Solving the transport problem through people power

Transportation officials should not ignore the importance of walking as part of the solution to the traffic problem in our country.

It may not be evident, but every meter that can be taken away from the distance that people have to travel can significantly reduce the space needed for transportation vehicles on the road.

Thus together with the grand transportation projects such as trains and cable cars being considered, transportation officials should also create safe pedestrian corridors where people can walk.

Apart from pedestrian corridors, transport officials should also create bike lanes and a bike use program.

If there are these options for people to help themselves, I think many people will avail of this.

The War on Drugs

tv grab of drugs confiscated in a buy bust operation

Why do some people get to be addicted to drugs while others don't?

I think people who take drugs are those who are trying to fill a void in their lives or are trying to escape a life without purpose or meaning.

People should have a purpose around which they can structure their lives. This can be religion, family, a personal ambition, an advocacy or anything that they can dedicate their lives to. Without this, they can fall prey to the temptation of drugs that can bring them temporary pleasure but eventual ruin.

If these people who have become addicted to drugs are to be helped, I believe someone must reset the button of their lives for them and try to define or structure a new existence for them through a new environment and long term work engagement.

Figuratively, this is like killing their old selves for a chance to get a new life. And someone must take charge.

Goal vs Wish

Earlier I got into a conversation with a person whose personal qualities as a leader I admire.

Talking to this person, I got an idea why some people make it in life despite great obstacles, while others do not, even if  they are given all the chances and opportunities.

People who make it have a set goal in life and a plan on how to reach this goal by stages.  They also have a time frame for every stage of their goal and work hard with focus and determination to achieve it.

The rest simply have a vague idea of what they want but have no idea how to get it.

Yet  without a goal, without a plan to move forward it is a gradual slide to poverty even for those who start with a lot of money. And many are already there.

A course in home based dairy processing

I like yoghurt and I like cheese. What I don’t like is their steep price.

Unfortunately there is not much we can do about it because we are not really a milk producing country and most of the dairy and milk products we consume have to be imported.

That was why when I got a chance to attend a short training course in a home based dairy products processing at the University of the Philippines in Los Banos, I did not let it pass.

The training was held for four days (July 18-21, 2016) at the Dairy Training Institute in the university. During the training we were taught basic milk chemistry and evaluation, handling and processing of milk into various products such as flavored milk, yoghurt, cottage cheese, mozzarella, milk candy and ice cream.

I really appreciated the effort of the DTRI people, especially our trainor Ms. Aida Borromeo-Lanaca who taught us as much as possible as many things in the short time that we had. I was also surprised and very happy with what we made. The yoghurt was soooo good that even if that was the only thing I learned and which I could replicate at home. I would be contented.

Ms. Aida Borromeo Lanaca (in yellow) our trainor showing us how to pasteurize milk

If there is one thing though that I hope the training staff and the DTRI people can improve on, it is that they should work on coming up with a decent, well written and comprehensive basic reference/training manual (printed or electronic) instead of handing out power point printouts of the lectures. I find this practice cheap and unworthy of a respectable institution. It gives the training a semblance of being just hastily and haphazardly organized. Very ad hoc.

Many people in the business of teaching seems to have been trapped in a culture of complacency that they have forgotten the fact that the beginning of teaching and the effective transfer of knowledge is with a good book. A book that can be improved, revised and refined over time. I hope that before DTRI holds another training, they can work on this training manual first.

There is no question about the competence and knowledge of our workshop trainers with regards to what they taught us. Certainly they can make good consultants. But writing a book may require other skills and may require the involvement of other people who are up to the job.

In fairness to DTRI, it is not alone with this problem. Many other training institutions are in the same boat.

Change is coming. But is DTRI ready for change?

Group picture with my co trainees and our milk products

 

Shambon - shampoo na nasa sabon.

May kasabihan na "ang pangangailangan ang ina ng imbensyon".

Totoo nga.

Sa paggawa ng sabon, dahil nagsasawa na ako sa mga pabango na ginagamit ko, naisip ko lang kung maaaring haluan ng shampoo ang sabon. Ang inaalala ko lang  ay baka hindi kasi tumigas ito.

Pero maaari naman pala.

Sa sarili ko, ayos naman gamitin ang sabon na ito. Kahit sa buhok, medyo may epekto rin na parang mas malambot ang buhok na parang na shampoo ito.

Hindi ko lang alam kung ano ang matagalang epekto nito. Baka nakakalagas ng buhok at makalbo ang gagamit nito ng pangmatagalan.

Huwag naman sana. Pero kailangan pa din ng matagal tagal na obserbasyon.

Galing sa isang kaibigan ang pangalang "shambon". Kapag ito ay tinanggap at tinangkilik ng publiko, siya ay may lifetime supply nito.

Paano makaka-abot ang tagumpay ng Pilipinas sa kanila?

Nanalo ang Pilipinas sa kasong isinampa nito laban sa Bansang Tsina kaugnay ng pag-angkin ng huli ang mga isla sa West Philippine Sea.

Habang nagdadaan ako sa talipapa na malapit sa amin at nakita ko ang mga isda na itinitinda ng mga manlalako, naisip ko kung ano kaya ang palagay ng mga tindero sa pagkakapanalong ito ng ating bansa.

Bilang mga Pilipino alam ko na ikinagagalak din nila ang panalo ng Pilipinas. Pero ano pa kayang biyaya ang mararamdaman nila kaugnay ng panalong ito?

Duterte's Revolution

Matuwid na Daan was supposed to be the revolution. It was righteous, it was peaceful and it was lawful.

Our mistake was to treat it just as a political slogan instead of a national or a people's project to set a standard for government service. Thus the public rejected it as the enemies of the Aquino government tried to sabotage and derail his administration.

Instead the majority of the people created a sacred cow to worship and what we have now is a Duterte Revolution- brutal, bloody and reckless as it goes about bringing "change" to this country.

But there is no other way but Matuwid na Daan. We have to bring this back. In the constant battle between good versus evil, Matuwid na Daan is on the side of good and is on the right side of history.

This our people must understand.

It takes a village...

If it takes a village to educate a child, according to the next and first female president of the United States Hilllary Clinton in a book she earlier wrote with the same title, I believe this principle should also be applied in solving the many big problems that affect us today.

People should understand that it is they who make society work and so they should not simply sit by as they expect the government to make things easy for them. Unfortunately, this thinking is encouraged by politicians so they can keep their hold on power.

The village or the barangay is where the building of the nation begins. And in this, all the people must get involved.

"Adik" Crafts

 

 

Although I am all for recycling and up-cycling, I am not really a fan of turning discarded packaging and other waste material into decorative items. For me, this is just delaying the discarded material's trip to its final resting place - the garbage heap.

 

For lack of a better term, I call this proclivity of some people to turn trash into decorative items as "adik-crafts" because I associate this activity with mostly prisoners and drug addicts undergoing rehab.

 

Not that I am being judgmental or being biased against it. In fact, I am completely neutral. If it helps people pass away time, earn a little income or even turn a new leaf  I am happy for them.

 

I am hoping though that aside from working on the decorative aspect, practical uses can be found for these waste materials.

 

In the case of PET water bottles, I have noted three worthwhile uses one of which I found very practical.

 

These are:

1. PET mini  aquarium to hold a small fish that feeds on mosquito larvae. This may help minimize mosquito population especially the disease carrying kind. (see picture)

 

2. PET salted egg maker. Simply cut the top part of 5-6 liter water bottle. Put fresh chicken eggs and submerge in supersaturated salt solution. Put weight on eggs to keep each egg under the solution for about two weeks. After two weeks, remove egg from the solution and boil in a pot of fresh water till cooked.

 

 

 

3. Plastic bag closer. This idea I find very neat and useful because it makes it easy to close tight a plastic bag after getting a portion of its contents.

 

 

 

Of course there are many other ideas out there, but for me these three are good enough.



A Vigan reprise

Calesas in front of the Quirino house

 It was really to Laoag and Pagudpod where I wanted to go. But due to limited time and just thinking of the long hours of going there and back, I ended up just going to Vigan.

This is my second time to go there but I was happy to be back and find that none of its old world charm was lost on me.

This time however, instead of doing the tourist thing, I went to the public market to look for unusual items that may not be common to those not from there.

The food section of the Vigan City market is situated on the second floor of the market building unlike most markets in the country I know.

Two uncommon things I found there were the 'balicutia' which is a kind of candy made from sugarcane but which is also used as a sweetener. I am sure there are other ways of using it as a cooking ingredient. It is also sold as a souvenir food item and  I was planning to buy some but at the last minute, I forgot to do so.

the balicutia- sugar candies cum sweetener

The other item that I saw for the first time is the sea weed called 'gamet' which to me looked similar to the Japanese 'nori' but less well preserved and presented. I wanted to try it but I do not know what to do with it. I was told to steep it in hot water and add it as a salad ingredient. But at P90  per sheet smaller than a bond paper, I decided that I will just try to sample it in a restaurant that serves it. That opportunity has not come yet.

Gamet - a food item from the sea

Vigan is as beautiful in the morning as it is at night. But actually it is the relative calm and quiet that draws me to it. I hope the influx of motor vehicles and wanton development will not change it.

What I noticed about Vigan though is that there is no memorably pleasant aroma that will stay in my mind and remind me of my visit there. How nice it would have been if Vigan has more odoriferous flora adorning its streets to match its old world ambience. What permeates the air in a part of the city is the greasy smell of Jollibee fried chicken cooking.

I hope the city people will realize that hiring a professional and top caliber gardener and cityscaper can only make their place more beautiful and tourist worthy.

two vendors selling kakanins, mostly rice based