Predicament

My mind tells me that I am busy. I do have a lot of workload stock up in my office table. Deadlines are nearing and I seem not to progress at all. So my mind is frantic. It keeps on telling me that I can't afford to be idle. It keeps on prodding me to rush about and avoid distractions along the way.

But my body reacts. Despite the supplements and the vitamins that I'm taking, my body complains. It wanted rest. I seeks respite and diversions. The Friday Boys miss my company for more than a couple of months now. I haven't interacted with them on a quality basis. Now, they scheduled a special session at Arlie's this afternoon. But I can't.

As if to add insult to injury, my heart murmurs. Probably, a side effect of the 3 bars of chocolate given to me by a Someone the other day. As I observe it, a heart murmuring is a restless one. But yet lacking the fire to write poems again, to grab that paint brush and dubs oil on canvass, again.

A restless heart with dying embers at its core...

A WELCOME REMARK TO THE COMPLETION CEREMONY, National English Proficiency Program, District of Balete

Good morning!
I stand before you here today in behalf of the Honorable Mayor to welcome you to this special occasion. He gave me the marching order yesterday of welcoming you in a manner befitting of your class. Just the other week, I was also tasked being the outgoing President of the Aklan League of Secretaries to the Sanggunian of welcoming the delegates to the 8th Regional Assembly cum Seminar of the Regional League of Secretaries to the Sanggunian held in Boracay Island. Considering the ambience of the place and the restlessness of the delegates, I was prompted of welcoming them lightly. I told them that the Aklanon Secretaries have this two types of words of welcome—the short and the long one. The short being, “Welcome.” And the long one is, “Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!” It sounds as a “major, major” remark of Ms. Venus Raj.
This early and without preempting their confirmation by Mr. Rapiz, allow me to convey the felicitations of the Local Government Officials to all those who underwent and completed this National English Proficiency Program here in Balete. I believe that the program has been served well with Ms. Meriam Zapador being their companion in this journey towards English proficiency.
I don’t have inside information of the modules you have for this program but I imagine it as something that invites you to take a second look into the dynamics of the English language vis-à-vis the cultural set up that we Filipinos have at this point in time. But I do know that the intention of the program is to keep you updated, inviting you to adapt to the changing and new realities as brought about by the Age of Information Technology. I see that it is an opportunity to grow, to be relevant. I’m imagining a vampire who through the world of Geoffrey Chaucer endured the Great Vowel Shift as brought about by the standardized Early Modern English of Shakespeare and suddenly teleported (I would rather say, awakened) and immersed into the greater varieties of the English language of the contemporary world, not to mention the jejemon lingo.
Cultures have been evolving over hundreds of thousands of years, and languages are rich with the differences: the sounds, the rhythms, and the phraseology—just to name but a few. Some thinkers even used the word, “grow”, as if language is alive. Now, this is so as language being one of the many forms of communications expresses at the deepest level how we are experiencing the world at a given moment. And how we experience the world at a given moment depends, most likely, upon our culture, and upbringing.
In the seventies, Dr. Alvin Toffler, author of bestselling non-fiction books such as Powershift, Future Shock and The Third Wave, was busy dissecting our history into three “waves”. The rapid growth in the fields of science and technology led him to infer that future shocks and alters the course of history. More to it, values such as nationalism will be giving way to new realities like globalization. As we moved into the 21st century, power lever will be shifting—it has already shifted I should say, from brute physical strength of the Agricultural age and the wealth of the Industrial revolution into the Age of Information. We are indeed in a very different environment where everything is becoming linked together via the microchips. We see traditional jobs becoming obsolete and eliminated, giving way or shifted to places in the globe where wages are most competitive. The signs of the time are calling us to change, to adapt, to learn the intricacies of the new world of Information Communication Technology, reminding us that the entry card to it is to have the best information available and the proficiency of communicating it.
I have been tempted of welcoming you with a heavy remark when I originally plan of writing down a lighter one. Please don’t misconstrue my intention. You deserve better, heavier stuff than enduring the bickering of Kapuso, Kapamilya and Kapatid on your TVs.
As I’ve seen it, proficiency in communicating helps us bring out the creative in us, enabling us to bridge the gap in language or culture, in personality or educational background. My friend proved this to himself when he had stopped over in Rome while studying for priesthood. I bet some of you know him. He don’t speak Italian, and Italians hate English. So his problem was how to communicate with Italians during his brief stay in Roma.
Fortunately, he knows a little about Italians. His favorite violinist is Paganini, his favorite conductor is Toscanini, and his favorite sports car is Lamborghini.
So he figured that if he added “nini” to every word uttered, he would be understood. No harm trying it, he told himself. So he did. Outside the airport, he flagged a taxi: “Taxinini,” and a cab pulled over. Along the way, he felt hungry, so he asked the driver to take him to a “restoranini.” And he did.
He went into the restaurant, took a table, and signaled to a waiter. “Waiternini,” He said. A waiter came with a menu and said, “Signore, (in Italian) what do you want to eat?” He could not read the menu which was in Italian, so he said, “Chickenini and spagettinini.”
The waiter wrote on his order pad. Then, he smiled at him and said: “Signore, kakainini o babalutinini?”
My dear educators, honorable ladies and gentlemen, proficiency in communication will really help us bridge the gap, enable us to face the challenges ahead of us and help us adapt to the changing times for us to realize our common dreams; that we can achieve if we dare enough to be creative, to be available, to reach out, to be open to learning and the new realities as brought about by the influx of information communication technology. Through it all we will bridge personal, professional and cultural differences with peoples we interact with.
With that heavy stuff, I welcome you to Balete.

My "Green" Valedictory Address as Outgoing President of the Aklan League of Secretaries to the Sanggunian

The following address earned the notoriety as a "green" remarks--and I wonder why. You be the judge if it is indeed "green".

Ladies and gentlemen:
Power like sex is addicting. Like sex, it is seductive. Like sex, it entices. But power ironically is powerless over those who refused to be seduced by it. It has no dominion over those who seek not to be spectacular and relevant. For sure, it entices one to be primus inter pares. But for those who upheld community over selves, for those who believe that death doesn’t end life but transform it, power is just a tool, a means to an end—a means that would, could never justify the end.
Tonight, I am giving up that privilege of power to Bing (Begonia Miroy). And mind you, I’m already in heat of the thought of giving it up. For three years, I’ve been whining, “PLEASES, RELEASES Me, Let me go.” I’m justified for doing so as our AKLESSA Constitution and By Laws mandates that a President should only hold a term of one year. I’m two years overstaying. I felt like I’m just like Bilbo Baggins, holding on to my precious, seduced by its power, unable to let go of the One Ring that would rule them all.
And so as I deliver this valediction, I imagine myself wandering out of the Shire towards Rivendell hoping that once settled, I would have the time and the luxury of writing down our history as a League. Ng. Odon (Bandiola) was frustrated as no one cares of writing it down. We tried to incorporate it on our souvenir program but we failed. We’re just busy being Secretaries to the Buong Bayan pati na sa Kabarangayan. We seem good at ghost writing but never on writing our collegial and personal journals.
AKLESSA is just an adolescent league, much like RELEASES and the PLEASES. I’m confident that with Bing at the helm, it will soar into greater heights—considering the collectibles that we are to receive from our borrowers. I would like to believe that many adventures wait down its path—starting tonight, I hope. Boracay offers a lot of varieties. I trust that Bing will just remain faithful to the very reason for which we formed this league 14 years ago, just as I tried to maintain a higher sense of humor over the constant absences of those who urged me to be its ring bearer in the first place. I trust that as members of AKLESSA we will all give our all out support to her wherever our paths may lead us. By all chance, let’s follow her wherever she leads us. Remember, she’s the current Treasurer and will remain so until Saturday.
So Sirs and Mesdames: Allow me then to hand over to Bing the Presidency of the Aklan League of Secretaries to the Sanggunian. Let me do it now as I paraphrase King Richard, “Take my money, take my throne. Just leave me, with my secretaries alone.”

Savoring the Aromatic Seal of Good Housekeeping Award

The evaluators had warned us: You're at the top 5 of those being considered for the Performance Challenge Fund Program of the DILG. But we were immune to such warning. The declaration was too good to be true--WAS too good to believe. Then came the news simultaneously as Typhoon Juan lashed down Northern Luzon. Balete won a seal--that seal of Good Housekeeping Award intended for the select 15 local government units throughout the country!

So what is this all about, this much coveted Seal of Good Housekeeping Award for Local Government Units? Technically, one would be an eligible nominee if it has complied with or met certain criteria, viz.: Exemplary Performance in Local Governance, specifically in areas of a)planning b) fiscal management c) transparency & accountability and d) valuing performance monitoring. An awardee of such seal becomes eligible to avail of the Performance Challenge Fund.

Since 2004, Balete pioneered the crafting of a Joint Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA)which served as its roadmap for development for each term of both the executive and legislative officials, i.e. a three-year plan. It has been then a good hard habit to break every time a new set of officials assumed office. Just this August 2010, it has completed through a month-long workshop-writeshop activities with various stakeholders the only Comprehensive Development Plan in the entire Region. It is a 6-year plan of the local development thrust drawing much of its projects and programs out of the indicators shown in the LGPMS (the electric performance monitoring system devised by the DILG) and the observations made during the Exit and Utilization Conference of the previous administration of then Mayor Noemi C. Cordero.

Reforms in Balete started in 1998 when Mayor Teodoro V. Calizo, Jr. called on both the major and minor stakeholders in Balete to formulate the vision-mission statement of the municipality. A shared vision where everyone believes inspired all to contribute and share something of themselves to build up that better Balete than yesterdays. And so it came to pass that after 12 years, Balete got recognized for its effort.

And to think that it is observing its Town Fiesta.

So sweet. Rather, aromatic like a coffea arabica.

Introspection

Of the many events taking place in my town this October, it is hard finding time to pause and appreciate their messages and significance...One thing for sure that I would regret is the fact that they were here and yet I failed to enjoy their manifestations. It is ironic that I am gaping at the centuries-old manuscripts at the Archives yet failed to appreciate my town as it engages itself in historicity of the here and now.

A Town by the Jal-o River: A Time Line

Some dear friends have been asking how far have I progressed in my research of our local history and I answered vaguely, "I'm still hiking along the muddy trail of Guanko".

The research commenced in 1998 under the administration of Mayor Bobby Calizo when Balete was considering the centennial celebration of the so called "El Tiroteo de Agtawagon", literally, "The Skirmish in the Hill of Agtawagon" but was popularized as "The Battle of Agtawagon". The officials then were hard put in conceptualizing what sort of celebration they ought to launch for lack of materials (historical data) to work on. They recalled that the teachers had some stage play presented regaling that "glorious past" but when the teachers admitted that that was but a product of a pregnant imagination, they hesitated to proceed. They thus resorted to organizing a research team which they divided into two. The first was consisted by Ng. Mila Jimera Andrade, then Vice Gov. Rodriguez, then SP Member Gabrielle V. Calizo, then SB Member Eduardo Villanueva and his better half, Evelyn Villanueva. That team was responsible for interviewing key personality, such as the late Bingo Altavas of the Jose Cortes Altavas Foundation. Ng Mila managed to photocopy portion of the "Mi Diario" of the Baleten-on Senator and some old souvenir programs of the municipalities of Batan and Altavas, all rich with information concerning local history of the contiguous municipalities of Altavas, Balete, Batan and New Washington.

The other team, if you would call that a team, was composed by me and my pen and ink (can't afford laptop then). I elected to visit the University of San Agustin in Iloilo, the National Archives, the National Library and the National Historical Institute as part of my expedition into the Baleten-on past. I also interviewed a number of venerable residents and managed to have some of their manuscripts.

Combining those findings with the current research I have been having this year, let me present to you the timeline of the pueblo of Balete of the Province of Capiz:

1591 - The village by the Jal-o River was part of the Encomienda of Batan under Miguel Rodriguez. Batan was one of the 9 big villages in the Province of Panay--Panay was one of the two provinces in Panay Island, the other being Octon;
1703 - Alcaldia System was introduced (Although the law was passed as early as 1583). The provinces of Capiz, Yloylo and Hamtic were established. Pueblos and Barrios were created.
1714 - Jalo was mentioned as part of the visitas of the Parish of Batan under the Augustinian missionaries. The whole Panay Is. then was under the bishopric of Cebu
1758 - the Augustinian Recollects took turn in shepherding the faithful of Batan and Jalo
1789 - The Recoletos turned over Batan to the Diocesan Priests (although Bishop Romualdo Jimeno was himself a Dominican)
1792 - The bishop of Cebu made pastoral visit in Batan. This was followed by 12 pastoral visits up to the time of Bishop Jimeno who was ambushed and killed along the trail on his way to Dumalag (17 March 1872). We learned later that the place where he fatally fell was named after him.
1804 - Balete, Capiz. Population - 3,089.
1856 - Rev. Fr. Diego Albao replaced the late Rev. Fr. Matias Piansay as Parish Priest of Balete. Bishop Jimeno was responsible for the assignment of Fr. Albao.
1882 - Rev. Fr. Vicente Guanco was the Parish Priest of Balete; Don. Adriano Calizo acted as the gobernadorcillo; Don. Alejo Eliserio was the Capitan Pasado while D. Agapito Borromeo and D. Juan Oquendo were the Cabeza Actual then.
1882 - Balete suffered an epidemic which caused the lives of some 144 souls.
1884 - Maura Law. Governadorcillo was replaced by the title, Capitan Municipal with the cura parocco still being the appointing authority.
1888 - Balete had total land area of 15,525 hectares. It produced 200 cavans of rice per cropping.
1889 - Capitan Municipal was changed into Presidente Municipal and was now elected by the landed few-the principalia in a pueblo.
1891 - The Diocese of Jaro was established.
1893 - The Barrios of Balete were as follows:
a. Sidman - D. Jose Feliciano, Teniente
b. Pulajan - D. Pascual Lumio, Teniente
c. Matanat - D. Pio Casong, Teniente
d. Rivera - D. Mariano Perez, Teniente
e. Bulun-agan - ....
f. Tigbao - ...

(Elecciones de Gobernadorcillos de Capiz narrated that there were eleven barrios then, the other names were lost, sadly)

Meeting Sickness at the Fork of the Road

I smile to myself realizing the civil war happening inside. I've been there for quite a number of time. Precisely that at the onset of its becoming, I readily recognize it. I smile because I am happy. I also smile because I am wary. I smile because I sense my weakness arising. That's the way I express myself, ever since.

I am happy to have met you. I am excited knowing you each new day. I am glad that our roads have crossed.

But I am wary. I am not sure how intimate we could become. I can tolerate becoming acquainted. I do not know if I can handle gut level conversations with you. I am afraid of becoming familiar.

I am afraid of being defined. I am becoming. If you managed to define me, then I fear that I have ceased growing. Your Monalisa smile will make me paranoid. What does it mean? Does it mean that I am known by you? Does it mean that death is nearing my door?