Remembering a coffee house in Jolo

An interesting coffee experience for me was when I had coffee with friends at a coffee house in Jolo. It was before dawn and I just arrived from a long boat trip from Zamboanga City.

Although it was still very early, the coffee house was already getting busy with customers. There was no fancy coffee served there but simply freshly boiled coffee yet it was bracingly good. To accompany your coffee, the servers leave you a tray of simple local eats such as fried bananas or rice cakes. You only pay for what you consume and what you do not touch will be taken back by the servers presumably to be offered to other customers. Not surprising then that a meal here does not cost much and is accessible to more people.

Back in Manila, there are plenty of western style coffee houses to choose from. But going there can burn a hole in your pocket as you pay not only for the coffee and the food but for the plastic ambiance as well.

The Joy of Peace and Quiet

 

May everyone find joy and contentment today and everyday.

 

Made in China Christmas

 

We all know that China is the factory of the world with the ability to produce products very cheaply. But do we really have to import from this country that bullies us and treat us with contempt even non essential items like christmas decors? 

Will our celebrations be less festive if we make do with what we can make by our own creativity and resources? The day we say no to these non essential imports is the day we shed our mentality of slaves - just my opinion..

Sad picture that tells something about us as a people

We take great pride  as Filipinos in achieving world class feats like winning international titles for beauty or brawn. Some of us proudly note that we are among the cleanest people in the world with the habit of frequently taking baths even in the coldest weather. Yet we mindlessly throw away our trash right where we stand as if we take our whole country as nothing more than a big garbage dump.
There must be something wrong with us if we have to put up a sign like this.

 But who will take responsibility for addressing the problem?

Terracing the mountains

Although the rice terraces are supposed to be an ancient achievement of early settlers in the Philippines, the process of terracing the mountains have not really stopped. This I realized when I visited a vegetable farm along the mountain trail in Atok, Benguet.

It is not rice that is being grown here however but vegetables like potatoes and cabbage . What I found troublesome however is the reliance of modern terrace builders on chemicals such as weedicide to help them clean up land faster.

This is one reason why even though vegetables are aplenty in this place, I am wary about consuming a lot of them. Someone even said that at times, you can even taste the pesticide in the vegetables even if they are thoroughly washed.

Hopefully, farmers here can go organic one day.

The Incredible Anti Dengue Invention

Am I the only one who suspect that this vaunted invention of the Department of Science and Technology is a hoax? Even President Aquino was made to claim its success twice in his State of the Nation Address yet the problem of dengue remains.

I tried to talk with some people who had a chance to utilize this contraption and asked them if they found it effective. However the answer I got was that they have no sufficient data to make a conclusion. A barangay chairperson even told me that it was useless.

In any invention, there is supposed to be a key technology that is at the heart of the such an invention. This ovitrap/larvaecide contraption has no such thing. True the idea behind it is that it will attract mosquitoes to lay egg on its larvicide laden container thereby killing the mosquito eggs but this method does not seem to be better than swatting a mosquito with an electric swatter.

Yet someone is now selling this "invention". I hope someone can get to have a closer look at this affair. Something smells fishy here.

Saying thanks thru Lantern of Nations

The Philippines has a unique Christmas symbol in the parols, so this Christmas, in the wake of the catastrophic visit of typhoon Yolanda/Haian, I just thought that it would be a good and decent gesture to say thank you to the countries that came to our aid by putting up parols in grateful recognition of their help. These parols can be called Parol ng Pasasalamat or Lantern of Nations and can even be the start of an annual tradition as a celebration of gratitude to our intenational friends.

Sablan silk farmer

(In photo, Ms Ambes tending to her silk worms)

My interest was to find out how government is helping people in their livelihood to raise their income and improve their quality of life. So when I was invited by Ms. Fe Donato, field extension officer of the Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA) Reg I to visit a silk farmer she assists, I immediately grabbed the chance.

The farm we visited is located in Sablan, Benguet and as in most farms in the province, it is located on the slope of a mountain. Fortunately it was not hard to reach.

The farm is owned by the Ambes couple. It turned out that they are the only ones now continuing with silk farming in Sablan after most of those who tried it gave up. They were initially formed as a cooperative but because there were many problems encountered by the members, mostly sourcing mulberry leaves to feed the worms, all of them gave up. The Ambes were fortunate that they have a piece of land to grow their own mulberry trees and could also source from some nearby places. Their farm being situated on a steep slope, they also did not have much choice and so it was also by force that they had  to make a go of it.

(Photo: Mulberry trees just harvested for its leaves)

With a potentially big market for silk and its many derivative products, silk farming can be a lucrative activity. However, its promise has yet to be made a reality. Although the Ambeses are able to make a living out of silk rearing, they are far from living a comfortable life. There are many problems to be solved before the industry can take off. In fact, despite the resources spent to support the silk fiber industry, the province has not even been able to reach a production level that will sustain silk cloth production.

 

(In photo: mulberry with red edible fruit)

Where lies the problem? On one hand, I have seen the Ambes couple working hard to do well in their enterprise. I have also seen the dedication of Ms. Donato as field extension officer in supporting the farmers. What can the farmers do to improve their productivity further? What other help can the government do beyond what it does now?

I just visited this farm for a day so I will not dare give an answer. 

Hopefully though, in the future, people involved in this activity can  manage to have a truly thriving silk industry.

  (In photo: Ms. Fe Donato of FIDA Reg I, Ms. Agustina Ambes and Mr. Ed Ambes in front of their silk rearing house)

Toilet talk

Government has at least a responsibility to guarantee the essentials of life like clean air, safe water, food, shelter and even the facilities for answering the call of nature.

In the last instance however, most of the time, our government has been remiss in this duty and left this task to private initiative. Thus pay toilets have sprouted in many public places.

But what if there are people who can not pay to use these facilities? And is it really necessary to spell out what use people will get into the toilet for?

This places make me strangely sad as I feel it does not speak well about the kind of our society.

 

Adivay find

At the 2013 Adivay Trade Fair, one of the interesting things I found was this yellow pepper locally known as "Sapuki" featured in the Kibungan booth. Apart from its attention getting name especially for tagalog speakers, the fruits are deceptively beautiful as they are fiery hot.

But I think they have a good commercial potential if only they can be grown widely. They can be used by high end restaurants and can be processed into salsas, sauces and even just as pepper flakes.