HOMAGE TO MENDIOLA
What a sacred land is the place called Mendiola.
An assembly place for the working class during demonstrations and a bustling place for cars and of passers-by, that sacred land seemed to became a part of every Filipino, especially to those who study and work nearby its asphalted road.
However,
Despite the sacredness to every Manileno (or not), Mendiola became as if like Berlin during the pre-wall days of the Cold war, of being barbed wired and heavily guarded by the police and for some time the military, that sacred land of the working class seemed to be as if desecrated, desecrated just because of security reasons like being nearness to the despot's lair named Malacanang and other offices surrounding it, and yet the lumpen scum often roamed around, looking for a prey to devour! How sad that sacred Mendiola is! The place where protest, blood and music rolled into one as what every activist and progressive expected.
And as we read history books regarding its place, we often think much of red flags and "makibakas" in every path; of "katarungans" and "ipaglabans" in every way, like the First Quarter Storm to the succeeding modern-day events, in which sweat, blood, and breath coming from the workers, along with the students and other progressives seemingly trying to fertilize the aasphalted soil and its surrounding areas, giving its sacredness somewhat a new life before thrusting their bodies against the scoundrels of the race and despots of the people.
But not all events in the sacred Mendiola are more of blood and soil, but also of laughter and time. Of seeing students from every university walking to cars bustling, anything around seemed to be as if like New York's Time Square, of London's Picadilly or even Moskva's Red Square. And yet we saw barbed wire, of containers, of policemen to the lumpen scum and intelligence agents distracting its sacredness and grandeur? Well... due to the fastness of time and of the heat around, people crossing around didn't notice about anything to the point of becoming apathetic-especially regarding the ones standing by as well as the barbed wire and other obstacles in Mendiola!
But despite all of these,
Mendiola will always remain sacred to the masses, a secular pilgrimage, especially during the radical demonstrations of the day to the throw of the molotov at night-scaring off the monkeys and of the devils trying to block its path.
