He grew up in Samar...the driver of the taxi cab I
rode to work proudly told me…Eastern Samar…here in Manila, he said, if you own
half an hectare of land, you are filthy rich…but in our place in Samar, he
continued, no matter how big a parcel of land we own, we were still poor…the
place was beautiful though…It has a rice field and we planted vegetables… it’s at
the foot of the mountain with a forest so beautiful…only, rebel groups,
particularly the New People’s Army (NPA) of the Philippines made that forest
their base… their leader’s name—Efren
Martirez… he was related to that basketball player and comedian Yoyoy or
Yoyong Martirez…bright kid that Efren and he was a professor of the University
of the Philippines, I think…but he was a wanted man in Eastern Samar because he
started the NPA in our province…I heard he had a nasty record…he killed 200
soldiers maybe more…Then the taxi driver paused…this was Marcos time…he even
tried recruiting my father…but my mother told us our father rejected the
offer…in as much as he would like to join the rebels, he would rather take care
of his family…I cannot be in the forest while my family here has nothing to
eat, my father told Efren…we were dirt poor, even my siblings back then walked the
streets barefooted and they had no clothes…the rebel leader did not pursue his
offer and just left our shanty in silence…for fear that he offended the head of
the NPA, my father decided to leave for Manila that very day…my mother borrowed
money for bus fare…a few days later, soldiers came to our barangay in Dolores…they gathered all the women…they showed no mercy they hit the females with the but of their armalite…they were cussing
and forcing them to admit that they are NPA…but they are not NPA…but the soldiers
don’t want to listen…they singled out my mother and asked her the whereabouts
of her husband…he’s in manila , my mother said….but the soldiers doesn’t want
to hear any of it…they called my mother a liar…then someone fired on the
grounds near my mother’s feet…It was the soldier’s leader…he yelled and said I
will count to ten and if no one comes forward, you will all be executed…the
women began to wail… the count started…1, 2, 3,…even the kids and all villagers
watching cried…4, 5, 6, 7…on 8 a man rushed to the scene and said –not her…the
man was an armed civilian, similar to the CAFGU of today…Efren tried to recruit
her husband but said no…catching his breath
he added, the husband is in Manila…that saved my mother’s life but the
counting continued…8,9…then a woman stood up and said ill do it, my husband is
there in the forest...immediately that woman was dragged…next thing people know
she was wearing those military fatigue and was taken to the forest…they said
gunfire erupted and lasted for almost two hours…and according to witnesses
before the battle ended Efren was seen charging…he fired the Thompson he was
carrying at his enemy while yelling you sons of bitches you are all marcos’
puppets..we’ll die together…Efren was heavily wounded and died in that
gunbattle…when the dust settled around 40 soldiers and more than 70 rebels were
dead…but the story does not end there…all the villagers were rounded, their
hands tied…the soldiers declared our area no man’s land…each villager was
attached to a long rope and was taken to the town proper…even kids were tied to
the rope…crossing the raging river, my mother had to pull me up by the hair to
keep my head above the water..I was just two years old when that happened. I
told the taxi driver I was surprised he knows the story by heart. To this he replied, that NPA Commander helped
my mother give birth to me. (By: Ramona Nieva)
Nakaka blues naman... Para sa aming mga bata noon, simple lang ang buhay. Pag gising, may hilamos o wala, gagayak ka na sa panaderya. Bibili ka ng pandesal at mantekilya, kahit pupungas pungas pa. Bawal ang bumangon ng tirik na ang araw, at ang huling gigising ang siyang magliligpit ng banig, kumot at mga unan. Dahil sabado, pwede ka makinig ng radyo o manood ng TV. Pwede ka rin magpatugtog ng plaka. Isa si Olivia Newton John sa nagpaantig ng puso ko noon. Nalungkot ako una kong marinig yung I Honestly Love You. Isa yun sa maraming kanta na nirecord ko sa tape. Kasi noon, kung wala kang pambili ng songhits, ite-tape mo yung mga kanta, at pau-lit-ulit mong pakikinggan hanggang sa makabisa mo. Markado yung boses ni Olivia kaya naman nung lumabas yun Hopelessly Devoted at iba pang kanta sa Grease, laking pasalamat ko at nagka plaka kami nun pati nung Xanadu. May skating rink noon sa Luneta, swerte na napapasama ako sa mga ate ko noon. Tuwing tinutugtog iyun Xanadu, pakiramdam ko napak
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