Pet Melliza

By then, angry Yrong-Yronganons no longer have the necks of the culprits to grab and throttle. By then Datu Saripada Agwak, Rise-Rise and their burloloys at the Consejo de Jalo who had lent hands in these broad daylight robberies shall have migrated to the Great Beyond - either the Heavenly Bliss in Paradise or the Eternal Damnation in Hell. Prefarably the latter. The camp of Datu Saripada Agwak that includes his progeny-successor Rise-Rise and the majority of the Consejo de Jalo de la Ciudad de Yrong-Yrong, are over-simplifying the ruckus at the Iloilo Terminal Market into us-or-them, the "legal" vendors who are residents of Yrong-Yrong versus the "illegal"  ones who reside in the towns. "Them" are the problems whose economic activiities hurt "us" the legitimate vendors. That over-simplification which aims to divide-and-rule and weakens the vendors as a sector though it flies from reality and divert public attention from real issue. The core of ...

This retired foolitiko whose name had been dragged in the porkbarrel imbroglio in the time of Noynoy Anoki just made a wave today in Yrong-Yrong rallying support for SM Prime Holdings and the dynasty of Datu Saripada Agwak and his protegee-successor Rise-Rise who will be remembered and condemned from generation to generation for handing it on a silver platter the Central and Terminal Markets, two premier real estates of the people of Yrong-Yrong spanning nearly 4 hectares. Displaced transient vendors or bolanteros have been up in arms after a series of nightly raids, timed when they are about to display their goods (fresh fruits, vegetables and fish) for sale. The raids were pulled off by bandits disquised as operatives of the Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) backed up by battle-ready PNP regulars and SWATs. The bandits stole their wares (including a slingbag containing driver's license, other IDs and cash from a bolantero. According to the marauders, the vendors committed ...

  Nag-umpisa na black propaganda pangkat nanday Rise-Rise. Short of red scaring, may nakasulod kuno iban nga grupo, indi man mga vendors, nga nagasol-sol sa mga vendors nga makigbato. That's what happens when you push people harder against the wall. The sustenance vendors have nowhere else to go after having been displaced, that is, deprived of their traditional livelihood as "bolanteros" or itenerant vendors. They were not stealing or pocketing people's taxes: they only want to resume making an honest and dignified living. Rise-Rise should be the first to know of that from his progenitor Datu Saripada Agwak, who in his youth was arrested and jailed twice by the Marcos dictatorship. Despite that, he went on fighting. This is the same Datu Saripada Agwak who has started the logs rolling by handing over the people of Yrong-Yrong's prime jewels spanning nearly four hectares -- the Central and Super markets -- for a song to SM Prime Holdings. How much does SM Prime H...

The flying kalubay at the confrontation between city bureaucrats and diplaced vendors at the Super Market fielded by Rise-Rise, progeny-successor of Datu Saripada Agwalk the Mayor Domo of SM Prime Holdings, signaled the start of resistance against Mayor Domo's singular act of de facto handing over the Super and Central Markets to the conglomerate stock, lock and sinker. The missile flung by an irate vendor hit an enforcer of the Local Economic Enterprise Office (LEEO) which was created to serve the people of Yrong-Yrong but mutated into Quinta Columna as devised by Mayor Domo and Rise-Rise: protect SM Prime Holdings from competition posed by sustenance traders. Before the sell out, bolanteros customarily delivered products whole sale to stall holders inside the public markets. They sold the rest of their deliveries along the perimeters. That was no problem; it might have slowed down traffic but neither drivers nor pedestrians grumbled against that because they all benefited from t...

  When Datu Saripada Agwak handed over two premier real estate properties of the people of Yrong-Yrong to his lord and master for a song, SM Prime Holdings, he neither had the welfare of consumers nor of small vendors, especially the ambulant ones, in mind. The ordinance in the guise of traffic management, prohibiting ambulant vendors is hatched for that, that is, ban small entrepreneurs from making a living on one hand, and on the other, ensure super profits to his lord and master (which is also the lord and master today of his progeny and successor Rise-Rise) -- SM Prime Holdings. No, Datu Saripada Agwak contrived of that more sinister plot than in cahooots with SM Prime Holdings, that is, displace, cripple and destroy small entrepreneurs who make honest living at the Tienda Mayor (Central Market) and Terminal Market (Super Market), both of which are now in the firm clutches of SM Prime Holding which the "contract of lease" describes as "lesee" but in reality, is...

The picture below was taken at the time when Black Friday or Viernes Santo devotees poured out to the streets at around 4-5 pm and wound back to church at 6-7 pm. After that, a vigil followed until midnight. Next midnight, the Mater Dolorosa and her Crucified Son "met" for some sort of "buklas lalaw" where the sorrowful mother's veil is lifted. The deep purple veils of sorrow shrouding all "santos" in the church including the Crucified One, is pulled down and communal worship begins where the minister blesses not only water and oil but as well, all means that makes lives of worshippers abundant. Pardon this repetition, the anticipated rise of the Crucified One, heralds fresh life prompting worshippers to bring samples of their seeds and tools of production that include but not limited to paray, mais, mongo and other beans, etc. brought to church for blessing. In my yonder years as acolyte, the tools dragged to worship included passenger vehicles, priv...