LOOK: Miss Trans Global Philippines 2021 is from Iloilo City

by Jane Kingsu-Cheng, Manila Bulletin

It’s definitely a great way to start Pride month with the announcement of the winner for Miss Trans Global Philippines 2021.

Posted on the official facebook page, “Congratulations to our Miss Trans Global Philippines 2021 Albiean Revalde of Iloilo City! A woman of the globe transcends beauty of all forms. At the young age of 19, our Miss Trans Global Philippines 2021, shows that our future is in the youth. Together, let us change the patriarchal narrative of what pageants ar —where beauty is diverse, inclusive and purposive.”

Congratulations!

Cebu City’s supply of vaccines to run out after Tuesday, June 8

THE supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Cebu City is expected to last only until Tuesday, June 8, 2021.  Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, City Health Department officer-in-charge, said they only have 3,800 doses available and these are all intended for the first dose.

Ibones, in an interview on Sunday, June 6, said they are still waiting for the next delivery of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines from the Department of Health 7.

“We are just relying on the supply coming from the national government,” he said. He hopes it will arrive soon so the City’s vaccine rollout will not be disrupted again. Ibones said the City will resume vaccination on Monday, June 7.

He said all the four vaccination sites in the city – University of Cebu (UC) Banilad campus, Robinsons Galleria, SM Seaside City and UC Senior High School campus – are administering the first dose.

The City has inoculated more than 47,000 individuals, while more than 11,000 have completed their vaccination. The number does not include individuals inoculated under the Project Balik Buhay Vaccination Initiative and workers in hospitals. More than 150,000 individuals have registered for the City’s vaccination program through pabakunata.com.

Meanwhile, data provided by the Cebu City Emergency Operations Center show that there are 455 beds available in the city’s isolation facilities.

At the Cebu City Quarantine Center, which can accommodate patients with severe conditions, only 39 are occupied. The other 121 beds are empty.bThe three remaining operational barangay isolation centers have a total of 247 beds available with only 156 beds occupied, while isolation hotels still have 87 rooms with only 39 beds occupied.

The EOC data also show that the hospitals in the city have a safe occupancy rate of 20.5 percent, as of Friday, June 4. The World Health Organization considers the critical care occupancy alarming if it breaches 60 percent.bAs of Saturday, June 5, Cebu City logged 419 active cases.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March last year, Cebu City, which has a population of nearly a million residents, has recorded a total of 24,454 cases with 23,171 recoveries and 864 mortalities. (JJL)

WITH BEETHOVEN UNDER PALMS (XVIII): The Year of a Serious Decision

Chapter XVIII: The Year of a Serious Decision

It was on a wonderful Sunday morning during breakfast. My mother opposed all the advice of her friends and decided to move to Berlin to live with Rossana and me in another cute apartment. "Then you don't always have to drive almost 1,000 km back and forth to visit me on a free weekend", she said. She moved into a wonderful one person apartment in Berlin near to us.

"You have probably booked your next vacation in the Philippines? What do you think if you just take me with you this time?" The question didn't shock Rossana and me. It was our dearest wish for some time. As always said, done. The flights were booked. Berlin - Frankfurt. Frankfurt - Manila, a nonstop flight with Lufthansa. Manila - Davao by Philippine Airlines. 

We arrived safe and sound  in March 1993. The big Hallo and the incredible warm welcome from the family in the Philippines shocked my mother and she burst into tears. "Why have so many in Germany warned me against going to the Philippines?" my mother asked. Rossana and I couldn't answer her questions.

All so-called good hard blows from her German friends were lost in the flight. Even her family doctor had urgently advised her never ever  to travel to the tropics, in this case to the Philippines, because of her instable, cancerous health.When my mother sent him a picture card and told that she was fine and enjoying her stay in the Philippines her doctor no longer replied even after she returned to his clinic in Berlin.

During our vacation, we got  very distinguished visitors in our house: Davao Archbishop Fernando Robles Capalla together with parish priest Father Allan. Capalla was born on Nov. 1, 1934 in Leon town, Iloilo province. He was ordained priest on March 18, 1961, and was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Davao by Pope Paul VI on April 8, 1975 . His episcopal ordination and installation was on June 18, 1975. The same pope appointed him as Prelate of Iligan on April 25, 1977 and he was installed on May 26, 1977. He became Bishop of Iligan when it was elevated to a diocese by Pope John Paul II on Nov 15, 1982 . He served as Apostolic Administrator of Marawi from Oct. 17, 1987 until 1991. On June 28, 1994 he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Davao , and on November 6, 1996 , was appointed Archbishop of Davao. He was installed as third Davao archbishop on November 28, 1996.

Meeting the bishop gave me an incredible opportunity to become a columnist as well as a  radio host in the Philippines. I met Father Dexter Veloso, the station manager of DXGX 89.9 The Good News Radio, a member of the Catholic Media Network as well as the chief editor of the Davao Catholic Herald.

(To be continued!)

DO WE REALLY NEED LAWS?

 

US-President Theodore Roosevelt once said, "Ours is a government of liberty, by, through and under the law. No man is above it, and no man is below it."

Since we are back in MECQ, we do have to obey the old (new) quarantine laws - whether we like it or not. But there are many more laws without thinking about the pandemic.

“Do not steal your neighbor’s property!” “Don’t drive your car on the sidewalk!” And all the rest of it. How many times a day does someone tell you what to do? How often do you have to stop yourself from doing what you want, because you know that this action is prohibited or wrong?

It seems like we have laws, rules, and regulations to oversee just about everything. We don’t always like these rules. Yes, you can count me in! Yet to live in a civil society, we must have some rules to follow.

Laws are rules that bind all people living in a community. Laws protect our general safety, and ensure our rights as citizens against abuses by other people, by organizations, and by the government itself.  We have laws to help provide for our general safety.  These exist at the local, national and international levels.

Our bible answers my question i.e. in Deuteronomy: Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord (12:28). Deuteronomy repeats verbatim many of the laws given in Exodus or Leviticus as well in Numbers. Yet it is far from a rule book.It focuses on motives, why people should obey laws.

Since senior citizens at the age of 65 are not allowed to leave the house at the moment, I obey the law and enjoy my home office by writing, doing translation work and online teaching. 

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.

Rufa Mae Quinto cries as she washes dishes in the US

Published June 3, 2021, 8:14 PM

by Robert Requintina, Manila Bulletin

Stranded in the US, comedienne Rufa Mae Quinto-Magallanes got emotional when she revealed she had a hard time adjusting to motherhood.

“Tuwing nakikita ko yung mga artista, sasabihin ko sa sarili ko, tuwing naghuhugas ako ng plato, ‘after everything I’ve done, sumikat ako sa Philippines, ito lang ba ang bagsak ko? Maghugas ng plato? Hirap na hirap ako nu’ng una. Umiiyak-iyak pa ako. End of the world na para sa akin nu’ng una ko dito,” said Rufa Mae during an interview by Pia Arcangel for the show “Tunay Na Buhay” on GMA recently. (Every time I see movie stars, after all my achievements in show business, is this all I will do? I will just end up washing the dishes? I used to cry. I thought it’s the end of the world for me).

But Rufa Mae said she has adjusted to her ordinary life in the US. She’s happy taking care of her family, especially her daughter Alexandria.

“Ako lahat dito kaya wala ka na talagang time para sa kung anu-ano. Kung hindi importante o trabaho, hindi na ako dapat lumabas kasi mag-fall down yung bahay.” (I am so busy here that’s why I don’t have time for other things. If it’s not that important, I don’t go out anymore).

She added that she misses show business so much.

Rufa Mae said that she and her husband went to the US to celebrate Valentine’s Day in February 2020.  Due to the pandemic, they have been staying abroad for more than one year now.

But Rufa Mae said that she is scheduled to return to the country anytime this year.

Infections rising again, with Mindanao cases growing faster

MANILA. A health worker conducts a Covid-19 swab test on a resident as they monitor cases in a village in Quezon City on May 31, 2021. (AP)

THE uptick in new coronavirus infections nationwide has become more evident over the past week, with Mindanao's case growth outpacing those in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the rest of Luzon, the Department of Health (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau noted Thursday, June 3, 2021.

On Thursday, the DOH case bulletin listed 7,217 new cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and 199 additional mortalities, the highest in the last seven days, as 141 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were validated as deaths.

New infections have gone past 5,000 for nine consecutive days while deaths have exceeded 100 for seven out of the recent eight days.

These brought the cumulative case count to 1,247,899. There were 34 duplicates, including 16 recoveries, that were removed from the total.

The number of active cases climbed to 55,790, now comprising 4.5 percent of the total count, as recoveries were fewer at 3,483 than the new cases. Total recoveries went up to 1,170,752, or 93.8 percent of the total.

The additional mortalities raised the death toll to 21,357. The case fatality rate remained at 1.71 percent.

The daily positivity rate has also been increasing, reaching 14 percent on June 1 out of 44,197 samples tested, while testing output has been on a downtrend.

Trends

Dr. Alethea de Guzman, director of the Epidemiology Bureau, said in a media forum Thursday that cases nationwide averaged 6,691 per day from May 27 to June 2, nearly 30 percent higher than the 5,214 daily average from May 20 to 26.

Three regions, namely NCR, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera, continued to post high average daily attack rates, exceeding the DOH benchmark of 7 per 100,000 population.

Twelve regions continued to post positive two-week growth rates and are classified as moderate risk. Six of these 12 regions are in Mindanao, three in the Visayas and the rest are in Luzon.

The 12 regions are Zamboanga Peninsula, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Soccsksargen, Ilocos, Davao, Central Visayas, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The daily tally of cases in Mindanao regions is just a fraction of those in the NCR Plus, but De Guzman said they noted that these were increasing faster as reflected in a steep incline in the epidemic curve.

“As cases continue to increase, there’s a risk of cases rising exponentially,” she said.

Of the three regions in the Visayas, Western Visayas posted a faster growth in cases compared to Central and Eastern Visayas, which are seeing a gradual increase.

Health system

De Guzman also said they were closely watching regions with high healthcare and intensive care unit (ICU) utilization rates.

Cagayan Valley is at high risk with an healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) of 71 percent and ICU occupancy of 78 percent as of June 1.

In Mindanao, Zamboanga Peninsula, Bangsamoro and Northern Mindanao are at high risk with ICU occupancy of 91 percent, 83 percent and 71 percent, respectively.

The ICU occupancy rate and HCUR in Central Visayas have gone down to 30 percent and 33 percent, respectively, as of June 1.

The regions with ICU occupancy rates of more than 60 percent were Bicol (69 percent), Western Visayas and Soccsksargen (both at 68 percent), and Caraga (64 percent).

On Wednesday, Davao Region with 368 new cases showed up on the list of regions with the highest number of new cases, after NCR (954), Calabarzon (775), Central Luzon (533) and Western Visayas (391).

Among the cities and provinces, the highest new cases on Wednesday were recorded in Cavite (285), Davao City (226), Quezon City (222), Laguna (183) and Batangas (150).

The daily average of new cases in the country peaked at around 10,800 in the week from April 9 to 15, but went down to 7,595 in the period from April 29 to May 5 and plateaued for most of May.

De Guzman said the daily average went down to 6,410 on May 6 to 12, 5,827 on May 13 to 19, and further to 5,214 on May 20 to 26.

Covid-19 deaths have decreased to 77 a day in May from 111 a day in April, but the daily average of 77 was still higher than the 2020 peak of 69 in August. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)

WITH BEETHOVEN UNDER PALMS (XVII)

 

Chapter XVII: Off to the New World

Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out what's great about a culture. That's exactly what Czech composer Antonin Dvorak was when he came to the U.S. at the end of the 19th century, an immigrant thrown into a new world and new sounds.

Out of that experience, he wrote a symphony for America: Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, subtitled "From the New World," has become one of the world's most beloved orchestral works. It also produced a melody that is a hymn and an anthem to what American music can be.

In February 1992, Rossana and I reached the New World, the United States of America after two flights with British Airways from Berlin to London and then from London to Los Angeles. It was my second stay in the U.S. In 1975, I visited America and Canada already for a tent tour visiting the complete west coast of both nations up to Alaska.

This time, we visited some members of our family, who emigrated to Los Angeles and San Diego after our wedding in 1983. 

Uncle Boy, Auntie Gigi, our nephews Dustin and Bebeng as well as their partners reside in Santa Monica until now. 

The sprawling beach and consistently sunny weather of Santa Monica is less than 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles, significantly adding to the seven million visitors this seaside city receives each year. The epitome of Southern California coastal appeal, Santa Monica has an energy spurred by the lapping waves of its western border, and a visceral excitement found on the pedestrian-friendly streets, buzzing with activity well into the night.

Rossana and I forgot Germany for several weeks. Uncle Boy asked several times whether we didn't want to emigrate to them. Our heads spun ... . 

"Let's visit Mexico first and then we decide where we are emigrating!" Rossanna said this so seriously that all believed it. But we only reached Tijuana and returned back to the U.S. as soon as possible.

The Universal Studios Hollywood, Griffith Park and Griffith Observatory, Disneyland Resort, Venice Beach, Long Beach, or The Original Farmers Market - really unforgettable, intoxicating weeks. We would meet Uncle Boy and Auntie Gigi again after years in Davao City.

1993 was planned again for the Philippines. My mother, a cancer survivor and then age 70 expressed an amazing wish out of the sudden ... .

(To be continued!)

Typical Filipino (XIX) - Typisch Philippinisch (XIX): "Balagtasan" - Debatten

 

The first balagtasan took place on April 6, 1924, at the Instituto de Mujeres in Tondo, Manila. The event was held at the Instituto de Mujeres (Women's Institute) as part of the celebration of Francisco Balagtas' birth anniversary. The two protagonists of the poetic debate were poets José Corazón de Jesús and Floranto Collantes. The verbal joust became popular among both the masses, intellectuals, and the debutantes. This led to the adaptation of similar literary forms such as the bukanegan by the Ilocanos named after the father of Iloko literature, Pedro Bukaneg. Filipino poets in the Spanish language, specifically Jesus Balmori and Manuel Bernabe, also engaged in balagtasan competitions, and their poetic jousts featured and immortalized in the book with the title Balagtasan: Justa Poetica (1927), with a prologue written by Teodoro Kalaw. Balagtasan saw a significant decline after the death of de Jesus in 1932.

Die traditionelle Debatte legt Wert auf die Form, nicht auf den Inhalt; auf den Vortrag und blumige Bildersprache, nicht auf Logik und Themen. Auf den Philippinen zählt weniger, was man sagt, als wie man es sagt. Dichterwettbewerbe erfreuten sich in der Vergangenheit grosser Beliebtheit. Heute sind sie nur noch in kleinen Städten zu finden. Weil gute zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen das Klingenkreuzen harter Wortgefechte verbietet, scheint der Streit der Ideen Filipinos im allgemeinen nicht besonders anzprechen. Vielmehr ziehen sie die richtige Formulierung vor, um Freunde zu gewinnen. Es ist ein gewandtes Wortspiel, um ein Lächeln auf die Lippen zu zaubern. Die perfekte Strategie, Ärger zu zerstreuen. Ernsthafte Diskussionen und Auseinanderseztungen über Ideen werden auf Konferenzen und Gesprächsrunden kaum aufblühen, Debattenteilnehmer übergiessen oftmals ihre Argumente eifrig mit Zuckerguss oder verwässern sie, um Streit und Erregung zu vermeiden.

The traditional debate focuses on the form, not on the content; on the lecture and flowery pictures, language, not on logic and themes. In the Philippines, what you say matters less than how you say it. Poetry competitions were very popular in the past. Today they can only be found in small towns. Because good interpersonal relationships forbid the cross-cutting of words. The argument of ideas does not seem particularly appealing to Filipinos in general. Rather, they prefer the right wording to make friends. The perfect strategy to dispel anger. Serious discussions and arguments about ideas will hardly flourish at conferences and round tables. Debate participants often eagerly frosting or enhancing their arguments to avoid arguments and excitement.

An intoxicating love

 

US musician and author Ted Gioia argues in his excellent book Music: A Subversive History (2019): "At every stage in human history, music has been a catalyst for change, challenging conventions and conveying coded messages – or, not infrequently, delivering blunt, unambiguous ones. It has given voice to individuals and groups denied access to other platforms for expression. Pop music has often been dismissed as "lightweight" given its young audience, simple snappiness and mainstream status, but those elements are really where its strength is concealed. Pop songs don't originate themes of mental wellbeing, equality, liberty, activism – but they do transmit them to the broadest platforms possible".
    
Snap the radio on, zip to any station, and what are you likely to hear? Love songs. Songs of new love, songs of disappointed love, songs of grateful love, songs of crazy love. I still remember my time as a radio host in Davao City several years ago playing the Hits of the 60's, 70's and 80's. Nothing has changed. Times change, but through history the flow of love songs is a constant.
    
Plenty of people are surprised or even shocked to find an explicit love song in the bible - complete with erotic lyrics. But "Song of Songs" is exactly that. It shows no embarrassment about lovers. Consequently, intermittent attempts have been made  to rule "Song of Songs" out of the bible. It's like making it "for adults only". Imagine, my dear reader, in 16th century Spain for instance, professor Fray Luis de Leon was dragged out of his classroom and taken to jail for four years. His crime? He translated "Song of Songs" into Spanish.
    
If you start reading "Song of Songs", you will find out that this book conveys a very different atmosphere from most modern love songs and pop music. Since love songs are always popular, many people approach "Song of Songs" with great expectations. However, readers often find the book much different from what they had expected. One is the poetic imagery. Second: "Song of Songs" is hard to follow. One part  doesn't seem connected to the next.
    
Try to explore the "Song of Songs". One thing is for sure. You'll learn a lot about the love between God and His people.