Kinky

(photo: Roel Catoto, MindaNews)

"She's dead," your companion announced when you asked about her whereabouts. You were taken aback as if the words were thunderbolts which hit you. The motorbike hummed as your thoughts whirled with the rust-colored dust. "She was raped then allegedly murdered," the companion continued.

A certain sadness engulfed you like a shroud. You still could remember how she shivered due to hunger and cold when she asked for some food and money. Apple, as she was fondly called became alcoholic since the people (mostly male) saw her as an insignificant dot in this universe. A Mamanwa, judged due to the color of her skin and her inability to "function" well in the society. But then, what would one call a society which is indifferent and full of prejudice to these persons?

There was a time when a group of truant kids (14-16) talked publicly on how they gang-raped Apple and one even burnt her pubic hair using a lighter! The kids laughed with mirth while some adults cajoled them to continue their tale! When you had your time, you told them about The Apartheid in the US but it was beyond them. They even told you how she loved the kinky acts of having a gang as sex mates...

One time also, you had a prayer group in a cottage on a beach. On the other side, a group of drunks "supplied" Apple with intoxicants to the point that she passed out. When the closing prayer was said, your companions and yourself left her on the other cottage (the drunks went ahead) deep into limbo with the spirits and her confusions. You saw a puddle of piss below the bench she was slumped...

APPLE IS A REPRESENTATION of the IP's (indigenous people) and our attitude towards her is a reflection of our collective psyche towards them. We seem to draw a line between our ignorance and their well-being. For how many celebrations when we give them left-over food? How many times when we feel irked with them around? When there are social activities and they're present, have we seen organizers embracing them as a part of our social group?

Of course, we could say that there are right avenues in treating them, but have we initiated in the realizations of these avenues? Are local governments concerned about their identities? You even wonder if they are registered in the National Statistics Office... If not, so they do not have names and identities which are basic human rights?

Ah questions... You are also guilty of a lot of things and you must do something. You even aired your interest in adopting a Mamanwa child to be reared as a functional member of the community. But your close friends warned you about the ridicules he will receive and their itinerant genes could lead to exercises in futility. You are still not convinced for the NURTURE principle is still strong in your core. But you listened to them and has this fear of taking the risk for they might be correct...

In your area, the mining industry is thriving and there are provisions that these IP's must have their share of the wealth the miners get from their habitat. Yes, you heard about them being employed; going to the nearest city splurging on food and even cosmetics. Some are allegedly coming to beauty centers for hair-straightening and others are buying whitening lotions and signature clothes. These are probably their actions to be ACCEPTED. They'd like to be considered as "normal" so that even if some beauty consultants charge them expensively, they agree for they are also incapable of simple Math since most of them are unschooled.

It took decades for African-Americans to show to the world that their skin is not equated to their rights and capabilities. Now, America has a black president and most of the heralded athletes, performers, actors and even writers are colored. Here, you could not imagine when will it be when the Mamanwas would have a niche in a society they fairly belong...

Maybe it would be in another generation, not yours.

But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors,
True colors, are beautiful,
Like a rainbow.

-Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly