Padayon, Comrade!

I had this mixed feeling of sympathy and admiration when I first heard that Gemma Bagayaua was arrested on libel charges because of her feature story on Chavit Singson. Gemma, the online editor of hard-hitting Newsbreak magazine has been exchanging mails with me months past while she was setting up the online publication of Newsbreak. I was seriously asking her to consider me on part time job uploading online their past articles but she insisted I was kind of over qualified for the job. Nevertheless, I relented, proud with the fact that indeed, Gemma is now on serious business of truth telling. I remember her to be the reserved but determined applicant of CNS (Center for Nationalist Studies of UP Diliman). When I tease her about anything or anyone she would always blush, her cheeks would literally turn reddish but with a ready smile. We had a college life sated with political discussions and integration (some call it immersion, but we agreed that integration was more thorough and experiential) with the depressed communities around UP and the Payatas.

Gemma has carried out her convictions well, and her arrest yesterday was an honor-badge for a vocation she was willing to die for. To Gemma, your CNS comrades is proud of you! Padayon Comrade! Here's a link to details of her arrest.