WEDDING RECEPTION AT THE BEACH
It was not the only wedding reception to be held at that particular area of the beach; but at the time the first was held a year ago, the lion was at the metropolis hence could not chronicle the said event.
What made the two weddings unique was that the brides involved sisters and the grooms were migrants to the place. The eldest, Dinah, was married to Randy Enojas, while the younger, Maria Elizabeth, a pretty eighteen year old whom the lion tamer mulled to take along to the big city as a household help, married Arnulfo Godinez, aged 38, and which, if defined in poetic language, the wedding may well be considered an April versus September affair.
Save for the fact that the reception was within bird’s eye view of the aging lion since it was held at the other end of the beach where the lion often while his time away, the festivity would not have merited a page in the Internet, only, both grooms are neighbors of a barangay called Cabil’an, an islet beside Dinagat Island in Surigao del Norte that looks no bigger than a dot on the map of the Philippine Archipelago.
The place where the groom came from is the domain of the famed Ruben Ecleo and his Philippine Benevolent Association Inc. (or PBMI), where this semi-religious cult conducts its base of operations. Most of the inhabitants were themselves migrants that came from other places of the archipelago, mostly fishermen who felt the crunch of living while in their respective places of abode unbearable and decided Dinagat Island and its environs are suited to their needs. The group of islands, being mostly craggy and being the frontline of the rampaging waves brought about by typhoons that regularly batter the archipelago, would be bane to framers but is suitable to fishermen whose beachheads are their natural habitats. Cardo, the migrant whom the lion interviewed, himself came from Masbate who transferred to Dinagat Island some thirty years ago. Life to his family, he said, was becoming difficult in his place of birth. Out there in their new home, he said that religion is not a monopoly of Catholics, Protestants nor of the Adventists, but that certain tenets of Ruben Ecleo like “ganti” which the latter defined as reward, a tagalog word that means “response” are assured to those who follow his word. From what Cardo explained however, it appeared Ecleo is a good administrator who ran his flock like a cooperative, helping them in their financial needs whenever necessary.
The solemnization of the actual wedding is nothing unusual as it was held at the town’s church. But the reception was because it was conducted at the beach, the type usually held by celebrities, like Nora Aunor when she married the young Christopher de Leon sometime in the seventies. And while the food that was actually served may not fare well with gourmets and connoisseurs, the other events that transpired are worth this story to tell.
Two days before the wedding, three PAMO boats (actually a large fishing vessel with a crew of about seven seafarers that generally stays afloat for about 18 days at sea catching fish) , docked at the beachside carrying a hundred or so people. They include not only relatives of the groom but also next door neighbors who came all the way from their islet to celebrate with the wedded couple the affair, taking along with them, the pots and pans, the rice, the plates, the fork and spoons and the seven large pigs that they will butcher for food. The lion was told that out there in that small island, weddings and similar occurrences (even deaths) are unlike those that happen in other places which are mostly clan affairs, but are community undertakings. Neighbors contribute in the financial burden, the worry of the parents of the groom are thus considerably lessened. Nothing unusual here, Cardo said, since most are migrants whose clans are generally limited to second or third generation offsprings.
The night before the wedding is already the start of the celebration. The entrails of the pig is cooked into what an American friend calls “bloody Mary” (called dinuguan in the local dialect) and drinking Tanduay Rhum, talking about the characteristics of both the would-be bride and groom, told by parents of either side under the cool shade of the tent that was pitched at the middle of pumpboats at the beach. Parents, of course, see to it that none drinks more than what the occasion demands, the marriage will be solemnized the next day yet.
Since dowries form part of the wedding celebration, a wedding dance by the groom and bride is held, with relatives pinning paper bills on their clothes as they dance to the music. The amount received usually approximates the cost of a pumpboat thus assuring the newly-wedded couple of a livelihood to start on once they start on their own. This rite, the lion assumes, is not limited to the Dinagats but all over the entire archipelago.
Another curious event after the solemnization of the wedding is the actual act of taking home the bride. Sometime after the dance by the couple ended, the groom’s party boarded the three pumpboats taking along with them all the cooking utensils and the uncooked food provisions they brought along with them, but only after leaving some remaining cooked food to the girls’ parents and taking along the precious bride with them. Much like the buccaneers who took along the spoils after the raid is over.
Which makes the lion ponder: Could it be that they will allow the bride and the groom on the third pumpboat to themselves pumping rhythmically what has to be pumped before they reach their homing destination??
Ay, bastos!!
Friday, January 21, 2005
THE RAT TRAP
The fable shown below was contributed by WB Rommel SJ Corral, PM, of Rafael Palma Lodge No. 147. The lion’s hindsight is shown at the bottom page.
Happy reading!
Bro. Jun Galarosa
Dagohoy Lodge No. 84
Tagbilaran City
THE RAT TRAP
A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and
his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was aghast
to discover that it was a rat trap. Retreating to the farmyard the rat
proclaimed the warning; "There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap
in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said,
"Excuse me, Mr. Rat, I can tell this is a grave concern to you,
but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The rat turned to the pig and told him, "There is a rat trap in the
house, a rat trap in the house!" "I am so very sorry Mr. Rat,"
sympathized the pig, "but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.
Be assured that you are in my prayers."
The rat turned to the cow. She said, "Like wow, Mr. Rat. A rat trap.
I am in grave danger. Duh?"
So the rat returned to the house, head down and dejected,
to face the farmer's rat trap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound
of a rat trap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was
caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake
whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a
fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup,
so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main
ingredient.
His wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit
with her around the clock. To feed them the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well.
She died, and so many people came for
her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for
all of them to eat.
Moral to the story: The next time you hear that someone is facing a
problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when
there is a rat trap in the house, the whole farmyard is at risk.
"Teach us, O Lord, to love one another,
To help with the gifts that You bestow
Give us unity of mind and heart
As we truly serve You here below." **
WB Rommel S.J. Corral, P.M.
Rafael Palma Lodge No. 147
--------------------------------------------
SYNOPSIS
The obvious moral of the story is never trust a snake. The Holy Bible pictures this denizen of the grass and trees as treacherous, and even when it blunders, is still as deadly. Look what happened to the farmer’s wife!!
And the chicken, the pig and the cow??
Ah, but they’re like the poor inhabitants of Real, and General Nakar in Quezon province that were buried in the mud when the slopes of the mountains caved in on them during the onslaught of the deadly rampaging typhoon. Being indifferent to the activities of the illegal loggers, much like the effect of the rat trap, these poor people were shoved to their disastrous deaths!!
And the rat? Well, he must have adapted to the ways of Speedy Gonzales, (no, not RW Jimmy) who skillfully eludes the wily cat (it’s not RW Monching P**** either).
Aesop must be fidgeting in his grave for the lion’s intrusion into his domain.
FROM THE AGING LION’S DEN
The fable shown below was contributed by WB Rommel SJ Corral, PM, of Rafael Palma Lodge No. 147. The lion’s hindsight is shown at the bottom page.
Happy reading!
Bro. Jun Galarosa
Dagohoy Lodge No. 84
Tagbilaran City
THE RAT TRAP
A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and
his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was aghast
to discover that it was a rat trap. Retreating to the farmyard the rat
proclaimed the warning; "There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap
in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said,
"Excuse me, Mr. Rat, I can tell this is a grave concern to you,
but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The rat turned to the pig and told him, "There is a rat trap in the
house, a rat trap in the house!" "I am so very sorry Mr. Rat,"
sympathized the pig, "but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.
Be assured that you are in my prayers."
The rat turned to the cow. She said, "Like wow, Mr. Rat. A rat trap.
I am in grave danger. Duh?"
So the rat returned to the house, head down and dejected,
to face the farmer's rat trap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound
of a rat trap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was
caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake
whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a
fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup,
so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main
ingredient.
His wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit
with her around the clock. To feed them the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well.
She died, and so many people came for
her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for
all of them to eat.
Moral to the story: The next time you hear that someone is facing a
problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when
there is a rat trap in the house, the whole farmyard is at risk.
"Teach us, O Lord, to love one another,
To help with the gifts that You bestow
Give us unity of mind and heart
As we truly serve You here below." **
WB Rommel S.J. Corral, P.M.
Rafael Palma Lodge No. 147
--------------------------------------------
SYNOPSIS
The obvious moral of the story is never trust a snake. The Holy Bible pictures this denizen of the grass and trees as treacherous, and even when it blunders, is still as deadly. Look what happened to the farmer’s wife!!
And the chicken, the pig and the cow??
Ah, but they’re like the poor inhabitants of Real, and General Nakar in Quezon province that were buried in the mud when the slopes of the mountains caved in on them during the onslaught of the deadly rampaging typhoon. Being indifferent to the activities of the illegal loggers, much like the effect of the rat trap, these poor people were shoved to their disastrous deaths!!
And the rat? Well, he must have adapted to the ways of Speedy Gonzales, (no, not RW Jimmy) who skillfully eludes the wily cat (it’s not RW Monching P**** either).
Aesop must be fidgeting in his grave for the lion’s intrusion into his domain.
FROM THE AGING LION’S DEN
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS
As this article is being written Bro. Deo Macalma has just aired on the DZRH radio announcing it is now but twenty-one days to Christmas, but so far as the lion tamer is concerned, it will occur no more than a score later as the plan of the missus is to celebrate it on the 23rd of December.
Of course this is understandable. The priest who will officiate the event at our backyard cannot possibly do it on Christmas Eve as he is obligated to perform it in his parish, hence the advanced celebration. Consequently the awaited affair had to be advanced one day earlier and therefore, to the missus and to all those who were engaged in its planning, the advanced date no longer mattered. What is of utmost importance is that for the first time in recorded history, a mass will be held at the specific spot where she willed it!
Which makes the lion silently feel contented. The event has not yet transpired and so far, four brothers have already sent in the best wishes. Among them are:
Bro. Earl Albert Hart, an American Mason who has recently established residence in Tuscany in Italy. A new-found e-mail brother of this writer, he is husband to Estelle de Lara, a Filipina whose father’s mortal remains she found in a Masonic cemetery in Bohol. What transpired was a healthy exchange of e-mail correspondences between this writer and Bro. Earl trying to piece out the puzzle why Norman de Lara’s grave was found in that cemetery. But let us leave Norman ‘s bones where it is now lest we digress too far from our present topic. Bro. Earl, by the way, signed in at the Glphils Website Guestbook twice. For those interested to know what he wrote, readers are encouraged to open http://free.guestpage.com/home/view.rc?LoginName=glphilsAnd let us also ignore the word Tuscany, else we may be waylaid into the boring lecture of the second degree!
Bro. Jose Sal Tan of Laong Laan Lodge No. 185 and president of Cebu State College of Science and Technology in Cebu City. He likewise extended his best wishes, but from this writer’s end of it, could not forget that the former still owes the lion one healthy lunch, if only he could set his foot again to the famed Queen City of the South.
Mr. Tante Pacis, a family friend and although not a fraternal brother, has indirect links with the Fraternity since his biological father and father by affinity are both members of the Craft. Tante has already seen the twin electric lights that were installed at our backyard when he last visited Guindulman town last October and being a painter, could pretty visualize what the place would look like when the Christmas lights or “series” are finally installed.
WB Dave Dacanay who is now based in Saipan, (except for the notion that Saipan is out there where the tropical depressions that batter the Philippine Archipelago originate, this writer could but wonder where the heck that place is), has just sent in his fraternal regards for the success of the Christmas celebration that the missus has placed on her trestleboard. And ha!! He could not remember the User ID and passwords of the pages called “For Members Only” in our Website. Ha, ha, hah!!
But to those who have already read the article “LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS”, they may want to have an update of the planned event. Here it is .
The Christmas lights consisting of six (6) colorful “series” of 100 bulbs now adorn the beachhead and at the middle of the twin electric lights was the Christmas lantern shaped like a star with a 25-watt bulb at the middle and another set of “series” wrapped around it circle-like looking like a halo. What a beautiful sight to see when you are afloat on the middle of the ocean, the homecoming fishermen are wont to say. There is one minor problem though- even at this early stage, the bulbs of the cheaply-produced Christmas lights start getting busted. Which made the missus worriedly remark: “What do we do?” And the lion said: “Don’t worry, well just replace the busted sets if we need to!”
The missus has also finally firmed up arrangement with the parish priest that the mass will be held at our backyard at eight in the morning. To make the mass more solemn, he instructed the missus to inform the celebrants that a confession will be held at about an hour earlier. Also, he intimated that even the residents of the adjacent sitio named “Punta” where more fishing villagers reside also be invited to hear mass. To the approving delight of the light of the lion’s life!
Several committees were organized. The Grounds Committee, headed by know-it-all Goody Bernaldez, the Mass Committee led by cousin Lilia, the Food Committee, the Programs Committee, the General Services Committee and even the Drinks Committee- the group of old fogies who will insure that drinks will flow freely.
But there are minor snags. In this provincial and Catholic atmosphere where age-old traditions are scrupulously still being practiced, will the priest allow a live-in couple and a couple who are members of Bro. Gregorio Aglipay’s church to confess?? The lion can but amusedly chuckle. Let the priest worry about that later!!
The fishermen for their part agreed they will no longer venture to the sea on the 23rd. Since mass will be celebrated in the morning while the festivities composed of children’s dances, games and partaking of the food will be held later in the day, the males, under the able leadership of the missus’ elderly male cousin will contentedly watch members of their respective families enjoy the occasion partaking the wage of a fellowcraft involving several bottles of “long necks” called Tanduay Rhum and while the time away.
But remember, now is only twenty days before Christmas!!
As this article is being written Bro. Deo Macalma has just aired on the DZRH radio announcing it is now but twenty-one days to Christmas, but so far as the lion tamer is concerned, it will occur no more than a score later as the plan of the missus is to celebrate it on the 23rd of December.
Of course this is understandable. The priest who will officiate the event at our backyard cannot possibly do it on Christmas Eve as he is obligated to perform it in his parish, hence the advanced celebration. Consequently the awaited affair had to be advanced one day earlier and therefore, to the missus and to all those who were engaged in its planning, the advanced date no longer mattered. What is of utmost importance is that for the first time in recorded history, a mass will be held at the specific spot where she willed it!
Which makes the lion silently feel contented. The event has not yet transpired and so far, four brothers have already sent in the best wishes. Among them are:
Bro. Earl Albert Hart, an American Mason who has recently established residence in Tuscany in Italy. A new-found e-mail brother of this writer, he is husband to Estelle de Lara, a Filipina whose father’s mortal remains she found in a Masonic cemetery in Bohol. What transpired was a healthy exchange of e-mail correspondences between this writer and Bro. Earl trying to piece out the puzzle why Norman de Lara’s grave was found in that cemetery. But let us leave Norman ‘s bones where it is now lest we digress too far from our present topic. Bro. Earl, by the way, signed in at the Glphils Website Guestbook twice. For those interested to know what he wrote, readers are encouraged to open http://free.guestpage.com/home/view.rc?LoginName=glphilsAnd let us also ignore the word Tuscany, else we may be waylaid into the boring lecture of the second degree!
Bro. Jose Sal Tan of Laong Laan Lodge No. 185 and president of Cebu State College of Science and Technology in Cebu City. He likewise extended his best wishes, but from this writer’s end of it, could not forget that the former still owes the lion one healthy lunch, if only he could set his foot again to the famed Queen City of the South.
Mr. Tante Pacis, a family friend and although not a fraternal brother, has indirect links with the Fraternity since his biological father and father by affinity are both members of the Craft. Tante has already seen the twin electric lights that were installed at our backyard when he last visited Guindulman town last October and being a painter, could pretty visualize what the place would look like when the Christmas lights or “series” are finally installed.
WB Dave Dacanay who is now based in Saipan, (except for the notion that Saipan is out there where the tropical depressions that batter the Philippine Archipelago originate, this writer could but wonder where the heck that place is), has just sent in his fraternal regards for the success of the Christmas celebration that the missus has placed on her trestleboard. And ha!! He could not remember the User ID and passwords of the pages called “For Members Only” in our Website. Ha, ha, hah!!
But to those who have already read the article “LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS”, they may want to have an update of the planned event. Here it is .
The Christmas lights consisting of six (6) colorful “series” of 100 bulbs now adorn the beachhead and at the middle of the twin electric lights was the Christmas lantern shaped like a star with a 25-watt bulb at the middle and another set of “series” wrapped around it circle-like looking like a halo. What a beautiful sight to see when you are afloat on the middle of the ocean, the homecoming fishermen are wont to say. There is one minor problem though- even at this early stage, the bulbs of the cheaply-produced Christmas lights start getting busted. Which made the missus worriedly remark: “What do we do?” And the lion said: “Don’t worry, well just replace the busted sets if we need to!”
The missus has also finally firmed up arrangement with the parish priest that the mass will be held at our backyard at eight in the morning. To make the mass more solemn, he instructed the missus to inform the celebrants that a confession will be held at about an hour earlier. Also, he intimated that even the residents of the adjacent sitio named “Punta” where more fishing villagers reside also be invited to hear mass. To the approving delight of the light of the lion’s life!
Several committees were organized. The Grounds Committee, headed by know-it-all Goody Bernaldez, the Mass Committee led by cousin Lilia, the Food Committee, the Programs Committee, the General Services Committee and even the Drinks Committee- the group of old fogies who will insure that drinks will flow freely.
But there are minor snags. In this provincial and Catholic atmosphere where age-old traditions are scrupulously still being practiced, will the priest allow a live-in couple and a couple who are members of Bro. Gregorio Aglipay’s church to confess?? The lion can but amusedly chuckle. Let the priest worry about that later!!
The fishermen for their part agreed they will no longer venture to the sea on the 23rd. Since mass will be celebrated in the morning while the festivities composed of children’s dances, games and partaking of the food will be held later in the day, the males, under the able leadership of the missus’ elderly male cousin will contentedly watch members of their respective families enjoy the occasion partaking the wage of a fellowcraft involving several bottles of “long necks” called Tanduay Rhum and while the time away.
But remember, now is only twenty days before Christmas!!
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
THE VILLAGE’ NIPA SHACK
The urge to use the phrase “My Nipa Hut” that was immortalized in the vernacular’s children’s rhyme known to all Filipinos as title for this article was tempting, for after all, who among us Filipinos, do not know the lyrics of the song?! But on second thought, I realized the phrase was inappropriate for two reasons: (1) because the shack wasn’t mine and (2) the structure was not located in a farm as the song portrayed but on the fringes of the beach!
Let me tell you this story, but first, here is a brief background of this rural structure and its uses.
A nipa shack, otherwise known as “salakot”, is a common structure in the locality. In a farm, it serves as temporary shelter of a farmer as he relieves himself from the noon-day heat, or if seen on roadsides, it serves as waiting sheds for passengers as they wait for the buses or jeepneys whenever they go to town. Roadside structures are generally built through the initiative of Sangguniang Kabataan members who also uses them as places for whiling their time away.
And now for the story.
Last March, Goody Bernaldez, the village know-it-all, approached me and asked if it will be alright if a nipa hut can be installed at our backyard to serve a variety of purposes, the most important of which is that it can be made a waiting place of fishermen who could not immediately venture to the sea and as an idyllic site for healthy-conscious old-timers who want to enjoy the early morning or late afternoon sea breeze during the sunset of their years..
My reply was guarded; I told him we will not object provided it is constructed on the common boundary of our adjacent lots. Specifically, I said that the structure should not have a width measurement exceeding four meters which our lots should equitably share and that it should not block our view of the open sea. He said yes.
Soon the materials composed of nipa, bamboos, rattan, cement and rough lumber were gathered and brought to the site., after which, Goody requested that a matured coconut tree at our lot be felled and converted into coconut lumber to be used as columns and rafters. He followed it up by saying he will provide the cost of converting it into rough lumber. Again I consented.
But actual construction would not start. Goody could not get an available carpenter. And so the missus took over and collared his favorite jack-of-all-trades who was at that time working on a kitchen cabinet in the house and asked him if he could do the job for a fee that will be paid for by the community. He said yes.
A village elder, who is a cousin of the missus, then asked the carpenter how long the construction will last and much will he charge each day”. And the latter replied “three days and two hundred bucks.” The elder then said: “Would you settle for half the amount?” The job, anyway, is a community project. The reply of the carpenter was in the affirmative and so the elder allotted payment for each day’s work due the carpenter to himself, Goody and myself.
Actual construction of the structure went on at feverish pace for three whole days with a few of the fishermen physically assisting bayanihan-style and with the missus providing merienda. Its measurement was rougly four meters square with three sides provided with benches made of bamboo sticks and the fourth side open to allow entrance. The function of the benches, understandably is for sitting although quite often, people can be seen lying on it, with the aging lion and some pet dogs included.
Then the work abruptly ended because materials ran short. And then we went to the metropolis last April.
By end of May, we returned to our den and found that the unfinished structure was still in the same form and condition as when we left it- the culprit, we learned was because contributions grounded to a halt. But the remaining cost no longer entails more than five hundred!!
The missus, however, has no stomach for seeing things left uncompleted. She again collared her favorite jack-of-all trades and ordered him to do the mop-up job and in fine the structure was fully completed thus serving as staging area for the fishermen and ideal resting place for aging village retirees like myself.
And what is the significance of this village shack?
You will soon find out if you will wait a time with patience until this writer is able to compose the articles and have these posted in these wonderful pages of the Internet in your leisurely reading time!!
The urge to use the phrase “My Nipa Hut” that was immortalized in the vernacular’s children’s rhyme known to all Filipinos as title for this article was tempting, for after all, who among us Filipinos, do not know the lyrics of the song?! But on second thought, I realized the phrase was inappropriate for two reasons: (1) because the shack wasn’t mine and (2) the structure was not located in a farm as the song portrayed but on the fringes of the beach!
Let me tell you this story, but first, here is a brief background of this rural structure and its uses.
A nipa shack, otherwise known as “salakot”, is a common structure in the locality. In a farm, it serves as temporary shelter of a farmer as he relieves himself from the noon-day heat, or if seen on roadsides, it serves as waiting sheds for passengers as they wait for the buses or jeepneys whenever they go to town. Roadside structures are generally built through the initiative of Sangguniang Kabataan members who also uses them as places for whiling their time away.
And now for the story.
Last March, Goody Bernaldez, the village know-it-all, approached me and asked if it will be alright if a nipa hut can be installed at our backyard to serve a variety of purposes, the most important of which is that it can be made a waiting place of fishermen who could not immediately venture to the sea and as an idyllic site for healthy-conscious old-timers who want to enjoy the early morning or late afternoon sea breeze during the sunset of their years..
My reply was guarded; I told him we will not object provided it is constructed on the common boundary of our adjacent lots. Specifically, I said that the structure should not have a width measurement exceeding four meters which our lots should equitably share and that it should not block our view of the open sea. He said yes.
Soon the materials composed of nipa, bamboos, rattan, cement and rough lumber were gathered and brought to the site., after which, Goody requested that a matured coconut tree at our lot be felled and converted into coconut lumber to be used as columns and rafters. He followed it up by saying he will provide the cost of converting it into rough lumber. Again I consented.
But actual construction would not start. Goody could not get an available carpenter. And so the missus took over and collared his favorite jack-of-all-trades who was at that time working on a kitchen cabinet in the house and asked him if he could do the job for a fee that will be paid for by the community. He said yes.
A village elder, who is a cousin of the missus, then asked the carpenter how long the construction will last and much will he charge each day”. And the latter replied “three days and two hundred bucks.” The elder then said: “Would you settle for half the amount?” The job, anyway, is a community project. The reply of the carpenter was in the affirmative and so the elder allotted payment for each day’s work due the carpenter to himself, Goody and myself.
Actual construction of the structure went on at feverish pace for three whole days with a few of the fishermen physically assisting bayanihan-style and with the missus providing merienda. Its measurement was rougly four meters square with three sides provided with benches made of bamboo sticks and the fourth side open to allow entrance. The function of the benches, understandably is for sitting although quite often, people can be seen lying on it, with the aging lion and some pet dogs included.
Then the work abruptly ended because materials ran short. And then we went to the metropolis last April.
By end of May, we returned to our den and found that the unfinished structure was still in the same form and condition as when we left it- the culprit, we learned was because contributions grounded to a halt. But the remaining cost no longer entails more than five hundred!!
The missus, however, has no stomach for seeing things left uncompleted. She again collared her favorite jack-of-all trades and ordered him to do the mop-up job and in fine the structure was fully completed thus serving as staging area for the fishermen and ideal resting place for aging village retirees like myself.
And what is the significance of this village shack?
You will soon find out if you will wait a time with patience until this writer is able to compose the articles and have these posted in these wonderful pages of the Internet in your leisurely reading time!!
NEW YEAR AT THE LION’S DEN
Talk about giving sunshine to the families of these fishermen at our backyard and the lioness, err. .. the lion tamer will easily fill the grade.
No more than two days after that memorable advanced Christmas celebration that was featured in the article EXPERIENCING A UNIQUE CHRISTMAS AT THE LION’S DEN and she again had another idea in her brain. She said: “How about letting our neighbors at the back experience a different brand of celebrating the New Year? “And how are we supposed to do that?” I barked back, careful in using the word “we” else the lion may be left out in the implementation of whatever she has in mind.
“Well, simple” she said. “I earlier learned that New Year celebration is totally alien to them. They don’t expect it at all. They sleep without preparing food for midnight and the next morning when somebody says “Maugmang bag’ong tuig (Happy New Year)” they would mechanically reply: “Maugmang bag’ong tuig, pod. (Happy New Year, too.) But whatever, its meaning, they frankly don’t know. Or at the very least, they don’t feel it at all.”
“Okay, then, what is your plan? We have already spent our entire budget for the year and surely, any additional expense will mean chopping off a part of our next month’s budget” the lion retorted.
“Okay, consider this” she said. “From the original four families whom we have given food wherewith they can partake during Christmas Eve, we are adding two more on the list. In addition to the families of Jimbo, Eben, Andoy and Pilo whom we have determined earlier to be the object of our Sunshine activity because they don’t even have electrical connections in their respective houses, we now add the families of Dondon and Mike. The latter is especially important because he owns a musical component wherewith we can use for our mini-New Year’s celebration at the back. And I know he can’t refuse, he was apologetic the time we held our December 23rd affair since he was not able to prepare anything as they just arrived from Cagay’an (that’s how Cagayan de Oro is pronounced here) when the celebration was held.”
“In a nutshell,” she continued, “we will organize a New Year get-together at the back. Each family will be encouraged to prepare food that they can afford wherewith we can consume together on New Year’s Eve. They can prepare anything they want. Boiled camote, bananas, biko, (rice cake) anything that we can partake of together during that fateful hour. There will also be dancing both by the children and the adults after the eating.”
And the lion could only say: “Okay, it’s worth a try. I pledge three bottles of long necks called Tanduay Rhum.” . “But you better be careful”, the lion added: “we might ran aground some cherished old traditions here, like interfering with New Year’s Mass observations.” You know how the priest reacts to ideas of Masons, these Godless members of the human race, the lion teased her. And she blurted back: “Don’t worry, I will.” Goody, the bachelor, will also be included.
When she came back, she reported that that the people adverted to where very enthusiastic at the prospects of enjoying the lion tamer’s plan. Pilo, Andoy and Eben pledged a part of their catch for the night to be broiled and eaten as “sumsuman” (hey there!, what’s the English translation for this term?), the wives coordinated on who will cook the camote, who is assigned to cook the “biko” and Baby, the wife of Mike pledged to bring spaghetti and pork adobo as their special share to cover for their failure to bring something during the December 23rd celebration. For our part, in addition to the Rhum, we also put on the table a kilo of peanuts. (Remember the Flash Elorde’s advertisement “isang platitong mani’?)
The hands of father Time finally announced the advent of the New Year but unlike in the metropolis whose noise barrage we were accustomed to hear, what we heard was no more than a whimper that broke the stillness of the night. Well, except for the few firecrackers and “kwitis” that somehow managed to shoot itself up way to the skies.
At about 12:30 the food was finally on the table and so the lion tamer ordered Mike to deliver a special prayer addressed to the Lord. Which made the lion muse, “hey, this is no different. “Before all else, we must invoke the blessings of God!” And what say you?!
After the joint partaking of the food were the dancing by the children and the ladies, “Otso, otso, laban, bawi”, and all those lively tunes that are the craze not only of the town but of the entire archipelago. And all the while, the husbands, fishers all, including four singles named Eddie Boy, Joejack, and Joseph who frequent our backyard during the wee hours of the night were enjoying fishermen’s talk (like the big fish that got away) over the three bottles of Tanduay Rhum.
What a memorable event not only for these fishermen but also for the lion and his tamer who were uprooted from their old and noisy habitat!!
And a Happy New Year even to those who have not yet crossed the time zone that announces the advent and reckoning of the official New Year’s time!
Talk about giving sunshine to the families of these fishermen at our backyard and the lioness, err. .. the lion tamer will easily fill the grade.
No more than two days after that memorable advanced Christmas celebration that was featured in the article EXPERIENCING A UNIQUE CHRISTMAS AT THE LION’S DEN and she again had another idea in her brain. She said: “How about letting our neighbors at the back experience a different brand of celebrating the New Year? “And how are we supposed to do that?” I barked back, careful in using the word “we” else the lion may be left out in the implementation of whatever she has in mind.
“Well, simple” she said. “I earlier learned that New Year celebration is totally alien to them. They don’t expect it at all. They sleep without preparing food for midnight and the next morning when somebody says “Maugmang bag’ong tuig (Happy New Year)” they would mechanically reply: “Maugmang bag’ong tuig, pod. (Happy New Year, too.) But whatever, its meaning, they frankly don’t know. Or at the very least, they don’t feel it at all.”
“Okay, then, what is your plan? We have already spent our entire budget for the year and surely, any additional expense will mean chopping off a part of our next month’s budget” the lion retorted.
“Okay, consider this” she said. “From the original four families whom we have given food wherewith they can partake during Christmas Eve, we are adding two more on the list. In addition to the families of Jimbo, Eben, Andoy and Pilo whom we have determined earlier to be the object of our Sunshine activity because they don’t even have electrical connections in their respective houses, we now add the families of Dondon and Mike. The latter is especially important because he owns a musical component wherewith we can use for our mini-New Year’s celebration at the back. And I know he can’t refuse, he was apologetic the time we held our December 23rd affair since he was not able to prepare anything as they just arrived from Cagay’an (that’s how Cagayan de Oro is pronounced here) when the celebration was held.”
“In a nutshell,” she continued, “we will organize a New Year get-together at the back. Each family will be encouraged to prepare food that they can afford wherewith we can consume together on New Year’s Eve. They can prepare anything they want. Boiled camote, bananas, biko, (rice cake) anything that we can partake of together during that fateful hour. There will also be dancing both by the children and the adults after the eating.”
And the lion could only say: “Okay, it’s worth a try. I pledge three bottles of long necks called Tanduay Rhum.” . “But you better be careful”, the lion added: “we might ran aground some cherished old traditions here, like interfering with New Year’s Mass observations.” You know how the priest reacts to ideas of Masons, these Godless members of the human race, the lion teased her. And she blurted back: “Don’t worry, I will.” Goody, the bachelor, will also be included.
When she came back, she reported that that the people adverted to where very enthusiastic at the prospects of enjoying the lion tamer’s plan. Pilo, Andoy and Eben pledged a part of their catch for the night to be broiled and eaten as “sumsuman” (hey there!, what’s the English translation for this term?), the wives coordinated on who will cook the camote, who is assigned to cook the “biko” and Baby, the wife of Mike pledged to bring spaghetti and pork adobo as their special share to cover for their failure to bring something during the December 23rd celebration. For our part, in addition to the Rhum, we also put on the table a kilo of peanuts. (Remember the Flash Elorde’s advertisement “isang platitong mani’?)
The hands of father Time finally announced the advent of the New Year but unlike in the metropolis whose noise barrage we were accustomed to hear, what we heard was no more than a whimper that broke the stillness of the night. Well, except for the few firecrackers and “kwitis” that somehow managed to shoot itself up way to the skies.
At about 12:30 the food was finally on the table and so the lion tamer ordered Mike to deliver a special prayer addressed to the Lord. Which made the lion muse, “hey, this is no different. “Before all else, we must invoke the blessings of God!” And what say you?!
After the joint partaking of the food were the dancing by the children and the ladies, “Otso, otso, laban, bawi”, and all those lively tunes that are the craze not only of the town but of the entire archipelago. And all the while, the husbands, fishers all, including four singles named Eddie Boy, Joejack, and Joseph who frequent our backyard during the wee hours of the night were enjoying fishermen’s talk (like the big fish that got away) over the three bottles of Tanduay Rhum.
What a memorable event not only for these fishermen but also for the lion and his tamer who were uprooted from their old and noisy habitat!!
And a Happy New Year even to those who have not yet crossed the time zone that announces the advent and reckoning of the official New Year’s time!
MY VISAYAN CHICKS
One early Sunday morning last month, the missus was a little depressed and so she decided to call her eldest son at Los Banos via her cellphone and not getting through her call (the gadget said the number that she dialed was unattainable) called Inna, our eldest granddaughter (our son’s only daughter) instead. Imagine to her amusement when the reply that she received was: “Nanay, Daddy has not come home yet, he is again busy with his chicks!”
But there is nothing unusual with her reply as her father is an animal science specialist at the poultry division of San Miguel Corporation. It is only that my perverted mind automatically concluded that the word adverted to also connote the philandering translation of .the Bicol word “Oragon! which literally means Barako! Truth to tell, our son cares not only for a single chick but a whole brood of some 150,000 of them in the far-flung poultry farms in the provinces of Batangas and Quezon!
So you’ve already read the article “My Kabir Friends”, an article about these friendly denizens of the soil. Good! Even VW’s Jimmy Gonzales, Raul Laman and WM Arnold Garcia of Rafael Palma Lodge No. 147 sent their reactions to that article for these animals are indeed amusing.
But it also automatically created a problem to the aging lion as he learned they don’t hatch their eggs but leave these to the owners to worry about later.
But we know the lion is not easily discouraged. In the first place, how the heck were these animals able to procreate if they cannot hatch their eggs the natural way?! How else but the same way these broilers multiply faster than the humans can consume them at the dinner table, how else?! But how? Pray, tell me!!! Ha, ha, hah!!
Fortunately, a smart aleck gave me the obvious answer. “Via the incubator”, he said. “And how was the incubator invented?” I asked. “I ain’t as smart as that yet”, he barked, “but there is an easier way”, he continued. “And how?” I shot back. “Let the natives do it, of course, not the kind Magellan encountered when he discovered the Philippines but the native chickens”, he answered. “When it’s hatching time, switch their eggs with that of the Kabirs, and presto, twenty one days later, you’ll have your Kabir chicks chirping at you as if telling you that you are its Divine Architect.”
He got me there. A bright idea indeed and so the natural reaction was to raise the native or Visayan chickens to complement the Kabirs that now freely roam our place.
And so I bought ten newly-hatched Visayan chicks last August 21 from Andoy, our neighbor for P150 and promptly freed these at our backyard. “Timely,” I mused, “for the date is symbolic as it marks Ninoy’s death anniversary and is therefore easy to remember”. The only trouble is, at counting time when dusk sets on the horizon, only eight remained. Our neighbor’s tomcat gobbled two of these.
The disappearance of the two young chicks automatically elicited the issuance of a decree: “any cat seen roaming our backyard will be shot as they are a menace to these feathered friends”. Even our neighbors complain about them And no sooner, one received its death sentence by receiving a 22-caliber slug right at its carnivorous breast.
As this article is being written, eight lively Visayan chicks, now a full month old, compete with the six Kabirs in gobbling the corn grits that I throw at them. And their colors are in pairs, two are colored black, two have shades of dirty white, another two are of dark-red, while the remaining two have light-red feathers. Which promptly made me name these as Batman because one has white color in its eyes that look no different from a mask, Wonder Woman, Superman and Robin, names that were borrowed from the comic strips.. When Bros. Arsenio Arugay and Eric Ushida visited us a few days ago, they were as amused at seeing the big-sized Kabirs and the eight midget-sized Visayan chicks that looks more like feathered “bagtoks” or mice that freely roam our backyard.
Nice friendly animals to anticipate their maturity and thus be made useful not only to hatch my Kabir eggs but also as meat for the dining table. The only trouble is, even at this early stage, I’ll encounter problems naming them. How should I grapple with the problem should the chicks that I named Robin happen to be female or the chicks that I call Wonder Woman turn out to be males?
Like the joke that says “Boy Scout na lalaki, and Boy Scout na babadji’!! or getD
better relationships :)
Eternity Moment by CK LoL it smells damn good
No comments:
One early Sunday morning last month, the missus was a little depressed and so she decided to call her eldest son at Los Banos via her cellphone and not getting through her call (the gadget said the number that she dialed was unattainable) called Inna, our eldest granddaughter (our son’s only daughter) instead. Imagine to her amusement when the reply that she received was: “Nanay, Daddy has not come home yet, he is again busy with his chicks!”
But there is nothing unusual with her reply as her father is an animal science specialist at the poultry division of San Miguel Corporation. It is only that my perverted mind automatically concluded that the word adverted to also connote the philandering translation of .the Bicol word “Oragon! which literally means Barako! Truth to tell, our son cares not only for a single chick but a whole brood of some 150,000 of them in the far-flung poultry farms in the provinces of Batangas and Quezon!
So you’ve already read the article “My Kabir Friends”, an article about these friendly denizens of the soil. Good! Even VW’s Jimmy Gonzales, Raul Laman and WM Arnold Garcia of Rafael Palma Lodge No. 147 sent their reactions to that article for these animals are indeed amusing.
But it also automatically created a problem to the aging lion as he learned they don’t hatch their eggs but leave these to the owners to worry about later.
But we know the lion is not easily discouraged. In the first place, how the heck were these animals able to procreate if they cannot hatch their eggs the natural way?! How else but the same way these broilers multiply faster than the humans can consume them at the dinner table, how else?! But how? Pray, tell me!!! Ha, ha, hah!!
Fortunately, a smart aleck gave me the obvious answer. “Via the incubator”, he said. “And how was the incubator invented?” I asked. “I ain’t as smart as that yet”, he barked, “but there is an easier way”, he continued. “And how?” I shot back. “Let the natives do it, of course, not the kind Magellan encountered when he discovered the Philippines but the native chickens”, he answered. “When it’s hatching time, switch their eggs with that of the Kabirs, and presto, twenty one days later, you’ll have your Kabir chicks chirping at you as if telling you that you are its Divine Architect.”
He got me there. A bright idea indeed and so the natural reaction was to raise the native or Visayan chickens to complement the Kabirs that now freely roam our place.
And so I bought ten newly-hatched Visayan chicks last August 21 from Andoy, our neighbor for P150 and promptly freed these at our backyard. “Timely,” I mused, “for the date is symbolic as it marks Ninoy’s death anniversary and is therefore easy to remember”. The only trouble is, at counting time when dusk sets on the horizon, only eight remained. Our neighbor’s tomcat gobbled two of these.
The disappearance of the two young chicks automatically elicited the issuance of a decree: “any cat seen roaming our backyard will be shot as they are a menace to these feathered friends”. Even our neighbors complain about them And no sooner, one received its death sentence by receiving a 22-caliber slug right at its carnivorous breast.
As this article is being written, eight lively Visayan chicks, now a full month old, compete with the six Kabirs in gobbling the corn grits that I throw at them. And their colors are in pairs, two are colored black, two have shades of dirty white, another two are of dark-red, while the remaining two have light-red feathers. Which promptly made me name these as Batman because one has white color in its eyes that look no different from a mask, Wonder Woman, Superman and Robin, names that were borrowed from the comic strips.. When Bros. Arsenio Arugay and Eric Ushida visited us a few days ago, they were as amused at seeing the big-sized Kabirs and the eight midget-sized Visayan chicks that looks more like feathered “bagtoks” or mice that freely roam our backyard.
Nice friendly animals to anticipate their maturity and thus be made useful not only to hatch my Kabir eggs but also as meat for the dining table. The only trouble is, even at this early stage, I’ll encounter problems naming them. How should I grapple with the problem should the chicks that I named Robin happen to be female or the chicks that I call Wonder Woman turn out to be males?
Like the joke that says “Boy Scout na lalaki, and Boy Scout na babadji’!! or getD
better relationships :)
Eternity Moment by CK LoL it smells damn good
Links
No comments:
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
THE DINAGAT SQUIDBOYS
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
There are about thirty of them who have recently transferred to the entire stretch of Tabajan beach but only ten are at the shoreline fronting the lion’s backyard. The ten came all the way from barangay Navarro at Balesila town in Surigao, more specifically at Dinagat Island where the charismatic Ruben Ecleo rules over his religious flock.
These ten fishermen are recent migrants to our place working for “Bo” Ampong, one of our neighbors, whose business acumen made him lord over the place not only as buyer of “semilla” (fish fingerlings) and “pinyahon” (white marlin), but very recently, “nucus” (squid) that is the subject of this story. “Nucus” by the way, is what the Spaniards call “calamares” that kind of squid you usually see in that can called “Portola” that was said to have been manufactured from Los Angeles, in California, USA.
Squid fishing is a profession in itself. Equipped with pumpboat, a speedlight that consist of an ordinary flashlight powered by three 1.5 volts D-size batteries and a blinking light-bulb, a specially designed squid-hook that has about 30 metal claws, a styrofoam container that already is stuffed with ice in it to preserve the catch, sufficient gasoline to transport him to the fishing area and back, and packed “baon” (dinner) to last him while at sea.
They say going to the fishing area lasts about an hour and also takes about the same time going back to base. Fishing is done during darkness, with moonless nights considered as generally lucky. On these evenings one can catch as much as sixty kilos, with each fisherman working solo on his pumpboat. On bad evenings however, especially when the undersea current is really turbulent, one may come home without a single catch.
More than half of them own their pumpboats and the rest work for others who are generally their relatives. Most are married but a few bachelors whose lives they had been accustomed to also embrace the occupation that they have learned from their forefathers. Dinagat Island, being a generally backward town that does not offer good educational opportunities, can only offer what source of livelihood nature provides- the bounties of the pristine sea.
The lion was told (hey! what the heck is a lion doing at sea?) that to catch squid, the fisherman immerse the speedlight about three inches down the water at the fringes of Mindanao sea with the bulb merrily blinking, much like the Christmas lights one is attracted to in bawdy houses (hoy! kayong mga mahilig sa tsiks kung gabi!! and the lion will not dare translate this phrase to English; let our Occidental brothers figure this out), submerges the specially-designed fishhook about two-arms length and when he feels a heavy tug, pulls the nylon cord up to get his catch and deposit it to the packing material that was explained earlier. And this is not an easy thing. Hauling sixty kilos from down the sea to the boat can get your biceps numb by the strenuous activity. But do they mind?! Not the least, for with a bountiful catch, he is unlike the fellowcraft who sat on the tummy of the dead GMHA (remember the third degree ritual?) who said: “I am weary and worn out. . . . Alas, this is the result of evil companionship. . .” But when there weariness is supplanted by acute loneliness, they would simply numb it with a bottle of “lapad” (not the long-neck) of Tanduay Rhum to finally put them to sleep only to wake up the next day and face the same ordeal.
But let the lion get back to the Squidboys before this writer waylays the reader into another suspenseful, albeit, unmasonic topic.
Richard, the Dinagat guy who was interviewed together with Upiong, a Guindlumanon fisherman, said that ordinarily they would return home after about two months stay in the place and would, as a minimum, remit to their respective families about P10,000 and about P20,000 as the upper limit. Not bad as take home pay but definitely not as good as the seafarers who are employed abroad even as rust-removers of ocean going vessels we call “seaman” out there working lonely at the five parts of the globe we all call the sea.
And how do they care for their pumpboats? How else but like the cowboys who cared for their horses while in the prairies, and on this figurative speech, the Occidentals definitely have the edge!!
Their choice of Guindulman beach as staging area is understandable. Its bay provide a safe refuge whenever “habagat” (hey! how do you translate this word to English?, don’t expect the lion to have a vocabulary for this, he is but a lion and his habitat is not the sea!), and the townsfolk are generally peaceful and amiable. On the other side, despite the unpalatable gossip that hounds Ruben Ecleo and his flock, these Dinagat boys are generally peaceful when compared to other folks. They are undoubtedly complacent people who deserves mention until the time one rascal should prove the lion wrong. This is not to say that the lion did not give a stern warning to “Bo” Ampong. He said “be wary about your subalterns, you have a beautiful niece that can be subjected to a dastardly act that you might regret later on!”
And that ends the tale of a group of people who would venture to earn their livelihood the hard way and honestly without stealing the few remaining centavos that you still have on your almost empty pockets today
!!
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
There are about thirty of them who have recently transferred to the entire stretch of Tabajan beach but only ten are at the shoreline fronting the lion’s backyard. The ten came all the way from barangay Navarro at Balesila town in Surigao, more specifically at Dinagat Island where the charismatic Ruben Ecleo rules over his religious flock.
These ten fishermen are recent migrants to our place working for “Bo” Ampong, one of our neighbors, whose business acumen made him lord over the place not only as buyer of “semilla” (fish fingerlings) and “pinyahon” (white marlin), but very recently, “nucus” (squid) that is the subject of this story. “Nucus” by the way, is what the Spaniards call “calamares” that kind of squid you usually see in that can called “Portola” that was said to have been manufactured from Los Angeles, in California, USA.
Squid fishing is a profession in itself. Equipped with pumpboat, a speedlight that consist of an ordinary flashlight powered by three 1.5 volts D-size batteries and a blinking light-bulb, a specially designed squid-hook that has about 30 metal claws, a styrofoam container that already is stuffed with ice in it to preserve the catch, sufficient gasoline to transport him to the fishing area and back, and packed “baon” (dinner) to last him while at sea.
They say going to the fishing area lasts about an hour and also takes about the same time going back to base. Fishing is done during darkness, with moonless nights considered as generally lucky. On these evenings one can catch as much as sixty kilos, with each fisherman working solo on his pumpboat. On bad evenings however, especially when the undersea current is really turbulent, one may come home without a single catch.
More than half of them own their pumpboats and the rest work for others who are generally their relatives. Most are married but a few bachelors whose lives they had been accustomed to also embrace the occupation that they have learned from their forefathers. Dinagat Island, being a generally backward town that does not offer good educational opportunities, can only offer what source of livelihood nature provides- the bounties of the pristine sea.
The lion was told (hey! what the heck is a lion doing at sea?) that to catch squid, the fisherman immerse the speedlight about three inches down the water at the fringes of Mindanao sea with the bulb merrily blinking, much like the Christmas lights one is attracted to in bawdy houses (hoy! kayong mga mahilig sa tsiks kung gabi!! and the lion will not dare translate this phrase to English; let our Occidental brothers figure this out), submerges the specially-designed fishhook about two-arms length and when he feels a heavy tug, pulls the nylon cord up to get his catch and deposit it to the packing material that was explained earlier. And this is not an easy thing. Hauling sixty kilos from down the sea to the boat can get your biceps numb by the strenuous activity. But do they mind?! Not the least, for with a bountiful catch, he is unlike the fellowcraft who sat on the tummy of the dead GMHA (remember the third degree ritual?) who said: “I am weary and worn out. . . . Alas, this is the result of evil companionship. . .” But when there weariness is supplanted by acute loneliness, they would simply numb it with a bottle of “lapad” (not the long-neck) of Tanduay Rhum to finally put them to sleep only to wake up the next day and face the same ordeal.
But let the lion get back to the Squidboys before this writer waylays the reader into another suspenseful, albeit, unmasonic topic.
Richard, the Dinagat guy who was interviewed together with Upiong, a Guindlumanon fisherman, said that ordinarily they would return home after about two months stay in the place and would, as a minimum, remit to their respective families about P10,000 and about P20,000 as the upper limit. Not bad as take home pay but definitely not as good as the seafarers who are employed abroad even as rust-removers of ocean going vessels we call “seaman” out there working lonely at the five parts of the globe we all call the sea.
And how do they care for their pumpboats? How else but like the cowboys who cared for their horses while in the prairies, and on this figurative speech, the Occidentals definitely have the edge!!
Their choice of Guindulman beach as staging area is understandable. Its bay provide a safe refuge whenever “habagat” (hey! how do you translate this word to English?, don’t expect the lion to have a vocabulary for this, he is but a lion and his habitat is not the sea!), and the townsfolk are generally peaceful and amiable. On the other side, despite the unpalatable gossip that hounds Ruben Ecleo and his flock, these Dinagat boys are generally peaceful when compared to other folks. They are undoubtedly complacent people who deserves mention until the time one rascal should prove the lion wrong. This is not to say that the lion did not give a stern warning to “Bo” Ampong. He said “be wary about your subalterns, you have a beautiful niece that can be subjected to a dastardly act that you might regret later on!”
And that ends the tale of a group of people who would venture to earn their livelihood the hard way and honestly without stealing the few remaining centavos that you still have on your almost empty pockets today
!!
Monday, January 10, 2005
Thursday, January 06, 2005
JIMBO, EBEN AND ANDOY
Jimbo, Eben and Andoy are fishermen who live on a lot adjacent to our backyard. All are married and among themselves have twelve children- six boys and an equal number of girls. Eben, the eldest, has five with three of them girls, Andoy has three with two while Jimbo, the youngest, has four with the youngest a cute little girl.
Their nipa huts are built on a lot owned by the family of Goody Bernaldez, a fifty-seven year old unemployed bachelor whose mode of subsistence came from the share of the palay and copra harvest of the properties that he and his siblings inherited from their parents, and the periodic share of the fish gathered by the said fishermen from the sea. Goody is a sports buff and apparently the village’ know-it-all who during the post 1986 EDSA Revolution was appointed the town’s OIC Vice Mayor. But let’s leave Goody for the time being as this article is not about him but of the three fishermen mentioned earlier.
Their respective wives have different characters and idiosyncrasies. The good side of Vivianne, Eben’s wife, is that she works part time as market vendor and thus augments the family’s income; the bad is that she also gambles and sometimes even her capital goes with it. Jimbo’s wife has lesser good qualities, the bad is that she committed an indiscretion some three or four years ago and while she was forgiven for this misdeed, it apparently left an indelible mark in Jimbo’s subconscious and has not permanently left his memory. Andoy’s wife, Honey, which is a very attractive sobriquet for the name Jacinta, is on the other hand, the epitome of that domineering matriarch who demands that the entire family, Andoy included, to toe the line. No if nor buts, if a child asks for a better-looking but more expensive notebook for her mother to buy and the mother says the cheaper one will work as good, then that ends the issue. One time a boxing bout was held in town and Andoy asked permission to view the game. But Honey’s sharp reply was that the baits had to be attached to the fishing gear, and that was it; the poor husband was unable to watch the boxing bout.
All three fishermen and their families live in abject squalor but doesn’t seem to mind it. Their huts do not have water connection and so they get their water needs from a neighbor by sharing with the latter the water bill. As they also have no electricity, one can well conclude that their clothes are no longer ironed when used. Even the purchase of matches or lighters are avoided, they resort to having a continually lighted kerosene lamp on hand and when it is time to cook, they simply lit the fire-stove with it thus saving on the use of a single matchstick. Also when it is time to lit the evening lamp. It’s good the barangay council installed the electric light bulb at the right end of our backyard that is at the edge of their houses for during the night, their children are able to study using the illumined light. In the not too-distant past, all the children can do is study when it is not yet dark. Which can prove a good puzzle for the children to solve arithmetically, which costs more, a single matchstick compared to the kerosene consumed by the lamp’s continuing light?! And have you ever heard of asking for fire?? (“Pahinging apoy”, in the local word??)
All three fishermen use motorized bancas called pump-boats for their occupation. These are made available for their use through sharing of the catch made. Eben’s banca is owned by the barangay captain, Jimbo’s is owned by a government retiree, while Andoy’s rig is owned by his father-in-law who resides at Ubay town.
On lucky days, they would go home from the sea at night with plentiful catch and consequently, even the ne’er-do-well good for nothings share in the marine’s bounties as bonfire would be lit and fish broiled right at the edge of the sea, with the well-off habitues buying Tanduay or tuba to make themselves merry.
But Zeus, the god of the sea, is sometimes moody. On intermittent days the three would not be able to venture to the open sea and consequently are compelled to scrimp on the day’s food by ironically buying dried fish (tuyo’) and rice at the nearby sari-sari store. Andoy’s fate is not as miserable. He also farms on a lot owned by a lesbian and therefore has several sacks of palay stored for home consumption during the lean days. The two others are unlucky; they have no other recourse but to silently absorb the exorbitant mark-up that is imposed by the sari-sari store owner for purchases made on account (utang).
The school year ended last April with their children of school age being elevated to the next higher ranks. Eben’s eldest, a girl, was promoted to third year while his other daughter graduated from the elementary grades. When Eben’s well-to-do relative visited the family during the Holy Week, she offered to take the two girls with her to Tagbilaran City so that they may be able to work at her store and at the same time study. Both girls joined her to the city but no more than two weeks later, the younger of the two returned home- she could not withstand the pangs of loneliness caused by being away from her family. The eldest, apparently bright and decidedly desirous to improve her lot did not come home but instead stuck it out, she wants to return home when she already has a computer degree to show.
Jimbo’s children’ educational needs still do not pose a problem. The eldest is a twelve-year old lad who lives with his grandparents while the two other boys are just in the first years of the primary grades. The youngest is a four-year old girl and is not yet of school age.
Andoy’s three children look promising. The eldest is a thirteen- year-old girl who just graduated “first honor” from the elementary grades and this she did despite being at Section 2 while in Grade 6!! The two other children also have impressive and credible scholastic grades.
Seeing the opportunity to be of help, the missus offered to the family that she will help defray the tuition cost and daily allowance of the girl when she gets herself enrolled in the public high school some four kilometers away. There will only be one condition for the aid, she must maintain the good grades that she has already achieved and nothing more. When the parents asked if the other school needs like school uniforms, shoes and the like will also be paid for, the tart reply of the missus was that her offer to help should not, in any way, be construed that she is absorbing all her school needs and thus relieve her parents of their mandatory obligations. In short, only a part of it. Tuition fees, daily allowance and cost of school projects if any, will be reimbursed and that’s all. All other expenses shall still be absorbed by them. Besides, the lion’s pension as a retiree is indeed miniscule. And there is also a supplementary condition on the aid, it will last only so long as the donor is able!!
But who knows? The girl who is the object the missus helping hand and who wants to be a nurse someday may just see her dream come true. A local Florence Nightingale, one might say, if this writer is allowed to borrow a name that has already immortalized herself at the other side of this globe!!
Jimbo, Eben and Andoy are fishermen who live on a lot adjacent to our backyard. All are married and among themselves have twelve children- six boys and an equal number of girls. Eben, the eldest, has five with three of them girls, Andoy has three with two while Jimbo, the youngest, has four with the youngest a cute little girl.
Their nipa huts are built on a lot owned by the family of Goody Bernaldez, a fifty-seven year old unemployed bachelor whose mode of subsistence came from the share of the palay and copra harvest of the properties that he and his siblings inherited from their parents, and the periodic share of the fish gathered by the said fishermen from the sea. Goody is a sports buff and apparently the village’ know-it-all who during the post 1986 EDSA Revolution was appointed the town’s OIC Vice Mayor. But let’s leave Goody for the time being as this article is not about him but of the three fishermen mentioned earlier.
Their respective wives have different characters and idiosyncrasies. The good side of Vivianne, Eben’s wife, is that she works part time as market vendor and thus augments the family’s income; the bad is that she also gambles and sometimes even her capital goes with it. Jimbo’s wife has lesser good qualities, the bad is that she committed an indiscretion some three or four years ago and while she was forgiven for this misdeed, it apparently left an indelible mark in Jimbo’s subconscious and has not permanently left his memory. Andoy’s wife, Honey, which is a very attractive sobriquet for the name Jacinta, is on the other hand, the epitome of that domineering matriarch who demands that the entire family, Andoy included, to toe the line. No if nor buts, if a child asks for a better-looking but more expensive notebook for her mother to buy and the mother says the cheaper one will work as good, then that ends the issue. One time a boxing bout was held in town and Andoy asked permission to view the game. But Honey’s sharp reply was that the baits had to be attached to the fishing gear, and that was it; the poor husband was unable to watch the boxing bout.
All three fishermen and their families live in abject squalor but doesn’t seem to mind it. Their huts do not have water connection and so they get their water needs from a neighbor by sharing with the latter the water bill. As they also have no electricity, one can well conclude that their clothes are no longer ironed when used. Even the purchase of matches or lighters are avoided, they resort to having a continually lighted kerosene lamp on hand and when it is time to cook, they simply lit the fire-stove with it thus saving on the use of a single matchstick. Also when it is time to lit the evening lamp. It’s good the barangay council installed the electric light bulb at the right end of our backyard that is at the edge of their houses for during the night, their children are able to study using the illumined light. In the not too-distant past, all the children can do is study when it is not yet dark. Which can prove a good puzzle for the children to solve arithmetically, which costs more, a single matchstick compared to the kerosene consumed by the lamp’s continuing light?! And have you ever heard of asking for fire?? (“Pahinging apoy”, in the local word??)
All three fishermen use motorized bancas called pump-boats for their occupation. These are made available for their use through sharing of the catch made. Eben’s banca is owned by the barangay captain, Jimbo’s is owned by a government retiree, while Andoy’s rig is owned by his father-in-law who resides at Ubay town.
On lucky days, they would go home from the sea at night with plentiful catch and consequently, even the ne’er-do-well good for nothings share in the marine’s bounties as bonfire would be lit and fish broiled right at the edge of the sea, with the well-off habitues buying Tanduay or tuba to make themselves merry.
But Zeus, the god of the sea, is sometimes moody. On intermittent days the three would not be able to venture to the open sea and consequently are compelled to scrimp on the day’s food by ironically buying dried fish (tuyo’) and rice at the nearby sari-sari store. Andoy’s fate is not as miserable. He also farms on a lot owned by a lesbian and therefore has several sacks of palay stored for home consumption during the lean days. The two others are unlucky; they have no other recourse but to silently absorb the exorbitant mark-up that is imposed by the sari-sari store owner for purchases made on account (utang).
The school year ended last April with their children of school age being elevated to the next higher ranks. Eben’s eldest, a girl, was promoted to third year while his other daughter graduated from the elementary grades. When Eben’s well-to-do relative visited the family during the Holy Week, she offered to take the two girls with her to Tagbilaran City so that they may be able to work at her store and at the same time study. Both girls joined her to the city but no more than two weeks later, the younger of the two returned home- she could not withstand the pangs of loneliness caused by being away from her family. The eldest, apparently bright and decidedly desirous to improve her lot did not come home but instead stuck it out, she wants to return home when she already has a computer degree to show.
Jimbo’s children’ educational needs still do not pose a problem. The eldest is a twelve-year old lad who lives with his grandparents while the two other boys are just in the first years of the primary grades. The youngest is a four-year old girl and is not yet of school age.
Andoy’s three children look promising. The eldest is a thirteen- year-old girl who just graduated “first honor” from the elementary grades and this she did despite being at Section 2 while in Grade 6!! The two other children also have impressive and credible scholastic grades.
Seeing the opportunity to be of help, the missus offered to the family that she will help defray the tuition cost and daily allowance of the girl when she gets herself enrolled in the public high school some four kilometers away. There will only be one condition for the aid, she must maintain the good grades that she has already achieved and nothing more. When the parents asked if the other school needs like school uniforms, shoes and the like will also be paid for, the tart reply of the missus was that her offer to help should not, in any way, be construed that she is absorbing all her school needs and thus relieve her parents of their mandatory obligations. In short, only a part of it. Tuition fees, daily allowance and cost of school projects if any, will be reimbursed and that’s all. All other expenses shall still be absorbed by them. Besides, the lion’s pension as a retiree is indeed miniscule. And there is also a supplementary condition on the aid, it will last only so long as the donor is able!!
But who knows? The girl who is the object the missus helping hand and who wants to be a nurse someday may just see her dream come true. A local Florence Nightingale, one might say, if this writer is allowed to borrow a name that has already immortalized herself at the other side of this globe!!
A MINI-BASKETBALL COURT FOR THE KIDS
Wait, this article has nothing to do with the SARS-influenced proposal made by several smart alecks to postpone the opening of regular classes from June to September; it only refers to the adage that “all work and no play will surely make Jack an outright dumb kid”. And now allow me to get into another story relative to my visit to the metropolis last April.
A small dream that somehow I could not shake off from my mind in my adopted hometown is doing something for the poor young boys in the neighborhood who have nothing to do when they come home from school. This was aggravated when school year ended last month because most of these poor tykes were practically idle the whole afternoon. Not that they have absolutely nothing to do for there are menial jobs that their parents would want to do for them but in fine, there really is not much to be done. A few boys who manage to scrimp on their allowance can be seen at an office space intended for an Internet Café but because of the difficulty of connecting the computer to the Internet instead served as a gaming room for the kids to while the time away. The operator of course cannot be blamed, with the very difficult means of connecting to the Internet, the more profitable way of recovering his investment is to lure the kids to play games, and never mind if there is no educational value in it.
The solution, I reckon, is to install a mini-basketball court at our backyard where the kids can while their time away free from the drudgeries of humdrum life. An elder in the community suggested that the place adjacent to our backyard can be used for the purpose but we definitely will need balls, the basketball rings and construct the goal. That elder also promised he will take care of the materials needed through donations that he will solicit from the well-to-do members of the community should I be successful in getting the balls and the rings home.
And so last month when I was at the metropolis, I chanced upon WM John Teng of Laong Laan Lodge No. 185 and asked if he will generous enough to donate a few midget size basketballs having size of six inch diameter and the accompanying basketball rings? He gladly said he will and so posthaste I went to Raon St. in Manila and purchased four six-inch diameter balls and two basketball rings costing P800 which he immediately reimbursed during the stated meeting of the lodge. WM Ferlu Sudario of Juan Sumulong Lodge No. 169 likewise promised to donate balls, only, we no longer had the chance to meet up to the time me and the missus departed for home.
Upon returning to our provincial residence, we immediately contacted the elder who made the proposal and presented to him the rings and the balls. But the promised materials were slow in coming; or quite plainly, it did not come at all. And so the missus took the bull by the horn; she contacted a carpenter, ordered him to purchase the needed lumber, marine plywood, nails and all, and saw to it that the basketball equipment is completed. Using her own funds for the purpose, of course!!
And so, these grateful tykes are now merrily playing basketball in a backyard free from the drudgeries of useless toil! And many thanks to WM John Teng for being such a generous brother and definitely a kind-hearted soul!!
Wait, this article has nothing to do with the SARS-influenced proposal made by several smart alecks to postpone the opening of regular classes from June to September; it only refers to the adage that “all work and no play will surely make Jack an outright dumb kid”. And now allow me to get into another story relative to my visit to the metropolis last April.
A small dream that somehow I could not shake off from my mind in my adopted hometown is doing something for the poor young boys in the neighborhood who have nothing to do when they come home from school. This was aggravated when school year ended last month because most of these poor tykes were practically idle the whole afternoon. Not that they have absolutely nothing to do for there are menial jobs that their parents would want to do for them but in fine, there really is not much to be done. A few boys who manage to scrimp on their allowance can be seen at an office space intended for an Internet Café but because of the difficulty of connecting the computer to the Internet instead served as a gaming room for the kids to while the time away. The operator of course cannot be blamed, with the very difficult means of connecting to the Internet, the more profitable way of recovering his investment is to lure the kids to play games, and never mind if there is no educational value in it.
The solution, I reckon, is to install a mini-basketball court at our backyard where the kids can while their time away free from the drudgeries of humdrum life. An elder in the community suggested that the place adjacent to our backyard can be used for the purpose but we definitely will need balls, the basketball rings and construct the goal. That elder also promised he will take care of the materials needed through donations that he will solicit from the well-to-do members of the community should I be successful in getting the balls and the rings home.
And so last month when I was at the metropolis, I chanced upon WM John Teng of Laong Laan Lodge No. 185 and asked if he will generous enough to donate a few midget size basketballs having size of six inch diameter and the accompanying basketball rings? He gladly said he will and so posthaste I went to Raon St. in Manila and purchased four six-inch diameter balls and two basketball rings costing P800 which he immediately reimbursed during the stated meeting of the lodge. WM Ferlu Sudario of Juan Sumulong Lodge No. 169 likewise promised to donate balls, only, we no longer had the chance to meet up to the time me and the missus departed for home.
Upon returning to our provincial residence, we immediately contacted the elder who made the proposal and presented to him the rings and the balls. But the promised materials were slow in coming; or quite plainly, it did not come at all. And so the missus took the bull by the horn; she contacted a carpenter, ordered him to purchase the needed lumber, marine plywood, nails and all, and saw to it that the basketball equipment is completed. Using her own funds for the purpose, of course!!
And so, these grateful tykes are now merrily playing basketball in a backyard free from the drudgeries of useless toil! And many thanks to WM John Teng for being such a generous brother and definitely a kind-hearted soul!!
THE NIGHT CARE CENTER
Ever heard of the government’s rural project that provide for a day-care center for these young tots not yet of schooling age? Not yet?? Well, it is a program that was instituted by the government on barangay level and teaches kids with basic learning skills under the tutelage of a teacher who usually is paid for by barangay funds.
But this article is not about that government-instituted program, it is about what the missus has started doing at our backyard as part of her own outreach to improve the studying skills of children in our neighborhood. Let me tell you this story.
Immediately after the light bulb was relocated near the nipa shack, the missus conceived the idea of reviewing the daily progress of our neighbors’ schoolchildren’s and discussed the matter to me about it. By doing this, she envisions those kids will find additional interest in their studies and thus improve their learning prowess because the difficulty in learning that is caused by the overcrowding of classes in the public schools where they are enrolled can somehow be assuaged by a supplemental review of lessons that she intends to do later in the day.
Of course I was skeptic. I reckon we do not have the skills and experience as schoolteachers and more importantly, the kids are enrolled in different grades, with the eldest in first year high school while the youngest is but in first grade. How does one allot his or her time over a variety of subjects on these kids.?? A prospective tower of Babel that can confuse these kids, I thought. But if you knew the missus, you will admit that when she has something on her mind, it is not often that she is discouraged. And so she started gathering the young kids at the nipa shack in our backyard and told them about her plans with me skeptically watching with eyebrows raised.
And so one Saturday while I was attending the lodge stated meeting of Dagohoy Lodge No. 84 at Tagbilaran City, she purchased a 24” x 36” blackboard, chalks, Mongol pencils and candies. When I teasingly asked her later in the night what the candies are for since I am a diabetic, she simply looked at me with piercing eyes without saying anything. It turned out it was for the kids to be given as incentives for those who can answer her questions right!
On our way home the next day, she noticed she forgot buying the eraser. I replied she can use one of my old briefs as substitute but she immediately glared at me. And I thought it is the lion who roars and glares when angry, not the lion tamer!! With this, the lion can only meekly say: “Buy it then, on your next trip to the city on Thursday when you accompany the two new harelip boys to the hospital!”
The first day of her class was a wonder. The missus found the first session which lasted more than two hours that night fun. She saw herself teaching about fifteen children with those in the lower grades lessons on subjects and predicates, simple arithmetic, and those in the higher level, fractions, divisions, decimals and even the proper use and referrals to the standard dictionary with the upper grade students assisting her on the lower grade pupils. She even cajoled them to sing nursery rhymes to the delight even of the elders who amusedly watched nearby. At the session’s end she saw herself fully exhausted but definitely with a smile on her dainty lips.
But the lion did not fare as well. I got my awkward baptism of fire when the first year high school student asked me how to solve square roots, for at age sixty two, how the heck can I be expected to remember a subject that I supposedly learned fifty years ago?! I could not even recall whether or not I skipped my classes during the time square roots are being taught in class. And so I said: “let me borrow your textbook and I’ll give you the answer tomorrow”. And I did!!
But let me tell you something has got to give. The missus unwittingly deprived herself of her favorite TV program that she faithfully views early in the night which is titled “Kay Tagal ng Umaga” that is portrayed in the lead role by her favorite actress named “Lorna Tolentino”.
Ever heard of the government’s rural project that provide for a day-care center for these young tots not yet of schooling age? Not yet?? Well, it is a program that was instituted by the government on barangay level and teaches kids with basic learning skills under the tutelage of a teacher who usually is paid for by barangay funds.
But this article is not about that government-instituted program, it is about what the missus has started doing at our backyard as part of her own outreach to improve the studying skills of children in our neighborhood. Let me tell you this story.
Immediately after the light bulb was relocated near the nipa shack, the missus conceived the idea of reviewing the daily progress of our neighbors’ schoolchildren’s and discussed the matter to me about it. By doing this, she envisions those kids will find additional interest in their studies and thus improve their learning prowess because the difficulty in learning that is caused by the overcrowding of classes in the public schools where they are enrolled can somehow be assuaged by a supplemental review of lessons that she intends to do later in the day.
Of course I was skeptic. I reckon we do not have the skills and experience as schoolteachers and more importantly, the kids are enrolled in different grades, with the eldest in first year high school while the youngest is but in first grade. How does one allot his or her time over a variety of subjects on these kids.?? A prospective tower of Babel that can confuse these kids, I thought. But if you knew the missus, you will admit that when she has something on her mind, it is not often that she is discouraged. And so she started gathering the young kids at the nipa shack in our backyard and told them about her plans with me skeptically watching with eyebrows raised.
And so one Saturday while I was attending the lodge stated meeting of Dagohoy Lodge No. 84 at Tagbilaran City, she purchased a 24” x 36” blackboard, chalks, Mongol pencils and candies. When I teasingly asked her later in the night what the candies are for since I am a diabetic, she simply looked at me with piercing eyes without saying anything. It turned out it was for the kids to be given as incentives for those who can answer her questions right!
On our way home the next day, she noticed she forgot buying the eraser. I replied she can use one of my old briefs as substitute but she immediately glared at me. And I thought it is the lion who roars and glares when angry, not the lion tamer!! With this, the lion can only meekly say: “Buy it then, on your next trip to the city on Thursday when you accompany the two new harelip boys to the hospital!”
The first day of her class was a wonder. The missus found the first session which lasted more than two hours that night fun. She saw herself teaching about fifteen children with those in the lower grades lessons on subjects and predicates, simple arithmetic, and those in the higher level, fractions, divisions, decimals and even the proper use and referrals to the standard dictionary with the upper grade students assisting her on the lower grade pupils. She even cajoled them to sing nursery rhymes to the delight even of the elders who amusedly watched nearby. At the session’s end she saw herself fully exhausted but definitely with a smile on her dainty lips.
But the lion did not fare as well. I got my awkward baptism of fire when the first year high school student asked me how to solve square roots, for at age sixty two, how the heck can I be expected to remember a subject that I supposedly learned fifty years ago?! I could not even recall whether or not I skipped my classes during the time square roots are being taught in class. And so I said: “let me borrow your textbook and I’ll give you the answer tomorrow”. And I did!!
But let me tell you something has got to give. The missus unwittingly deprived herself of her favorite TV program that she faithfully views early in the night which is titled “Kay Tagal ng Umaga” that is portrayed in the lead role by her favorite actress named “Lorna Tolentino”.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
MY KABIR FRIENDS
MY KABIR FRIENDS
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
Credit this article to Kuya Raul Laman for it was at his suggestion that I encountered these friendly denizens of the earth.
Last year when the pangs of uneasy loneliness hovered all over the horizon both for the lion and his tamer, especially because we have resolved we will manage without the services of a maid as a hired helper will mean an additional mouth to feed, Kuya Raul, an e-mail brother of this writer, suggested the advisability of caring for chickens in our backyard and the two foreign breeds that he mentioned are the Sasso and Kabir chickens. These are not only big but also easily adapts to local environment, he said.
The choice for having chickens at our backyard was carefully considered. Pigs, although a good source of supplementary income that can augment my miniscule pension and at the same time serve as an automatic waste disposal agent, was discarded because of the attendant obnoxious smell that these will create and cats have never been our pets. Although my favorite pet has always been a German Shepherd dog while our youngest son’s was a Golden Retriever, I seriously considered raising a Pit Bull puppy as our eldest son breeds this pedigree at his home in Los Banos. Only, two distinct difficulties arose, how to transport it considering existing governmental restrictions on animals and the fact that it will surely be a menace to the native “askals” that abound in our place. That leaves us no recourse, therefore, but to raise chickens for our pets.
Of the two suggested breeds, I choose “Kabirs” because the “Sasso” line looks more like Jubela that somehow managed to escape the razor-edged guillotine because it has no feathers on its neck.
But it took me sometime to procure these animals as its chicks were not readily available in the market nor in the community. Until one time, a cousin of the missus, upon learning that I wanted to raise Kabir chickens, immediately went to his backyard and together with his favorite grandson, Noynoy, knocked at our door last May, with two young Kabir chickens, and in a standard Visayan joke said, “here are two Kabir teenagers, a boy and a girl” that you can raise!!
Immediately thereafter, I hired the services of the missus’ favorite Jack-of-all-Trades, and had him construct a shack for the chicken’s coop. In addition, I chanced upon a signboard on the road saying that there are one-week-old Kabir chicks for sale at the nearby town and so posthaste went there and immediately purchased ten live chicks.
But if you think it’s fun and easy to raise these animals, you are mistaken., for without adequate experience, mortality suddenly crept in. Consider these.
After just two weeks, two of the small chicks died, another two suddenly disappeared at our backyard without leaving a trace, another two died of undiagnosed disease, leaving me with only young four young pullets and the two originals, who the donor branded as “the boy and the girl” Kabirs which I named Mikatot, a white-feathered male and Beatot, a pinkish-feathered female, in playful variant to the names of our two grandchildren. Which made the missus comment: “Hala ka, your two other grandchildren will surely get jealous for not naming chicks after them!”
Seeing them grow in our backyard is fun. Mikatot would crane his neck early in the morning shouting “Cock-a-doodle-do” at the top of its voice below our window to the consternation of the still-sleepy lion tamer. This morning regimen then serves as signal for me to grate matured coconut for their morning meal. Beatot, on the other hand, would just daintily watch me do my chores as would my granddaughter do but with a critical look as if saying you should better do the job right, dumdum!
Definitely intelligent, these two and the four other growing pullets that I named Dacky, Red, Sexy and Midge would just walk nearby and with Sexy often succeeding in climbing and resting upon my shoulders while I read Albert Pike’s “Morals and Dogma” during my reading hours at our backyard.
Even at this early stage of their lives (Mikatot now weighs more than three kilos), I already look forward to enjoying their eggs at our breakfast table. But only their eggs, for how do you cook and eat your friends when at last they’ve finally grown up?!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
Credit this article to Kuya Raul Laman for it was at his suggestion that I encountered these friendly denizens of the earth.
Last year when the pangs of uneasy loneliness hovered all over the horizon both for the lion and his tamer, especially because we have resolved we will manage without the services of a maid as a hired helper will mean an additional mouth to feed, Kuya Raul, an e-mail brother of this writer, suggested the advisability of caring for chickens in our backyard and the two foreign breeds that he mentioned are the Sasso and Kabir chickens. These are not only big but also easily adapts to local environment, he said.
The choice for having chickens at our backyard was carefully considered. Pigs, although a good source of supplementary income that can augment my miniscule pension and at the same time serve as an automatic waste disposal agent, was discarded because of the attendant obnoxious smell that these will create and cats have never been our pets. Although my favorite pet has always been a German Shepherd dog while our youngest son’s was a Golden Retriever, I seriously considered raising a Pit Bull puppy as our eldest son breeds this pedigree at his home in Los Banos. Only, two distinct difficulties arose, how to transport it considering existing governmental restrictions on animals and the fact that it will surely be a menace to the native “askals” that abound in our place. That leaves us no recourse, therefore, but to raise chickens for our pets.
Of the two suggested breeds, I choose “Kabirs” because the “Sasso” line looks more like Jubela that somehow managed to escape the razor-edged guillotine because it has no feathers on its neck.
But it took me sometime to procure these animals as its chicks were not readily available in the market nor in the community. Until one time, a cousin of the missus, upon learning that I wanted to raise Kabir chickens, immediately went to his backyard and together with his favorite grandson, Noynoy, knocked at our door last May, with two young Kabir chickens, and in a standard Visayan joke said, “here are two Kabir teenagers, a boy and a girl” that you can raise!!
Immediately thereafter, I hired the services of the missus’ favorite Jack-of-all-Trades, and had him construct a shack for the chicken’s coop. In addition, I chanced upon a signboard on the road saying that there are one-week-old Kabir chicks for sale at the nearby town and so posthaste went there and immediately purchased ten live chicks.
But if you think it’s fun and easy to raise these animals, you are mistaken., for without adequate experience, mortality suddenly crept in. Consider these.
After just two weeks, two of the small chicks died, another two suddenly disappeared at our backyard without leaving a trace, another two died of undiagnosed disease, leaving me with only young four young pullets and the two originals, who the donor branded as “the boy and the girl” Kabirs which I named Mikatot, a white-feathered male and Beatot, a pinkish-feathered female, in playful variant to the names of our two grandchildren. Which made the missus comment: “Hala ka, your two other grandchildren will surely get jealous for not naming chicks after them!”
Seeing them grow in our backyard is fun. Mikatot would crane his neck early in the morning shouting “Cock-a-doodle-do” at the top of its voice below our window to the consternation of the still-sleepy lion tamer. This morning regimen then serves as signal for me to grate matured coconut for their morning meal. Beatot, on the other hand, would just daintily watch me do my chores as would my granddaughter do but with a critical look as if saying you should better do the job right, dumdum!
Definitely intelligent, these two and the four other growing pullets that I named Dacky, Red, Sexy and Midge would just walk nearby and with Sexy often succeeding in climbing and resting upon my shoulders while I read Albert Pike’s “Morals and Dogma” during my reading hours at our backyard.
Even at this early stage of their lives (Mikatot now weighs more than three kilos), I already look forward to enjoying their eggs at our breakfast table. But only their eggs, for how do you cook and eat your friends when at last they’ve finally grown up?!
FISHING THE “PALANGRI” WAY
FISHING THE “PALANGRI” WAY
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
.
Talk about fishing by hook and the things that will come out of one’s imagination would likely be the rod and reel, the hook, the line and the sinker. And of course, the bait. But that is as far as amateur fishing is concerned. The professionals do it another way.
The fishermen, the lion learned, also use the hook, line and bait; but the rod, reel and sinker are excluded. And they use not one, not two, not three, but up to several hundred hooks at a given time.
Sound weird?! Now read this!
Using a sturdy nylon cord of no less then five hundred meters in length, the fisherman would attach short cords (or strings) having the length of about two meters where the hooks are tied at its end and where the baits are individually placed . The short cords are tied at a distance of about three meters apart thus avoiding the short cord to get entangled with another. These nylon cords are then neatly stacked at the inner part of a wooden box having the size of about a square yard that serves as container, after which, sand is generously poured over to make it easy to release, while the hooks where the baits are attached are neatly tacked and dangled at the outer side thus enabling the fishermen to lay down the hooks that contained the baits systematically at the open sea. Once done, the fisherman will return home for a brief period (usually about three hours) to allow the fish to take the bait, or bite the bullet so to speak, and later would return to check and get his catch if any, and also retrieve the gear.
The brief explanatory note about “palangri fishing” concluded, let me now narrate to you what happened to deserve the composition of this short article..
The lion’s computer clock registered 1:30 A. M. last July 25 when he opened it and as usual, proceeded to open his mailbox. In it were four Grand Lodge No. 12 Circulars which were forwarded by RW Jimmy Gonzales, Junior Grand Warden. After downloading these, the lion skimmed through their contents hoping he can see a familiar name and seeing none that attracted his attention, lackadaisically proceeded to shut off his beat-up and antique computer.
Having done his early morning routine (if one thirty is not early, then tell the lion what time is), he then went out of the house to relieve himself by emptying his gallbladder and while doing so, heard voices outside the gate of their backyard. Casually, he went out the gate and there joined Eben, Pilo and Alice who were enthusiastically discussing Pilo’s recent catch below the third electric light that the lion tamere have caused to be installed recently.
“Major”, that’s the sobriquet that the lion recently gave Pilo, was enthusiastic in his story. The day before, he was earnestly tidying up his fishing gear that is locally called “palangri”, a mesh of about 200 fishing hooks neatly tied and spaced to a sturdy nylon cord. This unique fishing equipment that was explained earlier was supplied with baits consisting of fresh “tambans” the kind of fish that form part of the early jogger’s morning breakfast at ChowKing called “tusilog” which actually is but the acronym of “tuyo’, sinangag, and itlog!”
It turned out that at about seven that night, “Major” laid out his gear at sea and three hours later, returned to check on his prospective catch. His narration was energetic and vibrant. He said that no sooner had he pulled the first few meters of the nylon cord when after three hooks, he noted his hold being tugged strongly by a strong force. “Bingo!”, he mused, it should be a big catch, one that should not get away, and after a spirited effort, downloaded to his boat a red-colored fish locally called “ahaan” (probably a red herring or red snapper in the English language). This catch was followed by three more of the same kind and another denizen of the sea locally called “ubod”, or a slippery eel, appeared. In all , his catch totaled about ten kilos.
“Major” and his wife, Alice, were jubilant. The catch can easily fetch for them about eight hundred pesos in the streets, thus, after deducting the fifty pesos for the cost of the baits, his effort will easily net him no less then seven hundred bucks. The task of peddling will be done by “Honey”, wife of Andoy, who is also expected to add a reasonable mark-up for her effort as “lab’asera”, a local term for fresh fish vendor!.
In fine Jimbo awoke and joined us. A little later, Andoy, who laid out his own “palangri” at sea returned. “”Major”, having completed attaching baits on his other set of “palangri” that he was then working on, gave the extra fish-baits to Alice, whereupon Alice and Honey proceeded to set fire and broiled the surplus fish for us to feast on. Liza, Jimbo’s wife, and their six year old daughter Queenie also woke up and joined the group.
But as the neighbors knew, work without the second wage of a fellowcraft (brethren should guess this right, it’s called Tanduay), is not work. It is called forced labor. (RW Jimmy, here is another difference about work and labor!) And so, Eben gave Honey forty pesos and cajoled her to wake Marissa up at her sari-sari store to enable Honey to buy the needed liquor. At one thirty in the morning? But of course!! The lion also refused not to be counted; he went home and no sooner returned with his favorite brewed coffee still steaming on his special coffee mug the pungent-smelling homegrown coffee called “Barako”.
In fine, the group partook of the broiled fish that was supplemented by left-over cooked rice while the lion sipped his coffee in between bites. The fishermen, for their part, partook of the broiled fish that was being pushed to their sarcophagus by the wine called Tanduay until the finally all retired at about three thirty that morning to regain their interrupted naps.
And what happened next??
No more than two hours after the sun appeared at the horizon, the three fishermen again ventured to the open sea to retrieve their gears and upon their return, Andoy went home with two “ahaans” weighing about four kilos and two “pinyahons”, a kind of fish that sells cheap locally because consuming it generously may cause one to constipate (which reminds the lion about the wonder drug called Xenical that also cause the patient to relieve himself involuntarily if one don’t watch it carefully), “Major” bagging a three-kilo “talakitok” , while Eben had a four-kilo barracuda (called rompee locally), another three- kilo fish called “balare”, and a three-kilo eel that surely will be the envy of the Chinese connoisseurs of Binondo, All told, the lion’s neighbors have earned their “daily bread” for a couple more days or so.
Fish talk?! But of course! And freshly caught from the subterranean recesses of planet earth!!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
.
Talk about fishing by hook and the things that will come out of one’s imagination would likely be the rod and reel, the hook, the line and the sinker. And of course, the bait. But that is as far as amateur fishing is concerned. The professionals do it another way.
The fishermen, the lion learned, also use the hook, line and bait; but the rod, reel and sinker are excluded. And they use not one, not two, not three, but up to several hundred hooks at a given time.
Sound weird?! Now read this!
Using a sturdy nylon cord of no less then five hundred meters in length, the fisherman would attach short cords (or strings) having the length of about two meters where the hooks are tied at its end and where the baits are individually placed . The short cords are tied at a distance of about three meters apart thus avoiding the short cord to get entangled with another. These nylon cords are then neatly stacked at the inner part of a wooden box having the size of about a square yard that serves as container, after which, sand is generously poured over to make it easy to release, while the hooks where the baits are attached are neatly tacked and dangled at the outer side thus enabling the fishermen to lay down the hooks that contained the baits systematically at the open sea. Once done, the fisherman will return home for a brief period (usually about three hours) to allow the fish to take the bait, or bite the bullet so to speak, and later would return to check and get his catch if any, and also retrieve the gear.
The brief explanatory note about “palangri fishing” concluded, let me now narrate to you what happened to deserve the composition of this short article..
The lion’s computer clock registered 1:30 A. M. last July 25 when he opened it and as usual, proceeded to open his mailbox. In it were four Grand Lodge No. 12 Circulars which were forwarded by RW Jimmy Gonzales, Junior Grand Warden. After downloading these, the lion skimmed through their contents hoping he can see a familiar name and seeing none that attracted his attention, lackadaisically proceeded to shut off his beat-up and antique computer.
Having done his early morning routine (if one thirty is not early, then tell the lion what time is), he then went out of the house to relieve himself by emptying his gallbladder and while doing so, heard voices outside the gate of their backyard. Casually, he went out the gate and there joined Eben, Pilo and Alice who were enthusiastically discussing Pilo’s recent catch below the third electric light that the lion tamere have caused to be installed recently.
“Major”, that’s the sobriquet that the lion recently gave Pilo, was enthusiastic in his story. The day before, he was earnestly tidying up his fishing gear that is locally called “palangri”, a mesh of about 200 fishing hooks neatly tied and spaced to a sturdy nylon cord. This unique fishing equipment that was explained earlier was supplied with baits consisting of fresh “tambans” the kind of fish that form part of the early jogger’s morning breakfast at ChowKing called “tusilog” which actually is but the acronym of “tuyo’, sinangag, and itlog!”
It turned out that at about seven that night, “Major” laid out his gear at sea and three hours later, returned to check on his prospective catch. His narration was energetic and vibrant. He said that no sooner had he pulled the first few meters of the nylon cord when after three hooks, he noted his hold being tugged strongly by a strong force. “Bingo!”, he mused, it should be a big catch, one that should not get away, and after a spirited effort, downloaded to his boat a red-colored fish locally called “ahaan” (probably a red herring or red snapper in the English language). This catch was followed by three more of the same kind and another denizen of the sea locally called “ubod”, or a slippery eel, appeared. In all , his catch totaled about ten kilos.
“Major” and his wife, Alice, were jubilant. The catch can easily fetch for them about eight hundred pesos in the streets, thus, after deducting the fifty pesos for the cost of the baits, his effort will easily net him no less then seven hundred bucks. The task of peddling will be done by “Honey”, wife of Andoy, who is also expected to add a reasonable mark-up for her effort as “lab’asera”, a local term for fresh fish vendor!.
In fine Jimbo awoke and joined us. A little later, Andoy, who laid out his own “palangri” at sea returned. “”Major”, having completed attaching baits on his other set of “palangri” that he was then working on, gave the extra fish-baits to Alice, whereupon Alice and Honey proceeded to set fire and broiled the surplus fish for us to feast on. Liza, Jimbo’s wife, and their six year old daughter Queenie also woke up and joined the group.
But as the neighbors knew, work without the second wage of a fellowcraft (brethren should guess this right, it’s called Tanduay), is not work. It is called forced labor. (RW Jimmy, here is another difference about work and labor!) And so, Eben gave Honey forty pesos and cajoled her to wake Marissa up at her sari-sari store to enable Honey to buy the needed liquor. At one thirty in the morning? But of course!! The lion also refused not to be counted; he went home and no sooner returned with his favorite brewed coffee still steaming on his special coffee mug the pungent-smelling homegrown coffee called “Barako”.
In fine, the group partook of the broiled fish that was supplemented by left-over cooked rice while the lion sipped his coffee in between bites. The fishermen, for their part, partook of the broiled fish that was being pushed to their sarcophagus by the wine called Tanduay until the finally all retired at about three thirty that morning to regain their interrupted naps.
And what happened next??
No more than two hours after the sun appeared at the horizon, the three fishermen again ventured to the open sea to retrieve their gears and upon their return, Andoy went home with two “ahaans” weighing about four kilos and two “pinyahons”, a kind of fish that sells cheap locally because consuming it generously may cause one to constipate (which reminds the lion about the wonder drug called Xenical that also cause the patient to relieve himself involuntarily if one don’t watch it carefully), “Major” bagging a three-kilo “talakitok” , while Eben had a four-kilo barracuda (called rompee locally), another three- kilo fish called “balare”, and a three-kilo eel that surely will be the envy of the Chinese connoisseurs of Binondo, All told, the lion’s neighbors have earned their “daily bread” for a couple more days or so.
Fish talk?! But of course! And freshly caught from the subterranean recesses of planet earth!!
UNIQUE CRUSTACEANS, ANYONE??
UNIQUE CRUSTACEANS, ANYONE??
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
“Adis”, that’s how he is called, is twenty years old, married and father of a two-year-old son. Reaching only the elementary grades and not gainfully employed in a place where employment opportunities are as scarce as the college graduates that the town annually produce, and not having relatives from whom the poor guy (no pun intended) can rely for sustenance, he refused to become a mendicant. To eke out a livelihood, he joined a group of ten young adults, three of them married and the rest still single, who call themselves “Kagang Boys”.
For sure they are not the only gatherers of this kind of crabs. There are also others who have banded themselves together while a few operate solo, in search of this unique denizen of the sea that for ages has been made delicacy of the residents of the area. These food gatherers are also unsure whether there also are gatherers in the other seaside towns of the island of Bohol, but as far as they are concerned, they and the others reach as far as the seashore of the town of Anda some ten kilometers away and even the adjacent barangay of Cogtong of the town of Candijay in search of this unique crabs that forage on the edges of the sea.
The technique is simple. These gatherers just dig into the burrows that these crabs have made their homes on the murky seashore. Armed with a bolo and a pail wherewith to accumulate their catch, they trace the winding recesses beneath the soil which are often hidden by living seashore plants that abound in the area. These plants not only serve as effective camouflage but also as shelter from the blistering heat of the noon-day sun thus serving as ideal habitat to these crustaceans. Their t-shirts naturally are soiled with mud and the entire catching process is not clean but definitely is less obnoxious than the work of the metropolitan “poso negro” boys.
But while the digging procedure may not be difficult as the soil generally is soft, getting the crab out of the hole is not easy, for if the hunter is less careful, he may end out getting bitten on the hand by his prey and hurt himself in the process. And it can put him out of commission for several days to allow the wound to heal.
“Kagang” is a local word for a specie of crabs that is noted for its pungent taste which local residents savor during special gatherings. Last year at the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, for example, the relatives of the missus had an outdoor swimming party at the lion den’s backyard and one of the gourmet’s dish that they served was a cauldron full of cooked “kagangs” that they enjoyed with gusto.
These crawling denizens of the sea are spawn by their mothers in swamplands no different from ordinary crabs called “alimango”, with the young living there until they become adults but upon maturity, would retire to the beaches where foliage abounds boring themselves in soft marshy grasslands. It is not uncommon for these crustaceans to occupy holes previously used but later vacated by others, but once inside, would create apartment-like passageways that make it impossible for enemies, hunters included, to locate them. A primary requirement for habitability is its coolness and the softness of the soil to make burrowing easy.
It reaches maturity when it has reaches the size of about 120 grams, which means that eight pieces will weigh a kilo. At adulthood it is no bigger than the standard computer mouse that you use. Like the ordinary crabs and shrimps that are members of the crustacean specie, it is a scavenger that preys on dead faunas to survive.
Its form, like the lodge and the “alimango” is oblong. Its pincher arm is big for its size, which makes its flesh a favorite piece to savor. A kilo costs from thirty-five to forty pesos such that three kilos would generally cost the customer a hundred bucks, which incidentally, is the average daily catch of a gatherer, as generally, these hunters would only do their job during the early morning hours or late in the afternoon when the sun is not radiating its blistering rays
Not sold in the market, connoisseurs would order this crustacean several days in advance and allow it to live for a week to excrete the food it has taken before it is cooked. It is best savored when cooked with coconut milk, pepper, garlic and other spices added to the soup and is said to add to man’s virile sexuality. A local resident who is older than this writer said that this food delicacy is unique in the place- he has already tasted it during his younger days which means that has enjoyed it even before the war years, the second world war, that is. A missionary priest was said to order two kilos weekly without fail until he was transferred by his superiors to far-away Africa, of course, not because of these crabs but because his calling demanded that his presence be there in the place where black people live instead of eating weekly the crawling black inhabitants of the sea. Even the missus said that she was told this delicacy was a special favorite of her great grandmother. But there is no way to check this out; the old woman has been long dead long before the missus was born fifty four years ago!
If someday you would chance to be in Bohol like VW Rosauro “Boy” Rosales who sometimes visit his kin both in Buenavista town and at Tagbilaran City you might dare seek out this exotic food. But personally, I won’t. My conservative taste won’t allow me to taste not even the devilfish, sharks, dolphins and whalesharks and even man’s favorite pet called DOG!!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
“Adis”, that’s how he is called, is twenty years old, married and father of a two-year-old son. Reaching only the elementary grades and not gainfully employed in a place where employment opportunities are as scarce as the college graduates that the town annually produce, and not having relatives from whom the poor guy (no pun intended) can rely for sustenance, he refused to become a mendicant. To eke out a livelihood, he joined a group of ten young adults, three of them married and the rest still single, who call themselves “Kagang Boys”.
For sure they are not the only gatherers of this kind of crabs. There are also others who have banded themselves together while a few operate solo, in search of this unique denizen of the sea that for ages has been made delicacy of the residents of the area. These food gatherers are also unsure whether there also are gatherers in the other seaside towns of the island of Bohol, but as far as they are concerned, they and the others reach as far as the seashore of the town of Anda some ten kilometers away and even the adjacent barangay of Cogtong of the town of Candijay in search of this unique crabs that forage on the edges of the sea.
The technique is simple. These gatherers just dig into the burrows that these crabs have made their homes on the murky seashore. Armed with a bolo and a pail wherewith to accumulate their catch, they trace the winding recesses beneath the soil which are often hidden by living seashore plants that abound in the area. These plants not only serve as effective camouflage but also as shelter from the blistering heat of the noon-day sun thus serving as ideal habitat to these crustaceans. Their t-shirts naturally are soiled with mud and the entire catching process is not clean but definitely is less obnoxious than the work of the metropolitan “poso negro” boys.
But while the digging procedure may not be difficult as the soil generally is soft, getting the crab out of the hole is not easy, for if the hunter is less careful, he may end out getting bitten on the hand by his prey and hurt himself in the process. And it can put him out of commission for several days to allow the wound to heal.
“Kagang” is a local word for a specie of crabs that is noted for its pungent taste which local residents savor during special gatherings. Last year at the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, for example, the relatives of the missus had an outdoor swimming party at the lion den’s backyard and one of the gourmet’s dish that they served was a cauldron full of cooked “kagangs” that they enjoyed with gusto.
These crawling denizens of the sea are spawn by their mothers in swamplands no different from ordinary crabs called “alimango”, with the young living there until they become adults but upon maturity, would retire to the beaches where foliage abounds boring themselves in soft marshy grasslands. It is not uncommon for these crustaceans to occupy holes previously used but later vacated by others, but once inside, would create apartment-like passageways that make it impossible for enemies, hunters included, to locate them. A primary requirement for habitability is its coolness and the softness of the soil to make burrowing easy.
It reaches maturity when it has reaches the size of about 120 grams, which means that eight pieces will weigh a kilo. At adulthood it is no bigger than the standard computer mouse that you use. Like the ordinary crabs and shrimps that are members of the crustacean specie, it is a scavenger that preys on dead faunas to survive.
Its form, like the lodge and the “alimango” is oblong. Its pincher arm is big for its size, which makes its flesh a favorite piece to savor. A kilo costs from thirty-five to forty pesos such that three kilos would generally cost the customer a hundred bucks, which incidentally, is the average daily catch of a gatherer, as generally, these hunters would only do their job during the early morning hours or late in the afternoon when the sun is not radiating its blistering rays
Not sold in the market, connoisseurs would order this crustacean several days in advance and allow it to live for a week to excrete the food it has taken before it is cooked. It is best savored when cooked with coconut milk, pepper, garlic and other spices added to the soup and is said to add to man’s virile sexuality. A local resident who is older than this writer said that this food delicacy is unique in the place- he has already tasted it during his younger days which means that has enjoyed it even before the war years, the second world war, that is. A missionary priest was said to order two kilos weekly without fail until he was transferred by his superiors to far-away Africa, of course, not because of these crabs but because his calling demanded that his presence be there in the place where black people live instead of eating weekly the crawling black inhabitants of the sea. Even the missus said that she was told this delicacy was a special favorite of her great grandmother. But there is no way to check this out; the old woman has been long dead long before the missus was born fifty four years ago!
If someday you would chance to be in Bohol like VW Rosauro “Boy” Rosales who sometimes visit his kin both in Buenavista town and at Tagbilaran City you might dare seek out this exotic food. But personally, I won’t. My conservative taste won’t allow me to taste not even the devilfish, sharks, dolphins and whalesharks and even man’s favorite pet called DOG!!
OF KABIRS, SASSO, ETC.
OF KABIRS, SASSO, ETC.
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
Sometime after we returned to our den in Gundulman last June, the lion received and email from RW Jimmy Gonzales asking how our kabirs are doing, and for those not in the know, the term kabir is that breed of chicken that apparently came from the Middle East, and like the Sassos, are quite popular locally for their extra-large size and their easy adaptability to local weather.
The lion recalled that his reply to RW Jimmy was that save for his favorite kabir named Beatot and an unnamed Visayan pullet, his chicken coop which consisted of five Kabirs and 3 Visayan pullets were wiped out by a chicken epidemic called “taruro,” which also annihilated almost all the chickens in the neighborhood. And since the lion and his tamer already considered these chickens part of their extended family, he added that he would soon endeavor to buy some chicks at Tagbilaran to replace those that were lost through pestilence. During their sojourn to the metropolis, these two female chickens were joined by a young Sasso rooster of a neighbor who probably thought the abundant food inside would compensate for being confined at the backyard in lieu of freely roaming outside foraging for food!
Our plan soon turned to reality when after the last rites that was conducted to WB Felix Lao last June 20 at “Tagbi” (that’s how the city is called by Guindulmanons) he bought ten kabir chicks and proceeded to raise these the way he had done so in the past. The lion earlier wanted to mix these Kabirs with a few Sasso chicks; unfortunately, none was on sale at that time in the agricultural stores that peddle these cute little feathered friends.
By the last week of June, the Visayan pullet started laying eggs, and by the first week of the subsequent month, was noticed it has started incubating its eggs which already has grown to seven. To the lion’s surprise, another egg was added and only then did he realize that Beatot, the kabir, also started laying eggs. Realizing the confusion that would soon ensue, he placed an empty carton box beside its coop so that the said kabir could also lay her own eggs in peace.
Beatot, yeah, that’s the name we gave our Kabir chicken, managed to incubate only four of its eggs as the others (about six in all) were waylaid by the lion to the prying pan and ultimately to the table for his morning meal. Thus, the suspense of seeing two would be “mother hens” sitting on their eggs morning, noon and evening waiting for the chicks finally to chirp became a daily fare.
By July 27 five small chicks started chirping leaving two small-sized eggs and another which Beatot laid, still unbroken. By the next day, the lion tamer took the three un-hatched eggs to a neighbor at our backyard with the intent of giving these so that these can be cooked like “balut”, but imagine to her surprise when one of the eggs started to have a hole in it and a small beak protruding. It turned out one of the eggs was being hatched a full day late than the others.
The lion took over and helped the small chick break its shell and lo! a cute white Sasso, with its neck without feathers chirping. It was a beautiful sight to see; much like the ugly duckling of the nursery rhymes, the Sasso chick looked so different from the rest. To insure that it survives, he separated it from the others and placed it below the glare of a fifty-watt electric bulb for a good two days.
By August 12, when the chicks of the Visayan hen were already about ten days old, the kabir showed signs of agitation and at the same time was periodically looking at the eggs so the lion checked what the heck was ever the matter. There he noticed that one egg was hatched but with the feathered chick already dead. This would be followed by the hatching of the three other eggs, which, in like manner were also pressed by the body of the mother thus killing them. How stupid of the lion, he mused, he should have taken over when he noticed that the eggs were already about to be hatched by taking the eggs out of the care of the hen and putting them into the glare of the electric bulb so that these may be hatched the artificial way. How stupid indeed!!
But that was not the end of the story. Beatot, probably grieving at the loss of her own dead chicks, would not be undaunted, she is now also escorting the other chicks find their own food in the company of the Visayan mother hen.
Which makes the lion chuckle(wrong word, it should be growl.). King Solomon may have enjoyed solving that puzzle on who was the real mother of the child he ordered cut in two, but seeing the Kabir hen also treating the chicks of the Visayan hen as if it were her own was a beauty of animal instinct to behold.
And why did the lion wrote this article? Well, because he found out that incubating its eggs by a Kabir (and for that matter, a Sasso hen) the natural way is not possible because the chicks that will be hatched will simply be crushed to death because of the weight of the incubating mother!! But the beauty of it all is that the lion now has two adult hens about to lay again their eggs, ten eight weeks old Kabirs that in two more weeks time will be eligible for roasting at the kitchen, five native chicks that now fly their wings aimlessly inside our yard, and a Sasso chick that sports its featherless neck looking like Jubela on his way to the guillotine!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
Sometime after we returned to our den in Gundulman last June, the lion received and email from RW Jimmy Gonzales asking how our kabirs are doing, and for those not in the know, the term kabir is that breed of chicken that apparently came from the Middle East, and like the Sassos, are quite popular locally for their extra-large size and their easy adaptability to local weather.
The lion recalled that his reply to RW Jimmy was that save for his favorite kabir named Beatot and an unnamed Visayan pullet, his chicken coop which consisted of five Kabirs and 3 Visayan pullets were wiped out by a chicken epidemic called “taruro,” which also annihilated almost all the chickens in the neighborhood. And since the lion and his tamer already considered these chickens part of their extended family, he added that he would soon endeavor to buy some chicks at Tagbilaran to replace those that were lost through pestilence. During their sojourn to the metropolis, these two female chickens were joined by a young Sasso rooster of a neighbor who probably thought the abundant food inside would compensate for being confined at the backyard in lieu of freely roaming outside foraging for food!
Our plan soon turned to reality when after the last rites that was conducted to WB Felix Lao last June 20 at “Tagbi” (that’s how the city is called by Guindulmanons) he bought ten kabir chicks and proceeded to raise these the way he had done so in the past. The lion earlier wanted to mix these Kabirs with a few Sasso chicks; unfortunately, none was on sale at that time in the agricultural stores that peddle these cute little feathered friends.
By the last week of June, the Visayan pullet started laying eggs, and by the first week of the subsequent month, was noticed it has started incubating its eggs which already has grown to seven. To the lion’s surprise, another egg was added and only then did he realize that Beatot, the kabir, also started laying eggs. Realizing the confusion that would soon ensue, he placed an empty carton box beside its coop so that the said kabir could also lay her own eggs in peace.
Beatot, yeah, that’s the name we gave our Kabir chicken, managed to incubate only four of its eggs as the others (about six in all) were waylaid by the lion to the prying pan and ultimately to the table for his morning meal. Thus, the suspense of seeing two would be “mother hens” sitting on their eggs morning, noon and evening waiting for the chicks finally to chirp became a daily fare.
By July 27 five small chicks started chirping leaving two small-sized eggs and another which Beatot laid, still unbroken. By the next day, the lion tamer took the three un-hatched eggs to a neighbor at our backyard with the intent of giving these so that these can be cooked like “balut”, but imagine to her surprise when one of the eggs started to have a hole in it and a small beak protruding. It turned out one of the eggs was being hatched a full day late than the others.
The lion took over and helped the small chick break its shell and lo! a cute white Sasso, with its neck without feathers chirping. It was a beautiful sight to see; much like the ugly duckling of the nursery rhymes, the Sasso chick looked so different from the rest. To insure that it survives, he separated it from the others and placed it below the glare of a fifty-watt electric bulb for a good two days.
By August 12, when the chicks of the Visayan hen were already about ten days old, the kabir showed signs of agitation and at the same time was periodically looking at the eggs so the lion checked what the heck was ever the matter. There he noticed that one egg was hatched but with the feathered chick already dead. This would be followed by the hatching of the three other eggs, which, in like manner were also pressed by the body of the mother thus killing them. How stupid of the lion, he mused, he should have taken over when he noticed that the eggs were already about to be hatched by taking the eggs out of the care of the hen and putting them into the glare of the electric bulb so that these may be hatched the artificial way. How stupid indeed!!
But that was not the end of the story. Beatot, probably grieving at the loss of her own dead chicks, would not be undaunted, she is now also escorting the other chicks find their own food in the company of the Visayan mother hen.
Which makes the lion chuckle(wrong word, it should be growl.). King Solomon may have enjoyed solving that puzzle on who was the real mother of the child he ordered cut in two, but seeing the Kabir hen also treating the chicks of the Visayan hen as if it were her own was a beauty of animal instinct to behold.
And why did the lion wrote this article? Well, because he found out that incubating its eggs by a Kabir (and for that matter, a Sasso hen) the natural way is not possible because the chicks that will be hatched will simply be crushed to death because of the weight of the incubating mother!! But the beauty of it all is that the lion now has two adult hens about to lay again their eggs, ten eight weeks old Kabirs that in two more weeks time will be eligible for roasting at the kitchen, five native chicks that now fly their wings aimlessly inside our yard, and a Sasso chick that sports its featherless neck looking like Jubela on his way to the guillotine!
OUR BACKYARD’S TWO ELECTRIC LIGHTS
OUR BACKYARD’S TWO ELECTRIC LIGHTS
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
In a previous article titled “Walkways of the Two Sts. John” the installation of two electric posts at our backyard was mentioned, one at the instance of the barangay council, and another at our behest, to serve as beacon lights and guide the fishermen of the village who dock in the night. Those lights were installed more than eight months ago.
It turned out that the electric current of the light bulb that was provided by the barangay council was connected to the meter of a shrewd and semi-literate (or semi-illiterate?!) businesswoman who, last month, saw that her electric consumption was progressively increasing and therefore no longer wanted anything to do with it. While the actual cause was traceable to her daughter’s transfer of residence to her place taking along with her several appliances, among them, a TV set, a refrigerator and two electric fans, she pointedly turned her accusing finger at the solitary light bulb as the culprit of the said increase. She also felt that the P30 subsidy that the council promised to reimburse her was insufficient and was further aggravated by the fact that the actual reimbursement was too slow in coming. Upon due notice to the three fishermen who largely benefited from the light and the barangay councilman who was primarily responsible for its installation, she ordered that the connection be dismantled. Which left us no recourse but to reconnect the light bulb to our electric meter and thus absorb the wattage consumption ourselves; rationalizing that the cost was not really prohibitive, which, in effect meant that will just shoulder the additional expense instead.
Realizing that we now have the say on the two beacon lights, we then decided to relocate the new addition to a place where we believe it will best benefit the residents. Its original location after all, was situated beneath the coconut trees thus causing undue risk to life and limb as the unfertilized fruits (or putots) and the coconuts’ palms sometimes drop without even the courtesy of shouting “timber”!!! And where else should it be placed other than beside the nipa shack instead! The most valid reasons are the following:
1. It fully complemented the other light that is located at the left side of our backyard thus fully lighting the area where the pump-boats are docked and therefore serves as beacon lights that will serve as guide to the homecoming fishermen when they finally return home from the sea.
2. It lighted the nipa shack and thus allowed the schoolchildren to study there early in the night, a luxury that is not available in their houses that are not provided with electric lights.
3. It serves as deterrent to the shabu and various illegal drugs users who are rumored to sometimes use the shack as temporary dens. (Yes, Virginia, even in this far-off place, drug lords ply their trade profitably under the very noses of those who are supposed to check on them.)
4. It provided the folks who wait for the fishermen late in the night with a lighted shelter, also allowing them to broil a part of the catch over a bottle or two of their favorite wine called Tanduay Rhum.
5. With the installation of the twin lights, the entire area was in effect, turned into a mini-park that enabled the residents to promenade and while away time especially when the temperature is unbearably humid.
As a consequence, the bench made of bamboo that was installed at the place where the electric light was formerly located also had to be transferred, its use as a viewing and lounging seat was made useless because no one bothered to use it anymore especially in the night when darkness finally sets in.
The missus can but heave a pleasurable sigh of relief. The lighted place, after all, is also her favorite nook whenever she uses her cellphone when contacting her children and friends from out there in the metropolis since there is no cellphone signal inside our cozy residence!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
In a previous article titled “Walkways of the Two Sts. John” the installation of two electric posts at our backyard was mentioned, one at the instance of the barangay council, and another at our behest, to serve as beacon lights and guide the fishermen of the village who dock in the night. Those lights were installed more than eight months ago.
It turned out that the electric current of the light bulb that was provided by the barangay council was connected to the meter of a shrewd and semi-literate (or semi-illiterate?!) businesswoman who, last month, saw that her electric consumption was progressively increasing and therefore no longer wanted anything to do with it. While the actual cause was traceable to her daughter’s transfer of residence to her place taking along with her several appliances, among them, a TV set, a refrigerator and two electric fans, she pointedly turned her accusing finger at the solitary light bulb as the culprit of the said increase. She also felt that the P30 subsidy that the council promised to reimburse her was insufficient and was further aggravated by the fact that the actual reimbursement was too slow in coming. Upon due notice to the three fishermen who largely benefited from the light and the barangay councilman who was primarily responsible for its installation, she ordered that the connection be dismantled. Which left us no recourse but to reconnect the light bulb to our electric meter and thus absorb the wattage consumption ourselves; rationalizing that the cost was not really prohibitive, which, in effect meant that will just shoulder the additional expense instead.
Realizing that we now have the say on the two beacon lights, we then decided to relocate the new addition to a place where we believe it will best benefit the residents. Its original location after all, was situated beneath the coconut trees thus causing undue risk to life and limb as the unfertilized fruits (or putots) and the coconuts’ palms sometimes drop without even the courtesy of shouting “timber”!!! And where else should it be placed other than beside the nipa shack instead! The most valid reasons are the following:
1. It fully complemented the other light that is located at the left side of our backyard thus fully lighting the area where the pump-boats are docked and therefore serves as beacon lights that will serve as guide to the homecoming fishermen when they finally return home from the sea.
2. It lighted the nipa shack and thus allowed the schoolchildren to study there early in the night, a luxury that is not available in their houses that are not provided with electric lights.
3. It serves as deterrent to the shabu and various illegal drugs users who are rumored to sometimes use the shack as temporary dens. (Yes, Virginia, even in this far-off place, drug lords ply their trade profitably under the very noses of those who are supposed to check on them.)
4. It provided the folks who wait for the fishermen late in the night with a lighted shelter, also allowing them to broil a part of the catch over a bottle or two of their favorite wine called Tanduay Rhum.
5. With the installation of the twin lights, the entire area was in effect, turned into a mini-park that enabled the residents to promenade and while away time especially when the temperature is unbearably humid.
As a consequence, the bench made of bamboo that was installed at the place where the electric light was formerly located also had to be transferred, its use as a viewing and lounging seat was made useless because no one bothered to use it anymore especially in the night when darkness finally sets in.
The missus can but heave a pleasurable sigh of relief. The lighted place, after all, is also her favorite nook whenever she uses her cellphone when contacting her children and friends from out there in the metropolis since there is no cellphone signal inside our cozy residence!
EXPERIENCING A UNIQUE CHRISTMAS AT THE LION’S DEN
EXPERIENCING A UNIQUE CHRISTMAS AT THE LION’S DEN
Now the story can be told.
Those of you who have read the articles titled: “LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS” and “COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS” deserve to know how the tale ended. So here it is.
One week before the scheduled event on December 23rd, rains continuously poured. In the early morning of December 18, the main road that cut through our adopted hometown was made impassable to vehicles forcing traffic to a standstill till late afternoon. On the DZRH radio band, the announcer periodically gave flash reports on the landslides that occurred at Southern Leyte, also chronicling the resultant deaths and missing persons in tragic tones.
The lion tamer and her friends who formed themselves a group called “Lakas Loob para sa Diyos” which has for its creation the objective of repairing the dilapidated church roofing with a goal of raising a million pesos, were compelled to postpone to a later date the “dinner fund raising program” that was scheduled that Saturday, December 20, on account of the uncooperative and unruly weather.
Which also made her remark: “What shall we do with our plan on December 23?! Shall we postpone it also?” and got from the aging lion this reply: If I were you, I won’t worry, I am confident rains will not fall on that day for I already appealed to the Lord to be at our side. This project is dedicated to Him anyway!” I added: “If General George Patton was able to launch his offensive in Europe during “D’Day of the Second World War, I’m certain the morning mass that you have so meticulously planned for our neighbors at our backyard will transpire!”
By Sunday, December 21, our daughter called long distance from her residence saying that she, her two brothers, their respective spouses and children have grouped themselves together at her residence to enjoy the Yuletide Season. They knew it was what the now-toothless lion would have wanted, she said. If only our finances permitted it, then we would have been there to enjoy the holidays with them! To the approving nod, but with misty eyes, of their mother at the phone’s other end.
At 4:30 in the morning of December 23, the lion opened his computer and at the Internet, read an e-mail from Tante, his friend in the States, reminding him of the big event that is on the trestleboard that day but cautioned that news about the Philippine weather which he closely monitors at the other side of the globe says that rains are still expected within the next forty eight hours thus making the prospects of our celebration rather bleak. Could our plan materialize?!
At seven that morning , the priest arrived and promptly conducted the confession of parishioners as the sun showed its radiant circle on the eastern horizon. This is it, the lion mused: “the first part of our celebration which involved the mass and blessing of the pump-boats will materialize”. And to cut the story short, a very solemn mass was officiated by the parish priest to a hundred or so parishioners and later blessed some thirty pump-boats to the delight and awe of the attending fishermen.
As part of our preparations, we also served breakfast to the priest at our residence who complimented us on the food that was served especially because the lion and his tamer have no household help. The priest, who earlier displayed a skeptical attitude and who was earlier reluctant about officiating mass at our backyard, (he also previously denied a request by the local barangay council that a mass be held for them) was generous in his commendation at our efforts to bring “the Lord to the beach for the benefit of the fishers of the sea” He also intimated that he would gladly return for another mass engagement should a request from us be made at some future date.
Then afternoon came. But the darkness in the horizon that was caused by dusk was made more so as cloud hovered on the eastern shore. So to counter its effect and add luster to the festivities, another 18-watt bulb and nine gas-fed bamboo torches were added.
But still the lion could not help it but worry. All through the previous days, he communed with his Maker for the celebration of successful mass but forgot about the evening functions. Will his inadvertent omission to include good weather during the night result in rains during the second part of the festivities?!
The appointed hour of seven in the evening came. The neighbors who prepared their food “KKB” style progressively arrived. In fine, more than fifty families partook of the dinner that they brought with them and with the total attendees exceeded two hundred adults and children. Gifts that were bought by the lion tamer earlier at Tagbilaran City which consisted mostly of educational supplies for grown-up children and candies and other goodies for children not yet of schooling age were distributed as prizes for the fun games. Every child had something to bring home with some getting more than his fair share. Children and adults still endowed with sturdy legs danced all night while the fishermen whose legs could no longer execute basic dance steps contented themselves with emptying bottles of “long necks” called Tanduay Rhum that flowed freely through their thirsty palates. The four special baskets consisting of food that the families of the four fishermen can partake of during the next day’s “Noche Buena” she will give the at the approach of dawn the next day.
At one in the morning of December 24th the affair officially ended. The fishermen and the other neighbors were profuse in their thanks and expressly echoed that next year’s celebration will be merrier. Which made the lion and his tamer remark: “We can only ignite the wick, it will, of course, help much if you can add powder to the keg.”
And so that ends the unique tale! Merry Christmas to all of you out there. !!
Now the story can be told.
Those of you who have read the articles titled: “LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS” and “COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS” deserve to know how the tale ended. So here it is.
One week before the scheduled event on December 23rd, rains continuously poured. In the early morning of December 18, the main road that cut through our adopted hometown was made impassable to vehicles forcing traffic to a standstill till late afternoon. On the DZRH radio band, the announcer periodically gave flash reports on the landslides that occurred at Southern Leyte, also chronicling the resultant deaths and missing persons in tragic tones.
The lion tamer and her friends who formed themselves a group called “Lakas Loob para sa Diyos” which has for its creation the objective of repairing the dilapidated church roofing with a goal of raising a million pesos, were compelled to postpone to a later date the “dinner fund raising program” that was scheduled that Saturday, December 20, on account of the uncooperative and unruly weather.
Which also made her remark: “What shall we do with our plan on December 23?! Shall we postpone it also?” and got from the aging lion this reply: If I were you, I won’t worry, I am confident rains will not fall on that day for I already appealed to the Lord to be at our side. This project is dedicated to Him anyway!” I added: “If General George Patton was able to launch his offensive in Europe during “D’Day of the Second World War, I’m certain the morning mass that you have so meticulously planned for our neighbors at our backyard will transpire!”
By Sunday, December 21, our daughter called long distance from her residence saying that she, her two brothers, their respective spouses and children have grouped themselves together at her residence to enjoy the Yuletide Season. They knew it was what the now-toothless lion would have wanted, she said. If only our finances permitted it, then we would have been there to enjoy the holidays with them! To the approving nod, but with misty eyes, of their mother at the phone’s other end.
At 4:30 in the morning of December 23, the lion opened his computer and at the Internet, read an e-mail from Tante, his friend in the States, reminding him of the big event that is on the trestleboard that day but cautioned that news about the Philippine weather which he closely monitors at the other side of the globe says that rains are still expected within the next forty eight hours thus making the prospects of our celebration rather bleak. Could our plan materialize?!
At seven that morning , the priest arrived and promptly conducted the confession of parishioners as the sun showed its radiant circle on the eastern horizon. This is it, the lion mused: “the first part of our celebration which involved the mass and blessing of the pump-boats will materialize”. And to cut the story short, a very solemn mass was officiated by the parish priest to a hundred or so parishioners and later blessed some thirty pump-boats to the delight and awe of the attending fishermen.
As part of our preparations, we also served breakfast to the priest at our residence who complimented us on the food that was served especially because the lion and his tamer have no household help. The priest, who earlier displayed a skeptical attitude and who was earlier reluctant about officiating mass at our backyard, (he also previously denied a request by the local barangay council that a mass be held for them) was generous in his commendation at our efforts to bring “the Lord to the beach for the benefit of the fishers of the sea” He also intimated that he would gladly return for another mass engagement should a request from us be made at some future date.
Then afternoon came. But the darkness in the horizon that was caused by dusk was made more so as cloud hovered on the eastern shore. So to counter its effect and add luster to the festivities, another 18-watt bulb and nine gas-fed bamboo torches were added.
But still the lion could not help it but worry. All through the previous days, he communed with his Maker for the celebration of successful mass but forgot about the evening functions. Will his inadvertent omission to include good weather during the night result in rains during the second part of the festivities?!
The appointed hour of seven in the evening came. The neighbors who prepared their food “KKB” style progressively arrived. In fine, more than fifty families partook of the dinner that they brought with them and with the total attendees exceeded two hundred adults and children. Gifts that were bought by the lion tamer earlier at Tagbilaran City which consisted mostly of educational supplies for grown-up children and candies and other goodies for children not yet of schooling age were distributed as prizes for the fun games. Every child had something to bring home with some getting more than his fair share. Children and adults still endowed with sturdy legs danced all night while the fishermen whose legs could no longer execute basic dance steps contented themselves with emptying bottles of “long necks” called Tanduay Rhum that flowed freely through their thirsty palates. The four special baskets consisting of food that the families of the four fishermen can partake of during the next day’s “Noche Buena” she will give the at the approach of dawn the next day.
At one in the morning of December 24th the affair officially ended. The fishermen and the other neighbors were profuse in their thanks and expressly echoed that next year’s celebration will be merrier. Which made the lion and his tamer remark: “We can only ignite the wick, it will, of course, help much if you can add powder to the keg.”
And so that ends the unique tale! Merry Christmas to all of you out there. !!
A TALL TALE FOR THE GULLIBLE AND THE UNSUSPECTING
A TALL TALE FOR THE GULLIBLE AND THE UNSUSPECTING
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
The lion wrote this article almost fifty years ago when he was still a teenager but the copy of the school organ where it appeared in print is no longer available; so he is retelling this tall tale from memory once again.
This is a tale about the eerie underworld; on witches and tikbalangs, which in the nineteen fifties thrilled our teenage minds. It is a story usually told in country-sides where unnatural events are usually narrated and spread about.
It all happened when the father of one of lion’s boyhood friends died, and as was the custom in the place, relatives and friends of the deceased converged to pay their last respects and mourn his death. And most naturally, they stayed all through the night playing cards and other games of chance to while the time away.
On the wake’s third and final night, at around two in the morning, they continued playing “pusoy” a game of chance roughly the equivalent or “tong’its” or blackjack. A little drunk and with the group already out of cigarettes, the stakes changed- he who lose the deal must go to the town’s bus station where cigarette vendors still ply their trade and buy the needed packs. And as bad luck would have it, he lost the game of chance.
Still a little tipsy but nonetheless extremely nervous, the lion walked the stretch that roughly is about two kilometers away with eerie fear in his heart. After all, it was the time when “aswangs” are bruited to appear to claim the spirit of the dead man for his prize. Also, the lion had to pass the tall acacia tree noted for its “tikbalang”, which, according to folkloric belief, is usually seen sitting at its top. Worse, he also had to pass the bridge where old folks say an “aswang” who change its form from man to beast lurked menacingly at night. With utmost fear therefore, he could but sigh when he reached the bus station and buy the needed packs of cigarette with luck still on his side.
But his trip back to the place where his friends converged was as suspenseful. Having passed the tall acacia tree, he nervously approached the bridge, but at the middle was a big black dog, bigger than a Doberman, whose eyes were fixed at him a-glinting, and whose body summarily blocked his path. With menacing stare the dog looked at him straight in the eyes, and almost froze him to death. “This is it”, he thought, and he could not backtrack because the tall acacia tree was already at his back.
And just as suddenly, its form changed from dog to goat, from goat to cat, still menacing, still unmoving. And slowly it moved its two front feet in a crouching position, poised to make the fatal strike.
With dumb-found fear, the lion clutched his knife to face the inevitable.
The big black cat sprang and while in midair again changed form and became a hog. Just as swiftly, he lunged his knife at the throat of the animal and in an instant the ordeal was over. Bloodied, still nervous, but otherwise unscathed, he looked down at the motionless animal. The butcher at the market got a job.
If you feel you’ve been gypped with this story, please read the title once again. And Happy Halloween!!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
The lion wrote this article almost fifty years ago when he was still a teenager but the copy of the school organ where it appeared in print is no longer available; so he is retelling this tall tale from memory once again.
This is a tale about the eerie underworld; on witches and tikbalangs, which in the nineteen fifties thrilled our teenage minds. It is a story usually told in country-sides where unnatural events are usually narrated and spread about.
It all happened when the father of one of lion’s boyhood friends died, and as was the custom in the place, relatives and friends of the deceased converged to pay their last respects and mourn his death. And most naturally, they stayed all through the night playing cards and other games of chance to while the time away.
On the wake’s third and final night, at around two in the morning, they continued playing “pusoy” a game of chance roughly the equivalent or “tong’its” or blackjack. A little drunk and with the group already out of cigarettes, the stakes changed- he who lose the deal must go to the town’s bus station where cigarette vendors still ply their trade and buy the needed packs. And as bad luck would have it, he lost the game of chance.
Still a little tipsy but nonetheless extremely nervous, the lion walked the stretch that roughly is about two kilometers away with eerie fear in his heart. After all, it was the time when “aswangs” are bruited to appear to claim the spirit of the dead man for his prize. Also, the lion had to pass the tall acacia tree noted for its “tikbalang”, which, according to folkloric belief, is usually seen sitting at its top. Worse, he also had to pass the bridge where old folks say an “aswang” who change its form from man to beast lurked menacingly at night. With utmost fear therefore, he could but sigh when he reached the bus station and buy the needed packs of cigarette with luck still on his side.
But his trip back to the place where his friends converged was as suspenseful. Having passed the tall acacia tree, he nervously approached the bridge, but at the middle was a big black dog, bigger than a Doberman, whose eyes were fixed at him a-glinting, and whose body summarily blocked his path. With menacing stare the dog looked at him straight in the eyes, and almost froze him to death. “This is it”, he thought, and he could not backtrack because the tall acacia tree was already at his back.
And just as suddenly, its form changed from dog to goat, from goat to cat, still menacing, still unmoving. And slowly it moved its two front feet in a crouching position, poised to make the fatal strike.
With dumb-found fear, the lion clutched his knife to face the inevitable.
The big black cat sprang and while in midair again changed form and became a hog. Just as swiftly, he lunged his knife at the throat of the animal and in an instant the ordeal was over. Bloodied, still nervous, but otherwise unscathed, he looked down at the motionless animal. The butcher at the market got a job.
If you feel you’ve been gypped with this story, please read the title once again. And Happy Halloween!!
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
LET THERE BE LIGHT!!
LET THERE BE LIGHT!!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
Regular recipients of the articles sent by the aging lion should be familiar with the names Andoy, Jimbo, Eben, and Pilo, the four fishermen who, together with their respective families, reside at the lion tamer’s backyard. Of course they are not the only fishermen in the area but the names of the others do not deserve mention as unlike the four, water and electrical connections were already installed in their respective places of abode.
Let the lion now tell you of this unique story.
Last November 3, the lion tamer woke up early as usual and said she will go with her ‘Nang Baby to Tagbilaran, and therefore the lion can freely roam around the place while she is out. But while doing so, would her now almost-toothless pet be solicitous enough to go to nearby Jagna where the office of BOHECO II is located and help facilitate the application for electrical connection of Pilo that it be approved? She said Pilo will soon sell his pig and with the proceeds, wants electricity in his house installed, only, the processing of the required papers appears to him complicated. Also, his three other neighbors are as desirous to have electrical connections in their respective houses but funding still had to be secured and therefore, would the lion also explore this angle??
Without much ado the lion proceeded to BOHECO II at Jagna and after congratulating Mr. Eugene Tan, the Resident Manager, for receiving the Most Outstanding Award from President Gloria Arroyo when she recently visited Bohol for leapfrogging from a Class D to Class A+ Electric Cooperative, the lion tactfully explained his purpose. Two problems were at hand: (1) is the loan that was previously being granted to applicants allowing a 25% down payment for materials and the 75% balance payable in installment still in effect thus allowing the three to also apply for electrical connections? and (2)would BOHECO install the needed electric posts since Pilo’s house is located at the farthest end reckoning from the street where the main line is located? The lion justified the need for electricity by mentioning that the four couples have seventeen children among them most of whom are already of school age and since the thrust of the government is to light the countryside and thus enable its citizens to moved onward for progress sake, then doing so will serve this noble purpose.
The first problem, Mr. Tan said, is no problem. The loan, while suspended previously, was recently revived. But of course, the lion had to sign as co-maker. The second, he said, can be remedied by declaring the work as “upgrading” which in effect will entail realigning the existing electrical lines of the residents in the area and thus justify the installation of the required electric posts. And since he is the Resident Manager, then the problem is as good as solved, and forthwith instructed three of his staff to accompany the aging lion to his residence at Guindulman and survey the needed job so that the work can immediately proceed. On the company’s staff car, of course!
On the way, Lito, one of the staff, said that what will complicate the installation of the posts is the possible need to get the consent of the landowner into whose lot the electric posts will be erected and the trees that must be felled as a consequence of the installation. The lion said the problem would not arise if the posts and connections are placed inside the perimeter of the lot were they reside. And that’s it!
Two days later, the lion tamer accompanied Pilo, Jimbo, Honey and Vivienne to the Jagna office with the two ladies alternating for their respective husbands. Honey served as proxy for Andoy as the latter is a “thumb-mark specialist” (in plain language, neither reads nor write) while Vivienne took the place of Eben because at the eight o’clock departure time, the latter’s pumpboat hasn’t as yet docked at the mooring site.
That afternoon, the group went home in high spirits. The seminar was very educational, they said. Eugene Tan, although already on the road bound for inspection trip when they arrived, saw to it that they are comfortably accommodated at the seminar, and their questions satisfactorily answered. To save on installation cost, Luis, one of the employees residing in Guindulman, suggested that the town’s electrician, although not licensed, hence not officially listed as authorized installer, be contacted for the job. To the consternation of Manoling, another employee from town, who insisted that the job be done “by the books” only to be admonished by the former whose functions at BOHECO rank higher that it would be alright because of the special relationship of the lion with Mr. Eugene Tan.
On going home though, the group wondered where to get the needed funds for installation as it was only Pilo who had. At home, the lion tamer asked his aging pet who could only mumble the following reply:
“We have already poked our fingers on this project, I guess there’s no use turning back. We’ll just have to fund it with our own and hope they can repay us back. Later, that is.”
The next day, November 6, was the lion tamer’s birthday. The lion contacted the Loloy, the town’s electrician and requested him to prepare the bill of materials for the four houses so that the estimated outlay may be determined. He was also asked whether he would accept the standard P350 installation job per house for half the price The task, after all, was the lion’s gift to the light of his life (the lion uses this phraseology to describe his tamer once a year), a gift not her own to physically savor but for the four fishermen and their respective families who have now become part of their lives. The electrician said yes.
`The electrician made the estimate, and whoooh!, the total cost amounted to P9, 166 with P3,957 to be paid in advance before electrical connections get underway. Fortunately, Pilo can defray his share, so that the lion had to shell out only P3,100 right away!
Monday came and the lion tamer posed another problem to her pet that almost stunned him. She said, “it appears we still have to shoulder the P1,050 cost of the electric meter”. The lion barked back: “I hope not because if it we do, then the project will be bound for the waste basket because P4,200 is an amount we can no longer spare!” Glad a quick check with Eugene Tan over his cell phone confirmed that the electric meter will be installed for free.
The next day, the lion returned to Jagna and after paying the P3100, followed up the status of the electric posts that had to be erected. Mr. Tan promptly ordered his crew to proceed posthaste to Guindulman and installed the two galvanized steel electric posts of about 30 feet in height and the attendant wires attached where the live electric current are to pass through and provide electricity to the neighborhood. To the awe and wonder of the residents and even to the lion for a job done faster than the wink of an eye. But the connection inside the houses will take a week or two to be done as the needed materials are still to be ordered by BOHECO I from Tubigon town which is about 50 kilometers from Tagbilaran or 125 kilometers via Ubay town and delivered to the intended users.
Then, Monday again. But it is the Muslim Ramadan and therefore there is no work in the offices in the entire archipelago. The next day, the lion phoned BOHECO but was informed by the secretary that Eugene was in Cebu en-route to Manila where he will be there for a week. The lion therefore requested her to follow-up the progress of the work and was informed that purchase of the materials will be on November 25 yet. So he instructed the lion tamer to send the following text message to Eugene:
“Will appreciate if you can hasten purchase of materials and installation of electricity on four houses. UR Sec said purchase is on Nov 25 yet” and received a text reply that he will text his staff accordingly.
Then November 22, another Monday, came. The lion asked his tamer to call Eugene Tan and follow up the status of the materials and was informed that it will be ready by November 24. But the materials had to be picked up from Jagna, he said.
. The lion overheard the conversation and immediately barked back that he will pick it up himself. Whereupon Eugene retorted that he will just send someone to deliver the items rather than for the lion to pick it up and two days later the requisitioned items were promptly delivered.
The next day, Thursday, Loloy, the town’s electrician, took over. Methodically, he installed the materials starting from Pilo’s house which was at the farthest end, and then to Jimbo’s then to Eben’s and finally to Andoy’s completing the inside wiring on Saturday. As he was not licensed, he approached a friend who will sign the papers needed for the permit and unexpectedly asked for money which more than ate up the discount that was previously agreed upon. The lion tamer was naturally furious because his basis for asking for more was because he learned that a neighbor paid another electrician P500 for the installation, and thus felt that he was unduly shortchanged in the deal, BOHECO’s standard rate notwithstanding. The lion tamer was finally able to impress upon him that she will just spend an additional P200 for the needed signature of his licensed electrician friend.
Then, another Monday came. But the needed permit could not be worked out as GMA advanced the observation of the National Heroes Day from Tuesday to Monday, which made the lion silently muse: “one of these days, GMA will just transfer the religious observation of Holy Friday to a Sunday. Ha, ha, hah”
Then Tuesday. To her consternation the electrical permit that will earn for the government only P55 per house will instead cost P550 with ninety percent going to the pockets of these municipal shenanigans. Professional and other processing fees not subject to the issuance of receipts, they said. That, the lion mused, is graft and corruption at the grassroots. No wonder this country can never not move forward.
Delegating the task of doing the actual follow-up to the lion tamer but giving her definite instructions on how to solve the dilemma, she worked her way out of solving the municipal red tape and managed to spend only P150 per house for it without actual inspection being made. The experience that she gained by interacting with the town’s officials through her various charitable projects paid off as most of the municipal officials are also active in church affairs. But the lion wonders, will these petty graft experts ever change?
The next day, December 1, she personally went to Jagna and presented the papers. Upon being told that a P100 connection fee still had to be paid, she requested the Finance Manager, Mrs. Daisy Cadavez whether the said fee can be added to the loan else we again will have to foot the additional bill, and fortunately, the lady said yes. The paperwork done, Mrs. Cadavez personally saw to it that final inspection be done the same day and since the staff assigned for inspections are already out, ordered the Materials Manager, the one who personally brought the materials to the site a week before and instructed him to do the job without delay. The lion tamer therefore went home towing along the BOHECO employee for the needed inspection who forthwith declared the wiring fit for the final connection and next day, December 2, BOHECO’s linemen arrived and finally lit the place. To the jubilation of the children and the four poor appreciative fishermen.
But the lion wonders. Surely its aftereffect will entail a repeat of the Christmas gathering that she organized last year (copy of the article is reprinted below). But with the meager funds of the lion now approaching rock-bottom, can a well-meaning brother from out there sponsor at least a part of the financial outlay required for the stipend of the officiating priest, the raffle prizes, the decorations and the special food baskets for the noche buena of the four fishermen and their families which last year amounted to about P5,000 or roughly a hundred US dollars ?!
And the aging lion leisurely rests its now-weak and limping paws!!
POSTRCRIPT
If you think the lion works with determination and dispatch, read what the lion tamer did on her own.
Last November 10, when Alice, the wife of Pilo gave her P1,000 as their share in the down payment of the electrical connections, she also added P2,000 with the specific request that the lion tamer put it aside for safekeeping as the said money was intended for the water connections further explaining that the money might just be spent unwisely. Whereupon the lion tamer asked if they are really desirous to have the water facilities installed, and received a nod for a reply.
The next day, the lion tamer approached her godmother who has a strong say at the water utilities firm and convinced the latter to have the connections installed immediately under her personal guaranty. Needless to say, it was done in a matter of only three days as all the paperwork and the attendant connections were completed on November 12 at a cost of P3,400.
Good the proceeds on the sale of the pig fully absorbed both costs, otherwise the lion most likely would have shouldered the deficiency. And the water connections of the three other houses, she opted to remain silent else it would have created a financial crisis to the lion that is worse than what President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo did to the entire country!
A UNIQUE CHRISTMAS AT THE LION’S DEN
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Now the story can be told.
Those of you who have read the articles titled: “LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS” and “COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS” (copies of the two articles are no longer reprinted as these may encourage the reader to shut off his computer) deserve to know how the tale ended. So here it is.
One week before the scheduled event on December 23rd, rains continuously poured. In the early morning of December 18, the main road that cut through our adopted hometown was made impassable to vehicles forcing traffic to a standstill till late afternoon. On the DZRH radio band, the announcers (Joe Taruc, Bro. Deo Macalma, et al.) periodically gave flash reports on the landslides that occurred at Southern Leyte, also chronicling the resultant deaths and missing persons in tragic tones.
The lion tamer and her friends who formed themselves a group called “Lakas Loob para sa Diyos” which has for its creation the objective of repairing the dilapidated church roofing with a goal of raising a million pesos, were compelled to postpone to a later date the “dinner fund raising program” that was scheduled that Saturday, December 20, on account of the uncooperative and unruly weather.
Which also made her remark: “What shall we do with our plan on December 23?! Shall we postpone it also?” and from the aging lion, got this reply: “If I were you, I won’t worry, I am confident rains will not fall on that day for I already appealed to the Lord to be at our side. This project is dedicated to Him anyway!” I added: “If General George Patton was able to launch his offensive in Europe during “D’Day of the Second World War, I’m certain the morning mass that you have so meticulously planned for our neighbors at our backyard will transpire!”
By Sunday, December 21, our daughter called long distance from her residence saying that she, her two brothers, their respective spouses and children have grouped themselves together at her residence to enjoy the Yuletide Season. They knew it was what the now-toothless lion would have wanted, she said. If only our finances permitted it, then we would have been there to enjoy the holidays with them! To the approving nod, but with misty eyes, of their mother at the phone’s other end.
At 4:30 in the morning of December 23, the lion opened his computer and at the Internet, read an e-mail from Tante, his friend in the States, reminding him of the big event that is on the trestleboard that day but cautioned that news about the Philippine weather which he closely monitors at the other side of the globe says that rains are still expected within the next forty eight hours thus making the prospects of our celebration rather bleak. Could our plan materialize?!
At seven that morning , the priest arrived and promptly conducted the confession of parishioners as the sun showed its radiant circle on the eastern horizon. This is it, the lion mused: “the first part of our celebration which involved the mass and blessing of the pump-boats will materialize”. And to cut the story short, a very solemn mass was officiated by the parish priest to a hundred or so parishioners and later blessed some thirty pump-boats to the delight and awe of the attending fishermen.
As part of our preparations, we also served breakfast to the priest at our residence who complimented us on the food that was served especially because the lion and his tamer have no household help. The priest, who earlier displayed a skeptical attitude and who was earlier reluctant about officiating mass at our backyard, (he also previously denied a request by the local barangay council that a mass be held for them) was generous in his commendation at our efforts to bring “the Lord to the beach for the benefit of the fishers of the sea” He also intimated that he would gladly return for another mass engagement should a request from us be made at some future date.
Then afternoon came. But the darkness in the horizon that was caused by dusk was made more so as cloud hovered on the eastern shore. So to counter its effect and add luster to the festivities, another 18-watt bulb and nine gas-fed bamboo torches were installed.
But still the lion could not help but worry. All through the previous days, he communed with his Maker for the celebration of the successful morning mass but forgot about the evening functions. Will his inadvertent omission to include good weather during the night result in rains during the second part of the festivities?!
The appointed hour of seven in the evening came. The neighbors who prepared their food “KKB” style progressively arrived. In fine, more than fifty families partook of the dinner that they brought with them and with the total attendees exceeded two hundred adults and children. Gifts that were bought by the lion tamer earlier at Tagbilaran City which consisted mostly of educational supplies for grown-up children and candies and other goodies for children not yet of schooling age were distributed as prizes for the fun games. Every child had something to bring home with some getting more than his fair share. Children and adults endowed with sturdy legs danced all night while the fishermen whose legs could not execute the basic dance steps contented themselves with emptying bottles of “long necks” called Tanduay Rhum that flowed freely through their thirsty palates. The four special baskets consisting of food that the families of the four fishermen can partake of during the next day’s “Noche Buena” she will give the at the approach of dawn the next day.
At one in the morning of December 24th the affair officially ended. The fishermen and the other neighbors were profuse in their thanks and expressly echoed that next year’s celebration will be merrier. Which made the lion and his tamer remark: “We can only ignite the wick, it will, of course, help much if you can add powder to the keg.”
And so that ends the unique tale! Merry Christmas to all of you out there. !!
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Dagohoy Lodge No 84
(HM- LL 185, JS 169 and RP 147)
Regular recipients of the articles sent by the aging lion should be familiar with the names Andoy, Jimbo, Eben, and Pilo, the four fishermen who, together with their respective families, reside at the lion tamer’s backyard. Of course they are not the only fishermen in the area but the names of the others do not deserve mention as unlike the four, water and electrical connections were already installed in their respective places of abode.
Let the lion now tell you of this unique story.
Last November 3, the lion tamer woke up early as usual and said she will go with her ‘Nang Baby to Tagbilaran, and therefore the lion can freely roam around the place while she is out. But while doing so, would her now almost-toothless pet be solicitous enough to go to nearby Jagna where the office of BOHECO II is located and help facilitate the application for electrical connection of Pilo that it be approved? She said Pilo will soon sell his pig and with the proceeds, wants electricity in his house installed, only, the processing of the required papers appears to him complicated. Also, his three other neighbors are as desirous to have electrical connections in their respective houses but funding still had to be secured and therefore, would the lion also explore this angle??
Without much ado the lion proceeded to BOHECO II at Jagna and after congratulating Mr. Eugene Tan, the Resident Manager, for receiving the Most Outstanding Award from President Gloria Arroyo when she recently visited Bohol for leapfrogging from a Class D to Class A+ Electric Cooperative, the lion tactfully explained his purpose. Two problems were at hand: (1) is the loan that was previously being granted to applicants allowing a 25% down payment for materials and the 75% balance payable in installment still in effect thus allowing the three to also apply for electrical connections? and (2)would BOHECO install the needed electric posts since Pilo’s house is located at the farthest end reckoning from the street where the main line is located? The lion justified the need for electricity by mentioning that the four couples have seventeen children among them most of whom are already of school age and since the thrust of the government is to light the countryside and thus enable its citizens to moved onward for progress sake, then doing so will serve this noble purpose.
The first problem, Mr. Tan said, is no problem. The loan, while suspended previously, was recently revived. But of course, the lion had to sign as co-maker. The second, he said, can be remedied by declaring the work as “upgrading” which in effect will entail realigning the existing electrical lines of the residents in the area and thus justify the installation of the required electric posts. And since he is the Resident Manager, then the problem is as good as solved, and forthwith instructed three of his staff to accompany the aging lion to his residence at Guindulman and survey the needed job so that the work can immediately proceed. On the company’s staff car, of course!
On the way, Lito, one of the staff, said that what will complicate the installation of the posts is the possible need to get the consent of the landowner into whose lot the electric posts will be erected and the trees that must be felled as a consequence of the installation. The lion said the problem would not arise if the posts and connections are placed inside the perimeter of the lot were they reside. And that’s it!
Two days later, the lion tamer accompanied Pilo, Jimbo, Honey and Vivienne to the Jagna office with the two ladies alternating for their respective husbands. Honey served as proxy for Andoy as the latter is a “thumb-mark specialist” (in plain language, neither reads nor write) while Vivienne took the place of Eben because at the eight o’clock departure time, the latter’s pumpboat hasn’t as yet docked at the mooring site.
That afternoon, the group went home in high spirits. The seminar was very educational, they said. Eugene Tan, although already on the road bound for inspection trip when they arrived, saw to it that they are comfortably accommodated at the seminar, and their questions satisfactorily answered. To save on installation cost, Luis, one of the employees residing in Guindulman, suggested that the town’s electrician, although not licensed, hence not officially listed as authorized installer, be contacted for the job. To the consternation of Manoling, another employee from town, who insisted that the job be done “by the books” only to be admonished by the former whose functions at BOHECO rank higher that it would be alright because of the special relationship of the lion with Mr. Eugene Tan.
On going home though, the group wondered where to get the needed funds for installation as it was only Pilo who had. At home, the lion tamer asked his aging pet who could only mumble the following reply:
“We have already poked our fingers on this project, I guess there’s no use turning back. We’ll just have to fund it with our own and hope they can repay us back. Later, that is.”
The next day, November 6, was the lion tamer’s birthday. The lion contacted the Loloy, the town’s electrician and requested him to prepare the bill of materials for the four houses so that the estimated outlay may be determined. He was also asked whether he would accept the standard P350 installation job per house for half the price The task, after all, was the lion’s gift to the light of his life (the lion uses this phraseology to describe his tamer once a year), a gift not her own to physically savor but for the four fishermen and their respective families who have now become part of their lives. The electrician said yes.
`The electrician made the estimate, and whoooh!, the total cost amounted to P9, 166 with P3,957 to be paid in advance before electrical connections get underway. Fortunately, Pilo can defray his share, so that the lion had to shell out only P3,100 right away!
Monday came and the lion tamer posed another problem to her pet that almost stunned him. She said, “it appears we still have to shoulder the P1,050 cost of the electric meter”. The lion barked back: “I hope not because if it we do, then the project will be bound for the waste basket because P4,200 is an amount we can no longer spare!” Glad a quick check with Eugene Tan over his cell phone confirmed that the electric meter will be installed for free.
The next day, the lion returned to Jagna and after paying the P3100, followed up the status of the electric posts that had to be erected. Mr. Tan promptly ordered his crew to proceed posthaste to Guindulman and installed the two galvanized steel electric posts of about 30 feet in height and the attendant wires attached where the live electric current are to pass through and provide electricity to the neighborhood. To the awe and wonder of the residents and even to the lion for a job done faster than the wink of an eye. But the connection inside the houses will take a week or two to be done as the needed materials are still to be ordered by BOHECO I from Tubigon town which is about 50 kilometers from Tagbilaran or 125 kilometers via Ubay town and delivered to the intended users.
Then, Monday again. But it is the Muslim Ramadan and therefore there is no work in the offices in the entire archipelago. The next day, the lion phoned BOHECO but was informed by the secretary that Eugene was in Cebu en-route to Manila where he will be there for a week. The lion therefore requested her to follow-up the progress of the work and was informed that purchase of the materials will be on November 25 yet. So he instructed the lion tamer to send the following text message to Eugene:
“Will appreciate if you can hasten purchase of materials and installation of electricity on four houses. UR Sec said purchase is on Nov 25 yet” and received a text reply that he will text his staff accordingly.
Then November 22, another Monday, came. The lion asked his tamer to call Eugene Tan and follow up the status of the materials and was informed that it will be ready by November 24. But the materials had to be picked up from Jagna, he said.
. The lion overheard the conversation and immediately barked back that he will pick it up himself. Whereupon Eugene retorted that he will just send someone to deliver the items rather than for the lion to pick it up and two days later the requisitioned items were promptly delivered.
The next day, Thursday, Loloy, the town’s electrician, took over. Methodically, he installed the materials starting from Pilo’s house which was at the farthest end, and then to Jimbo’s then to Eben’s and finally to Andoy’s completing the inside wiring on Saturday. As he was not licensed, he approached a friend who will sign the papers needed for the permit and unexpectedly asked for money which more than ate up the discount that was previously agreed upon. The lion tamer was naturally furious because his basis for asking for more was because he learned that a neighbor paid another electrician P500 for the installation, and thus felt that he was unduly shortchanged in the deal, BOHECO’s standard rate notwithstanding. The lion tamer was finally able to impress upon him that she will just spend an additional P200 for the needed signature of his licensed electrician friend.
Then, another Monday came. But the needed permit could not be worked out as GMA advanced the observation of the National Heroes Day from Tuesday to Monday, which made the lion silently muse: “one of these days, GMA will just transfer the religious observation of Holy Friday to a Sunday. Ha, ha, hah”
Then Tuesday. To her consternation the electrical permit that will earn for the government only P55 per house will instead cost P550 with ninety percent going to the pockets of these municipal shenanigans. Professional and other processing fees not subject to the issuance of receipts, they said. That, the lion mused, is graft and corruption at the grassroots. No wonder this country can never not move forward.
Delegating the task of doing the actual follow-up to the lion tamer but giving her definite instructions on how to solve the dilemma, she worked her way out of solving the municipal red tape and managed to spend only P150 per house for it without actual inspection being made. The experience that she gained by interacting with the town’s officials through her various charitable projects paid off as most of the municipal officials are also active in church affairs. But the lion wonders, will these petty graft experts ever change?
The next day, December 1, she personally went to Jagna and presented the papers. Upon being told that a P100 connection fee still had to be paid, she requested the Finance Manager, Mrs. Daisy Cadavez whether the said fee can be added to the loan else we again will have to foot the additional bill, and fortunately, the lady said yes. The paperwork done, Mrs. Cadavez personally saw to it that final inspection be done the same day and since the staff assigned for inspections are already out, ordered the Materials Manager, the one who personally brought the materials to the site a week before and instructed him to do the job without delay. The lion tamer therefore went home towing along the BOHECO employee for the needed inspection who forthwith declared the wiring fit for the final connection and next day, December 2, BOHECO’s linemen arrived and finally lit the place. To the jubilation of the children and the four poor appreciative fishermen.
But the lion wonders. Surely its aftereffect will entail a repeat of the Christmas gathering that she organized last year (copy of the article is reprinted below). But with the meager funds of the lion now approaching rock-bottom, can a well-meaning brother from out there sponsor at least a part of the financial outlay required for the stipend of the officiating priest, the raffle prizes, the decorations and the special food baskets for the noche buena of the four fishermen and their families which last year amounted to about P5,000 or roughly a hundred US dollars ?!
And the aging lion leisurely rests its now-weak and limping paws!!
POSTRCRIPT
If you think the lion works with determination and dispatch, read what the lion tamer did on her own.
Last November 10, when Alice, the wife of Pilo gave her P1,000 as their share in the down payment of the electrical connections, she also added P2,000 with the specific request that the lion tamer put it aside for safekeeping as the said money was intended for the water connections further explaining that the money might just be spent unwisely. Whereupon the lion tamer asked if they are really desirous to have the water facilities installed, and received a nod for a reply.
The next day, the lion tamer approached her godmother who has a strong say at the water utilities firm and convinced the latter to have the connections installed immediately under her personal guaranty. Needless to say, it was done in a matter of only three days as all the paperwork and the attendant connections were completed on November 12 at a cost of P3,400.
Good the proceeds on the sale of the pig fully absorbed both costs, otherwise the lion most likely would have shouldered the deficiency. And the water connections of the three other houses, she opted to remain silent else it would have created a financial crisis to the lion that is worse than what President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo did to the entire country!
A UNIQUE CHRISTMAS AT THE LION’S DEN
By: Bro. Geminiano V. Galarosa, Jr.
Now the story can be told.
Those of you who have read the articles titled: “LOOKING FORWARD TO CHRISTMAS” and “COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS” (copies of the two articles are no longer reprinted as these may encourage the reader to shut off his computer) deserve to know how the tale ended. So here it is.
One week before the scheduled event on December 23rd, rains continuously poured. In the early morning of December 18, the main road that cut through our adopted hometown was made impassable to vehicles forcing traffic to a standstill till late afternoon. On the DZRH radio band, the announcers (Joe Taruc, Bro. Deo Macalma, et al.) periodically gave flash reports on the landslides that occurred at Southern Leyte, also chronicling the resultant deaths and missing persons in tragic tones.
The lion tamer and her friends who formed themselves a group called “Lakas Loob para sa Diyos” which has for its creation the objective of repairing the dilapidated church roofing with a goal of raising a million pesos, were compelled to postpone to a later date the “dinner fund raising program” that was scheduled that Saturday, December 20, on account of the uncooperative and unruly weather.
Which also made her remark: “What shall we do with our plan on December 23?! Shall we postpone it also?” and from the aging lion, got this reply: “If I were you, I won’t worry, I am confident rains will not fall on that day for I already appealed to the Lord to be at our side. This project is dedicated to Him anyway!” I added: “If General George Patton was able to launch his offensive in Europe during “D’Day of the Second World War, I’m certain the morning mass that you have so meticulously planned for our neighbors at our backyard will transpire!”
By Sunday, December 21, our daughter called long distance from her residence saying that she, her two brothers, their respective spouses and children have grouped themselves together at her residence to enjoy the Yuletide Season. They knew it was what the now-toothless lion would have wanted, she said. If only our finances permitted it, then we would have been there to enjoy the holidays with them! To the approving nod, but with misty eyes, of their mother at the phone’s other end.
At 4:30 in the morning of December 23, the lion opened his computer and at the Internet, read an e-mail from Tante, his friend in the States, reminding him of the big event that is on the trestleboard that day but cautioned that news about the Philippine weather which he closely monitors at the other side of the globe says that rains are still expected within the next forty eight hours thus making the prospects of our celebration rather bleak. Could our plan materialize?!
At seven that morning , the priest arrived and promptly conducted the confession of parishioners as the sun showed its radiant circle on the eastern horizon. This is it, the lion mused: “the first part of our celebration which involved the mass and blessing of the pump-boats will materialize”. And to cut the story short, a very solemn mass was officiated by the parish priest to a hundred or so parishioners and later blessed some thirty pump-boats to the delight and awe of the attending fishermen.
As part of our preparations, we also served breakfast to the priest at our residence who complimented us on the food that was served especially because the lion and his tamer have no household help. The priest, who earlier displayed a skeptical attitude and who was earlier reluctant about officiating mass at our backyard, (he also previously denied a request by the local barangay council that a mass be held for them) was generous in his commendation at our efforts to bring “the Lord to the beach for the benefit of the fishers of the sea” He also intimated that he would gladly return for another mass engagement should a request from us be made at some future date.
Then afternoon came. But the darkness in the horizon that was caused by dusk was made more so as cloud hovered on the eastern shore. So to counter its effect and add luster to the festivities, another 18-watt bulb and nine gas-fed bamboo torches were installed.
But still the lion could not help but worry. All through the previous days, he communed with his Maker for the celebration of the successful morning mass but forgot about the evening functions. Will his inadvertent omission to include good weather during the night result in rains during the second part of the festivities?!
The appointed hour of seven in the evening came. The neighbors who prepared their food “KKB” style progressively arrived. In fine, more than fifty families partook of the dinner that they brought with them and with the total attendees exceeded two hundred adults and children. Gifts that were bought by the lion tamer earlier at Tagbilaran City which consisted mostly of educational supplies for grown-up children and candies and other goodies for children not yet of schooling age were distributed as prizes for the fun games. Every child had something to bring home with some getting more than his fair share. Children and adults endowed with sturdy legs danced all night while the fishermen whose legs could not execute the basic dance steps contented themselves with emptying bottles of “long necks” called Tanduay Rhum that flowed freely through their thirsty palates. The four special baskets consisting of food that the families of the four fishermen can partake of during the next day’s “Noche Buena” she will give the at the approach of dawn the next day.
At one in the morning of December 24th the affair officially ended. The fishermen and the other neighbors were profuse in their thanks and expressly echoed that next year’s celebration will be merrier. Which made the lion and his tamer remark: “We can only ignite the wick, it will, of course, help much if you can add powder to the keg.”
And so that ends the unique tale! Merry Christmas to all of you out there. !!
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