tropical Christmas

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Maligayang Pasko! Merry Christmas! To my friends and loved ones who I was not able to greet personally, as my gift to you, I am making a one-time donation to UNICEF Philippines to help improve the health of children.

tala

pamamaraan

Paraang Pilipino:

Paraang Vietnamese:

Paraang Pilipino-Vietnamese:

Suportahan natin ang Pandaigdigang Tipan ng U.N. para sa Panlipunang Pananagutan ng Kalakalan (Corporate Social Responsibility o CSR).

bulletin

From Manila Bulletin, Sunday, December 7, 2008:

Kubo, Bato and Beyond:
UP’s centennial architecture tilt
By Voltaire Veneracion

Three factors make architecture truly Filipino: Filipino values, Philippine climate and the use of indigenous materials. – Francisco Mañosa, architect

In time for the centenary of the University of the Philippines (UP), the UP College of Architecture is holding a landmark competition to promote Filipino green architecture.

With the aspirational title, “Ang Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa (The Most Beautiful House on Earth),” the tilt aims to stimulate the imagination of architecture students and licensed architects alike and rediscover- or redefine- beauty in Filipino design.

The 20th century saw the UP landscape evolve into a hotbed of experimentation in architecture and the arts. Among the architects who have been commissioned to design the buildings of its Diliman campus, for example, were Cesar Concio (Engineering and Arts & Sciences buildings, Protestant Chapel), Juan Nakpil (Administration and Main Library buildings), Carlos Arguelles (Faculty Center), and Victor Tiotuyco (International Center).

To perpetuate this tradition of design excellence and experimentation in the new century, competition sponsor Lafarge Cement Services has agreed to build the winning designs beside the UP Post Office for the public to visit and appreciate. The lots are a stone’s throw from the saucer-shaped UP Chapel, a national architectural landmark designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin in the 1950s when he was just a young graduate of the University of Santo Tomas (UST).

For the UP competition, the organizers would like the entries judged on the basis of aesthetic, environmental, and cultural standards. Prof. Nicolo del Castillo, college secretary and the chairperson of the competition, explains: “The title of the competition itself connotes that the contest is Filipino. Lafarge approached us and said they wanted to sponsor a design competition. And we were able to pinpoint an area that’s close to people: the housing issue.”

Del Castillo observes that in a lot of housing developments for the middle class, homes have been patterned after homes in the West that are oftentimes not suitable to our climate and culture. Unfortunately, architects ultimately follow the dictates of clients.

“With this competition,” he says, “architects are free to create and not be influenced by the biases of clients.”

Del Castillo also explained that the entries should be environmentally sustainable and celebrate tropical living.

“The trend now is green, sustainable architecture- isa yun sa mga goals, but we didn’t want to simply buy into this trend. We wanted to incorporate the greenness into a delightful whole. Para hindi lang sasabihin, ‘Uy, ang bahay mo green.’ Instead, people will say, ‘Uy, ang ganda ng bahay mo.’”

Finally, the winning designs should be an expression of Filipino culture, with our inside/outside sensibility. “We are an outdoors-oriented people,” del Castillo says. “We usually entertain outside, so why not consider this and other behaviors in designing our houses?”

In the end, the UP College of Architecture seeks to make “Ang Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa” an opportunity for the profession to develop a deeper set of Filipino architectural principles- new forms that are both climate-responsive and in consonance with local culture.

While emphasizing that participants should not limit their imagination, del Castillo acknowledges the contribution of some architects to the development of this timeless, yet timely, aesthetics.

“(Francisco) Mañosa and (Leandro) Locsin have been advocates of climate-responsive architecture. They are to be credited for our awareness about architecture and climate. Dean Geronimo Manahan was also a strong advocate of that.”

Lafarge Cement Services CEO Samir Cairae says that their company is proud of being part of the project because it provides a meaningful way of promoting sustainable architecture while involving the participation of an important sector in creating greener living environments: architects.

Lafarge Philippines is part of a group of companies with headquarters in France which organized, with the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées (LCPC), an exhibit on concrete in the Grand Palais museum in Paris last November 14 to 16 during the annual "Fête de la Science" (Science Festival).

Locally, Lafarge Philippines seeks to minimize its environmental footprint by using rice husks instead of coal as fuel in some of its plants. Their carbon asset development consultant Alan Silayan, managing director of Carbon Finance Solutions (CaFiS), explains, “One of the major things they’re doing is switching fuels from a fossil-fuel, coal, to a carbon-neutral fuel, rice husk. Coal is a main ingredient or fuel in cement kilns so if you can switch a portion of that to a carbon-neutral fuel, you reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. They’re pilot-testing it in one plant, and now they’re implementing it in another. And they have future plans for that and for energy efficiency.”

The competition that UP and Lafarge are organizing has two categories: for professionals and for students. Teams may also submit entries.

The competition involves the complete architectural design of a climate-responsive, Filipino house using any set of materials to be constructed on a 200-square meter lot. Each competition category will be assigned its own lot. The house should serve the needs of a family of five (5) persons at the most. It may be a starter house that can be adapted to meet the needs of a typical family as it grows and, as children grow up and leave the house, contracts. Finally, the house should cost a maximum of Php 750,000.00, the ceiling for PAG-IBIG’s affordable economic housing loan.

Registration for the competition began last October 27 and continues until December 16, 2008. Submission of entries will be on February 28, 2009. After winners are announced in March 2009 and the prototype houses built, the winning designs of each category are envisioned to dot UP’s campuses for the use of faculty and staff.

Architects and students who are interested to join may call telephone number 433-2280 or visit the website www.upd.edu.ph/~ca or http://geocities.com/pmbbl_2008.



Note: Registration for the competition is extended to January 31, 2009. Thanks to Pearl Farm in Davao for the above photo of Samal tribe-inspired houses and to Asin for the folk song "Bahay Kubo" ("Hut").

water

There are two sports I think all Filipinos should know: arnis and diving.

As an archipelagic state, "a body of water studded by islands," the Philippine territory is comprised mostly of the ocean. It's not enough then to see our islands, one must go underwater to have a deeper appreciation of how our history, food, and culture have been shaped by our relationship with the seas.

Scuba diving with my teachers Chen and Louie Mencias (their blog is here) was a life-changing experience because I didn't expect to see so much color and life beneath the ocean surface: it was an encounter with a secret world that has always existed parallel to my terrestrial one. It came as no surprise when I found out later on that the Philippines has the greatest biodiversity- as well as the one most threatened with extinction- in the world: Galapagos multiplied seven times.

Here I am in Anilao with my lawyer-diving buddies Bebot Cabeguin, Agnes Bailen and Rolly Tulay. After a dive, we're flashing the hand-signal that divers use underwater to say "okay!"

Cast your on-line vote for Tubbataha Reefs National Park or Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park in the New 7 Wonders of the World.

fire

More than anywhere else on earth, these five thousand miles of islands are where beauty and the beast most dramatically coexist, where you can see the most breathtaking scenery and at the same time enjoy, suffer, or derive vicarious pleasure from the risk that something- and who knows what? who knows when?- may happen. -Simon Winchester, "Beauty and the Beast," Condé Nast Traveler (1998)

In 1992, my high school classmate Dean and I went to Pampanga to integrate with farmers who survived the explosion of Pinatubo volcano. Dean was then an economics major in Harvard and I was taking the same course in the University of the Philippines. Dialectical materialism was the order of the day in UP and I wanted my friend to experience that discursive space. It was the volcano of social ferment that we explored then- the force that explodes now and then to radically change society whenever a ruling class loses its moral ascendancy and overstays its welcome. (Its terrible fire by the way is what Rep. Mikey Arroyo, in his bid for Constitutional change, is playing with.)

We didn't go to the volcano itself, but we did see a new landscape, a moonscape, that geology had created: what were once towns and rice fields were covered with gray ash called lahar.

When a Polish friend visited recently I decided to take him on an exploration of Filipino culture as a product of this geological marvel. Like the Philippines, Poland never surrendered its sense of nationhood through centuries of invasions by neighboring states such as Sweden, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Its capital Warsaw was the most bombed city after World War II (our capital Manila was the second). In 1989, a mere three years after we overthrew a dictatorship through People Power, the Poles overthrew the yoke of communist oppression through open elections. We would eat spicy sisig, finely diced cheeks of pig with garlic, onion, and siling labuyo (native chilies). We would step on the balcony in Malacanang Palace where Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos waved to supporters for the last time before being ejected to exile. At the heart of this journey, however, would be a physical volcano: I wanted us to see the crater lake of Pinatubo and swim in the entrance to the center of the earth.

It was a three-hour trek past peaks of compressed gray ash, now covered with young forests. Following the course of an old river, we encountered groups of three or five Aeta children who frolicked in the water. Where did they live? How did they find their way back to their nomadic tribe? Moving forward, we travelled further and further back, to the time when fire conspired with the other elements to create these islands, rich in gold, flora and fauna. Short of breath, knees engorged with blood, and soaking wet from intermittent showers, we were finally rewarded with a vista of luminous green waters that lit Pinatubo's mouth, our faces, and the cloudy sky. Now where was that bottle of Żubrówka? The occasion deserved liquid fire.

Aside from Pinatubo, which in 1991 created the second largest eruption of the 20th century, other volcano must-sees in the Philippines are Taal, the world's smallest active volcano, and fickle and fiery Mayon, still the world's most perfect cone. Volcano aficionados may then complete the circuit by seeing the 49 others- a complete list is here. Thanks to Grace Nono for the song "1996 Bayani Ka!"

performative

Since elementary school, I've believed in degrees of friendship: best friends, close friends, acquaintances. I don't know the category to which my relationships with former colleagues in Collegian belong- there were times when we even got sick of and stopped talking to each other. Today however I feel I am most myself around them. Having written, debated, eaten, and semi-lived with each other for many years, we know each other's core humanity and divinity very well.

Some of us had the chance to have a mini-reunion recently in Mag:Net for the launch of Mads Bajarias' first self-published collection of poetry.

The poetry reading was especially memorable because of the readers' choices and interpretation of Mads' poems: the most daring one suddenly shot cream of mushroom on everyone's faces, giving a totally different dimension to the fellatic/ cunnilingual, one-line poem, "creamish." Like Roland Barthes said- or did not say- the reader replaces the writer: "The death of the writer is the birth of the reader."

Taking my cue from the readers/writers before me, I interpreted two poems. The first, "the future is shaped like a pinata," is about the most universal form of the triangle:

My girlfriend
Says
That I'd probably die
With the sound
Of your name on my lips

That I'm obsessed
With you. This is what she tells me...

The second poem, "watching you fast asleep," is about a less pointed triangle:

This is how happiness happens:
next to your sleeping form I am a crumpled stone...

Both advocates and critics of the paradigm-shifting Reproductive Health Bill that Congress is about to pass would do well to read Mads' poems that brim with honesty. To buy copies of the book, write to madsbajarias@gmail.com. Thanks to Boojie Basilio for the above photo.

pursuit of happiness

A number of friends have asked me how the Philippine economy is doing right now. In response, I like to borrow a brilliant phrase from an official of S&P about how the country is an island of calm amidst the global financial crisis. As my economics professor Solita Monsod has pointed out, the Philippine economic portfolio is diversified and not heavily dependent on any one country. The economy continues to grow, the employment rate is increasing, inflation at 11.2% is manageable, and remittances are projected to increase (the Central Bank's economic indicators are here). For all her well-known faults, President Arroyo has done an excellent job as the national cheerleader by focusing on the economy and keeping business people calm and optimistic. Had laws allowed it, I think that she and future Presidents deserve the higher salary that was proposed a couple of weeks ago, both as a means to avoid corruption and an incentive for well-qualified people to run for the position (Singapore provides a successful model for this, with its Prime Minister now earning five times more than the US President).

During challenging times such as these, I get inspiration from cross-country running. It's both an individual and a team sport, since you draw strength from within yourself and your teammates, sometimes even adversaries against whom you pace yourself. In high school, to keep the team motivated during the run, Coach Ernie liked to say, "Keep running! You don't know who's going to win until someone reaches the finish line." Everyone had to run the same distance and face the same obstacles and therefore had the same chance of winning. Here are lines of a poem that best express the spirit of this sport, an attitude that can be applied to all aspects of one's life:

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

- Walter Wintle, "Thinking"


Thanks to Erik Santos for the song "This is the Moment."

sensei

Araw'y dumampi...
O, kayganda ng araw
Ngayong tag-araw!

- Fermin Salvador (2007)

Here's my first Japanese language sensei or teacher, Tajima Aya, in the secret bonsai garden of my university.

The plants here enjoy perfect weather nearly everyday and cheerfully spread their branches like a rainbow, like many typical deep-rooted trees in the tropics. They are cared for by internationally-renowned master Modesto Manglicmot, Javi's sensei in bonsai.

kapayapaan

Sa paglabas noong nakaraang linggo ng desisyon ng Korte Suprema tungkol sa draft na kasunduan ng gobyerno at MILF, maraming nagtatanong kung paano muling maisususulong ang prosesong pangkapayapaan sa Mindanao. Mahalaga ito para sa patuloy na pag-unlad ng ekonomiya at pagkamit ng seguridad, lalo na ng 2 milyong taong nawalan ng tirahan dahil sa labanan.

Isa sa mga bansang maaari nating tingnan bilang modelo ang Indonesia, na natamo ang kapayapaan sa teritoryong Aceh pagkatapos ng 29 na taong pakikibaka ng Kilusang Pangkalayaan ng Aceh (GAM). Tulad sa Mindanao, sinasabing nagmula ang tunggaliang Aceh sa kasaysayan, relihiyon, at di makatarungang alokasyon ng mga likas na yaman.

Nabigyang solusyon ang kapayapaan sa Aceh sa tulong ng Crisis Management Initiative, sa pamumuno ni Marti Ahtisaari, dating Pangulo ng Finland na siyang ginawaran ng Gantimpalang Nobel para sa Kapayapaan ngayong taon.

Nasa larawan sa itaas ang aking unang kaibigang Fino na si Ville Niinistö sa Hardin ng Ganap na Kaningningan sa Tsina, bago siya nahalal na Miyembro ng Batasang-Bayan ng Finland.

  

Salamat kina Tiina Kaaresvirta at Petri Korpela sa kantang "Tulen Synty Loitsu."

tweethearts

The Philippines is so connected now, it's easy to forget the time when most people didn't have cellphones or email accounts. I myself got my first email account at the National Computer Center near the UP Sundial only in college: the software didn't produce any graphics, messages had a white angular font on a black background.

Back then, it was exotic news when a Collegian editor found a girlfriend or husband on-line. The romantic narrative, I thought, went something like this: two people meet face-to-face, they decide to have a long-distance relationship, they email each other and live happily ever after. Technology, however, has turned this narrative on its head: see this story of a marriage proposal on Twitter.

What's my Twitter love story?

Not much, LOL. A couple of weeks ago, I was reading the tweets of randomly chosen people. It's amazing how you can find out a lot about people from messages of 140 characters or less: the food they like, their interests, whether they're serious or witty. As news of the credit crunch spread like a wave each day, I slowly felt drawn to someone who lived in the other city by the bay. One tweet at a time, I remembered my friends and loved ones in the US and around the world: it's my hope that you will survive and rise above the challenges of these times. The end.

Here's a picture I took of street signs in San Francisco with the names of Filipino heroes Lapu-Lapu and Rizal.

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Thanks to Tony Bennett and Lee-Hom Wang for "If I Ruled the World," a song that expresses a vision of simplicity and joy that, I believe, is shared by many Filipinos.

integration

It's an exciting time for our doctors- as well as accountants and dentists- since Southeast Asian ministers recently signed agreements allowing them to practice in the entire ASEAN region.

The borders of nation-states in the ASEAN mainly follow those delineated by former colonial powers, despite the many similarities in our cultures. In pre-colonial times, the Kingdom of Namayan, with its royal capital in Sapa (later renamed Santa Ana, Manila), had ties of blood and marriage to the Madjapahit Empire. Had colonization not intervened, the development of nation-states in the region might have turned out differently. Today, ASEAN is a market of about 550 million people with a gross regional product of US$1.1 trillion and total trade of US$1.6 trillion.

Here are our future doctors viewed from inside the ribcage of a skeleton during a recent anatomy exam in the U.P. College of Medicine. I took this in the course of doing research for the biography of Dr. George Eufemio, president of Philippine Cancer Society. U.P. is known for producing world-class physicians. Later on, the Philippines might sign similar agreements with countries in other regions, like the E.U., but it's only prudent that we begin with neighbors which have a history, culture and economy similar to ours.

pop-up

Here's a picture of a movable book that Big Dipper's paper engineers are developing for the U.P. College of Medicine Class of 1960. 

It would feature turn-up and lift-up mechanisms inspired by the anatomical movable of Andreas Vesalius' De humani corporis fabrica librorumepitome that was printed in Basel in 1543. The latter book features a movable illustration of the human anatomy, shown in seven superimposed layers.

The first movable books actually predate the printing press. The earliest known examples of these interactive mechanisms are by Ramon Llull (c.1235 to 1315) of Majorca, a Catalán mystic and poet. His works contain revolving discs or volvelles, which he used to illustrate his philosophical search for truth. 

U.P.C.M. 1960 is the legendary class of Senator Juan Flavier, one of the three most prominent and influential classes from that school in the 20th century. Another class in this trinity, Class of 1956, undertook one of the three restorations of Botong Francisco's murals in the Philippine General Hospital lobby (the most recent restoration cost P1.73 million): the members engaged our services two years ago for the production of their Golden Jubilee book, featuring pictures of their alma mater by internationally-acclaimed photographer Lester Ledesma, as well as several videos. 

I anticipate that one more class from U.P.C.M. will emerge with the drive, ambition, and wealth to commission a book that would match the level of their predecessors' fantasy and control. I already have the design of the third book in this opulent, medical trilogy in my mind.

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Expand your understanding of books by attending "Words Without Borders," the 29th Manila International Book Fair in SMX. Thank you to the immortal Florante for the song "Handog" (Offering).

katanungan

Nabalitaan kong nanalo ang U.P. Pep Squad sa U.A.A.P.- nakakatuwa dahil nadaanan ko itong naghihinsayo noong nakaraang linggo at umaasa akong magiging tanyag ang aking alma mater, di lamang sa talino at pakikipagkawanggawa ng kanyang mga mag-aaral, ngunit pati na rin sa kahusayan sa palaro.

Isa pang nadaanan ko sa U.P. ang Pangsentenaryong Lektura ni Washington Sycip, na ama ng aking tagapatnubay na si Vicky Herrera. Nakilala ko si G. Sycip noong tag-araw ng 1995 sa bahay ni Vicky sa Tagaytay. Katatanggap ko pa lang sa Kolehiyo ng Batas, at nag-iisip na ang pamilya ni Vicky kung saang paaralan ng batas magandang pumasok ang kanyang kambal, sina Mina at Amor. 

Noong hapunan, katabi ko ang kanyang biyenang si Mahistradong Melencio-Herrera, na nagtanong, "Bilang abogado, ipagtatanggol mo ba ang taong alam mong may sala?" 

Dahil di pa ako kumukuha ng Etika Legal, aking sinagot, "Hindi po, dahil 'di ko matutupad nang maayos ang aking trabaho bilang abogado sa ganoong sitwasyon."

Pagkatapos naming kumain, pumasok naman sa bahay si G. Sycip na nakipagkamay at nagpakilala bilang "Wash." Mayroon rin siyang katanungan para sa akin, "Aling paaralan ang mas magaling, ang A.I.M. o ang U.P. College of Business Administration?"

Dahil di ko naman alam na siya pala ang nagtatag ng A.I.M., walang pagaatubili kong sinagot, "Ang U.P. po."

Napansin ko na mas mahilig magtanong ang kagila-gilalas na pamilyang ito- si M. Herrera ay apo ni Pangulong Aguinaldo- kaysa magbigay ng kasagutan. Kung kaya't di ako nagulat sa pamagat ng lektura ni G. Sycip, "Mga Katanungan para sa U.P." Maraming praktikal na payo si G. Sycip na tila nagmumula sa sentido kumon, subalit bilang paggalang sa mga taga-U.P., di niya tuwirang sinabi ang mga ito.

Ito ang aking "pagsasalin" ng mga katanungan ni G. Sycip sa anyong deklaratibo:

• May responsibilidad ang Pamantasan ng Pilipinas o U.P. sa kondisyon ng bayan, dahil dito nagtatapos ang maraming pinuno ng pamahalaan at lipunan. (Sinabi niya ito at ang susunod na mga pananaw bilang isang taong nagbabayad ng buwis na sumusuporta sa mga Iskolar ng Bayan at U.P.)
• Ang mga problema natin sa edukasyon ay di dahil sa isang administrasyon lamang, bagkus ito ay dahil sa naiipon na kapabayaan ng maraming administrasyon.
• Upang maging matiwasay ang bawa't bahagi ng bansa, mahalagang bigyan ng pantay-pantay na pagkakataon ang kabataang makapag-aral.
• Mahalagang humingi ng donasyon ang U.P. mula sa mayayamang mga alumni. Kung kaya ng mga magulang, mas magandang bayaran nila ng buo ang tuwisyon ng kanilang anak. Bilang bansa, mas kailangang bigyan ng pondo ang elementaryang edukasyon.
• Kailangang pag-aralan ng U.P. kung paano nawakasan ng ilang modelong bansang Asyano- tulad ng Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea o Malaysia- ang kahirapan.
• Para sa hinaharap ng diplomasya at kalakalan, kailangan ring pagtuunan ng pansin ang mga wika at kultura ng Asya at Gitnang Silangan.
• Mahalagang paghiwalayin ang pamamahala at mga relihiyon, tulad halimbawa sa isyu ng kontraseptibo. Makakatulong dito ang pagkakaroon ng edukadong mga mamamayan.
• Pagbayarin ang pagpaparada ng mga kotse.
• Magkaroon ng matagalang plano sa pag-unlad.
• Bigyang pokus ang turismo o hospitalidad at agrikultura.
• Ipaalam sa alumni na ang ating donasyon sa U.P. ay maaaring ibawas sa kabuuang buwis.
• Magkaroon ng "think tank" na tutulong sa pambansang pagpaplano ng susunod na 25 hanggang 50 na taon.
• Pag-aralan ang modelo ng Ireland, na isa ring Katolikong bansang dumaan sa kahirapan at kaguluhang panrelihiyon, ngunit ngayo'y may per capita income na mas mataas pa sa United Kingdom. 

Sa kabuuan, tila minumungkahi ni G. Sycip na palaganapin ng U.P. ang ilang mga prinsipyong Asyano, tulad ng praktikalidad, disiplina at pagtutok sa pambansang interes. Ganitong klase ng kabayanihan ang kailangan ng bansa ngayong panahon ng sentenaryo ng U.P.

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Salamat sa orkestrang FilharmoniKA at kay Noel Cabangon sa bagong pagsasaayos ng "Kanlungan" mula sa album na Kumpas (2008).

isa

Kagandahan ng Pag-iisa

Di nakikita ng matang puno ng imahe ng mundong ito ang mga katangian ng Kabilang Buhay.

Di nasisilayan ng matang puno ng katangian ng Kabilang Buhay ang Kagandahan ng Banal na Pag-iisa.

-Sheikh Ansari (1006-1088)- Kashf al-Asrar

Bukas ang simula ng Ramadan, ang panahon kung kailan ako nagbibigay pasasalamat sa mga kaibigan kong Muslim: ang mga kapwa kong manunulat na sina Samira at Peach; ang kaklase kong si Aquil; at ang kaibigan kong taga-Brunei na si Istiq.

Si Istiq ang nag-imbita sa amin ni Ting na siya namang taga-Malaysia (katabi ko sa larawan) na dalawin ang mosking Niujie ng Beijing: pagkatapos naming hugasan ang aming mga paa, pinayagan kaming makapasok at magdasal sa sari-sarili naming Diyos.

Malamang ngayong Ramadan din lalabas ang hatol ng Kataastaasang Hukuman tungkol sa kasunduang dapat sanang pipirmahan ng Pamahalaan at ng MILF. Mahalagang maisulong ang prosesong pangkapayapaan upang patuloy na umunlad ang ating bayan: sa kaso ng MILF, pangunahing hakbang ang pagtuklas kung sino at ilang mga taga-Mindanao ang kinakatawan nito.

Sa panahon ngayon, kasaganahan ang aanihin ng mga bansang may koneksyon sa lalong malaking pamilihan: ito ang dahilan ng kasaganahan ng mga estado ng U.S., mga miyembro ng E.U., at maging ng Singapore, na kung ihahambing sa ating lupain ay mas maunlad bagamat kay liit at kulang sa likas na yaman.

Mahirap nang makamit ang koneksyong ito ng mga bansang napapaligiran ng dagat; lalo pang tumitindi ang hamon kapag may kaguluhang nangyayari sa loob ng teritoryo nito. Bagkus tulad ng pagkakaibigan ng dalawang tao, napapadali ang relasyon ng mga bansa kapag kapwa silang payapa't may tiwala sa isa't isa.

Sa aking paglalakbay, natuklasan kong ang bawat bansa'y mayroong brand o tatak sa isipan ng mga taong nakakarinig sa pangalan nito. Wasto man o hindi, ang mga pananaw na bumubuo sa tatak ng isang bansa ay naka-aapekto sa pagtitiwala ng mga kalapit-bayan at sa desisyon nilang makipagkalakal sa mga naninirahan dito.

Ang magagandang aspeto ng tatak Pilipino ay ang ating talino, magandang pagtanggap sa panauhin, at kaaya-ayang mga baybay-dagat; ang kumakaila namang mga katangian nito ay ang laganap na kahirapan, suhulan sa ilang opisina ng pamahalaan, at kawalan ng kapayapaan. Ang pagtamo ng kapayapaan sa Mindanao ay isang malaking hakbang upang sumagana ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino, Muslim man o hindi. Maiaangat nito ang reputasyon ng pangalang Pilipino sa pandaigdigang pamilihan.

Higit pa sa kahalagahan ng pagkakaroon ng Pilipinas ng marangal na pangalan ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan, lalo na yaong mga nakatira sa Mindanao. Dahil dito, sana'y maiwasto ang anumang pagkukulang ng naantalang proseso't kasunduan, masangguni ng mga partido ang mga pamayanang maaapektuhan, at maisulong ang kapayapaan at pagkakaisang nakabatay sa katiwasayan at paggalang sa karapatang pantao.

Matagal na ang tunggaliang ito- ngunit sa kabutihang palad umiikli ang mga daang kailangan pa nating tahakin.


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Salamat kay Ryan Cayabyab sa kantang "Kyrie" mula sa album na Misa.

american beauty

A couple of months ago, I received virtual hugs from Julie, my schoolmate back in Middle School. I might have been taken aback had I gotten them from someone else, but surprisingly it felt nice to get those from her.

In the '80s, she gave me this picture with the following dedication:

:) 10-17-88

TO VOLTAIRE,

You are one of the sweetest people in the world. I value our friendship a lot. Hope we remain friends for a long time. Please don't ever forget me.

Your friend alwayz, :)
Julie Nelson '91 :)

P.S. Sorry about the ugly picture! :)

When she arrived in ISM, I hadn't been to the States yet and I thought she embodied what an American was: shiny, confident, and white. I remember she burst into the scene like a tornado, dating a succession of guys and leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake. Ironically, she was extremely conscious of her looks and we became friends because I could articulate what I'm sure the other guys wanted to say: "You look beautiful!" We were also both fans of Menudo. She gave me a brown, plastic scapular and told me to have it blessed by a priest and wear it, which I did until the string broke- for me it was a sign of friendship, as much as a religious object.



Later on, I found out that Julie, who spoke with a warm, Southern drawl, wasn't purely Caucasian: Asian blood (Vietnamese? Filipino?) flowed through her veins.

If Barack Obama wins the elections in the US, young Filipinos today would have a better idea of the diverse races that have shaped that country- and hopefully a better image of what people of color like ours can accomplish anywhere.

jacket

Baguio Arts Festival, 1999 (photo by Anna Hidalgo)













Office of Justice Mendoza, 2002










LRC-KsK, 2003

Eurasia 2

The above verses are by Maningning Miclat (1972-2000), a Filipino painter and poet who spoke and wrote in Chinese, Filipino, and English; we went to university together. Thanks to New Minstrels for the song "Ikaw, Ako, Tayo Magkakapatid."

Eurasia 1

I was kayaking with Gerald in the Gulf of Tonkin when I received a text message from the National Book Development Board (NBDB) announcing the launch of Tulaan sa Tren (Poetry in the Metro).

I'm in Vietnam for ASEFUAN's AGM and would be able to fly back to Manila in time for its launch this Saturday at 1 PM in the LRT Santolan station. It was around a year ago when I went to the AGM in Madrid and noticed how subway trains had posters containing excerpts of Spanish literary works that mention the city. Since I had no money to bring home, I decided that this idea would be my pasalubong or take-home gift to my hometown of Metropolitan Manila, a way for me to share the spirit of Europe to the greatest city that today bridges East and West.

Upon returning, I enlisted the help of Andrea Flores, Executive Director of NBDB, and Deo Custodio, who was then with Congress. Deo helped arrange a meeting between Andrea and LRTA Administrator Mel Robles, who supported the idea. I didn't hear from the NBDB nor the LRTA again about the project until this week's AGM, which surprised me and made me happy. Starting next week, when I ride the train to go to work, I would remember the friends I made in Madrid. Of course, "Tulaan sa Tren" now has a life of its own and is uniquely Manileno. Aside from the NBDB and the LRTA, the project is supported by Optical Media Board Chairman Edu Manzano and National Artist Virgilio Almario (Rio Alma). Below is a poster featuring my poet-ancestor Jose Corazon de Jesus (Huseng Batute). Hmm, I wonder what I'll bring home from Indochina...

Thanks to David Frogier de Ponlevoy for the top photo.

mtv

Paano gumawa ng isang music video:

1. Pakinggan ang peg upang makahango ng inspirasyon para sa gagawing kanta.


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2. Isulat ang mga titik at isaayos ang himig ng musika.













3. Gumawa ng demo gamit ang cellphone o recorder.


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4. Sa studio, irecord at i-edit ang mga boses at instrumento, tulad ng gitara, keyboard, at drums. Pagkatapos, mag-mix at mag-master.



















5. Magshoot sa field at sa harap ng green screen. I-edit ang music video. Lagyan ng animasyon. Rock en roll!



Sa tulong ng video na ito, nakatanggap ang nagkomisyong NGO- ang Alalay sa Kaunlaran, Inc. o ASKI- ng higit sa Php 0.5 milyon mula sa mga manonood sa unang gabi ng palabas. Upang malaman ang mga programang pangkalinga ng ASKI at makapagbigay ng donasyon, bumisita rito.

gift

It was around 2:30 in the morning when I woke up and saw him sitting on the monobloc chair beside my bed. Light from a neighbor's house streamed through a window: his face was hidden in shadows, but I recognized his silhouette, exquisite cotton shirt and suspenders, and cane.

"Dr. Sulit?" I asked.

While driving home from his wake a couple of hours before, I thought of how I would miss him, the anesthesiologist who had been a pillar and in whose company I felt enervated, like I was on morphine. I didn't expect to meet him again so soon, though.

We spoke just like before. We talked about the woodcarvers of his hometown of Paete, his classmates, Locsin's lovely translation of Noli, the Baldemor brothers. He retold the story of how he spent ten years building his Greenhills house, one of my favorite houses in the world. It was the same as before- except that this time he no longer needed to open his mouth to talk to me.

Half-dreaming, I asked, "Dr. Sulit, why do people feel pain?"

Pain is a gift, his hoarse voice echoed in my head. It's because of pain that you know that something is wrong. Pain actually helps you live.

I sensed that he wanted something, but I was non-committal. I apologized for not having visited him as frequently as I would've wanted, explaining how Japanese class had taken up a lot of my time.

Ganyan ka naman, he said, sounding irritated but also proud. I am living the way he spent his life: by working hard to realize a unique vision of beauty and perfection.

As the pink sun rose outside the eastern windows, I thanked him for imparting his own vision to me: it was Dr. Sulit who transformed my vision of books from bound sheets of paper into three-dimensional pieces of art.

When he suddenly shifted in the chair, I sensed a discomfort that, in life, he never showed: it was a kind of power, being the rock that everyone depended on for solace.

"Doc, it'll be OK," I said anyway. "I'll say a prayer for you. Look at the light, go towards the light."

From my bed, I reached out to touch his hand, but felt only air.

Like a colorful dream that flickers briefly in the night, Benigno Sulit, MD, was gone.















Photo for Big Dipper by Lester Ledesma, UP Nurses' Home, 2006.

satc 2

I just finished reading Jim Rogers' book Adventure Capitalist, in which the legendary investor describes his three-year road trip in 116 countries at the turn of the millennium. The book gave me insights on changes happening in the world and, more importantly, on how a flesh-and-blood capitalist's mind works. There were times when I was shocked by Rogers' sweeping generalizations (he advocates conditional debt write-offs and thinks the IMF and the World Bank should be abolished, but not the WTO), but kept on reading, remembering that this was the man who years ago accurately predicted- and is profiting from- the current rise in oil and food prices.

Last year, Rogers moved to Singapore from New York and was quoted as saying, "If you were smart in 1807 you moved to London, if you were smart in 1907 you moved to New York City, and if you are smart in 2007 you move to Asia."

With opportunities sprouting in our enterprising region, it's auspicious that Singapore-based writer Jean Paul "Jippy" dela Rosa chose Big Dipper to print his first book, 33, a collection of essays on sex in the city of the Merlion. Together with Hong Kong-based A.M. Azada's A Roomful of Waiting, 33 represents our company's efforts to reach out to a wider Asian market.

In his book, Jippy turns the image of Singapore as an "all work- no play" city-state on its head. Jippy, a well-groomed professional (his day job is interior design), also breaks the still ubiquitous Filipino stereotype of the gay man as a flaming faggot who pays for sex- as depicted, for example, in Brillante Mendoza's Cannes 2008 entry "Serbis."

Moreover, the book breaks new ground in cultural studies by exploring a gay man's ambiguous, yet requited relationships with straight men from different countries. This excerpt from the first chapter "My Russian Boy" is typical:

So there we were, drinking, and then I gave him some house clothes that he could get comfortable in while we watched some late-night TV show. And boy was I shocked when he just stripped in front of me! I have to be totally in check most of the time during those moments. Good thing I never lost my sanity! And everything was very normal.

Yeah, as the night clock ticked its way into the wee hours of the next day, we were just there, he seated on my antique Chinese daybed and I cuddled with my head on his lap, watching some show (which I couldn't remember anymore, as I was enjoying that moment!). As my body settled down, slowly things around me became clearer.

Here I was so close to a straight guy that I really like, but that was it.

The stories were published with the consent of the author's present and past partners. Congratulations Jippy for coming out in such a classy, courageous way!

To order copies of 33, call iiiDEAS shop at +632-8173424 or send a message to popoii43@hotmail.com.

satc 1

"(F)ashion must have a cultural meaning and should define one's identity." -Barge Ramos

It was the closest thing to sex I could experience in SoHo: a sex shop. Ate P. and I were curating the different toys for sale when I got a call from C.: she was coming from her book club, could we meet outside the theater, instead of her place?

For the movie premiere, C. and I had agreed to dress like the characters: I decided to wear jeans, a gingham shirt, and a regimental tie, urban wear for the tropics. Ate P. left the shop to check if her husband had already arrived in the restaurant, leaving me to look for a hidden door in the basement mentioned in my guidebook.

"OK, L b waiting in Big Chill UES," I texted back, while trying on a Jay Kos blazer that seemed to have been left behind. I then made a brief escape through the hole (I would return the blazer later that night).

When I was in UPIS, first grade, I had wanted to be an actor- I joined different school plays through the years, finding that I understood reality better by playing roles. It was the same that night: making believe allowed me to have a better understanding of C.'s relationships with her admirers. She's a princess, I thought. If they could see that, they wouldn't be so intimidated.

If I made the evening perfect for the princess, its magic would envelop her ever after.

We enjoyed the movie and, afterwards, as we walked to a bar to drink cosmos and toast women's empowerment, C. asked about the flowers inside the footlong hotdog bag- a deconstructed bouquet- I had given her.

"Did you notice the Eiffel Tower bag of Carrie in the movie?" I asked. "She has the Eiffel Tower and you have..."

C.'s face lit up. We had become part of the film- or did the film become part of us? Either way, she was ready to face her Mr. Big.

(I looked at my watch- I was ready to take off the warm blazer.)

no neckties

Ah! It's almost the end of summer: time to find a private island, replenish my creative juices, and write.

This is the picture I first used for my profile in Friendster when I joined it in 2003. Many people have asked me where it was taken. Boracay? Palawan?

No. This was way up north, in Pagudpud, which I heard about from Charlon, a role model in sales. What struck me about him was his ability to strike a conversation with anyone in the beach in Mindoro. It seems that our culture has made virtues out of modesty and self-deprecation: so Charlon, who overflowed with positive words and confidence, was like a fresh sea breeze. From him I learned that selling is not about insincerity, which is easily detected, selling is a transference of feeling.

"You don't have to spend a lot of money to see beauty," he said, "just go to Pagudpud."

It wasn't just sales talk.

When I finally saw the color of the waters of Pagudpud- a shade of aqua I couldn't believe existed and that my camera wasn't quite able to capture- I had to agree. Wow.


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Thanks to Sitti for "Para sa Akin."

etiquette

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people. -1 Peter 2:9 (King James Bible)

I experienced a Don Quixote moment when I met Laurent Frideres, the prince of Luxembourg.

Luxembourg is the only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy in the world, which means that in the eyes of most people Laurent cannot really be a prince in rank nor power, but his lush Oxbridge accent with its perfectly enunciated vowels and clipped consonants, his reserve, and even just the rakish way he stands while taking a picture make him so.

I thought of Laurent while researching on protocol for the recent visit of the King of Swaziland and his 13th wife to the Philippines. Here's one question: when a Filipino citizen (say, Sarah Gonzales in Caregiver) meets royal personages, is it correct to give physical obeisance to them by bowing or curtsying?

No, it is not. Under the laws of our land, sovereignty resides in us as a people. Bending the knee is the traditional gesture of an inferior to a superior: hence, we may kneel before God or whatever we worship. The curtsy is a form of the gesture of adoring a sovereign; other kingdoms have their subjects touch their foreheads to the ground or kiss the ground as royalty passes. As a democracy, we follow the lead of the historian Callisthenes and his fellow Greeks, who rejected Alexander the Great's proposal that his subjects prostrate themselves before him. Historically, this matter was settled twice: in 1521, by Lapu-Lapu during the battle of Mactan and again, in 1896, by revolutionaries who fought to free our land from subjugation to the Spanish crown.

What then is the proper way for Filipinos to treat royalty? We do so with the dignity and respect we naturally show to heads of state and other foreign officials, that is, by shaking their hand.

For a simple refresher on world etiquette, read Social Skills: A Modern Guide to Global Living by John Robert Powers Manila (Php 450).

romance

Tricia celebrated her birthday a couple of days ago and I had the chance to reflect on our friendship and feel gratitude for what I think now was her greatest gift to me: the gift of romance. Different people seem to have different ideas of what romance is. It isn't romansa, which suggests acts preceding physical intimacy, neither is it pagsuyo (courtship) nor pagibig (love). During mass, I thought of this definition of romance: a self-induced high that you share with someone else. Perhaps pagsinta is its closest translation.

What was wonderful about our friendship- and this has been the template for my relationships with other women- was that while together we basked in the glow of passion, we directed its flames to others rather than one another: our friendship through the years was never consumed by conflagration.

In Middle School, she explained to me the meaning of the Gallic phrase, "Je suis amoureux comme un fou de toi." It's an extravagant way of saying I love you: literally, it means I am like a fool in love with you. Since we used French to write top-secret notes to each other, these words are branded on my heart.

When we saw each other again after more than a decade apart, we had barely finished hugging in front of City Lights when she said we would spend the day in Napa Valley. I seldom drink wine, Wine Country was a couple of hours away, yet Trish instinctively knew that this was a day the romantic in me would always remember. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.


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Thanks to Basil Valdez for the song Paalam.