Lest we forget: Hello, Garci
I was certain that they were poison or the birds would have been at them, but I asked myself how birds could have possibly realized that, how their memories retained, transmitted and reinterpreted, from one generation and species to the next, the precise coordinates of danger, the implications of never being able to fly again for want of basic bird intelligence.
-Jose Dalisay, Jr. (Killing Time in a Warm Place)
Here’s a precise coordinate of danger that we’re trying to rectify: May 2004. (PCIJ.org)
PP. 16
Conversation between male (believed to be V. Garcillano) and female (believed to be Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) on 29 09:47 hotel May 200
GMA: Hello?
Garcillano: Hello, ma’am, good morning. Ok ma’am, mas mataas ho siya pero mag-compensate ho sa
Lanao yan.
GMA: So will I still lead by more than one M., overall?
Garcillano: More or less, it’s that advantage ma’am. Parang ganun din ang lalabas.
