Looking for Juan: Everyday Filipino Heroes

Today I thought about ordinary people being heroes. I can't help it, the tarpaulins around the Academic Oval all had this singular theme. From Rizal's youth, to your average manong driver, the artworks illustrate that the idea of heroism can be stretched to include almost everyone.

As a project by the Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development (CANVAS), the idea is to put up outdoor banners that will send a collective message about everyone's role in free elections this May. The elections, as it is indirectly portrayed in the exhibit, is not about a search for heroes. The banners around the Academic Oval depict ordinary Filipinos -- policemen, parents, students, OFWs -- performing little acts of heroism. A heroism that doesn't anymore include martyrdom at Bagumbayan.

The national election is done as I type this, but these works of art still line the University’s Academic Oval today. At the end of the exhibition, it is said that the banners will be recycled and transformed into tote bags. Once sold, the proceeds will be given to selected charities and will also be used to support other initiatives that promote greater appreciation for Philippine art, culture and the environment.

Even if the grass in the Sunken Garden has turned brown this summer, looking at these banners felt like a breath of fresh air. Yet what I like most about this project is its message. Under the heat of the sun with papers on hand, it tells me that you and I, we can both be heroes.

(Outdoor banners of Everyday Filipino Heroes will be hanged on the light posts of the University of the Philippines Diliman only till May 31.)

Is the Filipino Really Worth Dying For?

Standing in the middle of NAIA Terminal 3, I always pause and pay a little tribute to this statue of late Ninoy Aquino. He is both my hero and personal benchmark for servant leadership. So when my brother and I arrived at the airport this morning, I looked at it and for the first time, my heart felt a sickening sadness.

I thought the Filipinos wanted change. With all hope and possitivity, I fully believed we deserved better leaders, sustainable development and democracy. It breaks my heart to be proven otherwise.

Re-electionists lead the top six in the senatoriable race. Ousted President and known jueteng protector Joseph Estrada is ranked second among the Presidentiables. And Noynoy Aquino, no less than my hero's own son, is off to bag the Presidency. It pierces me to the bones knowing fully well that in all 12 years that Noynoy has been a senator, he hasn't passed a single bill into law. He hasn't occupied any executive position prior to being a senator. He hasn't even distributed the land many farmers have shed their blood for in the Hacienda Luisita massacre.

And he is going to be my President in the next 6 years. Perchance to dream of a well-deserved democracy. :c

Emmeline Pankhurst

I was googling some old articles regarding the suffrage of women when I stumbled upon this picture of Emmeline Pankhurst. The description says she's being arrested after leading a protest to parliament, armed with a rolled resolution for women's suffrage and a few lilies of the valley. What struck me in the photo was the pride on her face. Such fierceness and defiance.

Similar to Pankhurst's British suffrage movement, women in the Philippines have only been granted the right to vote on 1937, thirty years after the first election law was passed and forty years after Emilio Aguinaldo was elected President at the Tejeros Convention.

I salute all the nameless Filipinas who fought for my own suffrage. And like Emmeline Pankhurst, I hope I will look as proud and defiant when I cast my vote on Monday morning.