On the eve of the elections, I received a copy of a proposed action plan for the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It was prepared by a young Tausug.
At no time since its foundation in the 15th century has the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo been so much in the news.
This is the worst of times; this is the craziest of times.
At the height of the running gunbattle between the Malaysian forces and the so-called “Royal Army” (which in a few days became the “Royal Security Forces,” but which Malaysia labeled simply as “the intruders”), there was one, among the dispatches we received from our ground sources, that I thought struck at the very core of the senselessness of it all. “Both sides are lying, their statements in their press conferences are mostly lies,” the messenger sounded quite exasperated. He was referring to Jamalul Kiram III and his spokespersons, and to the Malaysian officials.
Well, whoever planned this catastrophic mess that is benignly called “Sabah standoff,” if indeed it is a conspiracy, must now be laughing his diabolic head off.
The die is cast. As of this writing, the situationers we at the Inquirer have been receiving from the ground since Saturday indicate nothing less than very bloody developments.
It was with a sense of relief, yet with some sadness, that I watched the last episode of “Lee San” (Wind in the Palace), the Korean telenovela I have been addicted to for months.
It doesn’t really matter that Brillante Mendoza’s “Thy Womb” didn’t make it big at the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) box office. The mere fact that it was accepted as an entry at the MMFF was triumph enough.
It was the most joyful thing I had seen in such a long, long while. There she was, “a vision of loveliness,” as a half-forgotten song described the bride who inspired the lyric.
In a week of in-your-face surprises, it was the most discombobulating, the kind that makes you feel you are bobo. Or taken for one.
It spread quicker than a bushfire in a season of drought, crossing continents and oceans, erasing racial divisions, unifying varied ideologies and, ominously and terrifyingly, gathering wind enough to fan an inferno. Is this the beginning of World War III? The enemy: the United States of America, still the world’s superpower that has invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden, with the primary objective of cornering the world’s oil supply.
Do you still remember the names of the knights of the Round Table? I can’t either, except for the four that our literature teacher in Grade 5 emphasized as role models. In fact, we were made to memorize not just their names but the significant traits attached to their names like royal titles.
