TALKIN' 'BOUT A REVOLUTION

Feb. 29 – it’s leap year!



I woke up to the music of Tracy Chapman. I ‘ve always liked the song Talkin’ About a Revolution. It was 5:30 in the afternoon when I noticed that Chapman was singing to me from the speakers and not in real person in a dream. It’s weird how dreams sometimes blur into reality – like hearing a song in a dream and waking up hearing the song playing on a radio. Well, that’s what kinda happened. I wasn’t quite sure if it’s one of the galaxy’s cosmic jokes but a mass rally was taking place in Makati. I turned off my iPod switched on my TV and baaam, Lozada is again prophesying the fall of the president! He’s everywhere these days, I’m beginning to get sick seeing him. And no, I am definitely not a Gloria fan at all. Trapos are back in the main stage sneaking their own way to dance with the tune the masses in Manila are listening. Erap was there too, who by the waay was ousted by the same group of people who were there years ago. Thousands upon thousands went to the rally, Julius Babao said. Indeed, the Filipinos in Manila were again staging their outrage, their want to stop the corruption, their heed for the truth to come out, their call for the president to step down. What's new, I asked as if the television would rebutt. Meanwhile, the news progressed and Cebu was on the screen. This is fun, I thought. I turned the volume louder as if increasing it would make me absorb the news faster. The reporter said more than a thousand were participating in a rally at Fuente Osmena. The angle the video was shot as shown on prime time news seemed like there were more than just a thousand. Flags were waving, candles were lit and interminable cussing of the president could be slightly heard. Well, the Filipinos in Cebu must be really waking up, I reckoned. After that news, I slipped on my pants, wet my hair and splashed a little water on my face because I had to go to Ayala. Funny enough, Ayala is two rides away from where I live so I had to stop by Fuente. When I got there,I was surprised at what I saw. Television can really magnify things ten folds. There weren’t a thousand people demonstrating at Fuente, there were around two or three hundred of them– and that’s even a hefty approximation. They sang the famous revolutionary song Bayan Ko. I stood by for a few minutes watching the group. Looking around, people were passing by as if nothing was happening. People were jaywalking, taking advantage of the traffic the group caused. If an amateur singing contest was hosted at another corner of the Fuenete Osmena Circle(if you've ever heard of a corner of a circle), you would’ve guessed which group would gather a lot more audience. A few moments after the music ended, I took on my jeep that would take me to Ayala where more people were oblivious from the chaos there was in Fuente or Makati. People were busy shopping. The atms were lined up with yuppies. The fastfoods were packed and life went on for the Cebuano like an ordinary day. An ordinary day except it was payday and its extra happy shopping day for most.

Heading back home, I thought most Cebuanos do not share the same views of what we see on TV.We here dow south choose to be silent because we refuse to be part of a cycle that people in Manila are so obsessed with. It offends us that they go on with changing presidents single-handedly without the opinion of the rest of the country. We are Filipinos to, you know. It doesn’t mean we believe GMA is innocent. It’s just that the game imperial Manila is playing doesn’t suit us well. People down south can very well stage as large a protest as Manila can but what’s next? What’s in store for us? What difference would it make? Who will run this country?One of those boogie-dancing politicians? At the end of the day, we ask, what's new really? This whole hoopla happens evry EDSA anniversary, Labor Day, Women's Day, Rizal Day, AIDS Day. Meaning, it happens all day round we have acclimatized to it. Down here, it suits us better to remain silent and go our own way and entertaining ourselves with the drama of the politicians on TV who should be doing better by helping the people of Samar and Leyte who were hit by a typhoon than wasting their time marching the streets with nothing accomplished but gimmick and grandstanding. What I’m saying is, we here down south also have a story to tell. We are also part of weaving this country’s history. We may be silent but it doesn’t mean we don’t care – we simply refuse to be used.

I can vividly remember what exactly I was doing while people were trying to oust Gloria. I was with my teammates bumping cars.