By the Jal-o River

Today is the first anniversary of Yolanda, internationally known as Typhoon Haiyan, which has been regarded as the strongest of those typhoons that ravaged communities all over the world. I intended to let it pass without so much ado, for after all, most of my trees have never recovered when she battered them last years. My neighbor is still without a decent house to live in--despite the reported many humanitarian aids coursed through either the government or the non-government organizations. But there are those who knocked on our doors today, inviting us to see through the bitter experience that we had last year and reflect on the way we chose as we tried to stand up from its havoc. Ms. Viel Aquino Dee, Vice Chair of Assisi Development Foundation and Mayor Bobby Calizo of Balete, Aklan surveyed the boats made by the fisher folks themselves. The callers are the volunteers of the Associate Missionaries of the Assumption or AMA for short. I know them not personally, but I met and

Center. That is the way Baleten-ons referred to the Municipal Health Office since my childhood days. And it stuck until to now. I am particular to this reality as the family used to reside behind the old Puericulture Center of Balete where both my father and mother worked. When my mother got hired as Rural Health Midwife for Balete Rural Health Unit, the family decided to relocate and bought a small house behind it. It was easy to recognize one another then as there were only a handful of households in the poblacion . It was simply either one is from Ilaya or Ilawod . The "Center" is geographically situated at the heart of the poblacion along with the old Town Hall, the Band Stand and the Church. It served as the boundary for the " taga-ilaya " and " taga-ilawod ". It was implicitly regarded as a neutral place where animosity is temporarily set aside among the "warring gangs" of Ilaya and Ilawod . As the bell tolled to call the commun

I am writing again. I discovered that I am discovering my poetry. A sign along the lonely road I thread.   Kalipay kung Taguipusoon Pananglitan nga rong aton nga daean Indi eon magsub-eang sa unhan Sa tindahan rong isda nga mub-ead Magapadumdum kimo Nga ikaw ro matuod nga mahae Owa eon it iba pa. Pananglitan nga rong aton nga eandong Indi eon makatao it handong sa hilamon Sa simbahan rong siga it kandila Magapadumdum kimo Ikaw man lang rong kasadya it taguipusoon Owa eon it iba pa. Ag pananglitan nga hilipatan mo Sa madueom, matapo-tapo nga kwarto Ro binaeaybay it kahapon magapadumdum kimo Ikaw ratong ginatumod ko, hinigugma nga engkantada Kalipay ag baeay ku baeatyagon nga nagapadayon Halin pa kato hasta sa gihapon. I write poems to express what is happening inside my heart. I write poems when the emotion is strong and wanting release. I write poems to convey my feelings of love and admiration. I write poems to tell you that you are spe

Balete Community College earns the title as the first and foremost tertiary institution in rural Balete. It stands as one of the only four community colleges in the Province of Aklan. Its becoming is a story worth telling.   Its Humble Beginning While it is not mandated of a 4 th class municipality like Balete, Aklan to operate and afford tertiary education for its people, the circumstances it finds itself in are indicative that it carries the load towards its desired end despite its poverty and capacity gaps. These circumstances were offshoots of an extension program introduced in 1998 by then Roxas Memorial College of Arts and Trade (RMCAT) that paved the way for the birth of the community college in 2004. Late in 1998, officials of RMCAT in their attempt of preserving the college’s independence from the impending integration with Aklan State College of Agriculture parleyed with Mayor Teodoro V. Calizo, Jr. to allow it to utilize makeshift huts (remnants of an agricult

The words used by a community in describing certain reality or experience are indicative to their rich awareness of the things around them. They also serve as clues to the richness and diversity of the environment where they are situated at a certain time. Conversely, the cessation or death of certain words point to a fact that the things they described have ceased to be. These realities are happening down by the Jal-o River. The words in Inakeanon hereunder are clues to the dynamism of culture and the generations that have had used them, not to mention the vibrant environment: a. Fishes Bagtis (goby) Obog (dusky sleeper) Bae-a (goby) Sugi (river garfish) Puyo (climbing perch)  Pantat (broadhead catfish) Haeo-an (true murrel) Aeogsuk (snakehead murrel) Kilo (spotted scat) Mub-ead (scat)  Danggit (scat) Mangagat (snapper) Bugok (yellow snapper) Inid (white dotted grouper) Paeangan ( long-spined glass perchlet ) Aliso (mangrove red snapper) Baeanak (broad mouthed m

Answering questions leads to more questions. That is a fact. A fact that only proves that man is a rational being. No other animate being on Earth is capable of that. A few creatures shows retention. But they are not historical being for historicity is not one of their endowed faculties. Only man is capable of retrospection and of getting in touch with his past. Aided by his tools, he can easily go back into yesterdays, at least for the time being, in virtuality. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity though is a tease for him to attempt at going back into time in his existential form. Be that as it may, let us be content with delving into the Baleten-on's historic past, perhaps to get insights in approximating that better Balete than yesterdays. Herewith then is my additional entry, a follow up to my initial timeline for those who want an airplane grasp of Balete's historic past. My other entries on local history are spread out in the pages of this blog indexed as &q

I found it difficult to decide which is the appropriate title of this article. Initially, I jot down, "Five Stupid Questions a Baleten-on Asks". My better judgment however suggested that it should be in Inakeanon, " Mga Pangutana Nga Masami Naton Habati-an sa Daeanon ". However one takes it, the gist of this entry is the culling of some of the funny bordering to irritating questions we raised up just to strike up a conversation with an acquaintance.    Pa-Kalibo ka? You strike up a conversation with your fellow commuters riding a Kalibo bound jeepney by raising the obvious.   Nanindahan ka? On my way out of the public market one Saturday morning, already burdened by the load of goods I just purchased, an acquaintance approached me with the question, “ Nanindahan ka? ” Automatically, which is equally stupid, out of the lips come the reply, “ Huo .”    ¼ ma’am? A teacher commanded her students to produce ¼ piece of paper for the day’s test. The students chorus

May haeambaeon ro mga katigueangan—nga na-anaran man naton—nga kuno hay owa man kimo it maduea kon magpati ka. Masami ta ra nga hababati-an sa mga higayon kon siin ro pila katon hay guina-pangutana ro rason ku atong pagbinatasan kapin pa ro mga talimad-on.   Guinahambae naton ra masami kon ro isaea katon hay indi magpati sa mga karan-on pareho abi ku pagpatay it manok kon siin ro anang dugo hay atong ipalhit sa bag-ong obra nga baeay. Guinapatihan ta nga ro dugo ngara hay magaserbe nga haead sa mga engkanto o kon sa ano pa rona nga espiritu agod sa rato hay indi nanda pagmalitan ro atong baeay o agod indi mahalitan ro kabuhi it atong mga pinalangga. Guinapatihan ta man nga dugang pa sa dugo nga guinahaead, dapat man nga may atong pangontra sa rayang mga elemento. Ngani nga nagadumog kita kaibahan sa iba agod makabu-oe it bisan sangka dahon it harden nga guin-dekorar sa Santo Intierro. Suma ay de-buenas kuno ron sa panguma, panagat ag negosyo. Magamayad ka man sa amulit kon may i

My attendance to a seminar on heritage conservation last week (March 5-7) in Ilocos called to mind my desire of detailing here the unique architectural design of a typical Benitinanon house. As usual, my excuse for the delay is "the exigencies of life". The workshop up north however afforded me the focus to draw the floor plan of that particular structure. One would be surprised to note that apart from the uniqueness of the house floor plan, many of the necessities therein and the words that described them are strange to the younger generation. Necessities/devices such as " eusong ", " sumwan ", " tadyaw " are now alien to the younger Baleten-on. Their uses in the postmodernized household are no longer required. Hence, the words associated with them die a natural death. Benitinan and some other upland sitios in Balete which by their remoteness remains unaffected by the changes brought about by Information Age play a very important role in bei

March is popularly known in the community as the Fire Prevention Month. Unknown to many, it is also Culture and Arts Awareness Month (NCCA sets in between February and March). SB Patrick and the MTDC have several school-based activities to observe the NCCA mandate. Earlier, I posted a "photo poem" in my FB Account, hoping to heighten local appreciation to the arts and culture preservation. Personally, it was a tacit greeting to a friend who is celebrating her birthday today. I was happy to note later on that some of those who affirmed or "like" the post came up with their Akeanon poems posted in their profile. Yes, it takes only a spark to get the fire going, as a song goes. " Amat-amat ro maberde nga kakahoyan Naeakayan it nanari-sari nga katalinghaga-an Puti nga Kamantigue, puea nga Katueanga Sa nagapamunga nga Bili, ro Pilago naga sinadya. Matin-aw nga sapa Espeso ku ma-silaw nga kapawa Ro gugma ro buot it kabuhi Huo, birthday mo abi Ngani ginaselebrar

( This entry was written in November 2013 after Typhoon Yolanda sent the Visayas to its knees. I was not able to upload it on time as it is only now that internet connectivity in my place has been restored. To date, Ricky is still in Metro Manila, still without sponsor for his medication) T he boy in the photos is Ricky. I don’t know his true family name. His absent father has never acknowledged his paternity over him. He lives with his maternal grandparents in a house demolished by ST Yolanda (International Name: Haiyan) when it wrought havoc in Aranas, Balete, Aklan, Philippines on November 8, 2013.   He was entrusted by his also absent mother to his grandparents when he was still a toddler. He is now 12 or 13 years old. He is in his 1st year High School in a public school in Aranas.     Other than being without a loving parents to care for him as he deals with the trauma of surviving the monstrous typhoon, he is stricken with a skin ailment that dermatologists in Kalibo