Journal of December 1, 2011

BLESSINGS

The networks and the newspapers like the Philippine Daily Inquirer are counting the days before Christmas. I count my blessings-- health which has given me the luxury of this ripe old age and counting more years before crossing the Great Divide. No house built by the salaried man, no cars, no land purchased, a little pension fund, a lot of books, journals and magazines to consist a small library, 8 sons all living, the first-born more than 40 years of age, 21 grandchildren. Still, I dream of winning the Lotto, which will give us the means to embark on a tour around the world or a cruise on board the most luxurious ship in the world. And do a lot of charity work, scholarship for economically-deprived kids.

It's 1:09 am on my laptop, have been here since 11: 30pm when I woke up, roused from sleep by TV my wife has opened when she came into the room from downstairs. Have to sign off and continue sleeping. Thank you, O Lord of Hosts, for these extra minutes and hours, and days and months and more years.

Photo captions: My laptop and books in my getaway at the ancestral home in Laoag, the gate to the Universal Studios in Sentossa, Singapore through a gnarled tree. Kayanga (gumamela) in Raul-Emmanuel's garden. My apoko SLU Baguio poster girl Margarita Denden Julian. Jeric-Israel Julian's medals as most outstanding student of the Paloma Valley High School in CA.

COVER STORY

               Spent the longest hours editing the cover story of the Dec. 1-15, 2011 issue of TJ. No compensation here except the satisfaction that we fulfill the unwritten principle of making the magazine the best of its kind in Amianan and the Philippines. The story is about a Lithuanian royalty, a son of a Polish officer who emigrated to Australia and married an Ilokana from Barrio Cili in Binalonan, Pangasinan.

Were the hours wasted and could have been spent for a more fruitful endeavor like writing a short story or a poem for publication in some national magazines and journals? Can I still be creative? What should I WRITE now to befits the old fogey?

It's quarter to two in the afternoon of Nov. 30. No school classes the whole country? If there were no classes, how will the children spend the day profitably. Just relaxing their bodies and their minds?

That's right, it's a national holiday. They are celebrating the birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, who founded the KKK and led the armed struggle against the Spaniards. He later on was ordered killed by the faction of Emilio Aguinaldo, first president of the Republic.

SIGNS OF OLD AGE

MONDAY, Nov 28, 2011

It's 5: 15am. My bunch of keys are still missing, as usual with some of my small items like tooth brush, camera, ball pens, a pair of scissors, coins, money bills.

LAW VIOLATOR WANTS PROTECTION OF THE LAW

She violated the law with impunity. She, in the "Garci tape," allegedly instructed Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol to do away with the rules so her senatorial bets could beat the opposition, 12-0. Now under hospital arrest, she wants the protection of the law. Will it be house, hospital or a detention facility for her? Cong. Teddy Casino, an above ground communist, wants her jailed in a government facility. Once the most powerful woman in the Philippines, she is at the mercy of her enemies who are bent on imprisoning her for all the crimes she committed during her reign. Afflicted with a rare bone disease, the once imperious woman is a pitiful sight, now wheel chair-bound, a brace on her neck. You had your day, Gloria. Please bear your suffering with dignity.

Missing FB Account

Missing FB since yesterday. The account must have been sabotaged by those who perceive me as enemy.

Spent almost the whole day playing tong-it, a card game, at Ang's place. What a waste of time and I only won more than a hundred pesos.

It was already evening when I went home. Placed lotto bets on 45, my chosen number and a lucky pick costing me P20. Bought sisig, roasted pig meat, (P120) but did not eat it for dinner. Instead, I ate fried fish in slices brown. Took a bath and put on a Wagner polo.

It's now 4:03 in the morning. Have drank the usual hot water in a mug, Read and applied A Practical Guide to Self-Massage, a Reader's Digest book.

Rains pattering the rooftop. But at 7:15 a.m. the sun is hiding behind the clouds. Yesterday was a clear day, but the sun was not fully out in all its glory. Maybe, it will not be the same today,

Read Ramon Tulfo's column at online Inquirer about the meeting between long time enemies, the convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada and Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Chavit Singson, during the birthday party of Tulfo. He, Tulfo, concluded that the secret of the good health of Erap is his forgiving nature. Chavit was the whistle-blower that exposed the corruption of Estrada and caused him to be ousted in office by a military coup. He was replaced by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, now under arrest at St. Luke's hospital, for the crimes committed during her watch.

Estrada is free, having gained Gloria's presidential pardon, while the woes of the Little Woman and her husband, have just only begun.
.
Photo caption: Buos or abuos (a kind of ant with eggs) is cooked, usually fried, a delicacy among Ilokanos. For sale at the paradaan in Oscariz, Ramon, Isabela

NOTES FROM AN INFO CARAVAN WHEN GOVERNMENT SERVICE WAS TRULY FOR THE PEOPLE

They were the worst of places, the most beautiful places.
The ambiguity sums up Kapangan and Kibungan, twin towns in the Western Cordilleras near the Ilocos Sur border.

The first attribute refers for the most part to a mountain road system that needed immediate care and attention. The most expert of drivers with the most durable vehicle could experience nightmare negotiating that stretch, especially that part after the bridge at Boneng, which is rocky and narrow and a miscalculation could plunge us into the ravine.

The second attribute refers to spectacular scenery and majestic mountains. It was a sky without clouds and green was the dominant color of trees, rice terraces and vegetation. Soaking in nature at eight in the morning is good for the spirit and suddenly, we, caught in the freshness and vibrancy of new surroundings, felt new and vigorous as an overpowering sensation surged through us: it is good to be alive!

Photo caption: One of the canals of the Magat River Irrigation Systems in Aguinaldo, Ramon, Isabela

LAGLAGIP

from my album

Cigarette-smoking Blas Ople, then Labor Minister, was the guest of honor and speaker, his booming voice exhorted the writers. The young and sultry Imelda Papin was the guest singer and her husky voice, capturing the anxiety and loneliness of unrequited love, filled the office of Focus Magazine in Port Area, Manila.

It was in the evening of January 13, 1979. The cold wind from the bay wafted through the windows.It was the magazine's Sixth Annual Literary Award honoring the year's outstanding writers in poetry, essay and fiction. The winning writers included Peter La. Julian, Prescy Supnet from Narvacan, Ilocos Sur; Sammy Sta. Maria, Benjamin Afuang, Joel de los Reyes, Romeo Navarro, Enrico Enerio, Maximo Ramos, then former dean of a college in the University of the East; and Wilfredo L. Aberca.

Prescy, then 17-year old wisp of a girl, is now Chancellor of the University of the Philippines in Baguio. She won in the essay category; this mannurat, in poetry, with his Today Arrives the News of Dolorosa Dans, which was about the fall of a demi-god in the government bureaucracy. (the girl in the far left beside PLJ in the colored photo) of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, -.
Also present during the award rites were Minister Jaime Laya and a Budget Minister, I can not as yet recall the first and last name and the late Kerima Polotan, then editor of the magazine and one of the country's better essayists. Kerima's husband, Juan Tuvera, a senior journalist from San Esteban, Ilocos Sur, and a government propagandist.

The decade was ending, and Ferdinand Marcos' martial law regime was in its 8th year.

Years later in February 2010, I met Priscilla, a Ph.D holder, for the second time. It was during a Panagbenga Poetry Reading at the Audio-Visual room of UP Baguio's College of Languages, Arts and Communication, where I read Daldalliasat in Iluko and partly in its English version. It was as if that affair in Manila happened yesterday. But we have grown old and still slim, only a few pounds added to our weight since 1979.

Photo captions: a page from the Focus magazine; PLJ poses with the late Kerima Polotan (black and white photo)
The 4 of my 5-man staff of the Department of Public Information provincial office in Ilocos Sur: Elmer Peredo, Ben Pacris, Orlando Pedro (my driver and photographer) and PLJ.

to be continued

ARGUMENTS WRITTEN IN BLOOD VS. HOLLOW ARGUMENTS

Gloria Arroyo's lawyers have concocted arguments in an attempt to save their client whose neck is fortified with braces. The Filipino people have their own arguments against the Little Woman who acted with impunity during her time. One such argument is written in blood--the blood of the martyrs in the gruesome Maguindanao massacre which has been linked to her through the barbaric Ampatuans, the alleged perpetrators of the the mass murders.

FACEBOOK LOVER 2 IN MODERN HAIKU

facebook lover 2 in modern haiku

la senorita de mindoro
crisscrosses the mind:
el silencio de las flores
del monte

Photo captions: Summer Grape Court in Winchester, CA and sunflowers near a flea market in the area along highway

Qs In Philo Two On Gloria's Woes

1. Human act is an act done by man with full knowledge and deliberation. An act of man is an act done without full knowledge and/or deliberation.

How do the kinds of ignorance affect responsibility?

2. He/she is either responsible or not responsible depending upon his kind of ignorance. If his ignorance is classified as invincible, he is absolved of responsibility but in so far as the moral law is concerned. He is not excused from responsibility when he transgresses civil law unknowingly as a result of his ignorance. If his ignorance is vincible, he is not absolved completely of responsibility.

How does fear affect responsibility?

3. A person acting through fear or out of fear is not responsible for his act because he is not free; he is, therefore, absolved of responsibility.

Freedom gives the person the option to do or not to do an act. But whether he accomplishes the act or not, he is responsible for it.

The above is also applied to Lintang Bedol, the Mindanao election supervisor, now in government custody. As a government witness against Gloria?

No Wrong Doing?

Magat High Dam in Aginaldo, Ramon, Isabela and women daoing their laundry at the Padsan River (right)

A Pasay city court yesterday issued
an arrest warrant against Gloria Arroyo who headed what has been described as the country's most corrupt administration. The charge was electoral sabotage. There was no wrongdoing on my part, she said through a spokesperson.

The case, a senatorial election, occurred in Mindanao where Bedol, the highest ranking election officer in Maguindanao, was ordered by Gloria to tamper with the votes, which he did successfully, and drew protest from all walks of life in the county. She already admitted then that she cheated in the election that catapulted her to the office of the President of the Philippines.

Earlier, the Supreme Court, most of them her appointees, allowed her to travel to Singapore to seek treatment for a rare bone disease.

Gloria, during her time, violated the law with impunity. This time the law will be applied against her with all its mighty force.

It's Friday. Pag-asa earlier predicted that on this day the rains would stop and understandably the sun would be be out in all its glory. I will be taking out my laundry, which I washed yesterday, to dry in the sun.

A plan to go to Laoag tomorrow. The package from Hawaii arrived a long time ago, and Ligaya has been sending text messages inquiring when would I go there.

WAITING FOR THE PACMAN-MARQUEZ 3

Typed and sent article, "Ne, Kuripot kano dagiti Ilokano," to Franklin and Binnong for the Dec 2011 issue of Timpuyog Journal. The short piece was written by a high school student from a Catholic school in Alicia, Isabela.While waiting for the boxing bout between the Pacman and his Mexican rival. It's now 9:37 in the morning. Fight is sked to start at ll: 30 am.

Fight which ended at 1 pm lasted the full 12 rounds. Manny won by a majority decision. It could have gone to Juan Manuel Marquez who was good at counter punching, keeping Manny at bay.

Our initial assessment of Pacquiao's lethargic performance: he peaked when his training was at the last stages. He was over-trained.

Now 11: 12 am. The boxing bout will come in the hour. It's November 13 in the Philippines.
A majority judges' decision for Manny. But many Filipinos thought Marquez won the fight. I noted the aggressiveness of Pacquiao--Marquez was not initiating the fight but only counter-punching- which could have won the referees' nod.


Photo caption: Manny Pacquiao San Miguel ad at the entrance of a Filipino store in Cerritos, near LA. Other photos during a night out in Las Vegas.

Journal of Nov. 10, 2011

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FEELING BETTER TODAY, NOV. 9

Feeling better, phlegm which has been bothering me for almost a month, is almost gone. Woke up at past 4 in the morning and did the morning ritual. Facebook comments and uploading Laoag city pictures, which elicited a native who must be now a resident in a foreign country.

Instant coffee packs (2) and a pack beer brand milk all worth P20, from Divina's store. I am going to Santiago today, drop some mails (Timpuyog Journal copies) for prospective subscribers.

Thank you, Lord of hosts,, for the beautiful, sunny day and the opportunity to make myself productive. Bless my family and the people of the Philippines. Bless Jimmy and Nelson Ang that they may win the case against Prudencio Bartolome who, it appears, grabbed their residential lots. His son, the municipal engineer, was overheard to have said that they can bend the law. Days earlier, the municipal judge decided in favor of the land grabber. But the aggrieved parties
have appealed the case to the regional trial court.

Other expenses for today: P60.00, internet; P20 pack of coffee; P10 Swak powdered milk; P20
tukmem or dukiang, river shells, Sisig, P120.00. Overall expenses, P250.00

lost LETTER FROM THE GARBAGE OF MEMORY

diakon sinungbatan ti teksmo. is there another gender view of what is bad or good?

if i keep money--ket dayta ti inaramid ti presidente ti gunglo iti $600 nga inted ni Dr. Pete Alupay para iti gunglo--that is not mine and I will not return it to the rightful owner, do you find it acceptable?

thoughts are things and words cut like a million razor blades. 


this realization that we have nothing in common with what matters most in life as writers is painful. 


Caption, bw photo, circa late 60s: seated, far left, Severino Pablo; and Virginia Alejandro and Peter La. Julian, far right. Standing, Joe Gonzales, second from left, and the late Pelagio Alcantara, beside Gonzales. 2nd photo, a photo copy of my facebook account reliving the writers' house accompanied by a photo with the late apo s, godo reyes, presidente ti gunglo iti 13 a tawen.

DANIW

siak ti angin a mangay-ayam iti buokmo
siak ti sinamar ti init kadagita matam
siak ti dungngo ti apros dagita imam
siak ti ayat a nanglapunos iti pusom
siak ti saibbekmo
siak ti agarimayang a luam


Photo captions: my jogging path and sunflowers along my route in Winchester, CA; my laptop and New Yorker magazines in my hideaway at the third floor of the ancestral home in Laoag

Journal of November 7, 2011

Sent the whole Errol Liquicia Abrew manuscript, "Dibersion, Politika ken Dagiti Sakit ti Pagilian," to SV Pablo for the Nov. 15-30 issue of Timpuyog Journal, which is being prepared in Laoag because they will be responsible for the editorial content and the printing cost. It will be a Bacarra Fiesta issue with all or most of the articles dealing with the town, which won the title Balikbayan Town, when the Balikbayan Program was launched by the President Marcos in 1970s.

The first chapter of REDEMPTION, a nobela by Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, will come out in the Dec. 2011 issue of Timpuyog Journal.

Journal of November 6, 2011

The sun came out, albeit briefly, and rain clouds are gone, and it is bright day. Have edited the 49-page article on the country's diversions, politics and problems written by Errol Abrew for the Timpuyog Journal. Took a hot bath, then put on my red sweater given by Elinor, wife of Dr. Pete Alupay, a medical doctor in CA, where we spent the 2007 New Year in their house in Riverside.

The production of phlegm is almost nil and far between, reducing the rattling in my chest; less discomfort. Walked to the restaurant near the irrigation canal and had lunch of pinapaitan and rice, costing P50.00. The place with red plastic Coca cola tables is along the road, where I could see green rice-fields and the concrete palay/rice bodega of Tottie. Game of Tong-it in the early afternoon at Ang's place.

Journal of November 5, 2011

A gray, rainy day. Late breakfast of noodles mixed with camote tops and pallang, a bundle of which I purchase two days ago and stored in the ref. No lunch. At the laptop editing Errol Abrew more than 32-page article, with the edited title, DIBERSION, POLITIKA KEN DAGITI SAKIT TI PAGILIAN, for the next issues of Timpuyog Journal. In the evening, I ate dinner at the eatery nearby. It was rice with chopped chicken breast costing P30.00. Edited poem on the tower of bacarra by Dr. Vicente Bonoan, and a short article of Rodolfo Guittap for the Nov- 15-30, 2011 issue of Timpuyog Journal. My cough persists, plenty of expelled phlegm. No single capsule of medicine today.


Photo: Raul-Emmanuel Julian's garden path in his more than a million peso home in San Mateo, Isabela.

ALL SOULS DAY

In the Spanish Catholic calendar, which we brought home from Winchester, CA, November 2 is called The Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed. Do an early morning jogging to the Catholic cemetery near the Magat irrigation canal going east. I pay obeisance to my father-in-law, Vicente Co, and mother-in-law, Alberta Eugenio, whose bones are contained in a big white concrete structure. I am the only person in the area. Opposite it are two large tombs with name plates beneath a newly-constructed shed

My in-laws' tomb was cleaned yesterday, the grasses around it cut and Esteling laid flowers on a glass container on the top. It is a gray day, and drizzles when I start walking on the bridge. Buy two packs of beef Homi noodles and two eggs from the store, which cost P25.00. Cook the noodles mixing it with cracked egg, marunggay and camote leaves, which I picked inside the yard and in front of the house where Raul's Lechon Manok stand is located.

The sun is out and I do the laundry as usual in the old washing machine, with less than half a pack of Ariel powder costing less than P10. Enough for 4 maong pants, a brown polo, brown shorts , a polo and 2 sweatshirts that Anib-Israel purchased in a California store, in Temecula?

It's 11:12 in the morning. I will eat outside, perhaps play tong-it at Jimmy Ang' s place.