This forwarded email made my day. I added some notes for our non-Filipino readers. Corrections are welcome…

***

Filipinos are funny and creative when it comes to business signs and posters. Here are some examples:

* A parlor in San Juan is named ‘Cut & Face‘
* A wholesaler of balut in Sto.Tomas, Batangas: ‘ Starduck ‘
* A fastfood eatery in Nueva Ecija: ‘Violybee‘
* A small internet cafe opened among squatters named itself, ‘Cafe Pindot‘ [Note: Pindot is a Filipino term meaning "to push a button, press a key (of a computer keyboard)," etc.]
* In Manila, there’s a laundry outlet named, ‘Summa Cum Laundry‘
* A petshop in Kamuning: ‘Pakita Mo Pet Mo‘ [Note: Lit., "show me your pet"]
* A Bakery: ‘Bread Pit‘
* A bank in Alabang: ‘Alabank‘
* A noodle restaurant in Pampanga named, ‘Mekeni Rogers‘ [Note: Mekeni is Kapampangan (language spoken by those who hail from the province of Pampanga) for "come," used in say, invitations for meals.]
* There’s a restaurant in Pasig named ‘Johnny’s Fried Chicken: The ‘Fried’ of Marikina
* A tombstone maker in Antipolo: ‘Lito Lapida‘ [Note: Lito Lapid is a famous Filipino action star-turned-politician]
* There’s a copy center in Sikatuna Village called, ‘Pakopya ni Edgar‘ [Note: Parokya ni Edgar is the name of a popular local band]
* There’s a beerhouse in Cavite called, ‘Chickpoint‘
* A laundromat in our neighborhood at Sikatuna: ‘Star Wash : Attack of the Clothes‘
* There’s an internet cafe in Taguig named, ‘n@kopi@‘ [Note: Nakopia is a Filipino term for "copied or imitated," a play on a better known internet cafe called 'Netopia']
* Name of a kambingan, ‘Sa Goat Kita’ [Note: Kambingan is an eatery where goat meat is primarily served; 'Sagot Kita' is a common Filipino expression which can mean "my treat"]
* A salon somewhere, ‘Curl Up And Dye‘
* A lugawan in Sta. Maria, Bulacan: ‘Gee Congee‘ [Note: Lugaw = "porridge"]
* There’s a water refilling station in Dapitan named ‘Wa-Thirst‘
* Along Sucat road, a store selling feeds for chickens: ‘Roboco - ck‘
* Shoe repair in Marikina: ‘Dr. Shoe-Bago‘ [Note: Bago = "new"]
* Shoe repair store along Commonwealth,’SHOEPERMAN: we will HEEL you, save your SOLE, and even DYE for you‘
* A Petshop: ‘Petness First‘
* Flower shop: ‘ Susan’s Roses‘ [Note: Susan Roces is the widow of the lamented "Action King of Philippine Cinema," Fernando Poe, Jr.]
* A Taxicab: ‘Income Taxi‘
* A 2nd hand watch store: ‘2nd Time Around‘
* A squid stall in a wet market: ‘Pusit to the Limit‘
* A shrimp store: ‘Hipon Coming Back‘
* A gay lawyer’s extension office: ‘Nota Republic‘
* A ceiling installer: ‘Kisame Street‘
* A car repair shop: ‘Bangga ka ‘day!’ [Note: Bangga = car crash, fender-bender; 'day = short for Inday, a common reference to a lady/girl househelp; in so-called Philippine 'Vogaybulary,' the word is used by gays as an address to females or to their fellows; this could also be interpreted as a play on the expression (and the title of a song), Bongga (Filipino slang which can mean "ostentatious," "loud," etc.) ka 'Day!]

* An aquatic pet store in Malolos: ‘Fish Be With You‘
* A beauty salon: ‘Saudia Hairlines‘
* A bakery in our village: ‘Anak Ng Tinapay‘
* A resto along Mayon road in Manila : ‘May Lisa Eatery‘
* A Laundry: ‘Wash Your Problem Here‘
* This mobile massage business name isn’t funny, but their slogan is: ‘Asian Mobile Massage Service: Massage only, God is watching‘
* Ice cream parlor: ‘Dila Lang Ang Katapat‘ [Note: Lit., "tongue is (it's) only match/equal"]
* Chicharon store: ‘Chicha Hut‘
* Neighborhood pizza store: ‘Pizza Hot‘
* A barbershop in Cagayan de Oro: ‘Pinoy Big Barber‘
* A Resto in Baclaran: ‘The Last Supper‘
* A goto resto: ‘Goto Ko Pa! ‘ [Not: Goto = a type of porridge; here, the whole expression is used as a sort of baby talk for Gusto ko pa ("I want more")]
* My mom used to ride a bus for work. One day she saw a peanut vendor’s cart with a funny name: ‘Mani ni Papa‘ [Note: lit., "Daddy's peanuts"]
* A gym in Malolos: ‘Gaymann Fitness Center‘
* My brother’s party needs business: ‘Balloon-Balloonan‘ [Note: balun-balunan = fowl gizzard]
* A Chinese restaurant in Pasig : ‘Lah-Fang‘
* A store selling fresh chicken, owned by a woman named Dina: ‘Dina Fresh Chicken‘ [Note: Dina can be read as short for Hindi Na = "not anymore"]
* A bakery in Pateros: ‘Trimonay Bakeshop‘
* A Hair Salon in Makati : ‘Hair We Go Again‘

***

I also note here two barbershops in Naga City and Baguio City with these signages: “Hair Jordan,” “Hair Force One.”

16 July 1054. This day marks the Roman Catholic Church-Eastern Orthodox Church split, an event more popularly known as the “East-West Schism” or “The Great Schism.” On this day, Humbert, the Archbishop of Sicily who was a then a recent appointee of Leo IX, excommunicated Michael I Cerularius, the Constantinople-based Patriarch. The latter would decree his own version of excommunication eight days later. Cerularius denounced the political maneuvering of the Pope in Italy and his appointment of Humbert as archbishop. He also questioned what he saw as “unscriptural” practices of the Latin Church, like its use of unleavened bread. [McBrien,174-175]

The future is the same for all of us. Nothing keeps one form for long: mountains crumble to become plains and valleys, lakes become reedy marshes. The great ice floes melt, and rivers rise to forested valleys. We are men and women for a time before we rejoin the blown sands of creation. Only once can we know the world as well as live in it. Only once do we move at our own command. That is why to be human is to be free.

- from “Give It Back to the Indians,” by Bill Messenger [note: I am writing this from memory, so it may not be the exact quote; i am also relying on my often unreliable memory for the title and author of this short story, since i can no longer find the anthology where i first read the narrative. corrections are welcome. thanks!]

“It is the priest’s duty to act against public sinners. If a priest or bishop does not punish a public sinner, it is the priest or bishop who will err.”

So says Apo Arsobispo Oscar Cruz of Pangasinan in relation to the abortion issue. He was quoted in a CBCP online news report on his fellow Archbishop Jesus Dosado’s proposal to bar from partaking of the “Holy Communion” lawmakers sponsoring or supporting the Reproductive Health bill currently being studied in Congress.

If I am parsing his words correctly, Cruz seems to include among the ranks of “public sinners” those he and the CBCP branded as “pro-abortion” lawmakers.

I’d say Cruz and Dosado may have all the privilege to make policies for their flock, they being the exalted shepherds as they are over their respective pastoral jurisdictions (a political edge built on the monolithic frame of their Church as a whole), but that privilege should not cancel out the right of their flock to decide on family planning issues according to their conscience; it should not bar the flock from speaking out on issues that involve their family/private lives about which the celibates (most of them anyway) could only experience vicariously. It would be pathetic if these leaders’ respective sheep remain as sheep and continue to bleat and move with a herd mentality under the baton of those who don’t fully understand how it is to go through all the pains of raising a family and balancing on the “intimacy scale” the existential “weights” of procreation and pleasure. None should allow themselves to be under the stranglehold of any pope, priest, pastor, or pundit on this or any other issue.

I think Cruz went overboard in this most recent pontification. Being a master of Philosophy/Logic, he should be the first to recognize that name-calling only beclouds issues as this. And branding those batting for the Reproductive Health bill with the loaded term “Pro-Abortion” Lawmakers is unjust and pharisaical. Catholics should not just take the word of their leaders who say that the use of contraceptives is a travesty to the Gospel; they should study the Good Book themselves “to see if [this thing is] so.” Further, his statement calls for more than he would ever wish it to mean. In his own territory of Pangasinan and elsewhere, for example, there are lots of their politician-parishioners whose lives are riddled with public scandals, from womanizing to abetting gambling. Had Cruz and his fellow clergy ever excoriated all these “publicans”? Which sins should one commit to qualify one as a “public sinner”? Only those Clergy-declared sins that are widely publicized or sensationalized? And what about men of the cloth whose reputations are as black as their soutanes are white, whose collective self-righteousness is such that even an atheist can have greater moral ascendancy over them? Considering all these, I wonder how many bishops have “erred” per Cruz’ statement?

This is not to say that religious leaders should not have anything to do with the burning moral issues of our society. It is to say that religious leaders should first fix the great divide between their preachments and their praxis, that they should realize that they are far from helping the country bind its wounds and deal with its woes when they speak the language of reductionism and impracticality in relation to the pressing issues of our day.

Cruz, Dozado, et al. advise their parishioners to either just abstain from sex or go by the Rhythm Method. I dare say Catholic men/fathers should instead include No-Scalpel Vasectomy (NSV) in their family planning.

Related post: “No-Scalpel Vasectomy”

]]> http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/denying-communion-to-pro-abortion-lawmakers/feed/ popoy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/cordillera-day-remembering-ka-ambo/ http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/cordillera-day-remembering-ka-ambo/#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:24:03 +0000 scott saboy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/?p=752

Related Post: “Cordillera Day”

Cordi Day – April 24 or July 15? The Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) takes the first date, the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA) prefers the second. The former hoists Macli-ing Dulag’s icon, the latter flashes Conrado Balweg’s.

***

Who was Balweg? Let me try to answer the question from four perspectives:

Chadli Molintas Command & His Former Comrades in the New People’s Army (NPA): He was a traitor to the Revolutionary Cause, he had become corrupt, he deserved the death of a criminal.

His Former Allies in the Cordillera Bodong Administration (CBA) and the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA): He started out right, but ended up being co-opted by the System; he started out as a true Revolutionary and Reformist, but ended up becoming the typical Politician and the despicable Treasure Hunter he once despised.

His Supporters in the CBA/CPLA/AFP Integrees: He was fallible as everyone is, circumscribed by his time as most are. He still remains an icon of the Cordillera’s fight for justice and development.

His Other Friends: He was a real father figure who cared for his men as he would his children, a selfless leader who strove to identify himself with the plight of his comrades.

***

A wee boy in the last half of the ’80s, I was one of those whose dreams were colored by this fellow Ibvyanao whose exploits were romanticized by the 1987 film, “Balweg: The Rebel Priest.” He was our Robin Hood and William Tell. I was then the proudest of all the young boys in our hometown of Tabuk when I sat on Ka Ambo’s lap in a Philippine Information Agency (PIA-Kalinga) car on our way to the provincial military HQ, Camp Juan M. Duyan, from the Radyo ng Bayan station. I was part of the small group of well-wishers who anxiously watched while two Huey helicopters whisked him and his bodyguards away to, presumably, Baguio City and wondered whether there was something ominous in the second helicopter’s near crash when its rotor whacked the tip of a tree branch upon take off.

Camp Juan M. Duyan, Tabuk - AUS photo

Before that, I was part of the nervous throng in the St. Williams Academy gymnasium of Tabuk during the initial negotiations between Ka Ambo and government representatives. I gawked at the gaunt-looking but evidently fiercely determined CPLA troops whose queer-looking weapons included “frankenstein” automatics designed with metallic and wooden materials. They were as armed to the teeth and as alert as the military troops sent to secure the area. Somehow, seeing my father at the negotiation table with Angelo Daguio and Rene Quijano of DZRK behind him assured me that all would be well.

Ka Ambo, St. Williams Academy (now St. Louis College) gymnasium, Tabuk

When we moved to Baguio in 1988, I frequented the “Cordillera House” atop Wright Park just to espy on the black-clad and fully armed “Sipla” (CPLA troops) and to get a glimpse of “Father Balweg.” I was only able to see him a few times for he seemed to be always on the move in his white “Turtletop.” My father eventually joined Balweg’s CBA but, together with Atty. Joel Obar, Mailed Molina and James Sawattang, broke away from Ambo’s leadership some years later. I would still see many Sipla in our house and elsewhere even after that — without their freshly tailored black uniforms, good-looking combat shoes, and fresh supply of toothbrushes.

Among the issues and controversies Balweg found himself in was his alleged treasure hunting ventures which his critics said did not even spare the late Dictator’s bust along Marcos Highway, his suspected “ghost projects,” and his being implicated in the murder of his tribesmate, Banao pangat (tribal elder) and military reservist Col. Manuel Banggawan.

13 years after breaking away from the CPP-NPA, Balweg would be assassinated on 31 December 1999 in Malibcong, Abra by his former comrades led by his brother Jovencio (Ka Rudy) for a long list of “crimes against the people.”

***

Was Balweg a figure worthy of emulation or one worthy of condemnation? Was he a true fighter for the people, or a dyed-in-the-wool pretender whose personal ambitions overshadowed the greater cause which he was supposed to live and die for?

Whatever ideological leanings or personal background informs your opinion of the late “Rebel Priest” Conrado “Ka Ambo” Balweg, I suppose you can’t deny that he was once a force to reckon with, a potential unitive and punitive instrument against the ills we Igorots have commonly faced, like marginalization and intramural discord.

Thinking of Balweg on this 21st anniversary of Cordillera Day makes me consider how much about his life tells us about ourselves, how his failures and achievements are reflective of our (i.e., Cordillerans’) struggles as a people.

I suggest we continue to reflect on who he was and what he stood for. In this respect, it doesn’t really matter much whether we belong to the Right, Right of Center, Center, Left of Center, or Left. What really matters is how far our maturity can go as we attempt to examine and reflect upon the life of a friend and hero minus his/her halo, wings and whitewashed robe — or of a foe without his horns, trident and blazing cloak.

Talna ken Kappia!

“]

ca August 1986. Interview with Rebel Priest Fr. Conrado Balweg in the house of the Ganggangans in Sadanga, Mt. Province by Augustus Ulat Saboy, then Station Manager of Radyo Ng Bayan Kalinga (DZRK), before the Mt. Data Sipat on 13 September 1992. This was Balweg's first and last interview with the government radio station before he surrendered to the government. With Saboy was Architect Guido Kub-ao of DPWH Kalinga Engineering District.

The man who follows the crowd will get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.

Creativity in living is not without its attendant difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt. And the unfortunate thing about being ahead of your time is when people finally realize you were right, they’ll say it was obvious all along.

You have two choices in life: You can dissolve into the mainstream, or you can be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must strive to be what no one else but you can be.

- Alan Ashley-Pitt, quoted in Danny Cox & John Hoover, Seize the Day: 7 Steps to Achieving the Extraordinary in an Ordinary World (Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press, 2002), p. 95.

This guy is not to be confused with the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger of the same name. The West African state of Burkina Faso is west of Niger.

FROM THE OFFICE OF MR.HAMA AMADOU.
THE CHIEF AUDITOR INCHARGE,
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB).
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO.
WEST AFRICA.

Dear Partner,

I presumed that all is well with you and your family. Please let this do not be a surprise proposal to you because i got your contact information from the international directory in few weeks ago before i decided to contact you on this magnitude and lucrative transaction for our future survival in life. Moreover, i have laid all the solemn trust in you before i decided to disclose this successful & confidential transaction to you.

I, MR.HAMA AMADOU, THE CHIEF AUDITOR INCHARGE OF FOREIGN REMITTANCE UNIT of our bank and i have had the intent to contact you over this financial transaction worth the sum of NINETEEN MILLION, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($19,300,000.00 ) for our success. This is an abandoned sum that belongs to one of our bank foreign customers who died along with his entire family through plane crash disaster since few years ago. Meanwhile i was very fortune to came across the deceased file when i was arranging the old and abandoned customers files in other to sign and submit to the entire bank management for an official re-documentation and audit of the year against 2008.

Be informed clearly that it was stated in our banking rules and regulations which was signed lawfully that if such fund remains unclaimed till the period of 5 years started from the date when the beneficiary died, the money will be transferred into the treasury as an unclaimed fund. As an honor and advantage bestowed to our foreign customers base on the rules guiding our bank, it was stated obviously that if you are not a Burkina Faso citizen, you have the absolute authority to claim the fund hence you are a foreigner despite your differences from the country of origin of the deceased. So the request of you as a foreigner is necessary to apply for the claim and transfer of the fund smoothly into your reliable bank account as the NEXT OF KIN OR EXTENDED RELATIVE to the deceased.

On the transfer of this fund into your account, { 39% }being ( US$7,527,000.00) will be your share in respect of the account provision and your assistance rendered during the transfer of the fund into your bank account,{ 52% } being (US$10,036,000.00) will be my share being the coordinator of the transaction while the rest { 9% } being (US$1,737,000.00) will be shared to the respectable Organizations Centers such as Charity Organization, Motherless Babies homes, and helpless disabled people in the World.

If you are really sure of your trustworthy, accountability and confidentiality on his transaction, contact me and agree that you will not change your mind to cheat or disappoint me when the fund have getting into your account. Besides you should not entertain any fear because i am sure of the success as an insider in the bank ok. Please reply with the assurance, include your private telephone and fax numbers necessary for facilitate an easy communication in this transaction. As soon as you reply, so that i will let you know the next step to follow in order to finalize this transaction immediately. I expect your urgent communication
(FILL THIS FORM BELLOW PLEASE AND RESEND IT TO ME).

1) Your Full Name:-……………………………………

2) Your Age:-…………………………………………….

3) Marital Status:-………………………………………

4) Your Cell Phone Number:-…………………………

5) Your Fax Number:-………………………………

6) Your Country:-…………………………………

7) Your Occupation:-……………………………………

8  Sex:-………………………………………………..

9) Your Religion:-……………………………………….

10) Your Private E-mail Adress:………………………..

Yours sincerely,
MR. HAMA. AMADOU.

04 July 1946. The Philippines gains its political independence from the USA. Some Filipino historians regard this date as the “real” Independence Day and the 12 June 1898 declaration of independence as “fictional” (read Bobby Reyes‘ online article @ bibingka.com).

03 July 1892. Tondo, Manila. Jose Rizal establishes the “La Liga Filipina,” a nationalistic civic organization that sought, among others, to solidify efforts at seeking redress for injustices committed by Spain against Filipinos. Elected president of the society was Ambrosio Salvador. The founding of the Liga led to Rizal’s arrest by the guardia civil and to his subsequent exile to Dapitan.

So Source/Recommended Reading: Francisco M. Zulueta & Abriel M. Nebres, Philippine History and Government Through the Years (Mandaluyong City, Manila: National Book Store, 2003), p. 91. Online article here.

]]> http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/07/03/la-liga-filipina/feed/ popoy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/when-no-fear-meets-danger/ http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/when-no-fear-meets-danger/#comments Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:40:18 +0000 scott saboy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/?p=709

When “No Fear” meets “Danger” in a brawl, the latter does not stand a chance.

Take that from “No Fear” poster (29-year old) boy Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao who beautifully outclassed “Dangerous” David Diaz in yesterday’s gory duel over the WBC Lightweight crown making our “Pac Man” the first Asian to win four world titles in four weight divisions — Flyweight, Junior Featherweight, Super Featherweight, and Lightweight. [see Kevin Iole's blow-by-blow account here]

This TKO win of our “National Fist” all the more justifies the plan to make him the first Filipino athlete to appear on a postage stamp. This WBC Champ Emeritus continues to serve as a beacon of inspiration to every Filipino and his light will doubtless persist long after he had hung up his gloves. When one learns that a brief lull in the war between government and Communist or Islamic forces transpires when Manny fights, that even criminals in General Santos City take a day off from their nefarious deeds as Manny takes on a foe, that politicians of various hues forget for a moment all their bickerings as Manny hoists the flag in the boxing arena, that victims of calamity brush off for a moment their tears to cheer on as Manny slugs it out in the ring — one wonders how many more Manny Pacquiaos should our country produce so that we will continually be at peace with our neighbors, really work together for the country’s good, and keep on keepin’ on despite the odds we face.

***

We must give David Diaz a standing ovation as well for his lion-heartedness in the ring, magnanimity in defeat, and his unassuming personality. He is one of the few boxers I know who has not allowed his belt to sink into and eat up his brain. Salud!

***

Don’t forget the other winners in this bout — Bob Arum, Chavit Singson, Revicon, Alaxan, Ginebra San Miguel, Matador Brandy, Smart, etc. etc.

For every power punch Pacquiao unleashes, the sales of advertisers spring up. Talagang ganyan ang buhay hehe…

25 June 1865. This date marks the establishment of the “China Inland Mission” by Hudson Taylor. Along with the Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci who preceded him for over two centuries, this Protestant missionary serves as a paragon of a contextualized missionary venture. Both preachers lived the culture of their target community in an effort to effectively communicate a Western-bred theology to an Eastern audience.

So hayskuuul !!!

This is the newest expression I learned from the freshies in one of my Communication 1 classes. And it seemed to have delighted some of them that an oldie like me (actually, only about 15 years separate me from my students) could catch on pretty quick by mimicking their expression twice or thrice in our 90-minute class, especially when I asked them to exchange papers during their SVA diagnostic test.

My students’ transition from high school to college somehow parallels my career transition from tutoring high school-level English learners at a Korean school to university teaching once again. I originally intended to teach a year more in the ESL school of my boss-friend Sin Hung Ju, but this rare opportunity to advance my professional development by teaching at a constituent university of the country’s premiere educational institution is just too rare and great a challenge to wave off. UP Baguio for me offers an ideal environment for personal growth, intellectual exercise, academic training, and community service.

Hopefully, my teaching competence won’t be rated as “so hayskul.”

]]> http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/so-hayskuuul/feed/ popoy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/a-bargain/ http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/a-bargain/#comments Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:48:59 +0000 scott saboy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/?p=679

Two men planned to distil wine together. One of them said, ‘You provide the rice and I’ll supply the water.’ The other man said, ‘If all the rice comes from me, how should we divide the distilled wine?’ The first man: ‘There will definitely be no cheating. When the wine is ready I only want the water back. The rest goes to you.’ 32

- Ding Cong. Wit and Humor from Ancient China: 100 Cartoons by Ding Cong. Bilingual Edition. Translated by Ma Mingtong. Beijing: New World Press, 2000.

I think that I shall never see

A poem as concrete as a tree.

A tree whose mangled mouth is set

Against iron bars and cement;

A tree that can’t see God all day,

And too petrified to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of soot and smog in her plastic hair;

Upon whose bosom Christmas lights lay;

Who can’t be intimate with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only politicians make concrete trees.

I would be most grieved if our ax-wielding mayor and his coterie of lumberjacks will make good of their promise to lay waste to one of the country’s architectural wonders that has graced the crown of Session Road for over a decade now.

For where else would I pick precious petrified pine nuggets of wisdom when that new species of the genus Pinus is gone? Already, that million-peso repository of meaning has made my cup of reflection run over and more.

For one, that tree somehow connects us to the grandeur of Rome itself. How so? Well, it can remind one of the twin Stone Pines shading one of the Eternal City’s streets and of that great bronze pine cone at the heart of Vatican. If you accept the connection, then I’d say we’d better show we got a good taste of the Classical by matching the decor on the crown with another at the foot of dear old Session Road with the creation of a replica of the Pantheon at People’s Park. This structure will be a grand place where all our City Fathers and the vanishing species of flora and fauna of the Cordilleras can find themselves glorified in finely sculpted stones or world-class concrete figures.

We’d better heed the appeal of that Pine tree — “Plant Me and Protect Me” — for it is a good reminder for people, especially those in power, to make it their life mission to erect monuments for themselves before Mr. Rigor Mortis catches up on them. There should be no problem with this, for we have long accepted this drive behind many government projects. For instance, we have long tolerated the practice of contorting sections of public schools and waiting sheds to form the initials of our politicos, term after term. I reckon that were we to mark all these waiting sheds and schools from Batanes to Jolo, we could complete the 26 letters of the alphabet several times over.

So I suppose our concrete pine tree is a fine testimony to our tendency to exalt the lord more than the laborer, the general more than the footsoldier, the speaker more than the speechwriter. That is why we set in metal plates the names of those who hold the purse and the scepter, instead of the names of those who have sweated it out in putting up the structure with their shovels, plumb bobs, scrapers and brushes.

I have also come to believe that the controversial tree can be a fitting symbol of the New Baguio: a city enveloped in odious car fumes instead of fog and pine scent; a place where the natural and native are being replaced by or superimposed with something artificial and imported; a commercial area where some have become insensitive to the commodification of our indigenous culture exemplified by our cute, toothless grannies at Botanical Garden posing before a tourist’s camera in exchange for a few pesos, or a Bonus sash slung over a native dancer’s garb during a Panagbenga parade.

There should be no surprise in this, for we live in a Jolli-Mcworld world where fast-paced profits blur our sense of rootedness, a world of Botox and Restylane that entwines beauty and superficiality, or mistakes the former for the latter. Just as the blessed statue behind our concrete pine tree may not really be a symbol of a vibrant faith but of a moribund spirituality, that tree can be a fitting illustration of our artificial sense of beauty.

On the other hand, I guess it is equally true that our blessed tree exteriorizes our longing for the Old Baguio captured in the image of the old Dainty where Sid Chammag, Gus Saboy, Ben Andaya, Ben Rillera, and a host of other merry newsmen used to sip a cup of coffee for hours and chat the day and night away leaving old Akong wondering if he will ever make a huge profit out of his business. Or in the image of the old John Hay which has now become less accessible and so forbidding with all the millionaires’ abodes dotting its landscape that can make the ordinary yBaguio realize his lack of fortune all the more. In other words, the tree urges us to answer a basic existential question for Baguio folks: Have we left Baguio, or has Baguio left us?

We preserve the memory of an irretrievable past with pens, brushes, and perhaps an ancient SLR camera just as hunters preserve a glorious past by petrifying animals not so unlike those African beasts staring at diners of Safari Lodge. It is thus wise that we preserve the memory of a once pine-clad area with a concrete pine tree.

At least, when all our Pine trees shall have gone to kingdom come, thanks to our real estate developers, our children could still gather around that mighty concrete tree to connect with a vanished heritage. So let me suggest that instead of axing that tree down, we should plant concrete and plastic sunflowers around it to make it more glorious. And to top it all, our architects, engineers and artists may also be egged on to come up with a masterpiece of sayote vines entwining the trunk of the tree and sayote fruits that glow in the dark at Christmas.

And that very idea is very inspiring to me. For I am now thinking of suggesting to our smart mayor in far away Balbalan to also make a cemented replica of the Balasang tree in our sleepy village of Balbalasang in anticipation of the extinction of this species of hardwood. Monuments of our vanishing alingo and ugsa would also look nice around that tree. Oh, by the way, it may interest you that Tabuk City had long anticipated the possible disappearance of its farmlands and the demise of the last carabao by preserving that old white carabao monument in the junction fronting the St. Williams’ Cathedral.

So you see, axing that tree means wasting all the petrified (pine cone) nuggets of insights hanging from that oft-criticized architectural wonder. But alas, even cries for “Mercy” won’t seem to change the mind of He-Who-Wields-The-Ax. And so I grieve.

But already, I can hear something in that tree crying “FREEDOOOM!” most deafeningly ala Braveheart. So I’m getting ready to say most solemnly to this great marker: Requiescat in Pace.

]]> http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/21/requiem-for-a-pine-tree/feed/ popoy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/the-political-undertones-of-the-syrian-underwear/ http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/the-political-undertones-of-the-syrian-underwear/#comments Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:03:39 +0000 scott saboy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/?p=657

Feminist writer Elizabeth Shlala Leo wrote,

Patriarchy is an inherently unbalanced and unstable organizational system in which overriding social norms postulate that men are superior to women. Therefore, men hold overt power over women through the process of social construction as evident in the depiction of sexuality, the assignment of gender roles, and the social hierarchy that exists in every facet of social relations. (2005, 131)

What Leo says about patriarchy can be partly illustrated in Lydia Wilson’s article (2007) on the many-splendored Syrian lingerie. At first, it may seem to be just a human interest report on an Arabic fashion flavor but, upon further analysis, it actually depicts some facets of one site of political contestation – that of female sexuality as constructed within or by a phallocratic regime.

In this political regime, women are fetishized; they are providers of sexual pleasures to the undisputed penetrator “who becomes the sole sexual active” (Dialmy 2006, 18 f.). As objects of sexual pleasure, they are thus expected to have a stock of 30 different wedding night lingeries some of which are perhaps “festooned with blinking lights, or play soundbites from Egyptian pop songs or standards such as ‘Old MacDonald had a Farm’” or designed for a lambada dance their refusal of which would be a sufficient ground for their husbands to divorce them (Wilson 2007; Halasa 2006, 27).

Islam supposedly enjoins the mutual maximum enjoyment of sexual pleasure between couples (Bullough 2003, 94), but this belief is hard to reconcile with the prevailing notion among many Arab males that women are to be sexually passive, as expressed in the proverb, “She moves, she is divorced,” which means “that if the wife were to move during intercourse, she would be divorced, because her movement would indicate the presence of desire and pleasure, something that does not become a respectable wife” (Dialmy 2006, 21). This tenet forms part of a social control which, in the words of Pepper Schwartz and Virginia Rutter, “turns pleasure into a scarce resource and endows leaders who regulate the pleasures of others with power” (2001, 463). And this power is not only confined to this earthly plane, for even in Paradise the wide-eyed houris will be there to fulfill the carnal desires of the worthy mujahideen (Sura 56:22).

It is one thing to say, however, that the Islamic woman is sexually passive and quite another to assume that the Islamic woman is a passive participant in this construction of sexuality. For as can be surmised from the working together of conservative Syrian families to produce the racy lingeries, women themselves are conscious participants, active players in this fetishization (Leo 2005, 134). This is part of a societal tradition that ensures the perpetuation of patriarchy.

Patriarchy continues to reign partly (or largely?) because Islamic apologetes have taken great pains to explain away through various media forms the socio-political conditions evidencing a regime of phallocracy in most Muslim countries. The confinement of wives to the domestic space, for example, is justified by the argument that this condition is actually a way of freeing them from “double taxation” (i.e., being made to juggle between housework or child-rearing and office work) which women in the West have suffered (Abul ‘Ala 1960, 165). That Islam is egalitarian is also argued based on the “revolutionary” Qur’anic teaching of men and women as having been created “from the same soul…which gives women full humanity with men” (Leo 2005, 132). The Islamic male’s privilege of having multiple sexual partners is predicated upon the “natural” constitution of things which dictates that it is “unnatural” for women “to be married to more than one man at a time” (Borek 1999, 4), or the potentially destructive male sexual urge which needs “fragmentation… so that man does not become a dependent sexual passive to anyone” (Dialmy 2005, 19), or upon issues of paternity (Borek, 1999, 4). Finally, veiling is seen as “a tool for resistance to the globalization of dress and of individual, liberal sexual values it symbolizes” (Dialmy 2005, 17).

There have been pied voices of dissent from Arab women, however. Pied, for these voices issue from various camps that either work within the all-encompassing framework of Islam, outside of it, or both (Treacher 2003). At any rate, all these voices chorus the demand for women empowerment in Arab societies. They sing against the non-egalitarian provisions in the Qur’an itself, like the command for men to beat their wives– “lightly,” that is, add Muslim scholars Al Hilali & Khan (1993, 127) – for disobedience (Sura 4:34). They also cry out against the documented sexual abuses committed by men against women and against highly gender-insensitive cross-regional Islamic laws like one which allows the exoneration of a rapist when he marries his victim (WINN 1999, 46). The advocacy for women empowerment has made some headway in Syria which signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2003, and where there is an increasing female presence in government and governance as exemplified by the rise of Dr. Najah Al-Attar to the position of “2^nd Vice President for Cultural Affairs” in 2006 (CRTD.A, 2006; UNDP-POGAR 2007).

Nevertheless, all these advances made in the name of feminism are still to effect a massive shakeup in the male-dominated Arab world. As Amal Treacher well observed, “It has to be acknowledged that the Middle East remains a seat of contested but powerfully felt patriarchy” (2003, 67).

A word of caution must be made though regarding the danger of essentializing the Arab world especially in the area of moral conservatism. For as AbuKhalil argued, such conservatism may actually be the legacy of Western theology, particularly (puritanical) Protestantism (1997, 1). He also warns against the Orientalizing tendency of Western critics in their painting of Islam as constituting “a closed, inflexible doctrine, or that all world Muslims form some monolithic bloc” (ibid., 3). Indeed, in this era of globalization and postmodernity diversity of thought and practice has infiltrated even the most secure fortresses of religio-political systems. There is danger too in ascribing a distinctive Arabic mode of fetishizing women when in fact such mode may commonly be found in the discourses on sexuality in the West.

But if there is one thing certain that can be gleaned from Lydia Wilson’s article, it is the fact that a hoarse phallocentric political tune chimes in with the soundbytes embedded in Syrian lingeries.

REFERENCES:

Books

Schwartz, Pepper and Virginia Rutter. 2001. “The Gender of Sexuality.” Margaret L. Andersen & Patricia Hill Collins, eds.. Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology, 4^th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Abul ‘Ala-Maududi, Sayyid. 1960. Towards Understanding Islam. Riyadh, SA: The Cooperative Office for Call and Guidance at Al-Badiah-Communities Section.

Al-Hilâlî, Taqî-ud Dîn & Khan, Muhammad Muhsin, trans. 1993. Interpretation of the Meanings of The Noble Qur’an in the English Language. Riyadh, SA: Maktaba Dar-Us-Salam.

Journals

AbuKhalil, Asad. 1997. “Gender Boundaries and Sexual Categories in the Arab World. Feminist Issues, 15 (Spring): 1-14.

Treacher, Amal. 2003. “Reading the Other: Women, Feminism, and Islam.” Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 4(January):59-71.

Bullough, Vern L. 2003. Review of Sexuality in Islam by Abdelwahab Bouhdiba. Sexuality and Culture. 7 (Winter): 93-95.

Dialmy, Abdessamad. 2005. “Sexuality in Contemporary Arab Society.” Social Analysis. 49 (Summer):16-33.

Leo, Elizabeth Shlala. 2005. “Islamic Female Sexuality and Gender in Modern Feminist Interpretation.” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. 16 (April): 129-140.

Periodicals

Halasa, Malou. 2006. “What Lies Beneath.” New Statesman. (05 June).

Wilson, Lydia. 2007. “Undercover in Damascus.” Time (29 January).

Women’s International Network News. 1999. “Syria: Abuse of Women Sanctioned by Tradition and Government.” WINN (Summer).

Internet

UNDP-POGAR Gender and Citizenship Initiative. 2007. “Syria: Women in Public Life.” http://gender.pogar.org/countries/country.asp?cid=19. Accessed, 20 March 2008.

]]> http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/the-political-undertones-of-the-syrian-underwear/feed/ popoy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/the-rights-of-children/ http://magkachi.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/the-rights-of-children/#comments Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:15:34 +0000 scott saboy http://magkachi.wordpress.com/?p=653

Children have basic inalienable rights – to be fed, clothed, sheltered, and protected. But along with these physical rights, they have the right to be nurtured emotionally, to have their feelings respected, and to be treated in ways that allow them to develop a sense of self-worth.

Children also have the right to be guided by appropriate parental limits on their behavior, to make mistakes, and to be disciplined without being physically or emotionally abused.

Finally, children have a right to be children. They have a right to spend their early years being playful, spontaneous, and irresponsible.

Naturally, as children grow older, loving parents will nourish their maturity by giving them certain responsibilities and household duties, but never at the expense of childhood.

- Dr. Susan Forward, Toxic Parents: Overcoming their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life (New York: Bantam Books, 1989), 50.

Listening to this song and some other related country hits like “Daddy’s Little Girl” (Alabama) was my daily habit when I was a short-term OFW a few years back. Even now, “Love Without End, Amen” continues to touch my sensibility as a father. It doesn’t fail to make me wonder how many times I had brought my dad to tears with my childish antics and my misguided teenager’s zeal, just as it also continues to remind me that in dealing with my own kids I should not forget how it was to be a child.

“Love Without End, Amen”

(sung by George Strait)

I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye.
Fightin’ was against the rules and it didn’t matter why.
When dad got home I told that story just like I’d rehearsed.
And then stood there on those tremblin’ knees and waited for the worst.

And he said, “Let me tell you a secret about a father’s love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us.”
He said, “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then.
It’s a love without end, amen, it’s a love without end, amen.”

When I became a father in the spring of ‘81
There was no doubt that stubborn boy was just like my father’s son.
And when I thought my patience had been tested to the end,
I took my daddy’s secret and I passed it on to him.

And he said, “Let me tell you a secret about a father’s love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us.”
He said, “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then.
It’s a love without end, amen, it’s a love without end, amen.”

Last night I dreamed I died and stood outside those pearly gates.
When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake.
If they know half the things I’ve done, they’ll never let me in.
And then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again.

And he said, “Let me tell you a secret about a father’s love,
A secret that my daddy said was just between us.”
He said, “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then.
It’s a love without end, amen, it’s a love without end, amen.”

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!

Amidst the disappointments and confusions we encounter each day, we need something to inspire us by, to make us more discerning in dealing with existential issues, to make us “keep on keepin’ on.” Here’s one resource you can draw strength and wisdom from: transformationteam.net/. I suggest you start with W. Mitchell’s video (click here) and hear him perfectly and powerfully challenge his viewers/hearers to realize that tragedies in a person’s life can be transformative and can have a happy ending. With his life story, MItchell reminds us about what matters most in life’s vicissitudes: “It’s not what happens to you, but it is what you do about it!” You can download his new e-book, Inspiration, Challenge, Motivation, and Change here. A zillion thanks to Anthony for the link!

Contemporary Literary Theories and Critical Approaches (MLL 210). The title of this grad school course is daunting enough, but not as intimidating as our main text, the two-inch thick (if my not-so-reliable eyesight served me right) Literary Theory: An Anthology by Julie & Michael Ryan Rivkin, perched on our professor’s table. This text and the “auxiliary readings” are the arcane and semi-arcane works we are expected to pore over in the next few months. Which means, at least to me, letting go of my daily habit of attempting (and failing) at contemplation ala Rodin’s Le Penseur, and cutting down on my tutorial workload and blogging time. Otherwise, I’d end up in class as an all-dressed up Le Penseur capable only of cranking up a convoluted answer to the “wrong” question. Or worse, I’d get another INC on my OTR ;> .

Power Thoughts/Expressions from my Quotable Professor:

♦ On class participation: “If the teacher is fated with an inert mass, he will end up being catatonic.”

♦ On absences: “When you intend to be absent from class, do not text me to say you’ll be with me in spirit.”

♦ On the necessity of reading primary texts: “Secondary sources are like ukay-ukay (2nd hand clothes) — accessible but not the real thing.”

♦ On internet research: “Sift through all the stuff that litter the realm.”

♦ Two challenges: Increasing literary repertoire & being cross-disciplinary

♦ On Wellek & Warren’s Theory of Literature: “dense but illuminating”

♦ Watchword: “PROBLEMATIZE!”

Another scam in my mail from someone whose name tolls a boing-boing to 419 spotters

FROM THE DESK OF MR SULEMAN BELLO.
AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING MANAGER.
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK.(ADB)
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO
WEST AFRICA.

RE-REMITTANCE OF $15 MILLION USD

Dear Friend,

I am Mr. Suleman Bello,from Burkina Faso in west Africa.I got your e-mail contacts from computerised datas after my extensive search via the website for a God-fearing and trust-worthy person to bestow this transaction which is the only hope of our survival into his or her hands.When i got your address,I prayed and meditated fervently over it and i commited it into the hands of God that you should be the rightful person to help us out before I made up my decision to contact you.

I am The Manager of Auditing Department of Our Bank, Ouagadougou Burkina Faso.In my department we discovered an abandoned usd$15M( fifteen Million United States Dollars). In an account that belongs to this our foreign customer who died along with his wife and and children in the plane crash.Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applies for it as the next of kin or relation to the deceased, as indicated in our banking guidelines but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him in the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim.It is therefore upon this discovery that I decided to make this business proposals to you and release the money to you as next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it because I don’t want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed Bill.

The banking law and guidelines here stipulates that if such money remains unclaimed after five years, the money will be transferred into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund.The request of foreigner in this transaction is necessary because our late customer was a foreigner and a Burkinabe cannot stand as next of kin to a foreigner,I agree that 30% of this money will be for you as foreigner partner in respect to the provision of a foreign account.10% will be set aside for expenses incurred during the business and 60% would be for me , after which I shall visit your country for disbursement according to the percentages indicated.Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as I have arranged,you will furnished me with a good receiving account details where the money will be transfered,

(a) Full name, country, address and photo (passport/driving license)
(b) Your private telephone and fax numbers —for confidentiality and easy communication.

Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or e-mail a text of the application which you shall retype and fax to our foreign remittance manager,for easy execution of the transaction.

I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is 100% hitch-free on both side. As all required arrangement have been made for the transfer and more so all the documents backing this claim will be supplied to you after you might have applied.Please I would like you you keep this transaction confidential and as a top secret as you may wish to know that I am a senior Bank official.

Trusting to hear from you immediately.

Yours Sincerely,
MR.SULEMAN BELLO.