I was surprised to have watched one-time the young Rene Requiestas in CinemaOne’s screening of Salawahan. It was one of the best comedies of Ishmael Bernal. The movie starred Jay Ilagan, Matt Ranillo III, Sandy Andolong and Rio Locsin. Rene Requiestas had a beat role of a gay, fashion design julalay of Sandy Andolong. He had a young and pale face that time. I never thought he already was an actor during the 70’s. He spilled the same verses, with the same speed and same nonsense connection of a topic to a English quotation. This is the kind of movies where lines are really “malupit”. Dialogues were mala-Temptation Island na straight quick bourgeois English ng mga affluent Filipinos during their time. Sandy Andolong was the perfect doll and Rio Locsin exudes sex appeal. Jay was an architect and a typical old-fashioned virgin, then Matt was the playboy, which I think, his role/character played was not so convincing.

There’a a scene there when Jay was complaining about his new clothes being used by Matt without his permission…

Matt: Diba nga friends share everything?
Jay: Share share. Baka you mean you share my everything and I share your nothing!

My workday companions.

The human body is capable of enduring activities that you might otherwise think possible. Of course with a strong mindset of determination and no choice, one has to really dunk to the abyss or arise from the quicksand. Two days ago, I was on bed, sick with fever and drowned with liter bottles of orange juice, deprived of domestication and bearing the leg cramps. And now, I'm here at Laguna, enjoying the too sunny weather, planning to eat as much, unmindful of my swollen tonsils and itchy windpipes. Maybe I ate too much ube ice cream the first day I had fever. Now I'm reaping the consequence of not being to swallow a pill that easy.

After having that hateful fever, I wanted to catch our spiritual leadership and transformation training at Rizal, Laguna. And so my travail of unknown territory came to pass. I took the Lucena bus, dropped off at San Pablo, question here question there, hailed a tricyle, forgetting my Gatorade at the jeep right after I jumped off the jeepney at that road where the Rizal Recreation Center is leading. I was victorious! I arrived at the site- such beautiful resort grounds, participated at the latter part of the discussions, had a healthy dinner (squash, sayote, carrots). But from some unknown force of the universe, I was counseled by a mythical creature that I had to repeat the whole SLT module because I wasn't there on the first sessions and it's pointless to stay, since I'll technically be an observer only. And so I decided, with a not-so-heavy tone, and controlled sighs, that I'm leaving the following morning and just stay at my Tita's place in Pila, Laguna. Sourgraping, I reasoned that I was still sick and have sleepless because of my restricted cough. I left Rizal at 6:15 am and arrived at Pila at 7 am. Whew! I thought that what I did was beyond my phycisal capacity, because really - my heart is willing but the flesh is weak. My body is still recuperating from being bed-ridden patient, and I packed off my bags and picked off carefully matched pieces for my everyday wear.

Some other photos during the Coron trip...

Day 5 – Sunday

Today is Coron Island Hopping day.
We had hotcakes and buttered bread toast for breakfast.
Our destinations:

Siete Picados
Twin Peaks
Cayangan Lake
Skeleton Wreck (eerie)
Mawowoy Beach (didn’t set foot on the beach it looks just like a stop from Skeleton wreck and 100 pesos per person is too much)
Twin Lagoon visited last because we had to wait for low tide so we can swim across the other lagoon (the best rock formations above and below water).
We had dinner at Coron Bistro, which was recommended by cousin Kim. I ordered a generous serving of Bistro Pizza, Ging had Chicken Cordon Bleu to play safe. Denise had grilled fish with herb and butter sauce, Talits had Tiger Prawns, Mer had kilawin and potato salad, Lolay and Kaycee had pasta and salad. Then for dessert, we each had a bite of apple pie which Lolay ordered.

Day 4 – Saturday

Had breakfast at Mamita’s – tocino, fried rice, sunny side-up eggs and coffee

Today was rest day for us, specifically Ging and me, since Denise et al are going to arrive mid-afternoon.

We checked out of Mamita’s and checked-in at Busuanga Seadive Resort around 11 in the morning. We were led to a deluxe airconditioned room, which was supersized (size was customized in a way that the big foreign divers would fit in the big bed and sufficient space for moving around the room. Seadive rooms were native as they had native sawali material for walls, then heavy wood for beds and dresser. Rooms are relatively old and the airconditioning was weak due to age. Me and Ging just stayed in the restaurant viewing the sea, reading my Viajero Book (F Sionil Jose) as we waited for Denise et al to arrive.

As soon as they arrived, they immediately checked-in on a fan room, then went straight to the dive centers to canvass the cheapest offer. Kaycee picked out Coron Diver’s and she booked a schedule of 2 dives the following morning. Then we passed by the local bakery and bought sandwich bread, Spanish bread, cheese spread, plastic cups and Cokes as we are rushed to go to Maquinit Hotsprings. Ate Gemma and Che are there already and they called me earlier saying we have to get there before 5 pm as a group of councilors from Quezon City have booked the whole place and they requested management to limit arrival of guests after 5 pm.

There we dipped into the salty pool, but dwelled more on the other side, which is open to the sea and took vanity photos of ourselves and the sunset view. Staying too long on the hot pool makes you palpitate and your head ache really…

We had dinner at Seadive restaurant as soon as we got back. Servings were small but the seafood dishes were good to the pallet. There were tasty, except for one Swiss chicken dish, but I remember Etang said it tasted like shoe polish.

Day 3

Had breakfast at Mamita's – longganisa, fried rice and hotcakes (sugar as maple syrup subsititute, then margarine) – way too far from what we imagined the meal to be

We had grilled fish again for lunch. I think we had tuna, and suran again, matched with Lato seaweed salad with tomatoes. The boatmen brought an icebox with them so we can chill Cokes and bottled water.

Our target destinations – East Tangat Gunboat near Sangat Island, Calumboyan Island and Coral Sanctuary, Coral Garden and Lusong Gunboat.

This was the most memorable day for me in the whole trip as I was really awed by the beauty of corals and reefs in Calumboyan-incomparable to Balicasag in Bohol. Lusong Gunboat was a thrill as I saw its magnificent length submerged to the deep blue sea yet the water was clear and so seeing them through goggles was an unforgettable site for me. All parts of the gunboat were covered with colorful coral. Amazing!

Shortly after showering, we had dinner at a small Japanese themed café. I had fried chicken with rice and miso soup, and the usual Coke light in can.

Day 2 - Thursday

Had breakfast at Mamita's - corned beef with potato cubes, stir-fried tuna, Lamayo (dinaing na danggit), fried rice and overflowing coffee...yumyum

Mang Joel, the local man who offered us a package for boating is out of coverage. He needs to take courses in Travel organizing super. After a long wait, he appeared and accompanied us to the market, where he pinpointed which fish is good for grilling.

There we bought Suran, and its sister variety which is smaller and more leathery in texture.

Our islands for the day are Malcapuya, Banana and Malaroyroy Islands.

Day 1 - Wednesday

Arrival at Busuanga airport 2:30 pm.
Check-in at Mamita's Lodge afterwards.
Merienda at Lolo Nonoy's just near the lodge (Coke and egg sandwich).
Bumped into Mang Joel who offered us boating trip.
Went up to Mt. Tapyas (719 steps) which is overlooking the whole town of Coron
and the magnificent view of the bay and the mountains surrounding it.
Taps at 10 pm.

The best rock formations I’ve ever seen are those in Twin Lagoon on the vicinity of Coron Island.

It seems these rock formations have been underwater corals before. The cut and structure is amazing…almost at a loss for words. I would just see those on pictures and TV but I’ve seen it in actual.

I even imagined them as back of dinosaurs sleeping and later will crumble and rise up. Quite out of sync but I imagined them being decepticons even. The underwater rock formations, especially those walls on Twin Lagoon seem like you’re in a different planet. It’s like viewing an alien planet from above.

EIGA SAI 2009 AT UP FILM CENTER

JULY 9
2 PM Turn Over
430 PM Memories of Tomorrow
7 PM Always – Sunset on Third Street

JULY 10
2 PM The Milkwoman
430 PM Memories of Matsuko
7 PM Tony Takitani

JULY 11
2 PM Kamome Diner
430 PM Tony Takitani
7 PM Memories of Tomorrow

JULY 12
2 PM Mind Game
430 PM Always – Sunset on Third Street
7 PM Memories of Matsuko

Last night's read was John Steinback's "The Chrysanthemum". This short story was richly descriptive and will really stir you on imagining how the plot really looks like. Characters are a farmer, his wife, and a tinker who repairs pots and sharpens knives. I can easily recollect the passion that the wife exerts on growing her 10 inch chrysanthemums, tenderly planting new shoots with strong hands. Chrysanthemums are beautifully colored flowers with a bitter scent. The Asian varieties sold in floral shops are most commonly the Malaysian mums. They come in yellow, brown, orange, white and maroon shades.

Wikipedia summarizes:

"Elisa Allen and her husband Henry live peacefully on their farm in the Salinas Valley; he is busy with his orchard and steers and she with her housekeeping and flower garden. While tending to her garden, Elisa encounters a tinker who passes by their farm, first asking for work fixing cutlery and pans, and then inquiring about chrysanthemums in her garden. He asks for some shoots to take to another lady who asked him for some once. Elisa is happy to give young shoots to the tinker, and in fact goes to the extent of taking some of her new shoots and planting them with great care and skill in a nice large pot for him to give to the woman. Elisa goes into great detail when she explains how to care for them. She goes inside and gets dressed up to go out with Henry later on. However, in the car on the way to town, she sees the chrysanthemum shoots she'd given the tinker thrown carelessly on the road. She realizes that the tinker had lied to her just to flatter her into giving him some business (before the tinker left, Elisa let him fix a few old, dented pans which Elisa was more than capable of repairing on her own), and also that he had kept the pot, throwing away only the plants. She is dismayed, cries, and is shaken and deeply disappointed, even wounded by the sight of her chrysanthemum shoots lying on the side of the road. When the car her husband is driving passes the tinker's wagon, Elisa turns away from the tinker, facing her husband, so her husband will not see the cast off shoots on the road or the tinker."

There are some opinions that the husband was gay, because there's something that keeps Elisa sexually unsatisfied. Having separate bedrooms on their house is another story.

"Earhtly possessions" (book by Anne Tyler), a movie starring Susan Sarandon, sharing a similar character with Elisa - as she grows tired of becoming the wife and mother of her family. But Susan did something to get out of her situation. She withdraws all her savings and plans on getting away to a far place and start a new life. But fate changes when a young bank robber holds her a a hostage, and the adventure of being a cougar continues.

I read The Lady with the Dog last night. Anton Chekhov's The Lady with the Dog is the book that 15-year-old Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes ) reads to the illiterate Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) on “The Reader”. He reads this to her on the bathtub and on the bed-during their affair while Hanna was advised to stay home due to scarlet fever. The Lady with the Dog is a love affair story between Dmitri Gurov- married to a shrewd and intelligent woman who calls her Dimitri, and a woman with a Pomeranian dog vacationing at Yalta. The lady’s name is Anna Sergeyevna - married to a travelling businessman but no deeper detail why she’s not happy with her marriage. Her sober character and exuberant naivete animates him as they watch the sunset at Yalta every evening from a vantage point. Dmitri described their affair in the end as “only just beginning”- the beginning of more complicated things to come. This book was chosen probably by the author because of the comparative intensity of the affair they had before when Michael was younger and Hanna still was a tram conductor, even before she was jailed for a Nazi war crime.

It’s just saddening that at the end of The Reader, the elderly Kate Winslet hanged herself on the room of the correctional facility during her time of release. I’m not sure if “The Lady with the Dog” was one of those books she piled on the table when she was reaching for the rope from the ceiling before she hanged herself. That jail was where she stayed most of her adult years and where she has been receiving cassette tapes of Ralph’s narration of the books he has read for her.

The ending was really depressing not only because an elderly Hanna hangs herself at that time her sentence ended, but also because how Michael had been indifferent and cold to her during their first meeting after so many years. Michael’s behavior at that day he sees Hanna was just ironic to the sleepless nights he spent passionately voice-recording the books he has read to her during their short affair when he was still a young student.

More Hayami...

HAYAMI MOKOMICHI








Just finished watching the series My Absolute Boyfriend (Zettai Kareshi) and it's official- I'm a proclaimed fan of Japanese actor Hayami Mokomichi who played Tenjo Night on this "at-first-not-interesting-to-watch-but-later-tears-came-falling-down" drama-romance series. I don't even know if Mayami is his last name or his last.

He looks better when his natural hair than his blond role in Gokusen 2. I love everything about him- his face, height, hair (even short is nice...check him at Oh!My Girl), style and attitude).

I will definitely watch his other series on my spare time this coming school semester.

I love him!

Having raspbery iced tea with my latest reading "Eat pray love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, as I snuggle at a comfy chair in Nero (a Dome cafe inside Powerbooks Megamall) at 3 in the afternoon was my perfect relax outfit - until this lady (dressed like she just logged out from her hotel work), chattered like a parrot as she endlessly interviewed her date, without even noticing that she has to lower down her voice and be conscious that she's in a book cafe and everyone is for dear life, trying to read, while her voice echoes on the ceiling and all corners of the place. She must have been imagining that she's a talk show host of a show na mala- "tell it all" ang theme. She's been throwing her date personal life questions like who's your family's breadwinner, and declaring herself she's been raising too many sensitive topics like parents of the guy being seperated and follows it through with her own biography, from birth to how she is now - a damn successful talker...hahaha. I have a feeling, that guy will cross out your name on line of dates. The guy was actually hunky in appearance - that type who's tall, athletic, but not loud. He speaks quietly and what I can't wait him to spill is - "Can you lower down your voice and try to think first before you talk?" Rude me.

My March 2009 Boracay Solstice.

Was on my way to work this morning via a jeepney passing Tandang Sora Avenue when a child passenger in front cussed at her fellow child passenger "Melay, ipapa-barangay kita!", while dropping smirks at her poor opponent.

Children these days...great imitators of their elders at home.

My WorldVision - What's you World Vision?

J'adore ces photos!

Plan 201 Thought Paper

SONA 2008

For approximately an hour, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave her State of the National Address (SONA) in Batasan, Quezon City. The gist of the speech focused on the ongoing crisis for food and oil. She empathized with the poor as she paraded people from all walks of life as an exposition of the success of the administration for the last 7 years; and how she has prioritized their needs by spending time everyday with the underprivileged. She talked about family planning, graft and corruption, reforms, poverty and peace. Despite the waves of disasters and economic crises that our country has faced and are now facing, she pointed out immediate and long-term action plans that should seriously be implemented. She warned officials about being more accountable and “will not let no one’s political plans threaten the nation’s future.” We just fervently hope that behind her statements, these plans will materialize and not become plans forever. The whole length of her speech seemed that there is nothing really rotten anywhere. There was that impression that the government has all the money to cushion off the impact of crisis. Well that’s what SONAs are all about- annually reporting the positives, praises to a “job well done” to her mutiny of followers and definitely not on the past years’ failures.

President Arroyo mentioned the sad fact that at that stage when the Philippine economy almost had its budget balanced, had retired its debts, had improved the country’s development by investing on its citizens, then came the global crisis. She confidently proclaimed that even if this crisis caught our nation off guard, the government did not come unprepared. VAT was the government’s formula of securing funds in easing the economic condition of the poor- the sector in our society who is most affected by the monumental increase in prices of basic commodities and services. PGMA is risking 80 billion pesos funding for the poor if VAT is scrapped. When you look at the 80 billion peso-figure allotment for the poor, you are seeing high hopes for the multiplying numbers of poor illiterate children and worsening living standards of our poorest of the poor. The statement is a guilt-forming justification that without VAT, our poorest has no way out, which seemed to be a wrong argument because other than VAT, the government should have alternative strategies and carefully-laid out projects, coming from national investments, dedicated to the poor.

PGMA will continually push her administration to utilize and invest on our country’s growing assets, which she did not specify. I would suppose that these growing assets are most possibly our endless pool of human resources serving the economy of the first world, of which remittances, in no time, are splurged by relatives at the grandeur malls that the few affluent rich own. Generally, our poor today, particularly those in the urban areas, demonstrate the lifestyles of the social climbers, as one might observe how they prioritize auto-loading their mobile phones, instead of buying books. How gleeful they could have been when they heard how PGMA has enticed the telecom companies to reduce text message rate at 50-centavos, which until now have not been realized. As a common citizen, I would applause GMA if she encouraged wise spending and pointed out to parents of impoverished families to invest on their children’s education, as this is their ticket out of poverty.

If we are talking about growing natural resources, why didn’t we continue copra export as the Philippines’ has been the number one exporter of copra in the 70’s and 80’s? If rice growing does not adapt to our topography, why is it that only 10% of national rice consumption is imported from neighboring Thailand and China? Shouldn’t it be 50%? Then that would be an acceptable argument why we need to change crop course. If 10% is imported from our neighbors, why would PGMA mentioned that our overall rice production, since 2000, is annually increasing at P4B, twice the population growth rate? Why we import rice is probably because our government has sacrificed agricultural lands in the name of industrialization, the conversion of prime and irrigated agricultural lands into light, medium and heavy industries, who TNC’s invest on- well of course, to provide employment for the poor.

On being pursuant about anti-graft and corruption, a generous budget of 3 billion pesos is allocated for the ombudsman to follow after the thieves in the government. Since the president has the highest authority and has failing marks on her popularity survey polls, she should take advantage of it and declare martial law to all corrupt officials and government systems, thus effecting political will, speaking of long term. Billions of pesos are poured into the Mindanao region for many years. But because of Muslim corruption, a lot of it disappeared, benefited by the Moro social elite (datu system). This endemic corruption derailed whatever development plans the government had.

Looking at the glass being half full instead of being half empty, PGMA also announced how her governance has made the peso stronger from a P57-$1 last year, to P40-$1 a few months ago. Roro ports, serving nautical highways will number to 45 for the next 2 years.

Among the enumerated achievements the President has presented, the long existing issue on CARP was the evident highlight, which she interpreted in hundreds of thousand hectare figures. Though some of her critics may find this fictional and lacking in proof, agrarian reforms are the most savored and “longed for” good news that would eradicate the centuries-long problem of social inequality and wide economic gap between the rich and poor Filipinos. It is non-arguable that agrarian reform raises living standards. It keeps farmers on their feet aside from the ownership awarded to them. From the words of F. Sionil Jose “there is not enough land now to distribute for the tillers, but there are still ways which agricultural production can be improved so we would be self-sufficient on food, and with this, maximization, the twin objective of equity should also be pursued. Consolidation of more irrigation systems, rural credit and cooperatives, the banning of additional golf courses, and most of all, the introduction of agrarian reform in the sugar and coconut lands. Coconut was our main export product in the 70’s. In fact, urban land reform should also be pursued relentlessly.”

Remember, the SONA is a report of the president, who is only part of the government and not its entirety. SONA is sharing with the nation and congress on the path that the Executive aims to lead the country into. It is supposed to guide the legislative branch as to the priorities of the administration so that they can prioritize legislation to that direction. Though most of us have become tired and almost has nothing good to say, it is important that we should place high hopes for our country, for a country depends on the attitude of citizens it has. A lot of our political leaders have become grim reapers but it is up to us, our integrity, how we act on overcoming this moral delusion of being run by thieves.

Plan 201 Thought Paper

Social Justice and Urban and Regional Planning

My simple understanding of social justice, before listening to the lecture made by Professor Serote, is justice for the poor Pinoy in terms of sacrificing their economic and social condition in the name of urban and regional developments like enclaved estates, golf courses, mega structures, techno parks, and other structural projects driven by commercialism and the dictates of the affluent market. From hearing Professor Serote’s lecture and realizing the complications of our society are mounting to hundreds and thousands, and the intricacies of politics, government priorities& policies and urban planning are of high-complexity, I am led to believe that social justice is a vision, maybe a far-fetched idea. It is not only historically drawn but will need a lot of social, moral, political, economic overhauling of our country’s condition.

Social justice concerned with the distribution or maldistribution of environmental consequences, on the other hand, is inequality in exposure to environmental hazards among certain sectors of the society. I am imagining a setting at Nagtahan bridge in Manila, where you can view oil depots and what seemingly looks like heavy industrial coves, existing alongside disarrayed residential houses, I supposed are highly composed of informal settlers. I am also seeing dumping sites decided to be put up in an almost remote location where possibly farming communities and fertile land coexist.

The section of Professor Serote’s presentation on the assessment of how our country measure up in terms of basic needs, inter-regional multipliers, and options for the disadvantaged, was a good talking point since this is our reference in terms of how our national & local government have incapacitated or poor majority of economic progress and healthy and livable environment through generally poor city and provincial planning, running for decades, have continued to serve the purposes of the few rich.

When you look at it, the spatial structure of the city ceases existing inequalities: the wealthy benefit from the advantages of better locations and the reverse is true of poorer people in disadvantaged areas. Does our metropolitan cities reflect "a giant manmade resource system, where in its growth involves the structuring and differentiation of space through the distribution of fixed capital investments?

Aren’t planners expected to make our lives better, not to constrict our rights to have access to fresh air, drinking water and a window view of the landscape, not grey walled-housing or even worst, mountain piles of garbage? City planners should create equal opportunities, either to the rich and poor, education, healthcare, work, and housing, which depend on social and spatial constraints. We cannot agree that planners are simply the tool of the elite, as they are seen being just dictated by those who has the power, either the rich and the government officials, and thus the will of the community is painfully recommended to undergo the strenuous political process.

Advocacy planning subjects in planning schools like SURP should introduce tools for teaching social justice that would foster a sense of social consciousness within urban planning students. A planning student should be equipped with these tools needed to promote social justice, such as environmental justice or inclusionary zoning. We are in dire need of socially-enlightened planners or “equity planners”, considering that our country has a lot of social equalizing to do.

Our planning schools should groom students to engage in educational and research projects designed to implement specific strategies for social improvement, as in field classes that provide tangible planning assistance to disadvantaged communities. This has a potential to bring theory to life and action by encouraging students to work with people they might otherwise only read about.

There is a strong role for planners to overcome injustice in the municipalities and cities of our country. Commercialism should not be the final arbiter in the building of our cities.
If we see that there in not much change on the issues of economic and social injustice, and to some respects they have gotten worse, then we should not stop in our struggle as students of planning to strive for an innate desire to create projects that are geared for the common good. Only a few architects are in the business of venturing into low-income housing because there is no money in it. We all of us have to think long term. There is an urgent need for mass housing for the poor so we should welcome innovations on the construction of low-cost dwellings for the poor that are well-ventilated and energy-efficient. What’s important now is how a generation of planners today can contribute to the development and sustainability of our country’s economically blight communities.

I vividly remember during 4th grade being required by our Arts teacher to pick an image from the batch of black and white photos she passed around in class. When I spotted a a photo of a woman wearing a hat tilted sideways, I knew what I wanted, and was dumbstruck when announced a few minutes after that we are to create a charcoal sketch of the exact photo we have chosen, to be drawn on an illustration board. I'm not sure though if I was with mommy when she bought the fat black Staedler charcoal pencil that would be my best friend for the next few days. I began the sketch by plotting lines lengthwise and crosswise on both the photo and the board, so I may proceed drawing raw lines per inch block, and I don't know what transpired next, as I remember how wide my smile was when I finally submitted the project to our teacher Jing. I didn't knew then that the woman I was sketching was the pretty Ingrid Bergman.

The Ascott-World Vision Christmas Tree Lighting Event last November 17, 2008, featuring the Rondalla kids.

During the longer than the usual holiday vacation, I was able to see the following movies:

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. August Rush
3. Kamikaze Girls
4. The Girl who Leapt through Time
5. Chibi Maruko Chan
6. House Bunny

For 2009, I plan to do the following to make sense of what has happened and what will be happening in my life:

1. Finish a small portion of the Lagro house, replace the gate, for the property to function as a home
2. Review all my books and decide what to sell or give away
3. Stash all daddy's useless talyer stuff
4. Save save save money for these major makeovers to make and to set aside something for my wedding
5. Put more attention to my skin
6. Study harder
7. Be more active at church
8. Spend more time with friends and families and less time at work
9. Get better at writing
10. Explore getting study grants abroad