Politically Correct X’mas Gifts, Anyone?

While some G&D (grim and determined) activists may say this is succumbing to the commercialization of Christmas, I don’t care. Whether we like it or not, many do like to give gifts on Christmas. However, if we like our gifts to be politically relevant, one of the things we can do is buy them from people’s organizations or institutions that have a pro-people orientation and will use the proceeds to good use.

BY BULATLAT.COM
Bulatlat.com

One such group is the Ibon Foundation. Ibon offers a wide range of alternative publications, from books with national and international titles to journals and primers on relevant issues. Among its latest books are “Privatization: Corporate Takeover of Government” and “Tinderbox: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Roots of Terrorism.” They also have a calendar and planner which contains the latest figures on the Philippine economy.

Okay, so your mother is not the type who reads “The Philippine Banking Sector.” You can check out the office of the Center for Women Resources (CWR) which has a cabinet full of goodies. They have the all-time favorite tubao and malong (single size only) and t-shirts with various designs promoting women’s rights.

At office of the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement), one of the staff not only has a good voice (she is with the Tambisan, a workers’ cultural group) but has an enterprising streak as well. She describes her wares as:

• Tubao, malong or sarong and shawl. In different shades and colors. These products used to be associated with tibaks (activists) but practical persons have discovered their usefulness and have since been using them.  A must especially for mobile people.  For instance, malong can be used as your blanket, as a skirt, as a cover when changing dress, etcetera. There are 1,000 ways to use the malong and you will have fun discovering it.  Similarly, a shawl can be used as a fashionable skirt, as well as serve as accent to your dress or blouse. It can also be used as protection against cold and windy nights, as well as against dust and the sun. Meanwhile, tubaos are very useful items which you can use alternately as adornments on your head (tie it in your head Nirvana or farmer style), as handkerchiefs or as belts.  And if you need to wear a Filipiniana costume for a party, the tubao is a must. Don’t forget, these items are available at only half their costs in commercial stores!

• Trinkets.  Be charmed by our handcrafted necklaces and bracelets and other beaded products. 

• Handmade cards.  Mostly from Mindanao.

• Native bags and fancy bags for children, teenagers and young at heart.  You can also get some of these bags in Divisoria and maybe Baclaran (areas known for bargain prices), but then, why go through the hassle and traffic when you can easily buy them at our office.

Buying from Tess, as she is known, will help support her and other activists in KMU.

Feel like listening to indigenous music? The Center for Cordillera People’s Concern (CCPC) offers CDs by the local group Salidumay titled “Ay-ay” as well as woodcarvings from the Cordillera. “Agno,” a video documentary on the San Roque Dam project and its effects on the lives of the communities along the Abra river, is a good gift for environmentalists.

Video documentaries by award-winning groups such as the ST (Southern Tagalog) Exposure and Kodao Philippines are also excellent Christmas gifts. Available in CD and VHS copies, the topics of their documentaries include human rights in the Philippines, the Philippine-American war, RP-US war exercises, and the Philippine protest movement.

Meanwhile, the Center for Health and Development (CHD) has herbal soaps, herbal teas, and even achara (pickled papaya).

Among the groups that most need our help however are the political prisoners. Those confined at the Maximum Security Compound in the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa sell wooden bookmarks, miniature ships in bottle, cards, picture frames and recycled papers, all of which they themselves make to support their needs and their families’. Their products may be ordered from Karapatan (Alliance for the Advance of People’s Rights).

So there. Anyone for a meaningful gift this Christmas? Just visit any of the organizations and institutions above. Bulatlat.com

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