More stories of members of one the country’s most storied partylists.
Text by Rosario Brenda Gonzalez / Photos by Jhamela Tejome
Sustaining a Partylist to realize its mandate of truly representing the poor and marginalized sectors is hard work, persistence and commitment. It does not function only during an election season but for all-seasons.
Other Bayan Muna (BM) members in the chapter in Montalban, Rizal have their stories as interesting as members of the BM Laura Chapter. Mostly coming from Moro families displaced by militarization and lack of livelihood opportunities, they were forced to move to urban poor communities in Quezon City and eventually to Montalban where they now reside.
READ: Bayan Muna: Like No Other (Part I)
- Ibrahim Arobento, 70 (with 4 children, more than 20 grandchildren)
Our family is originally from Parang, Maguindanao. It was so difficult to earn a living at that time, in the 1980s. There was an unstable economic and socio-political situation. Our houses were demolished and we relocated to Dasmarinas, Cavite.
I first lived in Cavite where our neighbor was a drug addict who constantly nagged me to buy shabu from him. So, we transferred to Tandang Sora, Quezon City. Again, our new neighbor was selling shabu. He was a carpenter who’s also a drug addict. That’s when we decided to pack up and live in Sitio Maislap, Brgy. San Isidro, Montalban.
Similar to other Filipinos trying to improve the family’s economic well-being, I also went abroad and worked as a photographer in Dubai.
I first met the community organizer of Bayan Muna BM here at Sitio Maislap, Brgy. San Isidro, Montalban.
They gave relief goods and explained the issues to the people. They recruited many members here including my relatives. My daughter has been an active BM member.
I do not waste my vote. It is BM. It has always been BM. It also helps that Amirah “Mek” Lidasan is our relative. We come from the same tribe, Iranon. She stands by her principles. We admire her for that.
Despite being in this place for a long time, we can see that there is little progress. There is still no road leading to this place such that public transportation is difficult and expensive. There are few jobs and some areas still do not have electricity.
- Rahima M. Mangapoy, 60 (originally from Talayan, Maguindanao)
“Nanay Sheila” used to be BM’s community organizer here. She was followed by Jeff, Alfie and Cora.
BM conducted relief operations in our area. It gave rice, instant noodles and other consumer items to residents. Issue discussions were also held, sometimes, along with these relief operations. At other times, there were separate issue discussions.
The barangay clinic sometimes would have a doctor and a nurse. We have witnessed the holding of medical services such as tooth extraction and mass circumcision.
I and my relatives voted for BM. It is the Partylist that has facilitated our participation in community affairs. We still remember their candidates in the past, including Satur Ocampo—the one who’s handsome and loves to joke, Liza Maza and, of course, Amirah Lidasan, who explains the issues to us. A few of the people easily relate to her. They consider her as their relative.
My family used to live in Tandang Sora, Quezon City. My husband was a construction worker. But it was a chaotic place for us. There were drug addicts. It was hard not to be affected by them. Sometimes the drug addicts would go to our house.
That’s when we decided to leave and eventually settled in Montalban. We planted vegetables and rice. This is where we met the BM organizer. Many of the residents in our community were recruited by BM.
We are grateful to BM for helping raise our awareness of many issues such as the oil price hike, government corruption and what the people must do to oppose these and demand for better alternatives.
We would like to thank BM for its good deeds. It makes us happy knowing that. We heard about plans for BM organizers to resume their work here. We hope that it will happen.
BM understands the truth. It also wants the people to know the truth about societal issues.
- Mercedita Remigio, 67 (a fan of Satur Ocampo)
The BM organizer used to frequent our area. We also came to know the BM representatives. Satur Ocampo is a good speaker. He fights for the rights of the oppressed. He sides with the poor.
The BM members gather to discuss current issues such as the oil price hike. We have to understand why this is happening, the presence of Value Added Tax (VAT) among other factors. We join the demand for a living wage and lowering the prices of rice, consumer items and utilities. We also witness how BM would distribute relief goods in the community.
We have realized, the government is increasingly being corrupt while BM fights against it and exposes anti-people programs and policies. We are also afraid for our security because of red-tagging. But the presence of other BM members strengthens our resolve to continue with our causes.
My family are BM members: myself, my two children, my six nieces and nephews and several of my neighbors. I still have my first BM ID issued in 2010. We joined rallies and assisted in BM’s relief operations.
We used to live in Old Balara, Quezon City. My husband was a construction worker. But our house was demolished. So we decided to relocate here where he found a job as barangay tanod. Then we were able to buy the rights to the land.
We have a close-knit community. We help each other, that’s why we are able to survive. Even in our involvement with BM, we take turns in doing our tasks. We will be happy if it will continue its organizing in our area. BM has always been our choice for Partylist.
4. Johara Felisa G. Macatangay, 68 (early BM member)
I was recruited by another BM member way back 2001. There was a feeding program then. BM also distributed vegetables such as squash to community residents.
We were given an orientation by the BM organizer. We came to know of its objectives and activities. It also provided relief assistance when there were disasters in the past.
Our family is originally from Cagayan. Then we transferred to Quezon City. When my brother heard that there was a vacant lot here, we relocated to this place. That was 23 years ago.
Our relatives and friends here are for BM Partylist, including my sister. We are already known to be BM members. BM is our signature, our brand. It fulfills its promises.
It is also fortunate that we have not experienced the usual red-tagging. Recently, we attended the launching of the candidacy of the Makabayan senatorial candidates. We held banners for them. We stayed until the end of the program because speakers were engaging, as always. They speak of the truth so we listened to every word they uttered. It was already late when we went home, but it was all worth it. That only made us more excited to participate in future activities.
Even if BM organizers do not regularly visit, we know that it has not forgotten us and we have not forgotten them. BM is number 1 for us.
5. Leticia T. Arobento, 56 (happy to be part of BM)
I came to know BM in 2012. I was invited to one of its meetings. I participated in that undertaking. I was really curious on what BM is. I wanted to study what it is all about. When they had their activities in the community, I also joined them. It gave relief goods. Sometimes BM would distribute vegetables among the community residents.
We are happy being a part of BM.
There were education sessions which my son attended. Afterwards, he became more enthusiastic and hard-working in initiating BM activities. This further triggered my interest in BM. I guess other mothers would not understand their children who devote so much time to community organizing and serving others. But because I myself got involved with BM, I can understand. There are now two of us who encourage our other relatives and friends to become BM members.
The road to achieving a genuine Partylist is never easy. But it is always worthwhile, as shown by the BM Laura and Montalban chapter members. #
