Life on the railway tracks & the fate of Isadora Duncan

It’s the same accident that happened to 50 year old famed American dancer Isadora Duncan who met her gruesome death when her scarf was caught in a car’s wheel while motoring on September 14, 1927 in Nice, France. (Isadora Duncan, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed., 2008)

Miss Duncan was choked by the constricting grip of a hand-painted scarf, a gift by Russian-born artist Roman Chatov. She who lived against the norm of her day claimed a place in history for her dance as much as her manner of passing.

In the Philippines, in a report which appeared in GMANewsTV on September 12, 2008, 22 year old Pandacan resident Imee Sapacio suffered serious brain injuries and almost died when her umbrella got entangled by a passing train on the way to Tutuban station in Divisoria, an old section of Manila.

She was knocked down, dragged and rendered unconscious before being rushed to the hospital.

Luckily she survived.

Life on the Railway Track (Vida en la via del ferrocarril)

“Marami ang palatandaan ng kahirapan: mga lumang bahay,
maduming barrio, mga lalaking walang kamiseta,
at ang tingin ng pag-aalala…”

“Dakul an senales kan pagti’os, mga lumang harong,
ma-ating lugar, mga lalaking mayong kamiseta,
sagkod hiling nin pag’hadit…”

“Muchas signos de pobreza: casas viejas,
pueblos sucios,hombres descamisados
y la mirada de angustia…”

“Many signs of poverty: old houses,
dirty villages, unshirted men,
and the look of anguish….”
—AFM, September 12, 2008

Imee may not like the life of poverty like Miss Duncan especially in a crowded blighted path of a train which snakes its way in the heart of the city. But it’s a perilous reality that she hardly can escape. Like thousands of squatters, she lives near the railroad tracks, ignoring the dangers of the squalid neighborhood and the noise of passing trains.

In spite of the government attempts to relocate the squatters, crowding continues. A fact of life, this is a big challenge in urban places like Manila which attract settlers from towns and provinces in search for better life. Photo Credits: olr2004; UPA; dy85duTpa; 3bp.blogspot; Maluche,A)

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AdeN-CSI University: a boy and girl thing that never goes out of style

Why are reunions more popular than before? Is it a sign of ageing or is it an affirmation of being forever young? Is it still that boy and girl thing that never goes out of style? Or is it the bond that’s hard to describe, but so easy to feel with the heart?

Members of Ateneo de Naga High School ’73 known as the Golden Boys of Quiborak (GBQ’s,) myself included, are holding a reunion on September 13, 2008 in Naga City, Philippines. It’s an auspicious time to meet the flashy dames of Colegio de Sta Isabel (CSI) Class’73, the magagayons who for years never escaped our minds.

In a gesture of amity, reconciliation, and love, we agree to meet with the ladies. Like before, we’ll have another kurumustahan—this time in a random mix of classmates, friends and families, unsupervised by our teachers, very much unlike the occasions of pabiristohans in soirees we know.

A milestone that definitely tickles the imagination, for the first time we’ll encounter the popular girls in blue that we used to ogle in front of la porteria, at el campanario of Naga Cathedral or at el canto of Ateneo Avenue. The four imposing pillars of the west end near Quiborak seem to draw us like pubescent fireflies in pursuit of the blue girls in their pheromone-rich enclave a stone’s throw from Colgante Bridge.

The reunion not only gives credence to the belief that memories last, it also reminds us of the downside of having same-sex schools at the height of adolescent social awakening. We, the students, sequestered by a compulsory gender divide of our time, still have that persistent longing for pure friendships out of our exclusive cocoons, away from the tangled allure of a strip joint.

The drive to relive the remembrances of our juvenile years is so great that we make ways to meet and be cozy with each other. Away from the watchful gaze of the Catholic nuns of the Daughters of Charity (DC) and the priests of St. Ignatius’ Society of Jesus (SJ,) we have built a shadow co-ed school of our own—the Ateneo-CSI University.

It’s a utopian school that we have established. The Ateneo-CSI University doesn’t have boring lectures. Except for foul behavior, no one has to pay tuition. Wearing long hair or being bald isn’t an infraction. We don’t have to take periodic tests; uniforms aren’t required. There’s no pressure to attend convocations or join protest rallies. Absence and tardiness aren’t punished.

As if to break open a precious time capsule left in the sand dunes of the past or rescue an old surf-beaten bottle that has finally rested on a rugged shore, the reunion will be celebrated in muted grace, pomp, and style. On this unique day, there will be no pain and discomfort— only boundless happiness of having to return to where we are most comfortable, right at the cuddly bosom of affable classmates and supportive friends.

After 35 years we will reach out for the past that will make us laugh and cry. We’ll go back to the roads we walked before. We’ll point the trees we climbed and the steep mountains we scaled. We’ll go back to the woods we explored, glance at the homey blue sky, feel the breeze on our faces, and recall the meandering rivers we roamed.

Some of us will visit the abyssal depths of our fears if only to remind that we’re all human beings who stick together, through thick and thin as though we’re tied in an unbreakable blood compact of Magellan.

We encourage and help each other in good days and bad times like a herd of gazelles grazing in the vast plain. Deep into the vestiges of our own insecurity and personal triumph, we will mark a phenomenal passage. In this reunion, three decades after we left high school, what we have is unity and love, a reward of being bonded and truly alive! =0=

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Ateneo de Naga University Northeast USA Alumni Reunion Away from Home

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Amidst complacency and denial, terror persists, USA & the world still on the edge

Two days before the 7th year after 911, a bipartisan report suggests that the United States is still dangerously at risk of being attacked by weapons of mass destruction (WMB’s.) Democrats critical of Pres. George W. Bush are quick to highlight the dangers. And they don’t leave the psyche of Americans traumatized by the randomness of the attack.

“The report and supporting studies describe the failure of international cooperation to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, which they call a major problem. Many countries continue to ignore a United Nations mandate to prevent the spread of weapons; the ability of many countries to monitor potential bioterrorism is “essentially nonexistent,” and dangerous chemical weapons stockpiles remain in some countries, including Russia and Libya, the report said.” AP (09/09/08, BlackledgeB; SullivanE.)

In spite of moves to make the homeland secure, the nature of terrorism makes it hard to wipe out the threats. This worry is part of the legacy of 911 when the rules of engagement of war have been defined by a small group of extremists who are bent to make America and the rest of the civilized world accede to Al Qaeda’s and other Islamic toxic ideology of hate.

Bringing America down has serious implications in emerging and poor countries like the Philippines whose economies will further suffer in the midst of a threat of war, worldwide recession, dwindling resources, and exploding population. Though Pres. Bush must be credited for foiling a number of plots and in improving security during his administration, many don’t look at it this way. It is hard to see success in prevention that has an astronomical price tag.

The cost of underwriting a protective shield for Americans and the world is causing a toll on the US economy. Only when another attack as spectacular and hideous as 911 will Americans, (especially the cynical and complacent) will realize that the world they know has been turned upside down by a few rogues who wait for the singular chance to do harm and damage. Terror resonates in 911 and the attacks in Madrid, London, Jerusalem, Riyadh, Nairobi, Bali, Manila and other cities worldwide. As security experts experts have said, it’s not a question of if that another attack will be waged, but when. (Photo Credits: AP/TayloC;bp.blogspot)=0=

84.1% functional literacy of Filipinos, but…

“Literacy is the Best Remedy,” is the theme of the UN International Literacy day observed on September 8. Based on multi-agency data which include the Department of Education and the National Statistical Council, the functional literacy of Filipinos is 84.1%. This means 67 million of us are functionally literate and 12.72 million are illiterate. Not bad.

But the big number of illiterates is still a huge problem. With a sizeable impaired segment of the population, we cannot tap the maximum potential and productivity of our workers. Having close to 13 million individuals lacking in education and skills is a huge drain in our pool of nation builders. By estimates, this is close or a bit larger than the extent of the country’s brain drain—Filipinos who have left for jobs abroad.

Philippines must not slacken for about 65% of our youth are out of school and 56% of our students are not able to graduate in high school. Philstar (09/09/08, Roces, AR) There is an ominous message in this statistics as we proceed to the 21st century. Realizing that among the ranks of highly schooled literates, a significant number of talented Filipinos use their educational edge for their own selfish ends, the picture doesn’t look pretty. (Photo Credits: EDP@ICC)=0=

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Losing and finding the icon of the Virgin of Penafrancia: why the public deserves to know

The plot was not as riveting and complicated as the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, but when the image of the Virgin of Penafrancia (Ina) aka Nuestra Senora de Penafrancia vanished on August 16, 1981, the Filipinos were devastated.

There was revulsion among the people when unnamed burglar(s) barged into the Penafrancia Church and snatched the centuries-old Ina, the most popular sacred object of Marian veneration of Bicolanos. The antique image went missing for about three weeks fueling speculations and causing the death of a Naga city policemen. The Virgin’s image was returned before the annual September fiesta in her honor.

Countless devotees went on penitential processions praying for the recovery of Ina’s image. On September 5, 1981, Typhoon Ruping swept the land. Msgr. Florencio Yllana, the former chaplain of the Penafrancia Church, went to Manila to receive the 6-part statue of the Virgin when it reappeared.

A thanksgiving mass was offered in the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral after the wooden image was brought back to Naga. The city buzzed with rumors, but church and government officials were tight-lipped on who was behind the theft. At the time when Pres. Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were in power, no one dared to ask. The Catholic clergy cryptically said, “it’s enough that Ina is back!”

No it isn’t enough. For the sake of history, accountability, and justice for Patrolman Reynaldo Neola (the policeman who died looking for the missing Virgin,) the public to this day deserves to know. It’s time that those who are privy to the circumstances of the theft must speak up to unravel the truth before time buries an ignominious footnote in Penafrancia’s past. (Photo Credit: JerryLimLee)

Abangan!

The Loss and Return

of Our Lady of Penafrancia

& the Colgante Bridge Disaster

(Parts I & Part II)

by Totie Mesia and Mariso Ocampo

“Thirty-six years after the Colgante bridge collapse and 27 years after Ina vanished and returned, Bikol keeps a blurry recall and record of the events.”

After more than 900 earthquakes, Legazpi City sets to inspect buildings

Cone-shaped Mayon Volcano which spews intermittent plumes on its crater and shows definite signs of restiveness is the object of close watch by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PhilVolcs). It was reported that 900 earthquakes of varying intensity rocked the city since August 15, 2008. GMANewsTV (09/07/08)

As a result, Legazpi’s city council voted on a resolution to have buildings inspected for damages. Citizens of the picturesque locale which nestles on the foot of the volcano prepare to assess the structural worthiness of malls, schools, churches and other infrastructures which might have sustained damage. (Photo Credits: Engr. Denz Rodriquez/dxpsycho)=0=

15,000 Filipinos in a bid for a Guinness World Record:“Samahan na walang katulad!

It’s superb company whenever relatives, friends, and the family get together for a drink. San Miguel beer is pre-eminent in its popularity. It’s the nation’s leading brew which brings Filipinos together. OO! Samahan na walang katulad! (friendship like no other!)

Be it on a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation, a throw-away party for someone going abroad, a returning OFW’s welcome, a dead man’s wake or a sulking footnote of a love-relationship gone sour, San Miguel beer is arguably our drink that perks up the day. It sets the tone of our celebrations. It brings a lot of delights and sometimes trouble.

San Miguel beer, the popular amber-colored brew, a proud product made in the Philippines, carries mild alcohol which easily knocks out our inhibitions, makes us dreamy, relax, loquacious, and merry. Desirably taken icy-cold to ward off tropical heat in the country, the beer goes well with scrumptious food: pulutan like sisig, chicharon bulaklak, ligo, balut, kinilaw or caldereta. It’s just the perfect bubbly concoction which defines fun in our gatherings.

On September 5, 2008, the city of Manila embarked on a San Miguel beer drinking fest which brought a crowd of more than 15,000 people in Ortigas to start a long celebration, hoping to set a world record. The road from Lourdes Avenue to Julia Vargas became an amazing 603.5-meter-long beer bar, with four concert stages for the fiesta patterned from Germany’s Oktoberfest. PDI (O9/06/08, Natividad, BT)

The beer-fest was mainly for merriment, but strangely unusual, it was attended by 15,000 people. With tinge of self-importance and hubris which commercial organizers thought could topple a record in the Guinness Book, they eyed on making Las Vegas’ distinction of 13,000 people gulping beer at the same time obsolete.

The event was disturbance-free with tight security details in place. It was a successful fun-filled “samahan” like a large gathering of “barkadas” around a pitcher of beer, but an accidental electrocution of 20 workers (causing burn injuries) occured during the dismantling of the props.

One ponders on the event’s undertones, its meanings when the din of merriment has subsided. Can casual beer drinking lead to alcohol dependence and abuse? Is it beneficial for us to win a drinking distinction in the Guinness Book of Records? Where will a whole-scale commercial promotion of drinking bring our nation? What impact does it have on the campaign to control alcoholism in the country? What effect will it have in the next generation?

A disorder characterized by unusual craving for liquor, alcoholism (alcohol dependence) is a problem in the Philippines. Just like in other countries, it’s a major cause of job loss, family fued, car-crash, and accident. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates about 140 million people in various countries have alcohol dependence and 78% aren’t treated.

MAG-BEER MUNA TAYO! SO GOOD, AYOS ANG KASUNOD!

Alcohol Dependence

“Alcohol dependence increases the risk of liver disease (hepatitis and cirrhosis), dangerously irregular heart rhythms (“holiday heart” syndrome), stomach ulcers, brain damage, stroke and other health problems. In pregnant women who drink alcohol, there is also the danger that the child will develop fetal alcohol syndrome, a cluster of health problems including unusually low birth weight, facial abnormalities, heart defects and learning difficulties.

In most Western countries, including the United States, the lifetime chance of developing alcoholism is about 10% for men and 3% to 5% for women. Although there is strong evidence that at least part of a person’s risk for alcoholism is inherited, having a family history of alcoholism does not guarantee that someone will become an alcoholic. Other lifestyle factors a social setting where alcohol is a regular part, easy availability of alcohol, severe personal problems may be even more important than heredity in determining whether some people develop alcoholism. For those who have a strong family history of alcoholism, a supportive family and healthy friendships often can prevent the illness from starting.”—MensHealth.com =0=
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The Elfin Lady in Red & the Tall Guy of the White House Beside Her

“Come to think of it, isn’t the presence of Ambassador Kenney in Kuala Lumpur an anomaly? The US has never been part of the peace process in the South unlike the OIC, Malaysia and Indonesia.” — MyTy, Philippines (Photo Credit: http://www.sjsu.edu)

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RP’s rising inflation rate: highest in 17 years

The American Heritage Dictionary defines inflation as a persistent increase in consumer prices or a lowering of the purchasing power caused by an increase in currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services. It is said that if the supply is equal to the demand, there should be no inflation. But in the real world this doesn’t happen so often and inflation is as shifty as it fluctuates with the economy. It is rampant from the United States, Europe, and Asia and elsewhere in the world as one sees in the chart.

Inflation Rate (%)
Egypt——————23
France—————–3.6
UK———————4.4
Italy——————-4.1
Japan——————1.9
Spain——————5.3
Denmark————–4
Norway—————4.3
Czech Republic——6.7
China——————6.3
Bulgaria————–14.4
Germany————–3.3
Philippines———–12.2
Romania—————9
USA——————-5.6
Zimbabwe———–2.2 million %

The Philippines’ 12.2% national inflation rate of July has increased to 12.5% in August 2008 driving it up to a 17-year high, pushing the prices of commodities to rise. The new inflation rate is at the high end of the central bank’s prediction range of 11.8 to 12.6%. Philippine provinces are affected more than the National Capital Region.

“The central bank will have September inflation data before its next rate decision on Oct. 9 and many analysts said the monetary authority may raise rates for a fourth and final time next month to bolster the weakening peso and because domestic inflationary pressures are still prevalent.” Philstar (O9/06/08, Ferriols, D.)

In a quick reassuring statement by monetary officials (the usual they do with bad news) there are “moderating” factors that may cut down prices. Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Amando Tetangco, Jr blames external factors like the fluctuations of fuel prices as the main reason for the rising inflation trend. (Photo Credit: Ian Riley)=0=.

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Belying nurse surplus with unfilled 20,000 foreign jobs—a slanted view of RP’s unemployment problem

After Ruth Padilla, a commissioner of the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) announced there are 400,000 currently unemployed nurses in the Philippines, Jackson Gan, the vice-president of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters and his organization belie the excess of nurses because there are unfilled “20,000 job orders for nurses in the Middle East, Singapore, and Europe.” Inquirer (09/01/08, Uy, V.)

By numbers alone, 20,000 jobs Gan speaks of don’t come close to 400,000 jobless licensed nurses that Padilla is referring to. Even if these foreign jobs are filled, there remain 380,000 licensed nurses who aren’t employed. Many more nurses are scheduled to finish their courses and take the boards, adding more numbers in the jobless pool. So how can Gan prove his point?

On Gan’s admission many nurses are shifting to other jobs in computers, call centers, medical transcriptions, or other employment unrelated to their education out of desperation. Is this not a sign of an oversupply? The existence of foreign job offers abroad doesn’t negate the reality of joblessness at home, the place where Filipinos must be in the first place.

Speaking for the manpower establishment (also maybe for the POEA as well,) whose main role is to fill in workers, Gan sounds condescending in saying that our nurses aren’t qualified for the job. This isn’t entirely true— knowing that they went through standard accredited study and were licensed as professionals by the Philippine Regulations Commission (PRC.)

Almost everyone knows there is slowing in hiring coincident to the way-ward increase in the number of nurses in the supply pool. Contrary to Gan’s assertion, Filipino nurses want to go abroad even in countries other than the United States, but there are reasons other than the prejorative label of “not being qualified” that are keeping them at home

The lack of two-year experience in a 250-bed hospital is the reason Gan cites for the unfilled foreign jobs. But this is simplistic and misleading for the turn-over of nurses in big hospitals is brisk. Because of the US back-log (not enough visas are available,) many nurses who already passed the NCLEX are forced to wait for at least 2 years, just the right time for them to comply with the experience requirement.

It is more likely therefore, the 20,000 foreign positions aren’t filled (if truly they exist) is because the jobs offered aren’t attractive enough— the workplace can be “unsafe,” the terms of the contract may be unacceptable, there can be family issues that remain unresolved on immigration, or the offer of going abroad poses difficult cultural and language barriers that is hard to meet. Above all, many applicants may not have the cash to finance their foreign applications forcing them to work and save first before pursuing their plans abroad.

Reported in the news before, Spain wants Filipino nurses, but job-seekers need to learn Spanish—a task that has nothing to do with the nurse’s ability to care for patients in the hospital. Why will they learn Spanish when they are even struggling with the English language which takes them too long to master? Similarly, Belgium also needs nurses, but they have to speak in Belgian. Saudi Arabia may have jobs, but horror stories abound from nurses and overseas foreign workers (OFW’s) who worked in countries where the treatment of women and foreigners are different. There are scary reports of maids in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East who commit suicide because of maltreatment, rape, isolation, and intolerable working conditions.

Gan and people with his mindset need to simply look around to say what they are saying is lopsided, a cheap letdown against the nurses, themselves helpless victims of inept education and labor planning. He speaks from the vantage point of an astute labor-peddler whose interest is mainly to deploy workers in jobs without much regard of the welfare of Filipinos braving the uncertainties and hardships in the world outside. =0=

Mayon Volcano grumbles as Penafrancia Fiesta draws near

While the Penafrancia fiesta boils and gains steam in Naga City for its September 2008 celebration, majestic Mayon Volcano in Albay on whose feet Legazpi City rests, shows signs of restiveness and possible eruption. White steam clouds billow on its summit.

For the last few weeks, an advisory to keep distance—at least 6 kilometers away from the crater is in place by Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PhiVolcs) as series of minor tremors of tectonic origin are felt in the area. Even Taal volcano in Batangas also shows similar activity; light earthquakes are felt in the last 24 hours. Inquirer (09/02/08, Aguilar E.).