‘…how is the ochlocratic Republic of the Philippines now faring against the threats of organized crime, jihadist terrorism and predatory bureaucratism?’
BEFORE we get into the god-butchering gig, here is Odinson taking care of business: “As soon as Thor grasped it (Mií¶lnir) in his hand, he threw off his woman’s robes and stood out before the astonished giants. Then did the mighty Thunderer sweep down his foes, and many of the cruel frost giants were slain. Once more the sacred city of Asgard was saved from danger, for Thor was its defender, and he was careful never again to let his magic hammer be taken from him.” [Mary H. Foster and Mabel H. Cummings. Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology. NY: Silver, Burdett and Company, 1901]
Thor embodies the “principle of combat in the physical world…his victories are moral as well as physical…but he ought to be understood, also, in the larger sense of a god of cultivation and the order of nature, in opposition to the whole tribe of the Hrimthursar, frost-giants, mountain-giants, fog-enchantments, and the like sterile portions and retarding forces of the physical world.” [Annie Keary and E. Keary. The Heroes of Asgard: Tales from Scandinavian Mythology. NY: The Macmillan Company, 1909]
Thor was also a “U-boat wolfpack operation in the Norwegian Sea against the JW.58 convoy, 10 March/5 April 1944” (https://codenames.info/operation/thor/) as well as a Karl-Gerät (German self-propelled siege mortar) that was used in 1942 by Heavy Artillery Battalion 833 in the Schlacht um Sewastopol, while Thor’s Hammer was a Panzertod (105mm recoil-less gun firing 81.4mm sub-caliber projectile) as well as a fabled artifact that the Stormtroopers wanted to requisition as a Nazi weapon. “Himmler stated his belief that Thor’s hammer was ‘an early, highly developed war weapon of our forefathers’…demanded that Ahnenerbe’s team should ‘find all places in the northern Germanic Aryan cultural world where an understanding of the lightning bolt, the thunderbolt, Thor’s hammer, or the flying or thrown hammer exists’.” [https://www.history.co.uk/shows/lost-relics-of-the-knights-templar/the-nazi-hunt-for-holy-treasure-from-thor-s-hammer-to-the-holy-grail]
More thunder, circa WW2: “The two new great weapons in war are the aeroplane and the tank… restored for a period at any rate, the mastery of the offensive over the defensive on land. The Germans overcame the Low Countries and France at a mean speed of 25 miles per day, and in Russia, during the first month they averaged some 20 miles per day. This was by the use of highly trained mechanized formations supported by concentrated air power.” [Brigadier G.K. Bourne (British Joint Staff Mission, Washington, D.C.), “The Emerging Pattern Of Modern War,” Institute of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., July 8, 1942]
And the love? “In each of the United Nations, this is a People’s War… there is an underlying moral unity which transcends all divisions of class and creed and color…the ultimate test of Government is not the power of the ruler but the happiness of the ruled.” [Sir Clive Baillieu (British Representative on the Combined Raw Materials Board and Head, British Raw Materials Mission, Washington, D.C.), “The People’s War–The People’s Peace,” Institute of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., July 6, 1942]
As for K, we salute the “cagalang galang na Cataastaasang Catipunan” circa January 1892 that became the Kataastaasang Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan of 07 July 1892. This revolutionary organization in its foundational document explicitly listed the reasons for separating this Archipelago (Kapuluan) from the Mother (imperialist Spain) “who possesses her” as a colony. One of those reasons: “6. Allows our means of livelihood to be snatched away from us by any nation, above all by the Chinese, from whom we cannot learn or glean any enlightenment regarding decent behavior, but only trickery, thievery, and misery.” [“Casaysayan,” January 1892. Archivo General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5677, leg.1.37]
The Catipunan Covenant concluded: “We shall not allow her (Inang Bayan) to be subjugated again like she (Katagalugan) is now by any other Power who dares to invade us.” [“Pinagcasundoan,” January 1892. Archivo General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5677, leg.1.37] And on the 130th anniversary of the KKKANB, we reiterate: “The Supreme Catipunan is constituted forthwith, and will be the body that exercises sovereign power throughout the Archipelago.” [“Manga daquilang cautosan,” January 1892. Archivo General Militar de Madrid: Caja 5677, leg.1.37]
Celebrate, yes! But we must also evaluate: how is the ochlocratic Republic of the Philippines now faring against the threats of organized crime, jihadist terrorism and predatory bureaucratism? Our victories vis-a-vis Han chauvinism ought to be moral as well as material. Who will protect us from the fog-enchantments of imperialism? There shall arise a new Katipunan to combat the 21st century version of fascism.
