Winslow's comment on the UP Speech

almighty alan, rich people and poor people,

i am very sure that mr cruz's mother is very proud of him.
but he is just reitierating the fact that everything here
in the philippines is damned. well, hahaha, the world is damned. it is damned with prejudices. it is damned with every form of inequalities. it is damned with discrimination. it is damned to be damned. it is truly, a beautiful speech. one that deserves a visit from a hotshot academician or whatever.
but it is only words. yeah, yeah we can go to multiple semantics of the power of speech and the magic of conviction. but after all is said and done, everything will be as it is. everything will still be damned. though the speech tells the truth, it is accepted as an ornament. a piece well deserving of recognition and applause.
a speech well deserving to be used to further the ambitions of individuals. a speech that will go to the archives, only to be remembered through mandatory memorization. a speech well written, and a good entry in the resume when applying for a job. that is all there is to it. after the
applause, the congratulatory remarks, the pat-in-the-butt, life will go on as it used to be. no, i take that back. life will go on with more pain, prejudices and inequalities. the world will still revolve to its
ultimate destruction. that's the way it is. in this finite world, we can only alleviate what we can. but we cannot stop ourselves from destroying what must inevitably be destroyed. we are all dying. sure, there are individuals
that will stand out because of their beliefs and works. but did they really do it to make the world a better place? or is it because there are nothing more that they can do? or maybe it's because these are the things that they do best? better yet, it probably is their means to survive.
life is all about survival. you take what you can get and make the most out of it. and yes, there are some who take more than what they need, but wouldn't you do the same thing? that's the nature of man.
this is the nature of life. might is right. those caught in between, must make the effort to survive and hope that someday they will also become powerful. i am one of those "classmates" who "lambasts". and i do it because it's the truth. if someone says the same thing to me and i know it's the truth, then i should do more to make myself
a better individual, even if it's society's standards. it will be painful, but so what!! if in the end it is useful, why cry like a baby!!! and if not, then junk it, why carry a burden. and what is the truth? the truth is, that
you will care for certain individuals, but that's because it makes you feel good. you will help other people, but that's because you feel redeemed from guilt feelings of some wrong deeds that you have committed in the past and have been buried in the deep crevices of the unconcious.
you will love someone because that someone will be better for you.
have you ever encountered a pair that stuck it out because they are bad for each other? in some degree or another there is something good for them that makes them want to stick it out. so what is the truth? the truth is "I", "Me", "Mine". it is a harsh reality, but would you
rather have none?
mr. cruz wrote a heart-warming,honest, and novel speech. i hope that his idealism and call for unity and solidarity will withstand the test of time. i really do hope so, for mine is lost in a labyrinth of tall buildings and office towers. it's cry has long since but an echo, flooded by the
crisp sound of power. the idealism that once burned in my heart is now replaced by the stinging coldness of lies. my education, once a tool in the search for truth, is now a weapon to protect "Me" from the lies.
but my life now is better. for i am accepting what the world is offering rather than demanding what i think it should offer. my passion now is to live the world,
not challenge it.

An Old UP Speech

This was from an old email forwarded to me in 2000. I then forwarded it to John Winslow III to get his comments. If he'll allow me (heck, even if he doesn't allow me) I'll post here, too, his reply. Maybe I can stir the pot here a little for some discussion.

The email goes:
This is something beautiful that you can share with all our friends. This piece was written and delivered by Joseph Nathan Cruz, BA English Studies: Creative Writing, Magna Cum Laude, CAL, UP Diliman.

President Nemenzo circulated this with the following remarks:

"Chit: This is beautiful and touching. Pls. make me a copy that I can show around. Send another copy to AVP Tet for publication in Forum. Can you arrange for him (Mr. Cruz) and his mother to see me. I thought of visiting them in the summer, but they might be embarrassed. Ito ba ang mayamang UP student na tinutukoy ni Osmena?"

Signed--Dodong.

Here's the speech:

Undersecretary Rosario Manalo, Dean Josefina Agravante, esteemed faculty, dear parents, fellow graduates, good evening.

Let me begin by saying that my mother is a domestic helper. In other people's homes she cooks, does the laundry, cleans the bathroom, and takes care of the infants. She put me through school doing that kind of work
because that was the only thing she could do. She never finished high school, never enjoyed bourgeois luxuries. And later tonight, we'll be going home to our hovel in a squatter area in Taytay, Rizal dubbed Coco Village because most of the houses are made of cheap, coco lumber. And yet,
few of my classmates know that. Most are comfortable with their neat picture of the world.
Comfortable with cute, little concerns in the university like projects and papers, reports, boyfriends and girlfriends, torn hymen, cheap thrills in the lagoon, concerts, cell phones, night lives. And in this age that
flaunts globalization and the advance of technology, we are led to believe more and more that we have entered an age of solidarity, unity, an age where there is inter-connection in a global village that continues to spawn genuine development for all mankind. Indirectly, it leads us to a complacency supported by the lie that the world is alright. After all, we feel alright. The pain and suffering exists somewhere out there to a few insignificant people.

I have walked among you. But lost in anonymity, I am assumed to be no different from anyone even by some of my friends. When I was a freshman, a close friend of mine enjoyed lambasting the squatter, the jologs, for their bad behavior, their bad smell, their propensity for breeding baby after baby whom they cannot support. My friend did not realize that I was from that background. He did not realize that I grew up watching my friends die of sickness, or get pregnant too early, or get injured or killed in petty street wars, or go to jail, or get resigned to the typical, monotonous lifestyle of the poor. And the assumption that everything is alright grows with the lie that we are more or less the same, that we are united, that the dawning new world order has started to bring the sought after solidarity.

But the right approach to true solidarity and unity is not one that denies difference, denies the pain of the oppressed just because it is not beautiful, or as our country's President says, "It is too depressing." The
right approach is to expose the truth, highlight the difference and work for its remedy.

For as long as there are poor people, Moros discriminated against, oppressed women, abused children, and multitudes of other categories consigned to the margins because they threaten the image of unity and stability that feeds the established status quo, there can be no true solidarity. But the creativity of the artist, the magic of their potent
images, the words of the men and women of letters---these have the power to transform, power to wake our people from the stupor that gives them dreams that are lies. Power to destroy myths and create a world that is beautiful and true.

Of course, the arts and letters can be used the other way. The way that sells out, aids corruption, subverts the potentiality of what is good. But will you?

As graduates we are in a phase that continues to taunt us with the question, "Who do you sell your brains to?" It is easy to be complacent. To believe the lies. But we shouldn't. We owe it to our teachers who taught us patiently despite the low salary, our parents who worked so
hard for us, and to our people whose blood and sweat built this institution and continue to put us through school. We owe it to them to become the prophets of this age that
will preach the true gospel of solidarity. Only then can we all be truly one in a world where it would make perfect sense to celebrate the fact --- squatter ako, katulong ang nanay ko---and we are proud because, and not in spite of, the fact.

I'm sure, all of us have issues about which we keep silent because of the power of the lies. This is the day to be free. I call on you----fellow scholars and artists, unite!

Happy Father's Day

Para sa mga KAD braders na tatay na...

isang mainit na pagbati ng Maligayang Araw ng Mga Erpats sa inyong lahat! Sana kayo ay maging mga huwarang magulang sa inyong mga dayunyor at little bebot. Hinay-hinay lang nang di masundan agad...tumaas na naman ang presyo ng gatas!