Reflectors
Dec . 19 - 24 , 2016 Vanguard OPINION
Vintage View
By Prof . Rolly Borrinaga
Palo 400 years ago
In the run-up to the visit of Pope Francis to Tacloban City and Palo , Leyte on January 17 , 2015 , I featured some essays I had written or published in the past on the history of Palo . In this item , I provided the English translation of the Spanish narrative about this town 400 years ago by Manuel Artigas y Cuerva in his book Reseña de la Provincia de Leyte ( Manila , 1914 ). It provides a context of this town in those years .
Palu was a visita [ village with chapel but no resident priest ] of Dagami , which could be considered until 1595 and even some years later like a simple rancheria ( homestead ). In the mentioned time and month of September [ 1595 ], the Augustinian religious that were the first ones to evangelize this town , turned it over to the Jesuits . Those who arrived were Fathers Juan del Campo and Alonso Humanes , who found that there was not a established town [ here ] and that each principal ( prominent resident ) formed a group of his own , there being in the town but two houses , occupied by the servants of the encomenderos ( territorial trustees ).
Reflectors
By Reynaldo B . Almenario
Of late , 14 senators reportedly voted to give Pres . Duterte emergency powers to use in solving the Metro Manila traffic problem . This without even a clear strategy how to address the problem substantially . Thus , if only to contribute our cent ’ s worth to tackling the traffic issue , below are some thoughts the administration may consider--in addition to the what effective measures the MMDA is now implementing . In the immediate term :
• Do not approve the renewal of old vehicles and the registration of new vehicles if the owners do not have their own carpark . For where else would their vehicles be parked if not along the streets , thus stealing so much space for a free flow of traffic ?
• Penalize all vehicle owners / drivers for parking along streets any time of day .
The inhabitants of this town at that time [ 1595 ] celebrated sacrifices in honor of the Maganitos . And they adored their gods , [ by ] calling to the old Humalagares [ lit ., abiders ; i . e ., ancestor spirits ], and were allowed polygamy .
The Jesuit were opportune at their entry , because those [ residents ] of Palu who had rebelled against the encomenderos ( territorial trustees ), from whose faces could be seen the history of sad memories , were then quite exalted , and the Spaniards had seen the necessity of arming themselves , for fear of being attacked .
The Jesuits worked with tact . They established a seminary where [ the boys ] were trained to read , to sing and
to play the flute . And three years after their arrival , on August 1598 , they inaugurated their Church and convent with very good auspices , such that the principal ( prominent resident ) Kanganga , who lived in Malirong about a league [ distance ] from Palu , and who was the ruler of that doctrina ( evangelization area ), accepted the Christian religion and was baptized , godfathered by the Corregidor ( military commander ) of the Island , the alferez ( second lieutenant ) Francisco Rodriguez de Ledesma , and received the name of Juan .
There was already then , as missionary of the town , Father Cristobal Jimenez , who had arrived in October 1596 . Belonging to Palu were the towns of Malirong , Dagami , Banayon and Malaguikay .
Father Humanes wrote to the principales ( prominent residents ) with the intention of attracting them and it was his affectionate achievement that the people abided by his wish . Speaking of this [ process ], he said :
( Go to p . 9 )
Some measures to address Metro Manila traffic
• If parking should be allowed on some streets , then install parking meters and charge the vehicle owners reasonable fees .
• Regulate the number of new vehicles to be registered each year , by district , according to the capacity of Metro Manila streets to absorb traffic .
• Penalize bus , jeepney and passenger van drivers that stay beyond the time limit allotted at loading and unloading points . The Baclaran area , close to the overpass and just beyond the flyover , is one critical choke point especially during rush hours ( beginning at 6:00pm ) in view of jeepneys , buses and passenger vans that stay too long in search of passengers . More often than not , traffic on top of the flyover stands still for long minutes , exposing the passengers and people and vehicles under the flyover to great risk
should the strength of the old flyover give way to the weight of vehicles on top . In most cases , we don ’ t see traffic aides in this area to rid the choke point of overstaying jeepneys , buses and passenger vans .
• Repair all non-functioning traffic lights at road intersections . For instance , the traffic lights at the Casimiro-Alabang Zapote Road intersection have been left non-functional for ages . There are traffic aides manning the intersection and directing traffic , but they only cause undue delays in the movement of vehicles from all directions . These traffic lights must have cost the city government a fortune to acquire , yet why leave these unrepaired until now ? Is it simply to employ the traffic aides who would have been otherwise jobless ? As it is , the pedestrians are left with-
( Go to p . 8 )
Celebrating Christmas in the Philippines
By Ralph Alvin Canoy
Remember back then when you ’ re just a kid ? Looking for tansans ( small metal caps of bottled soda ), hammering and flattening them down to have your own makeshift-tambourine ; prepping up for the upcoming Christmas carol with your friends ? After which , you and your friends will be singing the all-time Christmas-song favorites , filling up the air with common , yet calming tones of the season ? Well everybody does , however it seems like with all the modern stuff popping out , the happy memory is deemed to stay as it is .
With modernization happening and progressing rapidly right under our noses , this is just the beginning . Ever been to a restaurant wherein most of the customers have their attention divided among the food and their smartphones ? Of course , you have . Well probably we all have .
Maybe , you are one of the many people included in that lot . But , why is that so ? Why is more than half of the customers so focused on their smartphones ? The answer probably lies with the device itself . The smartphone as the name implies — is smart . And by means of being smart , it isn ’ t just your average level of intelligence . This is at par with what a computer can do since it is technically a handy computer .
And with that said , it is capable of doing a long line of things . Things , that will and can pique somebody ’ s interest . This interest-theft I ’ m talking about in here covers a great depth as of this moment . Down from the simplest things such as note taking , alarm clock , music player up to the most complex ones such as blogging , posting anything in different social medias — anything you have in mind , it pretty much covers it .
However , among the
To all our readers
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fewer , bigger things that the trend of smartphones can influence , one we could probably say that it can influence greatly is our culture .
Our culture , as a matter of fact , is currently evolving from stones to diamonds ; from libraries to Google . So , with that said in this era of smartphones , and with the season brimming in the air , how will we celebrate Christmas right at this moment ?
As per observation , in which most of you will agree with me , we ’ d probably have our Christmas on our right hands and our smartphones on the left .
It will , and always will be stuck with everything we do . And it is visually observable . Here in our place , perhaps a year or two ago , the streets will be busy , filled with kids singing Christmas tunes in front of different houses .
However , now it seems like instead of looking for tansans , they are looking for followers . Followers in Facebook , Instagram , Twitter or any other social media you can name .
And , the saddest thing about this , is that with the magnetic force of social media present , the spirit of Christmas is now ceasing to exist . Or probably , in the brink of that scenario . Whichever might be the case , our culture is directly affected .
The long history of Christmas Carols , Christmas decorations lining our streets will just stay the same — history . And probably , Filipinos will have a change of heart .
Maybe they will post something in their social medias . Or , perhaps they might snap of something evident that we still the Christmas in our hearts . However , that won ’ t change a thing . Still , we are stuck with our smartphones .
Everything we do , we have our phones with us . Might as well give the happiest Christmas to another country , since we obviously do not deserve it anymore . #
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !
from
The Weekly Vanguard staff and personnel