My Pandacan 1011 | Manila, Philippines

The designation of the former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos as the “Hermana Mayor” of Buling-Buling sa Pandacan 2012 has raised a lot of eyebrows among Pandacan residents. Considering her blemished past, they ask: “Why her?”

In this post, you will read the official letter being circulated around from residents of our town, disapproving Imelda’s delegation. It is titled “Never Again” (English version) / “Huwag na ‘toy!” (Tagalog version). Any original formatting for emphasis has been retained.

Here’s the original Tagalog version sent to us via email:

Huwag na ‘toy!

Kami, na mga anak ng Pandacan, na ang ilan sa aming mga  pamilya ay nakapanirahan na dito nang mahigit isang siglo, ay lubos na nabigla nang si Imelda Marcos ay anyayahan ng isang lokal na grupong kultural na maging hermana mayor ng Buling-Buling sa taong ito! Ang  sayawang ito sa lansangan na isang tampok na bahagi ng pista ng Santo Nino sa aming distrito sa Enero 14, 2012 ay mahalagang tradisyon sa kultura at rehiliyon. Subali’t kung ang layunin ng mga patnugot ng Buling-Buling sa pag-anyaya kay Gng. Marcos ay makamit ang “star power” para sa okasyon, ganap silang naliligaw ng landas. Bagamat ang kanilang inaakalang hermana mayor ay tunay ngang kilalang personalidad, siya ay bantog rin sa mga karumal-dumal na dahilan – siya ay magbibigay lamang ng kahihiyan sa Pandacan.

Kailangan pa ba nating ipaalala sa ating mga kababayang taga-Pandacan na si Gng. Marcos ay ang nabubuhay na kabiyak ng mag-asawang diktadura na naghasik ng lagim sa bayan, nagpayaman sa pagod ng mamamayang Pilipino, at dumungis sa imahen ng Pilipinas? Sa mamamayan ng buong mundo, ang mga Marcos ay kasingkahulugan ng kamay na bakal at pang-aapi. Si Imelda mismo ay may natatanging katanyagan sa kanyang marangyang paglaladlad ng yaman at pagiging talamak na materyosa – na kahit ilang dekada na ang lumipas mula nang bumagsak ang diktadura, ang koleksyon ng sapatos ni Imelda ay tampulan pa rin ng katatawanan ukol sa mga tamad na mayayaman sa buong mundo.

Pinatutunayan sa mga dokumentong nasa kamay ng mga independyenteng ahensya – pribado at pampamahalaan pati na mga korte sa Pilipinas, Europa at Estado Unidos – na nagkaroon ng mahigit 10,000 biktima ng “torture”, “disappearances”, “extra-judicial killings”, at walang-batayang pag-aresto sa ilalim ng kamay na bakal ni Ferdinand Marcos. Ginawa ng diktadura ang mga ahensya ng gobyerno na mistulang mga instrumento sa pansariling layunin, ginamit maging ang mga embahada at konsulado para abutin ng kanyang malulupit na kamay ang mga komunidad ng mga Pilipino sa ibayong-dagat.   Ang mga Marcos ay walang-hiyang namuhay nang marangya gamit ang mga bilyones na kanilang kinamkam sampu ng kanilang mga kabarkada mula sa yaman ng bansa. Ang kanilang mga pandarambong ay nagbunga ng pag-urong ng bansa sa landas ng panlipunan at pang-ekonomiyang pag-unlad. Kayat makatwiran lamang na sa kinalaunan ay sinipa sila ng bayang Pilipino mula sa kapangyarihan.

Ang paghirang kay Imelda Marcos bilang hermana mayor ay mag-iiwan ng maruming batik sa banal na tradisyon ng Buling-Buling! Ang kanyang presensya ay lalason sa masayang diwa ng ating Pista ng Mahal na Santo Nino at sisira sa  kasiyahan na karaniwang umiiral sa ganitong okasyon. Ang pagpaparangal kay Imelda Marcos bilang hermana mayor ay paglapastangan sa ipinagmamalaking kasaysayan ng Pandacan sa pagiging kandungan ng mga bayani na lumaban sa kolonyal na paghahari ng Espanya, Estados Unidos at Hapon. Marami sa mga residente ng Pandacan ang lumahok sa paglaban sa rehimeng Marcos. Kabilang sa kanilang mga ala-ala ukol sa mga Marcos ay mga selda ng bilangguan; “involuntary disappearance”, pagkasira ng isip at katawan o di kaya’y tuwirang pagkamatay ng mga mahal sa buhay; ang pagkitil sa mga demokratikong karapatan; at malungkot na sapilitang paninirahan sa ibayong-dagat. Ang paghirang kay Imelda Marcos bilang hermana mayor ay magiging pang-akit sa makatwirang protesta!

Kung inanyayahan ng mga patnugot ng Buling-Buling si Imelda Marcos bilang “anak” ng Pandacan, sila ay nagkamaling muli! Totoong may mansiyon ang angkang Romualdez sa Pandacan na kung saan tumira si Imelda nang maikling panahon kasama ang ilang kamag-anak. Subalit, ang mansyong ito ay hindi niya “ancestral home” tulad ng kanyang ipinapangalandakan. Siya ay hindi mula sa Pandacan at hindi Pandaqueno. Siya ay lumaking anak-mahirap sa Leyte at nang siya ay nasa kapangyarihan na, pinilit niyang ipamalita na ang mansiyon ay “ancestral home” niya bilang bahagi ng walang-hiyang kampanya na palabasin siyang anak-aristokrata na aayon sa kanyang “matayog” na katayuan bilang asawa ng diktador.

 

2 . . . .

Ang kasalukuyang katungkulan ni Imelda Marcos bilang miyembro ng Kongreso ay hindi dapat gamitin upang itago ang katotohanan na kailangan pa ng pamilya Marcos na magsagawa ng ganap na pagtutuos ng kanilang mga krimen sa bayan. Ang mga pamilya ng mga di-mabilang na biktima ay naghihintay pa ng hustisya. Ang mga Marcos ay hindi man lamang nagpapakita ng pagsisisi. Sa halip, sinasamantala nila ang kagandahang-loob ng mga Pilipino at ang kanilang mapagpatawad na katangian para sa isang desperadong pagtatangka ng mga Marcos na baguhin ang kasaysayan, pagtakpan ang kanilang masasamang gawain at ilugar ang kanilang mga sarili upang makabalik sa luklukan ng kapangyarihan.

Ang paghirang kay Imelda Marcos bilang hermana mayor ng Buling-Buling ay tumutulong lamang sa todo buhos na pagtatangka ng mga Marcos na itulak ang pambansang pagkalimot ( national amnesia ). Nakakahiyang isipin na may mga miyembro ng ating komunidad na bukas-loob na nagpapagamit para sa gayong panlilinlang. Nakakahiya na ginagamit pa nila ang banal na tradisyon sa kultura at relihiyon para itaguyod ang makitid na layuning pampulitika ng mga Marcos. At lalo pa itong magiging kahiya-hiya kung ang pagtatangka na dakilain si Imelda – ang pandaigdigang sagisag ng kasakiman at pang-aapi – ay magtatagumpay dahil pinili nating manahimik na lamang!

Nang may buong paggalang sa Sto. Nino de Pandacan Parish-RCC and sa Cathedral of Sto. Nino of Pandacan-IFI, kami, na lahat ay mga lehitimong anak ng Pandacan, ay matatag na nagpapahayag ng aming matibay na paninindigan na iwaksi si Imelda Marcos. Siya ay walang puwang bilang hermana mayor ng Buling-Buling sa ating pagdiriwang ng Pista ng Sto. Nino!

Below is the English version posted on our facebook wall:

Never Again!

We, sons and daughters of Pandacan, some of whose families have lived here for more than a century, are appalled that a local cultural group has invited Imelda Marcos to be the hermana mayor of this year’s Buling-Buling street dance! This festival, which is a highlight of the fiesta of the Santo Nino in our district on January 14, 2012, is indeed a rich cultural and religious tradition but if the Buling-Buling organizers’ aim in inviting Mrs. Marcos is to gain “star power” for their event, they are completely misguided. Although their putative hermana mayor is indeed a well-known personality, she is likewise notoriously known for dishonorable reasons – and she will only bring dishonor to Pandacan.

Need we remind our fellow Pandaquenos that Mrs. Marcos is the surviving partner of the conjugal dictatorship that terrorized the nation, enriched itself on the backs of the Filipino people, and sullied the Philippines’ image? To people the world over, the Marcoses have become synonymous with abusive and authoritarian rule. Imelda Marcos herself has the further distinction of being well-known for her ostentatious display of wealth and crass material accumulation – even decades after the fall of the dictatorship a reference to Imelda’s shoe collection is still the punch line for jokes about the idle rich the world over.

Independent sources – including courts in the Philippines, Europe and the United States — have documented more than 10,000 victims of torture, disappearances, extra-judicial killings and arbitrary arrests under Ferdinand Marcos’ strong-armed rule. The dictatorship turned government agencies into its private enforcers, even using the country’s embassies and consulates to extend its repressive reach to Filipino communities overseas. The Marcoses shamelessly lived high on the billions they and their favored cronies pilfered from the national wealth, and their depredations set back the country’s striving for socioeconomic progress. The Filipino people finally kicked them out of power for good reason.

Making Imelda Marcos hermana mayor taints the revered tradition of Buling-Buling! Her presence will poison the celebratory atmosphere of our Feast of the Holy Child and ruin the conviviality that marks the occasion. Honoring Imelda Marcos as hermana mayor is an affront to Pandacan’s proud history as a cradle of heroes who resisted colonial rule by Spain, the United States and Japan. And many of its residents were among those who participated in the fight against the Marcos regime. Their memories of the Marcoses include prison cells; the disappearance, maiming or death of loved ones; the suppression of democratic rights; and lonely exile. If feted as hermana mayor, Imelda Marcos will be a magnet of justifiable protests!

If the Buling-Buling’s organizers have invited Imelda Marcos as a “daughter” of Pandacan, they are again mistaken. While the Romualdez clan has an old mansion in Pandacan where Imelda Marcos lived with relatives for a spell, it is not her “ancestral home,” contrary to her claim. She is not from, nor is she of, Pandacan. She grew up poor in Leyte, and her attempt when she came to power to promote the mansion as her ancestral abode was part of a shameless campaign to conjure up aristocratic roots more fitting of her “elevated” status as the dictator’s wife.

Imelda Marcos’ current position as a member of Congress cannot disguise the fact that the Marcos family still has to fully account for its crimes against the people. The families of their countless victims still await retribution. Yet the Marcoses have not shown remorse. Instead, they are taking advantage of the Filipino’s generosity and forgiving disposition by desperately attempting to rewrite the past, whitewash their misdeeds and reposition themselves for a return to power.

Naming Imelda Marcos as hermana mayor of the Buling-Buling festival only contributes to the Marcoses’ concerted effort to promote national amnesia. It is a shame that some members of our community are willing to be used as instruments of such deception. It is a shame that they are deploying a revered cultural and religious tradition in the service of the Marcoses’ narrow political agenda. It would be an even greater shame if this effort to glorify Imelda–an international symbol of greed and oppression–succeeds because we are silent.

With all due respect to the Sto. Nino de Pandacan Parish-RCC and the Cathedral of Sto. Nino of Pandacan-IFI, we, all legitimate sons and daughters of Pandacan, strongly declare our firm stand in rejecting Imelda Marcos. She has no place in our hometown’s beloved commemoration of the Feast of the Sto. Nino as hermana mayor of this dance festival!

Editor’s Note: The author of this post received an email about the designation of Former First Lady Imelda Marcos as Hermana Mayor of this year’s Buling-Buling sa Pandacan a day before the said event. It was his intention to publish it as soon as the email sender responds to his publication request. It didn’t happen. And since the content of the email already hit the social sites like facebook and blogs, mypandacan.com decides to make this officially public on its site.

MyPandacan.com is run by an independent group. Although the staff support civic action groups and feature residents of the town, the staff do NOT endorse incumbent and former politicians to avoid biased reporting. They publish articles and aggregate news based on the information they receive and gather, and they do it diligently to the best of their abilities. The admins moderate and approve respectful comments by any visitors of this site but be reminded that it doesn’t necessarily mean it is a reflection of the mypandacan.com’s beliefs. Therefore, any harassment directed to the staff is undeserved and will not be tolerated. All they do is just report truthfully.

With that said, thank you for using this site and we hope you continue to support by sharing your stories and insights, or by sharing the articles to others. Happy Fiesta!

Kiko

Founding publisher of Pandacan1011.com / MyPandacan.com. Born and raised in Pandacan.

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