ENTRIES IN ILOKANO LEXICON

    Two new words are now entries in a forthcoming Ilokano dictionary authored by Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. 

     These are: napoles, a take-off from the name of the most notorious thief in the history of Philippine corruption, Janet Napoles  ; and jinggoyismo, from Jinggoy Estrada, one of the six senators involved in the P10-B scam in collusion with Philippine mayors, lawmakers and other cohorts.

napoles (1) 1. grand theft 2. grand larceny of people's money  3. grand scale thievery of development funds from the government in cahoots with government officials, but masterminded by a businessperson not employed by the government

jinggoyismo (1) maysa a kita ti nakarabrabaw a panangikalintegan iti di maikanatad nga aramid partikular iti pannakikunsaba iti birkog iti fundo ti gobierno a naisangrat iti panagdur-as dagiti awanan akses kadagiti rekursos ti gobierno.

"OCCUPY LUNETA"

     One million people are expected to attend today's protest rally against the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund at the Rizal Park (Luneta) in Metro Manila. Similar rallies will be held in other areas in the Visayas and Mindanao and in Baguio, Santiago and Laoag City. The P10-billion scam was engineered by business woman Janet Napoles and her "connections" in Congress--representatives and senators.

     The President and Vice-President of the Philippines have been practically using the taxpayers' money for their own welfare.

LETTING THINGS GO

The blogger has deleted the entry in this page to make a space in the future for a more "enlightened" writing. The facts have been submitted for judgment to the God Almighty.

   

THE MASSACRE OF JOURNALISTS AND OTHER POLITICAL PERFIDIES

All rights reserved


The inner power
could not err
quote deny not the little woman unquote
the empress in tandem
with the law cut throats
like sunflowers
the wind picking up the screams
and the backhoe was a farmer
plowing bloody seeds into the brown earth

the newspaper version
was a pain thing from Lethe
like the eternal scourge
like the paradoxes of thieves
in the apex of their content
like the dream echo of a surreal world. 


     

MARK TWAIN'S CONCEPT OF A LEADER/THE PRINCIPLE OF COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY

     It was not settled in his book: that the head of nation should be of lofty character and extraordinary ability. 
      
We have deleted the rest of the entry in this page as part of "letting things go" in order to go to another level of experience that is more fruitful and spiritual.

NO SOUNDS, NO RAINS

It's a weird morning, no sounds, no rains. The blogger bails out the rainwater on the concrete floor of the cubicle on the third floor of the Julian ancestral home.

"Maring" must have gone away from PH area of responsibility. I do breathing exercises. Fix myself a cup of instant coffee. I feel better. I could go home to Isabela tomorrow. I will, minutes from now, deliver 20 copies of Manang Pacing's book to SVP's choice of judges in Lacar. Haha. She is going to Hawaii in October. Her husband was felled by a stroke two months ago.

AY- AY PAY TI PAGILIAN

Lirika ni Andres Miguel Pasion
Ayug: Ay, Ay, Salidumay

Atur a bersion ti lirika ken musika ni Grace Nono

Kinabaknang
Sanikuaan
Pagtrabahuan
Rinanggasan
Da Kongressman
Ay, ay, Salidumay
Salidumay diway

Koro

Senadores
Babarkada ni Napoles
Dinurbabda adu a kuarta
Rinamasda ti kaha
Anian nga ulpitda
Ay, ay, Salidumay
Salidumay diway

Ay-ay pay ti ina a daga

Sanikuana tinaktakawda

Ay, ay, Salidumay

Salidumay diway

Ay-ay pay dagiti tattao

Agsagsagabada iti nakaro

Ay, ay, Salidumay
Salidumay diway

LETTING THINGS GO

THE EVIDENCE AGAINST THEM


We have deleted the entry in this page to make way for a more "enlightened" writing.

LAOAG RAINS KEEP THE BLOGGER AT BAY.

     It was "good" weather this morning, but heavy rains came towards noon and there was a downpour at past 4: 00 pm. Watching hot movies on U Tube and doing the FB, chatted with Baguio-based journalist Frank Cimatu. Storm Signal No. 1 has been lifted in Batanes.

     Brief meeting with Herdy at the street near their home. Gave him envelope containing the  original letters marked "Received" of the chairs of the International Committe in support of Abadilla, Bautista and Respicio. The blogger personally delivered the letters to Dr. Araceli Pastor, Rep. Rodolfo C. Farinas, Ria Farinas and Laoag City Councilor Franklin Dante Respicio.

     Lawyers of the Regional Office of the Commission on Human Rights will be arriving on Monday, according to Herdy. The lawyers will investigate the case of the three students who were expelled from their school when they spoke in Ilokano inside the campus.

INTERVIEW WITH LAOAG CITY SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT RE 3 EXPELLED STUDENTS

     I met her for the first time in a writers' symposium at the Mariano Marcos State University in Laoag.  She impressed me as a no-nonsense individual who did her job well as an educator and official of the Department of Education.

   

Ilocos Norte Provincial Capitol in Laoag City

     On August 14, 2013, I met City Schools Superintendent Araceli Pastor at her office across Camp Juan in the poblacion. I was delivering a letter of the chairs of the Hawaii-based International Committee in support of Abadilla, Bautista and Respicio. The three students who were expelled from their school  when they spoke in Ilokano inside the school campus. 

     We had a long talk on the issue and the August 8 closed door meeting at her office with the parents and other relatives of two of the students, Carl Andrew Abadilla and Kleinee Bautista; Atty. Jaime Agtang, SCA's lawyer; and Rev. Dr. Brian Shah, president of Savior's Christian Academy. The dialogue, Dr. Pastor said, ended with the parties concerned hugging each other.  They agreed not to discuss the issue in public, not to say anything to media.

     In the afternoon of the same day, Atty. Agtang announced in GMA's Balitang Ilokano that the issue has been resolved and the expelled students could go back to SCA.

     The lawyer's announcement prompted Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Dr. Raymund Ll. Liongson of the Community College of Leeward, chairs of the International Committee chairs to write Dr. Pastor, Rep Rodolfo C. Farinas, SP member Ria Farinas and Laoag City Councilor Franklin Dante Respicio.

     Dr. Pastor was not initiating an investigation on the expulsion of the students because, she said, there was no complaint filed before her office.

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION TO PROBE CASE OF STUDENTS EXPELLED FROM SCHOOL BECAUSE THEY SPOKE IN ILOKANO

Laoag City Ilokano kids

     Laoag City--The regional office of the Commission on Human Rights in San Fernando, La Union will investigate the case of three students expelled from their school here because they spoke in Ilokano.

     In his letter to Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili, one of two chairs of an International Committee in support of the expelled students, Atty. Romel P. Daguimol, CHR regional chief, said that the case is "very alarming and needs our immediate attention."

     Earlier, Dr. Ricardo A. Nolasco of the University of the Philippines' Department of Linguistics, wrote CHR chair Etta Rosales, about the case of three students of the Savior's Christian Academy, whose "linguistic and educational and human rights" were violated by the school. 

   The letter of Nolasco, a member of an organization of academicians and linguistics scholars that promotes the Mother-Tongue Based Multilingual Education,  prompted Rosales to order Atty. Daguimol to act with speed and dispatch on the case.

     It was learned that CHR lawyers would be sent to Laoag City this week and as soon as typhoon "Labuyo" which was passing thorugh the Ilocos region yesterday shall have left the country.

     The case arose when the students were talking among themselves in Ilocano during a break inside the SCA which strictly enforces a "Speak English Only" policy. They were made to report to the office of Rev.Dr. Brian Shah, school administrator, who allegedly berated and shouted at the students and even threatened to throw his cellphone on them.

     The students--Kleine Bautista, Carl Andrew Abadilla and Samuel Respicio, all 13 years old and Grade 8--were advised to look for another school on July 31, which they did and enrolled, except one, in other schools in Laoag City.

     The memo for the expulsion was signed by the school principal, Dr. Cristeta Pedro, a retired university professor.

     The case has caught the attention of local officials like Rep. Rodolfo Farinas of the first congressional district of Ilocos Norte. In his message in the website Taga-Laoagkami, he said that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan would be taking up the matter to be spearheaded by his daughter Ria, an SP member. 

     Meanwhile, a petition to remove for cause of Rev. Dr. Shah, a Singaporean, from his post as president of the SCA and to cause  him to leave the Philippines immediately, has been going around the social media and has gathered more than 500 signatures worldwide.

     The signatories were mostly Ilokanos in the country and in the so-called Ilokano diaspora including the Philippines' ethno-linguistc groups, academicians and scholars across the country and abroad. 

    Dr. Agcaoili, coordinator of the Ilocano program of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a native of Laoag City like his co-chair Dr. Raymund Ll. Llongson of the Community College of Leeward in Honolulu, said that copies of the petition will be submitted on August 14 to the Department of Education and the Department of Foreign Affairs. --PETER LA. JULIAN

STARTING THE DAY RIGHT, 2

     It's 4:48 in the morning, a Monday, in Laoag City. Typhoon "Labuyo" is supposed to landfall today in Casiguran, Aurora, in Eastern Philippines. The blogger is inside his cubicle at the third floor of the Julian ancestral home. It's a quiet morning, no wind, and nothing stirs. From the eastern window, I can see Gilbert bridge across the Padsan river. Only a few cars, a motorcycle, are crossing the bridge in either direction. The lights of the bridge are reflected on the waters of the polluted river.

     The blogger walks towards the open window, and looks down the deserted street. Where is the typhoon? No wind and rains that usually precede it. Somewhere in the neighborhood, agsisinnungbat dagiti taraok dagiti kawitan. 

     The blogger takes a deep, deep breath. He inhales the love of the Almighty that he imagines is sitting on his throne in the heavens. He exhales the fears, frustrations, the anger of the previous day, and all negativity. The blogger repeats the process for at least five minutes. Then he smiles and says, "This is a great, blessed and fruitful day."

Postscript: 6:30 AM siren blast in the direction of the provincial capitol in the centro. That's typhoon signal #3 in Ilocos Norte. It's a grey morning here but the few clouds hovering would not bring heavy rains and strong winds have yet to blow from the east mountains.

The blogger's jogging route in Singapore

STARTING THE DAY RIGHT

     The following is a sort of quotation handwritten on a page of the book, "Reading, Writing and Rhetoric" authored by J. Burl Hogins and Robert E. Yarber. It is circa 2003, and the blogger does not know whether the quotation was copied from a book, journal or magazine or product of his imagination.

     Start your day with a deep, deep breath. Inhale all the love and goodness of the Almighty. Exhale the tears and sadness and all negativity. Repeat the process for at least five minutes. Then smile and have a great and blessed day.

      It is a Sunday in Laoag City, 4:37 in the morning. The blogger is jogging in his cubicle on the third floor of the Julian ancestral home. From the window, he could see the Gilbert bridge across the Padsan river. The lights on the bridge are reflected on the waters of the river.

QUOTES FOR THE SOLITARY LITERARY BARBARIAN

"We are species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little. But we do more have so much to say and figure out."


"You begin to string words together like beads to tell a story. You are desperate to communicate, to entertain, to edify, to preserve moments of grace or joy or transcendence, to make real and imagined events come alive. But you can not will them to happen. It is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work. So you might as well go ahead and get started."--Anne Lamott, author of "Bird by Bird: Some Instruction in Writing and Life."

FIRST MEETING WITH AN ILOKANA POETESS

     The blogger met Dr. Alegria Tan-Visaya, secretary of the Board of Regents of the Mariano Marcos State University, during a writers' seminar at MMSU College of Teacher Education in Laoag City. The event was also attended by Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who, as usual, was the "star attraction" as feisty lecturer with radical ideas in language and culture.

     Anyway, it was the blogger's first meeting with Dr. Visaya. The date was August 27, 2005, a Saturday, and she impressed me then as a Smiling Lady with laughing eyes. I was holding a book then and I wanted to record that meeting. She wrote on the first page of the book--an anthology of essays by the Italian-American Poet W.S.Di Pierro: " Sir Peter La. Julian. This is a memorable day! I met you in person!."

One of floats in the annual Panagbenga ( Festival  of Flowers), usually starting in February, in the highland City of Baguio in the Philippines

     When the Severino and Eufemia Lacar Commemorative Award for Iluko Poetry was launched in 2012 at the Philippine Ports Authority in San Fernando City, La Union, the blogger recommended Dr. Visaya and Apo Ariel to sit as judges of the contest. The blogger has read some of Dr. Visaya's poetry in Timpuyog Journal. She has developed her own kind of poetic style. Her poems are replete with "essential facts" as opposed to poetry of "retrospective abstractions." She could fill the requirements for Lacar judges.

     You were ditched aside, Dr. Visaya and Dr. Agcaoili, in favor of non-poets, at least, those who matter in our humble view. 
     Our apologies to you and Dr. Agcaoili.   

    

OFF THE PRESS: GRAMATIKA TI KONTEMPORANEO NGA ILOKANO (CONTEMPORARY ILOKANO GRAMMAR)

     The 244-page book was a product of "seven years of experimentation" at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where the author, Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili, is the coordinator of the Ilokano program. The US edition was priced at P750.00 at the launching of the book at the College of Teacher Education of the Mariano Marcos State University, Laoag Campus last July 27.

     UH is the only university in the world that offers a 4-year bachelor's degree in Iluko. Last year, Dr. Agcaoili's Contemporary English-Ilokano Dictionary was launched at the same venue.

    Dr. Agcaoili, poet, essayist, fiction writer,  novelist in Ilokano, Filipino and English, was formerly of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

     "Gramatika" and other Ilokano books of Dr. Agcaoili are sold at National Bookstores nationwide.

 

 

FREE AT LAST, 2

       The blogger has been crossing into his Elba, away from the night waters muddled by hate, lies, treacheries.

     

       The blogger's farewell comment:

       I will always think of you as a moral community of truth, wisdom, love, charity and understanding.

FREE AT LAST

QUOTE FOR THE SOLITARY LITERARY BARBARIAN

Third generation Julians

2nd generation Julian in his adopted province of Isabela

     "Free again! Free Again! Oh, my God, I am free again!"-- a take off from Martin Luther King, Jr., the Afro-American activist.

Spillway of the Magat River Irrigation System in Ramon, Isabela, Philippines

REMINDER

   The God that you worship is also the blogger's God. The Almighty God who sits on His throne in the Heavens has been watching us. He has been reading your emails. He knows the heart of men. May He shows you the way. May He shows us the light.