SEEDS TO A NEW DAWN
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
13 syllables per line
in the struggle for justice, in this battlefield
working class must win this war with our growing guild
to make it happen, workers should be the one to wield
that new, better system we are determined to build
as we are raging by poverty, we felt the need
to make a better world, and now we're sowing the seed
of revolt against the system of envy and greed
a proletarian revolt that the workers should lead
as we try to win this battle wisely but frugal
the enemy class are making our world lethal
destroying our planet for profit, capital
if we don't care, this planet's wound would become fatal
we must do something, although we are fighting alone
against those elites with their richness, power, and throne
but their class should be toppled, like cobwebs to be blown
then, a new beginning we'll make towards a new dawn
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Will there be change even of I die tonight?
WILL THERE BE CHANGE EVEN IF I DIE TONIGHT?
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
11 syllables per line
nothing may change even if I die tonight
I'm nothing compared to capitalist's might
change may not happen now, but do what is right
and the working class is our guiding light
as an activist thinking of the poor's plight
I always feels that problems are seldom light
people get hungry, their bodies are in tight
people get angry, poverty is in sight
can a clean paper with black dots turn to white?
can we change the world just doing what is right?
change is still a dream, it’s nowhere in sight
but have to work for it like a lonely knight
I dream of change even if I die tonight
but please tell my mom I continue the fight
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
11 syllables per line
nothing may change even if I die tonight
I'm nothing compared to capitalist's might
change may not happen now, but do what is right
and the working class is our guiding light
as an activist thinking of the poor's plight
I always feels that problems are seldom light
people get hungry, their bodies are in tight
people get angry, poverty is in sight
can a clean paper with black dots turn to white?
can we change the world just doing what is right?
change is still a dream, it’s nowhere in sight
but have to work for it like a lonely knight
I dream of change even if I die tonight
but please tell my mom I continue the fight
Friday, April 11, 2014
In the shadow of nothing
IN THE SHADOW OF NOTHING
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
10 syllables per line
no one notice me because I'm nothing
I'm just a shadow who's not worth dealing
a good poet who always daydreaming
or a bad poet who thought he's blooming
in this world not yet worthy of living
a world I'm capable of creating
in my mind, in the word with an angling
I'm up to something although I'm aging
an innocent soul who is worth searching
a word in the world of wound and salting
brave enough to write although my feeling
is a stranger in midst of dying
searching for a soul who's truly loving
even my own soul somewhere I'm hunting
just to create poems I like to sing
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
10 syllables per line
no one notice me because I'm nothing
I'm just a shadow who's not worth dealing
a good poet who always daydreaming
or a bad poet who thought he's blooming
in this world not yet worthy of living
a world I'm capable of creating
in my mind, in the word with an angling
I'm up to something although I'm aging
an innocent soul who is worth searching
a word in the world of wound and salting
brave enough to write although my feeling
is a stranger in midst of dying
searching for a soul who's truly loving
even my own soul somewhere I'm hunting
just to create poems I like to sing
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
I'm a Red October
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
10 syllables per line
(a poem for the 226th birthday of Filipino poet Francisco Balagtas)
I was born Libran, a Red October
and now serves as a poet, a writer
and new verses I write without despair
writing against poverty is bitter
writing for the working class is better
I'm a Red October not for nothing
writing with passion, vision for something
writing articles with many angling
writing poetry with a sharp sting
writing propaganda is my doing
a man who like books, beers and poetry
with the aim of working class unity
who wants rebellion against poverty
and to abolish private property
system change is a dream, a destiny
they say I'm just a poor fucking poet
but a working class poet until death
writing even under bed lie beneath
even if people lay a poet's wreath
a Red October until my last breath
April 2, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
My pen is my sword
MY PEN IS MY SWORD
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
they thought I'm just an activist, a writer, a poet
that I'm wasting my time looking at the ceiling
that I frequently went to rally lambasting the system
but I chose to be a poet, a writer, an activist
doing what I thought living my life to the fullest
choosing to give this life to the effort of fighting
for a principled cause to change this world
to have a life worth living for fellow human beings
I am a poet for the working class, for the proletarian
showing the system's foolishness thru meter and rhyme
dissent is my passion, decent is my word
living with a fruition, my pen is my sword
I eventually look at the ceiling to think and analyze
and the ceiling sometimes show where the matter lies
when will this moribund anti-people system die?
surely through the proletarian's hand the answer lie
reading books, journals, news and current events
is not my past time but a necessary time spent
the street is our arena of ideas and class war
and poetry is my armory that can be used in afar
my pen is my sword, writing poems in sweat and blood
in times of peace and goodwill, in sorrow and flood
yes, they may think I’m just a poet, a writer, an activist
but to be a man for others is what I'm doing best
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
they thought I'm just an activist, a writer, a poet
that I'm wasting my time looking at the ceiling
that I frequently went to rally lambasting the system
but I chose to be a poet, a writer, an activist
doing what I thought living my life to the fullest
choosing to give this life to the effort of fighting
for a principled cause to change this world
to have a life worth living for fellow human beings
I am a poet for the working class, for the proletarian
showing the system's foolishness thru meter and rhyme
dissent is my passion, decent is my word
living with a fruition, my pen is my sword
I eventually look at the ceiling to think and analyze
and the ceiling sometimes show where the matter lies
when will this moribund anti-people system die?
surely through the proletarian's hand the answer lie
reading books, journals, news and current events
is not my past time but a necessary time spent
the street is our arena of ideas and class war
and poetry is my armory that can be used in afar
my pen is my sword, writing poems in sweat and blood
in times of peace and goodwill, in sorrow and flood
yes, they may think I’m just a poet, a writer, an activist
but to be a man for others is what I'm doing best
Monday, February 16, 2009
Don't Turn a Blind Eye
DON'T TURN A BLIND EYE
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
published as editorial of the Fourth Estate, May-June 1998, p. 4
There goes a saying, "Whenever you find hundreds of thousands of sane people trying to get out of a place and a little bunch of madmen trying to get in, you know the latter are newspapermen." That' what journalist are made up of. They are there, everywhere, to be the first to get the news. Exciting as it is, this profession is one of the most dangerous. No wonder only the braves are fit to be in this job. Nowadays that rampant crimes, corruption and grave insult on human dignity exist everywhere; media should be vigilant in addressing these problems as there were many victims of human rights violations and abuses worldwide. Most of these violations were locked away in the dark, as the public doesn't know and care about it.
Fellow writer Mr. Joe Lad Santos clearly understands this point when he wrote in his book "Komedya ng mga Langaw" this poem: "Humihikbi ang mga kalansay sa Sudan. Buti pa sa Sarajevo at Mogadishu, bago mamatay ang mga tao, natetelebisyon muna at nalilitrato, saka ipinapakita sa buong mundo. Pero sa Sudan, hinihintay ay pagdamay. Ang nauunang dumating ay karit ni Kamatayan."
There is a relationship between human rights advocates and the media. Human rights advocates rely mostly on media to focus world attention on abuses and potential remedies. Using the media effectively is a critical skill in the struggle for human rights. The media, most especially those journalists operating in oppressive regimes, such as multi-awarded Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett, should get the news and get it out. Mostly they are in the battlefront of the people's struggle for human dignity and compassion.
Most of these violations were committed by oppressive regimes such as in Indonesia, South and North Korea, East Timor, to mention a few. In the Philippines, most were committed through militarization. In Middle East countries such as Iraq, the United States have their share of human rights violations. Putting an embargo itself to retain your powerful country in the limelight is a human rights violation.
Human rights advocates and activists, on the other hand, should be accurate and reliable in presenting information that even the smaller amount of report that they can provide is a great help to counter disinformation and lies by those who do not want that their abuses be revealed and publicized. They must take advantage of new information and communication technologies, such as fax machine and internet, to send their messages to world attention.
In countries where people suffer from their oppressive governments, journalists should help report all kinds of human rights abuses, and not to be puppies of oppressive regimes. But in some countries, most of these abuses were not reported. That's why most people who duffer cannot be given enough attention.
Journalists should dig deeper on pressing issues of the times, and the public should help hand-in-hand against human rights abuses and violations. The public itself should not turn a blind eye on reports about these violations, because it is the people's dignity we should care about. We believe that being deaf, mute and blind on what is happening to our society is an attitude of slaves and cowards.
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
published as editorial of the Fourth Estate, May-June 1998, p. 4
There goes a saying, "Whenever you find hundreds of thousands of sane people trying to get out of a place and a little bunch of madmen trying to get in, you know the latter are newspapermen." That' what journalist are made up of. They are there, everywhere, to be the first to get the news. Exciting as it is, this profession is one of the most dangerous. No wonder only the braves are fit to be in this job. Nowadays that rampant crimes, corruption and grave insult on human dignity exist everywhere; media should be vigilant in addressing these problems as there were many victims of human rights violations and abuses worldwide. Most of these violations were locked away in the dark, as the public doesn't know and care about it.
Fellow writer Mr. Joe Lad Santos clearly understands this point when he wrote in his book "Komedya ng mga Langaw" this poem: "Humihikbi ang mga kalansay sa Sudan. Buti pa sa Sarajevo at Mogadishu, bago mamatay ang mga tao, natetelebisyon muna at nalilitrato, saka ipinapakita sa buong mundo. Pero sa Sudan, hinihintay ay pagdamay. Ang nauunang dumating ay karit ni Kamatayan."
There is a relationship between human rights advocates and the media. Human rights advocates rely mostly on media to focus world attention on abuses and potential remedies. Using the media effectively is a critical skill in the struggle for human rights. The media, most especially those journalists operating in oppressive regimes, such as multi-awarded Associated Press correspondent Peter Arnett, should get the news and get it out. Mostly they are in the battlefront of the people's struggle for human dignity and compassion.
Most of these violations were committed by oppressive regimes such as in Indonesia, South and North Korea, East Timor, to mention a few. In the Philippines, most were committed through militarization. In Middle East countries such as Iraq, the United States have their share of human rights violations. Putting an embargo itself to retain your powerful country in the limelight is a human rights violation.
Human rights advocates and activists, on the other hand, should be accurate and reliable in presenting information that even the smaller amount of report that they can provide is a great help to counter disinformation and lies by those who do not want that their abuses be revealed and publicized. They must take advantage of new information and communication technologies, such as fax machine and internet, to send their messages to world attention.
In countries where people suffer from their oppressive governments, journalists should help report all kinds of human rights abuses, and not to be puppies of oppressive regimes. But in some countries, most of these abuses were not reported. That's why most people who duffer cannot be given enough attention.
Journalists should dig deeper on pressing issues of the times, and the public should help hand-in-hand against human rights abuses and violations. The public itself should not turn a blind eye on reports about these violations, because it is the people's dignity we should care about. We believe that being deaf, mute and blind on what is happening to our society is an attitude of slaves and cowards.
Mightier Than The Sword
MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
published as editorial of the Fourth Estate, February 1998, p. 2
According to British novelist 1st Baron Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton (1803-73), "The pen is mightier than the sword." The pen, which helps us to convey messages to one another, is a simple and handy invention. This is a tool for journalist, for people whose vocation is to inform, to mould opinion, chronicle events, write history and shape the destinies of generations.
The pen is our mighty weapon against all types of repression. This is the tool of those who adhere for the freedom of the press, the weapon in upholding and defending the truth, in defending the right of the people to know, for democracy, for social progress and social justice.
From our ancestor's ancient form of writing to Rizal's Noli and Fili to Marcelo H. Del Pilar's editorials to the hardhitting pen of Danny Hernandez, we can see how powerful the pen is in moulding our destiny, in defending the truth, in fighting for freedom and social justice.
We use our mighty pen to inform, to tell the truth, and not to manipulate other people's belief. But still, we must recognize the fact that the pen is just an instrument. The most important is the people who use this pen. The people, more than anything else, are the most precious thing here on earth, mot money nor profits. Therefore, to uphold and defend the truth, the pen and the principled journalist are twins that should always be together. Together in the battlefield of news reporting, feature writing, sending important messages, and so on. Together in searching and upholding the truth.
The Reporters Without Borders (PWB), a journalist's rights group in France, reported that since 1986, at least six hundred (600) journalists from different parts of the world were killed in the line of duty, most of whom while covering violent conflicts, such as Bosnia. That's how risky the journalism profession is. Here in the Philippines, the Philippine Movement for Press Freedom (PMPF) has recorded 50 journalists killed since the 1986 EDSA revolution. But they did not include in the list those mediapersons killed for reasons unrelated to their profession.
That's how risky our mighty pen is. Although there were many journalists killed in the battlefield worldwide, we will always adhere to our commitment in the noblest profession we know. Upholding the truth and press freedom is our covenant to the people. This is our pledge to the people's right to know. No amount of bullet can stop us in pursuing truth and social justice. Against all odds, we will never surrender. Over our dead body. Yes, our pen will always be mightier than the sword.
published as editorial of the Fourth Estate, February 1998, p. 2
According to British novelist 1st Baron Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton (1803-73), "The pen is mightier than the sword." The pen, which helps us to convey messages to one another, is a simple and handy invention. This is a tool for journalist, for people whose vocation is to inform, to mould opinion, chronicle events, write history and shape the destinies of generations.
The pen is our mighty weapon against all types of repression. This is the tool of those who adhere for the freedom of the press, the weapon in upholding and defending the truth, in defending the right of the people to know, for democracy, for social progress and social justice.
From our ancestor's ancient form of writing to Rizal's Noli and Fili to Marcelo H. Del Pilar's editorials to the hardhitting pen of Danny Hernandez, we can see how powerful the pen is in moulding our destiny, in defending the truth, in fighting for freedom and social justice.
We use our mighty pen to inform, to tell the truth, and not to manipulate other people's belief. But still, we must recognize the fact that the pen is just an instrument. The most important is the people who use this pen. The people, more than anything else, are the most precious thing here on earth, mot money nor profits. Therefore, to uphold and defend the truth, the pen and the principled journalist are twins that should always be together. Together in the battlefield of news reporting, feature writing, sending important messages, and so on. Together in searching and upholding the truth.
The Reporters Without Borders (PWB), a journalist's rights group in France, reported that since 1986, at least six hundred (600) journalists from different parts of the world were killed in the line of duty, most of whom while covering violent conflicts, such as Bosnia. That's how risky the journalism profession is. Here in the Philippines, the Philippine Movement for Press Freedom (PMPF) has recorded 50 journalists killed since the 1986 EDSA revolution. But they did not include in the list those mediapersons killed for reasons unrelated to their profession.
That's how risky our mighty pen is. Although there were many journalists killed in the battlefield worldwide, we will always adhere to our commitment in the noblest profession we know. Upholding the truth and press freedom is our covenant to the people. This is our pledge to the people's right to know. No amount of bullet can stop us in pursuing truth and social justice. Against all odds, we will never surrender. Over our dead body. Yes, our pen will always be mightier than the sword.
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