Si Ericson

I haven't seen him for a very, very long time. But somehow, I know he is just there.

Like with many others in the ND student movement of the 90's in UP, I lost touch with his comings and goings since I went here to Hong Kong in 1999. I am not even sure if he has a Facebook account and if he's in my friend's list.

But back then, he was one of the elders we kiddies looked up to when it came to activism especially cultural activism. He oozed with such. He wrote poems, he composed melodies, he played the guitar … and he joked around a lot. He'd belt out into songs – together with other members of Alay Sining – while hanging around the LFS tambayan.

I haven't seen him for a very long time. But I know he is just there.

Wala sya sa Cubao. He is being held by the military since February 13 somewhere in Samar.

Free Ericson Acosta!

(Below is a poem of Ericson I first read 11 years ago)

Walang Kalabaw sa Cubao

Walang kalabaw sa Cubao
Pero sa loob ng videokeng Fiesta carnival
May mga kabayong baby-blue
At isang kubang Tyrannosaurus Rex
Habang sa magkabilang dulo
Ng Goldilocks at showroom
Ng Automatic Center
Naroon naman ang mga Tamaraw
FX na ngayo'y pastul-pastol
Ng mga kolorum na dispatser:

Mga bastardong anak
Nina Aurora't Epifanio
Na ang langibang pusod
Ay kakabit pa rin
Ng matris ng estero;
Mga binatilyong binabansot
Sa lilim ng Big Dome
Sa anino ng kongkretong domino
Ng tinatayong tulay ng MRT-2;
Mga supot na sakristang simsim-
Simsim ang insenso ng tambutso,
Papak-papak ang beintesingko—
Ang ostiang kabayaran
Sa taimtim na pagkabisado
At paghiyaw sa mga litanya
Nina SANTA LUCIA, SANTA LUCIA
At SAN MATEO, SAN MATEO
At sa banal na amen ng Hoy, 'tang 'na kang
Hayop kang hindot ka, nauna 'ko sa 'yo dito!

At ngayon, kagat-kagat nila
Ang labi ng alas-dos
Pilit na tinitiklo ang antok
At nang 'di malimot
Ang inalmusal na rugby sa may 7-11
Ang tinanghaliang bilog
At idlip sa gilid ng Tiririt
Ang hinapunang jakol
Sa CR ng Ali-Mall

Walang kalabaw sa Cubao:
Ang Cubao mismo ang kalabaw
At sila ang nakadapong langaw.

Something old, something new

New post, new name, old blog, old self.

I decided to change my blog name not for any dramatic, life-changing reason. The truth is: the name doesn't really fit anymore. I still do drink coffee and I went back to smoking but the thing is, I do not do both of them when I write.

So now that the name change is out of the way, why this particular name?

Tibak is how usually activists call, well, activists. When I say activists, I mean of the ND line and not the ones posturing as activists and licking the yellowish ass of the current government.

Bakla is … you know what.

Lah is usually used by Hong Kong Chinese to end their sentences. It doesn't really mean anything. It just makes what you say so Chinese.

I am an activist. I am gay. I am in Hong Kong.

Thus I used the name.

Besides, kikomanhk is already taken.

I do thank him for the new masthead.

And you thought you had it all …

Why settle for them …

… if you can have these?

Get your Threesome in National Bookstore branches


Metro Manila
Alabang
Cubao (Superbranch)
Ermita
Glorietta 5
Greenbelt
Katipunan
Market Market
Mall of Asia
Megamall
North EDSA
North EDSA Bestseller
Ortigas Galleria
Ortigas Bestseller
Podium Bestseller
Quezon Avenue
Rockwell
Shangri-la
SM Manila
SM Marikina
St. Luke's Bestseller
Taft Avenue
Trinoma
UP North
Luzon
Legaspi
SM Baguio
SM Lipa
SM Pampanga
Subic
Visayas
Ayala Cebu
Mango-Cebu
Robinsons Iloilo
SM Cebu
SM Bacolod
Mindanao
Davao Gaisano
SM Davao
NBS Cagayan de Oro
Limited edition box sets are only available at:
IBON Bookstore
IBON Center, 114 Timog Ave., Quezon City, 1103 Philippines

Respect OFWs

We always say that respect is earned. By this standard, OFWs have earned more than they have been so far given.

Some may say that it is in their role in country's economy that has also earned them the moniker new economic heroes. While the more commonly used basis for such a tag is the remittance OFWs send, this should also include the billions more infused in the national coffers through the shopping list of fees that the government charges from them, the mushrooming of businesses related to sending off workers abroad, as well as the increase in financial capacity of their respective household.

Respect accorded to them can also be from their strength of will to brave new places and culture. We all heard of harrowing experiences of OFWs and we all know that it takes courage to face the unknowns when one becomes a migrant worker.

It can also be from the sacrifices they made. Choice is really not a luxury for OFWs. In the first place, given a genuinely free choice, most OFWs will probably say that they still prefer to be home if only decent jobs exist. If only education and health services are accessible. If only ….

My respect for OFWs includes but also goes beyond these.

It is in the easy camaraderie that usually springs among OFWs. It is in the care of the 'manangs' who do not seem to run out of food and other comforts to offer while sitting in their 'tambayans'. It is in their sincerity to give help if they can. It is in the stories they are willing to share. It is in the tales of their everyday life that are sometimes funny, oftentimes sad, and always bittersweet.

It is in their drive to maintain their dignity. Many of them have been battered and bruised in more ways than one but eventually, they can learn to fight. Their remarkable endurance in facing hard work is matched, if not surpassed, by their commitment to right wrongdoings done against them as workers and as human beings.

It is in the likes of Agnes Tenorio that OFWs earn respect.

It is time cash this out and make Labor Attache to Hong Kong Romulo Salud pay.

(Written as part of the Respect OFWs Blog Action Day that stemmed from the verbal abuse and neglect that OFW Agnes Tenorio experienced from Labor Attache Romulo Salud)

A happy journey

One doesn't have to go the distance to like "Going the Distance". It was simple, romantic, with just a touch of drama and loads of laughter – the perfect relationship … err, romance flick.

While the film is about a long distance relationship, the underlying question is really how far one can be willing to go the distance for love. Yeah, each and everyone – well at least everyone who has fallen – will have an answer. Myself, it all depends on what you are ready to do or what may be the risks and consequences you are willing to take.

So my friends and I decided to watch the movie out a whim to see what it has to say about LDR. With most of them having been or are in an LDR and I, well, just tagging along, we headed out without any real expectation on the film.

It was a hoot and a half.

Believers and naysayers can head butt on the question of LDRs and its complexities. I won't. It's 1:30 am!

(Though between the two, I lean more towards the latter group. Now don't treat this as a spoiler, but the film did not convert me to the former.)

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long were so sweet onscreen and their chemistry was so evident. It probably pays to also be together off-screen to get the viewers all syrupy while the two exchanged I-love-you's or got even more intimate. Incidentally, I didn't know that Long could have that one hot body.

The supporting casts were a riot. Especially Cristina Applegate. It was my first time to hear someone talk about dry humping in vivid details.

Notwithstanding my position on LDRs, I enjoyed the film. I guess it is really what the film just wants. It does not want the viewer to have epiphanies on LDR or the other questions that may arise from the story. It doesn't want anyone to decide whether to "fuck the miles" or stop fucking with the miles.

It just wants the viewers to enjoy the love story as it unfolds. And boy, I did.

Just go the distance and find out why.

Nag-e-explore

Hindi masama mag-explore. Kung sana'y kasing dali lang ng pag-search, download at install ang lahat ng bagay.

On second thought, mahirap ding maging android.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.8

Pare, bakla ako

At the risk of playing into stereotypes, I will dare consider coming out as the most macho thing a gay guy can do.

For coming out is not a leisurely trip in the park. It is an agonizing process where one tries to weigh in and balance various factors from the personal to the social. Scenarios are built and most of the time, they are all grim and we cringe at the thought of one of them happening.

Myself, it took a broken heart, the not-so-holy spirit of Jack Daniels, and the knowledge of the political correctness of my colleagues to make me finally say that the "phase" I was in was for keeps.

Coming out is more of like a gauntlet thrown out by knights to pose a challenge. We say that we come out when we are ready and this readiness means we stick with dicks no matter what happens. Through thick or thin … or small, medium, large or extra large.

We come out expecting to get riddled with questions, to be met with amazement and even be ridiculed. Still we do so. Our coming out of the closet is a challenge we pose for others to come out of their own closeted existence where gays should, well, be in the closet.

The first people I came out to just said "OK". When I came out to my sister, she just warned me not to get a boyfriend before she does. My third coming out was on Facebook. It did result to some comments but definitely not to a discussion page.

Whether they did accept what I said or understood what it meant did not really matter. At the very least, it probably got them to think that from then on, they have to deal with a gay guy whenever I am around.

To paraphrase a quote by Mao, revolution is not a dinner party or embroidery. So is coming out though we do love parties and have nimble fingers for needlework. If a revolution is about creating a new society, coming out opens one up to a new way of life.

It takes a lot of nerves to man up and be gay. In the kind of society we are in, once you come out, you have to come out again and again to defend your choice, banish prejudices and smash stereotypes. It is like a perpetual ejaculation with no real orgasm immediately in sight.

However hard it is, I still prefer to be out.

In any case, something hard is not always a bad thing, right?

(Written as a contribution to the theorg-y. At dahil matagal na rin akong walang post.)

Pimple talk

I went around doing my usual Sunday stuff with a big pimple on my nose. Yeah, it's its favorite place to make an appearance and I sometimes think it always feels proud to be red and prominent. The diva!

Of course, I got the usual "uy, in love!" or "sino naman yan?" Frankly, if there is one, there's no way he'll be named Pimple.

As it turned out though, the pimple gave way to a talk with a friend who's on the verge of falling.

Asked about what she's going to do about it, she gave a litany of why she doesn't really dwell on it now: the other person is still recovering from a breakup, there's a consideration about family, the other person may not be ready, and they are friends, yadda yadda yadda.

But asked about her state on this matter, she got stumped. It did make me think that when we think of another person so much, we sometimes forget that it is good to start with the self first when you want to have a relationship with someone.

Kind of self-absorbed one may say. But then again, when you don't really know who and what you are when you think you are already on the verge of falling, how will you know if you fall standing up or with your ass flat on the ground?

Unromantic? Maybe. But who said that love should be a free fall?

When you are on the precipice of love, I think it is worthwhile to stop for a while and ponder on what you got so far before taking the plunge. Therein lies what you got to offer to the relationship. The rest are still promises. Who knows, maybe you'll come up with an even better you before making the move.

And when you finally give in, at least you'll know what you are giving. Pimple and all.

Exclusively HK

While taking a needed break from chanting and blowing whistles, a trade unionist remarks:

"Only nine members voted for the amendment. As a Hong Kong citizen, I feel sad and ashamed."

If someone who is not directly affected by the exclusion of foreign domestic workers or FDWs from the statutory minimum wage can feel that way, what more for those who are the ones excluded.

After over a year of discussions and lobbying it can now be said again that for all the hoopla of Hong Kong being liberal or a wonderful city for foreign workers, discrimination against those who are already at the gutter of this society is institutionalized.

In a society like Hong Kong that treats free market capitalism like a god, a successful campaign for a legislated minimum wage is a significant victory for the worker's movement. It could have been sweeter if only FDWs – numbering around 250,000 – are not sidelined.

The FDWs chant "we are workers, we are not slaves" encapsulates the various reasons why they assert their right for inclusion to such an important law. Their labour is as important as any worker in Hong Kong. Their labour also builds Hong Kong. Their labour makes it possible for these high and mighty LegCo members to sit in their plush offices and halls and debate how best to marginalize in law those who already have less in life.

Considering though the composition of the LegCo – majority coming from the business sector, some from a trade union who doesn't deserve its name, some more from "democratic" groups whose concept of democracy is quite selective – we were already uneasy on how the vote will go. When it came, it was as appalling as we thought it would be.

Good thing there was this unionist – and there are more of them – who felt the same as the FDWs.

Hope, indeed, still floats.

Prodigal blogger

It is not because there is a new president installed that I am blogging again.

Though of course there are already a number of things I could blog about him. While this is still supposed to be a honeymoon period, it does not mean that one cannot already form an opinion on what he does, what he says and where he may be leading us. Even in honeymoons, the foreplay is still an indicator of how the climax will be like.

It is also not because of any life-changing experience or any epiphany of sorts that I am having a new post.

I am still an OFW working in a job I enjoy doing. Still an activist taking on issues from the overpriced e-passport to the exclusion of foreign domestic workers in the statutory minimum wage that is soon to be finalized in Hong Kong. Still marching. Still struggling.

It is also not because I am having an emotional
moment that I again am writing.

While indeed there have been a couple of them in the past months, none has been heart-wrenching enough that a major laugh trip could not jumpstart the moving on process. Besides, a moment is supposed to last only for a moment.

So why am I blogging?

Maybe because I got some more moments to process and the recent laugh trips have not been major enough. Or because an activist's work is never really done and there is a host of OFW concerns – old, new and mutated ones – I do care to write about. Or because the new president is yet to banish the nightmares induced by GMA and really work on the dreams he built his campaign on.

Or maybe simply, I am blogging because it is 4 o'clock in the morning, there's a steaming mug of coffee on my desk, and a fresh pack of cigarettes is just too inviting.