Food for the “aliens”

ISCHNOCHITON. Photo courtesy of Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho Fan Page (www.facebook.com/kapusomojessicasoho)

You might be correct with what you are thinking. But you could be wrong, too.

No, I am not talking about food for the extra terrestrial ones, but yes, I am schmoozing about an exotic fave-of-thy-mouth.

Every time I go home to Maydolong, a small town in Eastern Samar, I always crave for “tarukog”.

Tarukogs are marine mollusks that belong to the genus Ischnochiton (or simply chiton) in class Polyplacophora. This is also known as “sea cradles” or “coat-of-mail shells”. But in Eastern Samar,  tarukog it is.

According to Christopher Taylor, an entomologist, “All living chitons share a similar general morphology with a central linear series of eight overlapping shell valves, surrounded by a fleshy girdle that (depending on species) may or may not be covered with small spicules. They live attached to marine rocks where they graze on algae.”

Rather than appealing, the raw, clinging-hardly-to-rocks tarukog is appalling. The light to dark green and black color mollusk, plus the hard as a rock shell valves at its back are indeed disturbing to the eye. However, the still and soundless tarukogs have something, silently to offer. Their scrumptious meat!

TARUKOG IN COCONUT MILK.
Photo courtesy of Lance Abet

I like it best when it is hinatukan (cooked in coconut milk). After the valve shells and innards are removed and cleaned by boiling (there should be a technique in boiling it, to avoid a rubbery chew!), the clean, (now flesh in color) meat is mixed with coconut milk, slice of onion, and black and red bell pepper and a pinch of salt. Solve!

You can try also an adobo tarukog. After boiling and cleaning it, add the usual ingredients for adobo, and boil it again for few minutes. Now you have something to add in your carte du jour!

CHICHARIFFIC TARUKOG
IN A VINAIGRETTE SAUCE.
Photo courtesy of Qoura Bee

Lastly, you can prepare a chicharon tarukog! After the cleaning procedure, deep fry the tarukogs. Prepare your china with coconut vinegar where to dip your roasting chicharon. And for sure, after closing your eyes because of the vinegary taste, you will open your mouth and say, “Oh, momma! Chichariffic!”.

What creates the palatable delights of a place is the peoples’ pride on their delicacies, which sometimes are unique but nevertheless appetizing. I am not expecting that people will create a Tarukog Festival in the future, but at least, be proud of this nature’s treat.

I have had footed different places in the country. Make the most of Ilocos’ tipmost Pagudpod’s coziness. Cross the Visayan Islands. And captivated with the land of promise, Mindanao. In all breakfast, lunch and dinner in those places, never did I meet tarukog in my plate.

This is a must try for the aliens- our tourists and visitors in Eastern Visayas. Well, if aliens (the extra terrestrial ones) would invade the earth, we can probably serve tarukog on their plates, too. And let us see if they will not say: What the heck is this succulent alien food? More!

TGIF.  Have a happy weekend everyone!

Published in Manila Channel, Sept. 7, 2012. (See: http://www.manilachannel.com/2012/09/07/food-for-the-aliens/)

Capiz: the tasty, the yummy, the scrummy

Don’t get me wrong with the title. I am not trying to emulate “the true, the good and the beautiful” slogan of a former First Lady. But consider me guilty because my gush here about Capiz will be the true, the good, and the beautiful anyway.

Turning a blind eye to the conventional gawk of our tourists/travelers- museums, vestiges of the past, beaches, etc. – Capiz has its own way to market its tourism industry- no no (!), not the wakwak, manananggal and the kikik, but its mouthwatering sea foods.

I am not saying the province is poor on the cultural and historical facet. In fact, history tells us that Capiz became the Spanish’s second settlement after Cebu. Moreover, the town of Pan-ay homes the biggest church bell in Asia. Pan-ay was once the capital of the province before it was transferred to Roxas City.

PEALING THE BELLS – The writer and his foster-dad inside the 10.4 tons bell made from 70 sacks of silver coins.

Unsurpassed of course is the province’s reputation as the Seafood Capital of the Philippines. Capiz absolutely deserve the title. The lavishness and diversity of Capiz’s marine life treats vacationers with a variety of sumptuous cuisines- from baked scalloped in garlic and butter, tuna, blue marlin, crabs, lobsters, prawns, oysters and the celebrated diwal ( or angel wings which is endemic in the Panay seas), and I can enumerate more.

Photo courtesy of Ricky Diumayuga for photo 1, 2 and 5

Yes, of course, you can find this in sky-high restaurants, but still, Capiz is over it, because they serve it fresher, if not freshest. Plus, plus, plus, as all travelers would like to hear, the charge is friendlier to your pockets.

We have many reasons why we travel- to unwind, relax, escape from all kinds of glitches, and finally finding ourselves. Will not a nibble of this luscious, succulent marine sumptuousness complement it all?

I had visited quite a few tour destinations of the country- from Ilocos’ timpost Pagudpod to the Land of Promise, Mindanao- but Capiz takes a special place in my heart. Is not there an old adage saying that the nearest organ to one’s heart is the stomach?

Well, Capiz just captivated mine.

Truly, goodly and beautifully, Capiz, that tasty, yummy and scrummy province will be part of my itinerary again, soon.

Published in Manila Channel. August 18, 2012.

Unfolding Underwear Folding

Why wear underwear, in the first place?

Well, there are a dozen and one reasons I heard from friends- from usual to bizarre. Like: to support that hanging thing there; to make your package more appealing; to hold the urine after urinating; to make sex exciting; to promote foreplay when making love; etcetera.

Most, if not all people I know wear one, for different reasons; some maybe the same or different from the ones mentioned. But seriously, why do we cover our thing? Does it make sense? Oh well, the thing is, we are wearing it. Whether it makes sense or not, it doesn’t matter. For if it doesn’t matter anyway, why would our mothers require us to wear it, as early as when we are still in preschool, eh?

Even in history, it is still unclear as to when the people wear undergarments was. It is said that loincloth was considered the earliest undergarment as some archaeologists suggest through dig remains that dates backs thousands of years ago. Maybe, in the far west. But in the Philippines? How come that some of our forefathers, when the Spaniards came, were wearing g-strings made from selected leaves and uway? Maybe they can’t afford loincloth.

That was the primitive society of course. Now then, since all of us will agree that we do wear one, next question is: do you fold your underwear?

That’s a silly question, one might think.

One might even be reminded of Patricia Lorenz’s “Life’s Too Short to Fold Your Underwear”. Conversely however, not a word from Lorenz discourages us to fold our underwear.

Why fold it anyway?

Well, if your closet like mine is not so spacious, doing so will save space.

Likewise, when travelling, not only that it will save space, it will also give you a sense of assurance, if ever by accident your bag dispatched its zipper, and everything in your bag fell of the floor, gee whiz(!) [it happened to me once at NAIA!], at least your underwear will not flaunt in exhibition. Worse if your underwear is not that so presentable due to its loosened garter!

So here is how I fold mine.

PS. Underwear Day is celebrated in the US on the 22nd and 23rd of August. See, even underwear have their Day aside from wash day!

Published in Manila Channel. August 17, 2012.

On Bisayan wine: A barrel of laughs, vino en vidrio and cheers!

I keep at least ten different bottles of wine in my room. Oh,oh, I am not a drunkard, much less a roué. But I drink occasionally.Bevitore saltuariamente.

I am wont to get a bottle of wine, especially during my travels. I had sipped the expensive (but not necessarily classy)- merlot, white zinfandel, white grenache, cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese, shiraz, chablis, etc;  and also swigged to the less expensive, but not necessarily tawdry wines.

When I went to Vigan a couple of years ago, I tasted for the first time, their celebrated rice wine, called basi. It is worth to note that it’s one of my top favorites, clobbering those strange, opaque varieties mentioned. However, I still choose vino de coco(coconut wine) over it.

The Bisayan (i.e. Eastern Visayas) tuba avers to be the finest, if not the best wine made from coconut. Not only because the region yields the second largest volume of production (next to the Davao region, 2005 PCA report) of coconut, but because history tells us that tuba is part of Bisayan’s modo de vida.

When the Spaniards footed the Islands, evident to the Pintados people are their gleeful virtue (which the Filipinos as a whole share), thus the name Bisaya- from the root word saya, meaning happy. And in every social gathering, tuba is at the center of conversations and laughter. The Spaniards themselves, both the missionaries and conquistadores, couldn’t say no to inviting spirit of tuba.

During family occasions and even occasionless nights, tuba gathers everyone in telling tales, cracking laughter and chance of bonding. Lately however, the patronage to this traditional drink has been fading, for reasons like the inability of local tuba producers in product innovation to match the growing competition of liquor industry.

Quite the reverse, lately I was introduced to the new vino de coco product in the region. Boy oh boy, the flavor is refined and classy! I am certainly conclusive that this is a sure-fire! Surely, this is the beginning to regain tuba’s glory.

Wine is renowned as heart healthy. And in moderation, it may be a help in trimming weight and reducing forgetfulness. Likewise, it may boost our immunity and help prevent bone loss.

With friends, we share a barrel of laughs. Alone, we exclaim, vino en vidrio!

Aside from the mentioned, we drink wine for varied reasons.

Whatever the reason is, Isalud!

Article published in Manila Channel, August 19, 2012.

2012 PASIDUNGOG EDUARDO A. MAKABENTA SR. PARA HAN SIDAY CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Mga Lagda han Paisan-isan

Abri ini nga paisan-isan ngadto han mga nagsusurat hin siday ha Waray ha bug-os nga kalibotan.

1.  Lima nga mga siday an kinahanglan ipasa para makaapi.

2.  Adton waray pa maimantala an kakarawaton nga obra/entri. Diri paaapihon adton mga obra nga nagdaog na hin mga paisan-isan.

3.  Kinahanglan nga sinurat ha Waray an iaapi nga mga siday ug diri hinubad tikang ha iba nga pinulonagn.

4.  An entri nga ipapasa kinahanglan upat (4) kakopya, naka-double space ha 8 1/2 x 11 pulgada nga papel nga may usa kapulgada nga margin ha mga ligid. Butangi hin numero an kada pakli hin 1 of 5, 2 of 5 ug ipadayon ha sugad nga pamaagi. Gamita an Arial ug font size nga 12. Ipasa an entri gamit an alyas ug waray han ungod nga ngaran han tag-padara. An ungod nga ngaran ug alyas han tagpadara kinahanglan isurat ha papel ug isulod ha iba la nga envelope, upod han bio-data, 2 x 2 ID picture, ug pagkontak nga mga impormasyon. Kinahanglan gihapon iupod pagpasa an usa nga pagpamatuod nga imo ug orihinal an imo entri nga igin-aapi.   I-download an entry form dinhi hini nga sumpay (link) http://www.mediafire.com/?cx8cqonc6dm4c8f.

5.  Makarawat hin P 15,000.00 an Syahan nga Premyo; P 10,000.00 an Ikaduha nga Premyo ug P 5,000.00 an ikatulo nga Premyo.

6.  Ipadara an mga entri hini nga address:

2012 PASIDUNGOG EDUARDO A. MAKABENTA SR. PARA HAN SIDAY 

Panrehiyong Sentro sa Wikang Filipino-R8

Ledesma Hall

Leyte Normal University

P. Paterno St., Tacloban City 6500

7.  August 15, 2012 an kataposan nga adlaw pangarawat han mga entri. Kakarawaton an mga entri nga ipinadara ha koriyo basta may pagpamatuod nga ini iginpadara dida mismo han Agusto 15, 2012 ug diri han kataliwan an nasabi nga adlaw.

8.  An mga entri nga ipapasa pinaagi han email  kinahanglan nga aada ha Word Document file ug ipapadara komo attachment. Upod hini dinhi an biodata han tagpadara, an sertipiko nga nagpapamatuod nga imo ug han kaorihinal han entri. Ipadara an iyo mga entri san-o matapos an Agusto 15, 2012 nga adlaw ha primeoeduardomakabentasr@gmail.com. An orihinal nga kopya han sertipikasyon kinahanglan nga ipadara pinaagi han koriyo ha nasabi nga address ha igbaw.  

9.  An kapakyas makagtuman han nasabi nga mga kalagdaan mahimo magin hinungdan han diri kakarawat han imo entri ha paisan-isan.

10.  An mga entri nga magdadaog pagtatag-iyahan han Sinirangan Culture and

       Arts Development Center (SCADC). Magpapabilin an copyright ha tagsurat pero ihinahatag han tagsurat ngadto ha SCADC an katungod magmantala han nagdaog nga entri nga waray kadugangan nga kabaraydan labot la han premyo nga  nadag-an.

11. May katungod an PASIDUNGOG MAKABENTA/ SCADC magpasaka hin kaso ha tagpadara kun madiskobrihan nga diri hiya an orihinal nga tag-iya ug nagsurat han nagdaog nga entri. Waray responsabilidad ug baratonon an  PASIDUNGOG MAKABENTA/ SCADC ha ano man nga kaso ha korte kun mayda magpapasaka hin kaso batok ha usa nga tagsurat nga tinatahapan nangopya han obra han iba.

12.  Ipapasamwak ha radio ug local nga mga mantalaan an mga magdadaog ug an ngaran han mga Hurado dida hiton Septyembre 15, 2012. Opisyal nga papasabotan/susuratan han  PASIDUNGOG  MAKABENTA adton mamagdaog.

13. Pagbubuhaton an paggawad ug iba pa nga serimonya dida hiton October 13, 2012, ika-127 nga anibersaryo han katawo ni Eduardo A. Makabenta Sr.,  ha LNU House, Leyte Normal University, Tacloban City.

14. Diri maliliwat an magigin desisyon han Hurado.

Para han kadugangan nga impormasyon tawagi hi Mr. Voltaire Q. Oyzon ha 0906-395-3763 o, iemail ha v.oyzon@gmail.com.

Revitalizing Siday: Joey Lianza and the Sirang Theater Ensemble

Some members of the Sirang Theater Ensemble with the writer. Also in photo is Mr. Nick Baquit, assisting director of the ensemble.

Revitalizing Siday:

Joey Lianza and the Sirang Theater Ensemble

By: J. Colima Bajado

Siday, candu, haya, balac, bical, ambahan, and awit are forms of poetry our prehispanic folks take pride. But today, only Siday is known among Waray speakers. Sad thing is, very few reads siday (poem).

It is for this reason why Prof. Joey N. Lianza pledged to share his aptitude in theater by conjoining the elements of theater and poetry. Known for reviving Waray culture, by restaging plays of foremost Waray playwright Illuminado Lucente as well as popularizing zarzuela and pastores, Lianza directed a poetry performance in the recently concluded Pasidungog Eduardo Makabenta Sr. Para Han Siday, the equivalent of Palanca Awards in Waray literary scene.

“And the word was made flesh”

Voltaire Q. Oyzon, himself a poet, commended the poetry performance of the Sirang Theater Ensemble (STE).  “Siguro tikang yana, kinahanglan gud ig perform iton siday, kay mas nabubuhi. Bagat an pulong ba, nabubutangan hin unod” (From now on, I think siday should be performed because the performance gives life to it. Just like (bible quote) the word was made flesh), Oyzon added.

“Namarahiyaw an ak barahibo” (I experienced goose bumps), said another poet Noel Lopido when he saw one of his poems performed. Ms. Bebeth Alunan, granddaughter of the late Eduardo Makabenta Sr. agreed with Lopido and furtherly claimed that “indeed poetry performance is way way better than just plainly reading it.”

The winning poems of the annual Pasidungog Makabenta will then be performed by the members of STE on the 13^th of October every year, in honor of the Waray poet Eduardo Makabenta Sr.’s birthday.

Cultural worker than Director

Prof. Lianza, director of the Cultural Affairs and Special Projects Office of the Leyte Normal University shared that although he gets no material pay off from such endeavors, he is happy with his “little” contributions to the Waray culture in order to “rediscover our identity- our differences, our similarities, our pluralities- by performing, creating and recreating. I see myself less than a director, but more of cultural worker”, he explains.

Prof. Lianza also hopes that his efforts will gain support especially from art-makers and other cultural workers in the region by bringing Siday to everyone’s consciousness at least.

Re-dawning of Sirang

Sirang, literally means dawn, has been established with a social conscience and with performing arts as its medium. But coming up with remarkable performances have never been simple.

Current members of STE have to trounce the stern rehearsals of their uncompromising director. Dessa Reyes shared that she was startled at first, every time the “feisty” Joey Lianza would screech to her puerile acting performance. But as she become proficient at her acting skills, “I think shouting is equal to motivating”, Dessa added with a smirk.

Surely, after successfully popularizing zarzuela and pastores, Prof. Lianza and the STE is dawning again another kick in our culture and the Waray ethos as a whole.

Looking back in order to move forward

“Claiming our context and meaning as peoples is like a journey. We should go back in order to move forward. We cannot move forward if we don’t take a look on our past, because it is from the past that we learn who we are- who we were used to be, who we are now, and who we are becoming”, this is his reply when asked where is Siday now and where are is it going?

Prof. Lianza hopes that through the Sinirangan Theater Ensemble’s performances of poems in Waray, he help not only popularize the poem of the writer but more of popularizing the language and the stories that every poem tells- the stories of the Warays. ###

Prof. Lianza

This article is published in Gahum Weekly, Vol. 2 No. 25. Nov. 14-23, 2011 issue.

Feature: An artist in the making: Chevin Villaflor and his “Muses”

A SIGN. The birthmark covering almost a quarter of Chevin Villaflor’s face could be a sign that he will become a visual artist.

An artist in the making: Chevin Villaflor and his “Muses” 

J. Colima Bajado

With the flourishing of visual arts in the region today, equally budding is an artist- 18 year old Chevin Villaflor.

Starting from pencil sketches and crayon drawings in gradeschool, he once garnered the first place for editorial cartooning in a Regional Schools Press Conference in high school.  Chevin, now a Business Administration student in Samar College, is striving to use other medium of painting.

“Most people (say) that I have the gift of art. I guess that's the major (motivation)”, he said. Surely, his vivid imagination would invigorate his membership to the growing pool of artists in the region.

Chevin’s Muses: Kataw and Kakanog

When asked why the subjects of a collection of his artwork, tagged by him as “My Muses”, were mostly women, he answered, “My themes usually are women…(because) I view them more sublime than men.”

            Chevin added that “…most (of my) themes are (inspired by) folklore, mythology (and) history…(because I) am a big fan of culture and tradition and I guess, that shows in my art. Sometimes, I (do) abstract concepts like my watercolor piece entitled "Pagbaribad han Kalag". I am not an abstract artist though; I always strive to provide readily comprehensible images. Ornate but understated.”

            As a student of art at the same time a proud Waraynon, Chevin endeavors to capture the Waray culture which is prevalent in his works “Kataw” and “Kakanog”, which furtherly belongs to the “My Muses” collection.

            Kataw, the half fish-half human image, though a “fictional” element of our culture, was believed to be existent in our folk tradition as attested by the Jesuit scholar Francisco Ignacio Alzina in his monumental work, Historia de las Islas e indios de Bisayas, published in 1668.

            While the Kakanog, a moth-butterfly, is a prehispanic Waraynon simile used to describe a woman who wears an outfit of varied colors which becomes her with elegance. However, Kakanog is believed to be a bearer of evil omens.

“Artist Gene" ?

Chevin shared that he has been asked not a few times whether he is related to the celebrated Waray visual artist, Leo Villaflor. “I've heard his name numerous times, but I am not, in any way related to him,” the young boy explains.

All “art lover” in the region identify the late Leovigildo “Leo” Villaflor as the “Grand Daddy” of Visual Arts in Eastern Visayas. When he died February this year, Dulz Cuna, herself an artist, remarked that “(losing) him… is a poignant thing (for the artists in the region)” ,  considering his innovative and pioneering contribution in the scene of visual arts, the  “tuba painting”.

            While Maestro Leo Villaflor popularized the tuba painting, Chevin integrates Waray taste in his artworks, as much as possible.  Though not related by consanguinity, Chevin is “flattered” to know that he bears the same family name of a “true visual artist”. Truly, Chevin's parents Gemma and Arnold are not only flattered but also proud to see the first step of their son towards a greater part of artistry.

Future of Visual Arts in EV

Recently concluded Arangay Exhibit 2 which showcased different works of our visual artists from all over the region is a living testament of the growth of visual arts in Eastern Visayas. Works of notable artists like Dante Enage, Ed Rompal, Noel Sagayap, Aris Ventures, Jaime Sagayap and Dulz Cuna to name a few, were exhibited at the UPVTC Humanities Lab and Hall, inside the UP Tacloban campus. Another exhibit, tentatively named as “Waray Tupong” , is set this November.

            Chevin, an artist in the making, true as it may seem, needs to “spill more paints” in order to assume a “name” in visual arts. But with a mix of colored imaginations and strokes of determination and discipline, no doubt, he will become part of our pool of artists, sooner or later. ###

Published in Gahum Weekly Vol.2, # 23.

Kataw, half fish- half human, is believed to be friendly with fishermen, which occasionally leads to a forbidden love; Medium: Water Color and ink.

Kakanog, a moth-butterfly, despite its inviting colors, is believed to be bearer of evil omens; Medium: Oil and pen.

Title: Pagbaribad han Kalag; Medium: Watercolor and ink.

Journalism and the Challenge of Consumerism

Photo courtesy of Mel Caspe

Journalism and the Challenge of Consumerism

J. Colima Bajado

We are already aware that the lives of our journalists are not of a haut monde. First and foremost (that’s the cliché), we get less. More than that, the word “libel” makes our world perilous. But libel is nil compare to the death-defying moments we’re involve in.

It is nearly two years ago when the country was declared the worst place for the journalists, elsewhere in the world. It was after the killing of a significant number of journalists in Maguindanao, which the case until now, sad to accept, still unresolved.

In the advent of a gratuitous upsurge of the prices of our staple needs, all of us are writhing. Juvenile criminals are becoming common today. To boot, a handful of Church ministers (when I speak of Church, I speak of all denominations) are challenged and doubted to be victimized by the virtue of consumerism. Last school semester, I attended a graduation ceremony in a theological school and the message of the Keynote Speaker was hearted in the challenge to the priesthood by the (mis)virtue of consumerism. It was a very inspiring speech that hit not only the graduates, but also the invitees of the said event. And in this challenge of consumerism, our journalists, just like anybody else, are of no excuse.

Why? Because journalists are also human. We also mull over the welfare and comfort of our family. We also eat. We also purchase this and that. And in effect, some of us are also lured into the charms of money. In exchange of assassinating the character of a political foe, if one political figure or a person in authority would give us 30 thousand pesos per month, as it is in some reported cases today, would we think twice? Some resist, some don’t. This is the challenge of consumerism, exchanging self respect and dignity to material glory.

I do not wish to hand and point Polano and Polana who are ensnared in the fangs of a consumerist society. I just want to remind them that writing (or journalism for that matter), is a vocation. Just like the principles of priesthood, teaching, and medicine- we go into these not because we want to be rich, but because we want to serve.

This, some of us forget. How can we not, if we continue to neglect the tenets of this noble profession? Yes, I call it a noble profession, just like teaching. It is those people who forget this nobility that are no less than what the Greek word mōron means. Which, hard to admit, some of us really are.

How to stand this challenge then? We must remember the 3 responsibilities that were taught to us, as in the words of our national Artist, F. Sionil Jose.

First, we must “get to the truth and tell it plain if you are a journalist, with the frills and colors of art if you are a creative writer”.

Second, “emphasize the obvious, particularly in the context of what we are.”

And finally, “and the most important rule is for (us) to stay alive.”  What is meant by “stay alive” is, we should “write about danger but protect (ourselves) from it.” And also by staying alive is by making our writings lively. Some of our writers are deadly boring; some, simply bad.

And yes in addition, as journalists we should not be irate of criticisms. It is from criticism that we start discerning our faults, and find solutions to our weaknesses. Rather than taking criticism as a loss, we should “profit from it.”

Sometimes we are miffed with the fact that very few of our people today are reading us. Worst, we might gasp and eventually lose breaths if we see our faces together with our articles being crushed when the newspaper is used in packaging bulad. This is one of our shared plights to our people: read us!

Time has honored the truth that writers’ life is difficult, for writers make a little. But to underscore, let us be minded again that writing is a vocation that seeks truth, truth, and nothing but the truth. People who slander just because they are paid and allow themselves to be captives of perjury, has no place in journalism. They must be gunned down in line with their co-felons and co-ignoramuses, guarantors of imprudence!

Yes, writers’ life is not easy. That is why we are considered as people who invites and enjoys misery- masochists, so to speak. But I would rather be a masochist, than a bloody liar. ###

Published in Gahum Weekly Vol.2, # 23.

Another Dulag tragedy: In memory of Cathleen and James

James and Cathleen

Another Dulag tragedy:

In memory of Cathleen and James

By J. Colima Bajado

History tells us that Dulag is one of the first mission stations established in our region, together with Carigara on July 16, 1595, by the Vice Provincial of the Jesuits Fr. Antonio Sedeňo.

History tells us also how Dulag was devastated in return of liberation from the Japanese colonizers in 1944. Dulag is actually where Gen. Douglas McArthur shored first in Leyte, not in Palo. However, when MacArthur saw the sheer devastation- “like a funeral dirge that saw thousands of dead, dying or wounded… from the terrible firepower of the guns and artillery of American gunships and war planes” (noted by the historian Emil Justimbaste)- he preferred to land somewhere else, whence the shores of Palo.

The reason why many were killed in Dulag during the Liberation is due to miscommunication. McArthur tapped Lt. Col. Frank Rawolle and Lt. Cmdr. Charles Parsons to tell the people to evacuate due to impending attacks. Rawolle and Parson relayed it to Ruperto Kangleon, the leader of the guerillas in Leyte, but the latter failed to relay the message of evacuation because he was not in good terms with the guerilla leader of Dulag, Bonifacio Kempis. This, history tells us.

Before August of 2011 ended, a dreadful news blow the press and media, and the EV as a whole. Teen lovers Cayetano James F. Baoy and Cathleen Gamba were robbed and killed in Brgy. San Rafael, Dulag, Leyte. Baoy is a 3rd year high school student in Leyte Colleges. The latter, who is only 13 years old, was raped before murdered.

The three suspects (actually offenders because they admitted the crime), with age bracket from 19 to 22, are now in jail. They were under the spirit of liquor, whom admittedly drank tuba before the incident. Their intention primarily is to rob the young lovers, but turned out to more than robbery.

Discounting these murderers, who is/are to be blame? The lovers? The parents of the lovers? The parents of the murderers? The tuba gatherer? The tuba seller? Or is it the community as a whole?

The people of Dulag already knew the personality of the suspects who are noted scalawags. Incidents of robbery-hold up are attributed to these three, but nobody reported this to the authorities. In effect, this three developed a big head, full of air, with the belief that they are the rapscallions of Dulag, worthy to be feared. From simple looting activities to claiming life.

This effort of course is communal. Collective action is necessary in order to circumvent these instances. It was a miscommunication. Should have the community had identified this three as hooligans, the people, including the lovers would have been vigilant. Who is to blame? That is beside the point. We can easily point and pick the murderers. Since they are criminals, they must face the dealing of our justice system. But the germane question is, what did we learn?

I cannot blame the lovers, whose age, their juices of entanglement is outpouring. Out of confidence, they thought they can have their romantic appointment or date just elsewhere. I cannot completely comprehend, or maybe I just don’t want to, how these two innocent people suffer from malevolent arms of the society they thought was friendly.

Theirs are just two lives compare to the thousands during the Liberation days, but is nevertheless as essential. Should we have only had learned the lesson of our history, James and Kathleen are still walking hand in hand in the streets of Dulag, and eventually have their own family. But these are all gone, for they paid the consequence of the community that still ensnared in a box of ignorance. The people failed to tap the shoulders of their fellow citizen for warning, as Kangleon failed to relay the message of evacuation that claimed thousands of lives of his countrymen. We must upkeep the welfare not only of our personal, but the communal. The rest is history.

The real treasure of a place, are the people. History cannot refute this.

James and Cathleen, requiescat in pace.

###

Published in Gahum Weekly

Vol. 2. # 21

Celebrating the Language Month (2)

Celebrating the Language Month (2)

J. Colima Bajado

I was a Waray first, before I become a Tagalog, and English. That is, if I really became the last two. I bet my parents were trying to teach me how to properly enunciate Na-Nay and Ta-tay and were very proud every time I say it correctly by accident, as a toddler. My parents’ efforts were put in vain when I went to school. I was taught by my meticulous (sometimes frustrating) English teachers to say mada (mother) and fada (father). Also in school, I was taught to say marjærin (margarine).

            In addition, maybe because of the stiff Waray tongue, I always have this hard time in pronouncing English words correctly. I cannot forget the moment when I was defending my research paper back in college. Because my professor cannot find an off beam in my paper, he slayed my pronunciation instead. “Mr. Bajado, it is to determine (pronounced as di túrmin), not deter-men!” I repeated the word, but unfortunately, I again said it in the latter pronunciation.

We are sorry products of our inappropriate educational system, which is a further creation of our colonized minds. We always think that English is superior, and the imposed Tagalog language for that matter.  We forget and sometimes ashamed to use our mother tongues- Waray, Akeanon, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, etc.- the lingua franca of the drivers, janitors, farmers and the commoners. After the American regimen, Tagalog has been legalized as a national language and baptized as thus so called “Filipino”.

However, it has already been proven that this so called “Filipino” is nothing less than a colonizer of his own kind. As a response to the outcry of policy restructuring, Mother Tongue Based- Multi Lingual Education (MTB-MLE) has been passed. Some, especially people form Manila, say that MTB-MLE is a silly design because mathematical and scientific terminologies have no equivalent in some local languages. Partly it is true. But we need not to change these terms as it is a requirement in an absolute discipline. However, in the case of Waray, even our natives have already utilized their own arithmetic and scientific expressions and terms.

When the Spaniards footed in our islands, we already have our manner of counting. We have one to ten. Gatos for a hundred. Yukot for a thousand. Dumalam for millions. And we even have Buraburaan for a number impossible to count, perhaps trillions.

Besides, we have already an existing lexis for the shape of the moon. Gimata for New Moon. Kaudto for First Quarter.  Kadayaw for Full Moon, and Dudlumon for Last Quarter. They already have identified a considerable assortment of our flora and fauna. We also have our different directions of the wind: Kanawayan, Timog, Amihan and Habagat.

Waray has been my primary language. At home, we care less about the syntax, grammar, and other linguistic considerations because we understood what we were saying.  English will and cannot catch the nuances and expressions that is peculiar to our tastes. I can attest that some may be successful in their attempts to find the equivalent in English of the following words, but I am sure that those words will not suffice the cultural sense and taste of a speaker in Waray.  Consider these words: Maharathat, madagaang , masapara , nagtitilwaka, naghihimaruydoy.

I am also and still waiting for the day that during the celebration of the language month, the activities will be a Siday recital competition or Esmayling competition instead of the Balagtasan. And I hope in quiz bees, answers will be matters or peoples that have something to do with our heritage, culture and identity as Waraynons.

I will not be proud if you find grammatical, syntactical, psychological, political, lyrical, galonical, errors in this very article. But I will not be ashamed too, for it is a conclusive evidence that all those efforts in school (i.e. fines and other lucrative money-generating-business of the teacher), are all otiose in order to pursue English, and this so called “Filipino” for that matter, too.

As a final point, in relation to the celebration of the language month, I want to share these words of my literary mom and unwavering literary mentor, UP Professor Emeritus and multi-Palanca Award winning poet Merlie Alunan: “Our advocates have thought of all the ways to save our mother languages—legal and conventional, or radical and revolutionary. We may add to all their wise thoughts and recommendations the creative way: Tell our stories in the old tongue. Let them be told, or written in the languages we learned at the knees. Teach the young to dream, to speak, to sing in the language of the mother. Let the stories and the poems be in everyone’s tongue, the songs in everyone’s throat. Give them to every man, woman and child in every village of the beautiful islands of the Visayas. Thus will our languages live!”

Matinuhaon nga pagsalin-urog han aton Pinulongan!

[ Esmayling: A traditional discourse-in-verse of the Warays 

Video produced by CACO Calbayog. Copyright belongs to the producer.]

Published in Gahum Weekly, Vol 2, No. 19

Celebrating the Language Month (1)

Celebrating the Language Month (1)

J. Colima Bajado

It is noticeable today that the younger generations are becoming more ignorant to the meaning of simple Waray words. Some do not even know the equivalent term in our language, of several nouns and adjectives. Worst, some parents would require the nannies of their children to talk to them in English. Ouch! Yuck! Gosh! Expressions that could have been well said as Aduy! Bagra! Hiyay!

I will take this opportunity, which long I have awaited, to talk about a sort of appreciation lecture of our language- Bisaya, Binisaya, Waray, Waray-Waray, Samareňo-Leyteňo- whichever you call it.

Scholars tagged the Jesuit father Ignacio Alcina as the gran defensor of the Bisayans by granting veneration, or at least a simple admiration on our language. He called the natives “my beloved Bisayans.” He translated Latin prayers, novenas and observances to our language. He also wrote a thesaurus of at least 20,000 words. He was a Spanish friar!

He defended that our language, which is popularly known today as Waray, is better than any language in the country that time- even better than Tagalog. Fr. Alcina furtherly explicate that our forms of poetry were excellent to the point of outshining the Tagalog, Spanish and other European linguistic mien. It took him 30 years to finally be au fait with the basics of our different forms of literature. But today, do we even care about it?

Some take it “baduy” to listen or read a siday. With this snooty attitude towards our surviving literature, it is not surprising that very few of us know that haya, ambahan, bical, balac, siday and awit once existed, much less in knowing their literary physiognomy.

In expounding Fr. Alcina’s proposition that our language is rich, he took an example on the richness on the terms that we use to the word “lavar” (wash), where our term paglaba is rooted (pagbunak is more appropriate word than paglaba). He noted the specificity of our use of the word “lavar” because in Spanish (and English too) they just say, wash your feet, wash your face, wash your hands, etc.

For example, instead of saying wash your mouth, we say pagpalimugmog, which specifically refer to gargling. Pagpusa to wash the feet. Paghiram-os in washing our face. To wash one’s hands we say paghunaw. To wash one’s privates, pag usaw. That’s why we never fail to remind our girlfriends in asking, “inusaw ka na?”

As mentioned, we say pagbunak to wash our clothes. But more specifically, we say pagtalimsaw in rinsing the clothes. Pagtalimsaw may also refer to rinsing with fresh water after bathing in salty water. We say pagdanggas in washing open wounds.  

I can say more words like pagparigo, pagtuyab-as, pagwasiwas, pagnawnaw, pagpunas. The dialectological wealth of our language convinced Fr. Alcina that indeed, the language of his “beloved Bisayans” is superior. Furthermore, people speak metaphorically even in ordinary conversations, how much more with the different poetic forms? It makes, for him, our language more remarkable.

If it is the case then, why is it today that some of us cannot speak our language, unless otherwise the situation demands us to speak in English? When I was about to board the plane at the Tacloban airport, bound for Manila last week, I was next in line to a lady who was talking with somebody in her cell phone. “Mom, I put the key at the study table in my room,” with a foreign twang. Suddenly she added, “hagi Mama, didto lagi hit lamesa!” Now with an authentic Waray accent.

I smirked. I remembered the Palanca Hall of Famer Dr. Leoncio Deriada’s idea that pain and anger is distinct to ones culture. He had this funny, yet factual suggestion in order to determine the roots of your seatmate- pinch her. If she says Aray! She is Tag-ala. If she says Aguy! She is a Sebuana. If she says Aduy! Surely, she is a Waray. But if she says ouch! Pinch her some more, for she is pretending to be American.

Should’ve had I wrote this article in Waray, it would be more interesting. But since inevitable circumstances compelled me to write this in English, pardon the paradox and irony. An Diyos an  magbalos!

Published in Gahum Weekly

Vol 2, No. 18

Fiesta today: (A)political Parade

Fiesta today: (A)political Parade
J. Colima Bajado


There must be something wrong with us.

Tacloban, the eastern Visayas capital, celebrated its fiesta last week, June 30. When I heard that the Pintados-Kasadyaan festival parade was blocked by Tacloban's TOMECO and other city personnel, I was not surprised. In superficial, it is Sangyaw versus Pintados-Kasadyaan festivals. But straightforwardly, it is a politically-driven agenda.

I am not apathetic to the ongoing political squabble between the provincial government of Leyte and the HUC government of Tacloban. But I will put that matter to one side. My emphasis here will be the celebration of fiesta. Theoretically, fiesta is a religious endeavor, thus, apolitical. But in the case of Tacloban, it shows otherwise. There must be really something wrong with us.

Fiesta is a thanksgiving celebration in honor to the patron saint of the town for all its intercessory marvels. The celebration of fiestas in eastern Visayas can be traced back to the introduction of Christianity by the Spanish conquistadores in the 1500s.

The early Visayans unreservedly embraced this celebration for this is not uncommon to their pag-anito (offering) to their deities. This celebration is much closely related to the type of pag-anito called pagtigma, or literally means “to congregate” or “to gather”. The person who summons the villagers to the pagtigma, by shouting in top of tall trees, is called “parayawyaw”. The celebration revolves on the thanksgiving and asking favors to their gods. Regardless of its animistic nature, it was purely religious.

At present, fiestas are more colorful with overture activities, such as the festival of festivals- the Kasadyaan in the case of Leyte. In the Visayan capitals, Cebu is noted for its Sinulog, Kalibo for Ati-Atihan, and Ilo-ilo for Dinagyang. All these three festivals are well established and rooted to their respective cultures.

What about the Pintados-Kasadyaan and Sangyaw festivals? Some of us are informed (but unfortunately many of us are not) that Pintados festival is based on the “painted” men and women, as the Spaniards describe our natives. And Kasadyaan, they say, is a Visayan term for “merriment” and “jollity”. Furthermore, “Sangyaw” means “to herald a news”. How are these festivals rooted to our cultural history?

Pintados entails to the tattooed natives. Tattooing is actually not peculiar to our region. It is in fact practiced all over the different regions of the country. Jesuit Father Ignacio Alcina wrote in 1600s that almost every Bisayan has a painted body as early as twenty years old, except the women, who paint a portion of their hands only. Bur generally, tattooing is a presentation of one’s “nobility, achievements or heroic feats”. But how do we see this in the Pintados festival of Tacloban? Does is coincide with the cultural roots of our region? Pintados by the way is a Spanish term. Pagpatik is a more appropriate word.

I cannot find the word “kasadyaan” in any Waray dictionary, and probably from my ignorance, I thought this word might be derived from the Tagalog “sadya”, or perhaps, from a Sebuano lexicon. And from my imperfect mastery of our language, I only know “kalipayan” and “kamaribhong” as words that will suffice the word merriment. While “sangyaw”, as far as I know means “to proclaim”. Then, to proclaim what?

More than that, we should couple these supposed culture-rooted undertakings with a “religious” spirit, for fiesta is primarily a church celebration. This is a time for prayer and thanksgiving for all the bounties we received. This is not a time for pageantry of politicians- our first problem. Secondly, we are all ignorant of our own culture, much less of its essence. We all want to attend the pagtigma, but everyone also wants to become the “parayawyaw”. Namamarayaw!

Our culture is the strongest foundation of our identity. Why is it that Pintados, or Kasadyaan, or the Sangyaw cannot compete with the prominence of Sinulog, Ati-atihan and Dinagyang? Because of its shallow cultural foundations, plus, its shallow religious substance. Again, I will not be surprised if in the future, another festival will be birthed. Another Petilla or Romualdez festival of festivals. ###

(Published in Gahum Weekly)