I am Still Waiting

With regards to my last blog post, I am still waiting for a reply from the Paparazzi or Paparazzis who have reported three of my questions, two of which were my most recent questions apparently for “chatting”.

Of course those three qs were unceremoniously deleted, but even if the innocent answerers were all one in saying, that this is all just too ridiculous.

So, today I am still saying to the unamed, hiding-under- the-covers Paparazzis to just comment and tell your side of the story. And so I say again I am still waiting, and I am here, out in the open, I have nothing to hide.

Anyway, I am feeling a little patriotic today, and I do not know why. Maybe because I am confident of why I am a regular YAPPER in the first place. And I have always been transparent & what you see is what you get. I do not need to hide for I have nothing to hide.

And because first & foremost, I am just so homesick sometimes, I want to drop everything and take the next flight home. But then I can’t and so I do the next best thing, I go to YAP to get a real hands-on feel of what’s going on in the country and share any knowledge I do have. And secondly, I just want to project a positive image for our country, and you can say that I am being a patriot. Not by painting the Philippines as some too-good to-be-true place, but to tell the truth in a positive way.

But on the other hand, I cannot say the same thing about our YAP Paparazzis who abuse YAs violation reporting guidelines. And in any case I just can’t help but compare them to the 1940s group more commonly known as the Makapili.

And for those that aren’t familiar with this group, you can say that they are the complete opposite of the Katipunan of the 1890s. And if you want a stronger description, the Makapilis were Filipino collaborators of the Axis Fascists–or those who collaborated with the forces who enslaved, slaughtered and raped our countrymen in World War II.

And what comes to my mind at this time is those old local war movies, where these Makapilis would wear bags (bayong) over their heads with only two small holes for them to see through and they would normally be portrayed as “traitors” who would point out Filipino freedom fighters who were made to stand in line in front of the Imperialist Forces who have invaded the country. And of course Makapilis cover their faces and mask who they are.

Needless to say, most if not all of those hapless fellow countrymen that they had singled out would probably be tortured to try to get any information from them and to make them turn their fellow comrades in. And of course it wouldn’t get past me for them to be killed without getting a fair trial and even if they are innocent.

Anyway, I just hope that our YAP Paparazzis are not modern-day Makapilis and more so they are not their direct descendants.

So here you go, I will dare you again, come out into the open, take the “bayong” out of your head or leave them on. BUT just tell your side of the story.

Peace!

Makapili (excerpt from malaya.com.ph)

On December 7, 1944, it was reported that a new body called the Makabayang Katipunan ng Pilipino {Makapili} will be formed. To be led by Artemio Ricarte, a veteran fighter for independence, Benigno Ramos, former head of the Ganap Party, and Pio Duran, a member of the National Assembly, the Makapili aimed to cooperate in the maintenance of peace and order and to make common cause with other Asiatic nations in crushing their common enemy, the United States and Great Britain, to extend positive collaboration to the Imperial Japanese armed forces, and to propagate the significance and aims of the Greater East Asia War among the people. [“Three patriots lead in new movement to defend freedom,” The Tribune, December 7, 1944, p. 1]

It was further reported that President Jose P. Laurel consented to assume the post of the honorary highest adviser and that General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the highest commander of the Japanese Army in the Philippines, encouraged the Makapili leaders when they sought the General���s understanding during their visit on November 23, 1944. [“Yamashita backs organization of Makapili,” The Tribune, December 7, 1944, p. 1]

On the third anniversary of the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Makapili was formally inaugurated at an official ceremony held in front of the Legislative Building in Manila where Laurel extolled the Nippon Empire. In this occasion, Benigno Ramos was named the Tandis {executive general} of the Makapili and General Yamashita delivered his first public speech wherein he expressed his deep feelings for the Greater East Asia War. On the same day, Tokyo announced that the Special Attack Squadrons {kamikazes} of both the Japanese Army and Navy, along with regular air forces, blasted 21 more American ships in the Philippines. [The Tribune, December 9, 1944, p. 1]

Was the Makapili a patriotic organization? It “owed allegiance not to the Republic but to the Japanese military.” [Teodoro A. Agoncillo. “The Burden of Proof: The Vargas-Laurel Collaboration Case.” Mandaluyong: The University of the Philippines Press for the U.P. Jorge B. Vargas Filipiniana Research Center, 1984, p. 71]

The Supreme Court has described the Makapili as an organization “under the sponsorship, direction and supervision of the Japanese Army; that it was a body of men recruited and armed chiefly for the purpose of warfare and placed itself at the enemy; that it received military training and instruction from Japanese military personnel and was equipped by the invaders for combat; that Filipinos joined that association and rendered service in furtherance of the above objectives, fighting side by side with the Japanese, commandeering supplies for the latter, and in many instances excelling their overlords in the commission of atrocities against their own countrymen in a campaign to suppress what they and the Japanese regarded as subversive acts.” [People vs. Alitagtag, 45 Off. Gaz., 715]

The Makapili of the 1940s was the complete opposite of the Katipunan of the 1890s and the native collaborators of the Axis fascists were the antitheses of the Bonifacio leadership template.