My New Years Eve and my Hopes for the New Year!

Happy New Year from the Lion City

We woke up early today [Dec 31 2008] to shop for some foodie stuff for the new year celebration later, we Filipinos must have our 'media noche' food [It's not a maligayang bagong taon without it], yes, even in foreign lands we do keep our traditions alive but here they have not heard of the five stars, kuwitis, watusi, sawa and bawang - these explosive devices are our versions of the old Chinese firecrackers, the only difference is, ours is the disfiguring kind.

At the grocery, I purchased the usual rounded fruits [it must be bilog! They will bring me money for 2009, yes!] I remember that these fruits is a must have back home, my mother told me that it represents a bountiful harvest, something that we should be hoping for the next year. I hope it'll do the trick for '09!

Back home I started to cook some pasta, the end product was rather sweet, well, I like nectarous eats anyway so I'm happy with it. I also placed some money on the table for additional luck. With all the troubling news I've been hearing lately, I think we all could use some more [and more!] luck this coming year.

We went to church afterward; it's pretty close to where we live so we left the house at 10:00 for the 11:45 morning mass. Upon reaching the Novena church, I saw countless monobloc chairs, in red and white, scattered all over the place, after the mass it was announced that there will be a pre New Year mass at 2345, I heard that such a celebration is popular here.

For this final day of 2008, I prayed for our nation to heal, right now we are broken but I have no doubt in my heart that we will improve, yes, life's getting hard for the average Filipino; it's getting tough out there but if we could work together and look out for each other, things will get better!

For 2008 and 2009:

It was this year that I started to blog, I never really thought that I would be running the site this long but I really enjoy writing here and seeing many people visit the site is flattering, even if they end up disliking the stuff that I post [including my faulty grammars and misspelled words!], it makes no difference to me, I consider them all my friends! I wish everyone here the best!

Peace!

I wish everyone a happy new year, the prospect for the year 2009 they say is not good, but what the heck, nothing gets in the way of the Filipino! We are the happiest people on the earth! They say that jobs would be lost [and all the blah blah's], the heck! I have a friend that doesn't even have the job, never had one since we graduated 2003! And he's happy! Living with his mom and dad. Moral lesson is enjoy life, the challenge is finding happiness, finding joy, ending our hateful ways!

Let's be happy, Filipino!

Happiness and Prosperity!

Prospero Nuevo Ano!

Filipinos Lack of National Pride and Identity

This article was written by an American, Barth Suretsky. His observations are interesting and his comments about our culture and his respect and love of the Philippines are nicely written. Due to the worsening situation in our country, let's hope this will make an impact on other Filipinos who read it...

BE PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO

My decision to move to Manila was not a precipitous one. I used to work in New York as an outside agent for PAL, and have been coming to the Philippines since August, 1982. I was so impressed with the country, and with the interesting people I met, some of which have become very close friends to this day, that I asked for and was granted a year's sabbatical from my teaching job in order to live in the Philippines. I arrived here on August 21, 1983, several hours after Ninoy Aquino was shot, and remained here until June of 1984.

During that year I visited many parts of the country, from as far north as Laoag to as far south as Zamboanga, and including Palawan. I became deeply immersed in the history and culture of the archipelago, and an avid collector of tribal antiquities from both northern Luzon, and Mindanao.

In subsequent years I visited the Philippines in 1985, 1987, and 1991, before deciding to move here permanently in 1998. I love this country, but not uncritically, and that is the purpose of this article. First, however, I will say that I would not consider living anywhere else in Asia, no matter how attractive certain aspects of other neighboring countries may be. To begin with, and this is most important, with all its faults, the Philippines is still a democracy, more so than any other nation in Southeast Asia.

Despite gross corruption, the legal system generally works, and if ever confronted with having to employ it, I would feel much more safe trusting the courts here than in any other place in the surrounding area. The press here is unquestionably the most unfettered and freewheeling in Asia, and I do not believe that is hyperbole in any way! And if any one thing can be used as a yardstick to measure the extent of the democratic process in any given country in the world, it is the extent to which the press is free.

But the Philippines is a flawed democracy nevertheless, and the flaws are deeply rooted in the Philippine psyche. I will elaborate... The basic problem seems to me, after many years of observation, to be a national inferiority complex, a disturbing lack of pride in being Filipino.

Toward the end of April I spent eight days in Vietnam, visiting Hanoi, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh City. I am certainly no expert on Vietnam, but what I saw could not be denied: I saw a country ravaged as no other country has been in this century by thirty years of continuous and incredibly barbaric warfare. When the Vietnam War ended in April, 1975, the country was totally devastated. Yet in the past twenty-five years the nation has healed and rebuilt itself almost miraculously!

The countryside has been replanted and reforested. Hanoi and HCMC have been beautifully restored. The opera house in Hanoi is a splendid restoration of the original, modeled after the Opera in Paris, and the gorgeous Second Empire theater, on the main square of HCMC is as it was when built by the French a century ago. The streets are tree-lined, clean, and conducive for strolling. Cafes in the French style proliferate on the wide boulevards of HCMC. I am not praising the government of Vietnam, which still has a long way to travel on the road to democracy, but I do praise, and praise unstintingly, the pride of the Vietnamese people. It is due to this pride in being Vietnamese that has enabled its citizenry to undertake the miracle of restoration that I have described above. When I returned to Manila I became so depressed that I was actually physically ill for days thereafter. Why?

Well, let's go back to a period when the Philippines resembled the Vietnam of 1975. It was 1945, the end of World War II, and Manila, as well as many other cities, lay in ruins. (As a matter of fact, it maynot be generally known, but Manila was the second most destroyed city in the entire war; only Warsaw was more demolished!) But to compare Manila in 1970, twenty-five years after the end of the war, with HCMC, twenty-five years after the end of its war, is a sad exercise indeed. Far from restoring the city to its former glory, by 1970 Manila was well on its way to being the most tawdry city in Southeast Asia. And since that time the situation has deteriorated alarmingly. We have a city full of street people, beggars, and squatters. We have a city that floods sections whenever there is a rainstorm, and that loses electricity with every clap of thunder. We have a city full of potholes, and on these un-repaired roads we have a traffic situation second to none in the world for sheer unmanageability. We have rude drivers, taxis that routinely refuse to take passengers because of "many trapik!" The roads are also cursed with pollution-spewing buses in disreputable states of repair, and that ultimate anachronism, the jeepney! We have an educational system that allows children to attend schools without desks or books to accommodate them. Teachers, even college professors, are paid salaries so disgracefully low that it's a wonder that anyone would want to go into the teaching profession in the first place. We have a war in Mindanao that nobody seems to have a clue how to settle. The only policy to deal with the war seems to be to react to what happens daily, with no long range plan whatever. I could go on and on, but it is an endeavor so filled with futility that it hurts me to go on. It hurts me because, in spite of everything, I love the Philippines.

Maybe it will sound simplistic, but to go back to what I said above, it is my unshakable belief that the fundamental thing wrong with this country is a lack of pride in being Filipino. A friend once remarked
to me, laconically: "All Filipinos want to be something else. The poor ones want to be American, and the rich ones all want to be Spaniards. Nobody wants to be Filipino." That statement would appear to be a rather simplistic one, and perhaps it is. However, I know one Filipino who refuses to enter a theater until the national anthem has stopped being played because he doesn't want to honor his own country, and I know another one who thinks that history stopped dead in 1898 when the Spaniards departed! While it is certainly true that these represent extreme examples of national denial, the truth is not a pretty picture. Filipinos tend to worship, almost slavishly, everything foreign. If it comes from Italy or France it has to be better than anything made here. If the idea is American or German it has to be superior to anything that Filipinos can think up for themselves. Foreigners are looked up to and idolized. Foreigners can go anywhere without question. In my own personal experience I remember attending recently an affair at a major museum here. I had forgotten to bring my invitation. But while Filipinos entering the museum were checked for invitations, I was simply waived through.

This sort of thing happens so often here that it just accepted routine. All of these things, the illogical respect given to foreigners simply because they are not Filipinos, the distrust and even disrespect shown to any homegrown merchandise, the neglect of anything Philippine, the rudeness of taxi drivers, the ill-manners shown by many Filipinos are all symptomatic of a lack of self-love, of respect for and love of the country in which they were born, and worst of all, a static mind-set in regard to finding ways to improve the situation.

Most Filipinos, when confronted with evidence of governmental corruption, political chicanery, or gross exploitation on the part of the business community, simply shrug their shoulders, mutter "bahala na," and let it go at that. It is an oversimplification to say this, but it is not without a grain of truth to say that Filipinos feel downtrodden because they allow themselves to feel downtrodden. No pride. One of the most egregious examples of this lack of pride, this uncaring attitude to their own past or past culture, is the wretched state of surviving architectural landmarks in Manila and elsewhere.During the American period many beautiful and imposing buildings were built, in what we now call the "art deco" style (although, incidentally, that was not a contemporary term; it was coined only in
the 1960s). These were beautiful edifices, mostly erected during, or just before, the Commonwealth period. Three, which are still standing, are the Jai Alai Building, the Metropolitan Theater, and the Rizal Stadium. Fortunately, due to the truly noble efforts of my friend John Silva, the Jai Alai Building will now be saved. But unless something is done to the most beautiful and original of these three masterpieces of pre-war Philippine architecture, the Metropolitan Theater, it will disintegrate. The Rizal Stadium is in equally wretched shape. When the wreckers' ball destroyed Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and New York City's most magnificent building,  Pennsylvania Station, both in 1963, Ada Louise Huxtable, then the architectural critic of The New York Times, wrote:

"A disposable culture loses the right to call itself a civilization at all!" How right she was! (Fortunately, the destruction of Pennsylvania Station proved to be the sacrificial catalyst that resulted in the creation of New York's Landmark Commission. Would that such a commission be created for Manila...)

Are there historical reasons for this lack of national pride? We can say that until the arrival of the Spaniards there was no sense of a unified archipelago constituted as one country. True. We can also say that the high cultures of other nations in the region seemed, unfortunately, to have bypassed the Philippines; there are no Angkors, no Ayuttayas, no Borobudurs. True. Centuries of contact with the high cultures" of the Khmers and the Chinese had, except for the proliferation of Song dynasty pottery found throughout the archipelago, no noticeable effect. True. But all that aside, what was here? To begin with, the ancient rice terraces, now threatened with disintegration, incidentally, was an incredible feat of engineering for so-called "primitive" people. As a matter of fact, when I first saw them in 1984, I was almost as awe-stricken as I was when I first laid eyes on the astonishing Inca city of Machu Picchu, high in the

Peruvian Andes. The degree of artistry exhibited by the various tribes of the cordillera of Luzon is testimony to a remarkable culture, second to none in the Southeast Asian region. As for Mindanao, at the other end of the archipelago, an equally high degree of artistry has been manifest for centuries in woodcarving, weaving and metalwork. However, the most shocking aspect of this lack of national pride, even identity, endemic in the average Filipino, is the appalling ignorance of the history of the archipelago since unified by Spain and named Filipinas. The remarkable stories concerning the Galleon de Manila, the courageous repulsion of Dutch and British invaders from the 16th through the 18th centuries, even the origins of the Independence movement of the late 19th century, are hardly known by the average Filipino in any meaningful way. And thanks to fifty years of American brainwashing, it is few and far between the number of Filipinos who really know - or even care - about the duplicity employed by the

Americans and Spaniards to sell out and make meaningless the very independent state that Aguinaldo declared on June 12, 1898. A people without a sense of history is a people doomed to be unaware of their own identity. It is sad to say, but true, that the vast majority of Filipinos fall category. Without a sense of who you are how can you possibly take any pride in who you are?

These are not oversimplifications. On the contrary, these are the root problems of the Philippine inferiority complex referred to above. Until the Filipino takes pride in being Filipino these ills of the soul will never be cured.If what I have written here can help, even in the smallest way, to make the Filipino aware of just who he is, who he was, and who he can be, I will be one happy expat indeed!

---

Thanks to Liz Medina for sharing this.

Pampanga honors Augustinian legacies

By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer


CITY OF SAN FERNANDO-Kapampangans filled the San Agustin Church and its nearby museum in Intramuros, Manila, on the night of Aug. 24 to pay tribute to Augustinian missionaries who had sailed from there to Pampanga 435 years ago and influenced the natives' character, culture and history.

As they stood on the same grounds where some of those 100 friars lived and trained, they bridged the time, seeing past and present connections between Fray Juan Gallegos, who set foot in Lubao in 1572, and far, far, far down time when Fr. Eddie Panlilio, who finished theology at the St. Augustine Major Seminary, was elected governor in 2007.

"Holy ground," was how Dr. Arlyn Villanueva, president of the Holy Angel University, called the event's venue.

By the way the tribute and the celebration of continuing collaboration turned out, it was apparent the people wanted to remember the Augustinian fathers beyond their white robes and emblems of a flaming heart.

Their "enduring legacies" are the Roman Catholic faith and values, heritage churches and architectural knowledge, schools and education initiatives, publications that chronicled the language and culture, ecclesiastical arts and culinary tradition, said San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto at the Mass he celebrated with Bishop Roberto Mallari and eight priests.

Other legacies are the archival documents, the solidarity of friars with the faithful in times of wars, calamities and epidemics, the opening of roads, and their engineering attempts to provide irrigation to farmers.

The extent of the Augustinians' work and the breadth of their influence spoke of the fervor with which the pioneers lived out the dictum of their founder, St. Augustine, that "our hearts are restless until they rest in (God)," said Fray Francisco Musni, archivist and researcher of the HAU's Center for Kapampangan Studies, which organized the tribute.

Aniceto said the Archdiocese of San Fernando was "most profoundly grateful for the gift of faith" because it steeled the people in adverse times like Mt. Pinatubo's 1991 eruptions and the lahar flows that followed.

That gift, he said, flourished because several Kapampangan, like Rufino Cardinal Santos, the first Filipino cardinal, became church pioneers themselves.

In gratitude, the provincial board presented a copy of Resolution No. 945 to Fr. William Araña, OSA, vicar of the Orient of the Philippines, Augustinian Province, and to Alvaro Trejo, charge d'affaires of the Spanish Embassy.

The resolution gives "due recognition and honor to the friar missionaries of the Calced Order of Saint Augustine for their pioneering efforts in Pampanga and for their role in the preservation of the culture."

That made Pampanga, the first and last Augustinian territory in Luzon until 1960, to be the "first province in the Philippines to officially thank the Spanish missionaries who labored in the country during colonial times," said Robby Tantingco, the center's executive director.

One of the high points was the launch of the English translations of Fray Diego Bergaño's two books, the "Arte de la Lengua Pampanga" (1729 Kapampangan Grammar) and the "Vocabulario de Pampango" (1732 Kapampangan Dictionary).

Bergaño and his collaborator then, Don Juan Zuñiga of Mexico town, managed to reach out to the present through the translations of Fr. Edilberto Santos and Fr. Venancio Samson.

Fort Canning's Hidden Tombstones

One of my favourite places to visit are old cemeteries, yes, eternal homes, memorial parks [whatever it's called these days], I find it ironic that these places which have markers dedicated for the dead could tell us  a lot about life, well, the life lived by its residents that is. In the gravestones that I found, not only contain the usual information we  see back home, like, where they were born and date that they died, some of the epitaphs also presented information's on the deceased trade or profession, affiliations, names of their ship, their lineage and other more, it was strange but never the less, very interesting, you're like reading a posthumous resume. Some had more than one language inscribed; it was an impressive memorial considering that most of these gravestones have been around for almost two hundred years.

Established in 1823, the cemetery served mainly Protestants and Catholics. There are two majestic arches that in a way resembles that of the gates of Intramuros, it has the initial IHS, the first three letters of the name Jesus in Greek. In mid 1800's the site no longer could accommodate burials, the cemetery was permanently closed, there were several attempts to have it reopened, however none were authorized. In the 1950's a significant number of gravestones were removed [to free up space?], the few remaining stone memorials where fixed to the cemetery walls.

Today, one could enjoy a leisurely walk in this peaceful nature park while enjoying the natural scenes and viewing the old tombstones. It was a cloudless afternoon, the sun was exposed, but the trees were countless, they kept the place cool and misty. Up in the hill, behind the elevated white hill house, which looks like the Malacanan from a distance [now cultural theatre and venue], I witnessed a regal wedding in an area that call to mind our charming Paco cemetery [now also a park], they were the moneyed class here [mga mapera!] all the parked cars on the cemented pavement were luxury cars [cars that I usually see on posters with half naked female models], everything looked extravagant, I hang around for awhile and listened to an acoustic duo that serenaded the newlyweds.

One of the famous residents of the this old Christian cemetery is George Coleman [not Foreman the boxer], the famed Irish architect, credited to have given Singapore its first beautiful buildings, like the first Government house, St. Andrews, Parliament, Raffles Institute and the Armenian Church. He also built this structures called Cupolas, right in the middle of the cemetery, probably a place built as a shed but it's too small and could only accommodate few people, maybe two - I believe that this structures where built for the spirits [his and his wife] its an odd structure, this is the first time I've seen one.

Coleman would be Burnham to Singaporeans, he's credited to have given Singapore its true English buildings. It was said that the first Catholic Church in Singapore was originally designed by him; however, it was not approved because  of financial issues.



Coleman was also commissioned by Raffles to several jobs including overseeing convict labours and surveying the many islands, but he's best remembered for his contribution in architecture. His tombstone was dedicated by his wife, it was an impressive and very well made gravestone, the Singapore historical commision as placed a metal marker, so people could easily spot the grave. Mrs. Coleman would later marry a man named James Napier, said to be the first Law agent in the straits settlements, she would dedicate another grand memorial tomb here  later on, but this time to her son with Napier, James Brooke Napier , their prominence can be seen in the graceful memorial head stones that still stands in the cemetery hill.



Coleman's house [the street was renamed after him] , which is near the old cemetery was converted into a hotel long after he died, it is now where the Peninsula hotel stands. The Coleman house could be the hotel where Rizal stayed, however, I could not find anything that could substantiate this, although I'm certain that the area where Peninsula hotel now is where Rizal's Hotel de la Paix was located. Whether it was Coleman's house that became the hotel later on is still a question to me, I have yet to see a map or something to find out if they were the same.

Somewhere in the hill, I stumbled upon a small house made of solid timber, there was a centrepiece that was covered in silky clothe, it was adorned with fresh flowers and some fragrant object, the place is said to be the final resting place of the last king of Malaya, he was a Muslim Rajah, the Malay people revered him. I saw there some people cleaning the wooden floor. The house is traditionally built like the wooden houses that can be found in Mindanao. The place is known to Malay as Bukit Larangan, the word Bukit is where our Bukid originated, Larangan to Malay is forbidden, for us I believe it means 'field'. For years they have considered the hill a no entry zone, of course when the British came that all changed. Raffles built his house on the hill, he once wrote a friend that he would not mind being buried alongside the Malayan king, however, it is yet unproven if the great Rajah was indeed buried on his hill, since it was recorded that he died in Malaca. There were an excavation that was carried out and they had found eveidence that could prove that the hill was the site of Iskandar Shah.



I saw people cleaning the wooden house, scrubbing it [binubunot] they must be the assigned cleaners, which reminds me of my grade school years where school children were assigned to be cleaners depending on the day, mine is usually Monday since my last name start with an A. The wooden house has striking similarity to the Mindanaoan wooden houses, it was humble yet poetic, it has a pointed edge on its roof, it's open on all sides and there were people kneeling on its hard wood parquet. I did not bother to enter and take pictures; I don't want to disturb what there were doing inside. I took a picture from a distant and moved on.

There is so much to see in this hill, there's a botanical garden, it has hundreds of plants with name plates on it. It was said that Raffles also had ordered spices to be planted for studies and future plans of making  them steady agricultural produce. Unlike Magellan or Legazpi, who has been succesfully demonized in our popular history, this man Raffles seems to enjoy a rock star stature here, he's regarded as the founder of the modern Singapore, when he claimed the island for the English empire. One could go around his garden and find exotic plants, plants that I have never seen even in books, I did however found Kamias, I wanted to take some home for sinigang but I decided not to, I might get fined, they don't call this country the Fine city for nothing. Sinigang by the way is Malay in origin.

I noticed a tombstone that I believe belongs to an Armenian, on it, the birthplace written was "Manila", Filipinos had great ports then in Spanish Manila - migration was extensive even then. Another had the Masonic emblem on it, actually I've seen several around - they must've been really devout and proud members of that secret society. I also saw Star of David symbol, turns out that they had a healthy Jewish population then, Jewish were very influential in the islands - I remember this ambassador to France, I believe he was Singapore's first non Oriental high ranking diplomat. I also discovered interesting are the angels carved in marbles, they were like jewels, they look as if they have just been made recently.

There was this tombstone that was dedicated by the officers and crew member of a US Navy ship, they probably buried their fallen comrade here for practical reasons,  a voyage back to midland US is a distant transit, so he was laid to rest here in a tropical island. Everywhere I find curious epitaphs, some had expressive verses, other were plain, providing only the names and life in years.

Even on a hot day, the climate remained cool, thanks to the rainforest like vegetation, I stayed in the area for three hours, wandering around and occasionally taking breathers in between, hiding beneath the shades of the hills mighty trees. I'm sure going to look for old burial places back home, who's with me?

The Prewar Intramuros

If youre a history junky chances are you've already seen this video by an American journalist taken before the war.

I need not say more... precioso!



Another video called, "Manila - Castillian Memories"

[youtube=http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOI6rc38Qic&feature=channel]

My "Inventing a Hero" Day

I just read Glenn May’s “Inventing a Hero” and I enjoyed it so much, I’ve browsed over it before, I remember wanting to purchase it but not having enough money, I was still in college then, working at some food chain while studying. I passed on many books that I wanted to buy then, even now, great thing that those past titles can be found in libraries, they have been safely deposited for the future generation. Libraries are one of the greatest services that a government can offer its people, for me they’re like the modern day betamax tape renting shop.

No, I won’t attempt any critical book reviews here, I’ll leave it to those who make a living out of dispensing their criticisms, anyway the books has been around for almost a decade - the high and mighty doctors of history have already dissected the book - we already have our work cut out for us , whatever I say here would be just some personal thoughts I wanted to write down, nothing more.

Aside from the memories it brought me, I have sought to read the book in its entirety for years and since I've been a regular customer here in Singapore National Library, why not take the whole day reading it. You don’t need no special ID’s here, you’re free to browse, pick a spot and read the book of your choice. However, that’s all a foreign visitor could do. You could also borrow rare books but you would have pay for it and wait for days but you can’t take it out of course, only residents can do that.

Back to the book, it was a well researched project, no doubt about it. The author, I gather was criticized by the academes back home for his work, but you can’t put a good work down – unfortunately, the three main characters [EDSA, his son & Ago] is no longer with us, but I’m curious to find out what would have been their reaction to all of these, the brilliant Lleto has been included in the book also, with his "Pasyon and Revolution", where he linked the movement to the millinarian Filipino tradition,  what he did, according to May, added to the myth of Bonifacio. In my opinion, May did the work of a true historian, he was not out to discredit anyone, his evidence can not be denied. i can't find any fault in his argument, we should learn from his work.

The patriotism of Bonifacio is not in question, it never was but the motives behind the “reinventing” is. Behind this intentional move to present a sanitized Bonifacio is a nationalist agenda. The intention was good, after all nationalism are known for its three main objective; freedom, unity and building a nation – and during the Revolution and American years, there was  need to raise the consciousness of the Filipino, to arouse their patriotism, so that they'll have a desire to fight for their freedom, but it kept us away from the truths that we ought to know about that critical phase of our nationhood]. The nationalist had taken upon themselves to contribute in this effort, through Bonifacio [and other historical inventions], since he’s the  “masa” type, which is what many Filipinos are during those days,he was perfect for the role. It was in May’s words, “trying to move nationalism from the elites back to the common people”. This is what they did, This is where all the alterations began – the political agenda of the men behind it knows exactly what they were doing, the recreation of Bonifacio is not an isolated case, we had the “Maragtas” of Monteclaro, the Kalantiaw and The Burgos novel, to name a few – and we have not seen the end of this, as long as historians put a political dimension on historical events, well continue to uncover more, its just a matter of time.

“What sense can we make of such willful, wholesale distortions of the historical record in the service of nationalism?”, May asking his reader but conceding that even he does not know the answer, but the obvious is that by having heroes, you have inspiring models that people can emulate, it’s the perfect tool! You’ll have inspired admirers like the militant youths that we see today, believing that Bonifacio was indeed the great plebeian, the literary master and the super patriot.

New documents has resurfaced, and I was told by a friend that Bonifacio was not born in Tondo but in Binondo, near the border – I have not seen anything yet but I would be least surprise if it turns out to be true, they had filled Bonifacio’s life with myths that I could no longer trust the information we have on him, since modern day historians primary source has been the doctored documents presented as original. Agoncillo’s book, considered by many as most authoritative is even questioned by his own student, Ocampo. Even his close associate, who co authored “History of the Filipino People” had some questions about his method, one thing’s for sure, he’s part of this whole nationalist movement that created a generation of historically mis educated Filipinos in the name of whatever political and social change he had in mind.

The only men that questions our standard history lessons [the Agoncillo inspired Philippine history] are those who were outside his influential sphere, for many Agoncillo historians, however, his works presents the true story behind the major historical events of the Filipino but historians like, Joaquin, Gomez-Rivera, Schumacher and mostly foreign scholars are the voices that has been outstanding in correcting his historical inaccuracies. Decades of nationalist schooldominated the historcial establishment, however, had already damaged our historical text, the orthodoxy is widespread and accepted nationwide.

The “plebeian” moniker is undeserved, but this reputation worked for Bonifacio so I doubt it if he'll contest this name. The only reason I see why people try to keep the recreated version of Bonifacio is that it makes them feel good that someone like them made a difference, that a poor and uneducated made the revolution and that it belong to the "masa" not to the rich hero's, it could be inspiring that the person who started the revolution is a common Filipino [I like the idea myself its so dramatic], not the ilustrado and certainly not someone belonging to the propertied gentry, it’s like our peoples illusion that Erap Estrada is maka-masa because he had humble beginning when in fact this man has never tasted poverty all his life, he belongs to a rich Pagsanjan family.

Bonifacio is not the bolo guy in the red pants that monuments, paintings and books tells us, in fact he prefers the pistol - his only picture in our possesion is  taken during his first wedding - and he was wearing an americana with a matching tie. He lost both of his parents at an early age, it could have been hard for him and his siblings, but a glimpse at his activity during his adult life would show us his status in the society he's part of, and its revealing. If there is anything poor about him is that he never had a good education later in life [unlike the highly educated hero's] but what he lacked in formal training he compensated in reading books, as Valenzuela wrote in his memoir, Andres was so into reading that he sometimes skips his sleeping hours. The biographers of Bonifacio tell us that he had in his collection, titles like: The Wandering Jews, Rizals Novel's and literature about the French revolution. We could never know how they were able to tell what’s on Bonifacio’s shelves, but if it was true that he had these titles, he read them in Spanish [Rizal's novel was all in Spanish], this clearly debunks that stupid Rizal movie [with montano playing Pepe] where he was portrayed having difficulty reading, he's certainly not a stupid man, Katipunan is a testament of his genius in organization. He had a elementary education, it was in a private school, the medium of instruction is Spanish, and this should settle whether he spoke Spanish or not [add to this are his maternal relatives which are Spaniards].

How could someone be in the bottom of the society then, when he had been inducted as a Mason, he had been a member of La Liga which brought him rubbing elbows with the ilustrado society, he had been elected supremo when in that group there were professionals, rich, educated and experienced leaders than him and finally, how could he court a daughter of a government official if he was a nobody? – I could go on and on but the simple point that I’m trying to make is that, we had in our historical books – broadsheet editorial like sections, creations of the imagination,  what have we done to this man?

I end this little commentary with Glen May’s words:”Old myths die hard…if it serves vital ideological and political functions.”

Some Letter from Singapore

Most Filipinos comes to Singapore, either as a tourist or a job hunter, it could also be both, and I'm just the tourist minus the budget. When I first landed here about a month ago, I was surprised how everything is so organized. I guess it's as good as advertised.  From the airport, I saw magnificent tall trees, there were so many of them that they resembles a rain forest. This was a surprise because I was under the impression that being a small nation, meant cramped living villages and horrific traffic jams! I was wrong, they don't have it here, and a traffic jam here is when your vehicle is moving slow at 30 in the speed-o-meter.

I later found out that the space they have is due to a city planning that involves building, well, buildings. They call it HDB, these are home estates here, I don't know how many families can live in one building alone but I could imagine it could be hundreds or more. With this masterful planning they solved the housing issue, I remember we had a similar program back home, we called it the BLISS, well it looks like it was truly a bliss for it did not last long, come to think of it we should've continued doing it, it could solve our housing problems, were not really a big nation, lands would become an issue later on.

The housing here are ok, by that I mean, don't not expect a condominium or a hotel accommodation, you pay the rent and utilities and you have place you can call your own, and there, you're on your own too. The flats here are complete, I love taking hot baths and doing some work in the kitchen, you really need not to worry about anything except the rent. They have everything well taken care of, there was this morning when I just woke up and I saw a man scrubbing and washing the pathways outside. I also saw people trimming lawn grass and disinfecting the sewage [using some white mixture that smells awful]. Then you would not see these people again for some time, they'll reappear all of a sudden, they're a mystery to me, they're like Santa Clause' little workers! Most of these informal workers are Indian looking.

Transport here is easy, by train and bus [if your lazy take cab, its great way to ride but a bit pricey], all you need is a loaded card. It's the same card you use for both. Everything is strategically located, most train stations are located inside a mall, the buses on the other hand have huge interchange stations, in almost every street corner there are very clean waiting sheds, these sheds are well lit during the night time, buses are numbered and one only needs to check the list located at waiting sheds. It's simple enough that even a grade schooler can hop around town using it.

I prefer riding buses than traveling by train, the first Singapore tour I ever had was with these buses, with its wide clear windows you could do a lot of sightseeing, I particularly like the double decker [which remind me so much of those old open air double decker buses in Luneta], it has very cool air conditioning, it also have wide seats, they have small televisions that only shows a local news channel. I would usually go around riding buses until dusk; it's cheap so it's better than cabs. They're very efficient, they have schedules that you can follow, you can expect this bus to be on time every time, that's clock work, that's precision!

The food here is something else, my weight is testament to what's on a Singaporean plate. Everywhere you go there are these stalls they call "hawker", in fact there is one right below our flat, food abound and it won't cost you an arm and a leg. For 3.50 Singaporean dollar, you could buy a big [very] bowl of noodles, a soup that back home could satisfy two people, it will also provide you with all the nutrition and energy you'll need for the entire day! its that heavy.  Aside from the foods availability and cheapness, everything tastes good, the variety is quiet impressive as well -Indian, Chinese, Malay, Muslim Cuisine, Vegetarian etc. etc... They all taste extremely well, Chinese of course is a favorite but I also learned how to eat Indian food, like the "Prata' with some chilly curry, I like it a lot. Here, you'll always find a reason to be hungry.

The people here seems to live their lives in a past phase, they are all rushing to go to a bus, the mrt, around the malls, they always have reasons to move fast, they are very time conscious. As I've written before, the diversity is admirable, you have all kinds of people here, and all the major religions are here too, and they don't fight with each other, there is even a street where you could find a Hindu temple sitting side by side with a Buddhist temple. The tolerance and respect here should serve as a model to all of us, they've proven that the religions of this world can co-exist.

There are beggars here too, but they usually play instruments or they sing, they just don't beg, I find it odd that even their begging is regulated, they possess ID's and most of them are dressed well. My favorite is this blind Chinese man, who plays near where our home is, he's a maestro, he plays the electric guitar better than I did when I was in high school, he's like Satriani out there. I usually would go visit his place but lately he's no longer performing in his old spot, I wonder what happened.

If you love nature you'll definitely enjoy your stay here, they have parks that serves as nature reserves, so vast that one would find it admirable how they  maintain it. Like this one park which is just a short ride away from here, Bishan, it's a huge park, the trees are tall and old, the birds are so beautiful there, I even saw a squirrel, and they have ponds where people do fish, gardens that are teeming with greens and brightly colored flowers. I usually stroll to exercise in that park, when I'm tired I would just sit down and read books, since I brought with me only three titles, I've reread the books so many times already.

I would try to remember some more of my Singapore experience. This would be all for now.

ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1950's, 60' s, 70's and early 80's !!

First, some of us survived being born to mothers who did not have an OB-Gyne and drank San Miguel Beer while they carried us...

While pregnant, they took cold or cough medicine, ate isaw,and didn't worry about diabetes.

Then after all that trauma, our baby cribs were made of hard wood covered with lead-based paints, pati na yung walker natin, matigas na kahoy din at wala pang gulong.

We had no soft cushy cribs that play music, no disposable diapers (lampin lang), and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, nokneepads , sometimes wala pang preno yung bisikleta.

As children, we would ride in hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats (yung JD bus na pula),or cars with no airconditioning & no seat belts (ngayon lahat may aircon na).

Riding on the back of a carabaoon a breezy summer day was considered a treat.(ngayon hindi na nakakakita ng kalabaw ang mga bata).

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle purchased from 711 ( minsan straight from the faucet or poso).

We shared one soft drink bottle with four of our friends, and NO ONE actually died from this.Or contacted hepatitis.

We ate rice with star margarine, drank raw eggs straight from the shell, and drank sofdrinks with real sugar in it (hindi diet coke), but we weren't sick or overweight kasi nga......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, and get back when the streetlights came on.Sarap mag patintero, tumbang preso , habulan at taguan.

No one was able to reach us all day( di uso ang cellphone , walang beepers ). And yes, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our wooden trolleys(yung bearing ang gulong) or plywood slides out of scraps and then ride down the street, only to find out we forgot the brakes! After hitting the sidewalk or falling into a canal (seweage channel) a few times, we learned to solve the problem ourselves with our bare & dirty hands .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 100 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround stereo, no IPOD's, no cellphones, no computers, no Internet, no chat rooms, and no Friendsters...WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside to actually talk and play with them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no stupid lawsuits from these accidents.The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words..masakit ba ? pero pag galit yung kalaro mo... ang sasabihin sa iyo..beh buti nga !

We played marbles (jolens) in the dirt , washed our hands just a little and ate dirty ice cream & fish balls. we were not afraid of getting germs in our stomachs.

We had to live with homemade guns  gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng rubberband , sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puedeng makasakitan... pero masaya pa rin ang lahat.

We made up games with sticks  (syatong), and cans (tumbang preso)and although we were told they were dangerous, wala naman tayong binulag o napatay. Paminsan minsan may nabubukulan lang.

We walked, rode bikes, or took tricycles to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them to jump out the window!

Mini basketball teamshad tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't pass had to learn to deal with the disappointment. Wala yang mga childhood depression at damaged self esteem ek-ek na yan. Ang pikon, talo.

Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tignan kung ayos lang ang mga bata, hindi para makialam at makipag-away sa ibang parents.

That generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, creative thinkers and successful professionals ever! They are the CEO's, Engineers, Doctors and Military Generals of today.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had failure, success, and responsibility. We learned from our mistakes the hard way.

You might want to share this with others who've had the luck to grow up as real kids. We were lucky indeed.

---

I just want to clarify that I belong to the 80's batch...

Thanks to Ken of Circulo Hispano Filipino for sharing this funny but true observations.

The Trappist Monk, Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="155" caption="Trappist Monk, Rafael Arnaiz"][/caption]

I was delighted to hear that this man, Blessed Rafael, is believed to be nearing sainthood according to some sources. He was beatified by the late Pope John Paul II on 1992 where the Occupier of the Seat of Peter called him, "the model of youth".

My excitement over the news has nothing to do with his last name but because his mother is a Filipina, having been born here.

Chances are good that his Mother, Mercedes Baron, still have living relatives in the islands.

The Burgos native is known as Brother Maria Rafael inside the monastery, As a young boy he attended a school administered by the Jesuits.

For non Catholics, all of these would be strange - the process of Sainthood is often misunderstood but for Catholics, especially those who have a connection to the person, either by roots or faith, it matters a great deal.

For centuries we have been known for being Catholics. We're fortunate that some of our churches, towns and schools had been served by men of clothe that would be saints, the likes of Saint Ezekiel of the Recollects and San Juan Bautista of the Franciscan, founder of many towns and churches, martyred on his mission to Christianize Japan.

The holy man is from the Trappist monastery, known for their dutiful hardworking ways, they are strictly guided by the rule of Benedict. They are a contemplative order; the official name is Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. In our country There's only one known Trappist Monastery its located somewhere in Guimaras.

One of the rule that they live by is, "live by the work of thy hands", which means masterful crafts that they would sell to raise money to support the monastery.

If the Benedictines have their wines, the Trappist have their beers, which is considered to be the best in the world. Unlike other beers, the Trappist creations are known to age well like wines.

One other thing that I find really interesting is that they are actually not forbidden to drink; of course they do in moderation.

Blessed Rafael's family has moved several times due to his fathers different assignments as soldier. Its unclear whether his father  met his mother here or if Mercedes family moved back to Spain, like many Filipino Spanish did during those times.

In Oviedo he was honoured, a street was already named after him.

He's known to be a mystic and a healer. When he was still living his life outside the monastery, he was known for his liveliness and sense of humour.

He authored mystical and spiritual works. He is also a photographer and is a architecture graduate from Madrid.

He died of Diabetes when he was only 27.

Vatican City (CNA).- The Congregation for the Causes of the Saints has approved the miracle of the inexplicable cure of Begona Leon Alonso, a 38 year-old woman from Madrid who suffered from Hellp Syndrome during her pregnancy and went into a coma when doctors performed surgery to save her child.

Miraculously, she recovered through the intercession of Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron, a Trappist monk who died at the age of 27.

According to the newspaper La Nueva España, Bergona Leon fell ill in 2000 during her pregnancy and underwent a cesarean at the Gregorio Maranon Hospital to save the life of the child. Her condition worsened and she fell into a coma, at which point doctors considered her brain dead.

A nun from the Cistercian convent of San Bernardo de Burgos heard about Leon from her family, and the nuns at the convent decided to pray a novena to Blessed Rafael for her healing. From that moment on Leon began to improve until she completely recovered. In order for Blessed Rafael to be declared a saint, the Pope needs to sign a decree prepared by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

Let's all pray for Our Blessed Rafael.

"...to live in order to love."

Pacman and his Politicos

Pacquiao comes home like one of those successful ancient general, fresh from conquering new lands for the empire.

He’s indeed a hero to the Filipino – with all the bad things that has been going on, he provides us with the much needed hope; he inspires even the poorest of our kababayan to dream. He unites Filipinos, even for just an hour, or when he goes around waving his hand on top of a truck, seeing him makes us all feel one, everyone seems to connect – who would’ve thought that a once poor Mindanao native could project the best qualities of a Filipino to the world.

As that arrogant, all knowing, spikey haired broadcaster said after the bout, “and sarap maging Filipino”. That’s how most of us felt.

Just a few months ago, there was some stupid congressmen who planned to pass a resolution or some crap to ban Pacquiao from fighting the bigger ala-adonis latino boxer turned singer turned promoter slash boxer, De La Hoya. They were contending that since Pacquiao is a national treasure, it was their job to protect him. WTF!?! I wonder where are they now, these nutless monkeys.

Politicos in our country would do anything to get some media mileage, from stirring senseless issues to having some useless TV shows that would probably get them some viewers that could recognize them sometime in the future if ever they become senatorial candidates. Nobody’s really surprise, as if politics in our country could get any lower.

Just over a month ago, the young Bautista boxer, once called the next Pacquiao, the talented boy lost to an unheralded latino foe. It must’ve been devastating for the once promising pugilist, I was quite surprised that the bout did not had the same unanimous support we generously give to our fighting warriors abroad, well, of course Pacman would draw more, after all he’s Pacquiao. So, I must be comparing a man from a boy but the kid needed some backing, no one was there for him but his clueless manager and corner who mistakenly pitted the young man to a dangerous veteran journeyman. Tough luck.

After doing some research, the poor Boom-Boom has been losing quite a few matches in his last outings. He was undefeated for so long, he once starred as the main bout, now I doubt it if he could even land a supporting bout for the big fights. No congressman, no nut hugging Atienza or Singson or kabayan here, no support even from celebrity Filipino boxing fans and media, the fallen boxer needs to start winning again or else he’s in danger of being forgotten.

Another fighter, another story.

Espinosa?

That 2 time world champ who once put us on the edge of our seats, that guy who once made us - 'proud Filipinos'?

He’s doing some security personnel work and some other part time job in the morning  somewhere in Cali I heard. He even had to beg to be given tickets to watch the past Pacquiao fight for he can't afford to buy a good seat, man, life’s tough for this old boxers.

I remember, back in the days, even Prez Ramos would go watch the ‘Lindol’. I saw him Espinosa in the mid 90’s he was mobbed for autographs, he occasionally gets dragged for a picture – I was told that the man he was with was a Governor, I’m sure some other VIP’s tagging along, he was a star. Now, he’s lucky if he gets any visits from friends during his late night shifts.

Everybody loves a winner, they say – so in our land, before you get attention, before you get funded, you have to prove yourself first. There is no such thing as sport development in our country, only celebrities that has managed to create something out of their hard work and luck. Now if your someone like Pacquiao, you get all the politicians inside you pockets, I bet good money that if Pacman want those desperate politician to play monkey they will but – if your some unknown skilled boxer, in your teens, chances are you’re not going to make it – the odds is staggering. With the level of talent we have, how many Brandon Vera or Pacman we have?

Even Pacquiao knows this sad reality, in an interview with a US sports network he said, “I know how it feels not to eat... boxing was my way out” , and here he is with the politicians responsible for making his province crawl, at least they will be making the man do the peace dealing for them, (not too sure if that a good idea – but Manny is a winner, you can’t argue with success right, so some people believe that he could win peace too?)

So, while they continue to starve and drain the resource of that island known for its promise, they get some good publicity by embracing this son of Mindanao – in fairness to Pacman, he really has a genuine heart for his beloved province - so he could be using the attention to get the government to do its job in the impoverished island. He's also doing something concrete out of his own pocket, he now runs a free boxing gym with all the facilities for young kids in his town.

Government of course does not have any interest in these things, they see an opportunity in Pacquiao – and they're grabbing it whiles it last.

Pacquiao would definitely be used for political purposes (I believe the politicos around him are doing it now), he’s influential, he’s a proven winner, a media darling – who wouldn’t want to be with him?

Of course the politicos are just proud to be with the living Filipino hero!

So while DENR bigman Atienza parades Pacquiao in his Manila, hoping that the Pacquiao magic could revive their political career in the ever loyal city, where his young boy miserably lost an election, somewhere in Zambales a mountain was lost – with the use of bulldozer and dynamites, a once flourishing mountain, a source of livelihood among the poor inhabitant (they watch their mountain pushed to the sea, they could not go close to the operation, if they do –they risk getting shot, not by security guards but Army conscripts!), was levelled for mining purposes, upon checking some DENR officials claims to have made a mistake in handing out clearance to operate.

One more fighter. The other man from Gen Santos.

Naverette was Pacquiao decades ago, he was boxing king! He would be paraded, interviewed nonstop and worshipped by provincial politicos. When he lost his boxing glitter, he lost everything- his family and his money, of course without money – some of (or most) of the once best buddies goes out with it. He now walks the streets drunk, shirtless, penniless and chances are we’ll hear his name again in national TV, dead (he was stabbed several times already). No congressman, no nuthuggin’ Atienza and Chavit here, he’s chicken shit now you see.

Of all the fighters that got big, Elorde is an exception. He was uneducated but he had the biggest heart, his very smart too like what we see now in Pacquiao - unlike Navarette and Espinosa, he was well taken care of. His handler did a pretty well job, seeing to it that he goes out to the sunset with enough money. He married his handlers daughter, he was with the right people.

I hope that the native brown bomber, Pacman, this national pride of ours would realize that he’s better off in the boxing business (or showbiz since I heard he’s fond of boobsy leading ladies) and that he could help his impoverished town by just being the great boxer that he is. He should learn from the likes of once sporting hero, Jawo, who after leaving the hoop world and getting his ass elected as Mr. Senador top notcher, was forgotten midway his term, he found out later that he was a basketball guy not a politico and that he’s better off elbowing his opponents in the face and coaching his players in his ‘wala ng isip isip’ way, politics is not for everyone. Last time I saw Jawo was when he was defending his son for carrying fire arms, his son was allegedly shooting rats.

What is it in politics that makes it hard to resist?

Sometimes power and money is nothing compared to the ability of a man to inspire his people – and Pacman doing it right now. There will be more Pacquiao, he’s just the beginning.

Lag(g)ing Behind

A blogger friend has been running a mini series on the Filipino’s chronic social woes and what seems to be his inability to improve his condition. Another frustrated individual – but who could blame people for feeling down these days?

A notable novelist made a series of essays tackling the reason behind why we are poor. For the most part the old man was right, we have these “self defeating” traits that keeps us where we are, at the very bottom – cawawa, the old Tagalog word that best describes our predicament. But when the same novelist started to invade history in his quest for answers, the book became laughable. Let’s stop blaming the past shall we?

Some social scientist say that the people themselves, the Filipinos, is the problem. They say that we keep on shooting ourselves on the foot, that we are who we are, as one writer (Emerita Quito) points out it’s the “ambivalence of Filipino Traits and Character”, these according to the writer is the reason why were lagging behind. She weighted the pros and cons, trying to best describe the Filipino’s famous “ugali” and why it continues to work against him.

I really have no qualms with the analogy, a flawed character  would always be dethrimental. What has been said about some of our traits and character is true but what I don’t subscribe to is that these traits are the one to be blame, as if all these things uniquely belongs to our race. Quito’s list includes Hiya, Ningas Cogon, Pakikisama, Utang na Loob, Bahala na, Kasi (sisihan) to name a few from her essay.

What many forget is that a “Hiya” or say, “Pakikisama” also exist on other parts of the globe. Some of the most richest men in US history for example are the shyest people around, some celebrities even have insecurity issues – with all their money and beauty I’m not sure what’s there to feel insecure about. The “Pakikisama” on the other hand is not solely Pinoy, let’s look at the Italians, they are known for this trait, some even believe that it runs so deep in their culture that these was the reason why mafia flourished in their conservative society.

Lets look at this train we call the “padrino” system, is it Pinoy? No, even the mafiaso's would be embarrassed to claim it as theirs but they have been known to carry it out just like all the grandfathered deals around the world - it’s not foreign, not Filipino either but some of us just enjoys claiming all defects as Filipino originals, clearly a not so good national mindset.

All of these so called traits and character are universal. Some points to the “ningas cogon” and “manana habit” as proof that Filipinos are often times lazy, as if we have the laziest people in the world! Just lookat some real time stats and one could see that the fattest nation (US) have the biggest economy and the second largest economy belongs to a nation so in love with making things small.

So why, some ask, are we the only ones in the world that have people peeing on the streets, violating traffic laws or throwing garbage in the estero? Why are we so undisciplined?

The simple answer is that our government tolerates such gross behaviour. I mean every nation has their share of punks, ours is increasing in number because our government is doing nothing, the difference is that some government has more political will than others.

The fact is that our government has gone soft on its overly sensitive citizens, a news crew reported that illegal vendors are being ‘violently’ removed, then came a Congressmen and traded blows with the government demolition crew, what does these shows us? – I mean, its a sad reality, never easy to watch but that’s why we have laws. Some people would be quick to say, “Mali ang gobyerno, dapat hayaan nila sila” or “dapat hanapan ng malilipatan yan, hindi basta-basta pinapaalis”, what if it’s your land being illegally squatted on? Would you still express this generous support?

The nations law protects its people, its designed to look after those who follows it, not the ones who don’t suppory it. Yes its tragic but then again it goes back to my point earlier, the leaders, what the hell are they in power for?

The most developed nation in South East Asia once had a problem, they were losing their greatest river to squatting and pollution, the leaders never waited for the people around the river to change and grow a conscience because if they did, the river would’ve be dead in a few years time. It only took them a few years to fix the problem, they have cleared the river of illegal structures, regulated boats and fined or imprison those who would be caught polluting the river. End of story, river’s alive – everybody’s happy, except of course for the violators.

The problem sometimes is that we see each other as the problem, that the Filipinos problem is because he is Filipino. We should look at what’s the “real” reason why we have this kind of country. We have great people, diverse and educated. The greatest resource of our land is our people and yet we see them go abroad in mass numbers, something that our government seems to welcome.

Some of the most successful story we hear are those coming from the OFW, some Filipinos made it big in the US, there was a governor, congressmen, mayors, entrepreneurs, artist and union leaders – endless list of accomplished Filipinos – they represent what we are capable of doing anywhere but here, even common folks that has been working as clerks and engineers, as cooks and seamen, they come home with good retirement money and with all their labour has sent apo’s, nephews, and brothers to good schools – have we ever wonder why a Filipino can do so much outside and so little inside his island?

Yes, of course the value of money makes all the difference. But isn’t this admitting that the country is not good enough for its people? that Filipino skills and talent is better utilized abroad? That other nation deserves Filipinos more than his home country where he seems to have no place?

We compliment these OFW’s by calling them bayani, because of their sacrifice, I say they are heroes indeed for some of them have already lost their heads (literally), suffered unbearable living conditions, some experienced descrimination, so that a country can grow its dollar reserves and by doing so, help the national economy, no wonder they’re the leaders heroes – more remittance the better say the government. What kind of a government would rather send professional abroad than have them serving their people? the remittance is a small picture solution weall know this but leaders would rather bet on it than having any long term project.

The people as I’ve said before on other foras is not the problem, we’re not at fault because we have “pakikisama”, “bahala na”, “ningas cogon” etc etc, believing that we have a monopoly on all these negative traits is being stupid. When we talk of Filipino’s we speak of a race that stood against the Spaniards, survived the Americans, fought the Japs, weathered dozens of coup de etat, deposed Marcos, survived countless natural calamities, dethroned Erap and now trying to live with GMA’s incompetency. Is this not an impressive fight record? Is there anything more we could ask from the Filipinos? Aside from being urged to learn skills so they can get employed elsewhere so they can send dollars?

They say people here are timid, that we’re not self starters, that we are lazy – I know for a fact these are gross generalization for the hardest working individuals I know are all Filipinos, here in abroad and back home. We never lack the genius also, we had some of the smartest inventors around, what happen to their inventions? That’s the million dollar question, one inventor said, “I wanted to sell this to an investor so it can be marketed in the US” – government help, anyone? This is the sad picture my friends, we have what it takes to make it, too bad we don’t have our leaders with us.

We fail to recognize the role of our leaders and how their inability to lead the nation has caused us a lot. We never had good governance, when we study Philippine government, the trend seems to be a familiar pattern, from bad to worst. Just look at Erap and GMA. We removed the corrupt and the one that succeded turns out to be worst.
These leaders do make good speeches but it has always been asking more sacrifice when we had already done our share, “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”, but where is our government when we needed them?

News about the OFW’s just the other day, men sentenced to death without even having the benefit of an attorney courtesy of our embassy. The DFA cites the lack of fund but you have millions of tax money getting stolen by government officials. When it elections comes all the money seems so accessible but when Filipinos need them, all of a sudden its lacking.

Yes, Filipinos do possess some weak character, but its overrated – its not enough to be his downfall, its not the reason why were behind, we are at bottom because our leaders impeded our development by not having a genuine love for the Filipino.

If you’ve ever been in the US you’d understand why Filipinos are very productive there, because they can do all kinds of work normal Americans usually wouldn’t accept. So how is it that Filipinos are productive elsewhere, possessing strong work ethic and just as good as the citizens of the land they came to work for, when they too have this ‘Ugaling Filipino’?

What we need are leaders that can take us to the promise land. The kind of leader that can turn things around and make us a better people. Leaders inspires people – effective leadership that has its people in mind, like private business, an establishment needs to be efficiently run from top to bottom. We can give all the support, all the dollars to the motherland but if our leaders would not have us in mind, what’s going to happen?

So how do we break the cycle? if the leaders is the problem - how can we remedy the situation? Are these leaders a clear representation of who we  are as a people or we just haven't been lucky getting the right ones? that we are indeed a corrupted society and that we could not change? borrowing from Carlito Brigante, "right or wrong" we can't change, is this who we really are?

For now, there's no other choice but to keep our faith, in God and ourselves. Just like a people waiting to be save, were on the look out for a Moises - or men that could take us to the promise land. Even the Jews needed a leader, being the chosen people was not enough.

Filipinos need to take care of their fellow Filipinos, I’ve seen this here abroad – I hope that our leaders would have the same commitment. We have given our share, we deserve better...

Taxi cum Political Theorist

You know that a country is fairly doing well when they have mercedez benz converted into taxis roaming their busy streets. Taxi service, drivers and units here are very interesting scenes, they complete the island nations landscape, just like our Jeep do back home you see them everywhere. Drivers here are multiracial, most are very kind and knows a thing or two about tourism so you could ask them for recommendations and they would give you accurate information. They are also equipped with state of the gadgets. They take care of business here because the more tourist means more passengers. Majority speaks english and just like in any parts of the world, they tend to engage their passengers in subjects ranging from the simple stuff around like the best places to eat to national politics or if your lucky, a mystic of a cab driver that can foretell your destiny. I have been talking to them a lot that I already know the mechanics of how to own and operate these cabs, the downsides and its long term benefits. Like our drivers back home, they get a kick out of 'having no boss', here drivers lease their cabs, so technically they own it.

I got an interesting cab driver tonight, I came to shop and dine at Little India, a place similar to Chinatown, of course the difference is instead of Chinese you get Indian, the place was awesome, so many great bargains. I also feasted my eyes on those old buildings and structure of the old Brit empire. I finished touring the place at around 7 pm Realizing that MRT's would be jam pack I flagged a cab to take me back home. I got an Indian guy, I was lucky - it would be the continuation of my educational tour of Little India.

Uncle is what they call male senior people here, a term of endearment similar to our 'Manong' back home. This Uncle speaks with a heavy Indian accent but his words comes clear to me. When he found out that I'm Filipino he was quick to respond, "Filipinos are everywhere, they're in HK, Malaysia and Taiwan also, Singapore has a lot of Filipinos and in time they would have a big community here", I could feel the anxiety in his voice but he tried to hide it of course, he doesn't want to disappoint his good looking passenger. He was probably worried that Filipinos could out breed everyone here, I guess reputation precedes us sometimes. Filipinos are probably the most hardy and adaptable race on earth, I told the Uncle that if there would be a nuclear holocaust, I'll bet good money that Filipinos would continue as a race and finally rule the world! (he didn't find the joke funny, no complimentary laughter here). He was probably observing the influx of Filipinos for sometime, you know this cabdrivers are the man on streets (tambay sa canto sa atin) so they see things normal people don't. In the last decade there seems to be a change on the waves of Filipino immigrants here, today Filipinos are no longer confined to being domestic helpers but now joins Singapores work force in different sector. This condition is somehow aided by the island nations openness for foreign skilled workers.

The Taxi man continued to amaze his passenger, he spoke about the difference between Diosdado Macapagal and Marcos, how the economics of the old Macapagal is better and that the reason he lost is that Marcos was the better speaker (like Obama) , by this time he already had me glued to what he was saying, I didn't even know that our leaders ever had good economics, how can a man from here know these things. When asked how did he know all of this he replied, "I have been listening to BBC radio for a long time, I know what's going on even in the South Americas", it seems that the BBC made this guy aware of the what has been happening around the world - he could pass as a political analyst if he ever decides to go that way.

He then continues to lecture the amateur historian in me by discussing Asian economy and what could make the impoverish Asian nations better. He knew that 3rd world countries are victims of corrupt leaders and the so called 'globalization', he said, "the poor does not know what to do because they're not guided, they can farm lands, catch fishes and make crafts but instead of getting better the government and the corporations uses them and give them so little returns, they should instead make corporations out of these people and guide them, further educate them, from here everything will follow, let them succedd in what they do best - and then later on they would begin to go out and in time start new things on their own, let the tax money set up everything for them".

Yes my friends, this is a cab driver speaking. I was thinking if he had just too much free time that he figured out how the world works or he just picked up all this stuff from the BBC radio like what he said - which by the way is not a bad choice at all. I'm sure that all of this talk could be an over simplification of the complex Filipino problem but I get it when he said "help" the people, I mean these days it seems that the government is busy assisting Filipinos  get out of their home country so that they can send remittance and this of course gives them good dollar points, but isn't this an aimless policy? while other nations are trying to keep their homegrown talent home, we are losing ours and nothing really is being done to stop it, the people need the kind of help that would make them do well in their towns, positioning Filipinos to make a living and be at home with their families.

I have to admit that he made sense, as if his theory was not enough he gave me a real story. Some barrio in Malaysia raises worms to sell for medical science he say, and the people became rich because the government funded their small enterprise - the government also protected the small farmers from outside competition by prioritizing the local products over the cheap chinese produce, he again stresses what seems to be his solution to world hunger, "the government need to guide the people not give them charity". He's so certain that this "hand outs" is the surest way to spoil people. Of course, I'm telling myself, we know that already but he then gave me something to think about. "The government in most cases do things for camera not really for the people to be sufficient, the government and the rich people their the ones to blame here, you see this even in America. How come there's only a small percentage of wealthy people? they try to keep it that way because it works for them".

Its no secret that we had been victim of bad leadership. We had leaders killing each other since we claim to have won the first republic in Asia. Now, we get lectured all the time that "we" the people must change but I don't think the people are at fault here. I think the cab driver was right, we need leaders that can show the way, take inititatives, better policies, make conditions favorable so we never have to see daddy go to Saudi. We need programs that really looks after people, uplifting not only lives but morale. Right now, sadly, we are down on everything. While the world is busy making economic adjustments and combating terrorism, what we see on local news is Jocjoc Bolante and some coup de' etat in the senate, its sickening. What has become of our leaders these days?

The Filipino today no longer believes in the government but politician could care less, for them, there is an election that needs to be won. They see government as an enterprise where they can get money, enriching themselves is top priority. No Filipino today takes their government seriously, that's why I can't blame majority of our countrymen who see Filipino politics as a joke and an entertainment similar to the popular telenovelas we see on TV. The Masa is often blamed for not changing for the better, I say we now, what we need is not a change of men really but a change of leaders.

Glimpse at the Origins of Filipino Surnames

Almost all Filipinos have Spanish names, these names came from a decree (1849) that required everyone to have surnames similar to that of a Spaniard or at least derived from a list they government provided. Before the implementation of the decree, most Filipinos were patronymic, there were no clear standard in naming children upon baptismal, the practice of adopting names from the Catholic Saints were influence taken from the Friars. Narciso Claveria, the liberal and vigorous governor, foresaw that such practices of incoherent names of the natives (some even without it) would present troubles later on both in tax collections and records. Also, written records were very deficient it made document verification difficult, tracing ancestry before 1800's was almost impossible.

Some Prehispanic tribes does not even possess surnames. There were instances that a child's name was taken from his appearance or some natural event (some tribes even had a tribal culture of having no names). When the Friars started baptizing the Indios they initially started using names of saints, mostly naming people based on what the Saints feast day, which, after decades of practice became the norm. Claveria's decree would ammend this practice in 1847, giving Filipinos its first standard when it comes to naming  infants.

Aside from significantly improving the governments collection of tributes, the decree's greatest gift was that it paved the way for the native to wholly integrate in the society (as would be in  the case of the Chinos). When the so called evolution of the Filipino identity finally became clear, the Catholic names, made it uncomplicated for the native without the education like that of an elites to function as fully accepted citizens within a society. A Christianized native, that had acquired a Christian name enjoy the benefits of having an name familiar with the the general public. This method of making Hispanized names obligatory to all is often slandered as the doing of the Spaniards for they intend to completely control every area of Filipino life, but a clear reading of its anon effects would illustrate how it improved the Filipino way of life, as it was visualized by Claveria.

Loose Guidelines

In most towns, individuals would have names opening with the same letter of the alphabet. The surnames were based on the town of origin. Those starting with "A" (like mine) are set aside for those people who dwells in capital. The outlying town receives names starting with the subsequent letters, "B" for the second town, "C" for third town. This practice was never across the board, there were exemptions. The last names was also based on the first letter of the town, such is the case of Capas, it was assigned to "C", this explains the predominance of the surnames that starts with this letter, such is the case on other towns all over the islands colony.

The authors of the book State and Society in the Philippines has this to say, "A town would choose the names of one letter of the alphabet, a second choose the names of another letter, and so on. Until recently, one could tell the hometown of the an individual by his or her surname. This was true, for example, in Albay province. Those of Oas town, those with "O" from Guinobatan, and those with "B" from Tiwi. This also explains why many Filipinos today bear Spanish names although they may not have Spanish blood"

What was Claveria Thinking

Nowadays, whenever someone would raise the question on how a Filipino got his Iberian sounding name, others would be quick to point to the "decree" ordering everyone to take on a Spanish name without apparent explanation of what's the reason behind it.

Claveria offers us his explanation:"During my visits to the majority of the islands, I observe that natives in general lack individual surnames which distinguished them by families. They arbitrarily adopt the names of the saints as their last names, this results to the results in the existence of thousands of individuals having the same surnames. Likewise, i saw the resultant confusion with the regard to the administration of justice, government, finance and public order and the far-reaching moral, civil and religious consequences to which thismight lead, because the familynames are not transmitted from the parents to their children, so that it is sometimes impossible to prove the degress of consanguinity for purposes of marriage, rendering useless the parochial books which in Catholic countries are used for all kinds of transactions." he continues,"for the purpose of catalgue of family names has been compiled, including indigenous names collected by the reverend fathers provincial of the religious orders, and the Spanish surnames they have been able to acquire, along those furnished by the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, geography, arts, etc. In view of the extreme usefulness and practicality of this measures, the time has come to issue a directive for the formation of a civil register, which may not only fulfill and ensure the said objectives, but also serve as the basis for the statistics of the country, guarantee the collection of taxes, the regular performance of personal services, and the receipt of payment for exemptions. It likewise provides exact information of the movement of the population, thus avoiding unauthorized migrations, hiding taxpayers, and other issues."

The decree after all was not conceived out of greediness and malevolence intent but by having a successful administration of records. The Governor plainly stated the benefits of having surnames for the natives on the long run would prevail over its initial awkwardness. This order that gave us the names that we still bear with us until now is perhaps the greatest impression of the Spanish era aside from our religion.

Some Exceptions

There were exceptions, indication of the orders flexibility, i.e., the direct descendants of ancient rulers (i.e., Mojica, Tupas etc.) were excluded and were permitted to maintain their surnames. The Tagalog nobility was also spared (i.e., Gatmaitan, Hilario etc.) this is the reason why we still hear these surnames up to now. For the rest were given regulated name (based on the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos). There were those who were ordered to take on unique surnames (usually names of flora & fauna) to make them more visible, like in the case of the Rizals, which already had Mercado, a name taken by the first Francisco Mercado (Domingo Lam Co's son). Its interesting to note however that Asuncion Bantug pointed out in her book "Si Lolo Jose", that the reason behind the change was that original Francisco hated the name Mercado for it means "market", choosing another name, Ricial. The Mercados later on started using their second last name, Rizal, as an act of uniting behind Jose's flight.

With the decree also came the opportunity for those without surnames to obtain one. A catalog of names where one could pick was handed to the natives (a directory of Spanish names). The Friars being elected as the agents of organization during the initial years of the decree proved to be successful. The policy was generally realized and Claveria's requirements of a unified registry was created and this would give the Filipino today a way to trace their lineage. The practice also made sure that the surname of the the mother would be attached, this explains "y" (police, NBI and other national records) after the fathers surname. According to the study prepared by Pepe Alas, we're the only nation now that still follow this format.

The Chino Christiano

These Mestizos were allowed to hold on to their name Chinese surnames. This was accredited by the administrators so as for these Mestizo's not to lose their lineage and culture. It was a regular practice also then to generate a last name by merging Chinese names, like that of their parents (i.e., Yu -chen -co, Lim -cau -co etc.). Many of this surnames having "co" at the end because of the Hokkienese polite suffix of "ko" (meaning "big brother"). There were also occasions that the Catholic Filipino Chinese would blend their native names to that of a Christian name, this adaptation is unique and is said to be the only one of its kind in the world. Contrary to what most accept as true, that these names were imposed without due considerations, the Christianized Chinese mestizo's supplies us with a clear example of the laws flexibility (like the considerations for the Tagalog noble clans). The decree was in no way meant to disassociate the Filipino to his native origins and his family.

The Filipino Chinese then was different from the Baba of Malaya and the Javanese Peranakan, both Chinese immigrants, as Wickerberg says, " the Chinese mestizo in the Philippines was not a special kind of Chinese, he was a special kind of Filipino".

This points to the fact of the Filipino Chinese integration to the Filipino society - they became a Filipinos, their prosperity and influence during the Spanish era is a proof of their contributions to the society as key actors.The other Sino immigrants in the neighbouring colonized regions, the Filipino Chinese was not restrained in their comunity but was encouraged to integrate and participate. It was observed that some eventually lost attachment to the Chinese culture and as the author of the book "Brains of the Revolution" says, "instead, a very strong affinity for a Philippine version of Hispanic culture", referring to the Mestizo's preference to the hispanic culture."

Looking back

Contrary to the claims of reknowned historians that this decree stripped us of our native identity, the scheme actually restored the self-esteem for the Filipino then. Today, as we go on with our contemporary lives, we have government agencies going up the mountains and registering natives (for administration, medical and educational purposes), in some cases, missionaries meet up with this tribes to baptize them and give them Christian names, how is this different from what the Claveria decree formed?

Pan De Manila "Disclaimer"

I have been receiving email's and comment's asking information for the Pan De Manila. I sure would love to provide you with contact information and how to get your franchise but I can not, I am in no way connected to this bread company, I wish I was so I could drop by at any of their outlet and get my bags of goodies. I'm just a fan of their concept and line of products.

I owe people an apology especially those who thought that I work for PDM, I was looking for some information on them too but I don't think they have a corporate website. The post was just my way of thanking them (PDM), they clearly advocate the appreciation of our heritage and what more could be a better representation of that beautiful past than the mighty Pan De Sal!

Food Identity

Being away from the homeland makes you think about a lotta things. In a foreign land is where a Filipino becomes more Filipino. You get to compare things about you, you realize that you are, well, Filipino pala talaga. You get to see yourself in a totally different light.

Identity as they say is what makes you unique from the others. A friend told me that you are ‘what you eat’, it was a funny way to describe the Filipino identity but I understand why he said that. Food would give you a good picture of what a nation is, you can glimpse its past through its plate.

Expats in foreign lands serves homegrown dishes with ‘yabang’, they’re proud of how we make food and how it taste. A tinola here, even if its missing some key recado taste better than a tinola that’s completos recados back home. For some strange reason, eating tinola with fellow Filipinos here makes me feel Filipino, so it must be true that ‘you are what you eat’.

Our food basics are steamed rice and all the viands that always starts with a cooking technique called guisa. The tastiest dishes are of Spanish origin but they have evolved to be Filipino, Filipinize, so to speak. So adobo, sarsiado, mechado, bopiz, tinola, jamon, relleno, embutido, tapa. menudo, pochero, callos, lechon, paella are Filipino, we cease to call this dishes Kastila, we present these us ours, Lutong Pinoy we call it.

We are often told that we are Malay, in fact whenever there is an application form, most Filipinos would still place Malay as their race on the blank space. Some still regard Rizal as the great Malay (is he?), if he is then my mom is French. The foodie question is, why is it that if Malay is our racial origin, why don’t we eat like them? we have the Malay tradition of bi-hoon, cang cung and mee-sua but nothing more, why is it that we never had a taste for mutton? why are we voracious pork eaters?

The Chinese on the other hand they say was already doing business in our shores long before the Kastilaloys came but why is it that our cookery is more Spanish than Chino? are we to think that the natives then only picked the alien Spanish dishes over the flavory familiar Chinese cuisines? are we to believe that we snub the Chinese way of cooking that we seem to enjoy this days?

Stir frying is a cool way to cook our fishies,meaties and veggies (we see this with Martin Yan all the time), a Chinese original but it never became a technique we can call ours. We still go back to the guisado. When it comes to the prehispanic Filipino dishes we could refer to the accounts of Pigaffeta’s gastronomic odyssey with the natives. There’s not much, they did got drunk though, but even that aboriginal drink is a thing of the past for us, we rather entertain our guess with the good ol' cerveza or some fancy European wine at home.

The only logical answer for all this is that our dish became hispanized, we had little choice because we were flooded by all this strange objects and traditions brought by the Spainiards. It is not as if we elected to be influence, we never called them, they came to us. We all end up having this strange appetite for the Espanola cuisine. A strange taste for an Asiano to acquire. When Christmas is around our tradition calls for the quezo de bola or the jamon or the lechon, of course all of this with the cerveza or some delightful vino, or some chocolate to match our versions of mantecadas and pastillas. What seems to be evident is that this Kastila's were the only once who showed us how to culture our food. The bland cookery all of a sudden became sophisticated. What was handed down to us was not only simple Iberian imported recipes but a tradition that we would be identifying with up to this day. Just the other day, we were looking for some cocoa power (the popular brand, cocoa ricoah) when this elderly Chinise looking woman, probably recognizing were Filipinos, looked at us and asked, 'Champorado?'. we are identified with this unique culture, I told myself, 'oh my, she can identify my nationality by what I was about to buy from her'.

That is why I always tell my friends that would ask me about identity or debate me on the topic, that if we want to get rid of that past and revert to the true state of Filipino (I don’t know what that is, Igorot? maybe) we start with ridding ourselves with everything that was created by that past, aside from losing our Hispanic sounding ala Antonio Banderas names, we’ll lose a lot including our cuisine (nooooh!!!). There is no alternative when we speak of identity, that is why countries like Australia or the US would not look back at their precolonial days as the one representing their true identity for if it was the case, they would be anulling the colonial contribution to their advancement both in education, culture and eventual self governance. When they say we that we had no choice, well, I say we deal with the cards that has been dealt to us by this thing called history.

It is this simple logic that should guide us towards embracing our true identity, its the ugly reality for those people who try hard to identify the Filipino identity with the prehispanic tribes of the islands, our soul is not there, we could trace our lineage there but certainly not our character. The thinking that the more aboriginal we make ourselves the more Filipino we become doesn't sound right, actually it sounds stupid. This identity was a process that started when the state was founded, followed by a series of events that started from a Spaniard born in the islands claiming the Filipino as his identity, then to the coming of a generation of educated men that proved that they're equal if not superior to the Spaniard. If we view this process as a retardation of our natural evolution, that all of this are foreign and therefore evil, then we say today that we are indeed retarded, that we are byproducts of a failed process that led to this beautiful identity and this should answer why we are continually moving back wards.

There is no starting over, its not like some subject in college that you flunked and that you can take it up next sem, history is evolution, never static, it waits for no one. Rather than denying it, Hispano culture deserves a second look, acknowledge it and embrace it, there is nothing we can gain from believing that we don't deserve this foreign traditions when we are unconsciously following it, it is our tradition. There’s a real danger in teaching ourselves to hate something we don’t understand, we could end up hating ourselves.

Now back to this foodie identity, make no mistake about it, there is a Filipino cuisine and its alive. Its origins could be hispano but its Filipino no doubt. I remember what Fr. Galende, that nice Augustinian Padre who supervises the lone original Intramuros church, said about all the beautiful century old churches we have in our land, that it is a mistake to call them Spanish because they’re Filipino churches. To say that this are all Spanish culture is to say that there is no Filipino culture, like when we say that because we had great literature written in Spanish, that they are Spanish, not Filipino. All of these belongs to us, this is us, and to tell our children that they were all the creation of the Spaniards is the same as telling them that the Filipinos during those days stayed in the caves and learned nothing.

The same with our food but we should recognize the history behind it. Only when we begin to understand and appreciate we’ll be able to understand how we became Filipinos. This could be an oversimplification of the definition of our identity but if you think of it we really are what we eat.

Now, its morning here. Let me go find some Pan de Sal! ay, wala pala dito.