City of Peace and order. We need a president who will think and work like those role model individuals who make us proud. Those individuals were not even voted by the people but it’s because of their determination. How I wish for everyone in public office is as determined as the other filipino models.
It is clear that our representatives are not determined and skillful enough to be a role model. Very few has made this country proud. It is always about Mang Juan and Pedro…
That’s what happens when voters select padrinos as representatives – and not role models. Voters have the choice of selecting the likes of Efren Penaflorida, but.. voters elect the likes of an Arroyo, an Aquino, or an Ampatuan – voters reap what they sow.
Pat can do well to research whether or not Rizal graduated a course i optometry and passed a licensure examination to become a full-fledged optometrist.
The question that may be asked would be – where did Rizal graduate his course and when did he take the licensure board examination to become a licensed optometrist.
The question put the other way around, what was Rizal doing when he was in Europe? Are there existing records to show such as a transcript of records that he graduated in any of the schools in Europe?
As to Mr. Penaflorida, fact is, it is not as if there are no students of UP Diliman who are doing what the good Mr. Penaflorida may have been doing in Cavite.
Obliquely, for him to be acknowledged as CNN Hero of the Year, and the consequent support and accolade he got later, to my naughty mind appears to be a step back to antiquity than advance hard real steps toward modernity. I just find it personally strange in the more contemporary setting of a digitally controlled global educational system.
Penaflorida is just the media’s insult to the church, the government and the academe. No more… no less.