A writer or journalist has to tell the truth

For him or her to be credible as a journalist, he or she must tell the truth. And the truth is a simple compendium of facts obtained by using the tools of the trade. The tools are the 5 Ws--what, who, why, when, where; and H, how. And we also speak here of accurate information, like the correct name of a person, even the spelling of the name. The responsible journalist checks and rechecks his facts or data.

Facts on the ground show that the country's major media outlets, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN TV Network, have not been telling the whole truth with respect to the acts and projects of Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte. He has started exposing their dirt in public; of course, his own version of truth.

***

We are still a God-forsaken wilderness of hate, anger, recriminations--a fractured culture where criminals, womanizers, robber barons and other shady characters reign supreme like Roman centurions.

The Nonverbal Communication

The Science of Kinesics or Wordless Communication

If I talk to you in person and you listen, you may know me as a person, not the one you imagined who I am or imagined me to be. And vice-versa. I will hear your message-- in your voice, in your tone, in your face, in your whole body--and, most probably from inside of you, your heart and your soul.
And if you read this post as written, will you have an idea of my person or part of my person?

The Tobacco Monopoly Monument and the Roman Catholic Sinking Tower
in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Selfie As Art/2 In, Imitation, of, Jose, Garcia, Villa, Comma, Poem

                                                           Karayan, Padsan, Water, Lily

                                                    She, too, was, a, river, maiden,
                                                 Unreachable, mysterious, secretive,
                                                 The, unbearable, shyness, of, youth,
                                                   A, deep, deep, road, to, nowhere,
                                                     Too, late, the, speaking, voice,
                                                     Too, late, the shattering, rain,
                                                The, disaster, we, did, not, comprehend,
                                                The, pact, with, our, bodies, went, astray,
                                                We, could, have, lived, in, peace, and, quiet,
                                                  In, the, morning, side, of, the, mountain,
                                                              Together, forever.  

The "Heroes" Had Feet of Clay

Nothing has changed since the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
The Edsa heroes had feet of clay.
The oligarchs reign supreme.
Political dynasties rape the land.

The Wandering Mind and the Power of Meditation

The "stream of consciousness in fiction" is a reflection of the mind, the wandering kind that is difficult to calm or control as it drifts from thought to thought. This is the egoic mind that harbors anger, hate, jealousy and other emotional poisons and thoughts, Covered with layers of illusion, if not delusion, it can only be liberated by a thorough cleansing with the power of meditation and concentration.

The blogger as a young actor in a play staged at the plaza in Laoag City, Philippines

Ilokano sugar cane workers in Hawaii. They were called pucan cane then, A surviving cane cutter and his wife in one of upscale subdivision in in the so-called Aloha State. Are they still alive? (Photo by blogger)

     Of course,  meditation is another process that is difficult to do.

WE CREATE OUR SUFFERING, OUR OWN HELL, OUR OWN SAMSARA

"Iti ruar ken ikub daytoy mangliwengliweng nga awang, addatayo latta a sipaparnged kadagiti berde a batbato ti lglagip iti daan a pagilian.Ket agtunglabtayo iti iliw iti bukod a kalsada, iti atiddog a a puraw a kadaratan ti baybay, iti asul a kabambantayan.Kankanayon a mariingak tunggal sumungadak iti daan nga ili ket addaak manen nga agpampanunot iti sipnget iti parbangon."

***
Sinuktandan ti nagan daydi kalsadami a Jose Palma a nangputar iti Philippine National Anthem. V. Ligot ti nagan daytoy a pagpagnaak idi agiskuelaaak iti haiskul. (Victorino Ligot, maysa a padi a nayanak iti Laoag ken nagbalin nga obispo ti San Fernando, La Union.) Agtung-ed daytoy a dalan iti asideg idi ti garahe ti Philippine Rabbit Bus Lines ket agpalaudak a kumamang iti laud a kalsada, tarengtengek agingga a madanonko ti Ilocos Norte Trade School. Agawidak iti pangngaldaw ket agsubliakto manen a mapan agbasa.. Kasta a kasta ti inar-aramidko iti uppat a tawen. Adda idin sumagmamano a dyip, malaksid iti kalesa,  ngem diak malagip no nagluganak kadagitoy a napan iti eskuelaan.

***

It was Bishop Mario Baltazar of Batanes who gave me the imprimatur to become a member of an ecumenical group that translated the whole Bible into Ilokano from the so-called original languages of Greek and Hebrew.

The Ilokano Bible Project, under the aegis of the Philippine Bible Society, was composed of Rev. Anacleto Guerrero, Rev. Juan Marigza, Rev. Gervacio Tovera, Rev. Fr. Godofredo Albano, Mrs. Patrocinia Tayaban, a deaconnes and the layman and Ilokano writer Peter La. Julian, with Rosalinda Camat and Rev. Noel Osborn as coordinator. It started in in November 1969 in Baguio City and was finished several years later. I did the apochrypha, the books between the Old and New Testaments, at the Bishop's Palace. Bishop Antonio Salgado was then the bishop of Baguio.

We don't know what happened to Rev. Osborn who was sent by the US-based United Bible Societies for the project. Is he still alive in Ohio, at least, that's what I know he came from?His family was with him then--his wife Emma, and their children Cindy and Philip. They lived near the Translation Center at Bokawkan Road.

Mrs. Camat lives in Baguio; Mrs. Tayaban in Tuding, Benguet; while Bishop Marigza resides in Agoo, La Union' and PLJ is an immigrant in US. The rest of the translators have died. I was supposed to be the youngest member of the Ilokano group then.

***

     We create our own suffering, our own hell, our own samsara as the Buddhists call it.

     My readings of Oriental texts and ancient gurus and teachers like Jesus of Nazareth, tell me we can only escape this bane of existence by liberating ourselves from the passions of anger, jealousy, hatred, selfishness and other harmful emotions and thoughts.

    Since time immemorial, this ruinous human nature has caused so much pain, conflicts and wars, killing millions and destroying cities and nations.

The blogger with then the Philippines' foremost essayist Kerima Polotan- Tuvera
during a literary awarding ceremony at thee Port Area in Manila.

Native bonsai infront of the Ilocos Norte Provincial Capitol in Laoag City

Opening Windows for Rebirth

Let go the person you used to be, says writer Lama Surya Das. In fact, "Letting Go The Person You Used To Be" is the title of his book, which advises that if we want to change and move on, we have to do away with attachments that impede our way out of the miserable life we have been living. These attachments include beliefs, people, places, possessions like books, even the house we have been living in for a number of years. It is these attachments that cause our pain and sorrows, he says.