Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
family is important
Posted on: May 2, 2021
During this Pandemic, the lock downs have created venues and opportunities that brought some families together for the longest time. This is a blessing to some and to others a restriction. No matter how one sees it; the opportunity or the restriction; the blessing or the curse. It is that half empty, half full glass viewpoint. No matter how we perceive these times to be, to most it was an opportunity to focus and value family.
Thinking about family, makes me remember my father. He was a family provider all our lives as a family. He has been working and our family never lack, though some would say “not so because I wanted something I never got.” But I remember as a small child where food was paramount, we never lacked because of mom and dad. When I was in UB Science High School I can always buy the required books, watch all the required shows and would run to the market to mom, or to Dad’s office if we need to buy a book or pay some contribution of some sort. As a college student I was already working, but still mom and dad paid all the bills. Except some of my tuition when I was on scholarship.
Me and my siblings even earned extra money by helping in the chores and in the market. It was all family life. Those days with mom, dad and siblings gave us memories of our younger days where we do most things together. These did not continue as we grow older and each of us had our own friends, own families and own undertaking.
Family life was extended a little for us because our parents allowed us to be part of the family businesses they set up. Some of us experienced working in the market – hilltop and later on Hanger Market. Most of us, if not all, had worked in the school at one time in our life. I worked in the accounting office as a working student in college. Some of us siblings worked at the hotel and the retail business of my mom. I remember my brother working with dad in the insurance business. My mom and dad were always engaged in one business and would invite us to join them, and some of us did.
Unfortunately, family life was also interrupted with some family squabbles which could be traced back to times that my dad was an absentee dad during our childhood days. Amazing how those seem to have been magnified when we hear someone say “dad, you were not there.” Or during a graduation, where dad was not around to hang the medals to his children and I remember my brother no longer going back on stage to claim his last medal because my dad was not around. It was because dad was somewhere else “serving others.”
In his later years, dad tried to catch up with the family. And when he heard the misgivings, he apologized for his lack of participation in some portions of our lives that to children were seen important. He apologized not only once, but I counted three occasions where he apologized, for his absence during our childhood moments of celebration. We were already grownups and my siblings have already their families and had a better understanding of family life – balancing looking for family provision and spending quality time with family.
This pandemic time, maybe the longest time that my husband and I would be together 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and every day of the month. It started last year when we were in San Diego, California when the Covid 19 broke, and came home just one day before the lockdown was declared by the President and the AITF. From that day on, most days were spent together building relationships, renewing friendship and creating memories within the confines of home.
There were times, that I have to leave my husband and be in the city doing work but it also gives me the reflection of what has happened to my father in his old age. Feeling sorry he was not part of our family life and celebrations. And in that reflection, I had made a comfortable decision that in all things – family first after God. So, it is now, and I will not wait that at the later part of my life I will regret. That instead of being with my husband I was out there serving others, and will regret later. God has been good that even in my age he has given me the capability to learn and be able to work at home, learn virtual conferences, where my presence in my absence.
My city hall office continues to run as none of my staff are senior citizens and none have become covid positive. I continue to pray for their protection and health. Because of their presence, the virtual platforms and the connectivity, I continue to be with family and still work 24 hours, seven days a week.
the March that was
Posted on: May 2, 2021
March 2021 passed so fast and now April is gone too. March came and disrupted my schedules, my plans, my normal activities, I also missed a lot of them. A regular Tuesday radio program. that never happened because I forgot the days. The Sangal Di kultura that is a venue to share some thought, have remained to be in the mind and never written.
The city council sessions that were heated with debates that returned proposed ordinances I wrote, back to my committee for a couple of times for a phrase or a word that does not fancy a fellow legislator. The month, where I had schedules that were haywire as I battle with occasional physical issues of minor pains and discomfort that complicates basic motions of walk and sit.
April went so fast as I quarantine and balance family, work demands and church commitments. March and April, will go down on a record that I keep getting sick after every exposure outside the home. Is it psychological or signs my immune system is going down? More often I pray the healer’s prayer.
But let me remember moments and thought of the March that was.
March 6 was a spiritual renewal for me 39 years ago. The night I stood and walked from a sick bed where I laid wasting away for over six months, unable to walk, doing nothing but laying down in my bed at the mercy of my parents and siblings. And that morning I wrote my last will and testament, prayed and committed my life – a broken body and spirit, and begged that God take me home to the heavens. That night the women fellowship prayer warriors from the church, that my mom was a member of had that much faith to ask them to come and pray for me so I will walk. God’s faithfulness was at work and I walked, gave my testimony in the church service that night. How I came to be in that state, will be another story.
March, my brother-in-law Billy died. I saw my husband seemingly lost and would take a day for him to finally accept the fact and join the wake. It was a time to comfort the family as we also took care of some practical concerns of the wake and the burial. Manong Billy was the politician that never was. He can be sitting with top head of the Liberal Party that he supports (he crossed lines, when I run for public office) and could also be seen among the young people playing darts at the bar. He could be where people most congregate whether political or not and would even easily speak out his mind. He will be long remembered by people he has mingled with and by the family he loved and served. When he visits our home for a party or simply dropping by, he would be bringing in blessings – bananas or other fruits or simply some bread.
March 30 was the birthday of our late Mom, which our family celebrated together but alone. Mother Maria as she was fondly called by family and relatives. In our childhood Mom was a stay home mother, a typical survival home farmer tending lots of chickens, pigs and at one time rabbits for food and for sale. We had our own vegetable home gardens. Whatever we produce beyond our needs of pechay and bananas we sell to the neighbors. And as if that was not enough, we had our uma in the mountains which is now called Quirino Hill. At that time, we call it Carabao mountain as it looks like the back of a carabao sitting down. We had camote, bananas, peanuts, cassava and other things that my mom, auntie and us siblings would plant in the barren space of the mountain. Mother has always been our teacher in “love of work” “observe the seasons of the year” “industriousness” “never a dull moment life” she was full of energy and never runs out of things to do. The March 2021 that was.
10% capacity in church
Posted on: August 9, 2020
published in Sunstar -Opinion- SANGAL DI KULTURA June 2020
10% capacity to celebrate the Faith of our Fathers.
Faith of our fathers, living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword;
Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene’er we hear that glorious Word!
Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.
The ECQ and GCQ have isolated people to those they were used to be with – their families and relatives, co-workers, friends and batch mates and list can go on. To some it is a new experience especially if gatherings and parties are frequent. The new experience of zoom, chat and other methods of meetings and schooling have in some ways lessened the isolation.
But faith that has been kept by our forefathers has something to do with how things are being done to meet the spiritual needs of our people. That despite all odds the faith of our fathers never wavered and we sing, we will be true till death.
Moreover, the faithful have found the isolation a time to reflect on its implication. Many immediately shifted to live streaming services. Church leaders and members encourage the congregation to join during the live streaming as if it were the regular service. Some leaders even sent out guidelines like be in your Sunday best, sing with the choir, read with the readers and other guidelines for participatory service. My husband and I have been joining these services with renewed expectations and thankfulness for continued services.
Yet during these times, the realization that the church is not the building but the people became more pronounced. The church leaders are continually reminding the church members to go back to and do basis Christian duties on their own. They are encouraged to personally do their reading of the Bible, daily devotion, prayer times and Bible studies be conducted in the confines of the home, by the faithful. Family members are encouraged to conduct the prayer meetings by assigning members of the family to do so. That way the church continues in its work. Evangelistic work continues in the confines of homes and in the internet.
Personally, this isolation has given me more reason to do my Christian duty. I used to wake up at 5:00 am but now I have to wake up at 4:30 am to read the bible and to share at least one bible verse that is meaningful. I would usually read a whole book before I choose a Bible verse which is relevant in these special abnormal times. Then to fulfill my evangelistic duty, I learned how to do a presentation and convert it into a photo so I can share it in my face book timeline, page and sometimes in some groups. In that way, I am not the only one encouraged but I see some friends, family and others respond to the posting.
Now that we are on MGCQ and the clamor for 50% of the church capacity and not 10 people is a crowd has been met with some discussion among the leaders and the members of the congregation.
Our city mayor Benjie Magalong has met with the religious leaders and agreed on some guidelines on how to conduct the mass, the congregational service and other church services. It was agreed with a start of 10% capacity of the church or worship area and gradually increasing as the community scenario and developments is closely watched.
So everyone is excited to go to the services this Sunday. But this is restrictive as they do not allow senior citizen and the young to join the services. But then the argument is that Sunday is senior citizen day/ grandparents day so why not allow them to go join the service. All is going to a better time and surely the world will become better. Let the faith of our fathers of ages past, be the faith we have in these trying times. May the Good LORD keep us safe and faithful in these trying times!
Faith of our fathers, we will strive
to win all nations unto thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
We all shall then be truly free.
Faith of our fathers, we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife;
And preach thee, too, as love knows how
By kindly words and virtuous life. (Fredrick William Faber)
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Siak met ah – volunteers
It is undeniable that the ECQ and GCQ have brought the bad and the good in most people. Siak met ah- means “how about my relief pack?” “Where is my SAP?” and it can equally say “me too I want to donate,” “I want to render volunteer service” “I want to be counted as a front liner.” It is the best of us.
During these times the market has drawn a lot of attention because of the scheduled market day, the social distancing that resulted in long queue lines, the rat catching challenge, the periodical sanitation, the Sunday lockdown, the market to home deliveries, the satellite markets, the unsolicited proposals to rehabilitate the market and more. The attention brought about by the executive led by Mayor Benjie Magalong and our commitment as a representative of the City Council.
The market to home that started as an experiment a week after we were placed in ECQ with the first delivery on the 25th after two days or making arrangement with the Hanger vendors and the homeowners and setting up of a group chat for them. What started as an experiment has become a new normal even after the rolling stores were started in the first week of April 2020. It has continued into GCQ after the city planning body included it as activities included in the guidelines. And hopefully it will pass in the city council as an ordinance. It is now on its second reading scheduled for publication.
In the market to home we also saw “siak met ah” volunteers who made came out to make the group char actively informing others of prices, delivery schedules and other market concerns of the barangay. We started with group chat coordinators Faye Manzon and Joy Dalmacio Labosnog. I did the first week, but trained them to join me by the second week and after the third week we already included the trusted vendors in the group chat so they can freely communicate with the homeowners.
As we go to the GCQ we already have Kagawad Precy Esteban, coordinating Dontogan Market day after giving guidance on the first Saturday. Also Kagawad Thelma Balwayan who now coordinates the St Joseph Village market day. Ben Andaya coordinates the market day of Salud Mitra in the MOE facility of Edmund Bautista. Carmela Gavino, a BSBT instructor coordinates the San Carlos purok 23 to 27 mobile market. Siak met ah Sheila Pundo Piayas finally took over the Camdas, Happy Homes, East Qurino hill route, Joy now manages the Camp 7, Camp 8, Puliwes and San Vicente route. Faith Balbawang Sabala of Gabriella Silang, Dr Benilda Narcelles of Purok 3 Irisan and many more who have kept the market to home going during the quarantine days.
Soledad Benwaren has become the coordinator of the Brookside Market that sells items every day. The Brookside group is an example of a self help group borne out of the market to home initiative. After a week of waiting for the market, the homeowners took it upon themselves to seek for their needs, calling “siak met ah” market vendors, kabarangay sellers and family members who are farmers to deliver to Brookside the needs of the homeowners. This continue to grow in terms of items as well as homeowners in the area,
Siak met ah, was also seen in the market vendor volunteers trying to make a new normal, trusting that we can make it happen. Trusting that the homeowner customers will get their orders and that the goods they bring will be taken. Trusting that they will be not losing business by going to the market to home. It is indeed a ‘siak met ah” and not be complacent and just sit back and wait. It is the initiative and leadership that we need in these abnormal times. It is participatory and result oriented participation of people in responding to their needs and at the same time thinking of how they can help others. Siak met ah!
going back to South Korea
Posted on: July 10, 2018
AT PRESENT, the high level negotiations of the North and South Korea continues albeit with hitches and rhetoric.
But most of the South Koreans I met say they have relatives in North Korea and that the best would be to have just one Korea.
Two years ago, my husband and I visited the U.S Base in Seoul.
They had included a tour which included a visit to the border and the Demilitarization Zone; he went down the tunnel with all the other tourist, but I chickened out, scary for me.
After the tour and reading the literature he realized that they were there in the 1970s for a military exercise which unknowingly was to thwart a planned North invasion through the tunnels.
At lunch during the tour, our guide said that when some of the North Koreans came over to the South, they cooked their rice cakes with wooden saw dust because that was what they do in North Korea.
I love their rice cakes but with that story, I refrain eating them during that visit.
My first visit to South Korea was being a part of a winter school in 1993-94 through the Ullim Missions and Together in Christ Mission (Kapangan, Benguet).
It was Ruth Kim, the missionary of Kapangan who brought this school together.
We were in Seoul from November to January based in a house which also doubled as our training school.
That was where I had my first winter snow.
One afternoon I was sitting tutoring and all of a sudden we heard clapping and everybody went to the windows to witness the first snow falling, and eventually covering the grounds white with snow.
I remember it well as it seemed to have lightened everyone’s spirit.
Then this Korean man came and said “come we take snake” I said “no thank you” and he came three times and my response was the same. Until finally, he came with a plate and said, “Come.” And I realized he was saying “snack” not “snake” olala dummy me. The snack was delicious.
The winter school has two classes, the Koreans and the Filipino group. Koreans learning English and missions; the Filipinos were having a mission’s school.
I was teaching cross culture missions, and two Americans, Billy and Eddie, were teaching English. Ruth Kim was also teaching missions. Ruth was a persistent and God-loving Korean woman who has a passion for the lost.
Music was also briefly taught by Coppe Mero, but he left in less than a month and went back to the Philippines. Coppe and Adela Mero now have a ministry in Nagaland.
I lost contact with the other members of the training staff.
Our days started at 6 a.m. with personal devotions, followed by breakfast and lessons from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with lunch at 12:30 p.m.
After dinner was prayer for missions and our day ends at 10:00 pm where we can either watch movies, have chat time or sleep. But it looks nobody really sleeps in South Korea.
I remember one dawn, we were awakened and told to prepare because we are traveling to the prayer mountain, maybe the Koreans knew about it because they were prepared before the Filipinos.
And we went to Yonggi Chu Church or Yoido Full Gospel Church. It was huge and has cross monument before we go to the half circle main sanctuary.
Service was held at the sanctuary, where we were handed earphones for the translations. Translations included English, Japanese and other languages.
After that we joined a prayer group in a different area where we prayed though until midafternoon, it was lunch fasting time.
Watching how the Koreans pray put us to shame. They can kneel and pray for hours, with bottle of water beside them. After prayers we went to another church and they served us Ginseng chicken soup
There is a small whole chicken or chick in a bowl with ginseng and soup. It was a first time for me but it was delicious and nutritious, I ate it all except the bones.
Now we call the Korean prayer style as “popcorn” where everyone was praying at the same time.
Now, we join others to continue praying for a unified Korea, as most Koreans desire that to happen.
Many South Koreans have relatives left in the North. The boundary train can bring them as far as Germany if it were operational, but must past through the North.
May the Lord favor them.
Posted on: July 10, 2018
FOR our summer break we got a tour with Travelocity that included our flight, hotel, airport pick-up and two city tours.
One of this was a hop in hop out tour of Taipei
I have done the London, Melbourne and San Diego hop in hop out and so was excited to experience another.
One of the business lines not fully explored in Baguio, my husband and I experience an organized two day tour of Bohol which could be replicated even in our city. Unfortunately, our city is losing its historical sites like the post office, Governor Pack Baden Powell, the Abanao horse trough and other historical spots that speak of our heritage.
Last May 23 we took a taxi to the Taipei main station, and the taxi driver does not know where the pick-up point was and dropped us at the far end of the station. We had to walk far, asking people, showing them the map which was in Chinese character.
When we finally reached the main station, one pointed east so we went east then another pointed west and we went west.
The temperature was above 30 which is beyond my tolerance and I was sweating all over, while my husband was just walking by the building waiting for me to find the right spot. I was ready to give up when I saw a man who, I perceive to be a sweeper of the ground, and I showed him the map, he pointed south and said something in Chinese and pointed southeast, which I interpreted as south for getting in the bus and SE for getting off the bus and so we followed his instruction and there it was, the bus with the tour guide.
The tour has two routes, the red and the blue, and the ticket we got allowed us the red and the blue routes. So took the red route which brought us around the eastern side of Taipei and after completing that we took the Blue bus that took us to the northern part.
We spent nearly two hours at the National Palace Museum. There are four floors and my husband was engrossed and explained to me some of the historical data and physical material. We got our tickets and given a map, some had literature like Gallery 103 the Treasures from the National Palace Museum’s Collection of Qing Dynasty Historical Documents and gallery 104 the Gems and collection of rare and Antiquarian Books, which we visited last.
We first went to the second floor and saw amazing jars, flat vases etc. in under glazed blue Yongle reign of the Ming dynasty. The Kneaded clay ceramics the Song Dynasty and the paintings and calligraphy of the Tang Dynasty.
The third floor housed the gathered treasures including the Jadeite cabbage of the Qing Dynasty. Also materials from the Zhou dynasty (ca 9th century to 771 BCE) Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) Shang Dynasty (13- 11th century). It really was amazing and these people who would come to visit the Museum to learn more of their ancient history and traditions. Amazing still is the commitment of the government to maintain the museum. They are closed on Sundays and holidays.
After lunch we passed by the Zhishan garden beside the Museum before going to the bus stop. Similar to the London bus, this is a double decker and top floor has a portion which was air conditioned and the other portion of the bus is top down.
The red bus route passes by the Chang Kai Shek memorial park, the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, the Taipei 101, Huashan Cultural and Creative Industries Park, Daan Park (biggest park) and several shopping areas.
The blue route passes the fine arts Museum, the Ambassador Hotel, Shilin Official Residence among others. We missed the shopping areas, as we were more interested on the cultural stops which were many and one day tour is not enough to if we have to explore all of them.
They have deities enshrined in most of these buildings and stops and we see tourist and locals bow down and offer incense.
Going over the hop in hop out tours, they highlighted cultural, historical and new additions like the Taipei 101. In 2013, I organized a Spiritual Tour of Baguio City, maybe I can organized that and sell it. We may lack historical sites to highlight should there be an organized city tour of Baguio.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1746242/Baguio/Opinion/Weygan-AllanHop-in-hop-out-Taipei
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