My travels to places where there are no paths to follow.
Tribute to a comrade and friend
Good afternoon, comrades, friends, and the many relatives gathered here today. I am Jun Verzola, a peripheral and sometimes-prodigal son of the Cordillera region. I have known Ben Solang for more than 30 years, and closely worked with him for about half that time. My wife Mel, who worked more closely with Ben during her stint with RDC-Kaduami, also asked that I speak for the both of us. Continue reading “Ben Solang’s many river crossings”
In the Philippine political scene in recent decades, dilawan (literally, “yellow-colored”) has come to refer to a certain set of populist slogans, symbols, and simplified notions that first alluded to certain prominent leaders and events of the anti-Marcos struggle in the 1978-1986 period until the EDSA People’s Power revolt.
(This is not to be confused with the earlier and pejorative dilawan or yellow labor groups in the trade union movement, which were generally seen as anti-worker and pro-management.)
The political dilawans have evolved greatly since then, but the constant reference to the Aquino family (Ninoy, Cory, and increasingly, their children) and their near-mythical role in the final years of the anti-Marcos struggle remain—especially Ninoy’s martyrdom and Cory’s crusade before, during, and after her 1986-1992 presidency. Continue reading “Three Dilawan generations”
Describing Padi Solang could sound somewhat like the song that describes Maria von Trapp in the famous 1960s musical hit, The Sound of Music: “a flibbertigibbet, a will o’the wisp, a clown… how do you catch a cloud and pin it down?”
There are a few other parallels between Padi and Maria: their religious background, and their love of the hills “alive with the sound of music,” for example. But these points are mostly superficial. In more substantial matters, Padi Solang is sui generis and sans rival, full of elan and eclat and panache and all other superlative Latin and French terms I could think of.
