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ang tipid naman.
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parang tawa.
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i love you.
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ZOOM IN
By JON JOAQUIN
jonjoaquin@skyinet.net

Countdown

Like most anyone else I woke up yesterday morning to the news that a coup had been launched in Makati City. We closed the Mirror the previous night with the news that a coup plot had been discovered and that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had ordered the leaders of the rebellion hunted. On my way home, at around 10 p.m., I received a text from Carol Arguilas, editor of MindaNews, saying a “coup story” was forthcoming, and I became alarmed: did the coup actually get mounted? I called home and asked my wife to check the television; apparently the latest was what we had already printed, and so I let it go at that. I slept rather uneasily, however, fearing that I had not heard the last of this coup plot.

As I write this there are only one and a half hours before the 5 p.m .deadline set by the President for the rebel soldiers to stand down. I fear the worst, especially after hearing Lieutenant Senior Grade (LTSG) Antonio F. Trillantes on TV saying their cause is worth fighting for and worth dying for. These are young men, younger than me, and while we can attribute their actions to the idealism of youth (who was it who said it is a pity that youth is wasted on the young?), I think what they have said deserves to be heard. The Mirror itself has reported on two of their allegations: that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) sells firearms and ammunition to rebel groups, and that the twin bombings in Davao City were staged by the government. Our story on the first allegation was based on statements by the New People’s Army (NPA) who said their primary source of firearms is the AFP, either through their agaw-armas tactic or by directly purchasing them from corrupt soldiers and officers. And according to MindaNews, MILF chair Salamat Hashim himself in 2000 said “most of their ammunition comes from the military.”

The second allegation was contained in a story by Jessie Casalda: “Experts from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Australia have reportedly concluded that the bombs used in the Davao bombings that left 38 persons dead and 190 others wounded were made of C4, a highly-sensitive, plastic high explosive usually used by the military for demolitions… A report appearing on a Bangsamoro website claimed the finding was disclosed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself during her meeting with civil society groups in Iligan and Marawi cities during her week-long visit to Mindanao.
She was quoted as saying that the bombings could have been the handiwork of a "third force.” …C4 bombs are usually found in military arsenals and western countries. Of course Jessie’s report added that according to research, C4 is “also a bomb of choice for terrorists.”

What is Magdalo? The significance of the name chosen by the rebel soldiers seems to be lost on many of us, including the media covering the events. “Magdalo” was actually the alias chosen by then Cavite el Viejo (now Kawit, Cavite) town mayor Emilio Aguinaldo when he joined the masons in January 1895. What does Magdalo mean? He apparently derived it from Mary Magdalene, the biblical character who was saved by Jesus from her sins. The rebel soldiers were thus invoking Aguinaldo in their rebellion, and as we all know Aguinaldo was one of the leaders in the revolution against the Spaniards and who became the first President of the Philippines on June 12, 1898. He was also the one who led the country in the war against the Americans when the Philippines was ceded to the US on December 10 of the same year.

Update: At around 4:30 p.m. President Arroyo extended the deadline for the rebel soldiers to surrender, so there’s no sense waiting for further developments as far as this column is concerned. Let me just end by praying that this all ends peacefully but that the grievances of the rebels – not their personal gripes but the core issues like the AFP allegedly selling arms to rebel groups and the government’s alleged role in the Davao City bombings – are not ignored but pursued. We owe it not to the soldiers holed up in Oakwood but to ourselves and the thousands who may have died needlessly.

nacoup, coup na naman. dioups coup poup!

dadai woke me up at 6 a.m. and told me something was going on. her mama had texted her and told her to turn on the tv, and when we turned on the tv we saw what was happening.

actually, what the plotters, led by Lt. Sg. Antonio Trillanes, was saying makes much sense to me. they charge that the armed forces of the philippines has been selling arms and ammunition to rebel groups (new people's army, moro islamic liberation front, and even abu sayyaf). they also charge that the davao city bombings were staged by the government.

the daily mirror has already reported on these two charges. i happen to believe them.

stay tuned.

so these will be my ramblings, and i cannot guarantee they'll be even half-interesting. i promise to try, though.

who am i? my full name is agapito monteloyola joaquin jr. i was born on february 28, 1966 in a hospital in manila (the name of which i cannot remember right now). i grew up first in caloocan city, then in tugatog, malabon (which was then a municipality but in my long absence has been turned into a city). i studied in notre dame of greater manila (elementary and high school) and the university of the philippines in diliman, quezon city (took up philosophy).

there are two events in my life that i consider my defining moments. the first was my father's death on july 19, 1981, which sent me on a search for meaning in my life which, in turn, led me to atheism. if there was a God, i thought, he sure has a funny way of hiding himself and causing me so much pain. the second defining moment was in a way caused by the first; they are certainly inter-related, and the second would not have happened without the first. on july 21, 1983, exactly two years and two days after my father died, i prayed to receive jesus into my life as my savior and lord.

about a week before that momentous day my blockmate and first college crush janet baclayon (now atty. janet villa) tried to share the four spiritual laws to me and another blockmate, antony (can't seem to remember his last name), but she decided to hand us over to joan ko since she ieltdshe couldn't handle us.

as it turned out, neither could joan. antony and i were too pilosopo and wouldn't listen. joan then handed us to joel dasalla, a staff member of campus crusade for christ (ccc), who then handed us to caloy peña (who's now president of far east broadcasting company). in all cases we wouldn't listen and gave them a hard time.

at the end of that ill-fated day janet lent me the book “evidence that demands a verdict” by josh mcdowell (i think the book belonged to her uncle). i read it hungrily, and on hindsight i think it was because i was hungry for God but didn't know it. it was a great book, and it answered my most important question: does God exist? the most compelling evidences are the prophecies in the old testament that were fulfilled in Jesus, especially Isaiah 53. isaiah wrote about 700 years before jesus was born, but he described what Jesus going to go through in such detail that it was impossible for him to know all these in advance without having someone tell him about them. who was this someone? God, i concluded, since only God could have known the future and revealed them to isaiah.

so there was a God. but why did he stand so far away from me? i spent the morning of july 21, 1983 with janet, talking about God and how much he loved me and that he wanted me to experience abundant life – if only i would receive him in my life. at around 9:45 p.m., at the as (arts and sciences) hill at palma hall of up diliman, i prayed to receive Jesus in my life. i have never been the same since.