METROPOST


MARCH 1 - MARCH 7, 2020 OPINION 5 MICHAEL O’RIORDAN


OUTSIDE LOOKING IN


n old truism claims there is nothing certain in this life apart from death. I’d suggest, change is another inevitability. Change is constant. And speaking of change, by the time you read this column, I will have left the beautiful mountain home I’ve lived in since 2016 when I came to the Philippines.


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When I drove down the mountain for the last time, I was filled not with sadness but with gratitude for the experiences I’ve had there. It’s been a long time since I first made the commitment not to feel sad when


should have warned me not to proceed but I was so tired, it was only in hindsight I realized the danger. So, off we went in the pouring rain. By the time we’d reached the other side, darkness had arrived, the rainfall had become a deluge with biting sleet pelting us as we spluttered, slipped, and slid up the mountain’s muddy track. Quadrophonic thunder accompanied by forks of lightning broke the eerie darkness. “We’re here, Sir,” Tani told me, with a tremor in his voice. I huffed and puffed my


a pleasant aspect of my life ends.


Instead, I focus on gratitude for what has happened, rather than ruminating on apparent loss. Besides, one never knows what new delights are waiting to reveal themselves. There is much to reflect


on over the past three and a quarter years. Interestingly, apart from occasionally stupid behavior by me, there have been a few negatives. My error was a doozy that could have produced fatal results. I wrote about it here in this column in 2017.


I’d only been living in Negros Oriental for a few months, and I indulged in an embarrassing, ignorant, foreigner behavior. Music blasting from karaoke machines had fueled boisterous singing for three consecutive nights. I was going crazy from sleep deprivation. The roaring reached violently across the mountain side, and screamed inside my head. This had to stop! Early on the morning of the fourth day, I insisted that Tani, my caretaker at the property, drive me to the other side of the valley, and tell those rambunctiousness fools to shut the bleep up! The look of horror in Tani’s face


ORO....FROM P. 3


The student chefs and their coaches have affirmed what we have always known: that our student chefs are quite talented and creative and just need exposure and support to better equip them when they join the ranks of professional chefs.”


way, with arms swinging toward a blazing red hot fire, perhaps six feet high with sparks and flames creating light from darkness. Women and children looked out from inside bamboo huts. Several men swayed as they shared liquor bottles, and smoked deeply from pipes that didn’t contain tobacco. Their faces were visible from the flickering fire. They looked significantly taller than the usual Filipino man. Their eyes had an intense, crazed look. It was a scene from the movie Apocalypse Now.


mistake. We were in trouble. I’ve been life-threatening situations before, and intuitively knew this was one such experience.


men could have effortless killed us, and thrown our bodies off the mountain side, never to be found.


Meanwhile, Tani was engaged in intense, respectful conversation with an elder. Not that anyone understood a word I was saying, but I apologized profusely, then slowly backed away. Some of the men moved towards me in a threatening, menacing way, shouting what I assumed


Had they wished it, these I belatedly realized my JG UMBAC THE WAY IT IS irishauthormichaelcassidy@gmail.com


were not invitations to dinner. I wanted to, if possible, get the hell out of there, but felt an obligation not to desert Tani. In hindsight, that was


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pointless valor since I was defenseless against these understandably-infuriated mountain men.


Life in the mountain


would never go in there. “Those people are a law onto themselves!”


It transpired that Tani was, fortunately, a distant relation of the elder. Otherwise it’s unlikely we would have survived the experience. Shortly after, when I was interviewing the Valencia chief of police, and mentioned where I’d gone, he was horrified and asked was I crazy. Even the army


Tani confirmed the precariousness of our position when he recently told me he’d been asked by the elder did we want to leave the mountain dead, our bodies riddled with bullets?


bjplug@gmail.com


wo days ago, my wife and I went out to dinner with my cousin, his sister, and his wife. We went to one of the most popular restaurants in Dumaguete. We were seated outdoor under a starless nightsky, but the lighting that surrounded us more than made up for it. It created a festive ambience, and it even reminded me somewhat of Waikiki Beach during certain moments at dusk. It was a little warm, but not overly so that I would sweat. Still, I had my little towel just in case the scanty breeze fizzled out. They ordered calamari to whet our appetites. I think it was tartar sauce that it came


Three days later, the night noise mercifully ended. Soon after realizing my error, I returned with Tani to apologize. I was genuinely embarrassed by my behavior. I brought bottles of whiskey, rum, and tequila as a peace offering. The men were generous


in their acceptance of my apology. On a lighter note, I’ll always fondly remember multitude sounds coming from the jungle, from across the valley, and down the mountainside. I’ll remember those magnificent, fiery dawns, the high coconut tress regularly dropping coconuts onto the roof, the laughter of mountain people, the sight of sometimes five on one scooter making early morning dashes down to Valencia and beyond, the beautiful smiles of the children at BongBong elementary


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Two NPAs killed in Guihulngan clash


Chef Lawrence Erfe, adviser of the Miriam College team, said that “exposing ourselves to the contest will definitely help boost our program and inspire the next batch of students. Given the guidelines of the competition and its emphasis on local ingredients, our dishes were inspired by how we understand our skill level and for our love and mastery of Filipino cuisine and its bountiful harvest from land and sea. Through Oro, we can challenge our students to be more creative and empower them with proper skills and correct attitude and discipline needed to become food and beverage professionals.” Chef Gavin Russell, coach for Lyceum of the Philippines Manila team, confirmed that joining Oro gave their students top quality experience, recognition from industry leaders, training and helps in networking and enhancing the reputation of the school and the students. Oro, Plato Masa was presented by SM Supermalls in cooperation with the Department of Education, Department of Tourism through its Tourism Promotions Board, the Manila Bulletin, Metro Channel, Business Mirror, Unilever Food Solutions, LENOVO,


Two suspected New People’s Army Guerillas were killed Friday, as government troops clashed with suspected New People’s Army guerillas in barangay Binobohan, Guihulngan City. The identities


the fatalities were still undertermined, after the 12-minute encounter that started at 6:10 p.m., an Army report said. Binobohan, some 30


minutes from the national highway, is a barangay with a population of less than 1,500 residents. Its population has been steadily declining from close to 2000 residents in 2007.


The City of Guihulngan, on the other hand, is 116 kilometers from Dumaguete City.


Lieutenant Colonel Egberto Dacoscos, commanding officer of the 62nd Infantry Battalion,


Masflex and the City of Manila.


The grand winners won Lenovo laptops while other winners received Bamix Mixers from Focus Global, kitchen equipment and products from Unilever Food Solutions, Masflex, Oleo Fats and Sonlie. This landmark event


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bodies were turned over to the barangay officials for proper disposition Saturday.


received reports of the presence of the armed men from concerned citizens. “They may have been planning to conduct atrocities connected with the NPA anniversary on March 29,” he said. Meanwhile, the Army


Dacoscos said they Dacoscos said that these


objects we inherited from our parents that we keep and appreciate because these have either social, economic, or sentimental values.


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with. I probably would have preferred garlic-lemon or anything else, which I like, but only with battered fish. The server came with menus. I was given one, but I told my wife to pick for me. The rest of the gang had decided to pick from the family platters grouped into A, B, C, and D, consisting of different yummy combinations. My cousin called the server, a young man who eagerly bounded over to our table, fully enthusiastic, someone who expressively loves his job. Everyone had decided to order D instead of having to struggle to pick each selection from the menu. D had everything we agreed we liked. We added our drinks and, after our server verified our order, off he went to the kitchen. Our order took a while,


and if it wasn’t for the nice ambience, the wait would have tested our patience. We endured the wait with pleasant conversation and people- watching—some old friends might come walking into the courtyard.


If the wait took any longer, I probably would have walked over to the restaurant’s old automobile on display out front. I’ve always been curious to ogle it up close. But before I could get up, I


would settle for pork sisig instead. Hungry as we were, we told him we were fine with that one. At the same time, the server was shaking his head, and didn’t wait for my cousin to speak.


“Wala pod na, sir,” he said, almost not looking at my cousin, probably embarrassed as hell, or just afraid.


saw our server walking toward us with nothing in his hands. I kind of suspected he had some bad news to tell us. He just had to say it—D wasn’t available. What? What about our wait?


Never mind that, my cousin was cool enough to remind us. He took charge, picking C this time. The waiter, now nervous,


decided he might as well spill all the beans at once, instead of possibly catching our ire three times. It turned out that A, B, and C were also not available. We gasped almost simultaneously. But wait, all was not lost yet, so my tolerant cousin decided to give it another shot. With a sigh, he said, “Okay, we’ll just order some barbecue chicken.” The server reluctantly


By that time, it was down to single word questions. My cousin asked, “Pizza?” The server smiled, shaking his head, praying we’d stop already, “Sorry, sir, dili pod na available, sir.” Thank goodness, my cousin is such an admirably patient man. And fortunately


Arrive hungry, leave hungry. What’s going on?


for the server, his patience is contagious, something to be envied. With maximum restraint, we simply surrendered to the bizarre circumstances and decided to go to another restaurant. What else could we have done? Well, we could have sat there all night, listen to the nice music, and slowly starve.


replied, “Sorry, sir, dili pod na available, sir.” The situation started to get on our last nerves, and we could have thrown all niceties in the shit can. My cousin looked at us, and asked if we


DR. ENRIQUE G. ORACION


PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT


enriquegoracion@su.edu.ph


n a personal level, there are material and non-material


Examples of inheritance with intrinsic social and economic benefits are land, house, business, vehicle, and so on. Those objects with sentimental values are pictures, clothing, jewelry, song, and many others that are emotionally attached to the persons involved. It is also


socioeconomic and sentimental values are both present in the same object, and the more valuable these have become


is still evaluating the need to add soldiers in Negros Oriental, following the arrival of combat troops from Panay island.


The combat troops that arrived were Philippine Army soldiers from the 33rd Division Reconnaissance Company (DRC) under the operational control of the 303rd Infantry Brigade led by Brigade Commander Colonel Inocencio Pasaporte. (PR)


was also supported by Cook Magazine, Health & Fitness, Pilipino Mirror, DWIZ, 97.9 Home Radio, Philippines Graphic, UNOX, All About Baking & Kitchen Aid, Oleo Fats, Knorr, Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise, Brooklyn’s New York Pizza, Blizzard Chillers, Kink Cakes and Mount Fuji Rice.


to the individuals concerned. The same sentiment is correct at the community or societal level when there are material and nonmaterial objects that are culturally significant and reflective of the history, identity, aspirations, and struggle for survival of a particular group of people. The latter would explain why the natural environment— abiotic and biotic—are also considered as part of heritage because it had provided the contexts or spaces and resources for certain types of struggle at a certain period in our history, which could be either economic or political. But what is cultural heritage? According to the Cultural Mapping Toolkit published by the National Commission for Culture & the Arts as a guide for cultural mappers, cultural


true that


heritage means “the totality of cultural property preserved and developed through time and passed on to posterity.” The definition suggests these were products of the past, at least 50 years old, which are still observed or experienced at present. They are valuable because of their significance to the community, and are intended to be continually available to the future generations in their current forms or by any media. Meanwhile, cultural


property is broadly defined to include “all products of human creativity by which a people and a nation reveal their identity, including churches, mosques and other places of religious worship, school,


and natural history specimens and sites, whether public or privately-owned, movable or immovable, and tangible or intangible.” Included also are significant


personalities in the public domain as well as cultural institutions that promote the appreciation and preservation of cultural heritage.


heritage are the historical, scientific-technical, aesthetic, social, and spiritual significance of any cultural objects or natural resources found in a particular place and recognized by a significant number of people in a community. The valuing of cultural heritage is more evident in the passing of national laws to protect, preserve, and conserve what is physically present and in the practices and memories of key informants.


These laws are Republic Act No. 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, Republic Act No. 4846 or the Cultural Properties Protection and Preservation Act, and Presidential Decree No. 260 that declared national cultural


Mapping culture, valuing heritage


Thus, civic heritage and cultural programs are also among those to be mapped according to the guide. Such a broad definition of cultural property suggests that it is a collection of the whole “way of life” of a particular group of people in a particular period and encompasses the material and non-material manifestations of the five major social institutions, which include the family, education, religion, economy, and politics. The values of cultural


treasures or as national shrines, monuments, and landmarks. These provide the legal bases for the conduct of cultural mapping like in Dumaguete. Dumaguete City is fast growing because of its promotion as a university town, the best place where to retire, and a tourism hub or a getaway to other tourism destinations in the region. Its rapid physical expansion toward the peripheries, coupled with intense intercultural interactions with the coming of more outsiders, may result in the alteration of many of its historical and culturally significant structures and sites to provide spaces for new buildings and infrastructures. This is also cognizant of the possible impact of climate change as well as natural and human-induced disasters on


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that restaurant has grown complacent in the fact that his restaurant beats others in looks, and therefore, ambience, that he has forgotten what his customers visit his restaurant for.


his fault, but he had to be the one to face us, and contain the embarrassment that should have been the owner’s.


TO PAGE 6 I felt for the server. It wasn’t Obviously, the owner of


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