Friday, May 29, 2009

Tagulaylay ng naaagnas na bangkay

Itapon mo na lamang ang aking bangkay sa bangin,
Doon sa may kumpol ng mga puno ng aroma,
Nang ang pagsabit ko roo'y lubos na pigain,
Ang dugo mula sa aking katawan,
At matigmak ang buhanginan ng aking katas,
Nang ako'y may matawag na akin, sa wakas.

Sa umaga'y matatanaw ang araw, gaya ng mga umagang napanaginipan,
Kaulayaw ang hanging amihan, at ang tilamsik ng maamong alon sa dalampasigan,
Tulad ng luha sa pisnging bunsod ng pangangarap.
Matutunton ng uwak sa tanghaling tapat, pati na nang mga hantik,
Ang bawat kirot ng kanilang kagat, ay pagdaop ng palad,
Kinasadlakan ko'y tanggap, mga kaibiga't kapatid.
Sa gabi'y mga tala, nakatungo, nakamasid,
Sila'y luluha, iluluha ang buhay na binawi ng araw,
Ibabalik sa aking tuyong balat, didiligin ng pait
ang naaagnas na laman.

Ano'ng halaga ng buhay kung hindi maialay,
Sa dahilan ng paggising, sa laman ng diwa,
Sa tinatangi't dinadakila.
Ano ba ang paghinga kung hindi, ang pagbunyi sa bawat araw,
Na ika'y makasama, na ika'y makaulayaw.
Tamis ng pangarap, pangako ng pag-asa,
Ang mundo ay atin, Diyos ay mapagpala.
Ngunit ang tadhana'y mapait,
Tanikalang malupit, kaligayahang ipinagkait.
'Pag ang pag-asa'y namatay, ano pa'ng halaga ng buhay,
Kaluluwa'y nakaratay, isang buhay na bangkay.

Aking ipinanalangin, sa Diyos na mapagpala,
Bago ko gilitin, ang ugat at ang dila,
Mapurol na itak, malamig sa paghawak,
Ako'y ilapit mo, sa tinatangi't dinadakila.

Maliwanag na tala,
Uwak sa iyong bintana,
Langgam sa iyong binti,
Dampi ng hangin sa iyong pisngi't labi.
Tinik ng aroma,
Buhangin sa iyong paa,
Araw na naghahari,
Alo'ng bumabati.
Wakas,
panimula,
ngiti,
pighati,
Kamatayan,
kaligayahan,
magkasama,
Magpakailanman.



paolo maligaya

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

R.I.P.


daddy.

Salamat sa musika, sa pagmamahal sa plaka at stereo, sa cha-cha at tango, kay Anastacio Mamaril at Perez Prado, sa vintage glasses at kamisetang retro, sa pinakamasarap na menudo, sa duyan sa ilalim ng puno ng chico. Sa pag-inspire for better or worse ng potential future creative output. Sa mga what were at what could have been. Sa mga sinabi at 'di sinabi. Sa mga iba't ibang emosyon. May you rest in peace.



(PBA09s114oro)

Monday, May 11, 2009

The carnival begins

Philippine election season is now officially on! Open your eyes, clean your ears, gear up, and start placing your bets.


NGOs fight vote-buying

MANILA, Philippines—With 12 months to go before the next elections, veteran community organizers and development workers across the country launched a nationwide movement on Sunday to get rid of vote-buying.

The ChangePolitics Movement, which includes former Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman, will map out the “vote-buying vulnerable areas” so that NGOs could pour their resources there and eliminate the scourge of Philippine politics. (MORE)


Comelec: 2010 poll automation still on

MANILA, Philippines - Poll automation in 2010 would push through even with the disqualification of firms bidding to provide automated counting machines (ACMs), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo junked calls to consider partial automation or use P1.2 billion worth of ACMs purchased from the controversial Mega Pacific Consortium (MPC) for the 2004 elections. (MORE)


Arroyo still hopeful of automated 2010 polls - Ermita


MANILA, Philippines – Despite the disqualification of all bidders for the automated polls in 2010, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo remains hopeful that the forthcoming elections would be fully automated, a senior Palace official said Monday.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is banking on Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Jose Melo’s assurance that the poll body would resolve the disqualification of all seven bidders. (MORE)


Youth voters need to register again for 2010

MANILA, Philippines-- Youth voters who registered during the 2007 Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council, SK) elections should register again with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) if they want to vote in the 2010 elections, an election official said.

Filipinos aged 15 to17 years old may have registered for SK elections but this registration does not make them “qualified for regular elections,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said. (MORE)


Comelec OKs 4,751 absentee voters

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections on Monday announced that its Resident Election Registration Boards (RERB) of the Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting (COAV) has approved the applications for registration of only 4,751 such voters, way off its one million target for the 2010 elections.

In a statement released to the media, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body is still confident about meeting its target with the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (OAVS) and overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) groups worldwide. (MORE)


ABS-CBN launches Boto Mo, I-Patrol Mo: Ako ang Simula

Long before any slick ad campaign or Barack Obama, I set out to change my world. My inspiration was Mahatma Gandhi, who simply said: “Be the change you want to see.” My world was the Philippines, journalism and ABS-CBN in particular.

For a long time, I had a love-hate relationship with the Philippines. I love being Filipino but hated the inefficiency, the lack of standards, the acceptance of mediocrity, our situational ethics, our systems of patronage, and our often unjust justice system. Sometimes, when things don’t work, you hate that which you love. (MORE)



iBlog5 Postscript - of Mobile Blogging and the Elections

At iBlog5 yesterday, it was an “old friend” reunion of sorts getting re-acquainted face-to-face with JM Tuazon.

You see, JM and I first met as volunteers of NAMFREL in the 2004 elections. JM and I had maintained an online interaction through the years via email or through each other’s blogs.

Wow, it’s been 5 years since our NAMFREL days in 2004. And now we’re 365+1 days before the next election in 2010. (MORE)


More election updates: http://www.namfrel.com.ph/news/localnews.htm


62e Festival de Cannes

Here are some of the films competing for the Palme d'Or at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24, 2009). This year's jury is headed by French actress Isabelle Huppert.


Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar)




Bright Star (Jane Campion)




Taking Woodstock (Ang Lee)




Thirst (Park Chan-wook)




Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)




Vengeance (Johnnie To)




Antichrist (Lars von Trier)



Complete list of films that will compete for the Palme d'Or.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Basagan ng mukha

Gusto kong marinig ang lagitik ng iyong panga sa
pagtama ng aking kamao,
At pag sinapo ko ito't ika'y iniuntog ng matunog sa
semento'y gusto kong makita,
Kung ang pagsirit ng dugo mula sa iyong sentido ay
pakaliwa o pakanan.
Magmakaawa ka man sa garalgal mong boses na parang
asong ulol na bagong kapon,
Ang sagot ay tadyak, hanggang ang aking talampaka'y
maramdaman ang pagbakli ng iyong mga tadyang.
Ano't nakukuha mo pang ngumisi,
Katulad ng pagngisi ng nakabuka mong balat.
Gusto kong naisin mo pa ang hapdi ng tundos ng
mahabang karayom sa pagtahi nito,
Sa halip na ang hagupit ng aking poot sa
pasa-pasa mong dibdib at sikmura.
Hindi ko alam na kaya palang umabot,
ng iyong dila sa lupa nang patalikod,
Pilipit tulad ng iyong ngayo'y mga walang buhay na kamay
at ang nasira mong tapang.
At habang sakmal ko ang iyong leeg, pilitin mong isama
sa iyong hirap na hininga,
Magmakaawa ka, magmakaawa ka.
Ngunit walang makaririnig kundi ako,
at ang nagdurugo mong mga tenga.

paolo maligaya


(PBA095pp29r4)

Thursday, May 7, 2009

The better to see you with my dear

I'm not really sure what came over me that I became obsessed with owning one of those oversized, authentic vintage eyeglasses from the late '70s and early '80s, a la Dindo Fernando in those Viva movies, or Ninoy Aquino, or well, anybody with glasses at that time. I trawled the internet for info on where in Manila I could get one, and even went to all the optical shops in Robinsons Galleria and SM Megamall, to no avail. My best bet was looking in those neighborhood optical shops that have been there forever, but I figured I might lose my interest in the thing before I could ever find one.

Finally, after a longish search, I found a mine of shockingly inexpensive, unused authentic vintage frames in one shop at a flea market somewhere in the metro, exactly the ones I wanted! I immediately bought two, and went straight to my optometrist to put prescription lenses on one of them. (Note: if you're wearing prescription, don't throw away your old pair just yet. The optometrist would tell you that prescription lenses fit for old, oversized frames just aren't available anymore. They can put the lenses in your oversized vintage frames, but the grade or something won't be "centered" or something. So I suggest, if you're currently laboring through Victor Hugo or Dostoevsky or Infinite Jest, stick with the old pair; if you're going out, put on the welder's mask.

Fancy a frame? Send me your e-mail address and I'll tell you where to get the booty. Now, time to re-enact those cop shows!

Monday, May 4, 2009

50 Years: The 400 Blows


Francois Truffaut's classic is one of my most favorite movies ever, and certainly my favorite French film. Like The Catcher In the Rye's Holden Caulfield, Antoine Doinel is one character I am very fond of and sort of identified with.