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Bobotante

Our double syllables 

Condemn them doubly

By the language and arrogance 

Of our class—the powers 

That have long condemned

Them to ignorance and would

Keep them there. 

                          Oh, that they

Sell their democratic birthright

Has already cursed them

And their numbers,

We say smugly,

And the whole nation

Is kept in stitches 

Or on its knees by the elected

Clowns and thieves

Who keep feeding on their

Desperation and gullibility.

                      Immaculate in our

Suits and gowns, in our 

Barongs of piña and silk 

And university education, 

We condemn them further

In our impeccable English 

In our researches and surveys

As our clans and families

And our whole genealogies

Keep them 

​

                 Forever in debt

And indentured to our

Charity and munificence

As we pay them morsels

And loose change 

In our farms and factories 

For their votes. 

                         Thus fed

And kept in chains, they bow

Deeper, addicted to our

Selfless charity.

Thus fed and kept 

In chains, no sacred democratic 

Election will ever redeem them 

From their perpetual poverty.

 

 

22 June 2015

Bagong Taon (New Year) by Virgilio Labial

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