MARCH 31 - APRIL 6, 2019


8 OPINION PATHWAYS


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as there a time in your life when you feel that you are stuck in a pothole trying to make as much money as possible? I am not saying that money isn’t important. I – just like everybody else – believe that money is an incredible resource but I am disheartened to see so many people fall into the money trap rather than seeing them get what money can help them fulfill.


to experience scenarios of having some money and having none and I have learned many lessons along the way. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that if you can grasp the concept of making your dream come true rather than always chasing money, you will reach new levels of success.


stage in your l ife where you feel stuck and feels disappointed or discontented, then most probably, your views about money are absolutely contributing to your unhappiness.


So, if you’re at that I have been lucky enough


Unfortunately, this idea is disappointingly misunderstood. When you care about something a lot (like a dream), and you give it everything you have, you will eventually succeed. And guess what? When you succeed, you create value for other people, and that value can easily turn to money.


first can make you genuinely happy and you’ll find out that money has nothing to do with finding fulfillment or bliss. Reaching for your dream can give you money faster than you think


“Create” money, not make money


huge dream (something you’re very passionate about) and a


It’s easy to stroll down Perdices St. or along the Boulevard and see so many people eating good and expensive food, driving sleek cars, and wearing fashionable clothes, but what you can’t see is what they are like when they get home. Unfortunately, platforms like Facebook or Instagram can easily mislead you to think that everyone is living a marvelous life. Well, I don’t want to be the harbinger of cynicism, but they’re not, in fact, many people are unremittingly dejected and miserable.


I have here some views that tell you how seeking dreams


OUTSIDE....FROM P. 5


geographically close to us. The coming years will


be fascinating to observe as relationships among the Philippines, China, and America are tested in subtle and challenging ways. This country will need to maneuver carefully because how successive governments deal with the opportunities and challenges will determine the quality of life for her unborn generations. Hopefully, they will be wise, and put the countries’ interests ahead of their own. Were I a betting man....


set of convictions that makes you think you can achieve it. The abilities to accomplish that dream can be obtained, which means they are not really a necessity to begin with. You might say it sounds too simplistic, well, it is really. Yes, success is simple, however, you have to start somewhere, which means, you have to “work” on your mind every day.


One thing nice about money is that it shows who people really are. If you lack the beliefs and mindsets to add value, then even if you win the lottery tomorrow, you will almost certainly lose everything. That’s because once you have made money by achieving a dream (the real way), even if you lose everything the


Money “leaves” quickly like it never came


Creating money demands a


next day, you can rebuild it by following your passion. Rebuilding from nothing is not as hard because you know what it takes to do it, and all you have to do is do what you love to build again your wealth.


It’s heartbreaking to see people who are so rich and then the next day they have nothing left. It can happen so quickly, which is why you should always focus on your dream and everything else will fall into place.


Chasing dreams


The distressing thing is that having so much money actually doesn’t feel that good, in fact, there is no such thing as enough money – this is why dreams are more important. Working towards a dream feels fantastic, and as you hit


Making dreams a reality feels much better


each milestone, it makes you fulfilled beyond your wildest dreams.


I’ve always believed that when we make the dream our life work, it gives us a sense of meaning that no amount of money can ever provide. Now, have you ever seen someone who is angry, has lots of money and became happy, spent it, and the next week he or she is angry again? Well, that’s what money can do to people if they allow it. Of course, I am not saying that we should forget all about money or waste it, I’m saying it should not be our focus.


somewhere which says, Let money be the sign from the universe that you are creating value for other people, not the measuring stick of your success or status in society.


I read a quotation


METROPOST


TEMPEST....FROM P. 4


and Sta. Catalina Street is one of the most important heritage houses in Dumaguete City. Legend has it that Jose Rizal once visited the house. But its true historical importance is that this was the venue for the election of officers for the Provisional Revolutionary Government on 25 November 1898. It had belonged to the Teniente Cornelia Yapsutco, and later became the property of the Locsin family in Dumaguete. It still stands intact.


The ancestral house of Ramon Teves Pastor at the crossing of Real St. [now named after him] and Dr. V. Locsin Street, popular known as the White House, is a testament to one of the most important figures in Dumaguete life and politics. Ramon Teves Pastor was mayor of Dumaguete from October 1912 until October 1916, and under his watch, M.L. Quezon Park was inaugurated a hundred years ago, on 20 September 1916, which paved the way for free nightly shows at the new Dumaguete landmark. The plot was donated by the Pastor family and the Patero family. The construction of the Rizal Boulevard breakwater was also done during his term, which makes him one of the major shapers of the Dumaguete environs we know and love today. The house still stands intact.


and function hall—and in the early days of Silliman, it served as venue for recitals, plays, and convocations. Much of the building fell into disrepair and its first floor was converted to office spaces—until the late 1990s when Architect Manuel Almagro spearheaded efforts funded by USAid that restored the building to its original glory. The structure stands restored and intact. Guy Hall in Silliman campus


was built as a dormitory for boys. Construction began in 1918, with donations from Mr. William E. Guy of St. Louis, dedicated and named after his wife Kathryn Lemoine-Guy. Mr. Guy had met Silliman Institute benefactor Dr. Horace Silliman and pledged $15,000 to make two dormitories for boys. Instead of having two separate buildings, plans were made to change it to one with two wings—a more economical approach. Construction continued until 1927. It was made the general headquarters of the Japanese Imperial Forces during the duration of the war in Dumaguete. It still stands intact, and recently restored. Among the government


architecture that originated in the 1920s and developed into a major style in western Europe and the United States during the 1930s—formed with the “intention to create a sleek and anti-traditional elegance that symbolized wealth and sophistication,” according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, its “distinguishing features [being] simple, clean shapes, often with a ‘streamlined’ look, ornament that is geometric or stylized from representational forms; and unusually varied, often expensive materials.” Most of these buildings remain intact, but their style have been “diminished” by outer structures, or bad paint jobs. Cathedrals and churches


Tels. 225-7725, 422-9209, 225-4488


I NTERNET CA FE Gemini Bldg., Real Street, Dumaguete City


GEMINI


Where dining is always a pleasure!


70 Rizal Boulevard, Dumaguete City


The row of beautiful, sometimes ornately designed, houses along the Paseo de Rizal or the Boulevard— stretching from the fringes of Tinago down to the corner of Silliman Avenue—are called by locals as the Sugar Houses, so named because these were the city residences of sugar plantation owners whose haciendas were mostly concentrated in Bais, Tanjay, and Manjuyod towns. For most of the life of the boulevard, these houses became the beautiful windows to the genteel air of Dumaguete, each one competing with each other with their disparate architectural details, and their singular grandness. Most of these houses over the years have been transformed into the various hotels and bars and restaurants that now dot the stretch. The grandest among them that still remain largely untouched is the magnificent, formerly green-tinged Serafin Lajato Teves Mansion at the corner of Rizal Boulevard and Burgos Street.


Rizal Ave., Dumaguete City TEL. NOS. 225-4491, 422-6933


aside from the Gabaldon structure of NOHS, we have Silliman Hall, named after Horace Brinsmade Silliman, the philanthropist who gave the initial donation to start the school that would become the university that it is now, is located right at the bend that leads to the sea-side Rizal Boulevard. Its sight is quite distinctive in the Dumaguete landscape, and it is perhaps the structure most iconic of the City besides the campanario. The three-story structure—held together by wooden arches stemming from cast-iron columns, its design complete with gables and intricate carpentry—is the first and the oldest building in campus. Dr. David Sutherland Hibbard, the school founder, was responsible for sketching out how Silliman Hall was supposed to look: his design represented American architecture of the stick-style, which dominated colonial buildings in the early days of the 20th century. The blocks used to build Silliman Hall were made from corals, and the components of the iron ceiling were shipped all the way from New York, from an old theater. Silliman Hall has served as classroom, dormitory (the future Philippine President Carlos P. Garcia stayed there when he was a student at Sillliman), library, faculty hall,


Of the school buildings


buildings, the City Hall—now referred to as the Presidencia— has the happy turn of being restored to its old glory. The Presidencia was built in 1937, and was designed by the great Filipino architect Juan M. Arellano who also designed some of the greatest pre-war buildings in the Philippines, including the Manila Post Office and the old Senate building, which currently houses the National Museum of the Philippines.


The Negros Oriental Provincial Capitol, located along Kagawasan Avenue around the city’s Freedom Park, was built in 1924 from designs made by architect and urban designer Daniel Hudson Burnham, which was based on the U.S. Capitol. (Burnham also designed the Flatiron Building in New York City and Union Station in Washington, D.C.) The design for the Negros Oriental Capitol, borrowing heavily from Greek architecture, symbolizes courage and strength, and the white paint symbolizes purity. It still stands intact—but needs restoration.


are part of the built heritage. The sculpture and fountain in M.L. Quezon Park was designed by Italian sculptor Francesco Riccardo Monti, who made it right around the time architect Juan M. Arellano was building the Presidencia in 1937. Monti stayed in the Philippines from 1930 until his death in 1958. During his stay, he worked with local architects and sculptors on major projects commissioned by the government and private individuals. Several of Monti’s sculptures are part of Metro Manila’s landmarks. His statues can be seen in front of public buildings or plazas, while his relief work decorate many exterior and interior walls in heritage buildings. It stands intact.


about beautiful or significant historic buildings. It also includes small and modest buildings of the commercial sort, including ones that reflect the social conditions of working families and local business titans. Of the heritage commercial buildings around downtown Dumaguete, my favorites are the few remaining Art Deco buildings mostly around Perdices Street, as well as Surban Street. Most of them are in various state of disrepair or use—and these include Park Building and the Uymatiao Building, as well as the Uypitching Building along Colon that blends Art Deco with Chinese motifs. Art Deco, also called style moderne, was a movement in the decorative arts and


Built heritage is not just Public art and utilities, too,


are some of the most beautiful—and preserved— examples of built heritage, but so are cemeteries. The Dumaguete Memorial Park is the most recently conceived, and utilized—but the smaller ones are more of interest to me. The Bogo public cemetery is within the embrace of the Memorial Park, and provides an interesting study of contrast. I used to love the Bagacay public cemetery for its chaos— but it has since undergone a facelift of sorts. The Daro Chinese cemetery is interesting for how it commands a lonely stretch of road within that barangay—but a small and separate cemetery within it is of utmost significance. The American Cemetery is one of the least well-known spots in Dumaguete, owing perhaps to the kind of grim reminder it brings about mortality, but also perhaps because of its secluded location inside the Chinese cemetery. It no longer has internment space, but the place still “charms” the occasional visitor with its wrought-iron gate beautifully covered by pink cadena de amor, and grounds shaded by full-grown mahogany trees and indian trees. Among the Americans buried here include a host of missionary teachers from Silliman University, such as Henry and Margaret Mack, T. S. Dodd, W. M. Baugh, Ila Smith-Munn, Cal Reed Cole Sr., Elena A. Cole, Cal Reed Cole Jr., Charlie Bell Cole Sr., Rev. Lapsley Armstrong McAfee, Robert Sherry Matheson, and Elliot Thomas Bell.


Are there any built heritage within Dumaguete City that gives us a reminder of World War II and the Japanese occupation of the town between 1942 and 1945? Nothing much remains in Dumaguete indicative of the occupation during that war, except one. The “pill box,” or defensive position, in Tugas is a remarkable piece of that historical time—easily seen by pedestrians as this strange “pyramid” while traversing Hibbard Avenue. It mostly puzzles people though. How many times have I gotten this question: “What is that?” And admittedly, for the longest time, I did not have a clear answer to give. The pill box is located about four blocks in-land from Lo-oc, near the North City Elementary School in Piapi, on the right hand side of Hibbard Avenue going north. It is located on private property, and it is not a preserved historical site. Built heritage is a key to the


understanding of our shared history in the community. It defines our origins. It enlightens us about who we are today. It gives us a sense of place, which in turn helps establish identity for the community—because they contribute to a sense of our connectedness to each other, which inspires community pride and a confidence of Dumaguete as “unique.” Most of all, when our local built heritage is properly preserved and promoted, it can stimulate interest about Dumaguete’s past, which can enrich the daily lives of Dumaguetnons.


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