katrina vs chacha

i received a text message calling people to act on the attempt by the congress to change the consti. and the message goes like this:

nung naVideo sina hayden at katrina, lahat tayo interesado! pero ngayong ginagahasa ang demokrasya sa Kongreso, dedma lang ba tayo?...hanggang showbiz na lang ba talaga ang Pilipino? Lets join anti-chacha rally sa ayala this thurs. afternoon!

instead of inciting me to rebel, this text message came as insulting. first, it was not just showbiz chismis. the katrina case is not just something superficial as that. and it should be a cause of concern. it is not just an isolated incident. in fact, before this, there were sex videos of women and girls drugged and raped. and did this incite anyone of us to act? nope. it took someone as katrina - a showbiz personality, to create a stir. to call our attention to this despicable act. its an act of violence against women. as ncrfw's statement goes: its a commodification/objectification of women. women are seen as objects to satisfy a need. not people with feelings that could be hurt. certainly not human with rights that could be violated.

the katrina-hayden case did more than just rouse interest. it brought to the forefront the emotional and psychological violence being committed against women. it was also an eye opener. that our existing laws are not enough to protect the women especially in this vulnerable situation. we all know that what happened was wrong. but we lack the legal basis to punish the wrongdoers.

it came as insulting because the sender did not think that the receiver has her own mind to know where to stand. as if the only stand is against cha-cha. (and just to get that out of the way, I AM AGAINST CHACHA). hanggang showbiz na lang ba ang pinoy? says who? hello? edsa 1 and 2? remember?

is the rape of one person less important than charter change? isn't the charter there to protect the individual? the individual that constitutes the constituents? the individual whose voice is as important as anyone elses? isn't that the essence of democracy? that every voice should be heard?

i could only surmise that the one who composed this message is someone who thinks that women's issues are non-issue. and that person could only be one with the people who thinks women are objects and are second-class citizens. who cares about their rights? right?

and to quote a friend "kelan ba naging importante ang babae?" this was her reaction when students of PUP rallied against the government on the ZTE issue when there was a girl gang-raped right inside their campus. we didn't hear anything from the PUP activists. maybe because they thought to wait for the outcome of the investigation. so how come they were able to form their position while the ZTE case was still being heard? ang bilis nilang magdesisyon sa mga political issues. ay...pero hindi importante ang isang babae na ni-rape sa loob mismo ng campus. importante rin syempre...pero hindi kasing importante ng national political issues. charity begins at home. so does change.

eh ano ba ang halaga ng global or national issues kundi naman natutugunan ang mga issues ng maliliit na individual? nakatingin lagi sa langit, hindi makita ang mga nasa ilalim ng tungki ng mga ilong nila.