Saturday, July 8, 2006
Friday, July 7, 2006
GABRIELA
It pains me to read what some of my friends have written about GABRIELA. Some say these women are misled. Some say they are a nuisance. Heck, some even say that they are deranged. If you ask me, I’ll tell you these women are enlightened. They are necessary members of our society. Heck, they may even be one of the sanest groups out there. First off, let’s not judge a group just based on their street-shouting prowess. Gabriela is, first and foremost, genuinely pangmasa – comprising of women from various sectors of society and working to uplift and improve the general masses’ condition. Many of its members are educated women. So where do you come off saying that they know nothing or that they are just attention-seekers that’s why they keep marching down the streets at the slightest provocation. Think! Ask the little vain person inside you why they would risk skin cancer by staying under the sun too long? It takes guts and determination to initiate rallies. Pabaga ug nawong as some would say. Why risk the humiliation? Because, it is not just for publicity’s sake or whatever self-serving purposes you may come up with. It is for the sake of the toiling masses. You ask why Gabriela and the rest of these cause-oriented groups latch on to every issue and blow it out of proportion? It is not because that is their nature. It is because they believe that these issues have deep-lying roots, roots that need to be addressed before these issues can be resolved! Where do you come off saying you’re better than these groups? What exactly have you done to alleviate our country’s suffering? I myself am ashamed to say I have done very little to deserve to be called an ex-Gabriela member. True, there are lots of ways to help. But saying that Gabriela isn’t helping is an outright lie! What about all the women who have benefited from the educational programs of the group? The victims of injustice who have received legal assistance from the group? The nanays whose livelihood was immensely improved with the group’s help? Don’t these count for anything? Let’s be realistic. Apathy is just as bad as tyranny. If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem! I don’t mean to be preachy. I hope you get my point from all these gibberish. Let’s make our contribution to society. And I don’t mean paying our taxes coz we know where our taxes go – straight into the grimy pockets of our corrupt politicians. Let’s work for the betterment of our society. Do your part and I’ll do mine.
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist throwing that in! hehehe)
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