We Are All Bernardo Carpio

Election season is near and we expect that surveys in whatever form will again invade our privacies. It is a scenario where usually politicians, individually or as a group, tap the expertise of an apparently independent entity to conduct said activity in order for the former to have a study for partisan political ends. Survey results and recommendations are potent tools for strategizing towards the campaign period. It could help the politicians scientifically identify their strengths and weaknesses, gains and bottlenecks in their strategies and consequently patch the negatives and sustain their positive attributes as candidates.

Unluckily, surveys of sort have less to do with the aspiration of non-aligned citizenry or the “silent majority”. What we need today are surveys, researches or studies that would help people of Occidental Mindoro in general and not only politicians, to get out of what I call as the “Bernardo Carpio Predicament” where people are caught in the middle of two colliding rocks of local politics. In such a situation, the burden, the agony, the malfeasance of bad governance and childish politicking fall on our chained weakening arms and limping trapped legs like Bernardo Carpio.

I wish I had a group of millionaire friends, a pool of philanthropists. A coterie of friends that is more than willing to initiate, fund, organize and manage a project geared towards an integral socio-political analysis to examine several issues and assess the political maturity of our people and consequently their living condition. Over and above, our target benefactors and key project implementers must not be completely identified, one way or another, with any of the two colliding political mountains. This study is to come up with recommendations translated into programs or legislations. Through this research, we can identify the definite stand of the people on burning issues and ultimately measure their dominant value system.

How can I have such a group when most of my close and real life acquaintances are as “emol” as I am? None of them is millionaire. Most of them are plain and simple but dedicated “slum dogs”!

It is only by dreaming I can toy this idea I want to call “Pamago Study” which stands for Political Advocacy, Media Awareness for Good Governance. In case you skipped this previous blog entry, “Pamago” is a post-harvest ritual practiced by Alangan Mangyans where family members gather, feast on the year’s first produce, celebrate for a bountiful harvest and share good wishes. This is one of their ways of thanking the Creator. It has been part of their culture and tradition centuries before the present brand of politics from Western countries haunted Mangyans’ senses and sensibility.

Mine is a primary research or survey intends not only to contribute to academic community but over and above, to find out as much as possible about the condition of political awareness and value system of Occidental Mindoro electorates. This is a kind of research where facts are interpreted and evaluated thus enable us to go directly to the core of the problem and not only its peripherals. It is high time for us to know what the people feel about empowerment in local governance and participation in their respective LGUs. This research or survey is hopefully would create awareness, appreciation and understanding of pressing concerns and issues of the hour needing to be resolved like political dynasty, the power shortage, development aggression such as mining and oil exploration, the proliferation of chemical-based farming and the use of public authority for private gains, to name a few.

As you have noticed, I included the media because it is imperative for us at this crucial point of our province’s history to understand how local media wielded its power, how it is perceived by the people in general. Is our media really instruments of rights and freedom of information and genuine public service or was it a mere tool of oligarchy in our midst? Is our media instruments of building communities or its destruction?

We need those facts documented, analyzed, presented and ultimately expected to give birth to multiple degree of intellectual recommendations. These recommendations also aim to provide mechanisms for people to participate in the sustained process of development with the guidance of the True Loving Rock with whom we take refuge (Psalm 18:12).

According to Philippine legend, when the last link on the chain binding Bernardo Carpio is broken, there will be a great earthquake but after that, freedom overcomes our enslavement…

----
(Photo: supremeho.deviantart.com)

Slapstick Born Out of San Jose Public Market

I thought random slapping only happens in comedy films employing slapstick jokes.

When interviewed over DWDO, one of the supposed victims of the alleged slapping by the mayor of San Jose said that they were slapped "at random”. Slapping is striking with the open hand and usually with energetic force. It usually aimed at a single individual. More than that, slapping is the highest affront to human dignity. If it's random, so it has no definite purpose. There is a difference though about being slapped and being warred-off. To prove in court they are physically slapped is very important. Well, one thing is certain, this alleged slapping incident mirrors something within us as leaders and as citizens. Both the vendors and the LGU project implementers more so, we, the consumers, suffer from human beings’ modern burden: Uncertainty. Be it economical, spiritual, cultural, social, ecological and political uncertainty.

I have no qualms about development projects such as the construction or renovation of say, a public market. Infrastructures are signs of development and a manifestation how a local chief executive do his duties and functions but there are things often neglected towards this noble intention. The first work tool in any construction project is not the lever but a long table which the builder can spread things out, sit with the stakeholders for a dialogue, especially those who are perceived to oppose it. Builders and users must settle first important things and differences. Without them, expect a scandalous situation that would surely hit not only the national media but even in social networking sites specially Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, a certain member of Unlad Mindoro cyber group private messaged me and showed me two opposed pictures of the San Jose Public Market. Picture A depicts the ugliness of the present market and Picture B, an Architect’s perspective of the new, beautiful market and asked me questions to this effect, “Do you still want this ugliness? Why you are opposing this beautiful project?” With due respect to the source/s, what was posted was oversimplification at its best.

To analyze the posting, what is essential is the point – the transitory details – or the areas between two distinct strata (read: His/her/their Pictures “A” and “B”) found side by side. Transitions need to be scrutinized and neglecting them spells mess, if not scandal. Without considering these various aspects, we present only superficial beauty of the project. To reiterate, the most urgent for us to know what lies behind the point of origin to intended destination. It takes intellect to link and mesh to probe and seek for the truth. In doing such, we are also instructing. Mediocre communicators only sow seeds of intrigues but to support certain cause, we need to educate everybody, friend or foe. “Education for All” says DepEd remember? (To break the ice, I am just joking!)

But it is not a joke for a priest to be involved into this reportedly slapping scandal. One Facebook member claimed that the celebrated healing priest
who was recently incardinated here in our diocese, in the middle of Eucharistic Celebration remarked something about the alleged slapping. I do not know if such remarks really uttered by him but sure thing is, the priest is already dragged into the controversy. I do not know if he also has the gift of healing us who suffers from this cancer called “Political Uncertainty”.

Can he initiate this “community healing”? My answer is in the affirmative. Both of the rival political leaders respect our man of cloth. He is more than capable as a mediator for he is an “outsider”. The first step he must do is to form a panel composed of people, lay and ordained, handpicked by the two opposing politicians themselves. Initially, the panel’s task is to identify and finalize talking points that would serve as agenda when the two leaders ultimately meet face to face. It is the panel that would set the rules and nobody would impose conditions to the other. One of his tasks is assure the objectivity, sincerity and fairness are kept along the process and among the subject personalities. He must be a fair but firm umpire, like Joe Cortez, amidst the ensuing series of talks and meetings. Other details on the thrusts, goal and action of the reconciliatory panel will surely come along the way. This way we will be truly animating a Marian mission for the poor of this Particular Church.

I believe one of the urgent calls of priests is to reconcile divided people, to restore friendships and shattered relationships, to heal the wounds of brokenness and to bring about harmony, justice and peace “to heal our land” (2 Chron. 6:24ff) and not to divide us or be completely identified with any of the rival groups. It is somewhat a purifying and not a destructive blaze. Only through this, healing will come our way. Father, knows that.

I am certain of this…

---------

(Photo grabbed without permission from Willy Bleza's FB Account)

Lessons From Mr. Miyagi

I was outnumbered in our every lengthy discussion about the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill not only in Facebook but in other social networking sites. Luckily the lessons I’ve learned from Mr. Miyagi (played by Pat Morita) in the1984 movie “Karate Kid” helped me regain, more than ever, my composure and even more kept my feet firm on solid ground.

In the film, Miyagi first asked Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Macchio), as part of his Karate training, to paint fence and wax sedans in a hand and arm motion that didn’t seem to make sense to the latter. Daniel sees them as pointless tasks and wanted to discontinue the training. It was only later, after Miyagi knew Daniel was all set, that he showed him how the natural repetition of his hand motion would benefit his defensive skills. It was only then that the boy fully understood why he is asked to do that “nonsense”. Daniel gradually developed his muscle and strength from his seemingly “mindless” obedience to Mr. Miyagi, his master.

Every time I join in such healthy (and sometimes wayward) discussions, I do not expect people to side with me. I do not have the false hope of winning their hearts and minds either. It is not what my Divine Master is expected me to accomplish. My task is simply to jump into the ring with my able mind and body, watchful of the words I use so that I would not personally offend anybody and “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12) which is by the way my guiding Biblical verse. But sometimes I wonder where are the rest of the men and women of faith (and of cloth) from my diocese to back us up with our stand. This saddened me more than the arguments raised by my pro-RH cyber friends. The Philippine RH Bill is indeed a controversial issue. Are they, those men and women in religious organizations, too busy with the private and personal controversies they are into? One thing is certain: the pro-RH fellows are intellectually prepared and did their homework well. Unlike many of us…

I didn’t really fail. Through facing the multitude of “opponents” and swimming against the tide, so to speak, I have grown much stronger. My reasoning abilities became sharper than before. Yes, I haven’t changed my pro-RH friends’ position on the matter but I shared my views and was able to convey something from the teachings of my Church and that’s what matters most.

I also wish to thank my “opponents” for stoning me to death using cotton balls of friendship! Majority of them were able to present and exhaustively, and objectively at that, their stands. With the passage or not of the RH Bill, we will still be friends forever. We will respect each other still. I can feel it. Like how Mr. Miyagi and Daniel, towards the end of the movie, obtained respect from the tow-headed, black-belted bully named Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka) and his master John Kreese (Martion Kove) and vice-versa.

Call me a loser on this. But I am just trying to be obedient to what my Church teaches, to push and to exercise my faith and trust in what I, repeat I, perceive as God’s wisdom…

---------
(Photo: mutantreviewers.wordpress.com)

Monsoon Flood and Drops of Heroism

They were helplessly stranded at Batangas Port for more than 48 hours but did not backed-out and instead bravely crossed raging floods of Occidental Mindoro at the height of the torrential rains that brought by southwest monsoon and made most part of the country submerged in water. Minding not their loved ones that they left behind, they proceeded to their mission of delivering relief goods intended for the calamity-stricken communities of Sablayan from the Office of the Vice President or the OVP. Earlier, LGU-Sablayan’s Local Chief Executive wrote a letter to Vice President Jejomar C. Binay requesting for relief assistance for those affected in our town’s flood-prone areas. It was August 1 when they left Manila but due to strong winds and other problems, all the Ro-Ro trips bound from Batangas to Abra de Ilog and vice-versa, were all cancelled. The OVP Relief Operations Team utilizes an ambulance and a privately-owned delivery truck along with 3 other personnel from a private company for the relief mission.

Ro-Ro trip going to Abra de Ilog finally resumed but only light vehicles are allowed to board. Only the ambulance and those people inside it,- Ms. Jocelyn B. Besana, Assistant Team Leader; Venusa C. Hernandez, Team Leader; and Ronell A. Caballero and Cesar P. Bartolome, initially made it to our province. The closed van or delivery truck containing relief goods was left in Batangas scheduled to travel via Calapan route. Hungry and tired, they are almost vegetable-like when they reached Sablayan.

The following day, news broke out that the delivery truck fell from a ravine in Magsaysay town. Alex G. Luriz, Virgie D. Baldonasa and Benjie C. Dian, on August 3 were rushed to the San Jose District Hospital. The accident happened at around 4:00 am in a curved and sloping national road in Sitio Bunga, Brgy. Nicolas in Magsaysay. Lucky enough, they just suffered minor wounds and bruises and already sent back by their company to their home base. Told you, heroism is about risking your limbs for a humanitarian cause. Allow me to add, maybe God allows suffering to happen in order for us to share to ease the sufferings of our neighbors.

The OVP Team then went to San Jose and also extended temporary assistance to some 300 families who evacuated from Brgy. San Agustin. Local politicians from both camps crowded them obviously for partisan credit-grabbing purposes. Those politicians want to be identified with the OVP but the team proceeded at their own.

Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano the other day recommended to Sablayan’s Local Legislative Board to commend the Magsaysay Police Station and Police Senior Inspector Gerald Florendo Bendillo, SPO1 Alexander Relopez Garcia, SPO1 Carlo Tadeo de la Cruz, PO3 Eddie Boy Ramos de la Cruz, PO3 Bonifacio Alotencio Tacuyo, PO3 Helberto Cañete Perol, PO3 Cresanto Duran Muñoz and PO3 Jake Golong Maliwat for immediately responding to the situation. The PNP men helped to unload thousands of relief goods,- foodstuffs and blankets.

Ma’am Jocelyn even spent her _th birthday in Occidental Mindoro while Metro-Manila and all nearby provinces are all water. To make something out nice out of the ugly predicament, Mayor Gadiano’s Executive Assistant, Bongbong B. Marquez, threw a little birthday party for her where cake and spaghetti are served. The celebration was held at the Mayor’s Office and was extended later that day with a couple of Tanduay Ice at LandManz Hotel. In the middle of the celebration, they received a ring from their boss, ASEC Rosalie Licauco, telling them to proceed to Sta. Cruz and Mamburao for another round of relief mission. Licauco is OVP’s Asec for Administration and Finance. Their more than 2 weeks stay in Occidental Mindoro has to be extended for sure while the other teams that were deployed in other provinces have already returned “to barracks”, so to speak. But these memories would surely make them come back for that same reason or another.

The following day, their ambulance is again back on the hellish road of Occidental Mindoro, somehow making the presence of the OVP felt by the flood victims.

A one hell of the road that would take heroes and heroines to tread…

-----
(Photo: File LGU-Sablayan)

Prime Time

The Philippines’ Response to Indigenous Peoples’ and Muslim Education or PRIME was launched in Culasisi Minority School in Brgy. Batongbuhay in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro last July 27, 2012. PRIME is an educational development initiative of the Department of Education (DepED) which strives to improve equitable access to and quality education for girls and boys in disadvantaged Indigenous Peoples (IP) and Muslim communities. The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) funded the program and the grant assistance is directed in two key thrusts: Assist in stimulating community-led demand for quality education services and strengthen the capacity of the community, DepED and other stakeholders to respond in providing relevant, sustainable and quality learning opportunities.

Ms. Evelyn C. Barrientos, Principal II of Yapang Elementary School, through her project proposal paved the way for PRIME’s birth in the municipality. Her proposal is called “The School of Living Tradition-Preserving Cultural Heritage: Integrating Alangan Cultural Practices In Culasisi Minority School”. Said school for the Alangan Mangyans is under Sablayan South District of DepED under Ms. Fe Dimzon as its District Superintendent. Also present during the inauguration is Ms. Elizabeth Delas Alas, one of the members of the Division PRIME Team for Occidental Mindoro. Ms. Eden Cenon and Reynaldo Tupaz of National Commission on the Indigenous’ Peoples (NCIP) likewise came for the activity. This humble blogger was not left out and serve as the local government unit’s representative to PRIME. The administration of Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano is without doubt supportive of the education department’s program for the IPs.

One of the main problems of the teachers in rural areas such as the indigenous cultural communities is absenteeism. In a planning-workshop we held recently attended by Alangan parents and non-IP teachers, we have identified some cultural and customary traditions attributable to this phenomenon. First is the observance of “Pamago” or “Palipigan” where family members gather for a thanksgiving feast. It is a 24 hour affair where they pray and eat together devouring on the first harvest of a cropping season. Since it is done overnight, the pupils skipped school for a day. Aside from this feast for a bounty harvest, another celebration is done to pay tribute to the rivers and it is called “Bansag”. It is done two to five days at the most. It is a kind of annual picnic where all community dwellers stay near the river, do some ritual and native pigs were offered to the gods. Those offering are shared evenly by the community after each ritual. Another is “Tagbuan” where not only the Alangans who gather but this time with the Taobuids, another ethno-linguistic group. They meet in a far-flung designated part of the mountain. There they exchange or barter goods, rattans for root crops, bananas for wild yam, bamboos for betel nuts, among others. Aside from being an economic activity, “Tagbuan” also features friendly competitions among the two sub-tribes. It’s a sort of mini Olympics showcasing IP traditional games where both young and old play together. This is a month-long celebration usually from December to January.

Ms. Barrientos, knowing the importance of such events to the IPs, intends to sit with the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) on the matter for a win-win solution. The need to balance education and culture is an imperative. Besides, in her proposal it is implied: “through this project, culture is learned and preserved.”

As if they were in broadcasting, the Mangyans are now in prime time…

-----
(Photo: www.trust.org)

Reflections Brought About by a Photo of a Mangyan Boy Eating Dirty Ice Cream

You can bring canned sardines and instant noodles in the mountains but certainly not an ice cream in a cone, a foodstuff my children loved very much. If only your forefathers did not take advantage of our ignorance of the laws and legal systems, we would not retreat to the interior, to the mountains and forests. We are peace-loving and that’s what we did to avoid conflict. The dirty ice cream (it was called as such because of the way it is handled when sold) that made my children salivate whenever they are in town is as tempting as the greed of those people who drove them away and grabbed their lands. The concept of land ownership, then and even now, is alien to us like an ice cream being one of the manufactured foods for which the listing of ingredients is not commonly required on the package label. You took away our land like how a school bully takes away an ice cream from the trembling hand of a nerd.

But our race survived through the centuries by running away, by letting you educated, civilized and God-believing kind of human being insult and discriminate us. By being source of cheap labour in your ancestor’s farms, ranches, factories and other economic fronts in exchange not only of important things like bolo and salt but fancy foods like … ice cream. We have to retaining that peaceful co-existence with you and every material thing that are attached to your being in order to survive. Anyway, we share the same Mindoro, the same island and the same dream.

In an article written by a certain V.A. Ruff in 1957 which appeared in p. 39 of the News Report Magazine, he vividly described his first encounter with our kind : “Our first stop was a little village on Otoyan, near the crocodile-infested Caguray River. We were met by a long-haired Mangyan who turned out to be the head of the place. “Lungao” was his name and not a surprise was his ability to speak Tagalog, which he learned when he used to work as a cowhand, he told us. We distributed candies, matches and beads to the half-naked children, men and women that crowded around us. He invited us into his one room abode and as we squatted on the bare floor I saw monkey skulls grinning at me. They we hanging all around the ceiling. Monkey meat it seems, is a favourite menu. I also saw an old woman feasting on a huge bat – just whole solid barbecued bat, no sauce. I got a fistful of salt from my bag and handed it to the woman who quickly jumped at it. And to say I was amazed when I saw her sucking at the salt resting on her open palm as if were candy, would be putting it mildly.” We may be different in what to eat and how to eat them but we share the same reason why we eat and that made us the same.

Every food sharing or every table fellowship, like what your religion have taught you, be it noodles, sardines or … ice cream and even salt, with your less fortunate brethren is a guarantee of peace and trust. In these giving-receiving/receiving-giving acts, in a way we celebrate what you call the Eucharist. The real presence of that Man who is also in G-strings and nailed to that wooden thing you call “Cross”.

In exchanging something to eat we are one in hoping for a bountiful table each day even though we both live in the world enslaved by disparity and discrimination.

A situation that can be compared to a child eating dirty ice cream while walking totally nude under the extreme heat of the sun, barefooted at the downtown’s hot cemented road…

+++++
(Happy Birthday to Rev. Fr. Gerry F. Causapin on July 29, Sunday. Fr. Gerry is the Parish Priest of San Sebastian Parish in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.)

Abraham Lincoln and the Vampires

Now showing in Philippine theatres is a movie about United States’ 16th president entitled “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” directed and co-produced by Timur Bekmambetov, written by Seth Grahame-Smith from his book with the same title. Lincoln, played by Benjamin Walker, is portrayed in the novel and the film as having a secret identity as a vampire hunter. Now I understand why my daughter asked me the other day if it is true that the famous American who abolished slavery and preserved the Union really became a vampire-busting hero. I told her that that’s the biggest joke I’ve ever heard. But nowadays they are making movies out of a historical joke, aren’t they?

True, Abraham Lincoln is the most prominent figure in America’s history. Many authors wrote about that mysterious man. Sadly, Lincoln’s politics remained in his time and only few understood it today.

Lincoln was both a pundit in politics and a stern advocate of a principled cause. Not only that, even when dealing with his political rivals, he sincerely considered them friends and did not maliciously and arrogantly attacked them. It was said that during the Civil War Lincoln had occasion at an official reception to refer to the Southerners as erring human beings rather than as enemies to be exterminated. An elderly lady, a fiery patriot, rebuked him for speaking kindly of his enemies when he ought to be thinking of destroying them. "Why, madam," said Lincoln, "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" Politicians as some of us are, we must keep our sanity intact in dealing with our rivals and critics. Personal political vendetta would just make us sacrifice the good image we have cherished since the time when the Mangyans still lives in the lowland and the population of the Tamaraw was still high. People of this breed, no matter how high the positions they occupy in the government, are like vampires that suck the blood of good values running in the veins of our youths. Ours is a situation where contradictions divide us thus never forming a coherent whole.

A truly respected politician, even in the middle of a criminal or administrative case, real or otherwise, must find ways also to promote ideals for friendship. As public figures and public servants, we have to put friendship in a high place. Let us learn to teach and practice friendship to our children and children’s children.

For such trait, Lincoln was respected even by his detractors. Even in times of crises he remained firm and calm, polite and friendly. I want to see him leading the league of politicians who practice “free- for-all” friendship in public office and not with Buffy and the other vampire hunters. By the way, coming up next is another movie called “Abraham Lincoln Vs Zombies” directed by Richard Schenkman.

With these, I would not be surprised if in the future, after the independent film “Noy” in 2010 starring Coco Martin, a Filipino flick on the president fighting the “aswangs” and “manananggals” would hit our cinemas!

Seriously, publicly demonstrating our arrogance is the biggest horrible joke that we encounter today. It’s the longest running joke in the province’s political scene, too long that cannot be captured even in a full length horror movie…

-------
(Photo: 1.bp.blogspot.com from movie stills)

Stories of Inawa Panaynep

“Inawa Panaynep” is the Alangan term for English “Fulfilled Dream” and “Natupad na Pangarap” in Filipino. And this is also how the around a hundred of Mangyan dwellers in So. Calamansian in Brgy. San Agustin, Sablayan here in Occidental Mindoro describe the two (2) main construction projects in their community.

Last July 4, 2012 the Ground Breaking Ceremony was held for the One Unit Two Classroom School Building intended for the IP pupils in said area. Also that day, the inauguration and turn-over of the almost 2 Km. Inawa Panaynep Road came into reality. The access road is a project under the Kalahi-CIDSS-Makamasang Tugon Project under the Department of Social Services and Development or DSWD. The more than P1M worth project was funded by the US-based Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCF) where LGU-Sablayan also placed a counterpart. On the other hand, the building for Calamansian Minority School came from the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Performance Challenged Fund or PCF. The P1M fund utilized for the project actually came from PCF as prize money when LGU-Sablayan bagged the Seal of Good Housekeeping in 2011. The award is annually given by the DILG to deserving LGU’s nationwide to recognize their exemplary performance in terms of transparency in governance. In whole Occidental Mindoro, Sablayan is its first recipient. LGU-San Jose and the Provincial Government just followed the trail.

The visiting officials from DSWD and DILG national offices consist of DILG Assistant Regional Director James F. Fadrilan, CESO IV and Octavio M. Tamondong, Chief of Project Development Management Unit of DILG. Also present are DSWD’s, Deputy Kalahi-CIDSS Coordinator Joel Mijares, Ms. Ligaya Morales, Deputy National Community Development Specialist and Ms. Angelica delas Alas, Social Marketing Specialist III. They, along with his department heads, Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano, together with MGLOO Jerry V. Santos and Hon. Ruben P. Dangupon, IP/ICC Representative to the Local Legislative Council initiated and witnessed the twin ceremonies. San Agustin Brgy. Chairman Rolando G. Felipe and his council hosted the two momentous events in the life of the indigenous peoples (IPs) of San Agustin.

In a little ceremony held direct at the heart of the community under the rain, Chairman Felipe remembers how they collectively prioritized the project through series of consultations, assemblies and other community driven development (CDD) approaches and ultimately been qualified for the project and became one of its eight winners from Sablayan’s 22 barangays. He even mentioned how the IP themselves came up with the name of the road. The project is seen as symbols of Captain Felipe’s and Mayor Gadiano’s genuine concern for the Alangans or the Mangyans of Sablayan in general, and of Brgy. San Agustin in particular.

Arsing Sarmiento, a tribal elder, likewise extended his word of thanks to the concerned government officials. He even recalled that it has been a long time since they have ventilated to then leaders of both national and local government their dream of having an access road for swift delivery of their produce to the market and for easy access to the town proper or urban centers. He added that the road will be used not only by the residents of Calamansian but by other nearby IP villages. Sarmiento extended his words of commendation to the LCE whom he knew since Gadiano’s NGO days. That was long before the mayor entered into politics.

The following day, we came to witness also the inauguration and turn-over of the Road Construction with 3-Barrel Box Culverts in Brgy. Paetan. The group is welcomed by Barangay Chairman Rodolfo S. Jacinto. The amount of project extended to Paetan is the biggest among the 8 Makamasang Tugon “winners”. Paetan residents tediously followed the CDD process specifically in attending meetings and assemblies and maintained the 100% attendance rating. The savings that incurred from the project was utilized for rip-rapping and construction of a waiting shed nearby.

In his Paetan speech, Mayor Gadiano reiterated that the recipients should monitor and assist in maintaining the project. He also stated that his government will also be employing the CDD process in allocating the LGU’s 50% of 20% Development Fund (DF) amounting to P24M. The total 20% DF of Sablayan is posted at P48M. Mayor Gadiano gave the assurance that 14 barangays who did not make it to the Kalahi-CIDSS will again be processed and be given projects since they have already complied with the initial requirements. At present, 7 different projects are on their way coming from said fund.

The Paetan project is indeed a solution to the community’s long and perennial rainy-day problems which make the lives of the people very difficult. Now they will no longer be disconnected to adjacent barangays especially during floods. Brgy. Captain Jacinto said that the project was a fulfilled dream.

Not unlike in San Agustin, this one in Paetan though not directly an IP project, is in a way another “Inawa Panaynep”…

--------
(Photo: File)

What’s in Store for Sablayan Mangyans?

Borrowing from Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill in their book I haven’t read entitled “First Things First”, this became the road map I am already crossing or trying to cross into: “Live, Love, Learn and Leave a Legacy”. Aren’t those things we ought to do in our entire life?

Sablayan Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano last year created the Indigenous People’s Affairs Office (IPAO) under his office. The IPAO has the following Duties and Functions in general: serve as the Assistance Centre of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) to receive and acknowledge complaint or requests; make referrals to concerned agencies and departments within the LGU specifically the Mayor’s Office in relation to IP needs; coordinate with concerned offices of the LGU on the giving of financial and food assistance to transient IPs or walk-in clients on official visit to the IPAO. The office’s special functions include: conduct baseline survey/census and researches in coordination with concerned agencies both public and private; facilitate information and education campaigns on the promotion and awareness building on the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA); provide direct assistance and basic social services and conduct and spearhead consultations, trainings, seminars, consultations, focused group discussions in IP communities and other stakeholders. In January, he designated me to that IPAO post.

My office’s banner programs consist of Lingap-Katutubo Educational Assistance, Socio-Economic and Sustainable Agriculture and Livelihood including Advocacy Campaign for Peace and Development. I was involved in the community processes headed by the National Commission for the Indigenous Peoples or NCIP for the mandatory IP representation in the local legislative board. Ultimately, the Philippine history’s first ever Mangyan municipal legislator finally swore in into office last February 4, 2012 as mandated in Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular No. 2011-119 dated October 20, 2011. Hon. Ruben Pasajol Dangupon, 30, an Alangan Mangyan, now represents the indigenous peoples and communities (He sits by my side in the picture above). It’s he who promised his tribe to be their voice in the government.

Aside from sustaining what we have started this 2012, next year, the construction of “Balay Lakoy” (Big House), a temporary shelter for itinerant Taobuids and Alangan of Sablayan is to be established in the town proper. It’s a place intended also to be venues for their meetings and other activities. In 2013, LGU-Sablayan also intends to create two (2) IP communities into Mangyan barangays. One barangay is to be created for the Taobuid and another for the Alangan. The initial process for its creation is hopefully started next year. Having their own barangay means having their own revenue and more responsibility in terms of governance thus the move brings empowerment. This is a tedious job for we have to pass all the legal requirements towards this goal. Wish me and the Mangyan leaders and government officials who gave me this opportunity to be part of this historic cause.

In the dedication marker of the Mangyan figure tableau statue at the Plaza we can find the LCE’s message which reads in part:

"A tribute to the Taobuid and Alangan Mangyan ethnic groups, the first inhabitants of Sablayan… The people of Sablayan highly recognize the contributions of the Taobuid and Alangan Mangyans to the sustained development of Sablayan particularly in the preservation of their rich culture and tradition, tribal justice system, sustainable agriculture, care the environment and their exemplary peaceful ways of resolving conflicts and problems, and other positive characteristics that we lowlander should reflect on and follow...”

The figure tableau became a symbol of Sablayan’s meaningful journey with the Mangyans, the poorest of the poor among us. Ours is a sustained journey towards the IPs place under the sun.

A journey I am hopeful that I will simply leave a footprint, if not a legacy…

------
(Photo: File)

4Ps and Muslim Women

This is the first time I am in the company of Muslim women and I’ve discovered that they also laugh at Christian men’s point blank jokes and pranks. My new friends are all from the provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM and we are attending the Trainer’s Training on the Enhanced Family Development Session (FDS) Manual for Civil Society Organizations (CSO) at Bay View Hotel along Roxas Boulevard in Manila. Said training of trainers (TOT) is jointly spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and a faith- based CSO called I-Help.

The FDS is part and parcel of the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program also known as 4Ps. FDS is designed to be given to household grantees or partners as one of the requirements to avail the cash benefits. Each session will run for minimum of two (2) hours every month with maximum of thirty (30) participants consist of the household grantees and their spouse or any adult member of the family with children. Surrogate parents may also attend and join them. I am wearing my other hat (or should I say bull cap?) in that occasion for I am representing KAAGAPAY NGO-PO Network the entire five (5) training days. Each session is aimed to strengthen the promotion of family life among household partners by imparting basic knowledge and skills in meeting their familial and parental responsibilities. It is also designed to build community participation and development among them and other community members. Our training consists of main topics such as Disaster Reduction and Risk Management, Child Care, Adult Learning, among others.

The Muslim women in our cluster consist of Faridah D. Alango of Al-Mujadillah Development Foundation (AMDF), Monarassana A. Muctar of WASILA-Basilan, Arfaida A. Aral of Unified Successors for Change, Noraya S. Mohamad of AMDF-Pilipina and Aivie D. Gambe of ARMM. They are of different ages and civil status but all intelligent, dedicated and committed. They are not only limitedly adhered to women’s cause but in all dimensions of the Muslim’s socio-political life especially in renouncing violence as a way to attain peace and freedom.

In Sablayan, 4Ps was already availed by 3,843 beneficiaries. More are expected to undergo this program since the municipality is targeting to serve at least 5,000 beneficiaries and getting positive response from target communities. The program will continue all over the country until 2015 as assured by Secretary Florencio Abad of budget department and P45 billion pesos is allotted for the so-called “grand dole out” for 2013. Though Gabriela Party List Rep. Emmie de Jesus lambasted the program saying that it has no positive impact, my new friends said that in their poverty- stricken and war- torn communities, the program gradually augments household economic needs. While I agree with de Jesus in saying that the government have to create and implement strategic economic programs but at the same time, temporary financial aid cannot be set aside to alleviate poverty. But there is also a grain of truth to the recent findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) when it reported that DSWD failed to validate household data which resulted in discrepancies. There is still a lot to be done to make it more responsive and fruitful especially in this aspect. The door for improvement of 4Ps should never be kept ajar. It should be open wide instead.

I also learned that in a Muslim woman, pregnancy is an opportune time for spiritual renewal for no prayer is allowed during menstruation. By the way, I’ve learned this not from those women I’ve mentioned but from a Muslim guy named Mudz Hailanie of PCART from Sulu while I am puffing my Marlboro and him his Philip Morris. At the upper deck of the hotel at its pool side, we compared notes and shared nicotine and second hand smoke altogether.

This is the first time I have exchanged ideas, work experiences and laughter with our Muslim sisters. I have already shared this to some of my FB friends in our group called SOME but I want to retell it here in “Minding Mindoro”. When our physician facilitator asked, “Why Early Childhood Screening is important?” They all burst into laughter when the stupid in me spontaneously answered, “To protect them from mosquitos!” To tell you, this is just an example of chain of foolishness that I shared.

“Laughter is the best medicine” says a Reader’s Digest section but for me, making people laugh is not only to kill boredom but to cover things that I am ignorant of like all those health workers’ stuff. There’s also a point when I asked them, “Why is it that a Health Center is called a “center” even if it is built in the side?” Truly, Muslim women like any other women of faith, celebrate life by laughing and comical acts and by opening themselves to new male friends regardless of religion and other human distinctions. In his book “The Feast of Fools” Harvey Cox has this to say: “Only by learning to laugh at the hopelessness around us can we touch the hem of hope. Christ the clown signifies our playful appreciation of the past and our comic refusal to accept the spectre of inevitability of the future.” Laughter in a way is a manifestation of both Christian and Muslim hope, so it can also be considered as an expression of faith.

My new friends are Muslims and they are all good and they are very much alive! …

-------

(Photo: Benhur Arcayan of GMA News)

Independence Day and the Two Mannys

Question of the week:“How would we celebrate Independence Day if Manny Pacquiao is beaten by American Timothy Bradley come Sunday?” To be honest, I do not know. All I know is who ever win the fight, Bob Arum’s purse will be overloaded after the bout. Arum is promoting both Pacquiao and Bradley, remember? If Pacman is defeated, all what Arum need is to schedule a re-match and will be again promoting both boxers. A convincing win of Bradley (knock on wood!) would be the first chance for Arum to make a star out of the American boxer but the latter have to arrange bigger and more exciting fight for the former or win convincingly in the re-match. To have a name, Bradley have to KO Manny and for Manny, he have to convince the boxing gods all over the world that they still need him, that the “industry” still want him for he is still bankable. Bradley already counting chicks and wildly predicting, or dreaming, that he’ll win the match and already scheduled a rematch on November 10 this year. But let us all hope that Manny really knows best and Arum knows a little.

No matter how “Arumatic” it is, prepare for the “Filipino-American war” on Sunday!

In case you do not know, Western boxing was introduced to Filipinos by three known Americans: Frank Churchill and the Tait brothers, Stewart and Eddie. Eddie Tait, a boxer himself, reached the shores of Manila in 1902, less than four years after the Philippines had declared independence from Spain. In an article in the Tacoma News Tribune (TNT) published in December 10, 1926 entitled "Tacoma Connected With Orient Ring," said that Churchill, the Taits and their other companions erected a boxing stadium in Avenida Rizal in 1917. This became the regular venue of weekly boxing shows in town.

Before that, the Olympic Club of Manila was born in 1909 and an array of Filipino and American boxers were trained there like Sailor Charlie Grande, Billy Walters, Soldier Kearns, Frank Logan, Louie Albert, Charlie Pitts, and our very own Battling Sanchez, Francisco Flores, Paul Gyn, Silvino Jamito, and Dencio Cabanela. No matter how we avoid it, history shows that we cannot achieve victory and independence without foreign hands or say, fists. Cuban Castro needs an Argentinian Che raising his clenched fists shouting “Patria O Muerte!” and drive out Americans in Cuba and they completely achieved freedom. In the Philippines, we allowed foreigners to dominate us as a nation, not only in flesh but also our soul that is why nationalist Filipinos, then and now, says that our independence is bogus or incomplete for we still experience foreign domination, politically and economically.

Indeed, more than a hundred years ago, Filipinos and Americans who were compatriots of Pacquiao and Freddie Roach, became important figures in Philippine boxing history. Even the story of first great Filipino boxer Pacho Villa could attest to that. I would like to mention time and again that, contrary to San Jose’s claim in their coffee table book published in the occasion of its 100th Founding Anniversary that Pacquiao’s first professional fight happened there, official records show that it actually happened in Sablayan in 1995 where Pacquiao won over Enting “Titing” Ignacio via KO.

Speaking of Pacquiao-Bradley, SB Member Hon. Manuel P. Tadeo is expected once again to offer a free live telecast of the fight direct from Las Vegas on Sunday at the Sablayan Astrodome. I’ll try to be there and cheer for Congressmanny, of course. Incidentally, the back-to-back Best Coach Awardee of the Mayor Ed Gadiano Basketball Cup is presently pushing for the creation of Sports Development Council in our town. He is so proud of Sablayan youths who are into sports specially those who made it to the Palarong Pambansa in Pangasinan this year. Aside from its scenic places or destinations like the Apo Reef, Pandan Island and Mt. Iglit, sports also attract tourists if properly packaged and promoted.

And I wish Tadeo (and his namesake Pacquiao) all the luck…

-------
(Photo from Manny Tadeo's FB Account)

OMECO as Punching Bag

His office absorbs all our criticisms and hatred especially during brownouts or power outage. But I will not blame the member-consumers for such reactions because not many of us, unlike those in a boxing gym, was able to realize that a punching bag is always attached to something over it. In the forthcoming issue of Kidlat-Tamaraw, the official newsletter of Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative or OMECO, Engr. Alfred A. Dantis has this to impart: “Inch by inch our untiring flesh will take us where development is; where the hearts of our people will walk us through, until we have tendered our rents to the Most Powerful Owner.”

Carrying the theme, “Ang Susi ng Pagbabago Tungo sa Kaunlaran : Matatag at Maayos na supply ng Kuryente, Mabuting Pamamahala at Lakas ng Kamay-Ari!”, OMECO’s 33rd Annual General Membership Assembly or AGMA was held in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro last Sunday, May 27, 2012. Two major issues were settled that would construct major amendments to the EC’s by-laws, specifically on these three areas: the collection of P75.00 membership fee from P 4.00 collected since 1974, the re-districting of District VII (Mamburao, Sta. Cruz and Abra de Ilog) areas (The election dates for each district and other little but relevant details skipped my memory but rest assured that I will keep you all posted.). Another highlight of the recently-concluded AGMA is the oath taking of 3 new and in-coming BOD members namely, Dir. Rodolfo A. Plopinio of Mamburao; Dir. Edelmar P. Ulay of Calintaan and Dir. Ma. Theresa R. Poblador of Sablayan. Two of the former directors, Myrna G. Magno of Magsaysay and Melito C. Pasol of Rizal, were re-elected and they likewise took their oath administered by Abra de Ilog Vice Mayor Floro Castillo. The outgoing directors, Chairman Samuel A. Villar, Vice Chairman Francisco T. Servando and Secretary Arsenio C. Samson were likewise acknowledged. I do not know why Poblador and Ulay did not show up for the event.

In OMECO Annual Report 2011 distributed in Abra AGMA, former chair Samuel A. Villar said; “Ang taong ito ay nagbabadya ng bagong pag-asa at pakikibaka sa mga hamon at katatagan ng ating kooperatiba. Bagong pag-asa dahil sa mahusay na pamunuan at sa napipintong pagsasakatuparan ng Competitive Selection Process (CSP) o ang pagbubukas ng pagkakataon sa mga gustong mamuhunan sa pagsusuplay ng enerhiya sa ating kooperatiba…” Villar is talking about the CSP formally launched in San Jose last January 18, this year and started through conference with potential bidders at Bayview Park Hotel in Manila on April 16, 2012. The previous year, 2011, also marked the framing and approval of Occidental Mindoro Power Supply Plan or the Energy Development Plan 2013-2043 drafted by the EDAG or the Energy Development Advisory Group composed of people coming from different sectors of society. Key EDAG members and Prof. Ronwaldo R. del Mundo of the National Electrical Engineering Center of the University of the Philippines (UP), OMECO’s transactional adviser laid all the schedules from invitation of potential bidders or new power provider (NPP) up to consequent issuance of Notice of Awards.

The CSP was launched by OMECO despite of the fact that there is still a case before a local RTC concerning the so-called “judicial determination” of the Energy Conversion Agreement (ECA) between Island Power Corporation (IPC) and OMECO filed early this year. As expected, IPC filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the CSP.

The legal speedball is still swinging so I’ll stop.

Looking from a distance, I think what OMECO needs, aside from those technical and financial accomplishments, is its membership information and development programs. Along this line, the creation of another office that would deal on social responsibility or community relations is imperative. An office that would also mind the everyday social needs of the member consumers. A bagful of humanitarian community service both material and financial. A bagful of charity and relief, empowerment and advocacy. A bag that is more contained with lights than shadows.

And who would dare to punch that bag?...

The Mangyan Educational System (Crossing Mountains and Fingers)

It started with a noble legislation from an equally noble public figure slowly getting prominence not only among those who belong to indigenous cultural communities of Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro but even in the town’s lowland areas. The Indigenous People’s Open High School Education System started when Hon. Ruben P. Dangupon, a true-blooded Mangyan Alangan and IP/ICC representative to the local legislative board or the Sangguniang Bayan (SB), tackled the need for a “Mangyan-friendly” high school education for the people in Sitio Kulasisi of Brgy. Batong Buhay and Malatungtong in Brgy. Burgos. These schools are going to open the moment the AY 2012-2013 starts this June and all the preparation are now on the way. It is going to be the first ever Mangyan high school in the whole country initiated by the first ever Mangyan legislator in the Philippines.

In his privilege speech sometime last April, Dagupon emphasized the need for such educational project and program not only for the Alangans but for Tao-buids as well. He even consulted people from Department of Education (DepEd) in the locality through the facilitation of key people from the office of Hon. Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano specifically his Senior Executive Secretary Bong B. Marquez and with all modesty, this representation as the LGU’s indigenous peoples’ affairs in-charge. Our local chief executive supports the project 101% .

By the way, barely just four months in office, Dangupon have already sponsored more or less six resolutions forwarded to concerned national agencies and government officials. Those legislations consist of the immediate awarding of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADTs) of the two IP sub-tribes of Sablayan, the appeal to stop the application of JCET Mining, the proposed socialized housing in specific IP areas, among others. In fact, our IP/ICC representative has already surpassed some of his colleagues in terms of quantity and quality of legislations sponsored in their august body. They are ahead of him in experience and in tenure (And to protect their identity (?), I would not mention their names here!).

Another distinguished and noble gentleman whom worthy to recognize for this endeavor is Mr. Arnaldo G. Ventura, Principal IV of the Sablayan National Comprehensive High School or SABNAHIS including his teachers who are willing to teach, live, immerse and learn from the Mangyans. Mr. Ventura lobbied exhaustively in the past two weeks to the DepEd division office in Mamburao. The two learning centers are extension campuses of the SABNAHIS. The multi-awarded educator, like Mayor Ed Gadiano, is 101% supportive of the project.

Last May 17 and 18, we employees from different offices of LGU-Sablayan headed by Fernando B. Dalangin and Alfredo R. Ventura, our environment and natural resources and administrative officers respectively, along with other partner agencies like DepEd conducted a community consultation cum ocular inspection and data gathering, went up to said far-flung highland communities. Mr. Ventura discussed thoroughly to the community dwellers the DepEds Open High School policy and other details. He said that this academic program is tailor-made for the Mangyans. No amount is to be collected to the enrollees or students, their curriculum will be different from those taking regular studies in other schools, the books and other education materials including uniforms will be provided free of charge by the department and support groups. Ventura further stressed that the curriculum is more heavy on customary learning and culturally based economic and entrepreneurship and would not concentrate that much on subjects that has little to do with their way of life and goals. All of the residents, regardless of age and sex, who have finished their elementary studies are also allowed. Of course, they will also be dwelling on reading, writing and arithmetic. This education system is also open to counterparts from the municipal government and the IP leaders themselves. All systems go for this project.

Crossing by foot the stiff hills, makeshift bridges and creeks going to Malatungtong, we have heard the tribal leaders and elders belonging to Fakasadian Manga-nguyang Tao-buid Daga Incorporated of FAMATODI, stating that the IP High School is a welcome development in terms of basic education for the Mangyans. FAMATODI chair Peping Poyngon and sitio leader Temio Tikwanade promised to sustain the project through things agreed upon by the tribes.

Since the 1920’s in the whole Mindoro, the Mangyan education system remained inadequate due to various socio-political reasons. Major policies have not been truly adapted to the Mangyan culture and aspirations and racism played important role for this crisis. Our IP sisters and brothers suffer exploitation from influenced political leaders and business elites, then and in the recent past. The system became completely futile, if I may reiterate, because it was not according to the way the Mangyans want it to be and not adapted to their needs. Educational systems must be dynamic and ultimately serve even the most vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society like the Alangan and Tao-buids of Sablayan.

Let us keep our fingers crossed like how we crossed the hanging bridge in Burgos under the extreme heat of the sun that day…

My First Lessons in Ermita

Filipino music icon Freddie Aguilar mentioned the name of this street in his famous song “Magdalena”. Here’s the line of the song: “Kaya ika'y namasukan, doon sa Mabini napadpad/Mula noon, binansagang kalapating mababa ang lipad.” Indeed, Mabini Street in this particular district of Metro Manila called Ermita was once notorious being the red light capital of the country. Today, everything’s been different they say. Commercial buildings are all over sans the old pub houses and flesh trade workers roaming around old Mabini at night, once destination of their usual customers - dirty old men, philandering husbands including sexually adventurous male teenagers. But still, elegant and expensive bars and watering holes can still be found there. Ermita’s image been changed in recent decade, said one of our hosts.

No, no, no. We were not there for such mundane enjoyment or tour. I was with the company of respected ladies and gentlemen in my second hometown. My “we” here pertains to the eight Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) members of LGU-Sablayan. They are all department heads of the municipality. This lowly blogger joined them apparently because they want me in the BAC Secretariat the moment I have already an official appointment from the mayor.

We are sent to Ermita by our local chief executive for a four-day seminar on the Government Procurement Act, otherwise known as Republic Act 9184. He made sure that concerned department heads participate in the regional training-workshop to be armed with knowledge and information that would guide us in our job. I believe that every local chief executive must have a firm information and hand on the Act and I am sure Mayor Ed Gadiano is aware of it. For four days, from May 8, to 11, we are bombarded with letters and intents and details of said legal instruments including its Internal Rules and Regulation or IRR and other matters regarding the execution of duties and functions of the BAC. I nearly collapsed to the ground like the Ruby Tower of old for everything and everyone inside the hall are all Greek to me. Speaking of tower, the activity was held at Citystate Tower Hotel proudly calling itself “A New Landmark in Sunshine Manila”. It was sponsored by the Local Budget Officers Association LBOA-MIMAROPA and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) IV-B. The participants are composed of selected government employees from the provinces of Romblon and the two Mindoros. Majority of them have background either in engineering, law, accountancy and commerce. So, I asked myself what I am doing here. As a consolation, I just convinced myself that the advocacy for good governance and public accountability knows no academic boundaries so I have nothing to be afraid of. Anyway, a pundit was once a neophyte. Besides, DepEd once has this slogan: “Be proud to be a teacher. The Future Depends on You”. I am a teacher by profession, but worked as social communicator and community development in various NGOs in the last 30 years, in case you are interested to know.

Being new to civil service, I have personally learned that in all government procurements shall be in all cases must be governed by the following five major principles: 1.) Transparency in the procurement process and in the implementation of procurement contracts. 2.) Competitiveness by extending equal opportunity to enable private contracting parties who are eligible and qualified to participate in public bidding. 3.) Streamlined procurement process that will uniformly apply to all government procurement. The procurement process shall be simple and made adaptable to advances in modern technology in order to ensure an effective and efficient method. 4.) System of accountability where both the public officials directly or indirectly involved in the procurement process as well as in the implementation of procurement contracts and the private parties that deal with government are, when warranted by circumstances, investigated and held liable for their actions relative thereto. 5.) Public monitoring of the procurement process and the implementation of awarded contracts with the end in view of guaranteeing that these contracts are awarded pursuant to the provisions of the Procurement Law and its implementing rules and regulations, and that all these contracts are performed strictly according to specifications. We have terrific and well-versed resource speakers headed by Dir. Renato M. de Vera of DBM Region IV-B.

To reiterate, RA 9184 was designed to cover everything government needs to buy, construct or provide. It set down that procurement along with the rules and regulations around it covered acquisition of goods, consulting services, infrastructure projects. But to tell you, like any other law, this Act is good but the evil is in its true-to-life realization. In the real situation nation-wide, conspiracy, gross negligence of duty, splitting of contracts and other anomalies are experienced. Indeed, representation from the private sector is needed in every BAC and we must all be cultural sensitive to corruption.

That’s what I have learned from present-day Ermita aside from knowing that there is such thing as Pre-bed, err, bid Conference in every bidding transaction. To inject a little Pinoy movie trivia, if I were not mistaken, way back in the 1990s there is also a Filipino film entitled “Mga Birhen ng Ermita” starring then bold starlet Marixi Luna and Philippines’ first Miss Universe Ms. Gloria Diaz ( But Dante Varona’s “Ermitanyo” has nothing to do with Ermita!).

And since Ms. Luna’s flick was sexually oriented, I didn’t watch it but all I can say is it’s surely about that famous night time trade in Ermita then. A predicament I did not dare to experience for I do not belong to any of the category of men I have mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog entry.

A fact that some of my male companions are not aware of…

Green Pope, Green Code

I just finished reading my newly acquired book called “Ten Commandments for the Environment: Pope Benedict XVI Speaks Out for Environment” written by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker. Koenig-Bricker is the former editor of Catholic Parent magazine and she is the author of three other spiritual books. Published and distributed by Paulines Publishing House in 2011, the book is a good read for all those who desire for a sustainable future. It is about the Holy See’s views and teachings on creation and environmental responsibility including Holy Father’s theological reflections and quotations.

In the book’s foreword Bill McKibben rightfully observed, “The Catholic Church has often been slow to engage on issues – but once engaged, it can be a powerful source. …. [Pope’s] message is neither liberal nor conservative, it is just plain hopeful.” BXVI is rightfully called the ‘greenest” pope but among his Ten Commandments for Environment, due to my present work, I can relate well to his sixth commandment. It reads, “The politics of development must be coordinated with the politics of ecology, and every environmental cost in developmental projects must be weighted carefully.” This statement helped me connect its wisdom to the presently implemented Environmental Code of LGU-Sablayan initiated by Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano when he was still the vice mayor along with the rest of the local legislative council and the former LCE. If Catholics have a “Green Pope” in BXVI, in municipality of Sablayan, we have a “Green Code” aimed at keeping the town ecologically intact and viable.

But do not get me wrong. I am not comparing anybody to the Roman Pontiff for that would be a stupid thing do. All I wish to say is that, like any other LGUs, we have a working environmental charter that is in some ways go hand in hand with the teachings of the Church pertaining to environmental protection.

Municipal Ordinance No. 2008-003 is an ordinance enacting the Environmental Code of Sablayan. The local charter consists of important details on usage and protection of natural resources, specifically, forest, mineral, and water including solid waste management, ecotourism and land-use planning. This was signed December 8, 2008. The Environmental Code has this as one of the principles: “People are mere stewards of God’s gift of nature’s bounty tasked with its judicious utilization for the future generation; All development activities shall give due importance and respect to the cultures and practices of the indigenous communities and people’s belief system, incorporate gender equity and population concerns consistent with ecological principles…”

The Compendium of Social Teachings of the Church initiated by the present pope makes this responsibility clear: “An economy respectful of the environment will not have the maximization of profits as its only objective, because environmental protection cannot be assured solely on the basis of financial calculations of costs and benefits.” Rightfully so, any economic development must be consonant with environmental protection and not only aimed at boosting government revenue. Economic development must be secondary and guided by strict ecological standards. Those are the same principles behind the “Green Code” of Sablayan. This is what every local chief executive and legislator should be aware of specially those who are in ecologically fragile island provinces such as ours. We ordinary citizens are not spared.

Because if we fail to do so, if we do not collectively struggle against foreign intruders out to destroy our natural resources, we become Occidental Mindoro’s most deadly air pollutants or toxic wastes.…

Basketball Legends in Sablayan on Earth Day

It’s sports extravaganza all the way here in Sablayan. After boxing, here comes basketball.

After the triumphant success of Drian Francisco via first round knockout over Thailand's Pichitchai Twins Gym to capture the interim IBF Pacific super bantamweight title last April 14 brought to us by Bong Marquez Boxing Promotion, Saved by the Bell Promotion and LGU-Sablayan, local basketball fanatics are expecting to see five of their favorite Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) legends. The organizers behind PBA legends versus local-import selection are looking forward for a forceful impact, ticket sales-wise, of said exhibition game like the straight right unloaded by Francisco right to the chin of Pichitchai that sent the latter to the canvass at 33 seconds of the first round.

Said game is sponsored by CDSS Batch 78 and LGU-Sablayan and according to Elvis Leyto, one of its organizers, 5 former basketball pros composed of Marlou Aquino, Nelson Asaytono, Val David, Edward Jospeh Feihl and Noli Locsin will be coming over for the loop show. The event will be held at Sablayan Astrodome on April 22, Sunday, global celebration of World Earth Day. Coincidentally, the 2012 Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano Summer Basketball League is on-going and very well supported by basketball fans all over the town.

The advocacy for the defense of the Earth and protection of environment can also spearheaded by individual athletes and sportsmen including the whole team. Only last month, the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters inked with Earth Day Network, a non-profit organization whose mission is to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement, on an Earth Day initiative that will help spread the green message to fans worldwide. The team already used a special green Earth Day Ball for their youth clinics in Beijing, China, recently.

“The green efforts of Earth Day Network are vital to the future of the environment, and the Globetrotters are thrilled to partner with them on their effort to spread the word,” said Angela Leaney, executive vice president of brand marketing for the Globetrotters. “We are proud to celebrate Earth Day with our fans and help in any way we can.” For the news, please click here.

As I have said time and again, sports and advocacy for Mother Earth may come in a one whole package. Sadly, sports enthusiasts in Occidental Mindoro are not so (or not yet) inclined on this line of thought…

How to Recognize the Risen Lord in Occidental Mindoro Context

Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we, citizens of this province, are in deep frustration. We are frustrated with the socio-political and economic situation in our midst. We are frustrated how the two leading political titans divided instead of uniting us, and how they are pulling each other down. We are frustrated with the series of unsolved crimes happening in supposedly quiet and peaceful places like beaches and fields. We are frustrated with the sub-human conditions and anxiety of our Mangyan sisters and brothers because of the imminent threat of mining and oil exploration projects and exploitation of pseudo welfare organizations. We are frustrated with the misery of our fisher folks due to an alarming decline in their catch because of illegal ways of fishing often let go by some barangay and LGU officials. We are frustrated with landlessness of majority of our farm workers while suffering from the claws of usury and loan sharks amidst plunder of the public coffer by some of our public officials. Some are frustrated with the saddest consequence of political dynasty and patronage politics while many seem not to care about it. Upland communities are frustrated with the denigration of our forests due to legal and illegal logging that surely could attribute to climate change. Many of us are frustrated how cockfighting proceed is used to fund parish pastoral center. Majority of us are frustrated with how authority and power being wield for political and business gains of some local elites.

The list seems endless. So is our frustration.

We are people of frustration like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-25). So frustrated to long for someone to talk to and to lean on, someone who would listen. Someone must butt-in for these frustrations. Someone (or perhaps a human institution) that would break and share the “bread” as medium of the Lord’s prophetic and liberating message and fearlessly proclaim her social agenda. That someone or something could be our Particular Church, the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose.

But what hindered her to regain her ground, like what Jesus did four times on His way to Calvary, after that sacrilegious fire and continue the mission of social communication apostolate to be the believers’ mouthpiece against the aforementioned immoral situation? Finding funds and focus, as a talented steward would know, are more sensible than finding faults and foes.

Unlike Jesus, they ignored the magnitude of those faithful walking down the road victimized by such unholy deeds of influential people and systems. Every task is worth accomplishing like how every pastoral cross is worth lifting. In sum, the question is this: What happened, pastorally speaking, to Church’s social teachings in the diocesan level at this particular juncture? Until when shall we resurrect from our ashes like the mythical Phoenix? When will we move on and remain an active Church aiming for social transformation? The gravity of these problems cannot afford us to enjoy our regular siesta.

Unlike before that we led the PAKRIS or Pamayanang Kristiyano, together with the pro-environment LGUs, cause-oriented organizations and Mangyan ethnic groups in staging series of successful mass actions against the Mindoro Nickel Project (MNP) and the Service Contract 53. Not to exclude our faith-based advocacy campaigns against gambling and the power crisis in the province and the other collective pastoral endeavors in the past. Including charity programs like educational assistance to poor but deserving sons and daughters of our indigent catechists and lay ministers. Those relief and rehabilitation preparedness aimed at communities affected by man- made and natural calamities, militarization or typhoons. Those are services at the diocesan front in the past that we rendered and worth mentioning here with all modesty and humility.

Our present Church leaders just passed us by while we are on our road to Emmaus in those particular socio-political instances. Jesus taught us that every person is worth stopping for but those people seem unmoved by our present predicament. As a result, unlike the two disciples on road to Emmaus, the people who live in far-flung, poor communities, the indigenous peoples in the mountains, the relatives and victims of unsolved recent crimes and all those I have mention above, failed to see and recognize Jesus in them!

Priests and lay people alike do not “break bread” only by regularly appearing on television celebrating healing masses. Neither by giving bowls of porridge to children who would come to hear mass or by taking care of the temporal goods of the Church and by wining and dining with the wealthy project donors, but also by breaking and sharing of the burdens and crosses of the victims of structural and systematic social sins and ills. It concretized too by joining the Pamayanang Kristiyano (PAKRIS) in their misery, hopes and struggles as citizens and believers no matter how risky it may be. It is likewise through keeping her social action mandates she can respond to the long agony of our people in this “forgotten half of the island.” This mission animates alongside with equally important sacramental, devotional and liturgical duties or healing ministry. This is imperative and not mere optional role of the Church no matter how controversial it may appear.

Pope Benedict XVI in his recent trip to Brazil said, “The Church is the advocate of justice and of the poor, precisely because she does not identify with politicians neither with partisan interests.” He added, “Only by remaining independent can she teach the great criteria and inalienable values, guide consciences and offer a life choice that goes beyond political sphere.” Then and now, this concern is not fully addressed among the ranks of the clergy and the lay people in our local Church.

In his letter to the Philippine Bishops in June 28, 1986 called “Ministry of Teaching and Guidance at the Service of Truth and Justice”, Blessed John Paul II rightly said, “This service to man will demand an intense evangelical effort, which is the proclamation of God’s salvation, in every context where people live and work. It will thus be faithful to an integral proclamation of the Gospel that must spread its light upon earthly realities, in such a way that may be helped free himself from everything that oppresses him and alienates him, so that he may be enabled to travel the path to his full self-realization, both earthly and transcendental.” We have no other option but keep our social action arm, charity programs and radio ministry incarnated now.

But it cannot be achieved without dialogue among us faithful. We have to be open to communication and communion. In his book “The Making of a Local Church”, Bishop Francisco F. Claver, SJ wrote, “In a church that is to be communion, mutual listening is a sine qua non for everyone: laity listening to the hierarchy, hierarchy listening to the laity, and all listening to the Spirit. Again, the need to a discerning Church- and a church that is in dialogue at all times, both externally (with the world at large) and with itself (with its members both clerical and lay). But dialogue is communication. So for it to be truly dialogic Church, it must be par excellence a church of communication.” We need not a fixed or closed mind. In such a situation there will be no dialogue but only an attempt to assert or impose the position of one on the other. Without brotherly dialogue, we cease to be a church.

To put them more accurately, men of faith cannot afford to lip service our social teachings on charity, advocacy and Traditions of the Church. We need to cast out our nets into these social “deeps”. Indeed, the Church must be sensitive to the “signs of times” (i.e., the socio-political and economic context of our province) as she manifests herself in the inspiration and frustration of the people of God.

It is only through this breaking and sharing away our self beyond our comfort zones and convictions that the poor and downtrodden recognize Jesus’ image in us.

Like how the Risen One recognized by his disciples on a village along the road to Emmaus…

------
Photo : SJCS File, Salafay

Of Footsteps and Conserved Areas

Two leading Taobuid leaders, namely, Juanito Lumawig and Fausto Novelozo with his aide Poor Galubidan attended the First National Conference on Indigenous Community Conserved Areas (ICCA) in the Philippines held last March 29-30, 2012. Since Mt. Iglit-Baco was declared by the government as protected area within municipalities of Sablayan and Calintaan, yours truly and Mr. Samson Tejada of Calintaan were there including its area supervisor PASU Rodel Boyles of DENR-PAWB. Almost all of the IP luminaries nationwide attended headed by Datu Vic Saway and Datu Ed Banda of Mindanao, among others. Initiating said National Conference are different organizations here and abroad. On top on the list was PAWB-DENR’s New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project (NewCAPP); the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development, Inc (FAFID); the Koalisyon ng mga Katutubong Samahan ng Pilipinas (KASAPI); the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) and ICCA Consortium, an international association for the promotion of recognition and support of the ICCAs.

People from the national government came and among them were DENR Usec. Analiza Rebuella Teh, Sen. Koko Pimentel, NCIP chair Zenaida Brigida H. Pawid and Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chair Etta Rosales. Around 220 participants packed the Assembly Hall of the (NCPAG) at UP- Diliman, Quezon City. Two of the main objectives of the gathering are to generate common understanding among IP organizations, NGOs, LGUs and the national government including all the development partners on the concept of ICCAs, their value to the communities and their conservation to biodiversity conservation. Also to strengthen awareness on the contribution of IPs in the management of the ICCAs; the threats facing their sustainability; and enjoined concerned stakeholders into positive action to address these threats and finding consensus on the National ICCA framework and strategies. As a major output of the ICCA Conference, the so-called “Manila Declaration came into the limelight.

From the National Conference on ICCA opened a new challenge for us LGUs of Calintaan and Sablayan, in our conservation initiatives in Mt. Iglit-Baco National Park. Said conservation area is an ASEAN heritage park. This multi-strata of evergreen forest of dry season deciduous shrubs and trees and habitat of the biggest remaining population of the endangered Tamaraws. LGU-Sablayan, especially now under the administration of Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano, believes that the Taobuids and the Alangan Mangyans in his municipality should be the traditional caretakers and primary end beneficiaries of the forests and its natural resources and the activities toward these economic activity must be anchored on biodiversity conservation. In creating the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Office or IPAO and his championing for the mandatory IP representation in local legislative boards, our local chief executive is all out in empowering the IPs in deciding, implementing and enforcing management decision on projects especially within their ancestral domain. His administration closely coordinates with IP bodies such as the National Commission for the Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) as well as numerous NGOs working with the Mangyans. As a true believer of Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act or IPRA, Mayor Ed hold true to its provision which states that the ICCs have the right to manage their ancestral domains through traditional resource management practices. These principles should immediately turn into local plans, implementations and action. Efforts like those needed continuity. There are still a lot of unfinished businesses for my principal, indeed. He is also supportive of the immediate issuance of Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) to strengthen the IPs right in managing the ICCA.In Occidental Mindoro, the ICCA is threatened by the Mindoro Nickel Project or MNP.

Aside from getting ICCA 101, the Conference became an opportunity to meet my new friends and seatmates from DENR-Region III specifically Ma’am Minerva J. Martinez and her staff, Precious Lopez (AKA Apples)and Ms. Grace C. Diamante, Executive Director of Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc. or MBCFI.

In parting, allow me to say that the First National Conference on ICCA in the Philippines is this: “Nature Conservation in the Footsteps of Our Ancestors”. Very poetic, isn’t it? Sad thing is, mostly in community projects such as this: the only visible and acknowledged footprints are not those of indigenous peoples and their ancestors but of those in the academe, technocrats, some politicians and bureaucrats.

They are carrying the IPs towards their modern but aggressive Golgothas…

My Untruthful Resume

It’s job hunting time so it’s resume writing once more for the newly graduates and this helped me remember the knowledge I do not have and the experiences I haven’t experience yet. Listing those things does not make me feel inadequate but full of contentment. This further helped me realize that God isn’t finish with me yet. That I am God's on-going construction project in laboratory called Earth and a test tube called Mindoro. Glad to share you this untruthful resume.
--------

Summary: A Mathematics wizard and was able to travel in major cities of the world.

Professional Experience:

Served as legal consultant of United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights;

Produced and directed the first ever Filipino film “Kung Bakit Todo Asar Ako Kay Kris Aquino” which won Best Foreign Film in 2025 Oscar Awards;

Pioneer and founder of the Taobuid and Alangan Mangyans Academy of Rural Arts and Welfare (TAMARAW), an educational institution focusing on Mindoro Studies and its island resources;

Chess player with IM rating by the World Chess Federation;

Author of the best-selling (blog turned) book “Minding Mindoro”.


Education:

Took up Law at Harvard Law School at Cambridge, MA, USA

Graduate of Philosophy at Stanford University Department of Humanities and Sciences, California USA;

Finished Doctorate on Theology at Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City;

Honors and Awards:

Recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 2025;

Awarded the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in 2020 for the Short Story for Children via his “Ang mga Salamangka nina Jose at Josephine”

References:

Bob Ong
Chief Justice Renato C. Corona

-----------

That’s how I want my resume would look like. But as I have said, I have no regrets for I am already and contented with what I am today but continuous to achieve those doable (and not impossible) parts of my untruthful resume.

By the way, I didn’t lie about that Kris Aquino thing…

Chipping Off in Leadership

I was asked by our Municipal Administrator, Mr. Alfredo R. Ventura last Thursday to give an inspirational message in behalf of our town’s local chief executive in the opening program of the Department of Education (DepEd) Division Leadership Training for Supreme Student Government/Supreme Pupils' Government (SSG/SPG). Mayor Ed Gadiano was in Manila that day and on an official business travel. Participants composed of more than 200 student leaders and their respective advisers from different campuses in mainland Occidental Mindoro. Being a good soldier and a good follower, I did not hesitate to follow my immediate superior. But what would my talk be consists of? Matters concerning DepEd are above my paycheck as the designate Indigenous Peoples Affairs Officer (IPAO). IPAO’s immediate counterpart, by the way, among national government agencies is the National Commission of the Indigenous Peoples or NCIP. Suddenly I have decided to share with these young leaders the important lessons I have learned from Mangyan leaders and their leadership style. And it became a wonderful, balanced opportunity to learn and… unlearn. I also emphasized that under Gadiano's administration, the IPs are greatly considered.

I told them a story about a Taobuid chieftain who once told me that effective leadership is a simple as carving wood. We are seated near a big block of wood and he told me what true leadership is made of : “Parang pag-gawa lang yan ng lusong.” Indeed because to make a "lusong", all you have to do is to chip off the pieces that doesn’t look like a “lusong”. A “lusong” by the way is a mortar conventionally made of carved wood and is used for pounding rice so as to remove the hull from the grains. In leadership of course there are a lot of things that we have to learn but we also have things to be chipped off, to forget, to unlearn. That’s the main thought I have shared with the group headed by Ma’am Raquel P. Girao, Education Program Supervisor of Division of Occidental Mindoro and Mr. Arnie Ventura, Principal IV of Sablayan Comprehensive High School, when we were at the Sablayan Astrodome last March 22.

The Taobuid and his mortar and leaning to unlearn reminds me of Lao Tsu’s, “To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, subtract things everyday.” In Occidental Mindoro and elsewhere in the world the biggest challenge today is unlearning, which is not easy or even much harder. In Reader’s Digest October 1997 issue, in its regular feature called “Points to Ponder”, John Seely Brown has this to say : “Before any of us can learn new things, we have to make our current assumptions explicit and find ways to challenge them … In fact, the harder you to fight to hold on to specific assumption, the more likely there’s gold in letting go..”

That’s Mangyan Wood Carving 101 I have shared to our future leaders that day…

------
(Photo : Courtesy of I Love Mindoro Blog)