My One Attachment to 2011

A screen copy of my entry at WCJ

I received a notice from the publisher of my other personal blog informing me of the following:

Dear author,    After nearly 5 years and more than 7 million words written,WcJ is ceasing service. In order to give you a chanceto retrieve your writings if you so desire, WCJ is nowavailable again until the end of 2011.
To retrieve the contents of your journal(s), you should visit thesite and login and then select the journal you'd like to retrieve.Then click the Print button, and a new page will be shown with allyour journal entries, in "New to old" order. If you'd prefer to seethem in the order you wrote them, just click "Old to new" at the topof the page.
When you're happy with how that looks, you can use your web browser tosave the contents of the page, or you can click Print to print it, orto save it as a PDF if you have that functionality available.

Kindest regards,
The Team

Reading it, something inside stirred and I felt my heart is being gently stabbed once again. Really, saying goodbye is a hard thing to do. But goodbyes are meant to be said, no matter how and even if it caused so much pain.

Firecrackers in 1950's

A police officer came over my office the other day to ask if the Sanggunian has any relevant legislation regulating the selling or display of firecrackers especially during the Christmas season. I responded in the negative.

Balete ranks among the few municipalities in Aklan to have the "luxury" of  having a firetruck and more importantly, the presence of personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection. Armed with a Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance, and the mandate of the BFP to implement and enforce the provisions of the Fire Code, the Sanggunian is spared from legislating "more" ordinances concerning the regulation of those firecrackers that stray into our quiet town in this time of the year. It may of archival interest however to mention that the Municipal Council has an ordinance on the matter as early as 1956.

On February 1, 1956, the Municipal Council of Balete, then part of the Province of Capiz, and composed of the following:

Mr. Apolinario Cleope, Municipal Mayor; Mr. Patrocinio Lachica, Vice Mayor; Mr. Roberto Sabla-on, Councilor; Mr. Blas Cortes, Councilor, Mr. Ludovico Yasa, Councilor; Mr. Agaton Recidoro, Councilor; Mr. Hernan Cuyong, Councilor

passed and approved Ordinance No. 1, entitled, "An ordinance prohibiting the storag, sale, display, carrying and/or exploding of big firecrackers classified as dynamites or explosives."  Absent during the session was Mr. Ludovico Villanueva, also a Municipal Councilor.

What about those big firecrackers? The council identified them as "Bawang", "Atomic Bomb", "Atomic Bomb Jr." etc. The penalty for violating this ordinance involves a fine of not less than Php. 50 but not to exceed Php. 200 and the imprisonment of not less than 10 days and a maximum of 6 months at the discretion of the court.

I am having a hard time appreciating those "big firecrackers" but some "old friends" intimated that they were indeed "nasty ones" that our delinquent youths of today should be prevented from laying a hand on lest they cease to be "the hope of our fatherland."

Please Don't Postpone Your Christmas

A lot of people have decided to postpone their long planned Christmas parties and in lieu thereof, donated their entire budget to augment the rehabilitation fund/relief of those victimized by the shocking flashflood that washed out Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City. Apart from the shock is the seemingly lost of appetite to celebrate the season. "How could you have Christmas party when your countrymen down south are grieving for their lost?", they rhetorically asked. The President got lambasted in the process for going out of his way to attend such a party at the height of the tragedy (for how one could refuse if you have a Valerie Concepcion as guest performer?)

Often times, we fall into the assumption that Christmas is Christmas party, or garish decorations, lavish food and exotic gifts. Christmas has to be merry and bright otherwise it is not Christmas. Then when we find ourselves in such unfavorable situation, we qualify ours as "bleak Christmas"," mamaeamaea nga Paskwa", "sad Christmas". We failed to apprehend the meaning of the event in its facticity. We could not blame ourselves for we are bombarded daily in our tubes and other mass media by the propaganda of commercialism. The meaning is lost. Christmas is something that appeal to the senses and the perceptions of men.

But more than 2000 years ago, in an obscure town, a child was born, a son was given birth by a virgin. He was said to be the one long promised to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, to set the oppressed free, sights to the blind and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (cf. Lk.4:18ff; Is. 58:6). He is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (cf. Is. 9:6). He is Immanuel--which means, "God is with us." (cf. Mat. 1:23) 

More than 2000 years ago, in that obscure town, this child was born poor and in exile, homeless and a stranger. Each Christmas is his birthday and he is knocking on each door seeking for anybody to give him a room. Will you be kind enough not to forego such an observance? Will you be considerate enough to give up your comfort to let him in into your house this Christmas?

Christmas Stories

Merry Christmas. Bleak Christmas. Are there such a thing? 


Last week, I asked my friend, Lagumbay, if he can spare me sometime to a bottle of Emperador. He profusely excused himself for the moment, disclosing in the process that he has to attend a retreat at Sibaguan, Capiz. 


The invitation was meant to process his traumatic experience. Lagumbay and his family have barely recovered from the flood of November 15. His house was one of the eight houses washed out by the raging waters off the Jal-o. I was entertaining to sense some tinge of resentment on his voice. But his was placid. He promised me in a placating tone to make out some time of talking out some things over a bottle of brandy after the retreat. It is a priority: to confront his Creator of the miseries and trials of his life. He wanted to give his God the benefit of doubt. Like the prophet Job, my friend fight on to keep the faith: "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb and naked shall I die. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)


Tonight, I watched on TV a man frantically cleaning his damaged house off the City of Cagayan de Oro. There were mud everywhere. His daughter is still missing, washed off by the flash flood which came like a thief in the night of December 17. He is cleaning the mud out of his abode that he and his wife can "celebrate" Christmas even without the presence of his beloved child. He is struggling to make things normal. Life has to go on amid the defined evil that cause so much chaos and death on his community. Christmas is something that cannot be postponed, no matter what. After all, it is not about partying or blinking lights or garish Christmas trees. 


As I reclined on my bed, I gave those encounters some thought and asked myself a question: Can we qualify Christmas as either merry or bleak? 


I really do not know. But what comes to mind is these words from St. John, "This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." (1 John 4:10) It sends me to sleep deep and sound despite the evils that haunt my mind and heart these days. 

St. Nick and Paskwa sa Banwa's Christian Paradigm

Today is the feast of St. Nicolas of Myra (December 6). Of course, only a handful know about it. Less even cared about it. Saints are no longer popular these days. Much more their feast days.

What people cared is that Piolo Pascual, their idol set upon a pedestal, remains true to the image he let his fans made of him all these years. As for old St. Nick, well, (pardon the word) he stinks--unless we reinvent him and call him by his popular name. And of course, by presenting him as the one who makes dreams and wishes come true, especially this Yuletide season.

Balete LGU employees sing Christmas carols for the poor

Take for instance our Paskwa sa Banwa. Considering that Balete was the first in the Aklan to stage a grand Christmas decoration by lighting trees within the Municipal Park and Plaza, we deemed it proper that the Baleten-on constituencies have a responsibility in sustaining this laudable pageantry through collaboration with the local government and the various civil society organizations as well as the private sector. Christmas is however not just about pageantry. It is more about sharing and caring. As a matter of fact, it is about the birth of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. Hence, we reinvented it by introducing certain variation by doing away with glamour and at times scandalous display of lights and introducing the Christian paradigm of sharing and caring. We have encouraged participating agencies to go out of their way and reach out to the underprivileged instead of spending their monies on Christmas lights and decors. We facilitated their meeting at the town plaza where these agencies, CSO's and PO's impart the spirit of Christmas to the poor through Christmas carols and gift-giving. 


To put it simply, we tried to celebrate Paskwa sa Banwa in a manner old St. Nick did it many, many years ago.  He went out of his way just to reach out--even risk his safety by climbing chimney just to help. Not for his own glory but for that of his God. Incognito and especially during nighttime, he carries bags of goods and discreetly threw them into the abodes of the poor.


One particular story, I love to tell my kids about is St. Nick's encounter with a poor widower who raised singlehandedly his three daughters. He was particularly concerned about their plight that when its was time that the poor man's daughter are to be wed, he slipped into the nights an threw in bags of money to enable the father to pay for the dowry of his daughters. It was said that the poor man was so keen at knowing the persona of his unknown benefactor that he labored staying at night locking the windows and watching the only entrance. He was outwitted by Bishop Nick who made his entrance at the chimney just to avoid being recognized.  


So today is the feast of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. He won't mind if we failed to remember though. But he would mind if we endeavored to live out the spirit of Christmas--not just about sending cards, giving gifts and singing carols to our loved ones during this season; not just about completing the dawn masses and giving alms to the poor. Old St. Nick would really mind if we make room for the homeless Jesus in our lives day by day. Can we make it happen? 


By the way, St. Nick is popularly called in other countries as Kriss Kringle, Pere Noel, Santa Claus.