Human Rights?

Last July 10 2007 a group of about a hundred Philippine Marines were conducting operations in an area in Basilan, an island in the southern Philippines in search of an Italian priest abducted by an unknown group. According to the media, it had been raining for most of the day when at 1000H, as the marines were returning from their search, they were fired upon by a force around four or five times their number. A fierce ten-hour gun battle ensured, bullets and mortars rained down on the marines and they fought for their very lives as they requested for support in order to withdraw and regroup. As the marines withdrew, some soldiers acted as the rear guard, to secure the flank of their retreating comrades. When the marines were finally able to return to regroup, they had counted fourteen of their brothers-in-arms missing.

The following day, the government representatives returned to the ambush cite to gather up the survivors and the equipment left behind, only to find trucks and vehicles burned and soldiers’ corpses mutilated, behead and stripped of their belongings. The MILF claimed responsibility for the ambush, saying that it was the fault of the military for not properly coordinating with the MILF leadership before entering the town. This is in light of the fact that there is an on-going peace process between the government and MILF. I never realized that the peace process had already concluded with the granting of independence to areas in Mindanao under the MILF. Whatever happened to the sovereignty of the Philippines?

In a statement, the MILF said that it was not its policy to decapitate and mutilate their fallen foes and that they will conduct an investigation to determine the culprits of those acts. When activists are killed, rallies are staged and the blame is immediately placed on the military or the government or the police, people cry for international intervention and scream human rights violations. If these accusations are proven true, then they had good reason to cry foul! But when marines are killed in search of a kidnap victim, some of them beheaded and mutilated and robbed of their personal effects, who screams "HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS!"? Only their families and friends and comrades seem to be doing the crying and screaming for justice? Shouldn't people be rallying in the streets for what happened? Do we not live in a society that abhors such actions? Do we not live in a modern age of lobbying and blogging and rallying and protesting and democratic representation? I am personally outraged by these events and I hope I am not the only one.

Hung Gar Kung Fu

Searching for hours on the net with the keywords "kung fu Philippines", I suddenly found myself wanting to try something new in my previously boring existence. My search yielded numerous hits but what interested me the most was this one about Hung Gar Kung Fu, an old style that was newly established here in the Philippines, formerly based in Hong Kong but with disciples and masters around the world. I immediately emailed the contact person, a certain Sifu Frank Bolte, and inquired on a schedule and the fees and the like. Low and behold, he replied in a matter of hours and I found myself dragging two good friends along to learn Hung Gar Boxing in the heart of Binondo.

At the onset, the exercises were very challenging (often painful) but gradually I discovered that the more you do these things, the less painful they get, at least until Sifu added something new to the mix. The initial exercises are designed to strengthen the fingers, wrists, shoulders and arms. I will not enumerate the details of the actual exercises at the moment because I believe one must experience it firsthand to properly appreciate the experience. I've been training for roughly three months now; I can't really say how much I've progressed because I've yet to master the first form but it really is quite an enjoyable experience for me and my "Kung Fu brothers".

Further updates to follow...