Hacienda Luisita seven years later

November 16, 2004 when 7 protesting farmers in Hacienda Luisita were massacred by state agents. Sugarcane workers from Hacienda Luisita were under strike due to the inhumane wage and working conditions in the Hacienda and the non-distribution of the land that was due to them decades ago by the powerful Cojuangco-Aquino family.


Seven years after the brutal massacre, perpetrators are still scot-free, Hacienda Luisita has not been distributed.

I joined the caravan from Manila to Hacienda Luisita to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the massacre and give tribute to the martyrs of the struggle for land and justice. It was my first time to go there and if I was not working (covering the activity for Tudla Productions), I could have integrated more with the farmers. Looking forward to go there again.

Recovery

I came from a family of cancer patients. My mother died because of leukemia (cancer of the blood), her sister also died because of colon cancer and now my father is recovering from his treatment because of lung cancer. So where does that leave me and my brother. I don't know. I just hope that later in life, we won't have cancer if we live a healthy life.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to bring my (borrowed) camera with me to document my father's treatment. Now that I come to think of it, his treatment could have been my very first documentary photography project. But maybe I can start with his recovery to bring more hope to other cancer patients out there.

He's still thinner than before but he looks better compared to what he looked like while he was under treatment. He walks every morning (I think), drinks his herbal and fruit juices which he substituted to his medicines and watches a lot of movies. He hasn't been confined at the hospital for more than a month now. It's a good sign.

he insisted that his camera angle is his left side. all right, there it is.

Project Rise Photo Contest: Homeless (Please Vote for my Entry!)

My photo is one of the finalists for the Global Fund for Children's Project Rise, a photo contest about the pressing issues adolescent girls are facing and *eherm* my entry is the only entry coming from the Philippines.

So, I'm appealing to everybody to please help me win by voting for my photo. Here's how:

1. Go to the Global Fund for Children's Facebook page by clicking the link https://www.facebook.com/GlobalFundforChildren and click 'Like'
2. Vote for my photo by clicking this link (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150431979378976&set=a.10150431976913976.450219.126815818975&type=1&ref=nf) and click 'Like' found at the bottom of the photo

The photo depicts demolition of homes in urban areas in the Philippines which leads to displacement and homelessness, a very pressing issue faced by thousands of adolescent girls in the country (the contest's theme).

Help me raise the issue of demolition of urban poor in the Philippines to the whole world.

By the way, if ever I win, we (Tudla Productions) will use the prize (which is just a small amount) to continue the group's advocacy in coverning the issues of the marginalized sectors in the Philippines.

Please spread the word! Voting is until September 23!

Jam-packed

I just loved the jam-packed forum and film screening yesterday at the Bulwagang Balagtas in PUP (Polytechnic University of the Philippines) for the 3rd Pandayang Lino Brocka Political Film and New Media Festival. The forum was about Freedom of Expression, too bad there wasn't enough time for the open forum. Hopefully, the students were able to learn a lot about the topic.

Let's do this again!

Visit Pandayang Lino Brocka's site here for updates about the festival.

People's SONA (2011)

I know this post is a month late but hey, it's better late than later right? Oh so cliche. Well anyway, this was taken last July 25, 2011 during the protest rally outside [well, near] the House of Representatives where President Noynoy Aquino's State of the Nation Address (SONA) was being held.

Different patriotic groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) held the protest to conduct an alternative SONA. Protesters burned an effigy of the president to show their disgust over the current administration which has done nothing decisive to change the situation of the country and its people.

Mother and Son

My first photo shoot with a model in preparation for my godson, Marcus' 1st birthday, it turned out that it was really difficult to shoot babies especially outdoor. He just ran around the playground and I had to follow him wherever he went. It was exhausting. But at least he enjoyed the park and I was able to capture some of his happy moments while running around. Babies are a breath of fresh air.

Streets of Tacloban

During this time of the year, there are a lot of events in Tacloban City for the fiesta. But at the same time, the local airwaves are hounded by the same issue of festivals rivalry between the Pintados Kasadyaan Festival organized by the Provincial Government of Leyte and the revived Sangyaw Festival of Festivals of the Tacloban City Government.

I don't give a sh** about the festivals. I was more interested with the day-to-day struggles of the people in the streets in order to survive. Tacloban is a small city and there are no industries that can create jobs so most of the people here are into small-scale enterprises, vendors and contractual employees in commercial establishments.

Street food vendors along Zamora street

Fried isaw vendor. The isaw are very tasty. Nom, nom.

Day of Outrage

The Labor Day in the Philippines this year was marked as a Day of Outrage of workers for wage hike. Members of different unions led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno including different progressive organizations marched from different areas in Metro Manila to Liwasang Bonifacio to register their outrage on the current administration because of its inaction to increase wage and control prices of basic commodities.

The protest action ended in Mendiola.

Kalbaryo ng Sambayanan (2011)

Members of progressive groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-National Capital Region (BAYAN-NCR) and Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY) depicted the "Kalbaryo ng Sambayanan" through Juan dela Cruz as the modern Christ carrying a crucifix of price hikes, unemployment, privatization and deregulation. They represented characters masked as Uncle Sam (U.S.), President Noynoy Aquino, the local ruling class and the Armed Forces of the Philippines beating Juan dela Cruz as modern Pontius Pilate who ruled to crucify Jesus Christ to death.

A Day in Dy Pac

They call this community Dy Pac, which is located in Tondo, Manila just a few meters away from Divisoria, because it is situated inside the Dy Pac and Company's unfinished commercial building. More than 200 families live in this compound for as long as 40 years or so, mostly were workers of the company or was supposed to work in the commercial center.

The community is threatened to be demolished anytime.

Discovering EDSA

EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) had its share of Philippine history. It was a witness to a popular people's uprising which ousted a president and became a very solid proof of how powerful the people can be.

I pass by EDSA almost everyday and there are a lot to see, mostly tall buildings, big malls and thousands of vehicles and people. But sometimes, there are some things that most of us refuse to see.


Let me share what I see...

Kadiwa: Lost Homes, Continuing Resistance

To give way to the government's so-called development, they have to clear areas which they consider as an eyesore. According to National Housing Authority's 2007 data, there are around 544,609 informal settlers' households in the National Capital Region and thousands more are undocumented in the region and all over the Philippines. As a result of these "development projects", hundreds of thousands of families are displaced and some are thrown to evacuation or relocation sites far from their livelihood, their children's schools and without basic social services like water, electricity and health facilities.

The government uses different tactics to force the residents of communities to leave their homes. In some areas where there are no resistance, they deceive the poor by offering them small amounts of money in exchange for "voluntary" eviction. Some communities are allegedly burned down and not let the affected residents come back to rebuild their burned houses. Meanwhile, in some communities where there are strong resistance like in Corazon de Jesus, San Juan, the demolition always ends up violently.

In Kadiwa, the community behind the San Roque Elementary School in Brgy. San Roque, Navotas City, a fire hit the community last January 29, 2011 which killed 12 residents, including 5 children and 2 elderly. The residents were surprised when, not merely a month has passed since the fire, a demolition team arrived and started to clear their burnt homes.

According to the Office of the City Engineering of Navotas, they are not demolishing the community but they are only clearing the area to flatten it because the structures have become dangerous due to the fire.They are also planning to build a high-rise building where the residents of the community can live. And while the building is under construction, the local government will provide tents for the displaced residents where they can live temporarily. But asked about how the displaced families can be assured that they will be able to live in the planned building, there's no direct answer.

Yesterday, after the failed attempt of the demolition team to completely tear down the remaining houses at the entrance of the community, the residents decided not to give up the fight--strengthen their organization to further consolidate themselves and exhaust every avenues to stop the demolition and allow the displaced families to rebuild their homes.

Here are some of my shots in the community.

EDSA to Commonwealth

I borrowed my brother's Nikon D40 a few days ago to cover the commemoration of the EDSA People Power uprising at the EDSA Shrine. Unfortunately, I was late so I wasn't able to get some shots during the activity. I roamed a bit around the footbridge along the shrine and saw a blind man singing and playing a guitar asking for donations.

Yesterday, at the shoot for Tudla Production's short film at Commonwealth High School, a boy was enviously  looking at the student-actors who were having fun inside the room.

Manila: Through the eyes of its lost daughter

Its been a while since I've been to Manila for more than a month without any "official business" to attend to and I seldom have the chance to roam around the capital of the Philippines with a camera on hand, much more a DSLR.


Last week, me and a friend was supposed to go to the National Library to do some research but due to some reasons, I wasn't able to go in. Luckily, we just came from an activity we covered so we have a camera with us. So instead of sulking inside the library lobby, I decided to go out and shoot. And so, I ended up in Rizal Park.


This is my first time to shoot the streets using a DSLR, a Nikon D40. The camera is not mine, quite old and battered and I'm still getting used to using DSLRs which is way different than point and shoot digital cameras I've been using in the past.


Here are some of the photos I took in Rizal Park.