By the Jal-o River

High tide. Debris of all sort float upriver. Pag-asa refuses to declare that the summer ends today. It promises though that maybe next week--the first week of June--summer departs. The Jal-o at Bag-ot High tide. And the rain pours shower on the arid land. How I wish it is already weekend and I can transplant those three seedlings given to me by the fair elfin lady. The orchard is still a mess though. The weeds are tall and the black-brown coucals (kokok) are still nesting on the thickets. Kokok (Photo credit: Alex Loinaz @ birdwatch ) High Tide. I will remember your time this weekend. My old folks believe that fruit trees planted at your heights bear fruits in abundance. My friend's gifts will have to be replaced on a fertile damped ground at your hour that they may yield great in their appointed time. But I want to be sure. Hence, I shall harvest a few vermicast and spread it out around the holes where they shall be planted. Yes. On high tide this weekend.

The conclusion of the Corona Impeachment Trial reminded me of a couple of stories told down the Jal-o. These stories illustrate two survival techniques espoused by those who refused any of the principles of life being taught by those great minds that have had walked the earth: Harvesting the produce of the pond Deny Even if You Got Caught.      The fishpond operator is suspicious that some of his harvest are being stolen by an insider. He spoke out his mind in a threatening voice before his turf: Sin-o kinyo ro kumupit it alimago? (Who among you took interest in my crabs?)  Knowing that the operator is a mean man, the honest thief volunteered: Sang saga man lang, Maninoy, ang ginbuoe  (I only took about a kilo of them, my dear Godfather.) The condescending operator thus responded: Gago! Sayod mong saea, akoon mo! (Stupid! You knew beforehand that it is wrong and you dare admitting it!) The produced of the brackish Jal-o  Don't Throw Stones on Your Fellow

     I have been interrupted by the recent development in my town these days. As some of you might have observed, contractual workers deployed by the DPWH Aklan Engineering District Office have been tearing down, felling and uprooting those ornamental plants along the Nautical Highway passing through Balete. What is sad about it is that they are being painstakingly maintained by the residents and barangay officials themselves.     I learned that the DPWH Aklan Engineering District Office and the Aklan Provincial Tourism Office expressed their resolved in a letter addressed  to the Municipal Mayor of Balete. They were requesting the cooperation of all concerned Barangay Officials in Balete to the on-going roadside maintenance along the national highway by the DPWH Aklan Engineering Office. They said that they are not tearing them down but just relocating “all the ornamental plants along the road carriageway shoulder to provide the needed standard shoulder width to obtain traffic sa

(The following article was originally written for the local ordinary way back in 2004. I am posting it here to remind us of the path we have had trodden and now seem to forget. For as S o ren Kierkegaard avers, life is best understood in retrospect.) The Bueoligan sa Katilingban ni San Rafael evolved out of a Parish-based credit union to become a people’s organization that extends financial (loan) assistance to its members vis-à-vis their understanding that they form a brotherhood in Christ. It takes up cooperativism as its approach to rally its members in working together to realize a common vision of a “New Heave and a New Earth” just as it values transparency and accountability to build up peace based on justice in the community. The credit union was initiated by the Rev. Fr. Tito S. Gelito, Parish Priest of St. Rafael the Archangel Parish, Balete, Aklan from December 6, 1986 to August 8, 1997 to form part of his pastoral program in response to the signs of the time

The Organic Agriculture Act of the Philippines was signed into law by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo late in her term in April 6, 2010. This Republic Act seeks to develop and promote organic farming and discourage the use of synthetic and chemical-based agriculture among the Filipino farmers. Two years after its passage, the DILG took the initiative of popularizing the law among local chief executives. It has scheduled this summer one-day regional awareness seminars for LCEs all throughout the country in anticipation of creating a spark for key officials to implement the provisions of the law in their respective turf. It hopes that by communicating it with the local leaders, the law's intent of upholding and expanding ecologically sound, socially acceptable, economically viable and technically feasible methods and approaches of food and fiber productions can be realized. African Night Crawlers (Photo credit: Local Harvest Org. ) But long before the Department of A

I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:4   It is heartwarming to note that this blog has reached 10,000 page views since its humble beginning in 2010. As one may have observed, it delves mostly on provincial subjects which are relevant to only a handful of readers. Balete is a small community of some 27,000 population. Of these, only some 5% have accessed to the internet.   It is a wonder then that there are those who strayed and taken this "path", walked besides this restlesshiker and persevered up to this point in time. For this I thank my God for your company and for the grace which you have enriched and cherished. For all that has been, I say, THANK YOU! And to all that shall be, YES! The blogger dubbing paint on his "canvass".  

(The following is a synopsis of a play shown inside the Balete Church during one vesper eve of the Fiesta of San Rafael Arcangel sometime in 1997)  Part I .   Ro Paraiso sa Balete       A. Narrative :             Ro mga katigueanggan hay nagahambae nga ro damgo it Dios hay nagakatuman ag nagakahanabo.           Kato anay, ro Dios nagdamgo. Anang guindamgo ro Banwang Balete.  Sa umpisa, ro Banwang Balete hay owa guid it kaayosan ag owa it kabuhi. Madueum rong palibot samtang imaw hay nagalibot-libot sa ibabaw kung tubi( being read in total darkness ).             Ag sa anang damgo, ro Dios naghambae: “MAGHAYAG”. ( full light is switched on baring the children in tableau for their interpretation of the Canticle of Sun ) B.    Canticle of Sun : rong saot it tinuga. C.    Narrative :             Sa damgo it Dios, nagligad ro an-um ka adlaw umpisa ku anang pagtuga it tanan nga butang sa Banwa it Balete. Nahamuot-an guid ra tanan it Dios sa baylo nga nalipay

My mother used to tell us the legend of Kagiyaw during our tender years. Kagiyaw was a fisherman who made his living down the brackish portion of the Jal-o during his days. By his days, she meant the time when the Spanish colonizers were still arguing whether the world is round or not. Giant Grouper (photo credit: Wikipedia) The story started with a decision. Kagiyaw decided to fish down the Jal-o one morning in summer despite the threat of a dreaded river monster called Kugtong. Soon enough as he was rowing his boat downstream the river, the giant grouper swallowed him--and perhaps his boat. Wow, that's a really huge fish if it can swallow a boat! But Kagiyaw is a hero. So he did not instantly die, otherwise the story would not go further than that. Besides, my mother's story was not a tragedy. It was meant to inspire us despite the apparent tribulations life gives us from time to time. So while in the belly of the giant grouper, Kagiyaw heard a voice of a fairy or a b