‘Five decades ago, the Philippines was under martial law, which apparently had already confronted wicked problems that we have not solved up to now…’
S.O.N.A. Summoning Of Nifty Animation? The cosplayers and anime enthusiasts did gather recently at the Anime and Cosplay Expo (ACX-Your Isekai Re: Born adventure continues) where they shot photos with Katiecakey, Pomponmy, the 5th Dimensional Magical Girl Kirakirakat, among others, at the All-Star Avenue.
S.O.N.A. State Of Nation. Again. Eight decades ago, the Japanese who visited the Philippines were not cosplayers or anime creators but fascist invaders: “Premier Tojo paid a surprise visit to the Philippines a second time. He came from Thailand and Singapore (now Syonan) where more serious matters called for his presence. Officially, all he did was annex four provinces to Siam and organize a Hindustan army to fight against the Anglo-Americans and free themselves from the British yoke. He made a stopover of a few hours in the Philippines on his way back to Tokyo, called a Cabinet meeting and gave them a talk on pacification, cooperation and other trifles. That was all, it seemed.” [Diary of Juan Labrador, O.P., July 12, 1943]
S.O.N.A. State Of Nation. Amnesty. Seven decades ago, the Chief Executive performed what he considers an honorable act: “Malacañan released the names of 437 prisoners granted executive clemency by the President on the occasion of the 7th anniversary of the Republic. Of the 437 prisoners pardoned, 114 are Japanese war prisoners and 323 are Filipino prisoners who were convicted by the People’s Court and various courts of first instance of the Philippines, of treason and other offenses involving collaboration with the enemy during the Japanese occupation. In extending executive clemency to the Japanese war prisoners, the President was motivated by humanitarian motives and the fostering of early restoration of normal relations between the Philippines and Japan, Malacañan explained.” [Official Month in Review: July 1953. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines]
S.O.N.A. State Of Nation. Aghast. Five decades ago, the Philippines was under martial law, which apparently had already confronted wicked problems that we have not solved up to now: “Malacañan Palace. Manila. There is a need to reorient the policies of the military as well as the civil government. The Armed Forces has slipped back to its old policy of dividing its strike forces and being held to a stalemate by the rebels. This is true in the Sabak. From fighting in Cotabato, Basilan and Pata Island Sulu. As well as in Sorsogon. We have not been able to liquidate the areas of resistance over a period of months. We must give this priority, the prompt proper utilization of combat personnel and concentration of forces must be reinstated to its primary status. And the bureaucracy in the civil government is shocking. It must cut down the red tape, the keeping of files and documentation of routine action. More use of the telephone and direct conversation will save time and resources. The slow reaction to the rice crisis is an object lesson.” [Diary of Ferdinand E. Marcos. July 15, 16, 1973 Sunday and Monday]
S.O.N.A. State Of Nation. Alienated. Six decades ago, Filipinos were figuring out the role of foreign investments in their economy: “Today, alien capital has been barred from the retail trade. This is not so in the case of mining where the goodwill that was born from a sense of local investment participation gives assurance that foreign capital shall always be welcome in this particular area of economic activity.”
“In the case of the nationalization of the retail trade, it is further significant that same was certified by no less than the late President Magsaysay whom no one can accuse of having been an ultra-nationalist. But even a leader of such liberal and tolerant temper, as he was, could not resist the tide of an aroused national sentiment that was directed against an alien capital because it gave to the public an image of a type of investment that sought to dominate a segment of our economy.”
“The Philippine response to the basic fact of the retail trade, prior to its nationalization, is no different from the reaction which the American people would surely have if they were to wake up one day with the discovery that their mining industry has fallen into the hands of French investment, or that their steel industry is under the control of Italian syndicates, or that their banking business has been under the dominance of Israeli financiers.” [https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/07/12/speech-of-president-macapagal-delivered- before-the-American-chamber-of-commerce-at-its-43rd-anniversary-dinner/]
S.O.N.A. State Of Nation. Arrested. Four decades ago, despite the lifting of martial law: “the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus remains suspended in the two autonomous regions of Mindanao and in all other places with respect to persons at present detained as well as others who may hereafter be similarly detained for the crimes of insurrection or rebellion, subversion, conspiracy or proposal to commit such crimes, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, inciting to sedition…or in connection therewith, such as but not limited to offenses involving economic sabotage, illegal assemblies, illegal associations…” In fact: “The President may also issue a preventive detention action against any person or persons whose arrest and detention is, in his judgment, required by public safety as a means to repel or quell the existing rebellion in the country.” [Presidential Decree No. 1877-A, s. 1983]
S.O.N.A. State Of Nation. Anti-Terrorism. Two decades ago, the Commander-in-Chief “likened the quiet preemptive strike being done by the tanods in their respective areas to the efforts of the Customs officials who recently intercepted a shipment of imported explosives.” President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took the occasion (the swearing-in of the new batch of Barangay Tanods who completed the first part of the government’s Barangay Tanod Professionalization Program) to direct Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jose Lina, Jr. to make sure that all witnesses in the escape of Indonesian terrorist Fathur Roman Al-Ghozi would be given protection and all pieces of evidence preserved for presentation to the Presidential Fact-Finding Commission. [The President’s Day: July 22, 2003. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines]
S.O.N.A. State Of Nation. Apathy. Ten years ago, the President bewailed: “But let us be honest: Even today, there are still those in government who seemingly refuse to change. It is disheartening to discover the depth and breadth to which they have branched out in the bureaucracy; the moment we look away, someone is sure to be taken advantage of and victimized. The time has come to name names: we have repeatedly admonished the Bureau of Immigration to improve their watch over our ports and airports…How could the escape of the Korean Park Sungjun–as blatantly seen in CCTV footage– have taken place?
He is wanted in (South) Korea, and their government asked for our assistance in securing his arrest. How can we face them now, when our own government employees are the ones who enabled his escape?” [https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/07/22/english-benigno-s-aquino-iii-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-july-22-2013/]
