PINK On and Fly Free

“Move on!” The red camp taunts us, as if it were a heinous crime to speak about the presidential election. It’s a phrase meant to muzzle those who want to ferret out the truth.  

I say, “Pink on!” 

Pinking on is moving forward with a tight grip on grace. The past, fraught with documented atrocities, cannot be dropped. Forgiving and forgetting misdeeds that caused ignorance and impunity cannot be legislated, especially when facts are big as life. 

Only when truth becomes our guiding principle in governance can we fly free as we should in a democracy.  

It’s ironic how “move on” makes me and kakampinks (kindred spirits) vividly remember, especially those that happened 36 years ago. My friend Marian uploaded a photo of her treasured books about Martial Law and other important events during the dark periods of our history. These are literature the younger generation ought to read! 

After clicking a heart emoji, I was surprised when she messaged me back, “Grace, Fly, Malaya, Fly! is displayed proudly too!” 

It sure is—side-by-side with books that document how we lost our freedom. 

Fly, Malaya, Fly! is a children’s book which I co-wrote with my then 10-year-old son #3 and illustrated by Longlong Pesquira. It’s about letting a bird, Malaya (free) fly safe—our dream for everyone in this country: be free from the miseries of poverty (both economically and morally), caused by power-and-money-hungry leaders who run for office not for the people but for themselves. 

Young as he was, son #3 joined an essay writing contest, which won him a prize. As I had just retired from the workplace, I re-worked it with him, to further emphasize that birds are meant to soar high, not caged or hunted. 

The book was published by Caltex Philippines for the Philippine Eagle Foundation "to ensure the survival of the Philippine Eagle, the biodiversity it represents, and the sustainable use of our forest resources for future generations to enjoy.” 

At the same hour when we were launching Fly, Malaya, Fly! in Davao, President Erap was deposed and was exiting from Malacanang—an event that dramatized our being malaya from a head of state found unfit to lead us.  

The book mirrors the aspirations of the song Bayan Ko (My Dear Country) composed in 1929, when Filipinos were struggling for independence from colonizers. Based on a poem by Jose Corazon de Jesus, the lyrics are a prayer of a people caged for over 400 years. The words likened the Philippines—a nest of tears and poverty—to a bird set free.

Today, June 12, we celebrate our Independence Day. Let's pink on and fly.

With courage, authors need to write more and the youth need to read books about our past. Alas, some of my author friends have been red-tagged for children’s books about dictatorship.  But we cannot allow our country to be locked-up again, not by lies and historical revisionism, financed by money stolen from us. 

“The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9 NLT)