Kanlungan

I was on my way to work, when the jeepney saw the song, Kanlungan, by Noel Cabangon of Buklod. I remember when I first heard the song, and I thought it was romantic (I thought it was written by a left-oriented group), considering the other songs in the album were about emancipation and environmentalism.

When I heard it this time, I thought of the song in a different way. And it was in the context of when I first heard it.

I heard it first inside the barracks, when I was a tactical officer (graduate military assistant).

pana-panahon ang pagkakataon
maibabalik ba ang kahapon?

Everything changes.

When I first heard of the song, it was the demise of the ROTC.

Now, the ROTC virtually does not exist. In UP Manila, at least.

natatandaan mo pa ba,
nang tayong dalwa ang unang nagkita?
panahon ng kamusmusan
sa piling ng mga bulaklak at halaman
doon tayong nagsimulang
mangarap at tumula

When I first entered the Corps, I was afraid, but I had dreams. Eventually, the dreams were realized, but my time in the Corps has past. Worse, the organization is hated, and the community it has served does not even remember its existence.

The Corps of Cadets. The Reserve Officers Training Corps.

This just guided me to a new page that I should include in the ROTC website. An organization of the ROTC in relation to UP Manila and the NCR RCDG.

That's all for now. There's work to be done. Not just complaining about something in the past, but doing something for the present and the future.