This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com).
Vol. VI, No. 32, Sept.
17-23, 2006
The Fallen Still Stand with Us
BY MALAYA AREVALO
Posted by Bulatlat
there is a whisper of memories rising in the
fields,
the earth wet, warm with tears,
names rambling in the shivering hollow of bullet
shells,
something is certainly swelling,
the furious stirring of want,
the clamoring grumble of discontent,
we the farmers and workers;
landless and displaced;
widowed and fatherless;
beaten and disappeared;
we are all the children of oppression,
the offspring of resistance,
birthed from the bloody womb of history,
thrown like rags by the hands of exploitation.
but we built their machines screw by screw
and gave height to their skyscrapers;
we learned the land from mountain to shore
and fattened it with harvest.
we are not easily dismissed.
we are not weeds to be uprooted.
they try to silence us, call us terrorists
rain pesticide and grenades over our picket
lines
throw us in cells and charge us with lies
they try to kill us, slay our leaders
because they called the world their home
took the poor for their siblings,
gathered the hungry and tilled the land with
them,
shouldered their burdens
and crowded the streets of the greedy
but we are not afraid
our voices still thundering,
our demands blazing like torches,
pushing back the shadow of repression,
we are not afraid
we are a crescendo of voices from field to
factory
screaming for justice
we, children of oppression,
offspring of resistance,
on whose backs the heel of state terrorism
tramples
we call the world our home,
take the poor for our siblings,
crowd the streets with our demands blazing like
torches,
we are not afraid
because the fallen still stand with us,
because the dead still live in the struggle.
====================
An Mga Martir Padayon
nga Anhi Pa ha Aton
WARAY TRANSLATION BY A. G.
LAGUNZAD
nagpapahinumdum an huring han kauumhan,
bikho ngan nguyngoy an naghuhulos han katunaan,
samtang ginlilitaniya han mga punglo an ira mga
ngaran,
tiburuto na an kaburusdan,
an tim-os nga pangandoy han katadungan,
naagurok ha tiyan an kawarayan,
mga parag-uma ngan mga trabahador kita;
waray tuna ngan waray puruy-anan;
ginbalo ngan gin-ilo,
ginsakit ngan ginhikawan;
igin-anak kita han katilingban nga matiyupion,
mga binhi han pakigbisog nga mabayanihon,
iginbuswak ha tagu-angkan han kasaysayan,
ginwaklit han mga kamot nga matalumpiguson!
tikang ha matag-turnilyo, an ira makina ginmugna
naton
an ira hagtaas nga bablay, ginpanday han at mga
butkon;
kilala nat an katunaan tikang ha kabubkiran
ngathon ha baybayon
nga aton ginpatambok pinaagi han at pagguol.
diri kita layon-layon nga magpapabantad.
diri kita kabanwaan nga ha ira magpapagabot.
tuyo nira kita pamingawon, ginnomrahan kita nga
terorista
ginpauranan hin hilo ngan granada ha at mga
protesta
ginsulod ha karsel hin buwa-buwa la nga mga kiha
tuyo nira kita ubuson, an at mga lideres ira
panmatayon,
tungod kay at gintawag an kalibutan nga at
urukyan
ngan an mga kablas ginkilala ta nga at kabugtuan,
at gintirok an mga gin-gugutom, urusa nga gin-uma
an kawanangan,
ginsugbong an ira pag-antos, ginpuno an
kakarsadahan.
lugaring diri kita mapatarhog
at mga tingog padayon nga magdadahunog,
at mga hingyap naglalamrag sugad hin dugalwong,
pagpara kanan panalumpigos mga lambong,
diri kita mahahadlok
kay an at mga tingog nga nag-aaningal tikang ha
kauumhan ngadto ha mga pabrika,
ig-guguliat an katadungan
kita nga igin-anak han katilingban nga
matiyupion,
mga binhi kita han pakigbisog nga mabayanihon,
kanay bungkog gintatamakan han kanan estado
kamadarahog
an kalibutan amo an aton urukyan,
an mga kablas in aton kabugtuan,
hasugon ta an kadalanan dara mga hingyap han
kalamragan,
diri kita bisan san-o mahahadlok
kay an mga nagkawara padayon nga aanhi
kaburunyog naton,
kay an mga martir padayon nga buhi dinhi han
aton pakigbisog.
Arevalo is a member of the Committee for Human
Rights in the Philippines (CHRP). Lagunzad is a member of Katungod-Sinirangan
Bisayas, the Eastern Visayas chapter of Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement
of People’s Rights).
Inilathala ng Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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