Injustice at its BEST

Friday, December 26, 2008
The world has gone crazy.
So, I just had the worst day of my life.

At around 1:30 PM today, at Valley Golf and Country Club, Antipolo City, Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, Jr., Mayor of Masiu City, Lanao del Sur, his father, Secretary Nasser Pangandaman of the Department of Agrarian Reform, and company, beat my defenseless 56-year-old dad and my 14-year-old brother to a pulp because of some stupid misunderstanding on the golf course.

This is a golf course. I have been a golfer all my life, and I have never seen anything like this. NOTHING. This is hard to comprehend. And it happened to my own father and my own brother too. Right in front of my eyes.

My brother and I were playing golf at the South Course of Valley. We were on the 3rd hole, and we see two golf carts going past us, overtaking our flight, and setting up to tee off on the next hole. My dad goes up to them and asks them why they would do that, why they would overtake us without even asking for our permission. Golf etiquette 101. One of the guys says that they're with the flight in front of us. (So what? That doesn't give them the right to just pass us WITHOUT asking.) So, we go to the 5th hole. The flight behind us catches up with us, and asks us what caused the hold up. We said that this flight just slipped in front of our flight. So we complained to the marshall. We play the 5th hole and walk towards the next hole, where there is a teehouse, and both the flights in front of us were there, talking with the marshall. The mayor of Masiu City, Lanao del Sur talks with my dad. Things get heated up. Voices were raised. But never, in my wildest dreams, did I ever imagine that someone would pull out a punch. Apparently not. He attacks my father. His flightmates, maybe 2 or 3 of them, rush to his aid and beat up my father. My 56-year-old father. My younger brother and I could not just watch. We rushed to break the fight. My younger brother pleads to the mayor to please stop it. To not hurt my dad. To just stop. His words still ring through my head..."Sorry na po, sorry na po...tama na...tama na po..." With his hands in front of his chest in a praying position. PLEADING. The mayor socks him in the face. My brother defended himself. My dad is still on the ground getting clobbered. My brother is the same way. I try to stop the fight, but all I can do is stop one person. There were 4 or 5 of them attacking now.

Someone breaks up the fight. I thought it was all over. The mayor shouts to his caddy: "Hindi nila kami kilala! Sabihin mo nga sa kanila kung sino ako!" And believe me, I had no idea who this person was. But now I know. He's the person who, with 4 other men, beat up my 56-year-old father and my 14-year-old brother. He's the person who sacks a pleading 14-year-old kid in the face. He's a person who, I am sure, is gonna rot in hell.

I lash out, but my dad held me back. I was screaming my lungs out, shouting to this mayor, telling him about what he had done. I said: "Nakakahiya kayo. Singkwenta'y sais anyos ang tatay ko. And kapatid ko kakatorse anyos. Anong ilalaban nila sayo?"

The mayor looks at my brother, point to his face, and says, "Tatandaan kita!" And he tells me that my brother has a bad attitude and that I need to watch him. WHAT THE HELL?! So, my brother's bad for defending his father?!

We leave. We walk to the clubhouse to file a complaint. My brother asks for a doctor. My dad could barely walk. Their group comes to the clubhouse, sees my brother. Once again my brother pleads, says sorry, and is crying. He was CRYING, for crissakes. But no. The relentless mayor still punches him in the face, and then sees my dad and goes after my dad again. Him and his friend pull my dad to the ground, pulls at his feet, and steps on him like he's dirt. I run to him and try to hold him back, holding him back by his shirt, while this other guy and this girl tries to stop me. She tells me to just stop it. I scream in her face "they're beating my father up and you want me to stop?!" I pull at his shirt--I don't let go. All I can see was my dad being trampled on. I didn't even see my brother getting beat up.

People pull them away. I get my dad, and I saw my brother. His right ear was bleeding. I freaked out. I told the receptionists to bring my brother to the clinic. I pull my dad away. People were separating us.

My mom and my older brother come. I tell her Bino's right ear is bleeding. They both look like they could kill. My dad holds my brother off, I hold off my mom. When I finally got my mom under control, my older brother gets away and I hold him off. Two of the mayor's bodyguards pull out guns. I embraced my brother from the back, just holding him back, crying. The receptionists came to us, crying, hugging me, my dad, and my mom, whispering to us to just leave. "Maam, umalis na po kayo, may mga baril sila...Maam...umalis na po kayo please..."

I am pretty sure the Secretary of DAR did not take part in the fight, but he just watched all this happen. He watched two of his sons, as we figured out, the other guy was his son, too, beat up my father and my 14-year-old brother. He didn't do anything to stop it. And this person is what now? A cabinet member. A politician.

Sounds like something out of a movie, doesn't it? But this is what happened. TODAY. The day after Christmas. To my family. And all I ask for is JUSTICE. The people at Valley Golf did not seem to want to help us. None of the security guards even tried to stop the fight. Right in the clubhouse. I came back after the fight was over and talked to the receptionists. They say they did not see anything. The general manager of Valley Golf would not give us the names of the men who made my brother's ear bleed. It took him an hour. Maybe even more than that. He seemed to not want to help us. Because, we were against the SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM and the MAYOR OF MASIU CITY, LANAO DEL SUR. They were all scared.

The world has gone crazy. Two politicians beat up a defenseless 56-year-old father and his 14-year-old son. At a golf course. I swear to God, I thought golfers were decent people. You would think politicians were decent people. I guess not. I guess they gang up on 56-year-old men and beat up pleading 14-year-old kids.

Please pray for my dad, my brother and for my whole family. Please pray that we get JUSTICE. Oh God, please, give these people what they deserve.

I got this from this site:
http://vicissitude-decidido.blogspot.com/2008/12/world-is-fucked-up.html

My comment(also posted there):

Kristina said...

You may be wondering how a stranger stumbled upon your blog and the answer is that my cousin, Jammy C., posted this link in our family Yahoo!groups. (Sorry, if this freaks you out.)

I am TOTALLY ENRAGED for your family. I am FURIOUS. I want to throw something. I hate injustice. I abhor it. I cannot even comprehend the fact that this happened, that this HAPPENS. Almost too hard to believe this is in fact our reality. This has absolutely lowered my confidence in humanity in general. How can someone so viciously act for oneself only? How can someone be capable of doing such an act of selfishness? How can a (let's assume) Catholic Filipino LEADER( SUPPOSEDLY) act like this? What has the world come down to?

Though, I am glad that you and your family are alive. No one should experience this degree of cruelty. (ESPECIALLY on freakin Christmas.)No one should even be capable of carrying out an action of this degree of cruelty. I am hoping for the best for your family. I hope you will all heal.
I will pray for you and your family. For every Filipino out there who has experienced,are experiencing, (God Forbid) will be experiencing this malevolence from our very own government. And, as hard as it is for me to say it, we must pray especially for these kind of people. 'Love your enemies.' As hard as it is to accept, we would be nothing better than those we hate, if we aren't even capable of this. Though, don't worry, you don't need to accept this yet. It might take a while, but eventually, we must forgive.

And for exactly this reason, we must hope. For the people who have been victimized, like your family, we must hope. For these dogs who don't even deserve the title of being called 'human' much less that of a 'mayor', we must hope. For our country, we must pray.

I will pray for you.

- Kristina C. (Jammy's cousin. Just reminding. :) )

The world has gone crazy. But then again, when we lose hope, we lose ourselves too.

Link of news report here: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/141418/DAR-chiefs-son-5-bodyguards-face-charges-for-alleged-mauling-of-2-golfers

What Barney has taught me :)

I remember watching Barney when I was just a little too old to for it, but still young enough to watch it with my younger sister. It was a special Christmas episode with Santa and Baby Bop. If I'm not mistaken, It was Baby Bop who said something like, "Santa gives all of us gifts for Christmas, but who gives Santa gifts?" I remember this episode struck me so much, my eyes started producing liquid. My sister and I even started planning things like putting cookies on the dinner table on Christmas Eve for Santa, plans that were never put into action. Still, we did consider this new idea, Christmas about giving back to Santa.

Ms. Ng, our CLE teacher, discussed Christmas with us. She said that we should never forget that 'Jesus is the reason for the season.' We should never forget, though we receive a truckload of gifts and attend a host of parties, why there is Christmas in the first place.

A priest preaching in the homily said that Christmas is about serving those who served us. Forgot his name, but I remember his proposition. He challenged us to be the ones who served our maids and helpers at home. Even just for Christmas because Christmas is about Jesus, who has served us too.

Thinking back, I realized Barney was teaching us the same lesson, albeit in a different way. Christmas is about serving those who has served us, which includes Jesus but also envelops our personal 'servants'. People who have been unfailingly kind towards us, people who have always stood by our side, people who have handed us the pitcher of water though it was only less than ten feet away, these are the people who served us.


That's why I'm so stressed. There's simply too much people who have served me, too much people on my list. :D

LOL.

Merry Christmas, cyberspace.

Love,
Kristina.

For a Friend

Let me explain my pathetic situation.

First of all, I have friends. But they have their own intimately close group of friends. I'm just an intruder.

I had a friend, but she turned out to be something of the exact opposite--a backstabbing, lying, two-faced, ....

I had an acquaintance, who always treated me like I am lower than dirt, but I still tried to treat well. I tried to be cordial with her as much as possible.

What hurts the most...

is the fact that the dearest friend I have, someone who I really love and care about, has been forced with an ultimatum (and a stupid one at that)--CHOOSE: ME or them. Them, the lying, two-faced, backstabbing, petty, shallow, disgusting, filthy, .... The bane of my existence.

The catch is, I just had to be giving because she's my bestest, best friend. And for a friend like her, I'd do anything. I had to leave her--them. Because if I don't, they'd let her chose.

I guess, I don't want to know which she chooses too. Me, or them.

So I left.

I left her, because I love her. I don't want her to feel like she has to chose between me or them. I didn't want to hear them tell me to go away too.

It's so funny how much you can trust a person and even consider them as a friend and find out the person's been sh**ting you all along. Makes you jaded and bitter right? Thing is, I'm not. I'm still hoping. I still believe that there will be friends for me out there--other friends.

If you really love someone, let him/her go, right? They say, it it really was meant to be, he/she will come back.

We'll see.

An Unsent Letter

I don't really care anymore...

(Just hoping for an OPEN mind from everyone who reads this...)

But, ate Sarah, why the TOOT do you think you're not yet 'skinny' enough? And why should it bother you so much that you're not that skinny? I mean, I don't really understand why you're so into getting 'skinnier' when you already are VERY skinny. I just really don't get why it affects someone as smart as you so much. I don't KNOW what to think. Ano ba, media? And BS naman nun, and very petty. It's such a shallow reason. You need to get skinny just cause others are skinny too? Or just because they're skinnier than you?

O sige, if not that, it's because you want to be healthy. I know it's your life and you don't like it when others interfere with it AND I know it may seem so cowardly and cold, insensitive and all that, for me to be doing this online BUT I REALLY think you're so overdoing being vegan/vegetarian or whatever you call that, I don't really care. But, what's life without a little indulgence? Sobrang nakakistorbong makita iyong isang taong may maliking problema sa sarili niyang katawang sobrang payat na pero para sa kanya ewan ko. Hindi ko na talaga maunawan, dati pa ito nakatago pero wala na, kailangan ko na talaga sabihin. And I know that I am a coward and this is cowardice, but I know that everyone else in the family is thinking along those lines.

And I know that you don't like us telling you what to do or interfering, but that's what family is for. Kung kahit pamilya mo'y hindi kikibo kahit alam nila mali ka, sino pa'ng tutulong sa'yo? Nakakahabag. Kung kahit pamilya mo, 'di kaya sa iyo sabihin ang totoo, sino pa'ng iimik? Kung hindi ka haharapin ng kahit sarili mong pamilya...kawawang nilalang.

Sure, I like being healthy too and maybe for you the way I'm living is unhealthy. Heck, for you, probably like 90% of us, mere humans, does NOT live 'healthy'. But, is the way you're living really 'healthy'? Maybe for you, but maybe not for how others define 'healthy'. I respect you wanting to be healthy and all that but please, sana wag mo pa ring kalimutan alagaan iyong sarili mong katawan. Please.

I know that this is the way you want to live your life. But I just want you to know that I strongly disagree with some of your choices and I'm sorry for not saying them to you face to face but I believe everyone in the family should know and you too. Maybe this is part of my Christmas gift to you--honesty and the truth AT LAST.

I am sorry if this will ruin everything. Your Christmas, our relationship, if this will alienate everyone from me or you from me or all of us from each other. But, as Star says, 'The truth will prevail.' Or something like that. I am sorry if this offends you and I know it will but I just had to do it. But I still love you and that's why I'm telling you this, even though I know you've already heard it from a lot of people.

When everything else falls apart, the only sure thing that will be left standing is your family.

Somehow this turned out to be much longer than I intended it to be.

Di ko lang talaga gets. Sorry. Ok lang kung magalit ka. But I just want to know, why the obssession?

Love,
Kristina

Sorry e-mail lang. Sorry sorry sorry. But I had to say it. Ileana may not have been as direct but I know that someone will eventually have to tell you. It's just that...uRAGAH....

Thanks btw, if you actually read everything. Just wanted you to know.

(was supposed to send it )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chickened out. :)

I guess I realized that it wasn't really worth it. It's nearing Christmas and it is already the "November girls'" birthdays. Me on the 26th, my aunt on the 28th, and my grandma on the 29th, today. I didn't really want to ruin the mood.

I think that it wouldn't have made much of a difference anyway. I think she knows what I put there. I think it would have been an unnecessary cause for argument. As I've said, it was also too cold and impersonal to just send it in the yahoogroups, broadcasting it to everyone. I guess I realized that it would be much better if I just confronted her about it.

But, in reality, maybe I really am just a coward, because though I'm saying all these, I really am torn. I want her to know all these because she might not know all of the things I've said, for example, about the family part. But the again, I don't want to cause unnecessary dispute and cause a possible huge fight. Big things does come from small thing after all.

So though I chickened out from pressing the send button, I'm going to press another one now called 'Publish Post'.

Let Fate decide.

Happiness: In Him alone

AMAZINGLY, I'm actually NOT depressed today. :) Just calm, everything's just fine.

Just a thought that have been plaguing me for a while.

It's just kind of sad to think that I live for the weekend, that every weekday, with all its burden--from school and whatnot--I just really, REALLY wait for the weekend to arrive. So I get 'rest' days which aren't at all enough or restful, what with choir and my tendency of sleeping later than I should. If you think about it, it IS a very miserable existence, if this really is just what my life is: an endless cycle of weekends and weekdays.

But, let us not contemplate such lonely thoughts today. Not today.

I've decided to write something happy for once, since I've realized I've been whining and complaining at almost all the entries I have ever posted here. Beforehand, I didn't even know what happy thoughts I was going to write about. But upon typing the word 'complaining', a memory was triggered so now I have something perfectly happy to write about. Wonderful.

Ms. Ng, our CLE (Christian Life Education) teacher, had always been a very cheerful person. And its always heartening to see her, because she lifts your face and literally turns your frown into an unwilling smile. She's a saint. And I can't forget the time--well, it wasn't that long ago--when she said that we shouldn't complain so much. That for the last two remaining periods after her class, we should try our best not to complain about anything, or better yet, not to complain at all. I forgot why, or what exactly was our lesson then. But more recently, we've watched the Passion of Christ, and it is honestly, the first time I have ever watched it. It really struck me, but what Ms. Ng has been saying (interrupting our watching) was what really struck me more.

Seeing all the blood gushing forth from every single wound inflicted on His body, the flesh being broken and lacerated by filthy, disgusting, yet sharp things, seeing Him tortured and handled so rudely and unfairly, you can't help but to grimace in pain, as if you're being punished yourself, or just to weep in agony. Well, truth be told, I did weep a lot in that movie, yet what made the tears flow more steadily was what Ms. Ng said. She said something along the lines of: It's remarkable how anyone could love us so much, so willing to suffer, die and be humiliated for us. We can never do anything that is enough to be deserving of this much love. WE DO NOT DESERVE HIS LOVE. And everytime we do something wrong, we cause him more pain too. And we are more at sin and at fault than the Romans who crucified him, for they literally did not entirely know what they were doing, that He really is divine. YET, we have all this evidence of His divinity and still we persecute Him. (She said she got this bit from C.S. Lewis and Mel Gibson, I think)

It just really struck something in me. She said, He had to be crucified, WHY? for me. For you, for us all.

It really is a great comfort that no matter how horrible a person you may think you are, how many sins you have committed, how many people you've persecuted yourself, SOMEONE will ALWAYS love you. Teacher said too that there is NOTHING, NOTHING ever that we can do to make God NOT love us.

He suffered so much for us, that's why we should make it worth it. You know, I've never really uncovered the secret of life or maybe in my subconscious I'm just refusing to accept and acknowledge it, but for sure I know one thing. I don't ever want to cause any person the same pain others inflicted on Him.(Duh, I know) Or even just a fraction of it. I don't ever want to cause Jesus any more pain than what he had to carry on that cross of his.

I know that now I've lost most of the vigor, zeal and life I had had previously. My will to live is just a lot less. Yet, I am content. I am happy for the simple knowledge that if there is no other thing certain in this world, His love for me is. And in Him, I seek my comfort.

I know about all the things people have said about religion, and all the arguments people have come up with. Maybe, He is just man's creation to comfort himself. To tell himself that this is not all that life beholds, that there is something after this life. Whatever other people may say, no matter how sound their argument, I know that He is here, with me, always.

Faith is founded on trust and love, and if the beauty of each raindrop that falls, the power of the thunder that shakes the earth, and the gentleness of the sun's caress upon your face is not proof enough of His everlasting presence here with us, then maybe nothing ever will be good enough for you. And if that is so, I pity you.

P.S. And I almost forgot something, teacher also said that we shouldn't be sad at all when watching the Passion, because it is a happy story. It is the greatest love story ever told.

Writing, is it my calling?

I've been insufferably plagued by these insistent urges to write about this novel I've been outlining and planning inside my head for quite a while. (FINE, it has had a few years of planning...but not really continuous planning, more like periodic planning.)

This image/words/thoughts/whatnot(I can't really justifiably define it, whatever it is, because it happens inside my cluttered head.) can't get out of my head.

Striking, bright yellow eyes stared back at me from the corner of my bed. Another pair of eyes appeared right next to them, except these ones were constantly changing color. They conspicuously stood out against the stark darkness of my room. Yet, instead of being downright frightened and alarmed had I been any other person but me, I did nothing at all and just stared right back, waiting for the inevitable.

"It's time" the owner of the yellow eyes said.

It's a scene from the story/novel/trash that is being constructed inside the workroom called my brain. And obviously, there's a lot more story behind than just it...I just can't...ugh...I don't know what's wrong with me. (Here's a little tidbit--it's closely related to our religion, except it's fantasy and sci-fi and about the end of the world...things like that, the second coming of Christ. And the three people which are portrayed in the previously presented scene is the central focus of the story. They're kind of like reincarnations of Mary, Joseph and an extra character, although they AREN'T Joseph and Mary, just the ones who get their roles. Something like that. Oh, this story has been brewing inside my brain for ages.)

Anyhow, I had wanted to write about something else here, previously, but I'll have to postpone it again because I if I start writing about it (It being colonial mentality in the Philippines.) then I'd end up making a very boring, long-winded discussion/debate/rant entry. SO, that's for another time. :)

Kristina's Lament

I guess it has always been one of the greatest questions of all time. What is my purpose in this world? What exactly am I here for? What is my worth? Am I even valuable to today's society? Or am I dispensable?

Sometimes, I, myself, have claimed to know the answers to these mind-'bogglers'(Yes, a made-up word, indeed). But I guess some truths aren't as simple as they should be, some are two-sided and fickle.

I am writing in the midst of hell week, using valuable time for writing on this blog. But i can't help it. I feel like I've just been pummeled by a charging gargantuan rhinoceros, trampled by Hitler's Nazi army, and thrown a thousand feet deeper than the deepest pits of hell. Not a very nice feeling at all.

And this feeling of utter nothingness after, a grim acceptance of fate, aghast and miserable inside, is made all the worse because the tears seem to defy the laws of nature and refuse to fall. All the more worse because I cannot even manifest my misery and sheer hopelessness. Maybe it's shock, I don't know.

This terrible despair just over a damn 6-paged, 100 pointed, math algebra test. Is it worth it? I don't really know if it is for whoever or for this world. But the big deal is, to me it is. It matters so much that now I am again considering the meaning of my life. NO, I am not suicidal just miserable. And I hate it!

How can I be the one who defines myself by my grades? Is my academic achievement all that I possess? Is my worth, my whole being, my 'excellence', defined by an insufficient 2-digit number?? IS IT REALLY? Is this all that I have that can make me valuable in the world? My grades?

I guess, deep down this is what I believe in. A greater foolishness cannot be manifested. Yet, I can't seem to find other things which would make me have some worth in the world. Or am I looking at all the wrong places? Holy mama, I don't know.

I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING.

And that's the cherry on top of the icing on the cake. I've always took pride in my academic achievement because I guess I believe it is all I have, therefore, all that could make me valuable. Yet, is it really not meant to be? Is this not really my fate? To be an academic overachiever? Then what else can I be, really? I don't believe I have anything more to offer. My accomplishments were results of my hard work, none of them just by pure talent. Maybe some of the times, but very rarely. Yes, I know all of it, I can look at truth in the face. I know I'm good at art, maybe even better in writing, tolerable in singing and dancing. I even have compassion and I do like helping others. HOWEVER, all my 'great' accomplishments were never the product of my brilliance or excellence in these various fields, but they were born because of my Pride. The Pride in me that refuses to give up because I HAD to succeed. The Pride that gave me the determination and perseverance to be hard-working so as to accomplish great things. I knew if I wasn't at least 'excellent' in my studies, I have nothing more which I possess. See, I am NOTHING. Just a girl filled to the brim by arrogant Pride.

I am no great talent nor am I a selfless philanthropist,I am not the resplendently brilliant diamond in a jar full of copper coins, yet, why was I the one cursed with such great ambition?

Another question ranking the same level of mind 'bogglingness' as those mentioned beforehand.

Oh, Life, God, the Creator, why have you put me in this world where all I can hope to achieve is nothing?

I KNOW I should be thankful that I am receiving a decent education, others aren't. I have a whole family, other's do not. I am healthy, cancer-free, sane enough(I think), living luxuriously enough and I do have at least a quarter of a teaspoon of talent. MAN, I am ALIVE, and others are DEAD! (Or will never have the chance to be born.)

Yet what is the glitch or maybe not a glitch anymore but have become a GREAT FLAW in me that hinders me from being so?

Why is it that I can't get over the fact that because I failed to answer at least 5 questions worth multiple points in the damned 6-paged, 100 pointed math algebra II test? The failure to answering them that may lead to at least 20 points deduction which will result in a mark of 80 over 100 which may then pull my grades below the borderline grade of 85 in the report card which would then make it impossible for me to attain an honor, WHICH will then make me NOT a consistent honor student, therefore, never to go up the stage during graduation, which would then destroy all my dreams.

But then, the question: 'Why does it matter so much?', always ends up popping up. Why does it matter so much? How can my own thinking be so gruesomely warped and distorted that I can't seem to consider myself as a decent human being if I don't graduate with flying colors? I know, my records wouldn't be pristine, would not anymore be sickeningly pure line of 9's and filled with honors. My great "ACHIEVEMENT" and previous hard work to attain all the previous honors WOULD BE FOR NOTHING.

I MIGHT NEVER GO UP ON THAT STAGE ANYWAY! ALL BECAUSE OF ONE FREAKIN SUBJECT!

Which inevitably lead me to question my worth in this world. Was I really made to attain great academic achievements, or was I meant to have another destiny? Or do I have NO destiny at all? Then again, the same question: WHY GIVE ME THIS UNBEARABLE THIRST FOR EXCELLENCE? Or at least this warped form of excellence I can't help but yearn for.

What is my worth?

After all these thoughts have went through my head, my misery is still unable to profess itself. Resulting in this unbearable numbness, maybe even worse than hysterically weeping, mourning the probable impossibility of my dream because of a damned 2-digit number.

Is numbness really better? Or is it really just the calm before the storm?