“Forgive us. Forgive us. Forgive us.”

The family of hostage taker former police senior inspector Rolando Mendoza, the Philippine government, and the Philippine Catholic Church have separately asked forgiveness to Hongkong, to their families and to the world for Mendoza’s killing of eight Hongkong nationals in a parked tourist bus in Manila last Monday.

Hostage taker’s father Ramon Mendoza, 80 years old, in between sobs in front of a television camera apologized: “Please forgive us.”

He was crying uncontrollably as his eldest son’s casket was being entered into the family residence in Tanauan, Batangas in southern Luzon last night.

Rolando’s sister Cathy Mendoza Salgado, representing the Mendoza family, also said on camera: “On behalf of our family, we are asking for forgiveness. We are also feeling what the relatives of the Chinese nationals in Hong Kong feel about the loss of their loved ones.”

Both father and sister said Rolando was a good son and sibling always putting the family welfare first. “He waved at me smiling while he was sweeping the yard,” the father said of the last time he saw his son alive.

The hostage-taker’s sister showed Rolando’s 17 medals and plaques attesting to his being a decorated policeman in his 30 years of service. One was from Jaycees International that awarded him one of the Top 10 Policemen in 1986.

In a another development, a Catholic priest admitted that the Church has failed to “inculcate the basic human and Christian values” as it is sharing the blame in the hostage drama that culminated in the tragic deaths of the hostages and the hostage-taker himself, the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) reported online.

“The Church has failed, although it is trying its best, to cope with the situation of poverty and helplessness that led to desperation,” Claretian Father Samuel Canilang, director of the Institute for Consecrated Life in Asia was quoted as saying by ucanews.com.

The Philippine police dismissed Mendoza for extortion, robbery and grave threats when a Mandarin hotel chef lodged a complaint against him in 2008. The chef accused Mendoza of allegedly forcing him to swallow shabu after arresting him for illegal parking. Mendoza also was accused of extorting Php 20,000 in exchange for the chef’s freedom.

Mendoza demanded during the hostage drama that his name be cleared of the charges and that he be reinstated in the police service.

In another development, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III declared August 25 as a Day of National Mourning ordering all government agencies, department offices and municipal governments, to lower their flags at half-mast. Malacanang, Senate and Congress led the lowering of the Philippine flags at half-mast to pay their last respects and condole with the Hongkong government and the families who lost their loved ones during the hostage ordeal.

The President also sent flowers and fruits with the Presidential seal to the seven wounded and injured Hongkong nationals currently operated on and recuperating in Manila Hospital. (Gloria Esguerra Melencio)

Filipino eating habits change over time

Long time ago when living was not as fast-paced today, Filipinos ate mostly camote, rice, vegetable, nuts, fruits and everything that grew on plants. Land was so fertile that a single corn plant can bear as much as 15 fruits to the amazement of the Spanish friars who chronicled that it even surpassed that of Mexico corn that had only been bearing four fruits at the most.

Filipinos did not eat carabeef as carabaos roamed wildly in the mountains four hundred years ago;  beef was only introduced with the introduction of vaca (cow) pairs from Southern America; and chickens were only domesticated for eggs.

With the advent of colonization and influence of the colonizers’ culture, the Filipino eating habits have been transformed slowly from vegetable to being meat-based. Communication technology and bombarded advertisements have been made the best tools for forcing Filipinos to drink imported milk and eat corned beef and sardines from the GI’s food supply. Now accustomed to drinking milk despite being lactose-intolerant, as mostly Asians do- and used to eating meat everyday as modeled by the status quo –eating habits have dramatically changed.

With fast-paced modern life in the 20^th century came easy-to-cook meat-based products, a far cry from the fresh root crops, vegetables and fruits that Filipinos ate long time ago. Mention the words hamburgers, fried chicken and meat-loaded pizza and the kids will yell Jollibee, Mcdonald’s, or Shakey’s.

This changed eating habit has shortened the Filipino life span from living a healthy, heart-attack free old age of 90 to agonizingly painful and arthritic 60 years old if one does not die of heart attack at 50 or earlier. With many years of eating meat come accumulated toxins in the body that cause various diseases too many to mention.

Dr. Maan Canlas, a geriatrics doctor, says elderly people have poor metabolism and circulation because of poor eating habits and accumulated meat toxins in the body. She explains in the SAGE press launch that returning or turning to a vegetarian lifestyle will bring about healthy and happy disposition as body enzymes digest vegetable-based food easily and fibers in vegetables help in the bowel movement.

Olympics Taekwondo referee Ricardo Santiago, a vegetarian for 13 years testifies he has an active lifestyle, his body functions well and has not lost anything in becoming a vegetarian. Besides,“I look young,” he jokes.

His youngest sister Tuesday Santiago, also a vegetarian, confides becoming a vegetarian is “tough”  with the young generation exposed to KFC, Macdonald’s and Jollibee nowadays. “But young people are waking up to the realities of the ‘vegetarian wave,’” she attests.

Nonie Fernando, SAGE representative who is a vegetarian for 38 years, says product availability is not a problem anymore because vegetarian items are now being sold in SM Makati and Megamall supermarkets. Besides, fresh vegetables are everywhere in the Philippines.

Returning to the Filipino original eating habits has now become a battle. While it has become a battle in business, it is a big battle of the self. Vegetarians in the Philippines, however, are a living testimony of winning in this battlefield collectively called life. (Gloria Esguerra Melencio)

Wika ko, dayalekto mo

YAYAMANG buwan ng wika ngayon at lahat ay nagpapahayag ng walang hanggang pagmamahal sa sariling wika, pagbigyan n’yo na ako kung muli kong uungkatin ang debate sa pagitan ng wika at dayalekto (language vs. dialect sa Ingles).

Kung nagtataka kayo kung ano ba itong debateng ito, hindi ko kayo masisisi dahil kokonti lang naman talaga ang nagbibigay ng pansin sa usaping ito sa sawimpalad nating bansa.

Kung lagi kayong nakababad sa Internet, mapapansin ninyong maraming mga “language police” para sa Ingles pero walang ganitong uri ng hayop na mahigpit magbantay para sa wikang Filipino. Kapag mali-mali ang Ingles mo, madali kang mapansin at maraming magtatama agad sa iyo. Pero kapag mali-mali ang gamit mo ng Filipino walang paki ang madlang pipol.

Hindi nakapagtatakang walang sinusunod na panuntunan ang mga babasahing Pinoy at walang pumapansin kung tama ba ang baybay o balarila na sinusunod ng mga nagsusulat sa Filipino (Tagalog sa marami nating kababayan). Hindi rin nakapagtataka kung gayon na halos walang nakikialam kung ang Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Pangasinense at iba pa ay wika o dayalekto.

Nauna ko nang sinulat sa pitak na ito na ang mga nabanggit ko sa itaas e mga wika at hindi dayalekto. Marami kasing nag-aakala na ang nag-iisang wika lamang sa Pinas e ang Filipino – na siya ring pambansang wika – at ang iba pa e puro dayalekto na lamang. E bakit pa ito tatawaging pambansang wika kung nag-iisa lamang ito?

Para sa akin, ang kaibahan ng wika sa dayalekto e para ring kaibahan ng relihiyon sa sekta. Nagkakaiba lamang sila sa dami. Kung maraming miyembro ang isang paniniwala, tinatawag itong relihiyon, samantalang kung kokonti e sekta lamang ito.

Ganun din ang wika. Kung marami ang nagkakaintindihan sa maraming lugar, wika ang ginagamit nila. Kung sumakay ka ng barko o bus at napalayo ka na at hindi na maintindihan ng kausap, dayalekto ang gamit mo.

Sa ibang halimbawa, ang wika e magulang at ang dayalekto e anak. Ang Tagalog, halimbawa, e isang wika at maraming nakakaintindi nito (kaya nga dito ibinase ang Filipino). Pero may mga lugar na may punto at may iba na ring katawagan sa ilang bagay, gaya ng Tagalog sa Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Batangas at Metro Manila. Ang mga ito e dayalekto o “anak” ng Tagalog. Ganun din, may mga Cebuano sa Cebu na iba na nang kaunti sa Cebuano sa Mindanao pero nagkakaintindihan pa rin sila, kaya nga ang Cebuano ay wika at ang pagkakaiba nito sa ilang mga lugar e dayalekto ng Cebuano.

Pero sabi ko nga, may debate tungkol dito. Meron kasing mga hindi mapakali sa depinisyon ng dalawa. Meron kasing mga lenggwaheng itinatakda ng pulitika at hindi ng natural na gamit ng mga tao. May mga makukulit na nagtatanong kung ang gay lingo ba e lenggwahe o dayalekto o pang-asar lamang.

Ewan ko, basta’t anu’t-anuman, ang wika e nakabatay pa rin sa dami ng mga gumagamit nito at kung paano ito gamitin. At kung gaano rin ito tumatagal.

Bakit ko ito pinag-uusapan? Wala lang. Gusto ko lang dahil buwan nga ng wika ngayon.

RP declares Aug. 25 Day of National Mourning

In solidarity with the people of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region which lost eight lives from the hostage-taking incident in Manila yesterday, the Philippine Government declared August 25 as day of national mourning.

President Benigno Aquino III signed Proclamation No. 23 yesterday instructing all public institutions in the country, as well as Philippine Embassies and Consulates General overseas, to lower the Philippine Flag at half-mast on August 25.

The Philippine Government considers the deaths of eight Hong Kong nationals a great loss to the peoples of Hong Kong and the Philippines.

“These deaths are a great loss to the peoples of Hong Kong and the Philippines, and call for the most solemn commemoration and respect at a time of grief for our two peoples,” the proclamation said.

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs lowered its Philippine Flag at half-mast in memory of the lives lost in the incident.

The Esguerras of Butuan

How I met Aunt Lilli and other relatives in Butuan (pronounced Butwan) was quite unexpected.   I have been dreaming of meeting them, my long-lost relatives on my father’s side, many years ago when Lolo Javier of Pangasinan told me his brothers migrated to Butuan when he was just a young boy.

I have only gone to Pangasinan or to La Union, my grandfather’s and grandmother’s towns respectively, for work assignments. It was only Tita Norma and Tita Cherry Esguerra Licdan, my father’s cousins, who helped me trace my roots while I was drafting our family tree.  Pangasinan, La Union and Butuan are just images of a distant past.

It was my first flight to Butuan City, a place I have only read in books as known for the discovery of the 1,600-year-old balanghai, an ancient boat made of sturdy, thick planks of wood connected to each other without nails. Archeological finds in Butuan had revealed it was the center of commerce in that part of Mindanao where traders dock to sell goods and Spanish conquistadores get their supply of drinking water and food.  Archeologists had also found golden Buddhas and rare artifacts embedded in the muddy mouth of the river, evidences of its link to the glorious Sri Vijayan past.

Upon leaving my things in the hotel resort where I was billeted, I immediately put on my walking shoes and slung my husband’s camera to scour the city of its historical places. Knowing nobody, I sought the help of the Regional Tourism Department where I was given a guide map and brochures about the place. Inquisitive me asked the obliging staff who the head of the tourism department is whom I can interview for a possible story for my newspaper then where I worked as a reporter.

She answered warmly during that cold rainy afternoon: “Liwliwa Esguerra.” Hmmm, Esguerra. I quickly responded: “Can I interview her? She must be my relative if she is from Pangasinan.” Aunt Lilli must have heard and felt my excitement. She peeped from the conference room and finally invited me to sit inside her spacious office. I introduced myself. It was Lolo Javier’s name that linked her to me. I found my relative!

Lolo Javier’s brothers Milo and Melchor migrated to Butuan to look for greener pastures in the 1950s. Indeed they found their place under the sun in this part of Agusan as they become professionals through sheer determination and hard work. Lolo Melchor married Paz Buque who hailed from a family of educators in Nasipit. Lolo Milo became a school principal. Nana Minda became a nurse and currently lives in Quezon City busying herself as head of a review center for nurses. Some of the cousins migrated to Canada and Austria from Butuan.

Aunt Lilli invited me to a family reunion on the second day that I was in Butuan. Relatives came from as far as Vienna and Vancouver to grace the grand matriarch’s birthday celebration in a hotel where I was also billeted. Coincidence? Everything happens for a reason, as an Asian saying goes.

I wondered what Aunt Lilli’s name means in Ilocano. Liwliwa means joy, she explained. I wondered, too, why she remained single, she being the youngest in a big brood of the Esguerra clan in Butuan and radiantly beautiful in her pixie hair with a yellow rose pinned on her blue dress.  Just the same, it was a joy meeting my newly found relatives in Mindanao. Thank you, Aunt Lilli.

Parangal at pangaral

KUNG ikaw ang masusunod syempre mas gugustuhin mong parangalan ka kesa pangaralan.

Umaasa ka ng parangal kung sa tingin mo e may nagawa kang kapuri-puri at kapaki-pakinabang sa kapwa. Kapag kumilos ka naman nang may pag-iimbot at walang katapatan, umaasa kang pangaral lang ang aabutin mo at hindi sana batok at batikos.

May isang grupo sa Amerika ngayon na umaani ng parangal at pangaral – depende sa estado ng pag-iisip ng pumupuri o bumabatikos. Isa lamang itong kulto ng mga Kristiyano – mga rightist Christians kung tawagin ng mga aktibista – sa isang lugar sa Florida na nananawagan ng pagsunog sa Qur’an o banal na libro ng Islam sa anibersaryo ng pag-atake sa Amerika ng mga panatikong Muslim noong Setyembre 11, 2001.

Magsusunog ng Qur’an ang kulto na kung tawagin e Dove World Outreach Center (para magpapansin) sa opisina nito sa araw na iyon bilang paggunita umano sa mga pag-atake sa Estados Unidos siyam na taon na ang nakararaan ng mga “demonyong” terorista.

Mabuti na lamang at hindi ito pinatulan ng Simbahang Katoliko na agad nanawagan sa kulto na huwag ituloy ang kahibangang ito. Sigurado nga namang magreresulta ito ng ganting atake ng mga Muslim laban sa mga Kristiyano. Nakita na natin iyan dito mismo sa Pinas na naggagantihan ang iilang mararahas at sira-ulong panatiko ng magkabilang relihiyon.

Lahat ng relihiyon ay nangangaral ng kabutihan at kaligtasan; malinis ang kanilang hangarin pero hindi nawawala sa kahit anumang organisasyon – kahit sa gobyerno at mga rebolusyonaryo – ang mga baliw, sintu-sinto at masasamang loob na handang gawin ang lahat maipilit lang ang paniniwala, sukdulang mamatay at pumatay sila.

Hindi naman orihinal na ideya itong bantang pagsusunog ng Qur’an. Nauna nang nagbanta ng ganito ang mga panatikong Kristiyano sa Copenhagen sa Denmark para naman labanan ang panawagang boykot ng mga bansang Muslim sa keso, gatas, sikulate at iba pang Danish products. Ang boykot e protesta naman ng mga Muslim sa isang caricature ni Muhammad na lumabas sa dyaryo doon. Ang cartoon e protesta naman ng kartonista sa isang protesta na protesta rin sa isa pang protesta. Walang katapusang protesta ito at gantihan, na kung uugatin mo ay lalampas pa sa panahon ng Krusada.

Milyong buhay ang nabubuwis sa ngalan ng relihiyon. Totoong ugat ito ng giyera, pero pwede rin itong makatulong sa pagkakaroon ng kapayapaan. Uso na ngayon ang tinatawag na interfaith dialogue at marami na ring relihiyoso ang natututong tanggapin ang di nila kayang tanggapin sa ngalan ng kapayapaan. Unti-unti nilang napagtatanto na corrupt ang organized religion at kailangan nito ng muling pagkabuhay.

May moske sa Vatican City na sentro ng paniniwalang Katoliko pero walang simbahang Kristiyano sa Saudi Arabia na sentro naman ng paniniwalang Islam. Hindi ang hari ng Saudi ang may kasalanan sa sulipat na kalagayang ito kundi ang organisadong relihiyon na takot sa pagbabago.