adventures in neverland

(as a perfect companion for this piece, please read also:  http://adventuresinaforgottentown.blogspot.com/2014/09/memoirs-of-martial-law-baby.html while the whole barangay near the military camp where we used to live was busy decorating the streets, putting up those colourful banderetas, painting fences white, cleaning up the streets, politicians and their supporters were doing the opposite: ruining the sceneries by pasting and putting up posters, billboards with the ugly mug shots of their candidates. i used to hate this. that meant extra effort removing those billboards, or painting over those posters. admittedly, though, holding the elections during the fiesta season had its advantages: - raising funds to finance the beautification of the church, the holding of several masses, the parade wasn't a problem. even the cash prizes for the basketball tournament and other games were not a problem. politicians and their supporters were just too willing to ...

(as a perfect company for this post, please read my earlier post on martial law here .) "it was not merely the natural gift of a superior intellect that made him numero uno wherever he went. nor was lady luck the primary factor. in philippine politics, there are other politicos brighter and on the whole luckier than he. but ferdinand e. marcos has other attributes more effective and rewarding than just brains -- a will of steel, unflinching resolve and a passion for planning, planning, planning. it seems nothing ever happens to ferdinand e. marcos without his knowledge and consent." -- napoleon rama, staff member of the philippine free press, in an article published in january nineteen sixty- six, when the magazine named marcos its man of the year for nineteen sixy-five. )))))))))))))))))))))))) every major historical event in the philippines always has that jovial fiesta atmosphere -- the edsa revolution that led to the downfall of the twenty year plus iron rule o...