nope...this is not the latest brand of perfume or clothing.
these are the students from Claret High School who belong to a "social issue club." they went to the office this afternoon to visit the Martial Law museum and to watch the video on torture. according to the communication they sent before their trip to the office, their club's "primary objective is for students' awareness on basic human rights, justice and peace, and social issues."
and the name of their organization?
Claretian Peace Keepers -- CPK
i asked them why they named their club as such? their adviser explained that they were choosing between peacemakers and peacekeepers, and they just decided to pick the latter. it seemed that they were not even aware of the
relevance of their organization's name. and the time was too short for me or rommel, an officemate, to explain it to them.
when i told a friend about the students' visit and what they called their club, her reply was "di nila alam pinapasabog na mga peacekeepers ngayon, puno ng eskandalo't corruption. Naka review nga sa UN ang quality ng mga peacekeepers ngayon e."
apparently, they - the students and their adviser - were not aware of that. i realized this while i listened to their repeated chanting "
peacekeepers...peacekeepers...CPK...CPK...".
anyway...
the afternoon with the students turned out to be a lively one. they listened to what rommel and i told them - about TFD's early years, how and why it expanded its mandate, political detention and why it exists even if it should not, the ML museum, torture, etc.
it
appeared that they were very interested.
they went around the office and looked into the steel cabinets inside the museum. some were even brave enough to look at the gruesome photos of victims of human rights violations, even after i told them that they might have nightmares after seeing the pictures. they seemed more eager to look at them. well, as they say, curiosity killed the cat. i wonder if the cat died in its sleep.
as their visit was about to end and rommel and i asked them if they had any other questions, their queries proved that they were indeed...interested, the levels of interest varying, however.
some of their questions:
political prisoner ba si erap?
sinong pinakamagaling na naging president ng philippines?
ilan kayong magkakapatid?
sinong binoto mo nung eleksyon?
ayaw mo sa bangon pilipinas?
san mo binili t-shirt mo?
totoo bang wig lang yung suot ni imelda marcos?
after they were satisfied with our replies, their adviser called the attention of one of the club's members. the student stood up, and after a few rounds of "sshhh..." addressed towards his clubmates, he delivered his, "in behalf of the Claretian peace keepers, i would like to thank the...uhm...martial law museum...uh...ha? a, task force detainees of the philippines for...."
i also thanked them and bid them goodbye.
when they were about to leave the room, one of them - carlo was his name, i think, raised his hand and asked...
hanggang kailan ang organization niyo?
i didn't see the question coming, but i replied, "hanggang may political detention...hanggang may mga political prisoners pa na dapat i-assist at mapalaya..."
i noticed the change in his facial expression. the enthusiasm he showed when he raised his hand to ask the question disappeared. in a low voice, he said, "matagal pa yun...".
somehow, i realized...despite their rowdiness, they understood the situation.
somehow, we were able to get our message across.
