{"id":1469,"date":"2011-09-04T02:43:16","date_gmt":"2011-09-03T16:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=1469"},"modified":"2011-09-04T02:43:16","modified_gmt":"2011-09-03T16:43:16","slug":"grand-balagtasan-in-america-by-rodel-rodis-us-correspondent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=1469","title":{"rendered":"Grand Balagtasan in America  by Rodel Rodis (US Correspondent)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>SAN FRANCISCO, California<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n. Midway through a sunny Saturday afternoon filled with singers, dancers and comedians (notably still sexy octogenarian Elizabeth Ramsey) eliciting delight, and politicians soliciting votes, the crowd, estimated at more than 10,000 people, standing in the grassy knoll in front of the Yerba Buena center stage for the 18th annual Pistahan festival in San Francisco on August 13, was eager for something new.<\/p>\n<p>That something new\u2014not usually seen in Filipino fairs in the US\u2014was the Grand Balagtasan, a traditional debate with two protagonists jousting in Tagalog poetic verse, with the cadence of a sing song rhythm.<\/p>\n<p>When our names were announced by Tony \u201cJunjun\u201d Villegas, Jr., I strolled on to the stage along with my protagonist, Rudy Asercion, and Greg Macabenta, the moderator and scriptwriter.<\/p>\n<p>Greg, the self-described \u201cmakatang pulpol\u201d (dull-bladed poet), presented the topic to be debated\u2014Divorce in the Philippines\u2014and warned the audience that the heated exchange of fireworks between Rudy and me would be done \u201ckatuwaan lamang\u201d (in the spirit of jest).<\/p>\n<p>I started off by arguing that divorce was needed because the reality of life is that \u201cmay mga nagsasama, halos di magkita sa kwarto\u2019t sa kama\u2026 walang pagmamahal, parang estranghero at hindi kasal.\u201d (There are many couples who remain together in loveless relationships, not even sharing room or bed).<\/p>\n<p>Rudy countered that \u201chindi komo\u2019t pamilya ay nag-aalitan, dapat nang kalasin ang pagsasamahan\u2026 Ang pagmamahal at ang pagsasama, \u2018di lamang depende sa sex at sa kama.\u201d (Just because arguments arise in family situations shouldn\u2019t give cause to divorce. Love and togetherness don\u2019t depend on sex in bed.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>I replied that there is a world of difference between a lovers\u2019 spat, that is normal in every relationship, and situations where \u201cmag-asawa\u2019y madalas nang mag-away, kawawang babae ay mapapatay. Pagka ang babae ginugulpi na, at bugbog sarado sa suntok at sa sipa\u2026\u201d (couples are constantly fighting which sometimes leads to the poor wife being beaten up, near death), \u201cano\u2019ng dapat gawin, what is her recourse? Dapat humiwalay, dapat mag-divorce\u201d (the wife should have the option to get a divorce).<\/p>\n<p>Rudy disagreed, pointing out that \u201chindi lamang dibursyo ang siyang paraan, hindi kailangang magkasiraan. Sa batas ng bayan ay may ibang option, iyan ang tinatawag, Legal Separation.\u201d (Divorce is not the only alternative.)<\/p>\n<p>The problem with legal separation, I said, was that \u201cwala nang pag-asang ma-in love na muli. Sa mata ng batas sila\u2019y nakatali\u201d (there is no hope to fall in love with another, in the eyes of the law, you\u2019re still tied to the other).  \u201cSa dibursyo ay libreng muling magasawa. Di na kailangan na maglokohan pa.\u201d (In divorce, one is free to get married again, no need to fool around).<\/p>\n<p>Rudy expressed the view that in Catholic Philippines, \u201csa harap ng Diyos kasal ay sagrado.\u201d (In the eyes of God, marriage is sacred). \u201cSinusunod lahat utos ng simbahan, Hindi sinusuway o tinatalikuran,\u201d (We follow the teachings of the church, without question.)<\/p>\n<p>But I retorted that the Catholic Church itself has a \u201cparaan na gawing walang bisa, banal na sumpaan (a means to set aside sacred vows). Divorce is allowed by the Catholic Church, only it\u2019s called by a different name: \u201csa marriage annulment, kasal kanselado\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Rudy explained that as far as annulment goes, \u201cmahigpit ang proseso ng ating Simbahan\u201d (the Church has strict procedures to obtain a marriage annulment.) Unfortunately, Rudy inadvertently blurted \u201cpresyo\u201d, instead of \u201cproseso\u201d, which happens to also be true as the price of obtaining a church annulment is way too high.<\/p>\n<p>I pointed out to Rudy \u201cdoon mismo sa Roma, divorce ay legal, bakit sa Pilipinas ipinagbabawal?\u201d (divorce is legal even in Rome, so why should it be banned in the Philippines?) \u201cSa totoo lamang, lahat na sa mundo, sa issue ng divorce ay nagkakasundo. (In truth, in all the world, on the issue of divorce, there is unity.)<\/p>\n<p>Rudy\u2019s questioned whether \u201cIyan bang dahilan, magiging gaya-gaya?\u201d (Is that the reason, just copy what everyone else is doing?) \u201cPangako sa Diyos ay dapat igalang, ang pag-aasawa\u2019y hanggang kamatayan\u201d (the promise to God should be honored, it\u2019s marriage until death).<\/p>\n<p>I pointed out that everyone should be guided by their own conscience. Unfortunately, the children from \u201ckasal na baldado, lahat sila, labas bastardo\u201d (children born out of wedlock are considered bastards).<\/p>\n<p>Rudy expressed his certainty that if divorce is legalized, the \u201cPundasyon ng society nitong Pilipinas, tiyak mawawasak at ma-aagnas\u201d (the foundation of Philippine society will crumble).\u201d Itong pag-dibursiyo huwag mo nang ipilit at baka misses mo, sa iyo ay magalit. Baka naman ikaw ay may masamang balak,  At may tinatagong ligaw na bulaklak.\u201d (don\u2019t persist with advocating for divorce or your wife will suspect that you have an ulterior motive).<\/p>\n<p>I berated Rudy for the thought. \u201cWala namang ganyanan, walang personalan, mangatuwiran ka dito sa balagtasan\u201d (Let\u2019s not get personal, let\u2019s use reason and stick to the subject.) Then I added, \u201cAalahanin mo, Rudy, dito sa America, may divorce, ang pagsasama namin ni Missis, dahil sa pag-ibig, di dahil walang recourse.\u201d (Remember, Rudy, we have divorce here in America, so my wife and I remain together bounded by love, not because we have no other recourse.)<\/p>\n<p>The Balagtasan then ended with Greg reminding everyone that in a Balagtasan, \u201chindi mahalaga manalo\u2019t matalo.  Ito ay tagisan sa talas ng ulo, sa galing ng isip sa pagtutol, sa husay bumigkas at bilis ng dila.\u201d (It\u2019s not important who won or lost, this is a contest of wits based on the sharpness of mind and the speed of the tongue).<\/p>\n<p>(<em>Send comments to Rodel50@gmail.com or mail them to the Law Offices of Rodel Rodis at 2429 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call 415.334.7800<\/em>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SAN FRANCISCO, California . Midway through a sunny Saturday afternoon filled with singers, dancers and comedians (notably still sexy octogenarian Elizabeth Ramsey) eliciting delight, and politicians soliciting votes, the crowd, estimated at more than 10,000 people, standing in the grassy knoll in front of the Yerba Buena center stage for the 18th annual Pistahan festival [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}