2103: Martial Law (Love in Dark Times)

Mocha Colored Skin

"Hi Maling, galing mo pala talaga tumugtog ano?" She smiled as she fixes her blouse and proceeds to wipe her neck with a towel. 

"Ay, hindi naman." I smiled weakly at her. 

"I heard you sing once, yung acoustic rendition mo ng Pagbabalik by Asin." She smiled at me. 

"Huh? Saan mo naman ako nadinig?" Nagtataka kong tanong sa kanya, I was in my last year of Masters, wala din naman akong sinalihan na banda. 

"I heard you once, nung nasa empty classroom ka, three doors down mula sa office ng School Paper. Even before that, I already heard you sa battle of the bands." She smiled at me.

Naalala ko na doon nga pala ako naglalagi, pag may vacant ako, dahil doon din sa building na yun ang klase ko, I take a stair up, dahil katabi ng naturang classroom ay stairs paakyat sa class room ko. I always stayed there during vacant periods, dahil sa tamad kong gumala at magpabalik-balik.

"Naku, pasensiya ka na Denise. I didn't know I was disturbing you." I said to her.

"Huy, wala yun. I look forward to hearing you sing, but oddly, I never seem to catch you on time." She smiled at me.

"I can sing you a song now, for making you wait." I sheepishly smiled at her.

"Hmm, sige nga. Since we have time pa naman."

"Okay." I smiled and strummed my guitar.

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Denise's POV:

Maling started to play on her guitar, she strums it and I could feel the warm afternoon breeze blowing by as she started to sing.

Kung hindi rin lang ikaw ang dahilan
Pipilitin ba ang puso kong hindi na masaktan?
Kung hindi ikaw ay hindi na lang
Pipilitin pang umasa para sating dalawa.

Giniginaw at hindi makagalaw
Nahihirapan ang pusong pinipilit ay ikaw.

Kung di rin tayo sa huli
Aawatin ang sarili na umibig pang muli
Kung di rin tayo sa huli
Aawatin ba ang puso kong ibigin ka?

She stopped strumming her guitar as the seminars had been dismissed. The other officers of our group were starting to converge. It was the year 2018, the current government had done nothing but free the people involved with corruption, dahan-dahan nilang binubura ang mga ala-ala ng nakalipas, just last year, they allowed the worst person ever to be buried in the libingan ng mga bayani, former President Marcos.

This made us upset, the mourning of thousands of victims are all coming back to haunt us. Kaya heto kami, we spent the day teaching our fellow pupils about the horrors of Martial Law. We taught them how to discern what is fact from fake news. As the government seem to circulate and tolerate a lot of fake news, apat na taon pa ang bubunuin naming mga mamamayan sa current administration.

I looked on at the officers as they started to converge. This was the biggest day we organized. Hoping to invite other students in standing up against Martial Law. Urging them to speak up.