PELAGIO ALCANTARA'S INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD EDITION OF 'UMAYKA MANEN, GANGGANNAET/COME AGAIN, STRANGER'

The Padsan River in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

View from Gilbert Bridge: Panorama of the eastern part of Padsan River in Laoag City

Lyric Fire by the River and Beyond

by Pelagio A. Alcantara

The poet rages and sings of his milieu.

Peter La. Julian is a respectable poet who burns and chants with a message and plucks his sensitive chord by the side of a river where he grew up and discovered the early sparks of his poetic fire. By accident of birth, being a riverside poet has its added advantage by design: the life and death of rivers is a symbolic struggle between man and his environment from which clash and clime, ebb and flow, the poet draws his material and thematic insights. But beyond the river of one's boyhood is also a range and variety of Julian's powerful voice. Journalist and fictionist, parent and friend, he, too, is  government functionary undimmed by the mist of bureaucratic routine. But whether or not the poems in this volume are sermons, elegies or lamentations, always the chief mourner's mood and manner in his own gentle way rues against the "stupidities" of men in the "mid-noon of their separate lives."

At ease with his medium and message, PLJ packs his lines and communicates with the intensity and force of lyric fire. He succeeds most when he ruminates over the summer spell of Padsan River and its massive bridge that connects his sullen city and beyond mocking the puny speeches of a festive folk crawling underneath. But he arouses best when he pokes his journalistic nose for a smell of the gut issues with piercing wit, imagery and sarcasm. His metaphor drips. His irony laced with certain sadness over the "babylons of the world" and the "gods who walk on white feet" in "these isles of songs and poems." He scorns the burdens of bureaucracy as a "wet morning" in the house of public men, cabals and conspirators, "dissecting omissions of the boss" and then looks outside for the sun where "sleep is a beautiful country under a coconut tree."

But no matter what his quarrels with the world are and images he mourns, be that of a Negros child, the fall of a shallow boss, pimps at Las Palmas, Sunday Catholics, foreign exploiters, Kabunian and his brown gods, lure of the hills, tawdry politics, dying rivers, ravaged forests, rape of the multinationals, poet's loss of meaning, dead relatives, or the reign of the new centurions of change--Julian is a nationalist consistently aware of and unfazed by his "enemies within." And in his attempt to redress society, he never fails to blend the luminous line and the nibbling sense of frustration bursting in the seams of his controlled rage.

That is why a reading of PLJ poems singly, or in this volume, is no dull and dense moment. Inspired by a Frostian view of reality that is "deep, dark and lovely," his is a nagging excitement, visceral and cerebral that salves the pain and gross of irreverence, irrelevance and ignorance, pitfalls of parochial poetry and the arrogance of the turbid mind which he tries to avoid with grace and humility.

Like his English poems, the Ilokano versions are silent celebration of clarity and eloquence, even elegance, that require a separate comment and study for a deeper appreciation.

The rage must go on.


*****
It is the Tugade Foundation that sponsored the Tugade Literary Awards. The organization only provides the opportunity/venue for winning writers to receive the cash prizes and the certificates of excellence. No adda idarum dagiti mannurat, awan sabali no di ti TF. We are not custodian of the money. In fact, as of now, the money for the 4th Tugade Awards is still in California. No adda man agkomkomento iti Abel blog, please identify yourself tapno masungbatankayo. Wenno kontakendak iti email: peter.labayog.julian@gmail.com. Kakabsat, it's all water under the bridge.

Ilokano icons: Dr. Consolacion, widow of Dr. Godofredo S. Reyes
and Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
at an Ilokano writers' convention in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte

ILOKANO LITERARY AWARDS

It was unfortunate that the T. Gabriel Tugade Awards which ran for four years had to be discontinued on the 5th year. Maybe the major winner did not know the reason. The Ilokano writing group to which he belongs undoubtedly knows why the awards had to stop. And we also know why: it has something to do with greed among the writers. We made a research ON THE SHORT STORIES in the Ilokano magazine, all of which were qualified to win the awards.Suddenly, there were "new writers" who were writing "good" fiction. Suddenly, there appeared to be a selective policy imposed by the editors, that is, they gave priority to "favorite" writers. Terry, when informed about our findings, had to make a decision: discontinue the literary project. A native of Marcos, Ilocos Norte, Terry wrote Puraw a Balitok (White Gold), a research-based novel serialized in the late 1960s in the Ilokano magazine.It was the time of novelists Maria Quigao, Lina Lorenzo, Lorenzo Tabin, Jaime Luzano, and this blogger with his Casa Fernandez.

ILOKANO LITERARY WINNERS TO RECEIVE AWARDS IN SEPTEMBER

The major winner threatened to convince other winners and his group to issue a resolution condemning the Timpuyog dagiti Mannurat iti Iluko iti Filipinas for its failure to give the cash prizes--they were suspecting kinnanmi diay kuartada. Very unkind, very unprofessional daytoy a tao. Dina ammo ti rigatmi a nangipamupusan iti pannakaited dagiti gunggona. But it's all water under the bridge. The sponsor, California-based businessman Terry Gabriel Tugade, has instructed her sister Linda on the venue and date of the awarding program. It will be in Marcos, Ilocos Norte

on September 29, 2012. I emailed Terry to make the confirmation. DIOS-TI-AGNGINA, Terry, for sponsoring all these years this Ilokano Literary Contest. The 4th Tugade Literary Awards hit a brick wall not of the making of TMIF. The major winner and his gang in the other Ilokano writing group should know why we had this problem and why Terry, a no-nonsense Iluko writer who wrote the research-based novel Puraw a Balitok, had to stop this literary project. But we are working on him to continue the contest for the sake of young writers in the language.

THE AIM OF LITERATURE, ACCORDING TO CHEKOV

Anton Chekov, a Russian, is regarded as one of the world's greatest short story writers. In 1987, this son of a grocer, trained as a physician, wrote that " the aim of literature is the truth, unconditional and honest."

Some modern writers echo his idea by saying that writing is truth-telling.The bottom line is objectivity, which is debatable with respect to the writer's selection of images. Which one does he want to project?

This is the domain of the journalist whose tools for looking for the truth--who what, where, when, why and how--obliges him to stick to the cold, bloody facts of his story.

THE RIVER AS LIFE'S OBSTACLE

It was our third banca ride across the mighty Cagayan River in Lallo town, the Magapit Suspension Bridge, the only one of its kind in the country, having been closed for repairs. A news report said the rehabilitation project costs P100-million, the work consists mainly of reenforcing the bridge's concrete and steel trusses. The banca could accommodate at least 15 people wearing around their neck orange lifeguards. It was 5-minute or so smooth sailing on the muddy water. (Typhoon Dindo was threatening the Philippines and it could have rained the night before.) Fare was P10.00 per person. Getting our bus on the other side of the river--Barangay Bangag--was easier this time. It was a walking distance to the vehicle which had parked nearer to the bank of the river. Last week, we had to hire a tricycle to take us to the Lallo-Ilocos Norte Road, where a Laoag-bound GMW bus was waiting. It seemed in a situation like this, everybody is friendly, each one trying to help each other. Like an elderly man, a bag with a laptop

slung across his shoulders and carrying two big bags,one of which belonged to a young woman with a 7-year old boy in tow. They were walking to where vans, passenger jeeps, minibuses were parked on the other side of the river. If the river is an obstacle in life. let us have more rivers to cross so people will be more civil, courteous and helpful.

PACQUIAO'S PASTORS AND PREACHERS

A Philippine Daily Inquirer article tells about preachers and pastors asking for perks, privileges and other favors from Manny Pacquiao. They are described as making a "milking cow" of the boxing idol. What a shame! In the June 30, 2012 issue of Timpuyog Journal, the official publication of an Ilokano writing group,

, Myra Yoro Madayag narrates a story about a money-making pastor who accumulated hectares of land in the Ilocos and built a mansion for his family. His "milking cows" were Americans who realized too late that their financial support for the spread of the Word went to the pocket of this pastor.

Milton Pablo cover design of the magazine of dreams

The ruined tower in Bacarra in Northern Philippines

This must be a tourist come-on in Sentossa, Singapore where the blogger sometimes go for vacation. Two sons worked in a multinational company in the world's sixth wealthiest nation on earth.

Writing: What is Original?

An Ilokano writer has posed the question: what is original? It must be understood that if we speak of creative writing, the end is a product, say a poem or a short story. that is new, and therefore, original. And this is no different from painting. Sometimes the product is not designed in the painter's mind. She or he takes the brush and starts painting. Suddenly, the canvass carries an image of something but the painting is not yet finished. Then the theme or topic or the complete representation of a thing, a view becomes clear. So is writing. The writer may have the pattern in his mind, some skeleton of the story or the poem then starts filling the spaces in the paper. W hat is original? Let us be blunt by citing the poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Only T.S. Eliot could write it. That could not have been authored by say, e.e. cummings whose signature poems include the following:" what if a much of a which of a wind"; "pity this monster, manunkind," which he only could create.Writing is not copying the work--a poem, novel--of another person.The product of the imagination of a person is unique unto itself given his or her own experience, perspective and other considerations.

Bon voyage, Jaja, Christian Paul, John2, Rene, Arlene

They took the Cebu Pacific Air at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport at Clark at 7 this morning for their Singapore home, after a week-long vacation in Oscariz. They had come to see Raul-Emmanuel's newly-built commercial building and residential place. They bonded with their Isabela Julian cousins: The 19- month- old Jasmine with a high social IQ, Christian Paul (15); and John Phillip (12) Photo captions: a view from their flat in the Serangoon area and riding Singapore's underground train

"The Best Poetry of Our Times"

I purchased this poetry anthology for $10 from an Orange County bookstore. (We were then waiting for a relative--Dr. Sonia Bumagat who works at Kaiser.) It contains the best poetry of our times, according to Michael Schmidt, who edited it. The poets, in black- and- white photo collage, that appear in the jacket include Allen Ginsberg, Robert Frost and Sylvia Plath. Here are parts of these great poems: "Turning and turning in the widening gyre/The falcon can not hear the falconer;/ Things fall apart; the center can not hold;/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world." --WB Yeats///" Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,/Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,/Silence the pianos and with muffled drum/Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come." --W.H. Auden// "For I have known them all, known them all--/Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,/I have measured out my life with coffee spoons."--T.s. Elliot// Two roads diverged into a wood, and I--/I took the one less traveled by,/And that has made all the difference."--Robert Frost  / Photo caption (top): With our grandchildren Jeric, now a medical college student in Ervine, and in the Dean's List of Scholars, and Anib-Israel, Jr. at Wal-Mart in Temecula

"DISCOVERING LITERATURE"

Leaving behind this massive book, Discovering Literature by Hans P. Guth and Gabriele L. Rico, for Marcel's research work. Am going back to Isabela today via Cagayan. Here's Maxine Kumine's insight on the writer as quoted in the book: "The person who writes of an inner need is trying to order his corner of the universe; very often the meaning of an experience or an emotion becomes clear only in this way."

ACCEPTING DECISIONS, ACCEPTING THE WORLD

"There is order in the world: war, famine, thirst,/ death, immorality, crime against property,/ all are parts indivisible..."--part of a poem of the blogger in an anthology published in the late 1990s. The unstated are the positives: peace, joy, happiness, name it that will make one happy copy. On the other side of the spectrum are the negatives: anger, frustration,fear, guilt, revenge. The Ilokanos, the Jews of the Philippines, capture the mental orientation of this universe: 'Kasta la ti biag.' There is a nuance in the language that can not be translated simply with the equivalent," That's life." You have to accept it. The theory is that if there is a thesis, there is always an anti-thesis. As natural as night and day, man and woman, light and dark, small and big, rich and poor, good and bad. Manny Pacquiao has accepted his loss to Timothy Bradley in a fight in Las Vegas that the world witnessed as a kind of unfairness: instead of Bradley triumphing, Pacquiao won the fight hands down. Pacquiao went with the flow of the universe. If he did not, it would be him who suffer: that negative emotion spawned by an unfair decision could kill him. As they say, roll with the punches. And the Philippine's boxing idol won the admiration of every body, even Oscar de la Hoya. Bradley? He was taken to the hospital in a wheel-chair after the fight. He was punished hard by Manny and Bradley had his ligaments torn by the impact of the power punches of his adversary.

RUBBER BOATS TO NORTE'S 19 TOWNS

It was a cloudy morning here in Laoag City--typhoon Butsoy is passing through Amianan on its way to Japan. At the provincial capitol, 19 rubber boats were turned over to Ilocos Norte's 19 towns by the Office of Civil Defense- National Disaster Risk and Rescue Management Council through Undersecretary Benito Ramos ( a native of Tumauini, Isabela).The secretary in all his dark Ibanag hue was wearing a blue chaleco with his office acronym a cross the back was talking to his staffers at the steps of the capitol. Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, in black tights and the Ilokano sablay over her white silk polo (?) was there. We had gone to the Assessor's Office to consult Atty. Ermy Labayog in connection with a complaint we were filing against some members of the Laoag City Police Station.Ermy, son of my nephew Ernesto and Herdy La. Yumul's cousin, was personally picked by Imee Marcos to head the AO. He has wonderful, wonderful years ahead of him as a lawyer and government functionary. It was almost 10:00 AM and Ermy was not yet in the vicinity so we decided to leave the place with an intention to see him at his law office at Paco Roman street. That we failed to do because of the weather. It was raining after lunch. No accomplishment within that span of time but we took it in stride./> Photo caption: the much improved Ilocos Norte provincial capitol and grounds, a portion of which is a park planted with indigenous bonzai plants (left) "Silence is the real crime against humanity."-Nadyezhdan Mandelshtam

Bradley says he is giving back the championship belt to Pacquiao

"I'm giving back the belt that I stole from Mr. Pacquiao."--Wheel-chair bound Timothy Bradley, in the presence of Oscar de la Hoya, said in my dream. Bradley, who suffered torn ligaments in his (right) ankle, was taken to the hospital in a wheel chair after the bout with the Philippines' boxing idol. Why did he suffer torn ligaments? It was theorized that he had a hard time balancing himself each time Pacquiao hit him with a flurry of power punches. Bradley's attempts to steady himself in the ring had disastrous consequence.

DIOS-TI-KUMUYOG, FRANCISCO AND LINDA

Francisco Lacar and his wife Linda will be flying back to Australia today. Francisco's younger sister Juanita and her husband Michael will be also be going home to the Lacars' adopted country on Thursday. One thing that the blogger observed during their meeting with the expatriates was that it was as if they did not leave the Philippines--no swagger, no speaking in English. Their Bacarra accent--something like guttural and loud- was intact.

THE LACARS OF BACARRA, ILOCOS NORTE, PHILIPPINES

They came home for the first death anniversary of their father Severino, who died at the ripe age of 99: Francisco and his wife Linda (originally from Batac), Francisco's Canada-based Manong, Rev. Fr. Sylvio; Teresita L. Rentz, also Canada- based; Juanita and her husband Michael, both based in South Australia; Corazon who is married to a Hernando and live with her husband and their children in San Nicolas; and Maria L. Vinasoy, Isabela. Their brother Daniel lives in the ancestral home in Bacarra. The house is a split-level concrete structure with a concrete post shaped like a leafless tree jutting from the floor to the ceiling. While we ate lunch (the Max Restaurant date in Laoag was canceled), we had a grand time exchanging views and experiences: bullying in school in Australia, Francisco and his wife talking to their grandchildren in Iluko, racial discrimination which is a no-no in Australia, the Ilokano diaspora and Ilocanos speaking the language in London, the Philippine phenomenon where Tagalog is the language of the home in Amianan when one of the spouses is non-Ilokano. The Lacars sponsor the annual Severino and Eufemia Lacar Commemorative Award in Iluko Poetry.

Thanks again, Apo Francisco Lacar

Australia-based Francisco Lacar who came to the Philippines for the launching of the Severino and Eufemia Lacar Commemorative Award in Iluko Poetry last May at the Convention Hall of the Philippine Ports Authority in San Fernando City, La Union, will be flying back to his adopted country next week. 





Photo caption: The Padsan River and the modern Gilbert bridge in the background.

MIND-SET

Joel Manuel, one of the winningest Iluko writers, has accused Timpuyog dagiti Mannurat nga Ilokano/Timpuyog dagiti Mannurat iti Iluko iti Filipinas of hanky- panky with respect to the cash prizes that have yet to be given to the winners of the Tugade Literary Awards. He, according to Severino V. Pablo, has said something like this: "Ibagbagayo a bulok (corrupt) ti Gumil (Filipinas) ngem dakayo ngarud a (TMI/TMIF)?"


Update:

We have deleted a great portion of this entry and let our friend Joel do the talking in his comment below. It's all moot and academic. Joel received his top prize during ceremonies at a popular hotel in Laoag City.

DISHONEST TIMOTHY BRADLEY, DISHONEST JUDGES, DISHONEST REFEREE

There was no way, you, Timothy Bradley, could win that boxing match with Manny Pacquiao. It was you alone who knew you were defeated. The referee and the judges alone knew you were beaten, Timothy. Your parents never taught you about honesty is the best policy? You had torn ligaments, Timothy, you acquired during the bout. Explain how you got it. We had our theory written in our Abel blog, Timothy. Read it, Timothy, and be honest about it. Don't be like the officials of an Ilokano writing group who pocketed some of the money for the construction of the writers' house in Suso, Sta, Maria, Ilocos Sur. That's in the Philippines, Timothy, where we have dishonest judges (not that kind that ruled you won the bout, but that rank whence came the recently- ousted Chief Justice Renato Coronado Corona of the Supreme Court), Philippine presidents, senators, congressmen, governors, town mayors, policemen, members of the Sangguniang Bayan, even village chiefs, and, yes, writers, specifically, the saluyot variety.

Fording the Mighty Cagayan River

Magapit Suspension Bridge in Lallo, Cagayan, the only one of its kind in the Philippines is undergoing repairs (retrofitting, whatever that means). It has been closed since early yesterday morning. The Vigan-bound GMW bus I rode on at the Cabatuan, Isabela junction at 8:00 a.m. stopped on the road to Aparri and disgorged its passengers. We walked with our luggage including a laptop strung on our shoulders to a landing area at the bank of the mighty Cagayan river, billed as the longest in the country. A motorized banca has just landed and passengers carrying cartons, bags and other possessions were getting out of the boat and walking up the narrow path. With the digital camera, I took pictures of other passenger-laden boats coming and going away to the other side of the river.I was the 16th rider on the boat without the orange lifeguard. We crossed the river in five minutes, more or less. We piled on a tricycle--me, a couple with a one-month old baby in her crib and a mother and son going to Vigan--that took us, for P50, to a waiting GMW bus on the Cagayan-Ilocos road. It was early in the afternoon, the Cagayan sun was beating down hard, and I was perspiring all over and had to change shirt at one of the vacant back seats of the curtained air-conditioned bus.

WHY BRADLEY WAS IN WHEEL CHAIR after the Bout

Each time he was hit by a Manny Pacquiao power punch, Bradley would reel --you could see his head backing off-- and tried to steady himself. Several times, he was being outbalanced by these big punches. As a result, the joints of the feet and the legs suffer. The consequence was slow in coming, that is, when the 12 rounds ended, he could no longer walk and had to be wheel-chair bound and taken to the hospital. Of course, this is a theory. But I based it on my own experience when I met an accident in San Fernando City street in October 2007. I was hit by the front wheel of a slow-moving passenger jeepney. I fell down but I did not feel anything was wrong with my right foot at that time and even signaled the driver to go on since I was rushing to an appointment. A female acquaintance saw me hit the ground and had to stop the driver, who then took me to the hospital. The following morning, I felt pain all over my right foot that went up my right leg and could not walk. Is there any other explanation on the condition of Bradley in wheel chair immediately after winning Manny's belt? Photo caption: Ilokano-Pangasinan boys on a night out in a Las Vegas casino.

LAS VEGAS ECONOMY TO FURTHER SLIDE DOWN?

What hit our Manny Pacquiao in his "loss" against Timothy Bradley in yesterday's bout was the power punch delivered by Mafia bosses that control gambling in Las Vegas. The betting was heavy and the rewards (for the referees) were too huge to ignore. But there will be consequences beside giving boxing a black eye. Las Vegas' economy was the most hit in the US in the worldwide financial meltdown. A great number of businesses downsized or closed down and many homeowners became unemployed. Unable to pay the rent, they became inhabitants of the streets like our own people especially those in the urban areas. The Pacman, no doubt about it, brings in the money every time he fights in Las Vegas. Filipinos by the thousands from all over the US Mainland and Hawaii descend on the casinos and powers the local economy. With Pacman expected to be gone, Las Vegas economy will slide down further. More people including their dogs will live in the streets, vacant lots, and parks.










Photo Caption: Filipino father and son inside a Las Vegas Casino

THE PACMAN BOXING REIGN ENDS, according to two judges of the bout

Today, June 10 in the Philippines, Filipinos witnessed the end of the reign of boxing phenomenon Emmanuel "Pacman" Pacquiao. It was a split decision--a letdown to thousands of Filipinos who descended on Las Vegas to see the fight against Timothy Bradley. Yet we saw Bradley running away from the Pacman in several rounds and being hit with power punches several times. Mafia decision because of the gambling money? But the vaunted power was no longer there--he could have wasted his energy boozing, gambling, womanizing. This defeat is a reminder to all mortals, not to say corrupt politicians, that nothing is permanent in the world.

ILOCANA SUPERWOMAN and Abra writers

     Our kumpadre, Juan S. P Hidalgo, Jr., the Ilocano writing icon, has dubbed her "superwoman" for so many reasons: writer, teacher, activist fighting for the rights of women in her native Abra, farmer, government agency head. 

     Maritess Benas, Philippine Information Agency chief in the province is one of the better Abra writers that include New Guinea-based Julio Belmes, Chit Quintero, Nid Anima, not Abra- born, but his mother was Abrena; Hermilinda Lingbaoan, Esmenio Galera, the late Ilokano mannaniw (poet) Donato Abanilla, another activist during the Marcos years and believed to have been killed by government agents. 
    Tess, a Ph.D holder, is my favorite ading.
    With her academic degree and leadership skills, Tess is very much qualified to head the PIA regional office in Baguio.
    The blogger was the PIA Infocenter Manager in Baguio when Chuck Leung  took over as PIA Cordillera chief after the Department of Public Information was  "demoted" to an agency when Cory Aquino became president. DPI , it was thought by the new government, was a propaganda arm of  Ferdinand Marcos. As a former staffer of the department/agency, we were only concerned in giving information about government programs for the people. We did these activities through media--print and broadcast--and the so-called interpersonal communication, where we mobilized public and private agencies and went to economically-depressed areas, bringing medical and dental services, and information to the people. 
     The project was implemented in the famous "information caravans. " One town we went was Ampusongan in Benguet, where we spent the night along with some soldiers that provided security to members of the participating agencies.

EXCORIATING with THE CAMPBELL TECHNIQUE OR WHY WE GET ANGRY AND NASTY

Maybe this is the domain of psychologists: writing non-stop whatever comes to mind is uncensored writing. Assumptions and conclusions based on information or facts are already processed in the mind. No holds-barred session with the self the results of which surface in the form of a nasty comment and anger when you hit the ceiling or the person becomes violent and ill-tempered.Or it could be the journalist-blogger acting as a professional with his tools of gathering information--who, what, where, when, why, how--laying bare an incident without editorializing. Just the bare, cold bloody facts of the investigative reporter in the style of Malou Mangahas or the late Armando Malay of the university days. It is a great error to expect something in return to what you do to someone and he blows it.The bottom line: the honesty and integrity of writers. 
This was written starting at 5:17 in the morning in the style of Julia Campbell.

Blogger receiving poetry award in 1979

Town A Milking Cow?

The grapevine says this North Luzon town is a milking cow of the municipal agriculturist, the municipal engineer, the town mayor and political supporters. It (the grapevine) says, that evidence of this perfidy can be seen in the town--business establishments, cars,beautiful houses owned allegedly by these people.Some of the houses are allegedly in the names of the town's number one politician. President Aquino, who is on the warpath against corruption, should send his investigators here.If he succeeded in ousting the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the now mere lawyer Renato Corona, there is no reason he could not put these grafters in their proper places,

PADLOCKED CHURCH TO REOPEN JUNE 24

The historical Roman Catholic Church of Oscariz, Ramon, Isabela, padlocked for more than a year, will re-open on June 24 following the installation of Fr. Anton Nyo, a Burmese, as the town's parish priest, replacing Fr. Michael Linga. The latter caused the closing of the village church when he "quarreled" with officers of the Basic Ecclesiastical Community over money matters. He has been reassigned to an obscure village in Lingayen, Pangasinan.

 It was unfortunate for the Bishop of Ilagan, the highly esteemed Most Rev. Bishop Nacua, to have given the imprimatur to the pastoral letter concocted apparently by Fr. Linga and the Dr. Ramon Guiab, president of the Ramon Parish Pastoral Council, giving them power to padlock the church..

Fr. Linga is a shame to the priesthood. His arrogance and dictatorial tendency should be a no-no for a priest like him. He did a lot of damage to the community and the La Salle Fathers. .

Remembering the Ilokano Poet Alfredo Navarro Salanga in the Time Kris Aquino was Sleeping with Joey Mrquez

.

His inspiration came from the dailies,/ Reading them, taking down notes/Everyday of his short life, at least/When he started learning his alphabet./ His comments are acerbic/His sentences just and severe/
Like a news writer in heat./But Alfredo was a Gobi rain-cool/And deliberate and wise, his punches
are sudden, straight like the arrow
Of Longfellow.

How sad he died so early/He could have produced more poetry./O, the restless wind could not stay/He had to go for his body was tired/Broken at its core--he was a fat man once--/The disease, like the terrible fish/Gnawed and gnawed/And he was all bones,/When he journeyed to the grave.

Fare thee again, comrade of the pen,/Feisty social critic to the end./You are the earth we now tread,/But we walk with your message/In these uncertain times/Of stress and screaming headlines--The First Gentlemen Mike Arroyo/And his supposed paramour Victoria Toh;/Joey Marquez the oversexed gigolo/And his girlfriend Kris Aquino.

May this madness be put to rest
May this country be given due respect/Is it fair, Alfrredo
If I speak to them instead of you?


Photo Caption ; San Fernando City bus waiting area on a hot windless afternoon