That Obama state dinner in Malacanan

It is like 1899 all over again, with the traitors of the Revolution sipping wine, and eating sumptuous meals with their new master.

That state dinner which Malacanan sponsored for and on behalf of United States president Barack Obama features the recent crop of Ilustrados who betrayed the Filipino people. As what several sites have featured, they represent the best and the worst of this country, a motley crue of opportunists and of rent seekers, all wanting for that selfie photo with the world's strongest Chief Executive.

What they don't know is that even Americans themselves detest their own president, the very same one who led them to an abyssmal financial mess, and who led several troops in killing thousands of innocents in a war where nobody expects to win.

Now, that same behemoth who killed thousands in Samar and Leyte during the height of the Philippine revolt against the Americans in the 1900s, who razed huge Muslim communities in Basilan and Sulu to the ground, who killed and raped several Filipinas in Mindanao and who slaughtered several thousands more in Luzon and the Visayas, is now toasting another defense agreement meant to deter growing Chinese aggression in the Asia-Pacific region.

When I heard that Pnoy had just signed a cooperative military agreement with Barack, the scenes of 1990 flashed in my mind once more.

Twenty four years ago, I was with hundreds of young Filipinos who raised the Philippine flag infront of the National Museum where the first post-Marcos Senators voted to junk the Military Bases Agreement or MBA.

Inspite of the drizzle, we stood there to witness an historic spectacle---true patriots standing infront of their fellow Filipinos and announcing to the whole world, their independence against the world's only superpower.

That scene is still fresh in my mind. I was holding the Philippine flag and when the votes were announced, we were all in jubilation, some in tears, some raising their clenched fists. That was a victory of the Filipino people.

Yet, even in those times, a senator, I think it was either Jovy Salonga or Rene Saguisag who said that that was just the start of something new. That we, that generation who witnessed the signing, must be vigilant because the Mammoth is not expected to just give up that readily.

That, the possibility of the US asserting its presence in this beloved country of 100 million souls remains a very strong threat.

I also remembered how Nature even went with us, with Pinatubo spewing millions of tons of ashes and sand and rocks just to stress a point--that even the gods do not favor the white men here.

When the gods went ballistic, the Americans packed their bags and left Clark and Subic in disarray. It took the collective courage and will of every Filipino to raise these bases back to normalcy.

Now that everything is in order, these Americans who once abandoned us for dead all because of a volcanic eruption, are now raring to again, transform the entire archipelago into a place of rest and recreation.

The defense situation may have changed, the geo-political dynamics have likewise altered the global landscape, and in response to a growing Yellow Threat coming from the East, the Americans want their bases back.

When those patriots voted the bases out, I was just barely in my twenties. Now, I am in my forties, with six kids and a lovely wife to feed. I have a career to take care. I have a parent who needs to feel loved and a sister who wants to discover the riches of the Americas.

I was taught to love God, Country and Family, in that order.

Every single day, I worship and pray to God, that nothing untoward happens to me, my family and friends.

Now, it is time to once more defend this very country that gave me everything, my life, my family, everything.

When I remember the sacrifices I did during the nineties, when I risked life, limb and my future just to stress a point, I can't help but shed a tear.

Now, no tears. It is time to raise those fists again.