Justice Cecilia Munoz-Palma: Beloved ``ingrata’’

To honor Justice Cecilia Munoz-Palma (a fellow Scholastican) who passed away at 92 two days ago, I re-edited the piece I wrote in 2001 when she launched her book ``The Mirror of My Soul’’. Here it is.

Ingrata. That was how Munoz-Palma had been harshly called by a high government official. Ingrate. Ungrateful. The Spanish word reeks of contempt and condescension. You do not bite the hand that fed you.

It sounds even harsher in Filipino. Walang utang na loob. A person who receives help or is accorded honors, even if she deserves them, is presumed deeply indebted and when the time comes, is expected to stand by the favor- or honor-giver. Only the brave in our culture would dare go against this onerous unwritten contract.

But we are not wanting in brave and debt-defying civil servants, one of whom was Munoz-Palma, the first woman to sit in the Supreme Court (1973-1978). Although the appointing power in her case happened to be a dictator, a.k.a. Ferdinand E. Marcos, she showed him and the sycophants that she owed him nothing. She owed only God and the Filipino people whom she had sworn to serve. By defying expectations and pursuing the rule of law as her conscience dictated, all the more it was evident that this gentle and soft-spoken Batanguena was destined to sit above the throng.



Well, ingrata because as an associate justice speaking before her peers and members of the bar on the occasion of Law Day, she pleaded for the return of the rule of law. That was in 1975, the third year of martial rule and the lady told her audience: ``We shall be judged by history...not by what we want to do and can’t, (but) by what we ought to do and don’t.’’

For her guts, she received a five-minute standing ovation. But Justice Secretary Vicente Abad Santos was neither pleased nor amused. He remained seated. Ingrata, he called her. She took that as a compliment, a badge of courage.

Ingrata because she wrote a dissenting opinion on the habeas corpus case of former senator and nationalist Jose W. Diokno. Her opinion would have had embarrassed Marcos but before it could be presented, it was ``frustrated’’. Munoz-Palma’s written opinion (that had leaked) jumped the gun on the other justices and Marcos too, and paved the way for the release of Diokno who had been detained for more than 700 days without charges.

Munoz-Palma called the Diokno case her baptism of fire. And although her dissenting opinion did not see the full light of day as the habeas corpus petition became moot and academic with Diokno’s sudden release, it illumined the legal path during those dark and dreadful days.

Munoz-Palma’s ``frustrated dissenting opinion’’ could be read in full in her book ``The Mirror of My Soul: Selected Decisions, Opinions, Speeches and Writings’’ (883 pages!) which she gave away for free on the occasion of the Supreme Court’s 100th anniversary. Her opinion on the Diokno case (with which Associate Justice Calixto Zaldivar concurred) is simple enough for non-lawyers but it emits a luminous glow if read in the context of those dark years.

She ended that opinion by defending woman power thus: ``In closing, I am bothered by the thought that some of my colleagues may attribute my approach to Diokno’s petition to my being a woman, and I may even be accused of allowing my emotions to overpower my reason. If there is such an assumption, I would say that it is incorrect. However, if it is indeed true that my being a woman led me to take this stand...then I am happy and proud that I was born a woman.’’

More riveting is the intro to that case where Munoz-Palma describes how she wrote it while in hiding and how she later cloistered herself among the Benedictines of St. Scholastica’s College, her alma mater. (She was valedictorian of H.S. 31, after which she went to UP for law studies. She passed the bar in 1937.) If at all she gave in to a colleague who knew what she was up to, it was to erase the words ``arbitrary and oppressive’’ in her dissension.

There was life after the Supreme Court. Munoz-Palma led the anti-Marcos opposition and ran in the 1984 Batasan Pambansa elections and won by a landslide. Her battlecry: ``One Marcos cannot stop us all.’’ She later became the president of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution. She headed the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office where she again displayed her being ingrata when she did not cover up for the alleged wrongdoing of the president who appointed her.

``The Mirror of My Soul’’ packs courage. Said the late Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan: ``I can still see her standing on the floor of the Batasan...No one can equal the passion with which she fought Amendment No. 6--that curse of presidential usurpation of legislative powers. She was also one of the few among us who dared file articles of impeachment against the then head of government.’’

Munoz-Palma tells readers that they ``will not find literary gems or grandiose or loftily-worded judicial and legal pronouncements’’ in her book, only ``plain words...thoughts and ideas and principles emanating from my conscience and reason on faith, truth, justice, freedom and the Rule of Law.’’

The rule of law--these words were like her mantra. Her ``A Plea for the Rule of Law’’ that earned her the ingrata label(and where she also said much about womanhood) is a good read. But one can’t miss the spiritual theme that also runs through her writing. Indeed, this woman had always hearkened to a higher power, a higher law.

Christmas letters from Muslims

Peace, Kapayapaan, Kalinaw, Kalinong, Salam, Shalom, to you this Christmas.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive letters from Muslims working in Saudi Arabia reacting positively to last week’s column piece, ``The Christmas Story in the Koran’’ (12/22/05).

First, I’d like to say that the Inquirer stylebook spells the name of the Muslims’ Holy Book as ``Koran’’ so the few times in the past that I wrote ``Qur’an’’ I always got a call from the proofreading department informing me that the spelling will changed. I again got a call regarding my title.

At first I was a bit hesitant to run the account on Mary’s pregnancy and the events that led to Jesus’ birth as narrated in the Koran. Was my copy of the Koran an accepted translation? I presumed that like the Bible that comes in different translations, the Koran also has many translations. My pocketsize copy is by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House and published in the US. Its title is ``The Koran’’ I got it from Powerbooks for only P125.75. The Bible isn’t as cheap.

Honestly, I was charmed by the account on Mary giving birth beside the trunk of a date palm. Famished and in pain, Mary heard a voice telling her to shake the tree, whereupon ripe dates fell on her. Dates are a good post-partum repast, I suppose. I thought, we have always associated Christmas with castanas (chestnuts). Why don’t we switch to dates?

I really prefer dates. Some of the best I’ve tasted were preserved ones that were still on the twig. They came from Tunisia. Dates, I was told, are a popular food item for Muslims at the end of Ramadan.

Now, if we go by the ripening of the dates and their falling on Mary, this would mean that Jesus was not born during a winter month but in the summer in that part of the world. Not that the exact date and time matters much now.

Anyway, here are some of the letters.



``I was, as usual, going over the columns and to my surprise, I found your story title to be quite intriguing. However, as I read the story, I was happy to know that even if our times have changed, good people are still not hard to find. Thanks for taking time out to read our Holy Qur’an (correct name) and I am grateful that you have published the story of our beloved Prophet Jesus (or Issa in Arabic). (Peace and blessings be upon him.) Keep up the good work. -alepa@Kfshrc@edu.sa’’

****

``Thank you for your nice article about Virgin Mary and Jesus as mentioned in the Qur’an. Yes indeed, as Muslim reverts we believe in them as well as all the prophets sent by Allah or God. Prophets sent by Allah to teach people to worship only one true God and their greeting is ``Salam’’ (peace). Jesus was sent to Bani Israel and said: `Hear Israel, your God and my God is one, so worship Him only.’ Also Issa (Jesus) said: `And verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him (alone).’

``That is the Straight Path--Allah’s religion of Islamic Monotheism which He did ordain for all of His Prophets. [Ayah 36, Surah 19 (Maryam), the Glorious Qur’an.]

``But (Jesus’) birthday is not celebrated by practicing (Sunni) Muslims. When Mary gave birth, fresh ripe dates dropped when she shook the trunk of the palm tree. Here in the Middle East, dates ripen during summer (July-August) and not December.

``Reading the Qur’an and learning Islam is really a good sign for all of us Filipinos in order to bring lasting peace and progress in our country. Peace be unto you. - Ben Manikan, Riyadh, KSA, afiainc1423@yahoo.com’’

****

``Salam! That is how we greet each other in Islam. Peace! And I would like to extend it to you. For me you are lucky to have the chance to have taken a glimpse of the Qur'an and I hope this won't be the last time. Please read it to feed your mind and to nourish your soul. Don't be afraid that you will end up comparing the Bible and the Qur'an. Happy Holidays! - Mary-Ann Amir,RN, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’’

****

I also received a letter from a friend and church activist from way back, now Midsayap-based Pastor Al Senturias, chair of the Mindanao People’s Peace Movement (MPPM). Al and his wife Linda (president of the Southern Christian College) are both involved in forging peace among Christians and Muslims.

Attached with the letter was the ``Summary Report and Recommendations of the Mindanao People’s Peace Mission to Sulu’’(conducted before Christmas).

Among the 13 observations are:

1. The people complain of looting done by the military during operations and being fired at by helicopter gunships.

2. There are American troops in Sulu engaged in bayanihan or civic works. However, the people are not aware of the real purpose of the Americans’ presence.

3. There is suspicion on the part of the military leadership regarding the motivations of concerned citizens, just as there is deepening mistrust among civilians of military presence.

4. There is a strong citizens’ movement capable of working with local government units, the police and the military in building a peaceful, orderly and progressive community.

Even longer are the recommendations classified as short-term (1 year), medium-term (two to three years) and long-term (four to seven years). The long-term has to do with addressing the root of the conflict in Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, as well as other Bangsamoro areas in Mindanao and Palawan. This is the about the right to self-determination of the Bangsamoro.

There is so much more to this MPPM report than I am able to mention and which government, civil society and churches ought to pay attention to. There is reason to hope for peace, if only….

The Christmas story in the Qur’an

The Christmas story is not only told in the bible of the Christians, it is also in the Qur’an of the Muslims. I went over the Qur’an which is not familiar terrain for me, I also browsed through an Islamic website where I found interesting stuff.

In the Qur’an one will find an account of Mary’s own birth, the Annunciation and later, the Nativity and Jesus’ public life. Mary is mentioned in the Qur’an 34 times. But before Jesus’ birth is the story about the miraculous conception and birth of John the Baptist, the precursor of the Messiah that was to come.

The Qur’an says that Mary was the daughter of the wife of Imran. When Imran’s wife was pregnant, she made a vow that she would offer her child to be raised and serve at the Temple. She thought she would give birth to a son, but when she delivered, the child turned out be a girl. The mother was disappointed.

She named the child Mary which meant servant. Mary’s father Imran had died before she was born, so her mother brought her to the temple to be reared by the priests. Zakariyya (John the Baptist’s father?) was one of them. Unable to decide who would have the privilege of having custody of Mary, the priests drew lots. Zakariyya’s name was drawn and he became Mary’s guardian.

When Mary reached the age of puberty, Zakariyya saw to it she was protected from the eyes of men. Mary worshipped Allah in a special partition where nobody could enter except Zakariyya. Whenever Zakariyya came in he always found her with food.



``O Mary! Whence comes this to you?’’ Zakariyya would ask. Mary would answer: ``It is from Allah, and surely Allah gives sustenance to whom He pleases, without measure.’’

From the Qur’an here is the word-for-word account on the Annuciation:

This is one of the announcements of things Unseen by thee: To thee, O Muhammad! Do we reveal it; for thou wast not with them when they cast lots with reeds which of them should rear Mary; nor wast thou with them when they disputed about it.

Remember when the angel said, ``O Mary! Verily God announceth to thee the word from Him: His name shall be, Messiah Jesus the son of Mary, illustrious in this world, and in the next, and one of those who have near access to God;

``And he shall speak to men alike when in the cradle and when grown up; And he shall be one of the just.’’

She said, ``How, O my Lord! Shall I have a son, when man hath not touched me?’’ He said, ``Thus: God will create what He will; When He decreeth a thing, He only saith, `Be,’ and it is.’

``And he will teach him the Book, and the Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel; and he shall be an apostle to the children of Israel. `Now I have come,’ he will say, `to you with a sign from your Lord: Out of clay will I make for you, as it were, the figure of a bird: and I will breathe unto it, and it shall become by God’s leave, a bird. And I will heal the blind, and the leper; and by God’s leave will I quicken the dead, and will tell you what ye eat, and what ye store up in your houses! Truly in this will be a sign for you, if ye are believers….’’

But this is getting ahead of the story. In a later chapter (vide xix), the Annunciation scene is repeated. Mary gives birth, not in a stable, but beside the truth of a date palm. This is a rather colorful birth scene, what with dates falling on her.

And make mention of the Book of Mary, when she went apart from her family, eastward,
And took a veil to shroud herself from them: and We sent Our spirit to her, he took before her the form of a perfect man.

She said: ``I fly for refuge from thee to the God of Mercy! If thou fearest Him, begone from me.’’

He said, ``I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a holy son.’’

She said, ``How shall have I a son, when man hath never touched me? I am not unchaste.’’

He said: ``So shall it be. They Lord hath said: `Easy is this with me;’ and `We will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from Us. For it is a thing decreed.’

And she conceived him, and retired with him to a far-off place.

And the throes came upon her by the trunk of a palm. She said, ``Oh, would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!’’

And one cried to her from below her: ``Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet:--

And shake the trunk of the palm tree towards thee: it will drop fresh ripe dates upon thee.

Eat then and drink, and be of cheerful eye: and shouldst thou see a man,

Say,--``Verily, I have vowed abstinence to the God of mercy.—To no one I will speak this day.’’

Then came she with the babe to her people bearing him. They said, ``O Mary! Now hast thou done a strange thing!

O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother.’’

And she made a sign to them pointing towards the babe. They said, ``How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?’’

It said, ``Verily, I am the servant of God; He hath given me the Book, and He hath made me a prophet;

He hath made me blessed wherever I may be, and hath enjoined me prayer and almsgiving so long as I shall live.

And to be duteous to her that bare me: and he hath not made me proud, depraved.

And the peace of God was on me the day I was born, and will be the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised to life.’’

This is Jesus, the son of Mary; this is a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.

It beseemeth not God to beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, ``Be,’’ and it is.

Peace be to all the warring Christians and Muslims. Maligayang Pasko sa inyong lahat!

The milkman of Talavera

Guyito, the Inquirer’s carabao mascot, would be happy to know that his fellow ruminants have transformed the town of Talavera in Nueva Ecija into a land flowing with milk and milk products. Thanks to the dream and the daring of entrepreneur Danilo V. Fausto, carabao’s milk is now making a healthy comeback and finding a niche in the market.

Another thing to moo about is fresh cow’s milk produced by small farmers’ cooperatives also finding its way into café society and boldly competing with imported milk that isn’t fresh at all.

Fausto’s ``Dare to Dream: A Filipino Entrepreneur’s Tale of Success in Dairy Farming’’ was launched last Monday at UP’s Balay Kalinaw with believers in the Philippine dairy industry in attendance. It was a small but happy affair. National Dairy Authority chief Salvacion Bulatao gave a national situationer while a nervous little farmer named Ka Henry whom Fausto brought along almost stole the thunder and received a standing ovation with his carabao success tale. But that is getting ahead of the story. People went home smiling and sporting white moustaches.

You might have seen in some malls the dainty DVF Dairy Farm’s ``Gatas ng Kalabaw’’ stalls that sell chilled fresh carabao’s milk in sealed bottles, plain or fruit- and pandan-flavored, as well as pastillas de leche and kesong puti. The promdi in you takes a second look and you wonder if this is for real. Carabao’s milk braving the mainstream?



That is exactly how Fausto’s tale of success has gone so far. Fausto, a UP graduate who used to be in banking and finance is now the president and CEO of DVF Dairy Farm, Inc. He narrates how it all all began:

``At the beginning, I was the laughing stock of farmers in Barangay Sampaloc and nearby barangays…They thought I was crazy, throwing away money when I bought 10 carabaos. As a businessman based in Manila, raising carabaos was alien to me. But I thought that given enough time and technical help from knowledgeable persons, I would be able to pull it off.

``When I bought my first carabao stocks, rice harvest was one and a half months away. There was no available forage so the carabaos’ health deteriorated. The joke then was that my carabaos had piano ribs because they were so thin. After the rice harvest, rice straw became abundant. This gave me the opportunity to stock rice straw in traditional silos or mandala.’’

In no time, people stopped laughing and farmers started asking if they could take care of some carabaos (Indian murrah) and participate in the venture. Things began to happen. Milking carabaos multiplied.

In 1992, the Talavera Dairy Cooperative Inc. was set up and thus began the farmers’ organized venture into dairy farming. It helped a lot that the Philippine Carabao Center in Munoz was just nearby. (That’s the home of the first test tube carabao and where Erap made his now famous ``tubeless carabao’’ quip.)

Fausto figured that ``with improved management, caracow breed and proper nutrition, carabaos can provide farmers with adequate income through milk production.’’ He based this on the estimates of Central Luzon State University technicians. A farmer with three to four caracows could get 20 liters a day with one liter selling at P30. This means an added monthly income of P18,000 or P216,000 on a good year.

Such was the experience of Ka Henry, the farmer with the carabao tale mentioned earlier, who received two heads from the PCC dispersal program. In four years Ka Henry was the owner of six carabaos. He was able to return the initial two heads, pay his debts, renovate his home, buy a tricycle and send a daughter to college. Today his carabaos’ milk earns him an added P21,000 to P31,500 a month.

``I have always believed that in order for one to succeed in business, one has to get out of the box,’’ says Fausto. ``I told members of the cooperative that from the time they were born, they were already poor. Even their forefathers were poor farmers. So there was nothing wrong if we tried something different to increase the productivity of the soil and in so doing increase their income. We could improve the soil’s productivity even without the use of modern technology by simply changing the product. So I convinced our members to plant Napier grass instead of rice.’’ Napier grass is used as carabao feed.

Fausto’s draws the main bulk of DVF’s dairy requirement from the farmers’ dairy cooperatives. Cow’s milk is now also being produced in large quantities. There are a variety of needs to meet and plan for—feeding programs for the poor, fresh milk for the table and coffee clubs as well as the demand for gourmet cheeses. Home delivery has started.

Fausto has even developed a scheme for absentee overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who might want to go into ``passive investment’’ by partnering with farmers.

In his foreword, economist Dr. Sixto K. Roxas has glowing words for Fausto’s groundbreaking work. ``This is an inspiring tale of a venture undertaken for both profit and social purpose by a person who might well be… the archetype of a true development entrepreneur. Beyond merely undertaking a business, an entrepreneur is an innovator whose venture energizes a process of change and development in a nation’s economy. He is the agent of change whose creative vision, skillful promotion, and bold risk-taking transforms the whole production cycle in society, generating for the people new income streams and higher living standards.’’

Inspired and interested? Contact DVF Dairy Farm Inc. at 4157881 or dvfausto@pldtdsl.net.

Oikocredit, small change, big impact

You must have seen a 20-peso bill with a circular doodle with three arrows coming out of it. You must have wondered whether that was someone’s way of venting his ire on the state of the Philippine currency. But when you looked closer, you must have read the words below that whorl--``UN Year of Microcredit 2005, Sustainable Microfinance Services for the Filipino Entrepreneurial Poor’’.

With a big bang, the 2005 UN Year of Microcredit ended last week with the so-called ``Filipino entrepreneurial poor’’, composed mostly of mothers, bannering the theme, ``Tinig ng Mga Nanay, Ating Ipatnubay'' (Let the mothers' voices be our guide). Microfinance beneficiaries, enterprising mothers mostly, from different parts of the country attended the gathering in Quezon City and showed off what has become of the ``small change’’ entrusted them. The delegation from Negros even brought in masscara dancers to provide color.

Oikocredit and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines organized the event that capped the International Year of Microcredit.



``Small change, big impact’’ was the catchphrase used by microfinance institutions (MFI) to trumpet their successful efforts. Indeed, countless mothers who used to be very poor have leapt out of poverty with the help of microfinance, many of them with rags-to-raves stories to tell.

Please pass the Kleenex. Staying dry-eyed was hard to do when the video docu on Virginia Borde, 2005 Citigroup Microenterpreneur of the Year, was shown to the assembly. Abandoned wife and mother of several children, Borde rose from penury, thanks to microcredit, to become owner of farm machinery for rent to small farmers.

A woman from Camarines Sur was able to expand her market stall through a small a small loan from the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD). ``Now,’’ said this poster woman for microfinance, ``my earnings have truly improved. I can afford to send my children to school and I can even save money in case of an emergency.’’

CARD, one of Oikocredit’s partners here, is the conduit of loans worth 1.2 million euros.
Oikocredit is an international church-related private development financing institution. (Oiko comes from the Greek word oikoumene where the word ecumenism was derived. Ecumenism means Christian unity.)

Oikocredit’s 30th year coincided auspiciously with the UN’s International Year of Microcredit. Established in the Netherlands in 1975, Oikocredit is owned by members from around the world. These are churches, church-related groups, local parishes and individuals from developed countries. Oikocredit draws from the members’ ``small change’’ and ``widow’s mite’’ as well as from third parties.

May I say here that many NGO careerists and beneficiaries do not realize that the money they spend comes from the ``widow’s mite’’ of ordinary people in Europe and elsewhere.

Oikocredit is convinced that many of the world’s poor stay poor because they have no access to credit. Mainstream banks think the poor are not creditworthy. So where can the poor get capital to start a small food stall, buy a second-hand sewing machine or a milking cow?

Oikocredit does not lend directly to beneficiaries. It channels the resources to MFIs.
``Walk a second mile.’’ The exhortation from the bible (Matthew 5:41) pushes Oikocredit to go beyond the handing out of loans. The local Oikocredit staff must walk the second mile to monitor the projects and give assistance should problems arise. What are the local realities? What factors contribute to success or failure?

Two friends of mine, veteran church development workers Delle Tiongson Brouwers and Ging Ledesma work with Oikocredit in Europe and Asia to walk the second mile.

In the beginning Oikocredit was regarded with skepticism. There was this belief that economic initiatives of the poor will dissipate and so will Oikocredit’s investments in them. But the unpredictable happened. The poor paid their loans. In all of Oikocredit’s 30 years only 10 percent of disbursed loans were written off. Of course, realities such as typhoons, disease, civil wars and economic meltdowns have to be factored in.

Oikocredit is present in more than 30 countries where more than 400 projects are being assisted. Some 24,000 churches, parishes, religious orders and individuals worldwide have joined and bought Oiko shares.

Investment in Oikocredit is now more than 200 million euros. No investor has yet lost a penny. Investors are not there for the money. They believe in Oikocredit’s goals—to provide the poor access to credit and to give churches and individuals an instrument for socially responsible investments.

Investors could withdraw their investment when necessary and receive a modest dividend of two percent.

In the Philippines, Oikocredit is exposed to 27 MFIs, cooperatives, small- and medium enterprises, fair trade organizations and other groups with proven social relevance. Loan size is from 50,000 to two million euros; term of loan is from one to six years. Interest rate is flexible and depends on the risks involved.

``Let us be clear: microfinance is not charity,’’ UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had said. ``It is a way to extend the same rights and services to low-income households that are available to everyone else. It is a recognition that poor people are the solution, not the problem. It is a way to build on their ideas, energy and vision. It is a way to grow productive enterprises, and to allow communities to prosper.’’

Oikocredit Philippines’ email address is: office.ph@oikocredit.org.

The missing face of AIDS

Today is World AIDS Awareness Day.

Somewhere in today’s Inquirer I’ve written something on the Unicef campaign to help children affected by HIV-AIDS. ``Affected by’’ means these children have parents(persons) living with HIV-AIDS (PLH) or are themselves infected.

By the way, you don’t say PWA (persons with AIDS) anymore. You say PLH. So much for being politically correct.

Children, Unicef says, are the missing face of AIDS. According to the Lunduyan Foundation’s study on Filipino children affected by AIDS, silence, sad to say, best describes the children’s situation. Their parents’ hesitancy to be forthright about the disease is one of the reasons why their children’s plight is not being addressed.

After reading the results of the study I wanted to meet and interview a family affected by HIV-AIDS but I was told that there is a great deal of hesitancy on the part of the families. In fact, out 373 identified children, only 95 were allowed by their parents to participate in the study.

But these children are not totally faceless or voiceless. Some stories in the study gave a face and a voice to the otherwise silent world.



Here is Nina’s story.

Nina was born in a foreign country where her father was working. Her mother was a former health care worker.

Nina was about four years old when her mother was first hospitalized. When she turned seven, life for her and her parents changed dramatically. Nina described it as a roller-coaster ride that went straight down.

``That was when my mother became sicker than before,’’ Nina recalled. ``She stayed long in the hospital. After she left the hospital, she moved into a house near the hospital. I had to change school in order to be with her. When Mama lost so much weight her friends stopped visiting.

``I was about 10 when we returned to the Philppines. Mama did not get better but at least she was happier here. Her relatives were within reach and the health services were better.’’
Nina’s family was just trying to settle down in their new home when her father accepted a job in the country they had just left.

``I was very sad because I needed Papa near me. I was afraid I would not be able to take care of Mama very well. I felt too young. But Papa had to go. We needed the money for Mama to get well.’’

Nina’s father left and she wouldn’t see him for a long time.

``The first few months after Papa left, Mama found the energy to attend to my needs,’’ Nina narrated. ``She even engaged in business and earned extra money to send to my aunts and uncles in the province. I adjusted to my new home, school, friends, and to Papa’s absence.

``But this did not last long. Mama became increasingly cranky and hotheaded. She seemed to be always angry with me. Nothing I did was right for her. She blamed me for the unpleasant things that happened between her and Papa. I felt guilty and sad. Maybe she was right. Because of my needs Papa had to go away to work.’’

After some time, Nina found out that her father had stopped sending money and he was having an affair. The financial burden had shifted to Nina’s mother. To make a long story short, Nina’s mother sold the house (which she had saved up to buy) and moved to the province.

``One time my mother arrived home from the hospital with papers that had the words HIV and AIDS,’’ Nina recalled. ``I asked her what they meant and she replied, `Someday you will understand.’’’

Nina’s mother went to Manila often for treatment, sometimes staying there for more than a week at a time. ``I had to amuse myself whenever I was left alone in the house. I often wore my superhero costumes and stood on my bed, pretending I had enemies or bad people to fight and drive away.

``One time, while she was packing her things before leaving for Manila Mama said to me, `Nina please bear with me. I just need to get well.’ I did not want to add to Mama’s worries so I told her that I was not a crybaby and that I was not afraid of ghosts. But what I really wanted to say was that I did not want to her to leave me. And that I was afraid for her. That night, I prayed so hard that Mama would get well soon and be with me.

``One day, Mama finally told me what was ailing her all these years. She also informed her brothers and sisters. There was not much time left for us.’’

Nina tried to locate her father. While doing this she felt her love for her father diminish. At her mother’s bedside things were just as bad. ``During those times that she was in the hospital Mama would be as cranky as she could be. She would often tell me or her friends that I should not have been born. Or that it was my fault that my father left us. It hurt but I knew she was going through an awful time.

``When Mama;s friends came by and asked how life would be when she’s gone, I would say, `I hope Papa takes me.’ I didn’t want to be with my aunts and uncles because they didn’t seem to like me. I’d rather be alone. I’d like to go on studying. Someday, I might become a good artist.’’

After her mother died, Nina was placed in the care of an uncle who had drinking problems and a troubled family life. Nina continued her studies until an NGO was able to track down her father. He was, it turned out, living with another woman who was pregnant with their child.

Nina now lives with them and takes care of the baby.

``In the end,’’ the study on children affected by HIV-AIDS says, ``the silence with which these children live is not only silence about HIV and AIDS but about many aspects of their lives... Their burden of silence is heavier, as they too often do not have the tools to understand HIV and AIDS and its impact on their families…’’

Deadly playgrounds, cold numbers

I had looked into their eyes. I had watched some of them cock their rifles and aim at an imaginary enemy lurking behind the trees. I had aimed my camera at them and captured the resoluteness in their gait as they carried the heavy weight on their frail bodies.

I saw these so-called child soldiers for the first time in the 1980s in a rebel training camp in the mountain fastness of Samar. In Bicol I also saw a young girl, maybe all of 16, carrying a rifle.

My body ached after that journalistic foray in the jungle but I did come up with a long story. We used the photo of the young boy carrying a long firearm, marching with grizzly rebels in the Sunday Inquirer.

That was many years ago but the images still burn in my mind. What a heavy burden for these children, I thought. I had tried carrying some of the heavy metal that the rebels carried and wore a bandoleer of bullets across my chest for a photograph of myself bristling with bullets. But that was for the fun of it. I still have that photo. In the background, heavily armed rebels played dama.

Now the law says you can no longer use the photographs of minors in a publication, show their faces on TV or identify them if they have been involved in illegal activities or are victims of crimes.



I recall these things again because of ``Deadly Playgrounds: The Phenomenon of Child Soldiers in the Philippines’’ published by PhilRights. According to PhilRights, a human rights research group, the book ``presents the sociodemographic profile, reasons, circumstances and effects of involvement, dreams and aspirations, of the 194 child soldiers (CS) interviewed in the study.’’

PhilRights does not claim that the results and conclusions of the study are representative of the whole population of child soldiers in the Philippines, but the study should be able to give an idea what the world of these children is like.

PhilRights says that the ``major finding in this research is the absence of force or the voluntary nature of children’s involvement in armed groups.’’

In its harsh editorial a few days ago, the Inquirer questioned PhilRights’ statement that the children joined the armed conflict without coercion or with freedom. PhilRights finding: ``Children join armed groups for reasons that include, but are not limited to, poverty, government neglect and apathy to the plight of the poor, ideological beliefs, secessionist advocacy and support for holy war, affiliation of family members in armed groups and pursuit of justice to avenge atrocities and abuses.’’

But even as PhilRights points a blaming finger at the government for its failure in addressing social problems that give rise to rebel groups, it also reminds non-state actors with children among their ranks about children’s rights. PhilRights does point out strongly that the CS phenomenon is an outright violation of children’s rights.

PhilRights sure has a long list of recommendations for the government and for civil society and stakeholders in the peace process.

For non-state armed groups who have children in their ranks PhilRights’ recommendations are a measly two paragraphs—that they respect the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

PhilRights’ research (funded by Bread for the World-Germany) is heavy stuff because of its academic and scientific approach. It groans with statistics, tables, graphs and numbers that buttress the findings and conclusions. This is not for inspirational reading. It is not for bleeding hearts. It sounds like a doctoral dissertation. Is this because PhilRights’ executive director has a PhD?

It leaves me cold. The children are never quoted or allowed to tell their story. I thought, what a pity. Weren’t PhilRights’ field researchers also made to gather the personal stories of the CS? What a world they could have explored. Or did they stick strictly to the checklist type survey instrument (shown in the Appendix)?

I have an appreciation for the weight of statistics but, as I said, they leave me cold. I’d like to see numbers but I’d also like to hear voices. PhilRights did use some children’s drawings only for one of their chapter breakers.

The Philippine Coalition to Stop the Use of Children as Soldiers did it differently. They made us listen to child soldiers. One said: ``I often carried an M-16. The heaviest I held was an M-14. It was so hard to cock and load. It was even made heavier by the bag of bullets. I once carried an M-203 with bullets as big as batteries. Upon joining, we were trained to fire, disassemble and clean guns. M-14s, M-16s, M-203s, and what to do in an ambush.’’

Voices from ``My Gun Was as Tall as Me: Child Soldiers in Burma’’ published by Human Rights Watch, an international human rights group:

``I left home and joined the armed group because I wanted to run away from my family because it was so bad and noisy. There was so much trouble and I hated getting hurt by my own family.’’

``I carried an armalite, an M-16. I was trained to use a gun, how to fire it, how to dismantle and assemble it. The training included hopping over rocks, crawling, rolling. That was for three weeks.’’

A few years ago the Inquirer had for a banner photo that of a young rebel girl seated among the ferns in the jungle, looking bewildered and frightened. A dead rebel lay beside her. It was the aftermath of a bloody encounter.

A soldier shot that photo. It spoke a thousand words. It stunned me, moved me. I wrote a column piece on it and still it haunted me for days.