Christmas news story: Aquino among the Mangyans

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

SOMETHING GROUNDBREAKING and historic happened on December 15. But there was no mention of it in the national media. No news stories, no photos, no TV coverage.

But so what. For the community of Hanunuo, Gubatnon and Ratagnon (Hagura) Mangyans of Occidental Mindoro it was a day they will never forget. President Benigno Aquino III flew to Magsaysay town to make the day very special. The Mangyans awaited his coming with bated breath and the sight of the descending helicopter with the President on board added to the excitement.

I was not present, but I am writing about the event because the Mangyans are a special people. I have stayed in their communities and written stories about them, although not these particular Mangyan groups that the President came for.

December 15 was the day of the awarding of the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) which the Mangyans and their supporters, particularly the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM), have been waiting for the last 15 years. The long and arduous struggle began in 1995 and many living Mangyans elders did not think they would live to see this day. In fact many of the elders who had presented proof of their ancestral domain claim have either died or are weak and sickly.

When the Mangyans learned that the CADT would at last be awarded to them, they made a request that would be rebuffed again and again: that the President come to hand over to them the CADT and for him to behold the joy on their faces. The Mangyans were told that this was not going to happen. They were simply not on the radar screen.

But as the cosmists might say, when you desire something good so intensely the universe will conspire to make it happen.

An FMM, Sr. Cho Borromeo, had saved the phone number of then presidential candidate Noynoy in her cell phone’s contacts folder during the campaign period. Sr. Cho does not work with the Mangyans but gives spiritual retreats all over the world. (We became close friends while spending months together and experiencing Asian spirituality in India many years ago.) But her heart and soul belong to the forlorn and forgotten.

Upon learning from her fellow nuns that the Mangyans had been rebuffed, she called the number that she had saved. It was suntok sa buwan. Maybe an aide would answer, she thought. No answer. Again and again she dialed. Then someone answered the phone. “Is this the President?” she asked. “Yes,” the President answered. Sr. Cho shook in her shoes.

Let’s cut to the chase. The President said, yes, he will come, but could the awarding be moved a day later?

And so it was that Aquino was among the Mangyans on that auspicious December day written in the stars. He flew by helicopter to Magsaysay town and was met by Mangyan elders wearing G-strings and head gear.

Said Aquino:

“Sa paggawad natin ng CADT sa grupong Hagura ngayong araw, hindi lamang lupang ninuno ang ibinabalik natin sa kanila. Higit sa lahat, patunay ito sa pagkilala natin sa lahat ng Mangyan bilang mahalagang pangkat ng ating lipunan; makabuluhang bahagi ng ating kultura at kasaysayan.

“Tulad ninyo, naniniwala rin akong hindi lamang ito isang paggawad. Isa itong pagpupugay sa inyong tapang upang maibalik sa inyo ang lupang ipinagkait sa inyo nang mahabang panahon. Ngayong hawak na muli ninyo ang lupang ipinamana ng inyong mga ninuno, umaasa akong patuloy kayong magiging katuwang ng pamahalaan upang pangalagaan ang kinabukasan ng mga susunod na Mangyan; ng mga sumusunod ring mga Pilipino.

“Nawa’y maging hudyat ang araw na ito sa mas matibay na ugnayan nating lahat sa pagtataguyod ng mas maliwanag na bukas para sa marami pang henerasyon.”

Hagura is the organization to which three Mangyan tribes belong. It covers 14 sitios in Magsaysay and three in San Jose. It was set up in 1995 to consolidate efforts to acquire legal right and develop the ancestral domain of the three tribes.

According to the FMMs, Mangyans’ ancestral domain is delineated not by municipal boundaries but by the location of the tribes. In the past the three tribes in Hagura were one tribe until they were given different names by the settlers.

Credit must go to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples who processed the claims and the FMMs who assisted in the surveys and explained the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) to the Mangyans in order to make them aware of their rights. The nuns climbed mountains, crossed rivers, slept in the open, ate what the Mangyans ate and, most of all, listened to the people’s sentiments. And as Aquino himself admitted in his speech, it was a nun’s persistence that brought him into the midst of the men and women of the great forests.

A battle has been won, but the Mangyans will not rest easy because of threats to their domain such as illegal logging, commercial mining, creeping pasturelands, and fighting between the military and the communist rebels. The Mangyans must not lose what they fought for and won.

Indeed, Christmas came early for the Hanunuo, Gubatnon and Ratagnon Mangyans. I have posted a photo of the President with the Mangyans in my blogsite.

And so as I partake of forest ferns and wild honey (my yuletide fare), as I quietly bask in the afterglow of Christmas night, I remember the time I spent among the Alangan Mangyans many years ago, in their hallowed grounds where the stars shone brightly and the wind whispered songs to the trees while I listened to ancient tales narrated by the fireside.

'The Masses are Messiah'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

LAUNCHED LAST week was Karl M. Gaspar’s latest book, “The Masses are Messiah: Contemplating the Filipino Soul.”

I was asked to write a blurb for the book’s back cover. After looking at the title I was discombobulated. But I thought I’d try. How does one distill into five sentences the essence of a book that was several years in the making and took the author over mountains and valleys, across rivers and seas and into the heart and soul of the people of our islands?

Anyway, let me quote myself: “Profoundly Pinoy! A must-read for both the actives and contemplatives of this planet. Somewhere on these pages you might recognize your own journey into your own soul, and beyond—from masa to misa to mystic to messiah. Karl has explored the amazing wilderness that is the Filipino soul and discovered gems so raw and so priceless. We are a spirituality gifted people and we should know it.”

Karl introduces us to his scholarly opus by dissecting the book’s title in Chapter 1. The title is from a poem written by poet-revolutionary Emmanuel Lacaba (1949-1976) who was killed in the prime of his youth.

The road less travelled by we’ve taken—/And that has made all the difference:/ The barefoot army of the wilderness/ We all should be on time./ Awakened, the masses are Messiah./ Here among the workers and peasants our lost/ Generation has found its true, its only home.

It was not lost on Karl that the poet’s name was Emmanuel which means God with us, Jesus the awaited Messiah that we sing about during this Advent season.

After hurdling the first chapter you can hurtle through the succeeding ones. From the chapter “Stories of Spiritual Journeys” Karl draws many tantalizing elements for his thesis. The stories gave him a window to what he calls the IBS (indigenous belief system) that would be in the core of his research.

The research methods Karl used were not the cold, empirical kind but the phenomenological approach which flung open hearts and souls: “…I found myself encountering Filipino souls. When the sharing became intense—and emotions were freely expressed—I found myself intuiting: how lucky and privileged I was to come face to face with Pinoy souls… Many times during field work, I was on the verge of tears and knew these were privileged sacred moments that I would rarely encounter in my life.”

The chapter “The Construct/Discourse of Filipino and Filipino Spirituality” asks: How is spirituality defined by the informants and other voices? Is there such a thing as Filipino spirituality? Yes, there is, Karl declares, and there is a variety of them. He looks to expert sources and surmises that Filipino spirituality is constituted by these various elements: “the IBS of our ancestors that go back to the pre-conquest era, the values that make up our identity allowing us to express a sense of connectedness to one another in reciprocal but just and compassionate relationships, in recognizing the kapwa in all beings (human and nature), a sensitivity to the needs of ‘the other’ in an engagement in liberation struggles leading to all levels of transformation, the lived spirituality of the ordinary people at the grassroots and some aspects of the practical spirituality among devotees-pilgrims.”

The constructs, definitions, terminologies, etc. lead to the grand question: Is the Filipino spirituality transformation-oriented? If so, what factors have contributed to this?

Karl posits that this transformative orientation is not new and did not arise only in the contemporary setting. It has its roots, he dares say, in the indigenous worldview of our ancestors who fostered a reciprocal relationship with the spirits long before the era of conquest and conversion to the Christian faith. The “this world-ly” perspective in our ancestors’ cosmic religion empowered them to establish just, tender and compassionate relationships with others—human and nature beings—for most of the time.

Just an aside: “Transformative” now seems to be an “in” word among those who take their theology to the streets. The word liberation (in liberation theology) sounds so yesterday.

Karl has immersed himself in the treasure trove of church documents, historical, anthropological and sociological researches that could provide evidence of a distinct Filipino spirituality. He then adds his own voice based on his own research and experiences.

He reflects: “A truly transformative Filipino spirituality is one that also engages the mysterious and mystical. Not only are the prophets to be drawn into this effort of helping evolve a transformative spirituality; the mystics too, need to be involved… To be truly transformative, all are led to the source of it all.”

So I said in the cover blurb that we are a spiritually gifted people and we should know it. But I also wonder sometimes whether this giftedness might be over-romanticized. Karl himself asks on page 11: If there is such a thing as Filipino spirituality, why has it not contributed to the transformation of our society? Can it be said that our quest for interior liberation (or spirituality) has not contributed anything to the social emancipation of the underprivileged?

Read the book and find out.

“The Masses are Messiah” (451 pages) is the seventh in the Spirituality Series from the Institute of Spirituality in Asia run by the Carmelite Fathers (O.CArm.). Karl Gaspar is a Mindanawon, theologian, Redemptorist brother and author of seven books. He suffered imprisonment during the martial law years. He has a Ph.D. in Philippine Studies. He continues to be in solidarity with indigenous peoples (lumad) and works for the promotion of justice, peace and integrity of creation.

Here’s a good definition of contemplation: “Contemplation is a long, loving look at the real.” MaLiGaYaNg PaSkO!

Where advent means waiting with joy

Sunday Inquirer Magazine/FEATURE/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

THEY come from different walks of life and circumstances—each with a special life story to tell. Somewhere, sometime, at a certain point in their lives, they had reached what looked like the end of the road. For most of them, there was no one and nothing left except a last painful stretch of a life that had yet to be spent.

To whom will they go while they wait?

The residents of Anawim, Home of God’s Poor, have indeed found a place at last. Here, in the sunset of their lives, they wait for the final call to the great beyond. For these elderly and poor—materially and otherwise—everyday is Advent, a beginning.

Anawim is Hebrew for “the poor of the Lord,” often mentioned in the Bible.

Advent, the opening season in the Catholic liturgical calendar, means a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ, or Christmas. But not many people, the elderly poor especially, have the privilege of waiting with joy and peace in their hearts. And in a special place at that.

Nestled on a sprawling five-hectare property in Barangay (village) San Isidro in the outskirts of Montalban (Rodriguez), Rizal, the Anawim home is run by the Anawim Lay Missions (ALMS) Foundation Inc., the “mercy mission” of the Light of Jesus (LOJ) Community. LOJ is a Catholic charismatic group founded by lay Catholic preacher and author Bo Sanchez.

Marisa Chikiamco, LOJ missionary and former center directress, recalls how in 1993 the LOJ community acquired this property on hilly terrain. Sanchez simply stated the home’s vision: “Anawim will open its doors to whoever God will send.”

Many have since entered its portals. When the Inquirer visited in 2004, there was Fred Sevilla, a former University of the Philippines professor and author of a book on Philippine literature. He was badly paralyzed by a stroke and had no one to care for him. He has since gone to his eternal reward.

The Inquirer again visited recently and found Judith Jobahib, who has Down’s Syndrome and is now 54, still there. Her elderly restless father has, however, left for parts unknown. Background story: Judith’s father Jose was about to jump with Judith from the Quiapo bridge when someone stopped them.

Jomar Brillantes, now 31, was a badly battered and scarred mental retardate who literally lived in the gutters and off scraps thrown to him.

Ricardo Ponce, 86, is still there. Feeling rejected by his children because they claimed he was not there for them when they were young, Ricardo protests: “But I never stopped sending money.” He is the old man being embraced by Jesus in the now-familiar painting by the late Joey Velasco. He is the man on the Anawim welcome tarp.

Born in 1920, Rosario Liberato was a teacher of English at a Manila university for more than 50 years. The 11th of 13 children, Lola Chayong was born in Jolo, Sulu where her father was assigned. “We were orphaned early,” she says. She tried to join a contemplative order of nuns but stayed for only three months. She never married. “My students called me mataray (sharp-tongued) but many thought I was witty,” she says laughing. “I used to read a lot without eyeglasses. I could finish one novel a day.” Her favorite author: Zane Grey.

Lola Chayong retired from teaching in 1995 and continued to live alone until she told “Father God, I can’t do this anymore.” Friends brought her to Anawim.

As colorful as her choice of attire must have been, so must be the early years of Victoria “Lola Toyang” Cameron Espinosa, 99. In flawless English she says, “I was born on Dec. 23, 1911. Sometimes I would tell a lie and say 1912.” And why? “That would make me younger,” she laughs.

Gliding about in her wheelchair, Lola Toyang is always dressed in colorful clothes and wears a yellow flower in her hair. She carries with her memories of a distant place and a family secret. “My mother told me never to speak of it.” But she reveals it anyway and asks that it not be written about.

“My mother was beautiful,” she says as tears threaten to flow. Her siblings have passed on ahead of her and there is no one to care for her. She never married. Alone and slowly losing her sight because of cataract, Lola Toyang found herself at a dead end. But not anymore. Her parting words of advice, “Do not forget our new government and our new president.”

Anawim has 52 residents—21 male and 31 female—mostly elderly and poor. In their sunset years, some could be living a more comfortable life outside, but their families have refused to care for them or spend for their care, and chose to forget them altogether.

Prayer and social activities are part of Anawim’s daily routine. Visitors come and go, donors turn up and give. LOJ veteran Marisa Chikiamco has countless miracle stories of generosity that have kept Anawim running.The chapel—entirely donated—is proof of this.

Anawim has nine bungalows that serve as dormitories and several bamboo-and-nipa cottages that will soon be replaced by five new concrete bungalows and a social hall. Also within the compound is a burial ground for those who have passed on.

Some 30 or so LOJ workers under center director Carlos “Caloy” Ferdinand Dimson keep Anawim running. Students doing on-the-job training complement the staff. Caloy recently married a doctor who did volunteer work at Anawim. With some help, he is eager to revive the sustainable organic and integrated farming that they started some years ago.

Able-bodied at 68, Lucilyn and her 75-year-old husband Ben Zambrano live in the Anawim compound. They are a picture of peace and contentment. Lucilyn does volunteer work at Anawim while taking care of her husband.

A member of LOJ since the 1980s, Lucilyn worked with a government agency for many years until she was accused of malversation of P1.2 million in public funds. Convicted and jailed for the crime, she insists on her innocence and says that while she suffered in jail, her bosses went scot-free and forgot all about her.

It must have been all in God’s plan, Lucilyn muses now. If only because she was able to bring the LOJ ministry into the Women’s Correctional, it was all worth it. Pardoned after five and a half years in prison, Lucilyn decided to spend the rest of her life with the LOJ ministry and Anawim.

And so they came, some hurting, others pitiably poor in many different ways. They had no one or had been stripped of their possessions and memories, and then abandoned, disowned, forgotten. God’s poor come to Anawim with different life stories. Anawim, to them, is home sweet home. For some who have searched a lifetime, it could be their first. And for most, maybe their last. •

Blood under the bridge

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

THE SUPREME Court’s verdict is out, and it is final. Webb et al., accused and convicted for the crimes of rape and murder now known as the Vizconde massacre, have been acquitted and are walking free after spending 15 years in prison.

One of the things that bothered me about this case (and I have not heard it being stressed enough) is that the suspects, who became the accused in this case, were identified in 1995 or thereabouts, some four years after the crime happened in 1991. Four years is a long time, enough time for the real rapists and murderers to cover their tracks and produce believable alibis in case someone squealed on them and they became the suspects. It is also enough time for the evidence to get cold and for potential prosecution witnesses to conveniently lose their memory or vanish from the face of the earth.

Although the seven former convicts were acquitted, questions remain in people’s minds. But in the judgment of the seven justices who voted for acquittal (as against the dissenting four and the inhibiting four), the seven convicts could not be found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

Well, only God and the people around each of them at the exact time and immediately after the crime was committed could say if the acquitted did or did not commit the crime of the decade. Two decades later many of us ask: What should we believe?

If there is one person who is “morally certain” of the guilt of the acquitted—then and until now—it is Mariano Mison who was head of the National Bureau of Investigation in 1995 when Task Force Jecares was formed. I had a long interview with him at that time and found his “If only I could talk” statement most puzzling. When the accused were convicted in 2000, I tracked down Mison (then already retired) and sprang his 1995 statement on him. He remained steadfast in his belief (bolstered by fearful “silent witnesses”) and did not entertain doubts that innocent young men may have been sent to prison. And, yes, he talked. No more “if only.”

I do not wish to resurrect the entire 2000 news story based on that interview in this column as that would be like contesting the high court’s judgment, or dousing water on the Webbs’ rejoicing and deepening the wound of the bereaved and aggrieved Lauro Vizconde. The justices have spoken, period.

But it could be said that Mison brushed aside remarks of celebrity lawyers and intellectuals who openly looked down on the judgment of Regional Trial Court Judge Amelita Tolentino (she is now with the Court of Appeals) and belittled her background as a former bank employee. (She was valedictorian of her law class.) She had done a good job, Mison assured, and it will not be easy for the Supreme Court to overturn her decision, the deriding legal know-it-alls notwithstanding.

I asked him: What if the high court does? “The perpetrators of the crime,” he said “will have served many years in jail by then.”

But will the poor judge go down in opprobrium? (The Court of Appeals would later uphold her decision.) Mison answered, “The convicts could be proven legally innocent on a mere technicality, but that does not mean they are morally innocent.”

Going back to the issue of the length of time that lapsed (four years) after the crime was committed and before the suspects were apprehended and prosecuted, I would like to say that I now see the importance of keeping a record of our whereabouts. I am not obsessive-compulsive and do not keep a daily journal, but I do keep a pocket calendar-planner where I write appointments, trips and events I need to attend. The calendar-planners I have kept date back to as far as the 1980s.

In the small compartment near the driver’s seat of my car, I keep two pencils (ball pens dry up in the heat) and a note pad so that I can quickly note down numbers and signs as soon as the car stops in traffic. Once while on a bus to Baguio, I witnessed men with long arms drag a driver out of his seat and drive off with the car. I took down the plate number and was aiming with my camera when my companions pulled me down.

What if I would need to prove where I was on a particular day? What if I would need to prove that I saw so-and-so or witnessed something? Or that I heard something being said while walking on the corridor on my way to an interview?

I have actually dug into my old calendar entries to refresh my mind on certain events and actions I have taken in the past. I am not a keeper of little stuff but I now realize that it might be important to keep old passports, airline tickets, boarding and gate passes and even baggage tags. Remember, accused Hubert Webb showed proof of travel (but not his original passport) in order to bolster his alibi that he was in the United States when the crime was committed, proofs that the judge and, later, the Court of Appeals found weak when compared to witness accounts.

Anyway, all that have been overturned in Webb et al.’s favor.

I wonder, will someone someday do a Truman Capote and write a definitive “In Cold Blood” type of work in the “new journalism” true-crime genre? That is, if and when the real criminals are found and found guilty. The 20-year prescription period will soon be over. There are only six months left for the authorities to find them before the case lapses and the blood in this case joins the water under the bridge. Are we back to square one?

'The only way is up'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

CONGRATULATIONS TO the Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. (AIDFI) and the villages in Negros Occidental where the ram pump was introduced and changed the lives of so many people in need of clean and continuous water supply.

AIDFI won first prize in this year’s BBC World Challenge, a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grassroots level. Now on its sixth year, World Challenge, its sponsors say, is about championing and rewarding projects and businesses which really make a difference. The sponsors are BBC World News and Newsweek, in association with Shell.

Last year Filipino kariton “street teacher” Efren Penaflorida was honored as a CNN hero, and now a Philippine entry won in the BBC challenge. These two giant global media networks now have the Philippines in their rosters of grassroots greats.

AIDFI’s ram pump was among 800 nominees from all over the world. From the 800 nominees 12 finalists and three winners were picked. The two runners-up were Peru and Guatemala. The Philippine entry received a $20,000 grant and the two other winners got $10,000 each.

The sponsors are pleased to say that this year’s 12 finalists again “raised the bar for sustainable enterprises that are putting something back into their communities. They are all boosting livelihoods and improving living standards without wrecking the environment.” The competition showcased finalists from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas and provided inspiration. Viewers were urged to choose one from the 12 finalists as their favorite.

As far as I’m concerned, the 12 finalists are all winners. You can view short video clips about the finalists by logging on to http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/. AIDFI’s Philippine entry is named “The only way is up” and is described thus:

“It’s baffling how some inventions fail to achieve a tipping point. The hydraulic ram pump—which has been around for a couple of centuries—falls into this category. AIDFI is determined to see the ram pump finally come into its own. Using the power of a river’s flow to literally push water uphill without any other energy input, it’s proving to be a boon for poor villagers living in mountainous regions.

“The ram pump can save both hours of back-breaking work carrying water and cash where expensive water pumps are replaced. AIDFI has introduced the ram pump to over 170 upland villages, and has plans to spread the benefits far and wide among poor communities.”

Two days ago the Inquirer had a front page story (“Prize-winning pump improve farmers’ lives”) on AIDFI’s winning entry written by Carla P. Gomez of the Inquirer Visayas Bureau. She interviewed residents of Tara village in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, where the Tara Hydraulic Pump System is in place. Tara is not the only place with AIDFI-installed ram pumps. AIDFI has installed some 170 pumps in many places.

I have known about the ram pump technology for many years but I have yet to see one in operation. Just before writing this piece, I ransacked my files to look for an article on ram pumps given to me by Dr. Juan Flavier many years ago. It was published in the Rural Reconstruction Review and it had instructions on how to construct it. Flavier, former health secretary and later, a senator, used to be the head of the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR). The ram pump was one of the so-called “approtech” that IIRR was trying to popularize in water-strapped communities.

The article written by IIRR volunteer James I. Stein said that a ram pump was installed in Batas, a village in Silang, Cavite. I wonder if it is still in operation.

The ram, Stein wrote, is a low-cost, low-maintenance, simple, continuous pump that is powered only by the force of the falling water that supplies it. All it needs to function is a source of water flowing at the rate of at least two gallons per minute and at least three feet of vertical fall from the water source to the ram. The ram converts the falling water—stream, river or any existing gravity flow system—into hydraulic energy which can then pump a part of that water up a vertical distance.

The ram Stein described has only two moving parts: the impulse valve and the delivery check valve, and is easy to maintain. Maintenance may consist of replacing the rubber valves three or four times a year and cleaning out the ram body twice a year. The ram can be assembled by villagers and only needs some grilling and welding. And since it uses no electricity or gas to pump water 24 hours a day, it costs almost nothing to operate.

The good news is that one can find designs with instructions on the Internet. And with AIDFI resurrecting the age-old technology and making it work (and now winning recognition), there should be no reason for upland communities to suffer. People no longer have to walk up and down rugged trails to fetch water from springs down below. Farmers need not be so dependent on rainfall. But, and there’s the but, communities need good, innovative leaders to get things going.

Correction: In my Nov. 18 column piece (“Books not bombs”) I greeted Muslims a happy Eid’l Adha, the feast of sacrifice. I said that Jews, Christians and Muslims consider Abraham a great prophet and fountainhead and that Eid’l Adha celebrates Abraham’s sacrifice of his and Sarah’s only son Isaac (as the Bible says). An incensed Muslim reader corrected me and said that Muslims believe it was not Isaac but Ishmael, Abraham’s older son with Hagar.

Taal: A Marian heritage site like no other

Philippine Daily Inquirer/FEATURES/Lifestyle/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

NO OTHER town in Batangas is like Taal. Walking down its streets is like walking down through history.

Declared a heritage town by the National Historical Commission, Taal offers many come-ons.

There is the basilica of Saint Martin of Tours, known to be the biggest in Southeast Asia; the Spanish-era structures and homes of great Filipinos; the lake and its active volcano; the exquisite calado embroidery on piña and jusi that has become world-famous.

Choose from an array of heritage museum-homes, among them the homes of Marcella Agoncillo (she sewed the first Philippine flag), Gliceria Marella de Villavicencio (the forgotten heroine of the revolution), the Apacible and Goco homes and the grand mansion of Leon Agoncillo.

Huge basilica

The imposing Basilica of St. Martin of Tours is Taal’s centerpiece. Declared a national shrine in 1974, its façade bears a resemblance to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Its tabernacle is made of silver and is said to be the only one of its kind in the Philippines.

The original structure was built in 1575, in the place now known as San Nicolas. In 1754 the basilica was destroyed by the Taal volcano eruption.

Rebuilding of the current structure took nine years (1856-1865) under parish priest Fray Marcos Anton and Spanish architect Luciano Oliver.

Intricate designs, many in chiaroscuro style, adorn the church ceilings and walls. Painted images of the four evangelists (Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) occupy the lower portion of the dome. Sts. Peter and Paul have special places on the ground level. The basilica has been undergoing a vigorous clean-up and restoration in preparation for this month’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Rare maliputo

Delightful are Taal’s culinary offerings—bulalo, suman, panocha nilupak, tapa, adobong dilaw, tawilis from the lake and, most of all, the rare and expensive freshwater fish maliputo found only in the Pansipit River.

In the market you find both the wet and the dry, the latter housing the rows of shops showcasing Taal’s expertise in calado embroidery and beading. If you’re fond of bladed weapons, take home a balisong (fan knife) or two.

But the gentle drawing force, the Taaleños will tell you, is the Virgin of Caysasay herself. The rough Marian statue, barely a foot tall, has had a spiritual influence on the life of the town and its neighbors. Unbelievers might dismiss the devotion as idolatry, but believers would argue that it is not the weather-beaten piece of wood that is being venerated but the great woman it represents.

The Virgin is a rich kayumanggi (brown), overwhelmed by a conical robe that goes up to her neck. Long artificial hair has been placed over her head. She is adorned with a gold crown with precious stones.

The story of the Virgin of Caysasay is the stuff many Marian stories are made of, as fascinating as that of Mexico’s famous Lady of Guadalupe.

Fished from Pansipit River

One day in 1603, the story goes, a fisherman named Juan Maningkad cast his net into the Pansipit River and found among his catch a piece of flotsam carved in the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The prior of Taal, Fray Juan de Bautista, took this as an auspicious sign, a divine favor worthy of a religious celebration.

After Maningkad found the image, the prior of Taal gave it to Maria Espiritu, the widow of a judge, for safekeeping. Soon the woman noticed the strange disappearance and reappearance of the statue. A priest named Fray de Montoya decided to have the statue transferred to the church, but the strange occurrence continued until the statue completely disappeared one day.

A few days later, two other Marias—Maria Baguhin and Maria Talain—claimed they knew where the image could be found. They said they were gathering firewood in a place seven kilometers from the town when they stopped to drink from a well. They saw the image reflected on the water and when they looked up, there was the wooden image on a branch of a sampaga tree. Perched on a branch beside it was a casay-casay bird. (Thus the name Our Lady of Caysasay.)

The women eventually persuaded the priest to check out the place. The image was found and brought back to the church. Again the statue disappeared. Again it was found in the same place.

The people took this to mean as the Virgin’s desire for a permanent abode. (Augustinian friars ran the churches in many places at that time, and were noted for their building prowess.) A temporary chapel was built until a permanent structure made of corals and marble was erected.

Santa Lucia’s well

An arch made of corals was built over the well whose water had reflected the Virgin’s image. The arch with bas relief designs, known as Santa Lucia’s miraculous well, still stands there today, a short distance from the church. It is not clear how the place got to be named after the saint of lights.

The Virgin of Caysasay’s canonical coronation was held on Dec. 8, 1954, with Pope Pius XII’s representative Fernando Cardinal Quiroga y Palacio present. The devotion to Our Lady of Caysasay marks its 407th anniversary this year.

Replicas of the original statue are in both the small Immaculate Conception Church in Labac, the image’s original home, and the huge basilica of St. Martin of Tours. The original is kept in Labac and brought out on special days.

Transferring the image from the village church in Labac to the basilica (since its completion in 1857) and returning it on certain days to its village home used to be a custom. Taaleños recall the controversy that erupted in the 1950s when Bishop Rufino Santos (later the first Filipino cardinal) proposed that the Virgin be permanently enshrined in Labac.

The people of the town center were adamant and afraid to lose the Virgin forever, should Labac become a separate municipality. They were polarized into two camps and the bishop was forced to get out of the way when an irate citizen shouted, “Gapusin ang obispo! (Hogtie the bishop!)” The church official was no match for the Taaleños’ attachment to the Virgin.

Fluvial procession

During the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the original image of Our Lady of Caysasay is taken from the Labac church and brought to the basilica via a fluvial procession on the Pansipit River and brought home again after the two-day celebration (Dec. 8 and 9) .

No longer a castaway and an itinerant, vanishing lady, the Virgin is peacefully enshrined in the hearts of generations of Taaleños and many Filipinos.

For more on Taal, read “The Mysteries of Taal: A Philippine volcano and lake, her sea life and lost towns” by Taal-lover Thomas R. Hargrove (Bookmark, 1991).

10 things that make PH ugly: readers react

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

I GOT interesting e-mail from readers, both Filipinos and non-Filipinos from here and abroad, all of them male, who reacted to last week’s column piece, “10 things that make PH ugly.” One thing I’ve known all along: when you make a list, you are likely going to be swamped with items to add to it.

I GOT interesting e-mail from readers, both Filipinos and non-Filipinos from here and abroad, all of them male, who reacted to last week’s column piece, “10 things that make PH ugly.” One thing I’ve known all along: when you make a list, you are likely going to be swamped with items to add to it.

Last week’s column was a reaction to the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) much-heckled campaign come-on, “Pilipinas, kay ganda” (Philippines, how beautiful) and unoriginal logo that looked similar to Poland’s. I also listed 10 things that I thought made beautiful Philippines not so “kay ganda.”

Well, see what I got. First I must say that the editor in chief pirated one of the letters—a touching one, really—for publication. It came from Ben Fairbank, an Australian who has been working and living here for the last two years. So I am not sharing his letter here. But thank you, Mr. Fairbank, for seeing so much goodness and beauty in this country. You love us, you really love us!

From Jojo dela Cruz in Beijing: “… [A]t the time I read your article I had just finished listing almost the same things: top 10 Boos (ugly) in the PH, as well as my top 10 Wows. In less than five minutes I was able to come up with my top-of-the-mind list. I am an expatriate working for a multinational FMCG company, previously based in Switzerland and now posted in Beijing. Often I would chat with my non-Pinoy friends and it is inevitable that they ask about PH. I often advise them, ‘Don’t stay long in Manila and head immediately to the beaches/islands.’ In the end most would go to Thailand, Malaysia or Indonesia if they want to have a Southeast Asian experience. Only after they have covered these countries do they start considering PH. And they say it’s not only because of the spate of bad news, but also because they hear very little positive ‘touristy’ information and advertisements about us. Sad.”

De la Cruz’s top 10 boos: airport (inside and outside), security, traffic, poor public transport, billboards of politicos, floods, corruption, garbage, toilets. His top 10 wows: beaches, diving, swimming with whale sharks, Philippine mangoes, shopping, entertainment, English, island hopping, Spanish quarters (starting with Intramuros), the weather (lots of sun), smiles.

From Dave Bowles: “I am a Brit married to a Filipino, and a permanent resident in beautiful Philippines… I have worked overseas in excess of 40 years around Europe, Asia, the Middle East, India, North and South America, the Arctic Circle and the Far East. Many countries have appealed to me as places to live and retire in, the UAE and Bahrain, wonderful and safe places with friendly people… but I was introduced to the Philippines only in 2003 although I had worked with Filipinos for many years overseas. It was LOVE at first sight (the country, that is!) and that love has not diminished or faded since despite having lost money in a failed business. The reason I love the Philippines? The people!!!!! I have more true friends here than anywhere else in the world, including the UK.

“I agree with your statement that a slogan which is only understood by Filipinos is ridiculous. I thought the cartoon visuals that went with that were very poor and did not display the beauty that is the Philippines, its hospitality and culture…

“You can add ‘blatant corruption’ to your list as well… The first view of the Philippines is rather shabby, the journey through Para?e and Sucat from Naia does rather resemble a slum area… More articles of the same type please. The so-called authorities need to have their cages rattled.”

From Mike Saycon’s list: “opportunistic locals, especially taxi drivers and terminal porters, the countless surge of hookers and transvestites waiting to be sold out in places that expatriates and foreigners frequent, street children who peddle sampaguita, beg for alms or sell their bodies… Please let me qualify that this note is not Philippine-bashing…”

Willy Arcilla of Business Mentors sent an impressive PowerPoint presentation on how to sell Philippine tourism plus a proposed campaign logo and slogan. “‘Wow, Only in the Philippines’ can be a strong tourism slogan because it is simple, memorable, relevant and unique, timeless and universal, local and global. In plain language, it builds upon a successful ‘Wow! Philippines’ campaign, but most of all, it turns the negative into a positive.”

I say, it should be fun making an “only in the Philippines” list. Yes, it is inclusive and all-embracing and it goes well with the old “Wow” (world of wonders). It also put a naughty smile on my face.

From Leo Padilla: “It is only in PH that maps are not available at the airport. Maps at the bookstores are always outdated because of the propensity of politicians to rename streets almost every year. Nobody seems to plan things in PH. Fort Bonifacio—roads leading to it look like they are only afterthoughts. Instead of lining up the roads straight, they go around with nowhere to go… Airport taxis are run by mafias… Naia 3—the road leading to it is again an afterthought. Some bright boy decided to install a rotunda, instead of an overpass/interchange to access Naia 3 and on to Naia 1 and 2. And an idiotic building at the center—what is it for?”

Manny Melgar added eight to my list. One of them: “Embarkation forms—just a few weeks ago President Aquino removed his face from the forms. When I arrived today from Vietnam I was shocked and embarrassed to see the face of Ms. Vicki Belo on the first page. Whose face will be next?”

Too bad there is not enough space for more. I should forward all the e-mail to the DOT.