Malacanang has declared August 21 2010 as a non-working holiday to commemorate the death of the late Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. The said declaration, however, created mixed reactions due to advance plans of many Filipinos. Are you also affected by the sudden change of the schedule in commemorating Ninoy Aquino Day?
In 2009, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued a proclamation declaring August 23 2010 as a special holiday in line with RA 9492 or the holiday economics law that requires that most holidays, except those with religious significance, be shifted to the nearest Monday. However, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III used the same provisions from Republic Act 9492 in modifying the Ninoy Aquino Day and changed it to August 21.
“The purpose for observing Ninoy Aquino Day on August 21 instead of August 23 is to avoid the imposition of unnecessary financial burden upon the employers, ensure the continuity of government, business, and commercial transaction, promote productivity, while at the same time preserve the solemnity of the observance,” read a statement from the Palace.
In his cell he wrote;
There is no one to keep me company
in this lonely cell, in this compound
Where simple, honest men turn to beast
unmoved by pity, untouched by conscience.
I eat alone what food I’m thrown
In unclean metal plates licked by dogs
I pray, I jog, I tire myself, I sleep
Desperately hoping to dream joys I once knew.
Imprisoned in a sweat-box
With knobless door, windows barred,
Walls painted monotonously drab!
Sleeping on concrete “bed”
feasted on by every hungry insect.
Deafened by the silent ticking
of each second in this man-made womb
This, my living tomb.
I barely see the sun
Feel its soothing rays.
I have not seen a single star
for many, many months.
I have forgotten the image
Of a laughing child, a smile
I miss the laughter and songs
of my daughters, greeting of a friend.
I have been exiled to a land
Where time has been suspended
And men’s heartless coldness burns
And death. The only sure relief!
Where even saints are forced to cry
Because angels grow horns, wallowing in sin
Having traded their wings for tails
Their harps and lyres for pitchforks.
In the eerie silence of my tomb
a little mouse appear, nervous, afraid
Retreats to a corner, watch me weep and pray
Returning every night to keep me company.
Later, he shares my meager food, plays to amuse me
Helping me waste the precious, priceless hours.
How strange: I have found friendship with a rodent
I could not find among captors, my countrymen!
I scratch the wall to mark the passage of each day
A day lost forever never to return wasted, gone!
I watch the marching, lengthening column of my days
Passing me by in mournful cadence to their death
Like dripping drops of water from life’s vessels
Drip, drip, drip, the leather jug will soon be dry
Empty like a body with no more blood and tears to shed
and then: Good-bye!
To you our dear hero... may the heaven celebrate. May all children remember. May all athletes dedicate a game. May all citizen be disciplined. May all heroes acquire the courage to stand. May all teachers be inspired. May all foreign lands respect.
From the bottom of my heart I thank you for this freedom I have to write in this page. If not for democracy you fought for... My ideas are nothing.
No comments:
Post a Comment