PINATUBO MOUNT OF TRIUMPH

PINATUBO MOUNT OF TRIUMPH

Erle Frayne Argonza / Ra

Petrified is our inglorious state as people

Crystallized, our hopelessness and shame

We are but loathsome slaves on Planet Earth

Unfit as subject of a stately epic.

A nation of sleepwalkers we are, unblessed

An utterly coveted and sick people of Asia

Wantonly plundered by gluttonous alien Titans

And so too by local lords of similar mold.

Need we rise up from the mortified doldrums

To get back to the folds of Rizal’s grand era

To regain the trust in self built by Bonifacio

To foster again the sublimest nationhood.

Come forth, Pinatubo!

Thunder our valleys and hills

With your majestic voice

On the day of our national freedom!

You are the longed for herald of Apocalypse

Of our dim and stinking state.

Burn down the Sodoms and Gomorrahs of ours!

Demonic icons of imperial lust.

Bury the putrid old world with pyroclastics!

We shall regale the burial with wondrous dirges.

Why ought we wish you with infinite praises?

Why not indeed when you sprinkled vast lands

With ashes: mark of holiness a la Ash Wednesday?

O! majestic mount! You’ve heralded

Soon shall arise a glorious nation in our midst.

The holocaustal tapestry you’ve evoked

‘Tis but the birth pangs of greatness.

This nation, a Sun that others seek for Light

Undying—of justices, wisdom, compassion.

Hail! Sacred Pinatubo Mount of Triumph!

[Writ. 21 June 91, Cubao,Quezon City, M.Manila]

REFLECTION

Mt Pinatubo is still remembered for its powerful eruption that spread ashes encircling the globe, thus bringing down global temperature by 1 degree Celsius. Located in central Luzon, Philippines, it was dormant for centuries, and then violently erupted in June of 1991 as we were celebrating Independence Day.

Prior to Pinatubo’s famed eruption, talks were already on-going in the Philippine Senate to abrogate the Military Bases Agreement or MBA, thus signaling American troops to leave the country. Stubbornly cajoling the executive department with carrots of aid, the US government did what it can to extend the MBA that was expiring by 1991. Pinatubo suddenly erupted, compelling Americans in the Subic naval base and Clark airbase to scamper for safety in Manila.

Pinatubo changed the equation of the US bases here. By scampering away for safety, wherefore they left so hurriedly they were still wearing pyjamas and home clothes upon departure, observers became suspicious that nuclear missiles silos were erected surreptitiously by the Americans underneath the bases area. The Americans could have been so scared to hell, they forecast greater hell had Pinatubo’s pyroclastics and magma wrought havoc on the underground silos.

That eruption event, and the yearly pyroclastic outflow that accompanied flooding in wide swaths of geography, provided a slap to the Anglo-Saxon elites, whom we know now as Reptilians in disguise. Pinatubo’s eruption also provided an opportunity for relief operators to perfect their craft, which made them stand out in the world as they are regarded today as consultants and trainors for other country’s own relief specialists and volunteers. Enterprising craftsmen made export-quality décor items out of solidified pyroclastic materials.  

Being a mount, Pinatubo is a natural energy spot like other mountains. It stands today as a wonderful tourist spot, with a beautiful resort ready to serve eco-tourists at its foot. Meditation groups can always go up there anytime to recharge themselves in its regenerative energies.

Ra

April 2011