"12 Jeepney" Evolution Project

There are people, including even some government officials who proclaim the jeepney as a proud Filipino achievement. For them the jeepney is a a showcase of Filipino ingenuity and creativity.

I count among those who disagree with these people. Government officials who ride on this jeepney propaganda should be made to take the jeepney everyday to work so that they will at least be consistent with what they are talking about.

As a mode of transportation, the jeepney is inconvenient, uncomfortable and inefficient. It contributes greatly to air and noise pollution. Jeepneys worsen traffic and do not help much to improve the quality of living.

I believe we Filipinos can do better and deserve a better transport alternative. The jeepney may have evolved in response to our transportation need in the past, but it is now time for us to say goodbye to the jeepney and say hello to a better, faster, cleaner and more efficient mass public transportation system like the rail based rapid transportation system.

As for the jeepney, those who want to be creative and artistic about it should be challenged to find an alternative and better purpose for it.

To start off this challenge, below is my 5 cent list of 12 ideas of what we can do with the jeepney:

1. turn the jeepney into a "jeepxi" or a jeep that functions as a taxi
2. turn the jeepney  into "jeepotel"  mobile hotels to serve distant and far flung communities that do not have adequate lodging places.
3. turn the jeepney into mobile sari sari stores or native craft stores to replace the carabao drawn craft carts
4.turn the jeepney into restojeeps or mobile restaurants
5. turn the jeepney into a mobile emergency water purifying plant
6. turn the jeepney into a school bus
7. turn the jeepney into a mobile toilet service provider
8. turn the jeepney into a family recreational camper or van
9.turn the jeepney into a mobile library and internet cafe to serve far flung areas
10. turn the jeepney into mobile government extension offices
11. turn the jeepney into an"ambujeep" or jeepney ambulance
12. turn the jeepney into a mobile clinic for use of doctors to the barrios

WIP pic to follow

Doctrine of Public Self Defense

Although I am against the death penalty, I will be a hypocrite if I deny feeling a sense of relief and satisfaction whenever I learn about  a notorious criminal who has killed or harmed other people being eliminated by the police or the public. And it does not matter if the criminal was slain in a shootout albeit under suspicious circumstances or a public lynching. What matters to me is that at least the public have one less criminal to lose sleep over.

In order to reconcile my conflicting stance about the death penalty and elimination of notorious criminals, I am toying with the idea of the right of the public to defend themselves, their lives and properties by permanently eliminating those who they catch as having committed violent and heinous crimes against them or those they caught as having deadly weapons at the time they were committing the crime.

While we have our laws and the police who are supposed to address the problem of criminality in our country, I believe that this problem will be more effectively addressed if there is greater public involvement.

If a person can justifiably kill another man to defend and protect his own life, the public too should have this right to defend itself and its peace. This is what I call the Doctrine of Public Self Defense.

Jologs Nation

According to the Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jologs) the word "jologs" was derived from the combination of the words "daing", "tuyo" and "itlog". As these are mostly poor people's food, the word acquired a class sense referring  to anything "masa" with a pejorative tone. Thus people would call something as "jologs" anything that does not merit their esteem.

Over time, the use of the word "jologs" died out but I sort of held on to it and gave it a new sense by defining it as a failure of people to go beyond the superficial and see what is truly essential.

While biking along the Floodway somewhere in the Pasig City area sometime ago, I was struck by the disparity between the modern buildings from afar and the shanties lining the river. Some people may not find a connection or relationship between our spanking urban centers with big malls and tall buildings and the teeming mass of people living miserably in shanties and hovels but there is. At the very least, we should realize that the wealth of our country does not benefit many of our people and that we should make more effort to share it more equitably.
 
A nation whose people have come to accept poverty and  inequality as normal and do nothing about it will always be a jologs nation. We can pretend to be rich, modern and sophisticated but in the end, we only expose ourselves to be without conscience or intelligence.

Better to see the looter jailed than just the loot

 (photo taken from internet)

I agree with Department of Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez in questioning the wisdom of  putting up for public display the sequestered Imelda Marcos jewelry. Those jewels represent neither a great artistic achievement in craftsmanship nor do they have any edifying historical value.

While those jewels may serve as a reminder to the people to never again allow themselves fall under a kleptocratic dictatorship, they actually serve more as  insulting reminders of the sad failure of the Presidential Commission on Good Government to get full justice for a people robbed.

The Marcos jewels represent nothing but loot. What will be more satisfying to see is for  the looter justly punished. Punishment is the most eloquent way of saying "Never Again!". It is also the beginning of reform.

30 Bomba Atomika

Nasa birthday blowout at reunion ako ng dati kong mga ka-opisina nang dumating ang balita na may malakas na lindol na naganap sa probinsya ng Samar. 

Dahil malayo ang lindol at hindi ito namalayan  sa Manila, masayang nagtapos ang aming gabi dahil parang napakabilis lumipas ng oras sa piling ng mga mabubuting kaibigan. Sa souvenir pic namin (kaliwa pakanan) kasama ko si madam Erma, Mia, Irah, Vero at  ginoong El Cid.

Makalipas pa ang ilang araw nang dumating na ang mas kumpletong balita sa naganap sa Samar. Hindi tuloy mawala sa isip ko na kung sakaling dito sa Manila nangyari ang lindol na yon na kasing lakas daw ng tatlumpu na bomba atomika sa Hiroshima, ano kaya ang nangyari sa amin?

Naalala ko tuloy at higit na pinahalagahan ang kasabihan "Carpe Diem. Vivere senza rimpianti!". Sunggaban ang kasalukuyan at  mabuhay ng walang pagsisi.

Exotic Palawan Fruits

 

At the recently held Agriculture and Fisheries Exhibit sponsored by the Department of Agriculture last 9-12 August at the SM Megamall Trade hall, one booth that I found very interesting was the one of Palawan because it featured exotic fruiting trees which have some commercial potential.

One fruit I tried was a relative of the jackfruit and it certainly tasted like one. Apart from this fruit however, I was also able to taste other fruits with very interesting tastes and textures that I had not had before.

I do hope that our agricultural scientists manage to make something out of these local fruit trees and may they be able to benefit our people.

 

12 Napapakinabangang Origami

Noong bata ako, isa sa mga naging laruan ko ay ang mga eroplanong ako mismo at mga kalaro ko ang gumawa mula sa papel. Ito ang unang enkwentro ko sa origami bagamat hindi ko pa alam ang pangalan nito noon.

Para sa maraming mga tao, ang origami ay isa lamang nakaka aliw na libangan. Pero kung tutuusin ay may mga pagkakataon na napapakinabangan talaga ang origami.

Eto ang 12 sa mga origami na para sa akin ay maaring pakinabangan kapag kinailangan ng pagkakataon:

1. Tasa
2. pitaka
3. kahon
4. kwadradong bowl
5. bowl ng kendi
6. kahon na pahaba
7. basket
8. envelop
9. buslo
10. photo frame
11. lalagyan ng buto ng halaman
12. bookmark

Coix lacryma-jacobi l.

I used to think that the plant I knew as "katigbi" was just a worthless weed.

However, at the "Makina Saka Expo" of the Department of Agriculture (DA) which was held at the World Trade Center last July 4-7, 2012, I learned that katigbi - its seed- is actually edible and has even been identified by the DA as a potential crop that can help strengthen our food security.

Coix lacryma-jacobi l is the scientific name of katigbi. One of its name in english is Job's tears which is actually the meaning of  lacryma jacobi. In some areas of the country though, it is more known as "adlai".

The milled seeds of "adlai"  has a glutinous corn like taste that has a lot of potential use even in fine cuisines. In fact, people in other countries like China and Vietnam already utilize this as food. I was able to taste it steamed and I thought it was really nice.

I hope the DA succeeds in promoting the propagation and acceptance of this crop locally.

Sa Exotic Restaurant, Pakil, Laguna

Kahit maraming taon na mula nang magbukas ng pintuan ang restaurant na ang pangalan ay EXOTIC sa Pakil, Laguna,  kelan lang ako nakapunta dito.

Nakilala ang Exotic Restaurant dahil dito, ang mga customer ay maaaring sumubok ng mga "exotic" na pagkain tulad ng usa, baboy damo, bayawak, sawa at iba pa.

Pero ngayong pinangangalagaan at pinoprotektahan na rin ang mga exotic na hayop, kaunti na lang ang mga palatandaan at bakas na "exotic" ang lugar na ito.

Sa loob ng restaurant, makikita ang mga bayawak na ito na ginawa na lang dekorasyon.

Meron ding ulo ng usa. Ewan kung saang bansa galing ang mga usang ito (dalawa nakita ko)

Sa labas naman ng restaurant, meron ding ibong kalaw na ang alam ko ay sa Cagayan Valley natatagpuan.

Sa hardin ng restaurant, meron namang nakataling peacock.

Siguro ay nahuli na ako ng dalaw sa tanyag na kainan at landmark na ito sa Laguna. May ilang parte na ng restaurant na ito ang mukhang abandonado na at hindi na pinapakinabangan.

Pero sana muling mapasigla ng may ari ng lugar na ito ang kanilang restaurant.Sayang din naman ang lugar na ito. Kung wala na silang mga "wild" na pagkain na maisisilbi, pwede rin naman silang magpa uso ng ibang "putahe" gaya ng insekto at maging yong Cuy  o guinea pig na sikat na sikat sa mga bansa sa Latin America.

Ewan nga lang kung mas madaling sabihin ang naiisip ko kesa sa gawin.

Magsa ano pa man iyon, All the best sa kainang ito at sana, palayain na lang nila ang mga bilanggong ibon na alaga nila.


 

Working on the spiritrual infrastructure to overcome poverty

Karl Marx said that religion is the opiate of the masses because it makes people meekly accept their lot instead of prodding them to question a social order where most of the people are virtual slaves and servants of those who control capital and the means of production.

But what if religion itself becomes the people's tool for strengthening their spiritual infrastructure to defeat poverty?

I am not a bible toting person nor even a very religious one. But my Catholic education has made me familiar with the stories and contents of the bible from which I have drawn some reflections on how people should regard poverty and how to overcome it.

First is the story of creation in the Genesis. Here we are reminded that we are all God's creation but we were given dominion over the other resources God made. No one then has a right to monopolize the resources of this world or universe for himself alone.

Second is the Parable of the Talents. If God created the resources for our sustenance, it is for us God's children to create value and wealth from the resources we were given to sustain us and fill our needs. By so doing, we honor our Creator. It is our responsibility and obligation to work, to be productive to contribute to achieving a wealthy community.

Third is the Parable of the Widow's mite tied up with the story of Judas, feigning concern for the poor and criticizing Mary Magdalene for lavishing Jesus with expensive aromatic oil. In this two stories, we are reminded that true charity comes from giving only of the self, of what we have. It is not charity if we give only what is of others. People who help others with other people's resources are actually working and not engaging in charity. Then there are other people who pretend to be concerned for the poor and disadvantaged by judging how others spend their money without themselves showing the way.

Fourth is a line in the Book of Sirach (not found in non Catholic bibles) that reminds people that it is better to live humbly in one's house than to feast lavishly in another's home. This passage for me points out where to start when trying to help the people - by giving them their own property. This may not be achievable at a personal or individual level but this must be a community or a government effort.

Fifth is the line in the Book of Isaiah about breaking the fetters of injustice so that light can shine into our lives like a new day. Finally, this line tells us that poverty is mostly man made and is the result of an unjust situation. God created all the resources that we need for survival but apathy, ignorance and greed have resulted in a few people living a very privileged existence while a great number were consigned to live a wanting and miserable existence.

Religion and the bible have been used and misused by many for all sorts of reason. I am not sure though if there is something objectionable if the bible will be used to fight poverty.

Just sharing my thoughts.

Happy Easter!