What do we value as a nation? Family, education, and faith!

 

What do we value as a nation? Family, education, and faith!

The first weekend of a new year opens a window for some contemplation. How far have we come as a nation? Or how have we progressed as a family? One only needs to look at what a nation values to determine the moral standing of its people.

A cursory search on the term “values” reveals that these are the basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. In short, values “help us determine what is important to us.” “Values describe the personal qualities we choose to embody to guide our actions; the sort of person we want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our interaction with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct.”

(C) 2022 by Manila Bulletin

What are some things that the Philippines does better than the United States of America (USA)?

 

By Thomas Norman

In a word, Family.

Family is everything in the Philippines. Most Filipinos are what in the United States, would be considered poor.

People get by by helping each other. There is no more cooperative people on the planet then Filipinos. And resourceful.

While we make jokes in the United States about redneck engineering, pretty much everything in the Philippines gets redneck engineered out of necessity.

But unlike redneck engineering in America, the quality of cobbling together fixes in the Philippines is simply amazing. It is absolutely nothing here to craft together an equivalent of a manufactured part when that part is not available.

Is a specialized switch broken? No problem! They will fix that thing. A dashboard switch, that Americans would simply throw away, Filipinos will spend an hour fixing. And it will work just as good as new. One A/C shop said that my A/C could not be repaired because parts are not available. He said the A/C on this car will never work again because of this broken, uniquely designed switch. So I went to another shop. They had it restored to perfect in one hour. Having worked with electronics for decades, I inspected the workmanship. It was virtually as good as new. With a guarantee.

Everybody teaches everybody everything they know. And everybody helps everybody through the hardest of times and through the most difficult challenges. This is a country that truly pulls together around family to make everything that couldn’t be possible without them.

What an incredible country!

(C) 2021 Quora

Is the Philippines really a collectivism society?

 

Erwin Anciano

 

Freelance Writer and Aspiring Novelist

The Philippines is totally Collectivist.

But not on the National level like some Far East Asian countries. The Philippines is collectivist on the familial level.

Family is one of the biggest Filipino values. If not the biggest. Filipinos in general will put their family above everything. I can tell you this after decades of handling Filipino employees, and twice that living as an actual Filipino.

A Filipino will spill every drop of his blood if it meant making life a little easier for their family. You just need to look at the OFWs, the unsung heroes who keep the economy of the country afloat.

OFWs will work hard to earn qualifications and certifications, visas and permits to be allowed the privilege of working abroad, to slave and toil in a foreign land with no friends or family, working menial jobs like scrubbing toilets or wiping the ass of stinky old people, all to earn a meager paycheck, 80% of which is sent back home to their families at home, to support a mother and father who can’t work anymore, or to send a younger sibling to college.

Five of my cousins are like this. They went to the US, to England, to Germany just to work a job and send money back home to their families.

You can see the level of familial piety in this country, it is not just in the big things like that, but in the little things. Filipinos don’t leave their family to dry, and sons and daughters respect their elders and follow their counsel even if it is contrary to their own desires.

That is just how Filipinos roll.

10 reasons why Filipinos and Germans are alike

 

By: Stephanie Zubiri-Crespi - Philippine Star

Two worlds so far apart … a land rich in history, royalty, castles, emperors, deep and dark evergreen forests, winter wonderlands and snowy mountains, peaceful harmony in austerity and discretion in a recently reunited land; the other a young republic, tropical and lush jungles, bright sun and torrential rains, happiness in chaos, a flamboyant population in raging Asian capitalist development.

Their children have flaxen blond hair and eyes as blue as the sky. Our children have shiny raven hair and friendly, almond-shaped onyx eyes.

Germany and the Philippines, two worlds so far apart and yet we have so many things in common that many here on our warm, palm tree-lined shores have yet to discover.

1. Friendliness. I have to say that Filipinos pride themselves on being hospitable and open-hearted. We welcome guests from far-off lands and are happy to help people in need. Far from the post-World War II Golden Age of Hollywood films that portray Germans on the big screen as cold, calculating and evil Nazi soldiers, Germans are extremely friendly, kind and warm people. I’ll never forget when I left my allergy medicines back home and was trying to purchase some in a pharmacy: the lady was truly concerned, tried to find different non-prescription, homeopathic options, and when she heard me whispering in French she immediately tried to practice hers. It’s a common trait that I’ve found, whether in the countryside in a tiny organic vegetable shop or in a Berlin café, people are kind, gentile and considerate. They love to learn about where you’re from and what it’s like and are very willing to muster up English, French, Spanish or even some Tagalog words to make you feel at ease.

2. Beer. We Pinoys love our beer, ice-cold, below-zero — it’s the perfect tropical refreshment. We order by the bucket, barkada nights with friends, a nice brewski after work, buy one take one during happy hour. The Germans, however, boy, do they take their love affair with beer to another level. And I mean, it’s serious. Go to any beverage shop and it’s like you died and went to beer heaven. A whole Miss Universe pageant of glorious beer: blonds, amber, honey tones and ebony … from the palest pilsen to the richest stout, there are over 1,300 breweries in Germany that produce around 5,000 different kinds of beer. The German Beer Purity Law was introduced in 1516 and is the oldest and strictest food law in the world! The Oktoberfest (which actually occurs at the end of September) is a grandiose testament to their love of the malty bubbly. Beer is considered a beverage and not really alcohol; they even have non-alcoholic beer. The variety is so mind-boggling that the new trend is to create a getränkemarkt or beverage supermarket alongside the actual supermarket just to house the beverage section. Yes, a whole building 70-percent-filled with beer of all sorts. Some other soft drinks? Vitamalz, a malty soda that tastes not unpleasantly like liquid pumpernickel and beer. So the beer buds (taste buds) get trained and nurtured.

3. Boy, do we love our parties and barrio fiestas! Every year there’s some sort of celebration and parade where people come together to feast, dance and sing. Little German towns in far-flung areas of the countryside nestled in gorgeous wheat fields and fawn-laden forests have their own dorffest, a local band place where they come together on the town square singing and rejoicing. Translated it literally means town festival or barrio fiesta! And guess what? They have their own lechon.

4. Germany has fattiest, happiest, tastiest pigs I’ve ever seen or eaten. Oh, yes. For big celebrations they roast one whole, just like our very own lechon. Crispy-skinned and juicy spannferkel is enjoyed by everyone. It’s no wonder that German expats feel rather at home in the Philippines. They probably nix the Mang Tomas sauce and would willingly trade garlic rice for potatoes, but their love for pork is almost as strong as their love for beer.

5. Speaking of pork, the sausage connection. It’s always been a mystery to me why Filipinos love sausages so much. Back in high school, before the grand era of readily available, locally made gourmet sausages, friends would sneak into the country hand-carried kielbasa sausages. I was like any other Filipino child nourished in kiddy parties with bright neon-red hotdogs on a stick with multicolored mini-marshmallows. Thank heavens for globalization and the discovery of what a real sausage is all about. Grilled on charcoal, a variety of wursten, or sausages, start pale and turn golden and start to crack open, letting flavorful juices out. Served with some bread or potatoes or pommes (French fries) they’re absolutely delicious, the right texture and saltiness with an intoxicating smoky flavor. If our hotdog aisle looks long and ample, one trip to a German supermarket and you’ll realize the absolute pure glorification of the pig in all examples.

6. We both love live bands and cheesy local music. There’s a real local pop culture for drinking songs and festive music. The German music scene, hardly ever exported except in my language class, where I had to survive two weeks of dissecting and memorizing the melancholic and unfortunately catchy Die Griescher Wein, is thriving. Our local OPM bands are no different. I kid you not. I was in Cagayan de Oro not too long ago on an exciting Friday evening in what they call “Divisoria” and I had a flashback of a biergarten in some plaza in Hamburg. Live band music? Check. Barbecues and grilled sausages? Check. Overflowing beer? Check. For the general public in Germany, having a good time is all about hanging out with friends over a beer, some pulutan and great music.

7. Family. Germans and Filipinos are very family-oriented. There are lots of parks and activities created for the family to enjoy. Kids have a big role in society and in all the numerous restaurants and cafes, you’ll see families eating together. Unlike some other European countries and famous capitals where children are hardly ever seen in restaurants, cute little golden-haired kiddos eat like the big guys, sit happily at the table and join in conversations.

8. They can’t live without potatoes like we can’t live without rice. I didn’t realize how drastic it was until a German friend of my brother’s was in town. He came over to my house for raclette and potatoes and exclaimed: “Finally! Potatoes! All I’ve been eating is rice!”

9. Christmas. Just set foot in a mall on Sept. 1 in Manila, you’ll hear a Jingle Bells or two. Filipino Christmas is Christmas on steroids. It’s an insane moment of happiness and frenzied togetherness. Christmas in Germany is like the fairytale we try to recreate with our store-bought snow and mistletoe. The traditions, Christmas carols, the weinachsmarkt or Christmas markets are just splendid. I spent Christmas there last year going around saying, “Ooh, those are real icicles! Ah, that holly is real! And there’s honest-to-goodness real frost on it! Snowflakes really do look like snowflakes!” While they don’t play Christmas carols in September, like we do, their love for the holiday is just as deep.

10. Germans have a sweet tooth. Sound familiar? The number of eiscafes or ice cream parlors in astonishing. I can’t even fathom finishing one-eighth of the towering, mountainous gelato confections they serve. The only places I’ve seen lines just as long for ice cream is the Philippines. Donuts, apfelstrudel, tarts and pastries of all kinds… Your Dunkin Donuts/Mr. Donut Bavarian cream? Well, honey, Bavaria is southern Germany. Every merienda moment is sweet kiss from Deutschland.

Although my German is minimal, I did notice that after a few “Prosts, Mabuhays,” and several glass-clicking moments, more and more words and phrases get unlocked. It doesn’t take much to feel at home in Germany: I’ve got my beer, my sausages, my cheesy music and warm, friendly faces: I raise my glass and churn out the most sophisticated phrase I know in German: Auf das was wir lieben! To the things we love! Then we chug the beer, hope for the best and the hung-over morning after, the pharmacy guy will be extra nice.

Filipina connects with her roots through farming with her family in the Netherlands

 

by Patricia Bianca Taculao, Manila Bulletin

There’s more to farming than providing people with food and other necessities. To some, it’s an efficient way to connect with their roots, especially if farming has been an integral part of their childhood.

Joy Tenizo, a former OFW turned housewife, found herself connecting with her Filipino roots despite being in a foreign country through farming. 

“My husband had no idea how to grow plants, but because I am from the Philippines, specifically in the province of Iloilo, I grew up seeing my parents do farming, and we have lots of flowers at home,” she said.

Using her experience in farming, Tenizo taught her husband how to grow flowers and crops.

Tenizo is married to Wessel Weijenberg, a project engineering manager of Thales, an electronics manufacturer in Hengelo, Netherlands.

The couple has a six-year-old daughter named Avery and a three-month-old son named Dylan. The family lives in the east of the Netherlands, close to the German border. 

Starting their farming journey 

According to Tenizo, their family started gardening in 2019, just before the pandemic started. They rented 200 square meters of land from the government and paid €30 per 100 square meters. 

She added that they were inspired by their travels since they encountered many naturally grown vegetables and flowers.

The family grows crops and flowers on a 200 square meter land that they rented from the government.

Farming has also served as a way for their family to bond. Tenizo channeled her Filipino roots and experience to teach her family how to grow food and flowers as she did back in Iloilo. Presently, the family grows flowers like tulips, roses, hydrangea, sunflower, dahlia, lavender, chrysanthemum, zinnia.

Tenizo said that tulips grow in abundance on their rented land even though it requires little maintenance from them. And not only do these look nice, but they can also be sold for extra income since the Dutch are fond of this particular flower.

One of the most prolific flowers in their garden are tulips.

Farming for their personal consumption 

Aside from the flowers, Tenizo and her family also grow fruits like grapes, apple, pear, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry, along with vegetables like beans, potato, cucumber, tomato, garlic, onion, leeks, celery, eggplant, zucchini, spinach, okra, and ampalaya.

Tenizo and her family also grows fruits like grapes.

Tenizo shares that all their flowers and crops grow abundantly from spring until late autumn. 

“During autumn and winter, it is not possible to grow plants and vegetables except in greenhouses, which are mainly located in the west of the Netherlands,” Tenizo said. 

But even though the family managed to grow a variety of crops and flowers even with little maintenance, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park as they had to deal with some challenges along the way. 

“One of the challenges is how to remove aphids,  snails, and weeds because we don’t use pesticides,” Tenizo said. 

They wanted to keep growing their crops as naturally as possible since they consume the produce themselves and the couple wants to keep their young kids from being exposed to harmful chemicals. 

Another challenge that Tenizo faced when growing their vegetables is the unideal conditions to grow some varieties that are a staple in the Filipino culture. 

“My husband loves okra and ampalaya, so I decided to try but because of the climate here, it was not successful,” she shared.

According to Tenizo, her husband loves okra and ampalaya. But due to the conditions in Netherlands, they weren’t successful in growing them.

But this didn’t discourage Tenizo as she decided to grow other varieties like beets (Beta vulgaris), cauliflower, and broccoli that are well-accustomed to the climate and environmental conditions in the Netherlands. 

Former OFW turned housewife Joy Tenizo may not have been completely successful in growing Filipino varieties of vegetables, but she still managed to connect to her native roots by teaching her family how to farm and sharing the fulfilling experience with them. 

She now enjoys seeing her family bond over planting and harvesting their crops or basking in the beauty of their flower garden. And since the family grows their plants as naturally as possible, they get to contribute to the preservation of the environment, something that the couple hopes to instill in their two, young kids.

Tenizo’s farming venture shows that growing food does more than just feed people. It also helps people connect to their roots and form bonds that transcend time, space, and even cultures.

PANDEMIC AND RELIGIOUSNESS

My column in BusinessWeek Mindanao, Mindanao Daily and The Metro Cagayan de Oro Times
 

How do you survive this time of new lock downs and their restrictions,  and daily news that only have one topic: Corona, Corona, Corona? One of the most important parts in my life is the belief in supernatural power which governs the universe. Maybe,  because I was born and raised in a parish house in Germany.

It doesn't matter which religion we belong to or believe in: the recognition of God as an object of worship, the form of worship should be our primary need. Sad to say, more and more people get another opinion nowadays. Criticizing people, who are praying more especially now, hurts me.

During my stay in several Western countries before this pandemic, I experienced icy and conceited comments such as religiousness isn't popular any more. Religiousness makes people unwilling and morose because of exaggeration and sometimes even hypocrisy. 

How come? We want to see the religiousness of our fellow creatures. We want to understand their ideology.

But we are also poking our nose into other people's business too much. Let's look behind the scenes and let's find out what religious behavior promotes: humility in actual life. Maybe. It's hard for us to do without affecting others.

We even forget the real meaning of religiousness. St. John Crysostom subscribed to the topic "Pagans and Christians" very well: "There would be no pagans if we were good Christians. But the pagans see us manifesting the same desires, pursuing the same objects - power and honor - as themselves, how can they admire Christianity?"

They see our lives open to reproach and our souls worldly. We admire wealth equally with them and even more. How, then, can they believe? From miracles? But these are no longer wrought. From our conversion? It has become corrupt. From charity? Not a trace of it is anywhere seen. (Quotation "Winnowing Fan", Vol. XX, June 2003, S of G Foundation, Makati).

Well, during this really not easy time, I am proud of having people in my surroundings here in the Philippines who taught me how to be on the right track - unconcerned and unnoticed. Natural and uninhibited, they showed me how to put real religiousness into action besides praying and going regularly to church. I call such people religious. I mean it as praise because they don't like to blow their trumpets while acting as Christians in our daily life. 

Having such people around us makes it easier to stay strong and to overcome loneliness and missing all the good things, we are no more allowed to do. Social gatherings, travelling, personal business meetings, visiting cultural events and to get the whole sacrament personally from the hand of a priest or pastor.

Comval's Family Health Fair

Compostela Valley Province

The provincial government of Compostela Valley through the Provincial Health Office (PHO) in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) conducts "12th Family Health Fair" (FHF) with the theme: "Bringing Families Towards Universal Health Care" at the far-flung area in Barangay Melale, Municipality of Laak, Compostela Valley Province on September 10, 2019.



Attending the program were Laak Mayor Antonio L. Libuangan together with Board Members Renato B. Basañes and Vivencia Secuya, PHO Chief Dr. Antonio P. Ybiernas Jr., Executive Assistant for Health Dr. John Edward M. Coloma, PHO Doctors and personnel, and the barangay officials of Melale led by Barangay Captain Peter Elsan Molero.

Among the services offered during the conduct of the health fair are the IMCI Screening, Prenatal Check-up and Family Planning under Family Health cluster and for the Infectious Disease Cluster is the HIV Counseling and Testing for the different individuals. The Environmental Health and Sanitation also offers Food Handler's Class.  For the Non-Communicable Disease they conducted Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid and for the Population Management is the Teen Counseling.

On the other hand, the Provincial Council of Women offers 'Libreng Gupit' Free Haircut for all the participants in the community while the Basic First Aid Training and techniques was also conducted by the Health Emergency Management System.

Furthermore, the Oplan Pagbabago of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office offers Information Education Campaign (IEC) on Youth Welfare Program and Services, PHIC Enrollment on Pregnant Women and Pantawid Pamilya Program Queries.

 Other services are the feeding program or libreng lugaw and champurado as well as the Provision of Iron, Ascorbic Acid and Zinc for the Nutrition cluster.

According to Board Member Dr. Basañes, this is the first time that the conduct of the FHF was held at the Barangay or in a far-flung Barangay as mandated by the governor as part of the Oplan Pagbabago and 4Ps plus agenda.

"Ang katuyuan ani nga programa nga kamong mga katawhan masayod gyud kung unsa ang mga serbisyo sa gobyerno nga angayan maavail sa mga katawhan nga libre ug walay bayad. Ma aware tang tanan kung unsa ang available services sa atong probinsiya pinaagi sa health ug uban pa," Basañes added.

Also gracing the event were the eleven (11) municipal health officers of the Rural Health Units (RHUs) of the entire province together with the participation of the four (4) hospitals of the province namely; the Compostela Valley Provincial Hospital (CVPH) Montevista, CVPH Laak, CVPH Pantukan and CVPH Maragusan.

The National Offices and Private partners such as Apex Mining Company, Thermamarine also offers free multi-vitamins and render other health services with their medical specialist while the Mindanao Pranic Healing Training Center offers consultations for the energy healing. The members of the community in Barangay Melale as well as the neighbouring Barangays availed of the different services during the conduct of the FHF.  #YEStoDavaoDeOro (Rey Antibo, ID Comval)