01/09/2021
Ibinalita sa akin ni Lito Ambion na may kanta si Hebert Bartolome na alay sa ating brod na Vakerio "Lerry" Nofuente. Nabanggit din si sis Lorena (Barros), bayani rin katulad ni Lerry.
Heto ang link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWTyYHDpn
MARIA LORENA BARROS
(March 18, 1948 - March 24, 1976) founded the Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (Free Movement of New Women) or MAKIBAKA, a militant women’s organization shortly before the Martial Law. When Martial Law was declared, she went underground, was later captured and was a top political prisoner. She escaped to the countryside as a guerrilla fighter and was killed during a military ambush at 28 years old.
On July 21, 1965,[7] Lorena enrolled at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, initially taking Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. Her mother insisted in that Lorena take up this course since she felt that taking a degree in the arts would be too easy for her, so she had to “conquer her waterloo”, which was Math.[8] Alicia wanted to have a doctor or a chemist in the family. However, Lorena wanted to become a writer.[9]Bored, Lorena rebutted her mother by telling her that she has become insomniac because she had slept through all of her Math and Science subjects. Lorena wanted to take up Anthropology since she believed that “You can’t really take up the present without going to the past.” Furthermore, in an interview with Lorna Kalaw-Tirol, she said, “My concept of commitment then was in terms of research. I wanted to use my training in Anthropology to do some real research on Philippine society”.[10] Lorena had serious disagreements with her mother and would rebel by running away from home. Eventually, her mother relented and Lorena shifted to BA Anthropology after three semesters during the Academic Year 1967-1968. She got high grades and made it to the honor roll, became a College Scholar during that semester and a University Scholar after one year.[11]
In addition, Lorena would join different organizations, such as the UP Anthropology Society and the UP Writer’s Club, becoming its secretary in November 1969. Very sociable in nature, her mother used to call her a “social butterfly”.[12] She would go out with friends to watch movies and listen to music, sometimes staying outside concerts because they could not afford to buy tickets. Lorena would have disagreements with her mother because she imposed a curfew,[13] and thus Lorena called herself Cinderella, always home by midnight.[14]
Lorena’s mother was also overprotective[15] and even inspected the Basement, a canteen located at the basement of the Arts and Science building in the University of the Philippines, where Lorena and the other students would hang out.[16]
In spite of these disagreements, Lorena helped her family who was in “genteel poverty” by working for Diliman Review, the academic journal of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Even if she received a salary of 200 pesos a month, Lorena would save her money by spending only 25 cents a day—5 cents by eating banana-q (with 3 pieces of bananas on a stick) for lunch, walking part-way from home to school, and catching a bus that would take her to UP for 10 cents. However, she retained her poise and gracefulness of manner, and thus, Lorena had many suitors.[17]
As a member—and later officer—of the UP Writers’ Club, Lorena was then writing “exquisite poetry” in English.[18] Her works were published in magazines and in the Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of the University of the Philippines. Among her poems were “Documentary of a War”, “Poem to Han-shan”, “A Park is Born”, “There is a new scavenger”, “The Swingles Came to Town”, “You are Lord” and “Strike”.[19]
During this time, Lorena was reading the works of French existentialists like Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, the Eurasian Han Suyin, the anti-imperialist Bertrand Russell; Philippine nationalists such as Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Tanada, Renato Constantino and Teodoro Agoncillo; and the revolutionary Karl Marx and Mao Zedong.[20] This, and the political events of the time, would lead to her political awakening.
Lorena is seen as a symbol of the women’s movement—with her strength and courage inspiring women.[54][55] Countless poems, songs and plays are written in her honor. Lilia Quindoza Santiago in her book In the Name of the Mother writes, “Barros is now a symbol of poet, warrior, lover, woman. Many young women writers derive inspiration from her writings, principles and struggle; her name is often mentioned in meetings of women members of the movement.”[56]
One of the plays that was staged in her honor is the monologue “Lorena” written by Lualhati Bautista and performed by Joi Barrios in the 1980s,[57] which was based on Lorena's life and the letters written to her mother and fellow activists. Another was the play “Ang mga Lorena”, which was staged by the youth cultural group Sinagbayan at the University of the Philippines Diliman in December 2008. In this play, her story is intertwined to that of UP student activists Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, who were abducted in June 2006 and still remain missing until today.
Among the poems dedicated to her are E. San Juan’s “Ang Tagumpay Ni Maria Lorena Barros” (“The Victory of Lorena Barros”) (1983) and “Maria Lorena Barros, Pumuputol Sa Alambre’t Rehas” (“Maria Lorena Barros, who cuts the wires and the prison bars”) ( written in 2009) and Bienvenido Lumbera’s "Ang mga Lorena"[1](“The Lorenas”).
The song “Babae” (“Woman”) on YouTube composed by the activist singers Inang Laya mentions her name as one of the women heroes (along with Gabriela Silang, Teresa Magbanua, Tandang Sora, Liza Ballando and Liliosa Hilao) who have fought in the revolution.
In the University of the Philippines, the Lorena Barros Hall in Vinzons’ Hall—the student activity center in the university—was named in her honor. She was also among the 207 revolutionary heroes and martyrs honored in the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Wall of Remembrance [2], which lists the names of the activists who were killed, disappeared or who fought during the Marcos dictatorship.
Because of MAKIBAKA, of which Lorena Barros was the founding chair, several women’s groups were formed that would protest against the Martial Law and would seek to address the structural inequalities of the Philippines and mobilize women, particularly from the grassroots. MAKIBAKA eventually evolved into GABRIELA (General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action),[58] a broad alliance of women’s organizations, which was founded on April 1984 a year after the assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. GABRIELA is an anti-imperialist grassroots-based women’s organization that aims to liberate women through fighting for national sovereignty, democratic governance, land reform and basic services for the people; end militarization and discrimination among men and women; and build solidarity among international women’s groups to fight “sexism, imperialism and militarism”.
(Wikipedia)
REMEMBERING MARIA LORENA BARROS (AKA KUMANDER MILA): 1948-1976
Floro Quibuyen
Facebook, September 22, 2020
I couldn’t sleep last night. I couldn’t get the image of the lifeless body of Kumander Mila on a table surrounded by the folk of Mauban Quezon out of my mind. When the military attacked the hut, she told her comrades to run but stayed behind to ward off the attackers. She kept firing despite being hit several times but then her armalite jammed. She calmly told the first soldier who reached her, “You’re lucky that my rifle jammed. Shoot me, coward”. She was shot in the nape. All her comrades managed to escape. That day was March 24, 1976, just six days after her 28th birthday.
Flashback to 1965. I was in my second year, planning to enter the BA Philosophy program at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, aged 17. Maria Lorena Barros was a freshman, planning to enroll in the BS. Biochemistry program. The two of us and another friend, Enya Cruz, were the principal actors in Claro M. Recto’s one-act play, SOLO ENTRE LAS SOMBRAS (lit. Alone Among Shadows; but translated by Nick Joaquin as Shadow and Solitude). I was Andres, the physician husband of the sickly Gabriella whose sister Marina—played by Lori Barros—was a physician with whom I was carrying a secret affair. To cut the story short, Gabriela found out that I was having an affair with her sister Marina/Lori Barros and died of a heart attack. Marina/Lori Barros, siezed with guilt and grief-stricken at the death of her beloved sister leaves me. I am left on stage, alone…among shadows. End of play. It was a play I shall never forget—especially Andres’ kissing scenes with Marina/Lori Barros and Gabriella/Enya Cruz. The play was directed by my friend, PCC [his initials], and sponsored by our cultural organization, Sanduguang Kayumanggi.
Lori and I became close after that stage play—I became her confidant. She revealed to me her secret love (who was a good friend of mine; rather handsomer than me) but she made me pledge to keep this a secret. That was in 1965 when LorI was still a freshman, age 16—a period that I would call her “pre-radical freshman year”. Of course, I didn’t tell my good friend. The following year Lori left our moderate, culturally oriented student organization to join the more progressive, radical Kabataang Makabayan. I never saw Lori again until I graduated in 1968 and then began teaching Philosophy, Rizal, and Humanities I at UP Tarlac. I completely forgot about Lori.
Years later, when I was teaching Philosophy, History, and the Social Sciences at UP Manila, I learned that she had shifted to the BA Anthropology program and graduated MAGNA CUM LAUDE in 1970. I was amazed to hear that she had turned down her election into the Phi Kappa Phi international honor society and, rather than marching on to the stage to receive her diploma, she stayed outside the ceremonies to protest, along with other militant graduates of batch 1970, the colonial education that UP had been offering to the “scholars ng bayan.” I was humbled by Lori’s dignity and courage—I had accepted my Phi Kappa Phi gold pin when I graduated in 1968 (my reason was selfish—I had wanted to give it to my future girlfriend). And then I learned that Lori died in a military assault in 1976. I regretted that life could end too soon for a beautiful and brilliant young woman who had so much to live for and to give. But I didn’t feel sorrow—for, preoccupied with worldly concerns, even the year I had been close to Lori—1965--had receded from memory.
It was only last night, Sept 22, 2020, after having seen a photo of Lori’s corpse, juxtaposed to photos of her youthful undergraduate years—and refreshed images of our acting on stage in 1965 and that day she confided in me her secret love—that I began to miss Lori profoundly. To console myself, I listened on youtube to Danny Febella’s Rosas ng Digma/Tugon. For the first time, shaken by the image of the youthful Lori and her lifeless body stretched on a table at Mauban, I cried.
Ako’y nangangarap na ika’y makasama
Taglay ang pangakong iingatan kita
Ang ganda mong nahubog sa piling ng masa
Hinding hindi kukupas, di malalanta
Gaya ng pag-ibig na alay ko sinta
Rosas ng Digma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVgaM80rVqk
VALERIO NOFUENTE
He was assistant professor of Filipino and Philippine Literature at the University of the Philippines.He wrote various articles in noted journals and periodicals, as well as, poems and short stories. He met with a violent death under mysterious circumstances in 1981. He has been honoured by the Concerned Artists of the Philippines as a martyr for the cause of the nationalist struggle.
JOSE "PEPE' PARONG
One of our martyred brods is Pepe (Jose) Parong. Vic Macapagal was able to go up north to visit Pepe's bereaved family. We were still living in the campus when it happened. I was with Nelson Navarro during a rally in Manila where at least 7 students died. The Metrocom could not control the crowd and it was a protracted battle; so they sent trucks of soldiers (later reported to be from the Mindanao conflict) who started shooting. Those who were lifting their arms to surrender were hit with the butts of rifles. We managed to run and go up an apartment block nearby. A kindhearted old man allowed us in, to pass the night. There were at least 5 of us, but I recognized only Nelson Navarro and Ed Padero. I have joined many rallies from the FQS up until the declaration of martial law. This rally sticks in my memory because a couple of those who were gunned down were just a few meters away from us. I agree with you Percy that we may not live to see the better Philippines that we were fighting for. After so many failed attempts to change, the best solution is for the people to change their mindset, then divine intervention follows. There is a Bible verse which says: "If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, I will heal their land....." Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! -- Pat Salas.
Nelson Navarro: I've written of that episode in my memoir out last year in Amazon Kindle under my name. I always wondered who were with me under that bed where we hid until daybreak and parted ways. My life changed forever after that night. We shared something so beautiful and transformational in total silence. I am grateful you remembered my name. It's proof that what happened really happened, not some dream or flight of fancy. We are forever connected and must someday close circles. Salamat sa alaala.
Ibinalita sa akin ni Lito Ambion na may kanta si Hebert Bartolome na alay sa ating brod na Vakerio "Lerry" Nofuente. Nabanggit din si sis Lorena (Barros), bayani rin katulad ni Lerry.
Heto ang link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWTyYHDpn
MARIA LORENA BARROS
(March 18, 1948 - March 24, 1976) founded the Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (Free Movement of New Women) or MAKIBAKA, a militant women’s organization shortly before the Martial Law. When Martial Law was declared, she went underground, was later captured and was a top political prisoner. She escaped to the countryside as a guerrilla fighter and was killed during a military ambush at 28 years old.
On July 21, 1965,[7] Lorena enrolled at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, initially taking Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. Her mother insisted in that Lorena take up this course since she felt that taking a degree in the arts would be too easy for her, so she had to “conquer her waterloo”, which was Math.[8] Alicia wanted to have a doctor or a chemist in the family. However, Lorena wanted to become a writer.[9]Bored, Lorena rebutted her mother by telling her that she has become insomniac because she had slept through all of her Math and Science subjects. Lorena wanted to take up Anthropology since she believed that “You can’t really take up the present without going to the past.” Furthermore, in an interview with Lorna Kalaw-Tirol, she said, “My concept of commitment then was in terms of research. I wanted to use my training in Anthropology to do some real research on Philippine society”.[10] Lorena had serious disagreements with her mother and would rebel by running away from home. Eventually, her mother relented and Lorena shifted to BA Anthropology after three semesters during the Academic Year 1967-1968. She got high grades and made it to the honor roll, became a College Scholar during that semester and a University Scholar after one year.[11]
In addition, Lorena would join different organizations, such as the UP Anthropology Society and the UP Writer’s Club, becoming its secretary in November 1969. Very sociable in nature, her mother used to call her a “social butterfly”.[12] She would go out with friends to watch movies and listen to music, sometimes staying outside concerts because they could not afford to buy tickets. Lorena would have disagreements with her mother because she imposed a curfew,[13] and thus Lorena called herself Cinderella, always home by midnight.[14]
Lorena’s mother was also overprotective[15] and even inspected the Basement, a canteen located at the basement of the Arts and Science building in the University of the Philippines, where Lorena and the other students would hang out.[16]
In spite of these disagreements, Lorena helped her family who was in “genteel poverty” by working for Diliman Review, the academic journal of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Even if she received a salary of 200 pesos a month, Lorena would save her money by spending only 25 cents a day—5 cents by eating banana-q (with 3 pieces of bananas on a stick) for lunch, walking part-way from home to school, and catching a bus that would take her to UP for 10 cents. However, she retained her poise and gracefulness of manner, and thus, Lorena had many suitors.[17]
As a member—and later officer—of the UP Writers’ Club, Lorena was then writing “exquisite poetry” in English.[18] Her works were published in magazines and in the Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of the University of the Philippines. Among her poems were “Documentary of a War”, “Poem to Han-shan”, “A Park is Born”, “There is a new scavenger”, “The Swingles Came to Town”, “You are Lord” and “Strike”.[19]
During this time, Lorena was reading the works of French existentialists like Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, the Eurasian Han Suyin, the anti-imperialist Bertrand Russell; Philippine nationalists such as Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo Tanada, Renato Constantino and Teodoro Agoncillo; and the revolutionary Karl Marx and Mao Zedong.[20] This, and the political events of the time, would lead to her political awakening.
Lorena is seen as a symbol of the women’s movement—with her strength and courage inspiring women.[54][55] Countless poems, songs and plays are written in her honor. Lilia Quindoza Santiago in her book In the Name of the Mother writes, “Barros is now a symbol of poet, warrior, lover, woman. Many young women writers derive inspiration from her writings, principles and struggle; her name is often mentioned in meetings of women members of the movement.”[56]
One of the plays that was staged in her honor is the monologue “Lorena” written by Lualhati Bautista and performed by Joi Barrios in the 1980s,[57] which was based on Lorena's life and the letters written to her mother and fellow activists. Another was the play “Ang mga Lorena”, which was staged by the youth cultural group Sinagbayan at the University of the Philippines Diliman in December 2008. In this play, her story is intertwined to that of UP student activists Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, who were abducted in June 2006 and still remain missing until today.
Among the poems dedicated to her are E. San Juan’s “Ang Tagumpay Ni Maria Lorena Barros” (“The Victory of Lorena Barros”) (1983) and “Maria Lorena Barros, Pumuputol Sa Alambre’t Rehas” (“Maria Lorena Barros, who cuts the wires and the prison bars”) ( written in 2009) and Bienvenido Lumbera’s "Ang mga Lorena"[1](“The Lorenas”).
The song “Babae” (“Woman”) on YouTube composed by the activist singers Inang Laya mentions her name as one of the women heroes (along with Gabriela Silang, Teresa Magbanua, Tandang Sora, Liza Ballando and Liliosa Hilao) who have fought in the revolution.
In the University of the Philippines, the Lorena Barros Hall in Vinzons’ Hall—the student activity center in the university—was named in her honor. She was also among the 207 revolutionary heroes and martyrs honored in the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Wall of Remembrance [2], which lists the names of the activists who were killed, disappeared or who fought during the Marcos dictatorship.
Because of MAKIBAKA, of which Lorena Barros was the founding chair, several women’s groups were formed that would protest against the Martial Law and would seek to address the structural inequalities of the Philippines and mobilize women, particularly from the grassroots. MAKIBAKA eventually evolved into GABRIELA (General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action),[58] a broad alliance of women’s organizations, which was founded on April 1984 a year after the assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. GABRIELA is an anti-imperialist grassroots-based women’s organization that aims to liberate women through fighting for national sovereignty, democratic governance, land reform and basic services for the people; end militarization and discrimination among men and women; and build solidarity among international women’s groups to fight “sexism, imperialism and militarism”.
(Wikipedia)
REMEMBERING MARIA LORENA BARROS (AKA KUMANDER MILA): 1948-1976
Floro Quibuyen
Facebook, September 22, 2020
I couldn’t sleep last night. I couldn’t get the image of the lifeless body of Kumander Mila on a table surrounded by the folk of Mauban Quezon out of my mind. When the military attacked the hut, she told her comrades to run but stayed behind to ward off the attackers. She kept firing despite being hit several times but then her armalite jammed. She calmly told the first soldier who reached her, “You’re lucky that my rifle jammed. Shoot me, coward”. She was shot in the nape. All her comrades managed to escape. That day was March 24, 1976, just six days after her 28th birthday.
Flashback to 1965. I was in my second year, planning to enter the BA Philosophy program at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, aged 17. Maria Lorena Barros was a freshman, planning to enroll in the BS. Biochemistry program. The two of us and another friend, Enya Cruz, were the principal actors in Claro M. Recto’s one-act play, SOLO ENTRE LAS SOMBRAS (lit. Alone Among Shadows; but translated by Nick Joaquin as Shadow and Solitude). I was Andres, the physician husband of the sickly Gabriella whose sister Marina—played by Lori Barros—was a physician with whom I was carrying a secret affair. To cut the story short, Gabriela found out that I was having an affair with her sister Marina/Lori Barros and died of a heart attack. Marina/Lori Barros, siezed with guilt and grief-stricken at the death of her beloved sister leaves me. I am left on stage, alone…among shadows. End of play. It was a play I shall never forget—especially Andres’ kissing scenes with Marina/Lori Barros and Gabriella/Enya Cruz. The play was directed by my friend, PCC [his initials], and sponsored by our cultural organization, Sanduguang Kayumanggi.
Lori and I became close after that stage play—I became her confidant. She revealed to me her secret love (who was a good friend of mine; rather handsomer than me) but she made me pledge to keep this a secret. That was in 1965 when LorI was still a freshman, age 16—a period that I would call her “pre-radical freshman year”. Of course, I didn’t tell my good friend. The following year Lori left our moderate, culturally oriented student organization to join the more progressive, radical Kabataang Makabayan. I never saw Lori again until I graduated in 1968 and then began teaching Philosophy, Rizal, and Humanities I at UP Tarlac. I completely forgot about Lori.
Years later, when I was teaching Philosophy, History, and the Social Sciences at UP Manila, I learned that she had shifted to the BA Anthropology program and graduated MAGNA CUM LAUDE in 1970. I was amazed to hear that she had turned down her election into the Phi Kappa Phi international honor society and, rather than marching on to the stage to receive her diploma, she stayed outside the ceremonies to protest, along with other militant graduates of batch 1970, the colonial education that UP had been offering to the “scholars ng bayan.” I was humbled by Lori’s dignity and courage—I had accepted my Phi Kappa Phi gold pin when I graduated in 1968 (my reason was selfish—I had wanted to give it to my future girlfriend). And then I learned that Lori died in a military assault in 1976. I regretted that life could end too soon for a beautiful and brilliant young woman who had so much to live for and to give. But I didn’t feel sorrow—for, preoccupied with worldly concerns, even the year I had been close to Lori—1965--had receded from memory.
It was only last night, Sept 22, 2020, after having seen a photo of Lori’s corpse, juxtaposed to photos of her youthful undergraduate years—and refreshed images of our acting on stage in 1965 and that day she confided in me her secret love—that I began to miss Lori profoundly. To console myself, I listened on youtube to Danny Febella’s Rosas ng Digma/Tugon. For the first time, shaken by the image of the youthful Lori and her lifeless body stretched on a table at Mauban, I cried.
Ako’y nangangarap na ika’y makasama
Taglay ang pangakong iingatan kita
Ang ganda mong nahubog sa piling ng masa
Hinding hindi kukupas, di malalanta
Gaya ng pag-ibig na alay ko sinta
Rosas ng Digma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVgaM80rVqk
VALERIO NOFUENTE
He was assistant professor of Filipino and Philippine Literature at the University of the Philippines.He wrote various articles in noted journals and periodicals, as well as, poems and short stories. He met with a violent death under mysterious circumstances in 1981. He has been honoured by the Concerned Artists of the Philippines as a martyr for the cause of the nationalist struggle.
JOSE "PEPE' PARONG
One of our martyred brods is Pepe (Jose) Parong. Vic Macapagal was able to go up north to visit Pepe's bereaved family. We were still living in the campus when it happened. I was with Nelson Navarro during a rally in Manila where at least 7 students died. The Metrocom could not control the crowd and it was a protracted battle; so they sent trucks of soldiers (later reported to be from the Mindanao conflict) who started shooting. Those who were lifting their arms to surrender were hit with the butts of rifles. We managed to run and go up an apartment block nearby. A kindhearted old man allowed us in, to pass the night. There were at least 5 of us, but I recognized only Nelson Navarro and Ed Padero. I have joined many rallies from the FQS up until the declaration of martial law. This rally sticks in my memory because a couple of those who were gunned down were just a few meters away from us. I agree with you Percy that we may not live to see the better Philippines that we were fighting for. After so many failed attempts to change, the best solution is for the people to change their mindset, then divine intervention follows. There is a Bible verse which says: "If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, I will heal their land....." Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! -- Pat Salas.
Nelson Navarro: I've written of that episode in my memoir out last year in Amazon Kindle under my name. I always wondered who were with me under that bed where we hid until daybreak and parted ways. My life changed forever after that night. We shared something so beautiful and transformational in total silence. I am grateful you remembered my name. It's proof that what happened really happened, not some dream or flight of fancy. We are forever connected and must someday close circles. Salamat sa alaala.