For want of a breath of fresh air

Based on his own pronouncements, justifications, statements, I'm trying to put myself in the Mayor's shoes. 

Although non-essential (i.e. leisure) inter-city travel is essentially still not allowed, with just a bit of a stretch, bringing his wife up to Baguio for some breath of fresh air could be justified as essential. It would definitely do her, having just beaten cancer, a lot of good after being holed up for the past few months in their house in San Juan. The summer heat may have been too much lately, despite their home's air-conditioning. 

So it's set, they're coming up to Baguio. Who's coming? The escorts. How many persons? 5? Alright. That's 5, plus the Mayor and his wife and their driver - 8. So who were the other 10? They would need to fix up the house here in Baguio, one or two helpers? Or maybe three? Who were the other 7? What was their reason for travelling? Unless, other than the five escorts, the mayor and his wife, were all helpers/employees brought up here to work on the house preparations - 11 persons, total, and all booked at the Baguio Country Club?   

Anyway, six cars and perhaps about 4 hours later, the convoy of 18 started climbing up Kennon Road. Wait, backtrack a little - was just wondering if there were checkpoints between San Juan and Quezon City, and then the entry point to NLEX, and then in Binalonan, Pangasinan or Rosario, La Union, and what happened there. 

Back tracking a bit farther - I'm sure they looked up the situation up in Baguio before deciding. Zamora would have known of the protocols in place. He would have relayed the same information to everyone in the entourage, including his escorts. He should have. He would have. He may have. We don't know for sure.  

Was there a meeting of some sort before heading out of San Juan? Given the circumstances, they should have been one, if only to at least remind everyone in the entourage that essentially, this particular trip isn't allowed, could be problematic because, well, the whole world is battling a pandemic. There will be checkpoints, they would need to present papers, authority to travel, health clearances, etc. It may not be the way things are in San Juan, but that's how it is in Baguio. 

He would have known that things were different in Baguio. The current Mayor, a retired general, has been known to be no non-sense kind of guy, one who walks the talk, one whose handling of the quarantine protocols and mitigation efforts have been earning praises all over. He must have also heard of the discipline that majority of the Baguio's citizens have shown.

I'm always the designated driver when traveling to and from Manila, so I hardly remember being in the backseat after four or five hours on the road and climbing up Kennon Road. But I understand if he were asleep - my wife and kids usually are. I've always had to stop for an extra cup of strong coffee at any one of the gas stations in Rosario just to get me through the last hour or so of driving. So if I were in the backseat of a car traveling to Baguio from Manila, I would probably be, or still be asleep by the time we get to Kennon Road.  

BUT... here's the big but - these are special times, special circumstances. Unless all that only applies to mere mortals and not to politicians. 

So, if I were in his shoes, as a responsible citizen and a Mayor, I would have:

1. Reiterated, over and over again, to everyone with me that just because I'm a Mayor does not exempt me, and the rest of us, from the law.

2. Out of respect for the citizens of Baguio and their Mayor and everything they stood and worked hard for, I would abide by the protocols that's been set for non-residents entering the city, considering that we're essentially tourists and the city is still closed to tourists.

3. Made sure I stayed awake, or at least woke up every time the convoy approached a checkpoint, and particularly the one at the entrance to Baguio, because as a Mayor, I would have known that I would need to be checked, processed, triaged before being allowed entry (with No. 2 above in mind).

He said he was asleep and had no idea that his police escorts did what they did - ignore the checkpoint and everything that checkpoint stood for. 

So when they got to Rosario, nobody tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Sir, Rosario na po tayo..." ? Or maybe halfway up Kennon Road? "Sir, malapit na po tayo sa checkpoint ng Baguio." Nobody? Not one of the other 17 in any one of those six cars? Let's say nobody did, doesn't that just seem to tell us that there was no explicit instruction from the top man in that group, the Mayor, to strictly follow protocols, rules, the law (!) that at least made somebody think, "malapit na tayo sa Baguio, sabi ni Sir, kailangan nating sumunod at kailangan tayong i-triage at pumirma ng mga papeles sa checkpoint, gisingin ko na siya" ?

And if there were clear instructions from him to respect Baguio's quarantine protocols, and still it was ignored, ang lakas naman ng loob ng police escort na yun to disobey a direct order from the VIP he's escorting. Even if they did go against what the Mayor would've wanted them to do, granting he did intend to follow protocols, out of their own sense of entitlement, and deserved the consequences of their actions, command responsibility still does not absolve the Mayor, who was (again!) travelling against IATF-set rules.

And if they're taking the blame for all this, out of a sense of loyalty to the Mayor, or whatever other considerations, and are now jobless, then I feel really sorry for them.   

 

Just as I felt sorry for those policemen at the Kennon Road checkpoint - they have stopped hundreds, if not thousands before Zamora at that same spot. Because they had a job to do - keep the city and its citizens safe. They've stood there at the front lines for months. They've heard all the possible alibis, and they've stood their ground. Because it's their job, it's their responsibility. They've must have turned down a senior citizen begging to be let through, a mother or father whose quarantine pass did not show the correct day of the week, perhaps a worker who didn't have all the necessary papers. They must have even known some of these people personally - a neighbor, an old classmate, but rules are rules, they wouldn't want to be the ones to put to waste all the efforts that everyone have been putting into keeping the city safe and mitigating the impact of a deadly pandemic. I wonder how they felt when they flagged down the oncoming vehicle and were ignored? 

Our own Mayor has asked us not to jump to conclusions, until we have all the facts.  We have these facts right now: 

1. He was travelling against IATF rules. Undeniably.

 

2. Save for his escorts, perhaps, all the rest in his entourage were travelling against IATF rules, and he, and his position, allowed it. Nay, enabled it. Undeniably.  

3. He did not, on his own, cause the convoy to make a U-turn, at whatever point he woke up, and correct the mistake allegedly by his police escorts without his knowledge. Even if he only woke up right at the entrance of the Baguio Country Club, the facility's personnel shouldn't have needed to be the ones to inform them of their transgression. When he woke up at the Baguio Country Club, granting he only woke up at the last possible minute before the club personnel engaged them, he knew they didn't have papers to show that they went through all the proper protocols, which he's supposed to know were required. He should have immediately ordered his escorts and the rest of the entourage to return to the checkpoint. This did not happen. Undeniably.  

We're also told that there was no arrogance on the part of the Mayor Zamora. The fact that he made the trip at all, and with 17 other people too, who probably wouldn't have dared to do so if they weren't doing it with a Mayor, knowing fully well that such trips are still prohibited, seems to me to be an act of arrogance.

"Where's your heart? His wife is recuperating from cancer, and just wanted a breath of fresh air?"

We, too, want a break from all this. 

Many of us have ailing loved ones too that we would like to give some comfort to, and in the case of those who are currently separated from us, that we would like to be there for.

Many of us aren't even asking to be allowed to travel in a convoy of six cars with a police escort to be able to check into a country club. Many of us just want to be able to take a walk in the park, or take a walk at all.  

But many of us would not dare drive past a checkpoint - the image of the veteran being shot in broad daylight is still fresh in our minds. Many of us don't even dare go to the market outside of our allowed schedule. And if ever some of us dared, or even unwittingly break any one of the many rules imposed on us these days, it would be nice to have a Mayor have our back, to tell the police who would place cuffs on our wrists, not to jump to conclusions, to have some compassion and just let it pass. Yes, that would be nice. 

In a June 7, 2020 Manila Bulletin news report on the recent lockdown imposed on San Vicente Barangay in Baguio City, the Mayor was quoted as saying:

“Hindi nagsusuot ng mask. Pakalat-kalat sila sa kalsada. Wala silang pakialam, nag-iinuman, walang kontrol sa mga bata (They don’t wear masks. They loiter in the streets. They seem not to care, they drink. They have no control of their children)."

And for days, these were prohibited from leaving their barangay for whatever reason: buy food, medicines, any other essentials. They did not protest, they did not appeal their case, they did not do anything except accept the consequences of the actions of some of their neighbors for I'm sure there were residents of San Vicente who wore masks all the time when they were outside their homes, who did not loiter, who cared, who didn't engage in social drinking, who took care of their children and made sure they didn't roam around the neighborhood. But even those people did not protest the lockdown, which the Mayor did not hesitate to order. That's the kind of leadership, of political will, that we've been seeing, been admiring, been inspired by... and then Mayor Zamora showed up.

See, we, too, all of us, just like Mayor Zamora, his wife, his companions, are in dire need of a breath of fresh air. But what we're getting right now is the foul stench of a corrupt political system, where impunity, inequality... social injustice, reign. 

     

   

            

 

   

      

Betrayal of public trust

The following is the covering letter for the petition calling for the declaration of The Hon(?). Fancis Zamora, Mayor of San Juan City as Persona Non Grata, that I sent to the Baguio City Council...  

SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD BAGUIO 
thru THE HON. FAUSTINO A. OLOWAN 
Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer 


Cc: 

THE HON. BENJAMIN B. MAGALONG, Mayor, Baguio City 
THE HON. BETTY LOURDES F. TABANDA, Councilor, Laws, Human Right and Justice 
THE HON. ISABELO B. COSALAN, JR., Councilor, Ethics, Gov. Affairs and Personnel 
THE HON. FRANCISCO ROBERTO A. ORTEGA VI, Councilor, Public Protection and Safety 

In view of and response to the incident involving Mr. Francis Zamora, Mayor of San Juan City, M.M., who entered the City of Baguio on June 5, 2020 during which, as has been established, he, along with his entourage broke not only the COVID-19 IATF guidelines on non-work travel under GCQ but also Baguio’s own quarantine protocols, an online petition was started calling for the declaration of Mr. Zamora as persona non grata in the City of Baguio. 

For more than two months now, the city, together with its immediate neighbors in the LISTT area, has been under very strict quarantine protocols which majority of the citizenry dutifully, responsibly and respectfully obeyed. Because of this, the city, and with it its leaders, have earned praises for its remarkable achievements in our collective efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city. In the last couple of months, we have been witness to the inspiring display of discipline and community spirit by the Ibagiw, the citizens of Baguio. 

We have many of our fellow Ibagiws who have remained stranded in various areas outside the city who continue to voluntarily remain away from home and their loved ones in order to conform to the city’s GCQ protocols. And as to our very own citizens who need to either re-enter or exit Baguio, they dutifully line up at various government offices for hours on end to ensure that they are following all rules and regulations established by the government, submitting themselves to all procedures and securing all the necessary paperwork and clearances required for such purpose. We’ve had to endure total lockdowns in various barangays due to reported non-compliance to quarantine rules and procedures, and such harsh repercussions have been humbly accepted and adhered to by the citizenry. 

These are just a few examples of our own people’s sacrifices, and in short, we, citizens of Baguio, out of our own sense of responsibility and good citizenship, and inspired by the kind of leadership that many of our elected officials have shown during this calamity to achieve our shared purpose of keeping the citizens of Baguio as safe as possible, have made great contributions and continue to do so to achieve that collective goal. 

With that, and the fact that scores of our own citizens have been arrested for various, some even lesser, quarantine rules violations, we cannot let the incident involving the Mayor of San Juan City be swept under the rug for not only is it an insult to all the sacrifices that the community has made, or calls into question the credibility that our local government has worked so hard to earn not only locally but from the entire country, but more importantly, his action sets a very dangerous precedent, is a mockery of our collective efforts and leaving it unaddressed encourages injustice and inequality. So, on behalf of the signatories, I hereby submit the initial result of our online petition (http://chng.it/8h26rQZm) to declare Mr. Fancis Zamora, Mayor of San Juan City as persona non grata in the City of Baguio, which in just 24 hours and as of this writing, have garnered over 10,000 signatures. 

In our collective effort to protect the health, well-being, dignity and honor of the people of Baguio, I shall remain, 

Yours sincerely,

Naming names, connecting the dots, I know, you know

Standing in the middle of Remedios Circle in Malate back in 1995, I wasn't ready when the Barangay Captain asked us, the late RJ Leyran and I, what the name of our organization was, a requirement for our permit to use the roundabout as the venue for JC - Live!, the music of Andrew Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar, a concert for a cause. 

   

Around me - Cafe Adriatico, the then relatively newly opened and overly brightly lit Racks, Guernica's, and of course, Penguin Cafe where the idea and plan for the project at hand then was hatched, and beyond that, the row of shanties including a few holes in the wall offering tapsi meals, mami and cheaper beer. This was my de facto home then. 

And right there in the middle of the rotunda, an elevated round concrete platform which in the afternoons is the arena where imaginary battles between superheroes and villains were reenacted by children from the neighborhood, and at night turns into a hunting ground for carnal and other illicit needs, and later in the night, sleeping quarters for the homeless or for those who do have homes nearby but are lured by the cool breeze coming from Manila Bay which blows directly towards that platform. 

There is that sweet spot between the hunting ground hours when deals have already been made and the players have gone to consummate the deal, and before the sleepers come, usually around midnight to 2:00 AM when suddenly the rotonda would be almost empty, save for a few stragglers. That's when I'd usually find myself there to smoke a lonely cigarette. 

Anyway, looking around at the open air performance area before me, I said "Open Space Productions."

I collaborated almost exclusively then with Joel, whose bedroom was our workshop. He named the room "Hell's Kitchen."

In Hell's Kitchen a few nights later, Joel and I worked on a logo for Open Space - he came up with a simple design with just the text (the O in open and E in space slightly bigger than the rest serving as prosceniums that framed the name) and a symbol I asked for, the Infinity symbol. 

Back in Penguin, RJ and I continued to work on the production meeting with various artists we wanted to feature - Jet Melencio, Raul Roxas, Rina Reyes, Lolita Carbon, Waling-waling,  a youth symphony orchestra. During nights in Penguin, aside from my lonely cigarette at the rotonda, another memorable, and often poignant, moment would be my trips to the bathroom after I've had one drink too many, and I have a silent conversation with a framed illustration of a conversation with a guy named Zeke about hedonism, and another framed work called "Bacchus Asleep."

Soon after that production, I found myself falling in love with Baguio, although it would take me and RL another year before finally packing all our belongings and moving here (back here, for her), where Open Space would eventually take root and blossom. 

In my first couple of years, aside from the productions, I conducted a lot of acting workshops for various groups and individuals, mostly students. I remember being obsessed with the idea of transcending the Fourth Wall of the theater at the time, a result of the monologues RL and I have been staging/performing, and most of my lectures on acting revolved around that.

After an attempt at a restaurant and a desktop publishing shop, and after the birth of our first son, RL and I opened a gallery at the 3rd floor of Dali Building in Guisad in 2000. We appropriated the name that my mother used for her series of workshops for underprivileged children back in the 80s which I also attended, which I thought perfectly captured what Rl and I have been doing, surviving, creatively and we called the gallery The Workshop for Creative Survival. It ran for a few months, until other callings, along with the then unprofitability of stand alone art galleries, made us decide to close it up and move on. 

We ventured into other forms of creative expression and production - so in addition to theater, we learned about graphics, photography, videography, I started exploring musical compositions, writing columns for local newspapers, and got into media and multimedia production. We informally called all that Altomonte Multimedia.        

Looking back at the last 25 years, a word cloud forms in my head - 

 

 

With these words, I know, you know.