Tree Planting and the High Tide

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.

Rantings Down the Jal-o

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 Thief

The guard reported proudly to his boss. "Sir, I caught a thief tonight."
"What did you do to him?" asked the boss.
"Oh, I shoot him to death, sir."
"Holy cow! We will all be wiped out if you kept doing such thing!" (Gakala-ubos kita sini)

Oh, Those Tearing Down and Uprooting by the Jal-o

     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 safety”.


    In reaction, the local officials adopted a resolution to express their unanimous stand on the issue at hand. In the resolution, they averred that the said ornamental plants/trees have been reared and they form parts of the Urban Regreening Program/Grow-a-Tree for Legacy Concept of 2006 of which the DPWH Aklan Engineering Office and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Aklan (DENR-PENRO) were co-signees with the Local Government of Balete per a memorandum of agreement entered into and signed on July 28, 2006 in Kalibo, Aklan. The MOA stipulates the tasks of the parties involved therein and for which the DPWH was the one which identified and prescribed the specific distance/area to be planted.

Those roadside vegetation in their early stage.

   They also observed the following facts: 

• the Provincial Government of Aklan sustained the program under its Aklan Regreening and Beautification Project 

• it enlisted the participation of the barangays and their respective constituents through annual conferment of awards 

• despite the bumpy, ill-maintained and winding national road cutting through its expanse, Balete has been associated by motorists and pedestrians with beautiful roadside scenery, the proof of which is that many of its barangays consistently received the following Provincial recognitions:

a.      Barangay Calizo –2008, 2^nd Prize Winner

                           2009, 1^st Prize Winner

   2010, 1^st Prize Winner

   2011, 1^st Prize Winner

b.      Barangay Feliciano –2009, 2^nd Prize Winner

                           2010, 3^rd Prize Winner

                           2011, 3^rd Prize Winner

c.       Barangay Fulgencio—2009, 2^nd Prize Winner (tie with Feliciano)

         2010, Consolation Prize recipient

         2011, 2^nd Prize Winner

   

•  in the similar activity, the Municipality of Balete was recipient of a special award from the Provincial Government in 2009 when it was conferred with a plaque of recognition as ‘The Best in Barangay Mobilization and Award Performance’

A Riddle Inside a Mystery Wrap in an Enigma

The sudden insistence on the part of the DPWH-Aklan Engineering Office and the cajoling of the Aklan Provincial Tourism Office of tearing apart what the Baleten-on public and officials have painstakingly grown to make for a beautiful, refreshing and panoramic roadside greeneries came as a surprise in view of the fact that the program was their own making. It has served them well in providing diversion from the otherwise uneven national road. It is as well enigmatic if we take their logic of obtaining traffic safety when they even refused or failed to act on the manifestations/requests of this Sanggunian per the following resolutions, viz.:

•  Resolution No. 077-09 adopted on October 8, 2009, re installing road signs and cat’s eyes along the national road;
•  Resolution No. 053-08 adopted on July 11, 2008, re causing the painting of the local project “Construction of Sidewalk and Gutter along the National Road, Poblacion, Balete, Aklan”;
•  Resolution No. 2005-41 adopted on May 30, 2005, re speeding up the implementation of the construction of sidewalk and gutter along the National Highway;

     The local officials see through the justification of the letter of the Aklan Provincial Tourism Office as to invoke public safety for pedestrians and motorists. Their understanding however is that what is of paramount importance is the surface of the main carriage way which should be soft, well-paved and free from any defect that may contribute to accidents and not to demolish the existing development collectively agreed upon on the road shoulders.

The Proposal of the Local Officials 

      Considering the generated support and active cooperation from the residents and barangay officials for which the Local Government of Balete has been awarded and recognized as the best in mobilizing its constituency to achieve such sustained and laudable development; where residents have made it their way of life in maintaining their adopted plat abutting the road shoulders, we deem it absurd that we now ask them to uproot those that they have belabored to plant and nurture to bloom vis-à-vis the commendations that they have received consistently over the years. The elective local officials thus propose that the Aklan Provincial Tourism Office and the DPWH Aklan Engineering Office engage those residents and convince them to demolish the flowerings and fruits of their labor, for after all, “Uprooting and deflowering is more fun in the Philippines or Aklan;” 

The Credit Union of the Christian Community in Balete

(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 Soren 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 and the challenge of the Second Vatican Council and the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) to make the church truly the Church of the Poor.  It was adopted and sustained by the Rev. Msgr. Pedro C. Frac when he replaced Fr. Gelito as Parish Priest of Balete in 1997. The monsignor was pastor of Balete for a period of almost seven years (August 9, 1997-July 31, 2004). Through it all, the Bueoligan grew under the stewardship of the Parish Priest and through the patronage of its members regularly gathered during the annual general assembly and whose chapel presidents and finance officers conduct regular monthly meeting.

The Bueoligan was separated from the parish in September of 2004, however, when the current Parish Priest presented a contrary pastoral orientation. The separation almost led to the collapse of the credit union if not for the intervention of a number of clergy and laity who showed concern for the welfare of its members. A special assembly was called for in November of 2004 for the members to decide whether they wanted or not to continue with the credit union in view of the fact that it is no longer a parish-based organization. Majority of those who attended the assembly gave their affirmative vote while those who voted negatively decided to withdraw their membership and fixed deposits from the union with the promise that they would settle their obligations. Several issues and concerns such as the financial status of the Bueoligan, the acquisition of a juridical personality, its constitution and by laws, were addressed during the said assembly. Fr. Gelito was named by the assembly as its manager and Mrs. Alma Fulgencio as its Treasurer/Clerk while an election for its Board of Directors was scheduled later.  In as much as Bueoligan’s organizational structure is based on a Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) model, the members of the Board of Directors to be elected are representatives of cluster communities/chapels of every Barangay within the jurisdiction of the Parish of St. Rafael. 


Today, the Bueoligan is dormant, much like a seed buried deep in the cold, dark ground waiting for the warm sun to awaken it and beckon it to sprout out and show itself in the light. It hopes for the day when the prophet echoes the call of Isaiah: "Come out...be free! Come out in the light! And along the roads and even on barren heights, be nourished!" (Isaiah 49:9) 

The Journey of the African Night Crawler and Japanese Red Worm to Balete

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 Agriculture decided of ditching its multi-national partners, the African Night Crawler and Japanese Red Worm quietly found their way into the sleepy, rural and poor Baleten-on communities. Of course, those worms were not government-introduced. They are not like the Golden Kohol and those "Imeldas" whose introductions were hailed with lots of hosannas and media blitz and whom the farmers realized too late as pests in their farms. They shied the limelight. They rode discretely on the soiled pockets of Ng. Donie Cuarton (God bless his soul) and Nono Romulo, both volunteer community workers who came home from a BEC seminar on Vermiculture in Bacolod sometime in early 1993 or late 1992.

Soon enough a cooperative experimental endeavor was forged by the Apostoles of St. Rafael the Archangel Parish. With the help of Pido, a humble and gentle BEC worker from Negros, the group started off the first vermiculture project in Aklan under the guidance of Fr. Tito Gelito, the shepherd who also encouraged them to experiment on "dapog" approached to farming (This one deserves a separate discussion due to its merits and virtues).  The project forms part of the pastoral program that traced back to Fr. Jo Parohinog when he was parish priest of Balete in the 70's. It aims of liberating the farmers from their addictive dependency on synthetic fertilizers while seeking to reinvent the "dagyaw" culture of the Baleten-on community vis-a-vis the provisions of additional source of income for each household. Enveloping these issues and concerns is the Theology of Life Fr. Tito has been positing about--an integrated life that appreciates the goods of the Earth as instruments and channels in a communal/familial journey with Jesus back home to the house of the Father.

Japanese Red Worms (Photo credit: Earth 911)

At present, those worms find their ways in Barangay Feliciano, in Numancia and some other places in the Diocese while the Katilingban wanders still in the wilderness on Massah and Meribah, hopeful as ever of finding its way back to the path it once has trodden by.

_______
   Vermiculture as practiced in other sites/places:
     a. In India
     b. Earth911.com
     c. Canada

By the Jal-o River's 10,000 Page Views

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". 

Synopsis of a Theology of Life: A Baleten-on Play

(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 guid imaw.  Ag una sa hardin nga nahamtang sa tunga it banwa, anang guinpaistar rong Baleten-on nga ana guid nahamuot-an sa tanan nga butang nga makit-an ag indi makit-an (being read while a couple of children scatters petals of flowers on the aisles as well as a soft instrumental music is being played).

D.   Kahanga-hanga: rong saot it pagdayaw.

            (nearing the end of the choreographic dance, a couple of heckler rise from among the spectators to meddle with the dancers)

Part II.  Rong Handum nga mangin Dios

E.    Tableau:  Social Situation

*                        Focus on the Spirit of Competition

“guapa ako, maeaw-ay ka”, “mayad ako, bulok ka”, maaeam ako, bungkoe    ka”, “sexy ako, matsa bariles ka”

·         Focus on Sexual Exploitation

            “Wow, hanip sa puti.  Ano baea a sabon karon ay?”

F.    Tableau:  Political Situation

·         Focus on Vote Buying

“Ham-an it abi indi ig batunon?”, “Grasya eon ron”, “Alkansi man kita kon  indi it himuslan”

G.   Tableau:    Economic Situation

·         Focus on Land Grabbing

                “Amon a ra halin pa sa among kalolohan”, “Si Papa a’t abi hay maabtik. Ngani sori eun lang sanda.”

H.   Tableau:  Ecological Situation

·         Focus on Excessive Logging

            “Makwartahan a’t ro kahoy ngara. Pangtung-its ag pang Tanduay.”

Part III.  Paghimakas kung Kristianong Katilingban

I.       Song: Patalastas ay Salamangka

J.      Tableau, Narrative and Song:

·         Focus on the Struggle for Integrity (SPECSE approach)

            “prayer rally—ro mga tawo hay nagatikang-tikang nga may mga placard nga daea: ‘eugta para sa tanan!’, ‘pangabuhian para sa kubos!’, ‘pag-ieingmanghuran’, ‘tamang edukasyon’, etc.

·         Sa damgo it Dios, ro paghimakas it Banwang Balete nga mangin isaeang ka katilingban nga diosnon hay naangot guid sa andang pagkilaea nga si Jesu-Kristo hay ro bugtong nga Anak ku Amay, ro guintugyanan ku Amay sa pagpahauli kung tanan nga butang sa Banwa it Balete (plucking of guitar “Hangkat sa Kristianong Katilingban” serves as background music).

·         Song: Espiritu ng Panginoon

            scene: Jesus walks amidst the crowd (those who were having  a prayer rally).  The people notice him and begin to pay attention to what his trying to say.  They sit down on the floor as he begins to sing: “Sumasa-akin ang Espiritu ng Panginoon…”

Part IV.   Rong Hangkat sa Kristianong Katilingban

K.    Narrative and Sabayang Kanta:

·         Sa damgo it Dios, anang guintawag ro Baleten-on pareho nga guintawag man nana si Cain ag guinpangutana: “Siin baea si Abel?  Ag si Cain nagsabat: “Ham-an kakon mo imaw guina-usoy? Ako baea ro tagbantay ku akong igmanghod?” 

·         Si Cain hay nakasabat eon sa pangutana ku Dios.  Pero ro Baleten-on hay owa pa.  Ano baea ro anang mangin sabat kara?

·         Song of Solidarity: Hangkat sa Kristianong Katilingban

       Ro tanan nga miembro ro rayang pagpahayag hay magatipon sa stage nga nakakapit-bisig ag nagakanta.  Nearing the end of the song, ro grupo hay maga-change formation to highlight and adore the cross of the risen Christ.  Another song shall be sung as Swan Song.

Ag ro istoryia it paghimakas ku Kristianong Katilingban hay nagpadayon. 

THE DECISIONS OF KAGIYAW

My mother used to tell us the legend of how Barrio Lalab got its name during our tender years. The story circles around Kagiyaw, 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.

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 the protagonist of the story. 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 bird singing, "Eab-eabi! Eab-eabi!" Was it a kingfisher? The fear and disorientation took flight, and he remembered the knife tied to his hip. He grabbed it and started eab-eab—stabbing the belly of the Kugtong until he got out of it and breathed the fresh, sweet morning air.

His resurrected life.

And the birth of the barrio named Eaeab—Lalab.

Kagiyaw swam with the current and led the dead fish ashore. He salvaged the best part of it and called the attention of other fishermen to help him out with the carcass. Those who joined him scaled the Kugtong in what is now called Sitio Himbis, where, on the bank of the river, one could note the scaled formation of some stones.

Soon enough, the news of the feat of Kagiyaw spread out. People from all over were attracted by the prospect of taking a part of the carcass of the vanquished Kugtong and of meeting the man of the hour. Some of them managed to have a share, which they sun-dried for preservation. Today, the place where they sun-dried the fish is called Sitio Kaeug-a, meaning a place of dried fish.

Some of the meat rotted after long exposure to the elements. The place where some of the carcass decomposed is now called Sitio Ban-os. Residents thus decided to bury the rotten meat to get rid of the foul odor. That place was called Sitio Maeubong, signifying the place where they buried the remains of the Kugtong.

People upstream along the brackish Jal-o waited for their errands to arrive with their prize, only to see them come empty-handed. That place is now known as Sitio Hueaton, or the place where people waited.

Upriver, people grew impatient with the waiting and decided to catch fish for their lunch. They were those from the place called Sitio Pinamunitan, meaning a place where people decided to catch fish through line, hook, and sinker.

The story began with a personal decision on the part of Kagiyaw. It ended with a decision made by a community whose waiting had failed them. They chose to follow the river themselves and go fishing.

And so, along the Jal-o, the story of a fisherman who escaped the belly of a giant grouper lives on in the names of places. The river carries their memories downstream, past Lalab, toward Banga Bay and the Sibuyan Sea.

The people may have long departed, and the Kugtong may have returned to the realm of legend. But the names remain, each preserving a fragment of the story: where the fish was scaled, where its meat was dried, where its remains rotted and were buried, where people waited, and where they finally decided to fish for themselves.

Perhaps that is how a community remembers—not only through the stories passed down by our mothers, but also through the names of places we continue to inhabit.

The river flows on.

The decisions remain.