Bandilang Itim

Written by Libre, a survivor of Typhoon Odette.

---

On December 2021, Super Typhoon Odette traumatized over a million Filipinos in the Visayas and Mindanao region. There was nothing Merry in Christmas, nothing Happy in the New Year. There was only darkness, loneliness, and misery for the thousands who have lost their homes, loved ones, and access to needs.

A time without electricity and connectivity.

A time of helplessness and hopelessness.

We were cut off from the world and it felt like an eternity.

Aftermath Scenes

In daylight, there seemed to be an endless queue for drinking water, washing water, and gasoline. Some had to travel far to find other sources of water and needs, such as: tarpaulines, radios, flashlights, fans, etc. Some had to risk exposing all their things outside to dry it all up, while a family member rebuilds their house.

At night, it’s hard for us to sleep for how can we when we know it’s when robberies, and possibly murders, happen? Stores — big and small — have been ransacked. Some people had to deal with the deafening noise of generators; they’re living near rich houses, hospitals, and other big establishments.

Some wished for the sun so they can get their needs and fix what they can. Others wished for the rain so they can get water and escape the heat. We saw our surroundings almost wiped out. Plants and trees have become bald, bent, and broken. Power and Telecommunication posts have fallen down or broken into two. Water pipes in many places have been severely damaged.

It’s as if we have been transported to another place. Our neighborhood has become foreign to us. And it’s all the more heartbreaking to see hanging handwritten signs: ‘WE NEED HELP PLS :(’

Aftermath Rage

We witnessed people organizing to provide drinking/washing water, charging stations, and information on active banks, stores, and signal spots. On the other hand, there were those who were selling overpriced needs. A bottle of water, not even a liter, was selling for Php 60. A liter of gasoline rose up to Php 100, and etc. And of course, Politicians. Plastering their faces on water tanks and taking pictures of people receiving goods without their fucking consent. All for their fucking show and greed. Mga Pakitang Tao!

There was absolutely no way to contact for thousands of people to get in contact with their outside Visayas/Mindanao. We had to listen to radios for news and updates, but they mostly only broadcast reports outside our area. There was barely anything in ours. It’s maddening. It’s as if no one cares about us.

But what’s even worse and utterly frustrating is when radio broadcasters try to gives us a voice and ends it with the line: ‘MAGAMPO LANG TA SA GINOO.’ (Dasal lang tayo sa Diyos/ Let’s just pray to God).

Repeatedly so.

Now there is the one line, among the many, that has stunted us, Filipinos, for decades.

The Church, its God and Religious Morality

I say to you mga kababayan: God is man-made.

The Church, it’s God and Religious Morality, has contributed to stunting the Spirits of the Filipinos. It has brought us nothing but misery, self-hate, misogyny, unhealthy relationships, and ultimately, blind obedience to authority.

There is no Christian God. Jesus Christ is not coming back ever. The Bible is a well-written fiction. Heaven, Hell, and Limbo are imaginary; therefore empty threats. Religious Morality is a lie.

The Christian God, combined with Religious Morality, is a religious device used by the church to manipulate us into submission. Into blind faith and obedience. They use it to keep our rage and spirit in their control.

The Holy Bible is a drama. The Church is the center for Spectacles. It’s encouraged in the Bible to join the drama, for the readers to decide their roles into the show called living because it’s yet to be finished; therefore we can say that the Christian Communities are live-action role players or LARPers.

It’s no different from people participating in cosplay conventions or live-action role plays to have fun through living out a fictional world together with other fans.

Notice that the masses are scripted? From what the priest says down to what our responses should be. At the start of it, we live as Adams and Eves who have sinned and have been cast out of Eden. Then we participate in the Last Supper, where the body and blood of Christ cleanses our sins. Like I said, live-action role play.

During the mass, we are also spoonfed. Come to think of it, there’s no answer and question portion! All we had to do is listen, accept whatever comes out of the priest’s mouth as true, and live it out. It’s that easy! Oh, bring the children too. Teach them young, you see. For as children, in our innocence and need for guidance, we tend to believe more. Poison them young.

Right from when we were still young, we are told to not question or doubt God and his Will because it’s a sin and then we are threatened with hell and karma. Children get spooked easy, you know it.

We are also forbidden to engage in sexual acts of nature. No masturbation. No pre-marital sex. Yes to forced monogamy or marriage. Did you ever wonder why?

Oh, I’ll tell you why: Sex is a strong force within us. It inspires creativity, freedom, and imagination within us.^[1]The Element of Sex in Life by Emma Goldman By suppressing our sexual nature, we’re not able to overcome antisocial impulses, which results to sexual ills, such as: Pedophilia, Rape, etc;^[2]Sexual Revolution by Wilhelm Reich but not to be confused with Neurodivergence. Authority and Sexual Repression are linked. Therefore by being sexually repressed, we also become miserable enough to fucking helplessly submit not only to their power, but also to others.

I also want to point out a reality that has been going on for a long time now: Priests were, and still are, forbidden to get involved with women because they have demonized them. Being sexually repressed, these priests, having failed to overcome their antisocial impulses, are now involved in sexual abusing and organizing sex slavery on nuns, young men, and children.

Back to Authority and Sexual Repression: Notice when a partner sexually deprives the other, the other will do anything at all, from throwing the garbage to cleaning the house. We will cover more of this later.

As a consequence: When we, Filipinos, get into a relationship we can’t help but think of marriage as the end goal; without considering if we are compatible with the person in the mind, sex, and spirit. We become ‘melodramatic’. The church, in effect, has contributed to this ride-or-die mindset in a relationship, that no matter how toxic it has become, we try to save the it.

And did you know that as long as marriage as an institution exists, so will prostitution? Prostitutes have been supplied for married men centuries ago, and now to married women as well. It serves as their outlet for lust. For the Wife must be akin to Mary, the good girls. And for good girls to exist, there must be bad girls. Good and bad, that’s how Religious Morality works.

Prostitution has also been defended by the likes of Saint Thomas Aquinas. In fact, a lot of churches before have owned brothels.

Religious Morality is absolute. But for Morality to work, the church must impose their standards of good to them and their followers, and their standards of bad to others, especially those who are against them.

The Church knows exactly what they are doing because they fear the free spirit within us. The free spirit who rages at the face of injustice, tyranny, and force. They fear it so much that they took a massive effort for millenias — you read that right, for over 2,000 years — to shut it out, costing millions of lives. And they poison us right to when we are most vulnerable: in our childhood.

If you’re thinking the question: What did people believe before?

Oh, ancient people did believe in gods. They made gods because they are still yet to know the reason behind phenomena such as lightning, storms, and other natural disasters. But when they did, they were able to let them go — they unmade them. This has happened for tens of thousands of years, until Christianity got us stuck with their God.

I say: A God that humans have the difficulty of letting go, is essentially a tool of manipulation. Indeed, I am also referring to Allah, Buddha, and the other gods remaining in the present.

The Government, it’s Laws and Enforcers

See it’s like playing domino: When the Church falls, so will the Government, and the rest follows.

The Government needs the Church to stay in power. When the government tries to separate itself from the church — don’t get fooled, mga kababayan. Remember that it’s only a facade, among many that is.

Without the Church, no one will take their Laws and Money seriously as in the present. The people in the ancient times specifically the Wendats, laugh at the face of their leader; someone who plays chief.^[3]Chapter 2 in The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow The chiefs are also the ‘poorest’ of them for they are expected to give away their wealth to the needy and to take care of them.

In ancient times, they follow these chiefs only as it pleases them. Nothing more. They have experimented on different social and economical concepts as it suits them best, depending on the season. Going back and forth, from having a chief to none. For more than tens of thousands of years, they were careful and protected their freedom with all their mind and might. It was hard for anyone to force someone to submit to them. They were not the ‘savages’, we are: The Modern Humans.

Money is only valid through belief. That is the power of belief, which has been used against us. Money is only made through loans and compound interests. When a Filipino goes to a bank to loan or borrow money, the bank does not get money from their vaults, no.