Maraming salamat Almondz!

Ito naman ang sinulat ni Al Mondz para sa Bulatlat.

Salamat Almondz! Ituloy nyo ang movie nights sa kubo. Hahaha! At saka oo nga may sinimulan pala tayong website project na hindi na nabalikan. Sige i-pursue pa rin natin yan. Kulang lang talaga tayo ng kapangyarihan eh. Tingin ko may bato somewhere sa Mt. Diwalwal na magagamit natin para matupad na yang project na yan. Hahaha!

Kuya Kim, kumusta ka na?

Dalawang daan at animpu’t limang (265) araw na mula nang ilegal kang dakipin ng mga elemento ng 67th Infantry Battalion sa Sitio Spur Dos, Barangay Aliwagwag, Cateel, Davao Oriental dahil isa ka raw myembro ng New People’s Army (NPA). Isa sa mga isinampang kaso sa’yo ay multiple frustrated murder. Nang mabalitaan ko yun, napaisip ako na, “Si Kuya Kim na hindi nga makapatay ng ipis, papatay ng mga tao?” Nakakalungkot at nakakagalit isiping kapag nasa kagubatan na, hindi na mapag-iba ng mga militar ang sibilyan sa mga rebelde.

Naalala ko tuloy ang pagpaslang ng mga element ng 19th Infantry Battalion ng Philippine Army sa bantog na ethno-botanist na si Leonard Co noong Nobyembre 15, 2010 kung saan nagsasagawa sya ng pagsasaliksik sa kagubatan ng Kananga, Leyte kasama sina Sofronio Cortez at Julius Borromeo.

Siyam na buwan na mula nang ikulong ka nila sa piitan. Ilang beses na nagkaroon ng paglilitis at patuloy pa rin ang pagdadagdag ng militar ng gawa-gawang kaso laban sa iyo. Heto nga’t gaganapin na naman sana ang paglilitis sa kaso mo ngayong araw, kaso ipinagpaliban na naman. Lalong tumatagal ang ang paglaya mo sa kulungan.

Dahilan ito ng pagkaantala ng pagsasaliksik mo para sa mga nasalanta ng bagyong Pablo. Naaantala tuloy ang pagpapatuloy ng trabaho mo dito sa Maynila. Naaantala tuloy ang pagtapos mo sa thesis mo para sa doctorate mo sa Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands. Higit sa lahat, naaantala ang pag-uwi mo para makapiling ang iyong pamilya.

Kakakita ko lang ng panawagan ng anak mong si Kimiko para palayain ka. Kinurot ang puso ko sa panawagan ng isang musmos na anak para sa pagpapalaya ng ama. Haaay.

Oh, naibalik na ba ang digital camera mong kasama sa mga kinuha sa’yo ng mga sundalo? Huhulaan ko, karamihan ng mga kuha mo ay macroshots (pagpiktyur ng malapitan sa mga maliliit na bagay). Naaalala ko nung isang beses na hawak mo ang digital camera mo at panay ang kuha mo ng mga litrato. Doon ko nalaman na macroshots talaga ang hilig mo. Curious tuloy ako, nakuhaan mo kaya ng macroshots ang mga alitaptap na subject ng pananaliksik mo nung gabi bago ka dinakip ng mga militar? Gusto kong malaman kung mailap ang mga alitaptap o hindi. Ang ganda siguro kung nakuhaan mo sila na kitang-kita ang bioluminescence sa kanilang lower abdomen. Gustung-gusto kong nakakakita ng mga alitaptap dahil bihira sila matagpuan dito sa Maynila, kasi diba sa lugar na may malinis na hangin lang sila matatagpuan?

Naalala ko rin ang iyong kakulitan, inisyatiba at tiyaga na ipunin ang mga kasamahan natin sa opisina at organisasyon tuwing Huwebes para manood ng mga pelikulang iba-iba ang tema at laging may social relevance. Mula sa unang pelikulang psychological-thriller na ‘The Skin I Live’ noong January 10, 2013, hanggang sa WWII era film na ‘Defiance’ noong June 13, 2013, patok lahat tuwing Huwebes. Lalo na ang pelikula ni Nora Aunor na “Minsa’y May Isang Gamu-Gamo.”

Ang nakakalungkot, mula nang nag-field ka dyan sa Mindanao, hanggang sa kasalukuyang pagkakapiit mo, wala na ang Thursday Movie Nights natin.

Pagbalik mo, ipagpatuloy natin ‘yung nabitin nating pagpaplano at pag-develop ng isang website para sa mga proyekto na pwedeng makatulong sa iba’t ibang organisasyong na nagsisilbi sa mamamayan.

Nakaka-miss din ang mga kwentuhan natin na kahit mababaw lang ay biglang lumalalim dahil tinitilad-tilad mo ang “science of it”. Ultimong pag-utot, nakukuha mong ipaliwanag! Ang dami mong sinasabi. Pero sa totoo, malaking tulong ang mga ganoong kwentuhan. Biruin mo, hindi ko na kailangang maglabas ng ilang libo para sa tuition fee. Hindi ko na kailangang mag-enroll sa mga unibersidad kung saan ka nagtuturo. Instant estudyante mo ako tuwing nagkukwentuhan tayo! Passion mo talaga ang pagtuturo, kaya hindi ako nagtataka kung bakit ganoon mo na lang kagusto na padalhan ka namin dyan ng science at math books para sa itinatayo mong People’s Science School para turuan ang mga bilanggong kasama mo dyan.

Sa dalawang daan at animnapu’t limang araw pananawagan namin para palayain ka, bitbit namin ang pag-asa na sa lalong madaling panahon ay lalabas ang katotohanang ikaw ay walang sala, at isa na namang paglabag sa karapatang pantao ang ginawa ng mga militar at ng gobyerno.

Si Joanna Almodal ay community organizer at project officer ng Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment. Isa sa mga kaibigan ni Prof. Kim Gargar, isang makabayang siyentista, na inakusahan ng gawa-gawang kaso at illegal na ikinulong sa Mati Provincial Jail mula noong October 2013.

Maraming salamat Cathy!

Puslan man nga nasugdan na. Ako na lang pud ipost ning message of support ni Cathy sa kampanyang pagpapalaya sa akin sa bilangguan. Si Cathy ay isang magaling na geologist mula sa National Institute of Geological Sciences sa University of the Philippines Diliman. Nagdalubhasa siya sa geology sa University of Potsdam sa Germany.

Salamat Cath! Wisikan mo naman ako ng mga kaalaman mo sa mga bato. Hahaha!

Kuya Kim is a friend of mine.

He was still in Netherlands when I came to Potsdam for my studies as well so he decided to give me a visit. Kuya Kim came to Potsdam one beautiful summer of July 2012. I offered to pick him up in Potsdam main station (Hbf)and he said that I should because he does not want to get lost in Potsdam. I was giddy with excitement that when I saw him in Hbf I called to him "Kuyaaaa Kiiimmm!!" as I fling my arms around to give him a tight embrace. He met me with his signature cheerful smile- a smile that is fulfilled with a graceful squinting of the eyes that will never fail to make you smile in return.

He then started complaining about the heat and how much he had sweated. And I blamed it to the polo shirt he is wearing and I contested that he was not sweating, he was raining. I rarely see Kuya Kim dress in formal clothes like that. He is usually in his plain shirt particularly those with calls like "Science and Technology for the People", and the one with a quote from Albert Einstein " Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is only by devoting himself to society" among others. He wanted to walk nevertheless, so we did until my flat. It was a pretty long walk of 30 minutes but we filled it with stories, questions to catch-up and as usual laughter that before we know it we were already in my flat's doorsteps.

Kuya Kim is a guy who never seem to run out of ideas and thoughts. I introduced him to my friends here in Potsdam and at an instant they liked him. He talked about his fascination about biological clocks and advised us that we should stop forcing ourselves to wake up in the morning with alarm clocks (we are so delighted with this advice by the way). Instead, we should just let our biological clocks function naturally, and that this could lead to a more healthy body and optimum working habits (for us it means longer sleep time!). In a birthday dinner that we went, my friends from India were impressed by how much he knows about Bhagat Singh (one of the revolutionaries in India) and other personalities I could hardly recall.

He is such a pleasant person to talk with as he listens well to other thoughts as well with candor. You can hardly leave him out of place in any crowd. Even the concerted effort of three female geologists from different corners of the world to tease him being the only physicist in the group did not work.

We went around Potsdam with him wearing a shirt that reads "Free Ericson Acosta". During that time, Potsdam is having a music festival and we scoured all the booths to dance every music (salsa, modern, hiphop, etc.) we hear. He also insisted of going to the videoke bar in Potsdam where he sang "El Condor Pasa" by Simon and Garfunkel where he received a loud roar of claps from partying Potsdamers!

This is me and Kuya Kim sitting on the grasses in Park Sans Soucci, Potsdam. I was forcing him to look at the camera but he was distracted by the "very interesting" bug he saw in the grasses! Ang kulit lang talaga!

While Kuya Kim can be very cheerful, funny and sometimes even bordering to 'crazy' kind of person who never fails to make fun of almost everything, he is in all seriousness and sincerity when he talks about service to the people. During our breakfasts and dinners, he would tell me about the significance and urgency of scientists like us to be part of building a nation. In a very concrete way, he said that scientists like us should use our talents to help solve people's problems or promote their understanding of nature's processes in a scientific way. At the same time he also believes that he can learn a lot from people's experiences and that his science will continue to grow as he work more closely with the people. I can feel the burning passion that he has in pursuing a life of a true iskolar ng bayan and scientist for the people. Indeed, in his heart he feels that his life's meaning is by devoting himself to society.

True to his words and passion, he went back to the Philippines and started working on projects to address peoples needs like he did in the Environmental Impact Assessment for typhoon Pablo. He could have chosen to stay in Europe or anywhere else in the world to find good position and better compensation, but his determination to use his knowledge for our fellowmen cannot be wavered. As such, he should be immediately released so he could continue to use his talents in service of the people.

Free Kim Gargar Now!

Maraming salamat Brutus!

Ito na yata ang pinaka-touching na testimonial (haha parang friendster lang!) o statement of support sa kampanyang pagpapalaya sa akin mula sa bilangguan sa Baganga, Davao Oriental. Galing ito sa blog ni Brutus na pinost noong December 11, 2013. Yang nasa larawan si Brutus, kunwari nagpepresent ng kanyang "findings" sa Samahang Pisika ng Visayas at Mindanao National Conference noong 2004 sa Xavier University sa Cagayan de Oro. Sige na nga hindi yan kunwari, talagang nagpresent sya ng paper. Hahaha!

Salamat Brutus! Ang galing mo palang mag-Ingles. Nakakainggit! Hahaha!

Let me pause here for a while but this remaining part of the entry is not in the original draft as I’ve intended to go straight through in the discussions. I have to cut things down and insert some thoughts that have bothered me since I first learned of the news, which personally I haven’t thought of to happen since the person involved as I believed was in his studies abroad to complete his PhD in physics. It was just on December 2 this year that I’ve known of the news that took place last October 2, 2013. At first I could not believe it as it was posted at

http://www.agham.org/cms/content/free-kim-gargar

I was still under the expectation that the said person was still abroad for his PhD and I could only gain access to the internet in rare occassions to have been updated immediately of any incident that the main stream media would no longer pay attention to.

I may no longer mention the name of the person here as you may know it at the webpage I’ve just quoted.

So, according to AGHAM, he was being detained at the Mati jail after being caught in a crossfire between the NPA and the government soldiers. The military accused the said person as being a member of the New People’s Army and such accusation really shocking as somewhat ridiculous!

As to the reasons and circumstances why he was in the area, you may refer to that AGHAM entry. Contrary to what the military maintained about him that he was an NPA, actually he was part of a humanitarian and fact finding mission for the Pablo devastated areas as early as April this year. Last October when he was caught in crossfire, he was doing a field work for a research project in areas mutilated by that monster storm until the time the encounter happened and he was caught some kilometers away from the actual encounter site. As usual habit of the AFP, anything crawling, walking and injured in the vicinity is to be indentified as an enemy, a habit they already acquired time immemorial and practiced. Ofcourse, this practice is in great violation of the internationa humanitarian laws of war with provisions afforded to civilians caught in the crossfire!

As a personal note that person and I were once close associates in a physics research group that we tried to organize in the only state college in Cagayan de Oro. That time he was teaching college physics and had already earned a master’s degree at the University of the Philippines. He then decided to continue his career in Manila as he was aspiring then to obtain a PhD whether from U.P. or abroad. We continued our correspondence through emails and kept updates via the blogs and websites we’ve set-up. After a few years since we departed ways, I learned that he was already studying in the Netherlands, realizing his personal ambition to get atleast a doctoral degree. Because our internet connection at home wasn’t regularly maintained, our correspondence became so rare as it was only when I could find time accessing the internet outside. Though not regularly, we could still communicate and have updates on our researches. There was even one time back in 2012, if I’m not mistaken recalling the year, he bragged to me that he had a paper published in an internation publication. So if my recollection is not blurred, in 2012 he was still in the Netherlands, greatly disputing the military’s claim that he joined the NPA in 2012!

The person I am referrring to here is a smart physicist and a good scientist, dwelling in a new area where physics and biology merge. “Smart” and “good”, traits I may honestly attribute to him as far as I can remember the times when we struggled to form a research group. Way back then we had this advocacy or belief that though official and diploma’d education might have great advantages but it was not ultimately necessary for a person to gain knowledge. We believed in free education especially physics for the sons and daughters of the masses who could not afford to send their children to prestigious schools. Because he was at a masteral level he understood it clearly the very poor state of physics research in the Philippines and the need for a Nationalist Industrialization to absorb the growing number of unemployed or misemployed physics graduates as well as to combat the so-called brain-drain. He still continued the advocacy when he left for Manila.

So, FREE PROFESSOR K. G. !

Ala-ala ng dahon