Poetry of principled anger
There was anger in my classroom two weeks ago. I allowed my students in the subject “Understanding the Self” to have righteous indignation as we watched the live Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the anomalous flood control projects. (We have a huge flat-screen TV in the room, with Wi-Fi, courtesy not of a flood control contractor.)
They wanted to join the indignation rally last Sunday in Luneta and Edsa except that their resources would not permit them to express their dissent of the corruption in government. They are actually disgusted. Who isn’t?
Most of them do not know where to get the P2,000-fee for their pre-final exam yet they hear of billions of pesos being enjoyed by a few courtesy of the alleged systemic corruption in government. They don’t even know if they have the money for enrolment next semester. Pero lumalaban pa rin sila ng patas.
Most of my freshman college students at St. Vincent College of Cabuyao are hard-up. Many work as part of the crew in fast-food restaurants or convenience stores to afford the P10,000 tuition a sem, the cheapest yet quality matriculation for college in the area. Others have parents who are farmers in the neighboring provinces or jeepney and pedicab drivers. Some fathers of my students are OFWs in Saudi Arabia. Some have mothers who work as cleaners or babysitters in their respective neighborhoods. Four or five of my students are total orphans so they are left to fend off for themselves.
When I see them in my classroom, their eyes are filled with dreams. In their eyes I also see the version of myself when I was their age. Those who attend my early morning class come to school with minds as open as the sky and empty stomachs. That’s their real story. Poor. Persevering. They promise some teachers who treat them to the school canteen for breakfast to finish their education.
When the hearing was over, I asked them to make an intelligent decision for themselves by answering this question: How do you understand yourself in a situation where corruption in government is normalized rather than shun?
To answer the question, they formed several groups, and each group staged a skit, a demonstration inside the classroom. They made angry placards, resonating with their angry voices. And with our discussion of principled anger — focusing on the core motivation of upholding truth, justice, and making the corrupt officials and personalities accountable — the students created a world where their sentiments were voiced out. It is my fervent prayers that their pleas would not fall on deaf ears.
***
Hear my students in this poem “Katakot-takot na Pangungurakot” written on the spot by Criminology students Jhesille Joice Lopez, Charles Caballero, Aizen Ysh Capole and Harold Dizon:
Hindi mangingialam ang taong bayan
Kung maganda ang pinapakita ng may kapangyarihan
Mulat ang mga kabataan,
Pagdating sa paglubog ng bayan.
Kakalimutan na lamang ba
Ang kasakiman ng pamahalaan?
Kung sino pang may kapangyarihan
Sila pa ang mahilig kumamkam sa kaban ng bayan.
Magpakitang-tao?
Para saan? Para sa boto.
Magaling lang sila pag tumatakbo,
Pero ‘pag nakaupo na, daig pa ang lumpo.
Nagsiwalat sila ng magagandang plataporma,
Ngunit ng nasa pwesto na,
Salungat na ang ipinapakita.
Hanggang dito na lang ba,
Pilipinas? Ano na?
Hindi sila umuupo para magsilbi,
Umuupo sila para sa salapi.
At sa bawat kurakot na ginagawa nila,
Bayan ang tunay na nawawalan.
Habang sila’y lumolobo,
Tayo’y unti-unting nilulunod ng kanilang kasakiman.
Another Criminology student Ashlee Guadez wrote her principled anger in this poem:
Sa bawat kanto ng bayan, sigaw ng masa’y iisa:
Hanggang kailan magdurusa?
Hanggang kailan luluhod sa mga gahaman,
Na sa salapi ng bayan, sila’y nagkakalaman?
Mga kabataan, gising!
Huwag tayong manatiling pipi at bulag.
Sa bawat kontrata, sa bawat pirma,
May dugong nakadikit — dugo ng taong-bayan!
Sa lansangan, sa paaralan,
Tinig namin ay sabay-sabay:
Sobra na! Tama na!
Korapsyon, lipulin ka!
Here’s an excerpt from Bryan Jay Mendoza’s “Golden Crocodile”:
The fruit of our hard work,
only the crocodiles benefit —
while justice weeps on barren land…
While we are in the mire of the greedy,
our motherland will not find peace.
Black hearts, sparing no one.
Corruption is the poison in their blood
that spreads and flows.
We are stir-fried,
in our own natural saltiness.
In the dark corner,
where loyalty and integrity fly,
There is a snake that coils, covering up the truth:
the breath of corruption,
its poison mixes with the air…
The soul is consumed by greed.
Here’s another poem “Sa Salamin ng Lipunan” prepared by one group composed of Jhon Carlo Barrington, John Paul Amante, John Dave De Guzman, Franky Acesher Cunanan, Ulyses Gener, Gian Carlo Bartolay, Christian De Leon, Marky Rosas, Jonara Umali, Kervy Marquez, Ron JohncenAnub, Norie James Manzana, Justine Bañares, Shyn Rose Cabanas, Glenda Reyes, Chris Well Cabuguang, Lairalene Nazareno, Allyssa Magarao, Jasmine Mae Taunan, Christian Jabat and Ivy Eunice Pionilla:
Sa politika ako’y sumasalamin,
Kapangyarihan at ugnayan, aking tanawin.
Puso’t isip, sa laban ay nakikibahagi,
Diplomasiya’t tapang, sa sarili’y tinatanong.
Korapsyon, tukso ng madilim na daan,
Puso’y sinusubok, sa tama ba’y naninindigan?
Hindi lamang sa gobyerno ito umiiral,
Kundi sa puso ko, dapat ay walang bahid.
Gobyerno ng sarili, pamahalaan ng damdamin,
Mga patakaran, gabay sa landas na tinatahak.
Disiplina’t prinsipyo, sandigan ng pagkatao,
Sa sarili’y tapat, tunay na paglago.
Sa politika, korapsyon, at gobyerno,
Ako’y natututo, ako’y naglalakbay.
Sa salamin ng lipunan, sarili’y nauunawaan,
Tungo sa bukang-liwayway ng pagkatao’t bayan.
***
On that day when my students staged a rally in our classroom, I was reminded of the trite saying “Nasa kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan” by Jose Rizal, who embraced martyrdom fighting the ills in government. I did not realize the hackneyed quote would one day find its renewed meaning of vitality, innovation and idealism in today’s Gen Z.
Let’s keep the principled anger in our hearts. *
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