THE VACUATION

The Resolution - (The Overkill Project) Part 1

In a city wrecked with indifference, crab and colonial mentality,  flood by global warming, clogged sewers, garbage, slums, drug abuse, broken families, prostitution, juvenile, crime and unbalanced wealth, Filipino communities on all districts and barangays were transferred for a month at undisclosed obscure locations to live as equals.

The Vacuation, is a 30 day isolation of all local communities held annually was sanctioned by the local government to enforce and improve their way of living. It is also a way of mending and strengthen family ties.  Meddling with every neighboring towns in the city districts, every community has to leave their household to give way for every critical spot on every barangay to be inspected and evaluated.

Provided that these houses were handled with utmost care while everyone is away for The Vacuation, their private properties were kept safe as much as possible.  The Overkill Project will have to check the Villages, the Subdivisions, the Drainage, Plumbing and Water Supply, the Electrical and Power installations and other utilities. It does include washing and cleaning out every pavement, streets, alleyways, walls and improper structures built. As well as other improper growth of unwanted natural plants and trees.

It has been agreed upon by every leading constituents of the city to engage in such activity so as to bring solution to the unbearable devastation and unrest brought about by the community itself.  It has also been agreed upon that a host city will have to take care of the target city's population.  Every men, women and child as well as the pets will have to be taken care of.  The leading Architects, Planners, Psychologists and other Professionals will have to handle the temporary exile of the community for which they were only given a month to engage and execute the cleansing of the target city or community.

This is envisioned to help for the development and the clear thinking of every household, every citizen is to be accounted for and shall be guaranteed with their safe return after a month of vacation.  Every citizen of the city will have to vacate the premises.  They will have to leave unnecessary belongings behind.  Like their own houses, their cars, and other private property. Founded by great local thinker RH Hudyat Kulisap, and vehemently supported by every leading professional, government and non-government institutions, The Resolution promises to give  fellow citizens a fresh perspective on their lives.  "It will all just be like a cruise, a vacation to Neverland, and upon returning home will be a life of paradise."

The Resolution is funded by the Government, Medical and Business institutions to protect the citizens from further unrest, prevent disease, unwanted natural and artificial illnesses, improve physical and mental health.

(End of Part 1)

RESIRED

you know my reasons
the bed is gone
fed to the moon
black as none
calling me on

where is my
white

move my arms
to feel you
open my eyes
try see you


in yr hush tones I  will listen
I will try listen
if you're in trouble
I'll try

I can try to
I'll try to grab

don't know if you should know
the river
the rivers

it's in
my mind
my heart
my all
my life is over

I was told

GRASSHOPPERS AND WATERBOMBS

Can you remember the last time
You were starving

And there was no food to eat 

You’d just settle for a glass of water 

A bite from the leftover bread 

And waited for mother instead

Can you remember the last note you wrote

The words and pen afloat 

Can you remember the last time 

It felt good to be sick in bed

Can you remember the smell

Of unsharpened pencils and new books
Erasers and envelopes.

Fresh uniforms and scissors

Can you remember the last time 

You spoke your name 

Can you remember 

How it sounds the same

What has happened

What have I really learned 

Can you remember the last time 

You were so lonely

The sight of your mother’s face 

And the silence made you so happy

Can you remember school 

How it made you feel safe 

In groups or threatened 

By classmates and fast friends 

Can you remember the last time 

You sung so freely 

That nobody cared 

How you sounded

Can you remember the scent 

Of grass at the playing field  

Every after class 

Ran all over 

Swimming on the green
Waves of laughter

Can you remember the last time

You stood and waited for the bus to come

That takes you there

And away from home 

Can you remember how light it felt

To be young and sorry, so free and careless.

Anymore

Can't
?

SENATORS ABLAZE

Blaze up you senators and leaders you.  You congressmen and mayors you.  Presidents, kings, queens, and judges.  Fathers, mothers and children.  And all that breathe. Giving in to the tempting desire of mislove.   Your powers of persuasion, and your seats and status you keep.  Burning fire you instill deep inside your learned convictions.  Reality's nonsense reason.  The obsolete notion of the lesser evil.  Unending reforms, of laws and regulations.   That which you say is true, the thought you sprung forth the nation you claim to keep safe and serene.  Goes lamer and lamer everyday.  Politics creeping into obsoletion.  Forms of governments and empires and kingdoms.  Its Armageddon creeps in.  Of every government's playing field.  Of intrusions, control and prophets. Scientists and engineers numbing power. Of every poet's theft and activist's lies. Of advocacies and built-up games.  Of history's lessons and religion's collective.  Of goodwill and hatred among men.  Balanced chemical imbalances, economic and residual ups and downs. Of excuses and the guilty people's innocence.  Creatures.  

Insanity and Rapture. Think and the hungry.  Go Home. Spirits up to the sky.

Get The Job

FUN AND PUNS

The place you live has to be fun to make sense else one gets distressed about something again afterwards.  Like doing the usual chores; washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, wiping the windows,  fixing this and that.  And to have something to look forward to for tomorrow, and the next day.And the next day, and the next day, for the next day forward.  Onwards.

EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF

The phrase makes sense.  If you are inside that zone. It's every man for himself. Inside a disaster zone. A hurricane, a typhoon, a storm surge, a shootout, an earthquake or perhaps a war zone.  Inside a crashing airplane, falling buildings and bridges.  A storm,  flood bringing about soil erosion or an avalanche.  Cracked roads, growing gaps in between islands.  Tornado.  Fire.  Zombies, vampires and serial killers and psychopaths crawling on the streets.  Aliens and gigantic monsters.  Chemical warfare, pestilence, radioactive and oil spills.  Sandstorms and snowstorms.  Hail and hard rain. Inside every Armageddon movie, or in a Stephen King film, becoming real.  Global catastrophe, calamities, cataclysmic events becoming a day to day occurrence. Asteroid paranoia.  Atom bombs. World War, and the end of the world.

It is every man for himself.  And to care for somebody else could just be your biggest luxury. 

WORTH WORKING FOR

Was it worth working for? To please everyone by showing how your jobs made sense.  How it could fill each and everyone's emptiness by being valued.  Was it worth working for? To finish school by studying and learning things which would or could not guarantee employment to reach fulfilling careers.  To bring out the best and worst out of you.  To be strong, confident, and competitive in a cruel environment. 

Was it worth working for? To graduate and pass a series of licensing exams, and will be spending a lot of time worrying about this and that.  Was it worth working for? People who could care less about you.  The government who keep f*cking with you everyday. 

 For a great number of Professionals, worth it I guess.

NO PLACE TO GO

It was just days ago.  A typhoon swept away the major parts of Philippines' Visayas region. Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), had a maximum of 235 miles an hour, the record breaking speed.. The storm surge caused an uproar.  Initial reports stated 10,000 dead but right now as of this writing is less than 4,000.  Obviously the government was not setup well to provide relief.  Logistical failure might have caused more deaths.  Search, relief and rescue were almost non-existent for a week.

At least this is how I understood what happened.  And I just have some questions. 

 

DESIGN & BUILD: LEGITIMACY AND CONTROL

How should one decide the value of his, hers and someone's occupation ? Will it matter if your job or profession does not or conform with certain laws and rules provided by authority? How come the number of rules and laws keep growing as time goes by? How does one decide to adapt techniques, implement provisions, enact code of ethics, secure permissions, contractual obligations, and legitimacy? How does one decide which laws are applicable and which ones are obsolete? How does one realize the need to graduate from college? Why do graduates need to pass more examinations before engaging or involving oneself to do projects? Why do some professions need to take oaths and promises?

PLANT A HOUSE, BUILD A TREE

Just yesterday, I was with my friend colleague. He took me out for a bottle of beer and some food. We talked about the present condition of construction projects in our city. His projects and all ongoing projects. It didn't take long for him to talk about going out of the country once again. He said that he just came home from Manila for a job interview. He says he'd be going to work somewhere in Bahrain. "If only projects would come in from here." The talk of having to work elsewhere always came up on our conversations. It seems as if that it was the most logical solution to earn more compared with working on your own homeland. And he'd try to convince me as well to work somewhere out of the country to work as a draftsman or an architect's associate. Then I'd be left saying "Yes, that might be a good idea!". But I never did try harder or pushed myself to do so. Didn't really wanted to is all. At the moment, I am comfortable of where I am now. I am not a licensed architect, so maybe I don't feel the pressure. I am not married. I am not obligated to pay bills or anything at home. I just try to work and help in anyway I can. I don't know, right now I am trying to live the most simplest life possible. 

I never knew another place than our own. We lived here since the time I can remember. So why live anywhere else? We have our own backyard and front carport with a porch. My brother and I am starting to process richer soil for our garden projects. We seem to find it fulfilling to do so than any other work. At least I seem to think so. But unless we get to have a reasonable harvest in time, this could be a waste of time. But my plants are now growing. I have successfully sprouted my own garlic, onion stalks. I also have vegetables starting to grow like the pechay, the lettuce and the bellpeppers. My brother's tomato plant is also growing well. He even managed to have it grown with a makeshift trellis made out of bamboo and tie wire. 

But these projects will have to take time to harvest. Just like any other kind of work, gardening as an analogy proves the point. "You Reap What You Sow", as the saying goes. You may be in an office , trained and worked hard in the city or in any place in the world. But there really is no place like home. You may have toured the world, seen different spots, even worked for some undeserving king or alien country, but if you're still longing for your good old hometown after working there, then it maybe is the time to take look within yourself. There is the conviction that once you leave your homeland to work elsewhere, you might as well give up your citizenship, migrate and stay there. That way you never have to look back or feel guilty, feel like a hero but sad enough to check on Facebook everyday. When will the time come for people like my friend feel satisfied and content enough to not work elsewhere? Why should one be hanging on to that foreign dream of the abundant first-world. Have a little sense of pride. This is your place. Try to live and work here. Feel the need and want to be doing so until the day you die regardless of all the unnecessary distractions that come your way. If you can make it here, you don't need to go and make it anywhere.  

TAMAK SHARIFF AGUAK

I see so much green areas and unpaved roads.  I see shanties, bahay kubos on each stop.  Rural areas, not surprising.  My first travel to Shariff Aguak was as tiring as every long rides are. I am about to partake on a distant work, out of town mis-adventure/experience.  Just never thought that it'll be in Maguindanao.

President Estrada stepped down from office, and Vice President Arroyo took over.  The shock of September 11 terrorist attacks on US soil were still afresh. Around 2002, I was led to work for an architectural firm, for a group of building contractors.  I am about to be assigned on field for the construction of a Provincial Capitol somewhere in Maguindanao.  I heard all about it months before. They badly needed some junior staff and draftsmen to handle and supervise the construction.  Our office, made up of three licensed Architects, are apparently commissioned as subcontractors to gear up the construction of this massive three-storey government building.  Talks went on, until that time came when I agreed to go.  They already got one of my pals assigned way before me.  They were more than happy to welcome me aboard. 

With skull-guard and cheap long-sleeve work shirt, like a chess piece pawn, I worked for the town, and the boss. I don't know how much I helped build it.  The construction started way before I arrived and it was pretty much done when I was reassigned somewhere else in Cotabato City. 

My unfinished thesis for a government center hung on.  I lost interest. But it had a profound impact on me.  But I was just a draftsperson, a staff member, a site worker.  I understand that not every situation is the same. At that staff level, there wasn't a great deal I personally could have done, although I felt horrible when I heard about the fighting that happened near us.  And not long after I gave up working for that group,  the massacre happened.  Two buildings now sit on the site.  The capitol and the gym. I heard that only the soldiers occupy and use them.  Shameful or what, I don't know...

THE FILIPINO ARCHITECTURE DELUSION

This I heard from a famous Filipino Architect's perspective. Having something to identify their designs to themselves and their country with. Of course there's nothing wrong with it but it's not completely right either. Subjecting one's design explorations restricted to a suggested concept is not that reasonable.  An Architect may perhaps use materials readily available from his own country, his own city, and his closest environment, thus identifying him from his contemporaries but this does not mean that he could not use foreign materials either.

But why limit your designs with a prevailing concept just to be identified as Filipino?  If the sole purpose of your building is to have identity, why then should one be constrained by their own country's prevailing thought?   If the purpose of one project is just to promote one's nation's flagship and tourism, then that should be the guiding concept only to that particular project and not with local design community as a whole.  It is not to be treated as a general design purpose for every commission.  An architect may treat to design Filipino as or to be his advocacy but I don't think it would be wholly truthful. Celebrating one's sense of identity varies among fellow and countrymen.

It could not  be an identity crisis when one is free. Open ended thought should rule every Architect's design. Not just to justify having to incorporate foreign or unusual influences but to have the freedom to  create something raw and undisturbed by the prevailing trend. Buildings should be done for the present conditions, not the past or even the future. Who's to say consciously anyway unless the architect doesn't know or just can't say how his design came to be. It may have been done subconsciously.  How the pen or the pencil moved with his command. How it progressed to the final draft and to be eventually built and used by the occupants, seen by observers. Leaving for time to decide its true value and identity.  Filipino or not.  What's the big deal anyway?  

VISION IMPOSSIBLE

All Photos: http://www.ufunk.net/photos/victor-enrich/