Wave upon wave the Lumad peoples of Mindanao have  expressed their  indignant response to the deplorable incident at the Haran Compound of the UCCP in Davao City.  In clear and loud voice they denounce the unbecoming conduct and actuations of Rep. Nancy Catamco.  In Kidapawan City, which is the very seat of her congressional constituency,  she has been declared persona non grata.

It will  not be long  before  other Lumad areas in Mindanao and even in the other regions of the country will likewise make known their condemnation of the woman legislator. even as a signature drive has been launched to petition her removal from  the Congressional Committee on Cultural Minorities or of the indigenous peoples.

But the indignation protests  have not been limited to the Indigenous Peoples.  Other classes and sectors, especially the workers and peasants and other toiling masses, have expressed their outcry of displeasure and anger.

Artists have also joined the protest with their particular forms of expression.  Here under is a poetic articulation of what transpires in the mind and heart of a literary artist.

 

The Woman with a Forked Tongue

[A Tragic-Comedy Drama]

Prologue

Amidst the solemn quiet of early morn,

whilst the breeze rocks the tree leaves

and  sunbeams  play  on ground shadows,

dance on tiptoes with the fallen twigs. . .

And tamsis swinging rhythmic with the winds,

tweet-tweet-tweet their morning chants,

announcing, broadcasting their forecast

of a weather disturbance—a thunderstorm. . .

 

Act One

All so suddenly comes panting, salivating,

a woman with her forked tongue hanging low,

announcing that she is a diwata descended

from the yellow curls of clouds in the north.

Close behind are five hundred horned beasts,

and their horns are grown on their breasts,

their bulging eyes spurting swirls of smoke

from throbbing yellow tongues of  flames.

Then the woman holds out her forked tongue,

holds it tight and squeezes it in her  fists

until its tips spurt out blue and yellow pus—

words that reek of stench from rotten flesh.

And she snorts and snorts for her nostrils catch

the foul smell of her own flash-flooding words!

Oh, the stench  really exudes from what remains

of a sticky mix of her saliva and pechay sauce!

Mmhe!   Foul!   Foul!   Foul!  What  a foul smell. . !

This is impossible. . .!  Hmhe!  This is intolerable. . .!

You must return to your homes!  If not by dialogue,

I will flush you out here by crook or by crook!

Act Two

The Datus much prefer the way of a dialogue.

So, an emergency  dialogue is held at Apo View,

with the horned beasts  participating, their tongues

fisted in their claws with darkened dried blood.

And the dialogue becomes a drab monologue,

the Woman holds her tongue and waves it fast,

no one else  can speak  but the tongue she holds,

its fluids sputter in air and to everyone’s  ears.

Even the honorable Caloy Zarate and Luz Ilagan

can not their sentiments expressed, suppressed

by the incessant wiggle of the forked  tongue!

Soon the two honorables and the  Datus walk out!

So memorable is this yellow dramatic monologue

for the noble congressman curbed by the deafening

insult of the woman— “I’m not talking to you Caloy!”

a signature idiom of a bastos Trapo politician!

It’s a panorama and scene of this tragic-comic play!

Soon, the woman with the forked tongue spills out

a vow in front of the evacuees on the Haran grounds —

swears she’ll return to rescue them for their own sakes!

Act Three

Indeed, in Act Three  of this tragic-comedy

the Woman with a  forked tongue comes back

with hordes of horned dogs and Alamara wolves!

wildly barking — “Bakwits,  you go home now!”

Then, the horned dogs and Alamara wolves rush

and try to ram the Haran gates past the barricade

of Bakwits, pastors, and concerned people of Davao,

arm linked in Unity as formidable as a steel wall..!

Not by any flagrant display of fascist violence—

blows and beatings from shields and truncheons —

can sway the firm decision of the Bakwits to stay!

The Woman  her tongue hanging low goes away!

And now, for the climax of this tragic-comedy

upon the arrival of Vice-Mayor Paolo Duterte,

the Woman, her forked tongue wet in her hand,

enters and babbles her stinking lies and denials:

“No”, she says, “I did not say the Bakwits  stink,

it’s the garbage which I have selfied in my  eyes!”
But the Lumad woman leader, Bae Bibyaon, renown

throughout Lumadlands for her wisdom and  valor ,

Stands on solid principled ground and with sheer

wit and wisdom and dignity, slapped the Woman

with her heroic words:  “You are the cause of all

these troubles, Woman with forked tongue!

You have deceived and betrayed us!  Why do you

bring along these horned dogs and Alamara wolves!

Don’t  you know they are the very reasons  why

we fled our homes and sought refuge here in Haran?

They have violated with all forms of diabolic deeds

and malevolent acts our precious  human rights.

Our dreams for the future have been shattered. . !

We fled from death and from the horned beasts!

Our outcry :  Pull out the beasts from our villages!

And never let them return for ever and for all times!

And  you, fake diwata,  do not order us to go home!

If you sincerely want to help, let them out our place!

Never!  Never will we go back to our mountain homes

until our communities are free from the horned beasts!

You! You have acted as spokesperson of these beasts!

And you have abused us with your snake’s tongue?!

 

Act Four

Helpless becomes the Woman with forked tongue!

With tongue hanging loose, shamefully she walks away.

But she can’t live long without her foul smelling tricks—

She snatches a Woman Bakwit and child from Haran gate!

In the police dog’s car she carries her away with the child

and uses her in her propaganda gimmick, dishing a lie

that the Bakwit sneaks out on her own from Haran!—

a desperate act by the forked-tongued Trapo Woman!

But at the DSWD Office the vice-Mayor catches up on her

and she is soon made to taste a savory potahe of kasaba!

How can she cavalierly arrogate unto herself the authority

to act as Davao City executive? She does not belong here!

Good for you, forked tongued Woman!  Persona non grata

art thou!—declared by Lumads  throughout  all Lumad lands

and all progressives of Mindanao!  Albeit we are aware

beneath your scalp, yellowed with decay, is a conscience bin

full of anti-people foul-smelling-garbage plots and schemes!

So, brothers and sisters of Lumad lands!  Oppressed people!

Beware of all Trapo man and woman with forked tongues!

Beware of the deadly sweet poison of  Trapo politicians!

Sharpen always the blades of struggle for  People’s Cause!

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