Unmasking the military mystique
By JOHN IREMIL E. TEODORO
10/30/2009 | 04:43 PM
The Boys from the Barracks starts with an anecdote about a young army captain assisting Imelda Marcos buying, at a whim, for her New York apartment an exotic rug in a tourist shop in Beijing: “One rug, made of genuine tiger’s skin, was for sale at seventeen thousand dollars. The other, fashioned out from dog’s skin but skillfully painted to look exactly like the other, could be had for five thousand dollars."
The original Imeldific had a hard time deciding which rug to buy, and so she decided to get both. This is the same Imelda who was seen crying on national television, appealing to gullible minds that she is so poor she badly needs to retrieve her jewelry that was confiscated by the government. The huge jewelry collection is widely believed to be part of the Marcoses’ mind-boggling ill-gotten wealth during her husband’s infamous reign.
THE release of the updated edition of The Boys from the Barracks: The Philippine Military After EDSA by Criselda Yabes is very timely, considering what is happening today in the Philippines. Graft and corruption scandals have hounded Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s regime, talks of coup and people power arise every so often, and the masses are counting on the presidential bid of Noynoy Aquino to lift the country from moral bankruptcy after the death of his popular mother Cory Aquino last August.
Anvil Publishing first released this book in 1991, reprinted it in 1994, and came up with an updated version this year. This is the story of the military uprising leading to the success of the Edsa Revolution of 1986, when President Ferdinand Marcos was kicked out from Malacañang after 20 years of despotic rule and the “yellow widow" President Corazon Aquino was installed in power. The book goes on to narrate the seven coup attempts during the Aquino administration. Fans of the earlier books will be pleased to know that the updated edition includes the funny Oakwood Mutiny in July 2003 and the pathetic Manila Peninsula take-over in November 2007.
This is history writing at its best. The Boys from the Barracks reads like an Isabel Allende, or even Gabriel Garcia Marquez, novel sans the magic. Yabes’ narrative style is gripping; she is, after all, a gifted and award-winning writer (she won two top prizes during the UP Centennial Literary Contest—for fiction and creative non-fiction).
I enjoyed reading and rereading this book while riding the FX or bus going to work. I enjoyed it so much that afterwards, when I realized that what I was reading is a non-fiction historical narrative about a certain dark era of my country, I felt guilty. How could I have thought lightly about our history? And about what is happening to our country?
Cory Aquino, the main protagonist of this narrative, is gone, her passing very much lamented. During her funeral last August 5, the masses and the elite filled the streets with their yellow-tinged sadness. But the two main antagonists—I will not mention their names so you will buy the book and read it to find out for yourself—are still alive and very much kicking, occupying high government positions even.
So instead of being entertained by this book, I shudder at the thought that some misguided military official with a messianic complex could always tip the balance of our fragile democracy, a democracy that is very weak because it is run by people who are corrupt to the bones they do not see any wrong about the president of this poor and sad republic of ours having a million peso dinner in New York, while more than half of the Filipinos are rating themselves to be living in poverty.
What Yabes achieved in this book is to unmask the military mystique. She brings the readers not only inside the military barracks, but also into the secret chambers of the soldiers’ heart and mind. She paints the military as citizens of this country who are capable of treason and brutality, but also of patriotism. In this book, we discover that the tough stance of soldiers is only a shell that hides a human being who is capable of love and betrayal.
I would suggest that Yabes write about the military after EDSA Dos, and start with an anecdote about that infamous dinner at Le Cirque in New York. This time, she must incorporate magical elements in her writing style, for it is only with magic realism that we can make sense of this crazy government.
The Boys from the Barracks is a pleasurable read in terms of literariness. But what makes this book great is its capacity to disturb any Filipino reader, or any reader for that matter, who loves democracy and one’s country. - GMANews.TV
THE release of the updated edition of The Boys from the Barracks: The Philippine Military After EDSA by Criselda Yabes is very timely, considering what is happening today in the Philippines. Graft and corruption scandals have hounded Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s regime, talks of coup and people power arise every so often, and the masses are counting on the presidential bid of Noynoy Aquino to lift the country from moral bankruptcy after the death of his popular mother Cory Aquino last August.
Anvil Publishing first released this book in 1991, reprinted it in 1994, and came up with an updated version this year. This is the story of the military uprising leading to the success of the Edsa Revolution of 1986, when President Ferdinand Marcos was kicked out from Malacañang after 20 years of despotic rule and the “yellow widow" President Corazon Aquino was installed in power. The book goes on to narrate the seven coup attempts during the Aquino administration. Fans of the earlier books will be pleased to know that the updated edition includes the funny Oakwood Mutiny in July 2003 and the pathetic Manila Peninsula take-over in November 2007.
This is history writing at its best. The Boys from the Barracks reads like an Isabel Allende, or even Gabriel Garcia Marquez, novel sans the magic. Yabes’ narrative style is gripping; she is, after all, a gifted and award-winning writer (she won two top prizes during the UP Centennial Literary Contest—for fiction and creative non-fiction).
I enjoyed reading and rereading this book while riding the FX or bus going to work. I enjoyed it so much that afterwards, when I realized that what I was reading is a non-fiction historical narrative about a certain dark era of my country, I felt guilty. How could I have thought lightly about our history? And about what is happening to our country?
Cory Aquino, the main protagonist of this narrative, is gone, her passing very much lamented. During her funeral last August 5, the masses and the elite filled the streets with their yellow-tinged sadness. But the two main antagonists—I will not mention their names so you will buy the book and read it to find out for yourself—are still alive and very much kicking, occupying high government positions even.
So instead of being entertained by this book, I shudder at the thought that some misguided military official with a messianic complex could always tip the balance of our fragile democracy, a democracy that is very weak because it is run by people who are corrupt to the bones they do not see any wrong about the president of this poor and sad republic of ours having a million peso dinner in New York, while more than half of the Filipinos are rating themselves to be living in poverty.
What Yabes achieved in this book is to unmask the military mystique. She brings the readers not only inside the military barracks, but also into the secret chambers of the soldiers’ heart and mind. She paints the military as citizens of this country who are capable of treason and brutality, but also of patriotism. In this book, we discover that the tough stance of soldiers is only a shell that hides a human being who is capable of love and betrayal.
I would suggest that Yabes write about the military after EDSA Dos, and start with an anecdote about that infamous dinner at Le Cirque in New York. This time, she must incorporate magical elements in her writing style, for it is only with magic realism that we can make sense of this crazy government.
The Boys from the Barracks is a pleasurable read in terms of literariness. But what makes this book great is its capacity to disturb any Filipino reader, or any reader for that matter, who loves democracy and one’s country. - GMANews.TV
