My mother cautioned me not to stand on top of a jeepney for the SONA rally tomorrow. I replied through text that for big rallies such as the president’s SONA, trucks are used as staged. I also told her that I won’t be the emcee tomorrow (as if being an ordinary rallyist made me safer, hehe). I wanted to tell mother not to worry because I’m with two mothers right now. One is a mother of a martyr, the other a mother of a desaparecido. They both stayed overnight in our boarding house for it was too late to go home. One stayed in the other room, the other slept beside me. Both were very tired, they snored right away as they lay down. They left early in the morning to go home, get their things and come back to the office. They’ll be spending the night there on the eve of the SONA. Later in the afternoon, we prepared some food while others were preparing placards and the SONA effigy. It was the birthday of the desaparecido and her mother a few days ago. The cake had a happy birthday greeting which was followed by “Noynoy alis!” One guest asked how old her daughter desaparecido should have been by now. There was a long pause. I volunteered to answer. I know, for we were of the same age. After a while, the desaparecido’s mother asked me to massage her back. Her back was hurting since she she got on the bus and travelled to Manila for six hours. She gave me a liniment to use. I poured it on her back together with some baby oil which I keep in my bag. We were inside the room dedicated for files and documents of rights violations. Beside us was a tall filing cabinet. Each drawer was labeled EJK (extrajudicial killing), ED (enforced disappearance), Torture, Frustrated EJK. As I was gliding my palms on her back, I stared at the ED drawer. I just came back to my senses when she told me to put more pressure on her left shoulder blade. For the whole time I was massaging her back, she told me stories about her work as teacher and that she gets disappointed when things are not done, and not done on time. She said the schoolchildren are the ones to suffer when they are not able to do the tasks assigned to them. The work needs dedication, I answered. There should be commitment, she said. Then she fell asleep. The mother of the martyr called on the phone. She asked whether it‘s okay if she just come early in the morning for the SONA, and said she has finished preparing things to be brought to the SONA anyway. See you tomorrow then, I said. After that, my phone rang. Mother sent another text message. She said “ingat bukas!” again and all sorts of reminders. Mothers don’t stop worrying. The desaparecido’s mother woke up, and happily said her back pain disappeared after the massage. I just hope the pain of missing your daughter may disappear too, I said in my head. I find comfort in the idea that while their children were robbed away from them, we are here as their other children, and comrades too. I’ve never wanted Noynoy to be removed from power that much, until now. #SONA2014
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 13:12:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015