Islands of Shoal

By Rolo B. Cena

It may just be a group of tiny islands that nestles in a marina where the South meets the West, but for some group of noble men there is more to this uninhabited domain that meets the eye. 

For ordinary Filipinos, it’s a road less travelled; for thrill-seekers, it’s paradise unhurt by human spoils; but for head of states, it’s a priceless possession no country could afford to lose.  The islands are just as compellingly beautiful as they are geo-politically and economically important.  

This group of beautiful islands is more than just geographic markers in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea – depending on whom you talk to.  However this has truly become islands of shoal.  

Before any unforgiving conspiracy theories speckled the Internet, two presidents met in 2016.  A beautiful romance then blossomed that the sleeping-tiger-no-more committed to assist the once-great-Asian-country in the pretext of economic aids and infrastructure support programs.

Then we were bullied.  In the guise of fishing expeditions, these porcelain-colored men established permanent shelters that later became their military outposts.  We rallied to condemn these acts against our sovereignty yet our leaders’ responses were just too spineless to signal a stronger protest.  Yes, we can’t afford war this time and it’s for that reason that our leaders prefer to send diplomatic protests instead. 

Then there was silence; the surrounding seas of this tiny group of islands exhibited their pristine atmosphere once again.  The UN High Tribunal ruled that, in layman’s term, the disputed group of islands is ours, at least, on paper. 

And there comes another and different specie of bully!

Complicating the issue is the oriental virus that hit and almost crippled the world, economically.  Their experts produce vaccines, and so the rest of the world’s superpowers.  As a frail third world country, we await for at least a grace of free shots from superpowers that have the capacity and ability to donate vaccines to underprivileged third world.  

As beggars cannot be choosy, we resorted to accepting donations stamped with a Trojan horse sent directly to our doorsteps. The value is declared but the price tag attached to these boxes of vaccines we knew nothing about:  It could be loss of lives, loss of sovereignty, or anything that we just don't know. 

Recently, more than a hundred ships of crouching militiamen aroused the world when they stationed in the shoals.  Our countrymen barraged the Palace to act on it to protect our sovereign rights over these shoals.  Foreign Affairs sent our strongest of protests yet, again on paper. 

Behold, the shoals: A land mass partly submerged under the treacherous blue-green waters whose topographic depth and terrain, and geo-politic and cultural complexity we know nothing about unless the water level reduces, or geo-political heat subsides.  Arguably, this tiny group of islands could hide abundant risks and dangers of various creatures of tyrant breed, difficult to appreciate and see.  

Wow, these islands of freedom are drifting ethereally farther off our western sea, closer to the southern tip of a landmass where tigers sleep no more!  Ironically though, this drift is not due to global warming but to a political climate change. 

And truly, we cannot just sit down and cross our arms and watch others command and dictate our fate for us.  The world shifts now like it did. He should fix it.  He should pivot and make a decisive action now or never will this group of islands be ours again! 

He should decisively navigate us to these shoals, as the captain of the ship!

What Social Media Don't Tell You!

By Rolo B. Cena

Correct me if I am wrong!  Nowadays, a click of a button will allow us to see things we want to know, or in some cases, want to have.  While the value for money may be debatable, it doesn’t matter anymore as long as the sensation of being “in it” satisfies the cravings.

In a 2003 documentary “Living with Michael Jackson” by Martin Bashir, the King of Pop predicted that the Internet and social media would ruin the society.  Fast forward 2021, this prophetic view appears to be graphically unfolding in our realm, and take note - mostly in a bizarre and disturbing manner.

In the pre-Internet era, one way of getting connected with people was by postal mails.  If you are miles away from home, surely you’d get mails after a week or two, depending on which part of the globe you are in.   

Undoubtedly today, the fastest way to communicate is through the social media.  The process is as simple as clicking the Add, Follow, or Connect button and you can stay close by.   I wonder if you are already connected with the 73 million Filipino social media users.  Wow, that’s a lot!  

Seriously however, this privilege of getting connected poses the risk of linking with people whose interest may be solely for stalking, preying, or taking advantage of the weakness of their connections.  And experts say that a significant number of the users are prone to these behaviors.  

Take this most recent case:  A medical doctor’s Facebook account was hacked and was taken over by scammers.  Using his Messenger account, the scammers solicited funds from friends of the medical doctor, who only knew about the scam when people started calling him to confirm receipt of the fund transfers.  

And here how it goes:  I can create a post, edit it if I need to, and post.  Instantly, I am in the platform and I can invite my contacts to like, comment and share my post. Ergo, I become an instant sensation, at least, for that particular post.  But what I may have missed is the effect of my post to other people, or even to the community, which could even be greater, or could be blown out of proportion.   

“Kung sa classroom may batas,“ I believe all users should also be guided not just by cyber security laws but by the consequences of the darker side of social media as well.  For example, posting some pictures of our young adult children may give unsuspecting predators to turn these pictures into pornographic materials.  

Recently, Senator Win Gatchalian reported that from March 1 to May 24, 2020, a total of 279,166 online child sexual exploitation cases were reported in Metro Manila alone compared to 76,561 of the same period in 2019. 

Every user must strongly take note that there isn’t backspace, undo or delete function anymore once a post has landed, or in entertaining another user online.  It only takes less than a split second to post, or share, or even screen-shot a post while it takes months or years to correct a post gone wrong.

In 2018, the Philippine National Police reported that cyber libel tops among the cyber cases on hand.  Late last year, Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray rushed to the office of the National Bureau of Investigation to file libel and other appropriate charges against a suspect who allegedly circulated her edited nude photos online.  

Undeniably, Internet users have benefited tremendously from the use social media. For one, it makes works easier; two, it makes communication faster; three, it connects families and friends across miles of distance quicker, and a lot more across a universe of freebies ready to be availed of anytime.  

On the contrary, thousands of trolls are dispersed around the Internet space or social media world trawling for issues to magnify and amplify their narratives.  These ethereal creatures are either paid for by their handlers, usually politicians or conspiracy theorists, or simply to increase their engagement.  They are self-proclaimed influencers who come out of nowhere to make wrong the right, nullify logic, or prettify the ugly.

Millions enjoy the benefits of the Internet and the social media but a significant number suffers.  And while you may argue that the good outweighs the bad and the ugly sides of the Internet and the social media, still that makes the whole thing entirely defective. 

Albert Einstein must have been right when he enunciated:  “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”  Surely, no one can stop you from doing it.  But next time you click, like or share, please think twice!

A Pack of Summer

By Rolo B. Cena

I love summer that when it comes, I become so overjoyed.  I always imagine how the sun blends with the cool, blue-green waters of the infinite sea, and how they together caress the vast sand of the asymmetrically carved shoreline.  Without a doubt, it’s the best time of the year.  

I love watching how summer tide rises and rushes to shore.  Usually, it happens in the morning when summer sun rises from the sea, out of the horizon, where the sea meets the sky.  I so love it that it’s become a personal habit hard to break.  

Summer has a lot of freebies to offer:  Parents arrange picnic blanket on the sand with foods and drinks on top, while local kids are climbing up the bent, sea-leaning coconut trees to plunge into the blue-green cool waters, under the prickly heat; adult companies playfully swim on top of their joyful bliss chitchatting with friends and family members.  The shore becomes a vibrant world of its own, a masterpiece even surrealist Picasso’s brush missed to capture.

Across the street, two bougainvillea foliage of several meters apart, that seem to guard centuries-old rustic steely gate, copiously throws its best red of petals like never before while neighbor’s orchids hang rhythmically like young butterflies dancing sweetly in the summer wind.  These are sights so regal that summer could not come and go without one of them unfolding. 

In a nearby park, lovers decorate the thirsty grassy meadows accidentally shaved by dozens of them taking gala seats under white lampposts, shortly beneath the glare of the pale yellow moon.  You’ll see some of them thriving in thickly planted areas for cover against preying eyes of fudgy friends and neighbors, and most importantly, escaping from parents’ scourging, rolling eyeballs as well.

From a distance, powder-gold sun that peeps over the grassy hill slowly breaks the morning air that suddenly the world smells of flowers, bee-honeys, butterfly-nectars, and sweats of summer boys and girls giggling like poppies in the field.

Truly, life is authentically bubblier during summer.  It’s as lovelier as spending it by the sea, or encamping in its inviting pebbly, sandy beaches with an array of fresh fruits, a medley of seafood characters, grilled chicken and pork adobo with matching hanging rice sans diet measures and restrictions - you can’t ask for more.  But these are just entrée; the main course is absolutely the sand, sea, and sun! 

However summer can also be strange: An oriental looking lad, in her pair of summer wears, holding a floral umbrella over her while dipping chest-deep in the waters.  Oh, your spirit could just be laughing out loud.  What a good way to protect your skin, though!

Or, weirder:  A young girl in beige pajamas swimming by the shoreline chaperoned by a male adult swimming with his jacket donned.  It’s literally the old taking care of the young from a risky, treacherous summer waves, under the spikey heat of the sun!  Bizarre indeed but what a childish version of swim-in-the-sea-but-protect-your-skin drama, lolz!

Watching summer in full spectrum every day is such a delight. It relaxes my physical body, inspires my spirit, and wholeheartedly moves me.  It gives me a fresher outlook as it offers a brand new perspective.  

But summer is more than just what the sand, sea and sun could offer.  Some articulates that life begins with summer while still others proclaim that summer is life.  In a time and age where the fast and the furious stubbornly happens so quickly, summer is where newer life springs, newer beginnings blossom:  Sort of a puppy love blooming into first love, a failed old romance rekindled, or, an aborted timeworn plan revived.  It’s some sort of a perfection of thought!

And there you are!  Whatever qualms you have about summer, Ralph Waldo Emerson asserts:  “Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink in the wild air” because he just wants you to enjoy being you – the “newer you!”

One More Obituary

By Rolo B. Cena

It was such a familiar yet horrifying and heart-quenching scene – that Myanmar protests.  Yes, again!  They marched along the streets demanding for the release of their democratically elected leader who was jailed after the military staged a coup over alleged electoral fraud.  They were tear-gassed, water-hosed, beaten, and shot.

By Rolo B. Cena

Hundreds of freedom-loving protesters died.  Their quest for a better life was aborted using their own lives as pawned warfare, a collateral to something more bizarre and horrendously bigger and more damaging drama.

It happened already, I mean, I have seen these erratically disturbing scenes before.  These were so familiar that they caused shivers down my spine.  It can happen elsewhere; it can happen in a country we least expect.  It can even happen anytime in a land that’s believed to be free, such as our own.  

Yes, they died!  And along with them died three more persons in the history of their kind:  Misters Freedom, Justice, and Humanity!

Mister Freedom is he who embodies an open ideology free from yellow ribbons, red tags and gold labels.  He characterizes an unrestrained mobility, action and disposition free from malicious interpretations of speeches, unfounded accusations of being subversive elements, and irresponsible tagging as enemies of the state.  He represents his countrymen to an intelligent and respected platform that loves bolder ideas, establishment of free zones, institution of gender equality and inclusivity, and espousing a softer culture.

Sadly though, Mister Freedom died with them.  And more of his kind would die anytime, anywhere if greed would continue to become the staple in every political dining table. 

Mister Justice personifies an incorruptible earthly creature unwilling to trade impartiality with gluttonous money, truth with insatiable power, and noble rendition of verdicts with salacious fame.

But what an unfortunate time we have here, Mister Justice’s one precious life was terminated abruptly.  Believe me, more and more of his genes would die anytime, anywhere if lust would continue to thrive within the thrones of avaricious men.   

Simply put, Mister Humanity is he who he is:  He breathes life the way it should be, lives it without stingy human frills, free of bias and ill feelings, and without discontent.  He embodies the likeness of his master whose dictum is a simply toned music for the soul and the living.

But then again, such was a tragic moment when the noble life of Mister Humanity was abruptly ended just because men of different kind cannot handle defeat, truth, and liberty.  So much mourning has been offered but more would come, as more of them would be annihilated if notoriety would continue to devour the noble race.

And oh, that scene I mentioned earlier, it can happen anytime; it’s not too farfetched. I have seen signs and continuously see them time and again.  Yes, in a land so close and familiar to us:  Ours!

Behold, games of thrones did, do, and will happen anytime, right in our ordinary realm.  Personification, just like pure metaphors and other figures of speech and colloquial tongues, may be a source of truth.  Surely, there’s always unspoken truth behind every word and hidden meaning between spoken lines.

Self-proclaimed influencers, whom social media realists call trolls, and who are coming from all directions, attack and kill:  They mow the truth to randomly kill freedom; scythe logic or defy legal canons to slay justice; and spear morals and morality to unwittingly assassinate humanity.  Truth be told, these trolls are paid for all the lies and misinformation they spread, just like those men in uniform who protect sacred chambers and control picket fences for their tyrant rulers.

As of even date, too many have suffered from prejudices and injustices.  In the name of greed, scores have died trying to defend freedom, uphold justice and sanctify humanity.

Myanmar is only a place in space, a place so easy to be replicated anywhere.  Too bad, millions could be jailed, persecuted and killed anytime.  Rest in peace Misters Freedom, Justice and Humanity!