The Barry Code: [57] Communidad y Servicios

[57]

Communidad y Servicios

I know, the Spanish is so awful. Anyway, this is a late post of what I actually did in my SUMMER CLASS! It ain't that boring, people.

Community service is a very vast subject matter. I often ask myself who to help, why should I help, and how can I help in the community. In the end, my questions become dormant.

I was absent in the first meeting for our CWTS 2 but thanks to my org-mates who were in CMC that time, they signed my name up in the SIPAT (Sine Patriyotiko). I got keyed up because for the first time, I altogether with our group of six will make a documentary. (I began to hallucinate of having a quality video ala Howie Severino’s work.) SIPAT is a non-government organization that produces film productions catering to the side of the people that have less power── in short, SIPAT embodies progressive media. So I thought in the first place that this was not going to be that easy. As much to my concern, they were first-rate in making documentaries (they showed us the award-winning “Mula 3^rd Ave Hanggang Sa Dulo”). The thing that complicated my relationship with them is their way of facilitating the almost-a-month combined instruction and application we had come upon. In UP, I have these two organizations that are at least, organized. I’m sorry but I think this NGO needs a steady direction in their endeavors.

In the first two-day lecture, I was moderately participative. The first one was so academic that I cannot help but to stay hushed. The latter was spent revolving on the concept of Art and the preparatory tutoring for the next shooting days. This was something new to me so I dug in the discussion actively.

The following pre-production was elating because this was the official start of the ‘field work’. We were finally immersed in the aforementioned place casually called MAISAN (Sampaloc, Manila). The place was not as horrid as what I see in TV: it was a spacious cemented street and the shanties aligned on the sidewalks so I became more comfortable.

We spent the first days there to ask people about their status and experiences as the years went by. Though their houses do not fill my judgment, they smiled so often that I had so much to thank for, for being not born with the same situation. This not out of being mean/matapobre; this is out of sympathy, why can all of humanity be in a decent, normal, and well-mannered life and living? It is a grave societal problem that needs a grave solution.

For virtually a week, we were in the place to scrutinize their economic and social problems. I was astounded that there are residents in Maisan who are members of Party Lists like Kabataan, etc. I thought that the typical squatters have nothing else to think about than how they can uplift their lives and not matters concerning the society. But as an irony, they encompass a big problem called non-coordination. They themselves who share almost the same burden have not come up to the idea of fighting and striking as a whole against the mistreating people for their rights basically as a human individual (one of our interviewee a 59-year old vendor told us she was slapped by a policeman on her face when she complained of being maltreated), and also their clamors against the government (the relocation sites offered to them are reported first-hand to us that it was far from their livelihood, from school and almost from civilization.) But why aren’t they doing anything?

Moving on, we had a group conference in their office accordingly to suggest in the flow of our film project. I told them that I fancied on having a documentary with a Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho format in where it starts with a question (what is Maisan?) proceeding to its geography, history, to the problems and offered solutions and finally a challenge for the residents in the end. The next day, in the shoot, I was one of the cameramen. Abi and I alternately held the cam for the shoot. I never knew I can be an efficient human tripod: I can be position my arm still during half-an-hour interviews! The last days were more hassling than anyone expected: the post-production almost made us nuts! The editing turned out to be time-consuming so I just sat beside our editor and suggest on whatever.

And yes, community service is a very vast subject matter. This practicum has led me to the thought of media specifically film documentation as a vital aide not only as an eye-opener to the general public but as an advocator. And it’s not so simple; the immersion signals your full-belonging to the community. I also learned that there are other worse urban poor communities in the country; and as part of the media and a future practitioner, I have a mission to let somebody, umm everybody, see that we have to do something. As for now, I have somebody in commitment to── the poor Filipino people even though they have become desperate. Like what my Phil History told our class, we only have the Philippines, and we only have Filipinos.