500 year old fiction

June 12 this year is the 123rd Anniversary of the Declaration of Philippine Independence. With the theme, “Kalayaan 2021: Diwa ng Kalayaan sa Pagkakaisa at Paghilom ng Bayan” (Spirit of Freedom in Unity and National Healing). It's been made more contentious by two other events.

It's also the year-long celebration that marks the Spanish and Filipino encounter in 1521. The 500th Anniversary has considerably divergent tales. As well as the year leading up to another presidential election come May 9, 2022.

image courtesy of nqc.gov.ph

Filipinos are immensely proud of our history of rebellion and revolution. Every Filipino child is raised knowing by heart the tale of Lapu-Lapu, the Mactan leader and hero who repelled and killed Magellan the foreign villain. 

Our local perspective proudly retells how we successfully fought off a foreign invader and foiled the attempt to subjugate and colonize us. This forms a strong and solid foundation for our national pride and identity - who we were before we were colonized. 

a hero of hope

November 30 is Bonifacio Day in the Philippines. Like much of our islands colonized history much of remains murky and controversial. As with Andres Bonifacio, aka Maypagasa - katipunero, revolutionary, hero - Father of the Philippine Revolution. 

Andres Bonifacio - graphic by Renz Bautista for Rappler Magazine

Was he really the first president of the Philippines? Was he unjustly killed by fellow rival Emilio Aguinaldo? After all we do have a long running history of jealous politicos killing their competition. 

a people united against oppressors

More and more communities recognize the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day - either as a joint celebration on Columbus Day or totally replace it. 

Those more conscious choose to acknowledge and honor the suffering of the colonized and not gloss over the injustices of the colonizer, especially those perpetuated by the contentious Christopher Columbus. 

Portrait of Chief Yalektit by Robert Shetterly, Americans Who Tell the Truth

Columbus may have formed part of a large narrative of American history, yet he remains emblematic to the beginnings of the mistreatment of native peoples, the indigenous slave trade, the usurpation of their lands, the deaths of their people, the destruction of their cultures, the destruction of their local way of life.

manifest dismantling

Listening in on the sound healing global summit for a few days now has been a mellowing experience. Today it is made more so by the soft light rain that has cooled off the bite of yesterday's aggravated heat. Dismantling the tension and rush of the past days.

This isn’t the only world that’s possible.

YES! illustration by Fran Murphy

This reminds me of an article I read - "Can we work less and save the planet too?" Its byline states, "Building a new world will require first reexamining - and dismantling - the cultural ethos of productivity that creeps into our lives every day."

Manifest Dismantling would purposefully undo the damage of Manifest Destiny by reckoning with productivity’s assault on the living world. Tearing down a dam would be an example of a creative act of Manifest Dismantling because it would facilitate the return of an ecological landscape.

The same could be said about the 70 border walls, or the nearly 700 miles of walls and barriers along the U.S.–Mexico border. Dismantling these would allow people to move without fear.

The saguaros and mesquite in the Sonoran Desert would grow back, and pronghorns, jaguars, and gray wolves could travel freely across borders.

It would also open space for a new vision to emerge, of a more equitable way to relate with each other and the living planet.