Uncomfortable Plot Summaries by postmodernbarney

• 25TH HOUR: White New Yorkers commit crimes against both law and ethics; feel bad for being caught, rather than for doing it at all.
• 300: Gays kill blacks.
• 8 MILE: White man successfully coopts black culture to impress other whites.
• A CIVIL ACTION: Underqualified lawyer doesn’t listen to clients, royally botches case.
• A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES: Social deviants make life difficult for genius.
• A CRY IN THE DARK: Dogs eat baby, confusion follows.
• ALIEN: Ship fails to deliver cargo, crew don’t get bonus.
• ALIENS: An unplanned pregnancy leads to complications.
• AMADEUS: Man with health problems receives help from rival.
• AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON: Tourist causes riot.
• ATLAS SHRUGGED: Selfish industrialist destroys economy.
• AUNTIE MAME: Spinster exposes child to sexual fetishists, socialists; thwarts marriage to good Republican girl.
• BATMAN: Wealthy man assaults the mentally ill.
• BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Peasant girl develops Stockholm Syndrome.
• BENJI: Family abandons beloved pet, forcing it to engage in a dangerous cross-country journey.
• BEOWULF: Colonists hire assassin to drive natives from land.
• BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA: Redneck trucker kills Chinese immigrants.
• BILLY ELLIOT: Union worker turns back on strikers for personal gain.
• BLADE: Obsessed loner stalks minority group.
• BLADE RUNNER: Man with no apparent skill stumbles into escaped robots, fails to kill most, fucks one.
• BLAKE’S 7: Terrorists fight government, die.
• BOOGIE NIGHTS: Deformed boy goaded into life of crime.
• BOTTLE ROCKET: Mentally unstable man fosters friend’s descent into mental instability, finds love.
• BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S: Pretty redneck girl fools socialites, flirts with gay gigolo.
• BREWSTER’S MILLIONS: Black man abuses line of credit.
• BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: Teenage serial killer destroys town in fit of semi-religious fervor.
• CHANGE OF HABIT: Rock star regrets not looking closer at contract with movie studio.
• CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: Deranged pedophile big-business industrialist tortures and mutilates young children.
• CHASING AMY: Homosexuality proved to be passing fancy and sign of sexual deviance.
• CHEERS: Alcoholic cuts lime in bar as penance for his womanizing ways.
• CHINATOWN: Father desires closer relationship with his children.
• CHRISTMAS VACATION: Incestuous relatives teach family the meaning of Christmas.
• CLERKS: Aimless loser remains in dead-end job, abusive “friendship.”
• CLOAK AND DAGGER: Spoiled teens discover drugs make them special.
• CONAN THE BARBARIAN: Petty thief murders religious leader.
• CORALINE: Misfit discovers she is special person in a secret world just beside our own.
• CRANK: Drug addict spends last day in orgy of rape and violence.
• CUJO: Family neglects to give family pet rabies shots, pays price.
• DAREDEVIL: Blind man pisses off crime boss, gets all his girl-friends killed.
• DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: Aging sadist corrupts, endangers minor, facilitates murder, destroys superhero comic books for 30 years.
• DEADWOOD: Pimp and rapist charms frontier town into eventual fire-based disaster.
• DEBBIE DOES DALLAS: Cheerleaders develop valuable entrepreneurial skills.
• DEEP THROAT: Medical anomaly earns woman new friends.
• DELIVERANCE: Tourists experience local hospitality.
• DEMOLITION MAN: In a future where crime is completely eradicated, a black man steals and murders.
• DIE HARD: Dysfunctional cop saves marriage by murdering foreign national.
• DIRTY HARRY: Police incompetence allows murderer to go free.
• DOCTOR FAUSTUS: Scholar leans nuances of contract law.
• DOCTOR WHO: Elderly man serially abducts young women.
• DONNIE DARKO: Hallucinating teen crushed by airplane engine.
• DRACULA: Immigrant clashes with locals.
• E.T.: Out-of-control pet causes mayhem, sadness.
• EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE: Part-time mechanic involves girlfriend in illegal fight club, risks life of best friend and endangered primate.
• FALLING DOWN: Life is difficult for white men.
• FANTASTIC FOUR: Scientist exposes friends, family to dangerous radiation to assuage ego, becomes embroiled in rivalry with former room-mate.
• FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF: Amoral narcissist makes world dance for his amusement.
• FIELD OF DREAMS: Schizophrenic builds ball park, almost kills girl.
• FIGHT CLUB: Deranged sociopath guides yuppies to their deaths.
• FIREFLY: In an analogue of the post-Civil War west, a white man on the losing side bosses around a black woman.
• FRANKENSTEIN: Scientific advancement proves unpopular with general public.
• FREAKS: Acrobat learns value of community.
• SERENITY: Men fight for possession of scantily clad mentally ill teenage girl.
• GHOSTBUSTERS: Unemployed college professors destroy hotel with nuclear weapons.
• GLADIATOR: Convict murders head of state.
• GLENGARRY, GLENN ROSS: Sales job proves difficult for some.
• GONE WITH THE WIND: Rich, white slave owner enjoys getting raped, miscarries.
• GOOD WILL HUNTING: Underemployed genius squanders prestigious job opportunity to chase trim.
• GREEN ARROW: Rich white man with Robin Hood fetish goes vigilante.
• GREEN LANTERN: Policeman beats up his girlfriend.
• GREMLINS: Distant father ruins son’s life, puts entire town at risk.
• GROUNDHOG DAY: Misanthropic creep exploits space/time anomaly to stalk coworker.
• HACKERS: Cybercriminals on revenge kick destroy innumerable jobs.
• HAIR: Hippie dodges draft, dies ironically.
• HALLOWEEN: Babysitter’s relationship with murderer places children in danger.
• HARRY POTTER: Celebrity Jock thinks rules don’t apply to him, is right.
• HE GOT GAME: Escaped convict attempts to embezzle only son.
• HIGHLANDER: Elderly immigrant destroys property.
• IRON MAN: Alcoholic rich white man with technology fetish goes vigilante.
• WAR MACHINE: Alcoholic rich white man gives weapons to black man.
• IT: Children use horrific murders as excuse to run train on young girl.
• JFK: Family man wastes life for nothing in crusade against homosexuals.
• JUDGE DREDD: Fascist thug in bleak dystopia is cheered.
• JUNO: Teen fails to get abortion, ruins lives.
• JURASSIC PARK: Theme park’s grand opening pushed back.
• KARATE KID: Boy gains acceptance through violence.
• KILL BILL: Irresponsible mother wants custody of her child.
• KINDERGARTEN COP: Incompetent left in charge of children, who are eventually fired at by convicted felon.
• KING KONG: Endangered animal stolen, shot.
• KING OF KONG: Dick battles loser over trivia.
• LA CONFIDENTIAL: Rapist joins thug in foiling police corruption scheme.
• LABYRINTH: Girl is negligent baby-sitter.
• LARS AND THE REAL GIRL: Retarded man doesn’t know what sex toy is for.
• LASSIE COME HOME: Family abandons beloved pet, forcing it to engage in a dangerous cross-country journey.
• LOLITA: Man encourages step-daughter to take chances.
• LONE WOLF MCQUADE: Alcoholic assaults local businessman, ruins marriage.
• LORD OF THE RINGS: Midget destroys stolen property.
• LOVE ACTUALLY: Prime Minister risks war with United States over a sexy secretary.
• MARLEY AND ME: Out-of-control pet causes mayhem, sadness.
• METROPOLIS: Efficient society undone by unions.
• MICHAEL CLAYTON: Attorney works against client’s interests.
• MILK: Uppity queer dies.
• MIRRORMASK: Misfit discovers she is special person in secret world just beside our own.
• MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL: British comedy troupe inadvertently creates language lab for nerds.
• MULHOLLAND DRIVE: Lesbian relationship is harmful.
• MY GIRL: Boy killed by female friend’s irresponsibility.
• NEVERWHERE: Misfit discovers he is special person in secret world just beside our own.
• O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU: Southern musicians encounter massive flooding and government incompetence.
• OBSERVE AND REPORT: Emotionally disturbed man gets woman drunk, rapes her.
• OCEAN’S ELEVEN: Gang of career criminals commit act of terror to facilitate robbery and romance.
• OF MICE AND MEN: Migrant farmer murders mentally handicapped friend.
• ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST: Disruptive mental patients treated.
• PILLOW TALK: Gay man tricks woman into sex.
• POLTERGEIST: Pot-head parents lose child, ruin property values.
• PREDATOR: American military-industrial complex ruins first contact with alien life.
• PRETTY BABY: Young woman’s modeling career encouraged.
• PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Woman with gold-digging mother nags wealthy man into marriage.
• PYGMALION: Urchin cured by social betters.
• RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: American yahoo murders soldiers and desecrates religious artifacts for money.
• RAISING ARIZONA: Convicted felon seduces police officer in kidnapping plot.
• RAMBO III: The United States provides arms, equipment and training to the terrorists behind 9/11.
• RATATOUILLE: Vermin infest restaurant until it is forced to close doors.
• RAVENOUS: Coward is seduced by cannibal, destroys army outpost.
• RED DAWN: Despite shock-and-awe tactics, a superior occupying force is no match for a tenacious sect of terrorist insurgents.
• RISKY BUSINESS: Privileged rich kid gets everything he wants with no consequences.
• ROAD HOUSE: Bouncer becomes vigilante, murders local businessman with karate.
• ROBIN HOOD: Disgruntled veteran protests taxes.
• ROBOCOP: Female officer’s incompetence leads partner to be murdered and enslaved by corporation.
• ROCKY: White man beats black man.
• ROSEMARY’S BABY: An unplanned pregnancy leads to complications.
• RUDY: Diminutive athlete patronized.
• RUSHMORE: Teen molests teacher, is expelled. Finds love.
• SCARFACE: Immigrant finds running his own business stressful, dangerous.
• SCHINDLER’S LIST: Wealthy industrialist expands not-for-profit ventures.
• SCOTT PILGRIM: Emotionally immature musician sleeps with high-school girl.
• SE7EN: Homicide detectives unable to prevent even a single murder by admitted serial killer, killer gives cop head.
• SHORT CIRCUIT: Rogue scientist steals top-secret government weapon.
• SIGNS: Jesus trumps science.
• SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: Incompetent manipulated by several murderers, stumbles upon suspect completely by accident. Creates situation that allows serial killer to escape.
• SLEEPY HOLLOW: Veteran harassed.
• SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT: Redneck bootlegger makes mockery of law, sanctity of marriage.
• SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS: Layabout stepdaughter shacks up with seven miners.
• SOPHIE’S CHOICE: Mom loves one of her kids way more than the other one.
• SOUTHLAND TALES: Traumitized vet destroys universe.
• SPIDER-MAN: Nerd gets bitten by spider, complains about how this ruins his life for years to come.
• STARDUST: Misfit discovers he is special person in secret world just beside our own.
• STAR TREK: Over-sexed officer routinely places crew in danger.
• STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE: Meglomaniac can’t let go of past glory, drives successor to suicide.
• STAR TREK III: Military officers steal vessel and destroy it to eliminate a handful of enemies while engaged on an extremely vague rescue mission.
• STAR TREK IV: Interplanetary fugitives poach wildlife from a past age to cover up an act of genocide.
• STAR TREK VI: Racist military commander past his prime nearly ruins galactic peace.
• STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE: Religious extremist terrorists destroy government installation, killing thousands.
• STAR WARS: EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: Boy is abused by midget, kisses sister, attempts patricide.
• STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI: Handicapped mass murderer kills septugenarian, is lauded.
• STRAW DOGS: Immigrant clashes with locals.
• SUPERBAD: Boys plan date-rape, sleep together.
• SUPERMAN RETURNS: Illegal immigrant is deadbeat dad.
• SWEENEY TODD: Businesses flourish when freed from stringent regulation.
• TAXI DRIVER: Modern dating proves challenging for working class man.
• TERMINATOR: An unplanned pregnancy leads to complications.
• TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: Tourists have difficulty with regional cuisine.
• THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE: College professors help illegal alien evade authorities.
• THE CONVERSATION: Paranoid schizophrenic follows worst possible career path.
• THE CRYING GAME: Hairdresser bonds with client.
• THE EDGE: Men bond in Alaskan wilderness.
• THE EXORCIST: Jesus trumps science.
• THE FIRM: White lawyer learns hard work is irrelevant.
• THE GOLDEN COMPASS: Critique of Catholicism upstaged by polar bear fight.
• THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY: Nameless drifter kills American soldier over stolen money, hangs friend.
• THE GOONIES: Physically abused, retarded man finds love with overweight preteen.
• THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY: Family abandons beloved pets, forcing them to engage in a dangerous cross-country journey.
• THE MATRIX: Hacker is given perfect justification for mass slaughter.
• THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: Dangerous insurgent invades neighboring country.
• THE OFFICE: Incompetent boss routinely endangers employees, passes fire-worthy blame, sexually harasses subordinates; is seen as “hero” compared to people who just actually work.
• THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST: Mel Gibson fulfills fantasy of showing a Jew beaten to a bloody pulp and killed on-screen.
• THE PROFESSIONAL: Hired murderer sleeps with little girl.
• THE STEPFORD WIVES: Woman has difficulty adjusting to suburban life.
• THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3: Civil servant insults and shoots foreigners.
• THE THING: Unexpected visitor imposes on workers, their dogs.
• THE UNTOUCHABLES: Murderer indicted on technicality.
• THE WICKER MAN: Isolated religious community revitalized by newcomer.
• THE X-MEN: Minority group seeks overthrow of social order.
• THERE WILL BE BLOOD: Kidnapper commits murder several times.
• TITANIC: Crazy old widow disregards lifelong memories of husband, children, and grandchildren in favor of that one time she fucked a bum.
• TOP GUN: Pilot routinely endangers Air Traffic Controllers.
• TORCHWOOD: Bisexual is inefficient manager.
• TRAINSPOTTING: Statutory rapist and junkie sifts through human waste, gets enormous sum of money.
• TRANSPORTER: Repressed homosexual kills employers.
• TWILIGHT: Girl gives up college for stalker.
• BREAKING DAWN: Native American guy is romantically obsessed with ex-girlfriend’s baby.
• TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME: Father becomes more involved in teenage daughter’s life.
• V FOR VENDETTA: Dystopian government overthrown by faceless conformity.
• VERTIGO: Stalker drives woman to suicide.
• W.: Unspeakable disaster afflicts America. Then terrorists attack.
• WALL-E: Obsolete robot disrupts big business, disrupts lives of millions of innocent civilians.
• WAR OF THE WORLDS: Immigrants face difficulty acclimating.
• WATCHMEN: Homosexual destroys New York, blames God.
• WEEKEND AT BERNIES: Two employees take advantage of their boss’ hospitality.
• WONDER WOMAN: Princess from isolationist culture lectures Americans on equality.
• WORLD TRADE CENTER: Rag-tag group of underdogs succeed at a massive undertaking despite overwhelming odds, credit success with faith in God.

My so-called UP Education

On my third year as an undergraduate student of political science at the University of the Philippines, I went AWOL.

My parents couldn’t send me to school. My parents were jobless at that time: my father after suffering from a heart attack/stroke couldn’t pass his seaman’s physical exam anymore and my mother couldn’t find work as a teacher after having been a domestic home-maker for a number of years (the schools were looking for fresh and nubile graduates---or those with political connections). UP may have comparatively low tuition fees vis-à-vis other tertiary institutions but for us then, even my transportation expenses became a burden.

I decided to find work. I took on odd jobs until I got a job at the local factory. I never flaunted my being a UP student. That was, to me, more of a stigma than a badge of honor. I could imagine people talking behind my back: “if you really were a UP student, then what are you doing working here doing manual labor in a lowly factory?”

My work at the factory wasn’t bereft of grief or misfortunes. I was assigned to one of the most physically taxing jobs in the factory. But I focused on my work. I was never late nor absent and I did more than what was expected of me. A fortnight after my contract expired, they re-hired me. I was to become a regular factory hand. And for ten years, I was. (In a sense, I believe I shall always be that lowly factory hand no matter where I work).

Eventually my co-workers got to know my UP background but never from me. This was after I took helm of the cooperative and was elected as one of the top leaders of the labor union. My UP background therefore, did not really figure at all in the campaign. The best anyone can say about a product of UP education, I have gathered is that that person is “smart” or “matalino”---and that can either work for you or against you.

The best thing I got from my so-called “UP education” gave me is social concern. Concern for my fellow workers. I started to read the collective bargaining agreement and the company rules. I learned how some rules are made to stymie dissent and worker’s rights and I tried, in my own small way, to find ways around that; to explain the rules to my co-employees and to seek for better, fairer and more humane work conditions.

I think I have learned more from my factory work than from my two years of “UP education”.

Nevertheless, after a long hiatus, I decided to continue with my formal studies. My siblings have already finished college by then and I have no living parent to support anymore so I have run out of excuses not to. I may have learned much from my factory work but a diploma that hangs on a wall is, I have come to believe, the only piece of ‘education’ that is universally recognized by Filipinos. It’s funny though how people in the academe thinks the same way also. They would ask: “why did you stop studying?” when they meant to say why I stopped going to UP. I would just smile and refuse to answer or answer indirectly but in back of my mind, I would reply: “No, I have never stopped studying.”

And so here I am finally a graduate. But not before I lost my job due to the economic crunch and lost my position as a coop and union leader in the process. This was definitely not how I pictured my world will be after graduation.

Still, my spirit is undaunted. My hands will always be the hands of a laborer. My heart will always strive to serve the people. My mind will always be eager to learn.

So watch out, world: my education will continue.

Can We Survive without Emoticons?

I'm resisting its use in this blog, at least.

Why I Don't Twitter

Sister Stella L@25 and being a Vilmanian

“Vilmanian ka ba?” an elderly woman asked me.

“Ah, hindi po. Gusto ko lang po manood ng Sister Stella L. Maganda raw po na pelikula. One of the best, ika nga.”

“Ah, siyempre,” said the elderly woman, this is where Vilma says: “si Val, si Val na walang malay---”.

“Hindi po sa pelikula na ito yun,” corrected another Vilmanian. (I can tell they are Vilmanians because they have identical red-colored t-shirts with “VSSI: Vilma Santos Solid International” emblazoned on back.) “Ito po ay pelikula na maraming sikat tulad ni…ni…(and she approaches the movie poster before proceeding) Gina Alajar, Laurice Guillen, Jay Ilagan, Anita Linda, etc…”

It was four o’clock and the movie was supposed to start at five. I can only spot three other people who doesn’t look like members of the Vilma Santos fans club. Instead of hobnobbing with them, I decided to chat with the Vilmanians.

“It’s like a reunion, it’s been years since we last saw each other,” the same elederly woman tells me. Since I professed to be a newbie moviegoer to a Vilma Santos flick, she must have taken it upon herself to orient me in how to become a Vilmanian.

“Oy, umm, Aling Viring kamusta ka na?,” a heavily made-up middle aged woman greets another. I couldn’t help but notice that even if it were a reunion, it surely helped that the t-shirts they were wearing had names in the front, like “Aling Viring”.

It was the 25th anniversary showing of the Mike de Leon classic “Sister Stella L”. And for a laborer like me who just lost his job, disillusioned by the current labor situation, the movie couldn’t have come at a better time. It shored up my faith in just demands of labor in this country, and how we need more of people who care.

People like Sister Stella L.

“Kung hindi tayo kikilos, sino ang kikilos, kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa?”

Yet Another Sad Day (Sad Days Part 2)

A day after the company closed, the place turned into unfamiliar terrain like some B-movie horror film---with the townsfolk all turning zombies. The familiar smiles, greetings and small-talk one encounters as you go inside the factory in the morning were gone. All the cheerfulness, drained. The people just go there to mechanically get their social security certificates, certificate of employment and what-not.

The newly-assigned guards made us sign on logbooks, surrender an ID and wear an ID card that says “GUEST” on it, without even a glance up. For ten years, I saw that place like a home, a stomping ground. And suddenly, I was being treated as a “guest”. Funny, but such treatment never made me really feel like one.

I drag my feet towards the union office. There are a few things the union has to do before it closes shop so the union officers will have to decide and where else could we meet but in the union office which, unfortunately, happens to be located inside Zombie-land.

In the few short years I was a union officer, I bore witness to its exceptional transformation. From being an insular, factory-centered organization, it became more active in regional and national labor concerns (while still maintaining its independent nature). From being a traditional reactionary labor organization that threatens mass action for every perceived labor infraction, the union became mature enough to engage the management in constant dialogue and participative means in dispute resolution thus resulting in industrial peace and having no labor cases nor strike being filed at DOLE. From being dependent on members’ contribution, the union sought alternative means of fund-raising thus enabling it to offer additional services to the union (like memorial assistance) and at the same time raise its fund for the first time in its more than 20 year history to more than a million pesos. The union was also able to form a performance group that sang/performed in big rallies or intimate support mobilizations that lifted the sagging spirits of striking workers.

The union has to audit all its books, disburse the accumulated union funds to all the present members, and dispose of its assets. It was only a few months ago that the management approved the expansion and renovation of the union office. Now it is the union’s job to tear it all down. The union was given 15 days to vacate the premises.

The first two tasks: auditing the books and disbursement is a breeze. The union only had a few accounts and transactions. The photocopies of the passbooks and books of accounts were periodically posted at the union’s bulletin board.

On the disposal of the union assets, I balked at the suggestion that the union officers themselves be given the chance to buy the union office equipments. Some officers reasoned that they don’t have the time to gather the union members for a public auction like what I had suggested. And that even if we can contact some of them we do not have the contact numbers of all of them.
I shot down all their fallacious arguments. Not without small effort, I might add, for it takes an inordinate amount of skill to argue on the floor and, as you catch your breath, still maintain objectivity in writing the minutes of the meeting as it transpires.

It was familiar territory. I was the designated devil’s advocate of the union particularly when it comes to the union’s collective bargaining tactics. Usually, in protracted debates like this one, I am able to convince my closest allies to side with me---the key person being the union president. It was not unusual that my initial apprehensions or disagreement with a proposal becomes the union stand after an exhausting and detailed explanation on my part.

Nobody took my side. At the end of the day (after I have used every trick in the book including delaying the “division of the house”), it was me against everyone else. The union officers shall be allowed to buy the assets (i.e., computer, chairs and cabinets) of the union depending on the salvage price as determined by the audit officers themselves.

I grumbled but could not blame them. It was the union members who first turned their backs to the union officers.

Since the company declared closure, I watched helplessly as the values I hold as a worker, a labor leader, a unionist, all seem to crumble beneath my feet.

Everybody are zombies now. Everyone looks out for number one.

==========================================================



It was supposed to be a night of thanksgiving.

It was the night when the union will gather all its members in one place to reminisce about the good old times. It was a night for happy moments of remembrances of past union leaders and unforgettable struggles. But it was also the night when the disbursement of the union funds were to happen and as one might expect, that part made rent the other parts asunder.

I picked out a most auspicious place. A turn-of-the-century bahay-na-bato that is a favorite wedding reception venue in Marikina. I used my cooperative network contacts to secure the place for a song. A sumptuous buffet table was laid out, with candle lights for every table, even a karaoke machine at the side.

The union president requested that I become the master of ceremonies right before the ceremonies started. At first, I was hesitant but since nobody among the union officers are willing to stand up and address the crowd, I quixotically agreed . The union president co-hosted the event.

The union president and vice-president recalled the history of the union, paying respect to all the past union leaders, even Mr. Sleaze-bag. But of course, Mr. Sleaze-bag wouldn’t have any of it and wanted to have the last say so he grabbed a microphone and basically told the audience that we were all crooks and we divided all the union assets among ourselves.

This didn’t sit well with the other union officers and a shouting match ensued. Soon other union members and officers joined both sides of the fray and I was caught in the middle. As a dutiful union officer, I have to stand by the decision of the majority. I could not even say that I didn’t take part in it.

My more pressing concern was to regain order in the proceedings and to keep the hotheads at bay---one of which happens to be my co-host. As the evening dragged on, it became apparent that Mr. Sleaze-bag orchestrated the whole attack; even the sequence of speeches of the agitators. It was a trap ostensibly to fight for the rights of the members but in reality designed to malign the current union officers en masse.

In the end, I prevailed upon the union members to accept their fair share according to the union’s explanation.

Mr. Sleaze-bag was one of the first to accept his share. By painting us as the evil culprits, he was at last able to divert attention away from the shady dealings he had at the past. In short, he laughed all the way to the bank.

No thanks came the way of the union, only recriminations as if the union officers had not done anything in the past but the reprehensible bidding of union assets.

Still, I held my head high and thanked everyone for coming, shaking their hands as they leave. One member says that it was a good thing, the two of us---including Mr. C, a union officer---did not take part in the union assets fiasco; that we objected and stood by our principles. But it would have been better, I thought, had Mr. C. actually expressed his objection during the debate and not kept his decision to himself. I just smiled; a pained approximation of a smile.

I tried to drown some of my sorrows later that night in a couple of beer bottles but I found the attempt quite unsuccessful.

Filmore Dalisay (1962 - 2009)

Filmore Dalisay, former chairperson of the PLDT Employees Credit Cooperative, director of the Metro South Cooperative Bank, and chairperson of the United Cooperative Movement (UCM), passed away early this month due to lung cancer. He was 46.

He was coop leader who lived by his principles.

When the Cooperative Development Authority tried to shove the iniquitous Memorandum of Rules and Regulations for Savings and Credit Cooperatives (MORR) down the collective throats of cooperatives nationwide despite having no solid legislative foundation, he was among the first to stand up against it. When UCM organized a Metro-manila-wide mobilization against MORR, he convinced me to emcee the event. I told him, I don’t speak at rallies. “I was a unionist”, he insisted. I can do it. In other words, he left me with no other choice.

He stood up for the rights of the cooperative movement. This is how I choose to remember him. The fight will go on. He left us no choice but to fight.