Year of Disasters

Editorial (Friday 30, 2011) Mindanao Daily Mirror - with friendly permission by publisher and editor-in-chief "Tita" Marietta Siongco... .

"Year 2011 will exit to history tomorrow as the year of disasters for our country. Of the many typhoons that hit the Philippines this year. Ondoy and Sendong caused the heaviest damage in this supposed "tropical paradise" in terms of lives lost and number of families left homeless. Internationally, 2011 is considered "Record Year for Bad Weather".

Hopefully, Sendong which was not even considered a typhoon by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (PAGASA) but only categorized as a "storm" spoiled the Christmas session as it devastated many areas with just a little over a week before Christmas Day. The Yuletide season is considered the joyous time of the year, especially by Filipinos who celebrate Christmas the longest in the world.

Hardest hit by Sendong was Northern Mindanao, particularly the neighboring cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.  The combined death toll of the two cities reached over a thousand with still hundreds of missing. And just at the year was about to end, several areas  in Eastern and Southern Mindanao were hit by flash floods caused by heavy rains, incuding Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Compostela Valley in the Davao region and Bukidnon. Even nearby Tagum City was not spared by the storm wrath.

With just a few days before New Year, the town of Kapalong in Davao del Norte and Valencia City in Bukidnon were inundated by floodwaters. According to the MINDANEWS report which the  MIRROR carried in its front page yesteray, 10 out of 11 barangays in Valencia City were flooded with floodwaters rising up to four meters high in many homes, displacing no less than 1,150 families.

A heartening development in the wake of tragedy that hit Northern Mindanao a week or so before Christmas Day is that many provinces and cities in the country donated food, clothing, blankets, thousands of bottles of water and other relief materials to the flood victims in CdO and Iligan worth 2 million pesos, plus 1 million in cash.

And just the other day, the Jesuits in Cagayan de Oro donated a five-hectare land as relocation site for the Sendong victims in the so-called "city of the golden friendship".

Richard Heuberger and Paul Hindemith - Two Classical Composers

(Paul Hindemith)

(Richard Heuberger)

You can read more about them on my website:

http://www.klausdoringclassicalmusic.webs.com .

Enjoy listening my radio show "Classics with Klaus Doring" every Sunday (also tomorrow January 1, 2012) from 2 to 4 p.m. (Philippine time) on "The Ede Radio Davao" 104.3 FM or via live stream http://www.davao.theedge.ph .

Philippine Style of Taking a Bath

A red bucket placed upside down in tucked away in a corner of our bathtub. On top is a blue TAKO (or TABO), or a plastic bowl, the type that one usually receives as a complimentary gift for tupper ware orders. they both sit there inconspicuously, one on top of the other like two giants thimbles. On many mornings in my rush to get to the bathtub I have tripped over them, stubbing my toe and wailing to pierce the cold, silent air.

I would then remove the bucket and TABO or TAKO from the bathtub, place them gently on the floor and continue with my shower. I have often wondered why they were there. I knew their purpose and felt it was obsolete. I met them for the first time in 1982, when I stayed longer in the Philippines. I stayed in a boarding house. A continuous gush would mean someone was still using the bathroom and take a shower; just as I used the shower wastefully on many occasions and was scolded for it.

"At least turn the shower off when you lather", I was told many times by my landlord, "this  way you don't waste as much water." I would become annoyed with his admonition, yet secretly  I was pleased with the environmental concerns already  during the early 1980s here in Davao City. My landlord was in the right and, in my guilt, I shut the water off.

I learned that most people in the Philippines bathe using the ubiquitous bucket and TAKO or TABO because of the lack of a proper drainage system. The bucket would be filled with cold water from a pump, and the bather would pour water over his head with TAKO or TABO. In Germany I almost forgot this practice. During my returns to the Philippines and during several stays in hotels all over the Philippines this kind of taking bath or a shower really made an impact on me. 

I never thought that a bucket and a TAKO or TABO would ever become significant for me, but then the sword and the ploughshare have become the symbols of war and peace. Up to now in my house in the Philippines... .

As the water splatters onto the bathtub, I would think of the people who must bath daily this way as a ritual... .

Frohes Neues Jahr 2012 / Happy New Year 2012

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY DEAR READERS OF THIS BLOG! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR CONTINUING PATRONAGE. GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

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EIN GLUECKLICHES NEUES JAHR FUER ALLE MEINE LIEBEN LESER. HERZLICHEN DANK FUER DIE JAHRELANGE TREUE. GOTT SEGNE SIE ALLE!

DOST XI Energy Audit Team Now Ready to Serve the Region

People get excited about their savings account earning interests. But, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Regional Office XI (Mindanao) has seen a better idea to invest into something that earns three or five times that of bank interests. An "energy audit" is a good first step toward realizing those money savings by making your place more energy efficient.

With today's increasing production cost, it is important to identify areas by which production cost can be significantly reduced. One area identified by DOST is to improve the efficiency of energy utilization among industries. Many industrial establishments are now becoming conscious of their energy usage due to increased energy costs. In response to these needs, the DOST Regional Office XI has a Davao Region Energy Audit & Management (DREAM) Team, which can help the industries in the region.

DREAM Team is a multi-agency group with members from the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers (IIEE), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), the University of Mindanao (UM), and DOST XI. The team is now ready to provide energy audit services to all interested industries in the region. DREAM team will help industries in setting energy conservation goals, identify areas where energy wastes can occur, relate energy consumption to production, improve the process/equipment efficiencies, and recommend energy saving opportunities.

Put simply, an energy audit determines how much energy your company uses and figures out ways to slash consumption. An audit can show how to save electricity, such as by switching to less-energy-hungry bulbs and appliances. An audit can determine the efficiency of your air condition system. You may notice, for the first time, costly gaps around windows and doors, thanks to the audit.

Interested companies may inquire on how to avail of the DREAM Team services and fees at telephone number 082 - 221-5428 and look for Engr. Benjamin V. D. Estrelladao, Jr., the DREAM Team Focal Person. Happy savings!

Strategic Response to the Panama Disease in Davao City

DOST officials led by Secretary Mario G. Montejo, met on December 9, 2011 with banana growers and exporters, researchers and heads of local line agencies to discuss the next steps in the ongoing united response against the Panama Disease or Fusarium Wilt (FW) of banana.

"We acknowledge the urgency of the issue", said Sec. Montejo as he assured the body of department's moves to come up with immediate and long-term S&T-based solutions for the management of the disease. He further shared that the Department is streamlining its process to shorten its response time. For instance, approval for a full project proposal may not be needed for release of funds, as long as the proposed concept is sound. Also, appropriate S&T-based interventions will be implemented simultaneously in affected areas while the more-in-depth R&D will be on-going.

Specifically, the Secretary pushed for the "S&T Intervention in Managing the Fursarium Wilt in Davao". This R&D Program is slated to come up with disease management measures and develop a resistant variety. DOST and the Philippine Council of Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources and Development  will fund and coordinate the conduct of this program.

First among the proposed projects is the use of biological control agents against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, the fungus which causes FW. The physico-chemical characteristics of soils will be studied to determine why some soils seem to suppress the disease.

The project will also work on developing varieties that are resistant, locally-adapted and approximate the fruit quality of the prevailing Cavendish varieties. The Secretary hoped to enlist the assistance of the Taiwanese government in obtaining germ plasma for this purpose. 

For its part, the Department of Agriculture XI organized Task Force Fusarium to push local quarantine ordinances and promote the disease management protocol. Currently several towns have adopted policies to restrict the movement of planting material in infected areas. Together with the Filipino Banana Growers and Exporter Association, they are promoting the disease management protocol through development and distribution of information materials, and through protocol briefings.

NEDA XI Director Ma. Lourdes D. Lim, who chairs the Regional R&D Coordinating Council of the Southern Mindanao Agriculture and Resources R&D Consortium, welcomed the DOST's proposed moves. As Vice Chair also of the Regional Development Council, she put the full force of the various members behind the common initiative. 

Before 2002, Philippine bananas were largely resistant to the disease. While other countries were reeling from the effects of FW infestation, the country was ex-industry and eventually became the world's second largest banana  exporter.   

Froehliche Weihnachten! Merry Christmas!

EIN GESEGNETES UND FROHES WEIHNACHTSFEST IHNEN ALLEN LIEBE LESERINNEN UND LESER. GOTT SEGNE SIE!

A BLESSED AND VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU MY DEAR READERS. GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Karl Amadeus Hartmann - A Figure Unique in German Music

Karl Amadeus Hartmann is indeed a figure unique in German music - the only composer to stay put and defy Adolf Hiter for the duration of the Third Reich...

Check out more here:

www.klausdoringclassicalmusic.webs.com 

Lapis at Papel... Kulang pa Project -

The Batch 81 Holy Cross of Mintal LAPIS AT PAPEL...KULANG PA PROJECT is an outreach program and is holding a monthly gift giving of pencils, pad papers and other educational materials for day care center kids in, especially in the remote areas of Davao City.

The communities have been to serve in 2011 in different parts of Davao City and celebrated the first anniversary last December 17, 2011 after the last gift giving for this year 2011.

Barangays Manambulan and Guianga are the next target areas. More people are badly needed to encourage and support the Batch 81 Holy Cross of Mintal.

Please conact President/Coordinator Emma Linda Malacaste Diolola-Ocampo: emsdiolola@yahoo.com.

CONFUSED

(Today's Editorial of Mindanao Daily Mirror - with friendly permission of my publisher and editor-in-chief 'Tita" Marietta Siongco.)

What is with us?

We pretend to defend decency in public office, yet we condone abominations like a midnight appointment. We mouth motherhood statements about the blight of corruption, yet we whine about bold measures aimed at weeding out the crooks. We purport allegiance to the Constitution, yet we use, nay misuse, the same sacred instrument to compromise earnest efforts to better our society. We say one thing, yet mean another.

This sums up our pathetic national discourse over the last months. For how explain the rank inanities favoring such a widely discredited figure aas Chief Justice Renato Corona? What must we make for the throng that lapped up his street language late last week, clinging to his post as if he were the High Court itself, and taking the President, no less, to task as a -take note- dictator?

How else explain the public statements of such bodies and individuals like the IBP (which cavalierly invoked the constitutional principle of separation of powers, as if any of those institutional powers were beyond criticism), Sen. Joker Arroyo (who, not unlike, of all people, Sen. Bongbong Marcos, critized the Chief's Justice's impeachment at the House), former Sen. Nene Pimentel (who said he wasn't happy with the swift impeachment process), and confessed GMA friend Fr. Eliseo Mercado (Mindanao's very own peace advocate who painfully noted that Gloria Arroyo was being "demonized as if she were the personification of evil.")

Are we missing something?

... .

We're a confused people - unworthy of, or desperate for, principled, modern leadership.