Author Archives: DON J. PAGUSARA

10 years ago

Middle Class Hang-up?

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Middle Class Hang-up?

My good friend Lito posed a very intriguing question: “Bai, nganong makuli man pasabton o makabana ang mga arangan og kahimtang sa kinabuhi?” [Why is it so hard for the well-to-do to understand or to be socially aware?”

10 years ago

Intimations with the Song of the Balyan

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Intimations with the Song of the Balyan

On Earth Day, our hearts throb synchronous with the rhythm of the epic song of the Lumad balyan, the keeper of the cherished annals of the tribe. I imagine I engage in a one-on-one intersubjectivity with him as he reechoes his epic tales. . .

10 years ago

The Legal Way

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The Legal Way

Here is my good friend Lito again. This time his questioning mind wanders into the shores of Samal Island. His left foot, he said, got caught in a heap of trash that bore the marks of a sad incident that occurred a couple of days past. The houses of long longtime residents of a fraction of foreshore land in the Garden city were “demolished without mercy” [Wala gyuy ku-kaluoy nga gipangguba,] he said.

10 years ago

Fast Tracking the Peace Agreement

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Fast Tracking the Peace Agreement

As far as I can recall, even during the American colonial period an agreement had been forged between the Moro people under the Sultan of Sulu and the US government. This was called the Bates Treaty. But it was shortlived having been abrogated by the US government, because in the first place it was not meant to last but just as an expedient move to “divide and rule” the Filipinos. At that time the US was at war with the Filipino revolutionaries. They wanted to concentrate their armed forces in Luzon. And so the Bates Treaty was a tactical trick to hold the Moro armed resistance at bay, while they were busy trying to crush the Filipino revolutionary forces in the north.

10 years ago

A Mask of Integrity and Honesty

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A Mask of Integrity and Honesty

Amidst the innumerable occurrences in our social context which elicit differing perceptions and reactions among the citizenry, it is inevitable that confusion ensues. The ordinary citizen on the street is bound to ask, as did my friend Lito: What is the real score, my friend—what President Pinoy claims that the country’s economy is improving? Or what the government critics say that life among the people is getting worse?

10 years ago

Nationalism And People Empowerment

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Nationalism And People Empowerment

I’m just wondering how your prescribed ideolopical antibiotic to combat corruption can be effective when for a long time this social illness has deeply metastasized in our political system? We cannot also say that none of our leaders had ever possessed some nationalistic consciousness since they started to rule our country…?

10 years ago

Nationalism: Antidote to Corruption

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Nationalism: Antidote to Corruption

The scandalous issue of Corruption in high places in government has racked the brains of most everyone – rich and poor, young and old alike—that my good neighbor Lito could not help but ask: “Di na ba gyud matabang ning korapsiyon, Bai? Grabe na gyud kaayo! Hangtod sa hangtod na gyud ni?” [Is there no escape from corruption , Bai? It is so pervasive! Will it be with us for ever and ever?”]

10 years ago

Propaganda Ploy?

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Propaganda Ploy?

I have two neighbors who frequently engage me in my early morning hour with discussions over a cup of coffee: Lito who is a longtime neighbor and Willie, my former student at the Davao School for the Blind. Their visits usually happen on Sundays, lighting up my morning hour with discussions of issues that we gather from frequent listening to the TV and radio.