War on Fathers’ Day
ON Fathers’ Day (18 June) I was grieving for all the children whose fathers died at the Marawi front, in defense of our country’s territorial integrity. None of those warriors of the Armed Forces and the National Police are friends of mine, neither do I know their families, butI cannot help but weep at what is happening in Mindanao. What can we do to help? — a group of friends and I were asking each other. One of them who is already in touch with a volunteer group from Marawi said that women need veils and scarves to cover their heads, aside from food, medicines and clean water. Infants born in refugee centers need mothers’ milk.
On Fathers’ Day, thousands of people called radio stations to send their greetings to the fathers at the front, calling them heroes, expressing deep gratitude for sacrificing their lives so the rest of the country may live in peace. They are perhaps consoled by the fact that they are fighting for the future of their children. The continued public outpouring of sympathy, love and gratitude is evidence that during perilous times when lives are in danger; Filipinos are always ready to help each other. Significantly, Christians and Muslims are helping and protecting each other to survive, according to daily news reports.
In my humble opinion, the martial law imposed by President R. Duterte in Mindanao is not the same as that of the then Pres. F. Marcos simply because the latter’s ultimate objective was to remain in power for life. These are not ordinary times, the physical integrity of the Republic is threatened, so even if I did not vote for Pres. Duterte, I am ready to close ranks and rally behind him. The Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief need the support, even if only conditional, of all the citizens of this Republic. Let us not speculate about his health nor be alarmed when he has to take a few days off; even a president has to rest. He himself reminded us that there is a successor, Vice- President, Leni Robredo – so why worry? I doubt if he was being sarcastic, he was stating a fact.
A day before Fathers’ Day, I was at the National Museum of Fine Arts with a group of ladies, expats mostly, called the Museum Volunteers of the Philippines (MVP). They wanted me to guide them through the HOCUS exhibit at Gallery XXI of which I am guest curator. I explained that all 26 paintings are about the Patronato Real, the legal basis for the conquest and Christianization of this archipelago. Each painting is virtually a chapter of our Spanish colonial history, veiled in symbols and allegory that the viewer has to decipher.
One of the paintings is entitled, “Santiago Matamalayu”, the same terror of the Moors, Santiago Matamoros, but “matamalayu” because he is depicted as slaying Maranaos and Tausugs. As I explained that the early churches were like impregnable fortresses where people ran for refuge during Moro raids, it suddenly occurred to me that there are raiders again, not only of Christian coastal settlements but also of our Islamic heartland. With a cruel twist, history repeats itself.