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Proud Filipinos

We are the proud Filipinos! Are you? For some reasons, perhaps sensationalized to get higher ratings, more commercials ads, and money, money, money, the local and foreign media including the Internet are obsessed with reporting the negative headlines or bad news on almost anything in and about the Philippines. They are similar to the infamous paparazzis of the Hollywood and other world famous celebrities! However, those who are familiar with the Philippines, they know there are 7,107 islands in the tropical country. Most of the negative headlines and news reports in and about the Philippines happen mostly in 5 to 15 of the same islands which suffered the deadly and destructive, natural, accidental and man-made causes and effects in the past 111 years of independence from the United States of America, about 2 years of colonization by Great Britain, and over 355 years of "discovery" and colonization by Spain.

There is no country or trust territory anywhere on Earth that has not suffered anything negative in and around its islands, continents, boundaries or territories. The Philippines is still the ideal tropical and strategic country in Asia to live, invest, retire, visit and/or take a vacation. As the world's 3rd largest English-speaking country, most Filipinos can communicate easily with the tourists, visitors, foreign students, diplomats, international companies' executives and their staff members, religious groups and organizations and their workers, and other foreign residents in the tropical Philippines.

More airlines from foreign countries, for example, Hawaiian Airlines which opened a new route from Honolulu to Manila last 2008, have started their regular flight schedules to and from the Philippines. The foreign tourists, visitors, business persons and students in the country are increasing each year. Thus in this web page, we endeavor to link to the existing news, reports and articles which are constructive and positive events of the Filipinos' achievements outside of the country, and those which happened in any one of the 7,107 islands in the Republic of the Philippines:

"Frieder's List" gave 1,200 Jews Manila asylum

By LISA CORNWELL

The Associated Press, Monday, February 7, 2005 11:43 PM

CINCINNATI - As the Nazis took power in Germany and the world turned its back on Jewish refugees, four brothers who ran a cigar factory in the Philippines worked quietly to help 1,200 Jews flee to Manila.

The Frieder brothers, who have since died, never talked about their part in the little-known rescue. But some 65 years later, the remaining refugees want the world to know what Philip, Alex, Morris and Herbert Frieder achieved.

"The Frieder brothers were just ordinary Jewish businessmen, but they went out of their way to save lives," said Frank Ephraim, who was eight years old when his family fled to Manila from Germany in 1939. "No one made them do it. They just did what they thought was right."

The four brothers from Cincinnati had taken turns going to Manila for two-year periods during the 1920s and '30s to run the Helena Cigar Factory, started by their father in 1918.

While they were there, they established a Jewish Refugee Committee and worked with highly placed friends - US High Commissioner of the Philippines Paul V. McNutt and Manuel L. Quezon, the first Philippine president to help the mostly German and Austrian refugees get passports and visas, then find employment and homes in Manila.

"We were welcomed in the Philippines at a time when the gates to Jews were closed all over the world," said refugee Lotte Hershfield, 74, of West Hartford, Connecticut. A fifth brother remained in Ohio and was not involved in the rescue.

The rescue was little known until a recent book by Ephraim, Escape to Manila: From Nazi Tyranny to Japanese Terror, led to efforts in the United States and the Philippines to honor the humanitarian effort before the aging refugees die off.

"Our numbers are dwindling, and I didn't want this story to be lost forever," said Ephraim, 73, of Washington, D.C.

Next Sunday, Cincinnati's Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education will honor the Frieder brothers, Quezon, McNutt and the Filipino people. At least 25 refugees and their descendants and nearly 100 members of the Frieder family will join relatives of McNutt and Quezon and the Philippine Ambassador Alberto Del Rosario.

Documents show the Frieders had hoped to bring as many as 10,000 refugees to the Philippines, but World War II intervened. They continued working in Manila until the Japanese invasion in 1941.

Alex Frieder's daughter, Alice Weston, now 78 and living in Cincinnati, said she remembers her father raising money and spending hours poring over lists of desperate refugee applicants in Manila.

"Our children have asked why no one ever told them about this, but we were just kids then," she said. "After we came back to the United States, my father and uncles never talked about it. I think they just thought it was part of their duty, and they just went on with their lives."

Now the brothers' photos, letters and other possessions, along with those of the refugees, will become part of a permanent exhibit in Cincinnati. Part of the exhibit might be taken to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, and to Manila.

"We want to tell the world about the humanity of these men who did so much to save so many people and were never recognized," said Racelle Weiman, director of the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education. "We hope it will make people realize that everyone can make a difference."

Manuel L. Quezon III said he is proud of his grandfather's role in the rescue. "In a sense, as president, he was implementing a national policy of the heart," he said.

A great nephew of McNutt, who also was governor of Indiana in 1933-37, didn't know about his role in the rescue but wasn't surprised.

"Paul had the chance to do many different things and always chose public service," said John Krauss, director of the Indiana University Center for Urban Policy and the Environment.

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"Mines seen attracting $3B in investments"

Posted: 0:25 AM | Feb. 03, 2005

Inquirer News Service

SOME $3.1 billion in foreign direct investments are expected in different Philippine mining projects beginning this year, officials of different foreign mining companies said Wednesday at the start of a mining investment forum organized by the Philippine Chamber of Mines.

The foreign companies included Crew Gold Corp. of Canada, China Metallurgical Corp., Jinshuan Non-Metals Corp., Australian firms Lafayette Mining Ltd., Climax Mining Ltd. and Indophil Resources Inc.

"The winds of change are sweeping the Philippine mining sector and foreign investors are now very keen to invest here," Indophil Resources Philippines managing director Tony W. Robbins said in a press briefing.

Robbins' company Indophil is the foreign partner in the Alcantara group's Sagittarius Mines Inc., which will initially invest $650 million to develop the Tampacan mining project in South Cotabato province in Mindanao.

Crew Gold has renewed its intent to develop a $1-billion nickel mining project, formerly known as the Aglubang mining project, on Mindoro Island, south of Manila, its president and CEO Jan Vestrum said.

The mining permit of Crew Gold's Philippine subsidiary Crew Minerals Corp. expired four years ago, but the company applied for a Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) in March 2004 "and this is proof that we will invest here," Vestrum told the Inquirer.

Vestrum said Crew Gold planned to put up a nickel processing plant that would use high-pressure acid leach technology to recover nickel and cobalt from ore, similar to the technology being used by Rio Tuba Mining Corp. in its Coral Bay nickel project in Palawan province with Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd.

He added that Crew Gold was pursuing other exploration projects such as the Pamplona sulfur project in the province of Negros Oriental.

Climax Mining will initially invest $85 million in a copper-gold project in the northern province of Nueva Viscaya, its chairman Jim Askew said.

Climax-Arimco's Didipio copper-gold project in Kasibu town in Nueva Viscaya is expected to yield two million tons a year with 181,000 ounces of gold worth about $58 million a year, he said.

Askew said the company was finalizing the financing requirements for the project.

Lafayette Mining of Australia said it would invest $42 million in its subsidiary Lafayette Philippines Inc. to begin gold production in the second quarter of the year at its RapuRapu polymetallic project in Legaspi City in the province of Albay, southeast of Manila.

A further $1.3 billion in investments is expected from state-owned Chinese companies for nickel processing and glass manufacturing projects in the Philippines.

The Chamber of Mines (CMP) signed Wednesday an accord with its Chinese counterpart to strengthen the exchange of information and coordination between the Philippine and Chinese mining industries.

CMP president Benjamin Philip Romualdez said the memorandum of understanding with the China Chambers of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemical Importers and Exporters also sought to promote cooperation in training, joint seminars and exhibitions, prevention of trade frictions, exchange of information on membership and creditability, and sharing of work experiences.

The agreement has come as the Philippine mining industry anticipates a rush of investment inflows from China in the wake of a Philippine mining investment road-show presentation held in Beijing last month.

Romualdez said in a press briefing Wednesday that investment pledges from the Beijing mission reached about $1.6 billion. "This includes at least $100 million from China Metallurgical and Construction Corp., $200 million from China Non-Ferrous, and $1 billion from Jin Chuan and Bao Steel," he said.

He added that a $300-million glass manufacturing project planned for construction in the Central Luzon region was also tied up with a mining component for the supply of silica.

Chinese chamber chairman Chen Haoran said, "Mining projects take time, and right now we are on the stage of learning more about the local situation, government policies and regulations relevant to the industry."

"Our members need to be familiar with these matters before they can make strategic (investment) decisions," he said.

Chen said the Chinese companies were particularly interested in iron ore, and also in copper, nickel and chromite projects.

Romualdez said the revitalization of the Philippine mining industry, which had been on a decline for 20 years, could yield about P57 billion in additional tax revenue for the government.

With INQ7.net

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"APEC adopts RP plan to promote third world interests"

ABS-CBN News, Tuesday, November 23, 2004 12:10 AM

Pacific rim leaders have agreed to provide technical assistance to developing countries to allow them to advance their interests in the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade talks, the government website www.ops.gov.ph said Monday.

The website said the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) committed developed countries to give technical assistance to developing economies so the third world countries will be better equipped in tackling trade agreements.

Trade Secretary Cesar Purisima said the Philippines' proposal was the basis of the Santiago Declaration of APEC.

The declaration specifically provided for the commitment of all of the 21 member-economies "to redouble our efforts to provide technical assistance and capacity building - in a more strategic manner- thus underpinning progress in the WTO through full and effective participation of all members."

It can be recalled that the 2003 world trade talks in Cancun, Mexico collapsed after many developing economies in Asia Pacific, including the Philippines, refused to accept an agreement, which allowed developed countries to keep their farm subsidies while gaining greater access to markets in the Third World.

"An overarching dimension of the initiative is its capacity-building so that all economies can implement and benefit from their work on trade liberalization and facilitation," the declaration read.

The revival of world trade talks was also part of the declaration.

"In the core areas of agriculture, non-agricultural goods, services and rules, the outcome should be substantially greater market access and fewer distortions," it read.

APEC leaders said they would order their officials to review the negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda in their next meetings.

They also committed to contribute to the negotiations on trade facilitation by sharing their considerable experience within APEC with the rest of the WTO and strengthen our work in this area.
22-Nov-2004 15:06:7

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"Pinoys catching Jeep Virus"

The Manila Times, Tuesday, November 23, 2004

A band of enthusiasts is restoring the vehicle's past glory

There's an incurable virus rolling across the country. It's the kind that keeps its victim awake and anxious in the dead of night, hands quivering and eyes seeing visions of military jeeps driving around in their unadulterated splendor back in the days of World War II. The condition is alleviated only as soon as the victim sneaks into the garage and starts tinkering with a mountain of spare parts. Out of this heap of metal scraps will rise an M38 or a Willys MB.

The victim gets an unexplained urge to scour old warehouses in Cavite, Pampanga and nearby towns for even the smallest of screws. His conversations are peppered with the words "chassis," "skid plate," and "clamp front." He considers the 1940s as the most interesting period in history. Winning the war and driving the Japanese away was only a secondary reason he's grateful to the US Army; foremost is the fact that the US Army brought the military jeeps - the forerunner of today's ubiquitous public-utility jeepneys - to Philippine soil.

If you've had a prolonged exposure to people exhibiting these symptoms, you too could be afflicted with the Jeep Virus.

Gathering of jeep lovers

At the first-ever convention of their kind at Double-Deck RestoGrill along Ortigas Avenue, the men, aged 21 to 75, declared undying love for their passion. Organized by the Philippine Jeep Preservation Foundation (PJPF), the occasion gathered jeep enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds and professions, with only their devotion for the jeep as the common denominator. They arrived from Pampanga, Cavite, Bulacan and parts of Metro Manila via a motorcade aboard their gleaming masterpieces.

Later, after the agenda for the day had been properly dispensed with, the jeep comrades surveyed each other's vehicles like kids inspecting each other's toys. Much later, they chilled out over bottles of beer still talking about jeeps. No wonder author Ambrosio Makalintal, himself a certified jeep fanatic and considered one of the foremost experts on the subject, co-wrote a book entitled "Jeep, Jeep, Jeep." These men seemed eager to discuss nothing else.

"Military jeeps are war relics. They're part of the country's colorful history. Restoring a jeep to its old glorious self is like playing a jigsaw puzzle: You feel thrilled as everything falls into place. It rouses deep pride in you, Makalintal, who owns 12 to 14 of these units, explained.

And proud they are indeed. These military jeeps are considered rubbish of war, and the fact that Filipinos were able to restore or recondition them is proof of the famed Pinoy ingenuity.

"The restorers tell us it's like being the king of the road when you're driving a vintage military jeep because it attracts everybody's attention. The problem is, you sometimes feel like a second-class citizen you are "eclipsed by the jeep," said Jo Ampil, events coordinator of MD Juan. Because of his job, Ampil has also caught the Jeep Virus and is now into the same hobby himself.

To the ends of the earth

And look at how far the jeep restorers' passion takes them. One jeep aficionado, Teng Agas, waxed romantic as he explained the pains they go through sourcing out original spare parts: "It's like a lovestruck man pursuing the woman of his dreams even to the ends of the earth. You'll do anything, go anywhere, to find her. "For the love of a hard-to-find screw no bigger than a 25-centavo coin, he and his four friends had to search an unused pigpen in Pampanga after being tipped off that it was used as a dumpsite for World War II stuff. Some parts they got from an old warehouse and a garage, and the rest they bought from MD Juan.

The group spent P250,000, including labor. Now they're selling the jeep to a Japanese client for P600,000. It was worth all the trouble for a month's work, they said. Indeed, aside from being a fascinating pastime, jeep restoration can also be lucrative.

Preserving the jeep

A nonprofit organization affiliated with various clubs of jeep enthusiasts in Davao, Nueva Ecija, Ilocos Norte, Cebu, Bulacan and Pampanga, the Philippine Jeep Preservation Foundation was formed to unify and accredit jeep aficionados in the country. Aside from the beauty of getting acquainted with fellow jeep lovers from other places around the country (and soon from other countries as well), PJPF members - through the group's global connections - may also acquire jeep equipment and spare parts that are otherwise difficult to acquire locally.

The organization also teaches new enthusiasts the ins and outs of jeep restoration and helps them appraise which part of their jeep is original, how much restoration work should be done, and the costs.

PJPF had originally set its sights on promoting military jeep restoration for leisure and profit, but as more and more people expressed their desire to sign up, however, the goal took on loftier heights: The country is now being groomed as the Jeep Capital of Asia.

"We are banking on the fact that jeep restoration as a hobby is gaining a cult following in the country. On the surface, it may seem just an ego-booster, to attract attention. But in reality, the passion runs deep," said Rommel Juan, executive director of PJPF.

Juan, who is also the vice president for marketing of MD Juan Enterprises, the only source in Southeast Asia of historically accurate, hard-to-find jeeps and replacement parts, bared at the convention that PJPF will soon be linking up with international organizations of jeep enthusiasts. The intent is to promote its members as authorities on jeep restoration, and to drum up exposure of this world-class Pinoy craft. In fact, the convention is meant to lay the groundwork for the "First Pinoy Jeep (FPJ) Show" at The Fort in April next year. The affair will gather jeep lovers all over the country. Hopefully, it will generate maximum media coverage, added Juan.

The convention was held in time for the 26th death anniversary of Dr. Maximino Dionisio Juan, the founder of MD Juan and Rommel's grandfather. Today, the second and third generations of Juans continue the legacy left by the MD Juan founder.

The military jeep, which Dr. Juan fell in love with during World War II, endured the roughest terrains and the cruelty of war. Today, enthusiasts from all walks of life have come together through PJPF to honor a rich part of our heritage and keep the faith in Pinoy craftsmanship.

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"Seagal Extols RP Tourism"

Today Reporter, ABS-CBN News, Thursday, May 6, 2004 11:32 PM

Hollywood action star Steven Seagal quietly slipped into the country just recently and promptly lauded the significant gains of the local tourism industry and the initiatives of leading senatorial candidate and former tourism head Dick Gordon.

"I am delighted to once more see the beauty and wealth of wonders of the Philippines, whose tourism industry has grown under Dick Gordon's leadership," said Seagal.

Segal is a frequent visitor around these parts, having had past films shot in different parts of the country. Seagal is in the country to take part in Aikido programs scheduled in a local YMCA branch. He is reportedly also scouting for locales around the country that could be of use for future movie productions.

Gordon said he appreciates the decision of Seagal and other Hollywood filmmakers to shoot movies in the country as it enhances the image of the country internationally and also generates jobs and economic opportunities for Filipinos.

"The Philippines has a wealth of wonders suitable for filming movies of all kinds, and I invite filmmakers to come here, shoot their movies and enjoy the many wonders of the country and the renowned hospitality of the Filipino people," Gordon said.

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"Federal Express keeps R.P. hub but moves to Clark"

By LENIE LECTURA
TODAY Reporter, Wednesday, March 31, 2004 11:21 PM

The world's largest cargo forwarder is staying put in the Philippines, but not in Subic Bay.

Federal Express (FedEx) is spending $450 million to relocate its hub in Asia from the Subic Bay International Airport in Zambales to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga three years from now.

FedEx, which has housed its hub in Subic for nine years now, has a 12-year lease contract with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. Though its contract has yet to expire in 2007, FedEx, however, has to start constructing its new hub in Clark by next year to ensure the smooth transition of its cargo operations.

Two years before 2007, FedEx has to start building the facility. It would also maintain Subic for two years after 2007 for scaling down operations, said Adelberto Yap, president and chief executive of Clark International Airport Corp.

FedEx's decision to transfer to Clark came as a surprise to Rufo Colayco, president and chief operating of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

"As far as I know, FedEx has no active plans to move to Clark," he told Today. It is, however, believed by a number of government and industry officials that sometime in the next five to ten years, FedEx may physically outgrow Subic. For example, when the aircraft that they need to use may be too large to be operated out of Subic. At that point, it would be better for us that they move into Clark rather than to a location in another country.

Indeed, according to Yap, FedEx decided to transfer to a 42 to 50-hectare land in Clark, because the space it occupies in Subic is not vast enough to accommodate its expansion programs.

"FedEx had to leave Subic because they could no longer expand. Subic is primarily for port terminals. Two of their aircraft crashed in the water in Subic after overshooting the runway," Yap said.

Yap said he will leave on April 11 for Memphis, Tennessee, where FedEx is based, to sign a 25-year lease contract with the cargo forwarder.

This is a done deal. We will sign the agreement with FedEx. They are reserving 42 to 50 hectares for their future operation in Clark. This would entail an investment of $450 million from FedEx to build their facility, he said.

FedEx's transfer to Clark is seen to boost BCDA's plan to transform the former American air base into an aviation hub for the country under its master plan for the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development project.

"If that's true that would be a good news," Colayco said. "I completely support that."

Yap added that FedEx chose the Philippines over China because they prefer cheap but skilled labor here.

"They say they also like the work culture of the Filipinos who can adopt readily to the Americans. They also don't have problems with communications. They chose the Philippines over China because they prefer doing business with the Philippine government. Also, in Clark, we already have a two-runway capacity built by the Americans so they can start right away unlike in Guangzhou, China where they still have to build it," Yap explained.

FedEx earlier signed a letter of intent with Guangzhou Airport Authority in August last year for the supposed relocation of its hub from the Philippines after transport officials here reportedly junked their US counterparts' demand to allow seventh freedom operations in the country in July 2003.

Seventh freedom rights allow a carrier to fly to other destinations from a particular hub without first passing its home base. The Philippines averred this is a violation of the constitution and the RP-US air transport agreement.

To avert FedEx's move, President Arroyo signed Executive Order 253 in December last year declaring open skies in cargo in Subic and Clark.

Subic Bay became FedEx's Asia-Pacific hub in September 1995, connecting 19 key Asia cities. The hub enables overnight delivery to the US West Coast from Penang, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and East Timor.

With Dave L. Llorito

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Manila Bulletin, 11/22/2002

"Modern health advice from the Bible"

By Willie T. Ong, M.D.

People assume that the medical science and religion are in conflict with each other. Medicine, they say, is based on faith. But after reading the Bible from a physician's point of view, I am amazed at how much medical knowledge can be found in the book.

Allow me to discuss three examples, written before Christ's birth, that may convince you of the practical wisdom of the Bible.

The first health advice can be found in the book of Daniel. The prophet is famous for being thrown in the lion's den and escaping unharmed. But little do readers know that Daniel also conducted the first scientific study when he proved to the King that a vegetarian diet is healthier than a meaty diet. (This is found in Daniel 1:12-15).

A 1997 study showed that people who consume more vegetables are healthier and have lower blood pressures compared to predominantly carnivorous people. It's funny how researchers had to spend a lot of time, money and energy to arrive at Daniel's same conclusion 2,560 years ago.

The second Bible advice concerns the avoidance of fat and pork. Despite no knowledge on how cholesterol plugs our arteries, Moses emphatically states: "Do not eat any of the fat and cattle, sheep or goat. You must not eat (pork) or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you" (Leviticus 7:23, 11:8).

For doctors, it was only in the 1950's when the ravages of cholesterol came to light. If you browse through medical journals, the latest warning is remarkably familiar. Avoid fatty foods, especially pork and beef fat (bad cholesterol.)

If the first two examples can be attributed to a prophet's luck, then the third advice is simply incredible. It is possible that Moses already knew about disease-causing bacteria two millenniums before any human eye has seen it with a microscope. This appears to be the case as Moses warns that anyone with a skin sore should be isolated for seven days. The sick person is to burn his clothes and clean himself thoroughly. Moses gives a lengthy discussion (like a dermatologist) on what type or rash is clean or unclean.

Then the high priest, acting like a doctor, will see the isolated patient every week until the sore disappears (Leviticus 13).

What makes Moses' pronouncements so astonishing is the fact that it was only in the 1880's, when scientists began to accept the germ theory that bacteria cause disease. Before this time, doctors could not explain the numerous infections and deaths they encountered after operating with their bare hands. How could Moses have known that invisible particles cause disease and that burning and isolation prevent its spread? Unless, of course, he had some outside help.

These are just three of numerous other health tips I will leave for you to discover in your readings. But here are a few to get you started: (1) a little wine is beneficial but not too much (1 Timothy 5:23, Psalm 23: 2021, (2) don't put infection-prone tattoo marks on your bodies (Leviticus 19: 28), and (3) reduce stress by not worrying (Matthew 6: 25-34) and resting on the Sabbath day (Leviticus 23: 3).

Finally, there is one advice, unheeded yet by science, that is the essence of the Bible: the power of faith and prayer. God asks us to trust Him completely and He will take care of all our needs. Could this be the secret to a long and fruitful life?

But lest we be misunderstood, patients must also seek the benefits of modern science and follow their doctor's advice. Doctors are an extension of God's healing hand, as the Lord Himself tells us to seek a good doctor and to trust him: "Honor physicians for their services, for the Lord created them; and their gift of healing comes from the Most High" (Sirach 38: 1-2).

CHARTER is the acronym for Clinical Hypertension and Atherosclerosis Research on Therapies, Epidemiology and Risk-management, a non-stock, non-profit research foundation which promotes healthy lifestyle changes in the prevention of many common medical problems. It is based at the Manila Adventist Medical Center (MAMC). Free membership is open to health-conscious medical, paramedical and lay individuals. Dr. Willie Ong is the head of the department of medicine at the Our Lady of Peace Hospital, and a member of CHARTER. For an archive of health-related topics and to register as a member, log on to www.chartermamc.org. E-mail: willietong@netasia.net.

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UNIQUELY FILIPINO

The following articles are from a British journalist stationed in the Philippines. One was written in 1999 and both were e-mailed by a Filipino only today, September 3, 2002:

"Matter of Taste"

by Matthew Sutherland

I have now been in this country for over six years, and consider myself in most respects well-assimilated. However, there is one key step on the road to full assimilation which I have yet to take, and that's to eat BALUT. The day any of you sees me eating balut, please call immigration and ask them to issue me a Filipino passport. Because at that point there will be no turning back.

BALUT, for those still blissfully ignorant non-Pinoys out there, is a fertilized duck egg. It is commonly sold with salt in a piece of newspaper, much like English fish and chips, by street vendors usually after dark, presumably so you can't see how gross it is. It's meant to be an aphrodisiac, although I can't imagine anything more likely to dispel sexual desire than crunching on a partially-formed baby duck swimming in noxious fluid. The embryo in the egg comes in varying stages of development, but basically it is not considered macho to eat one without fully discernable feathers, beak, and claws. Some say these crunchy bits are the best. Others prefer just to drink the so-called 'soup', the vile, pungent liquid that surrounds the aforementioned feathery fetus...excuse me, I have to go and throw up now. I'll be back in a minute.

Food dominates the life of the Filipino. People here just love to eat. They eat at least eight times a day. These eight official meals are called, in order: breakfast, snacks, lunch, merienda, pica-pica, pulutan, dinner, and no-one-saw-me-take-that-cookie-from-the-fridge-so-it-doesn't-count. The short gaps in between these mealtimes are spent eating Sky Flakes from the open packet that sits on every desktop.

You're never far from food in the Philippines. If you doubt this, next time you're driving home from work, try this game. See how long you can drive without seeing food and I don't mean a distant restaurant, or a picture of food. I mean a man on the sidewalk frying fish balls, or a man walking through the traffic selling nuts or candy. I bet it's less than one minute.

Here are some other things I've noticed about food in the Philippines.

Firstly, a meal is not a meal without rice - even breakfast. In the UK, I could go a whole year without eating rice. Secondly, it's impossible to drink without eating. A bottle of San Miguel just isn't the same without gambas or beef tapa. Thirdly, no one ventures more than two paces from their house without baon and a container of something cold to drink. You might as well ask a Filipino to leave home without his pants on. And lastly, where I come from, you eat with a knife and fork. Here, you eat with a spoon and fork. You try eating rice swimming in fish sauce with a knife.

One really nice thing about Filipino food culture is that people always ask you to SHARE their food. In my office, if you catch anyone attacking their baon, they will always go. "Sir! KAIN TAYO!" ("Let's eat!"). This confused me, until I realized that they didn't actually expect me to sit down and start munching on their boneless bangus. In fact, the polite response is something like, "No thanks, I just ate." But the principle is sound - if you have food on your plate, you are expected to share it, however hungry you are, with those who may be even hungrier. I think that's great. In fact, this is frequently even taken one step further.

Many Filipinos use "Have you eaten yet?" ("KUMAIN KA NA?") as a general greeting, irrespective of time of day or location. Some foreigners think Filipino food is fairly dull compared to other Asian cuisines. Actually lots of it is very good: spicy dishes like Bicol Express (strange, a dish named after a train); anything cooked with coconut milk; anything KINILAW; and anything ADOBO. And it's hard to beat the sheer wanton, cholesterholic frenzy of a good old-fashioned LECHON de leche feast. Dig a pit, light a fire, add 50 pounds of animal fat on a stick, and cook until crisp. Mmm, mmm... you can actually feel your arteries constricting with each successive mouthful.

I also share one key Pinoy trait - a sweet tooth. I am thus the only foreigner I know who does not complain about sweet bread, sweet burgers, sweet spaghetti, sweet banana ketchup, and so on. I am a man who likes to put jam on his pizza. Try it! It's the weird food you want to avoid.

In addition to duck fetus in the half-shell, items to avoid in the Philippines include pig's blood soup (DINUGUAN); bull's testicle soup, the strangely-named "SOUP NUMBER FIVE" (I dread to think what numbers one through four are); and the ubiquitous, stinky shrimp paste, BAGOONG, and it's equally stinky sister, PATIS. Filipinos are so addicted to these latter items that they will even risk arrest or deportation trying to smuggle them into countries like Australia and the USA, which wisely ban the importation of items you can smell from more than 100 paces.

Then there's the small matter of the blue ice cream. I have never been able to get my brain around eating blue food; the ubiquitous UBE leaves me cold. And lastly on the subject of weird food, beware: that KALDERETANG KAMBING (goat) could well be KALDERETANG ASO (dog)... The Filipino, of course, has a well-developed sense of food.

Here's a typical Pinoy food joke: "I'm on a seafood diet." "What's a seafood diet?" "When I see food, I eat it!" Filipinos also eat strange bits of animals - the feet, the head, the guts, etc., usually barbecued on a stick. These have been given witty names, like "ADIDAS" (chicken's feet); "KURBATA" (either just chicken's neck, or "neck and thigh" as in "neck-tie"); "WALKMAN" (pigs ears); "PAL"  (chicken wings); "HELMET" (chicken head); "IUD" (chicken intestines), and "BETAMAX" (video-cassette-like blocks of animal blood). Yum, yum. Bon appetit.

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"A Rhose, by Any Other Name"

by Matthew Sutherland

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches" (Proverbs 22:1).

WHEN I arrived in the Philippines from the UK six years ago, one of the first cultural differences to strike me was names. The subject has provided a continuing source of amazement and amusement ever since. The first unusual thing, from an English perspective, is that everyone here has a nickname. In the staid and boring United Kingdom, we have nicknames in kindergarten, but when we move into adulthood we tend, I am glad to say, to lose them.

The second thing that struck me is that Philippine names for both girls and boys tend to be what we in the UK would regard as overbearingly cutesy for anyone over about five. "Fifty-five-year-olds" colleague put it. Where I come from, a boy with a nickname like Boy Blue or Honey Boy would be beaten to death at school by pre-adolescent bullies, and never make it to adulthood. So, probably, would girls with names like Babes, Lovely, Precious, Peachy or Apples. Yuk, ech ech. Here, however, no one bats an eyelid.

Then I noticed how many people have what I have come to call "door-bell names." These are nicknames that sound like - well, door-bells. There are millions of them. Bing, Bong, Ding, and Dong are some of the more common. They can be, and frequently are, used in even more door-bell-like combinations such as Bing-Bong, Ding-Dong, Ting-Ting, and so on. Even our newly-appointed chief of police has a doorbell name Ping. None of these door-bell names exist where I come from, and hence sound unusually amusing to my untutored foreign ear. Someone once told me that one of the Bings, when asked why he was called Bing, replied "because my brother is called Bong". Faultless logic. Dong, of course, is a particularly funny one for me, as where I come from "dong" is a slang word for... well, perhaps "talong" is the best Tagalog equivalent.

Repeating names was another novelty to me, having never before encountered people with names like Len-Len, Let-Let, Mai-Mai, or Ning-Ning. The secretary I inherited on my arrival had an unusual one: Leck-Leck. Such names are then frequently further refined by using the "squared" symbol, as in Len2 or Mai2. This had me very confused for a while.

Then there is the trend for parents to stick to a theme when naming their children. This can be as simple as making them all begin with the same letter, as in Jun, Jimmy, Janice, and Joy. More imaginative parents shoot for more sophisticated forms of assonance or rhyme, as in Biboy, Boboy, Buboy, Baboy (notice the names get worse the more kids there are - best to be born early or you could end up being a Baboy).

Even better, parents can create whole families of, say, desserts (Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Honey Pie) or flowers (Rose, Daffodil, Tulip). The main advantage of such combinations is that they look great painted across your trunk if you're a cab driver. That's another thing I'd never seen before coming to Manila - taxis with the driver's kids' names on the trunk.

Another whole eye-opening field for the foreign visitor is the phenomenon of the "composite" name. This includes names like Jejomar (for Jesus, Joseph and Mary), and the remarkable Luzviminda (for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, believe it or not). That's a bit like me being called something like "Engscowani" (for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Between you and me, I'm glad I'm not.

And how could I forget to mention the fabulous concept of the randomly inserted letter 'h'. Quite what this device is supposed to achieve, I have not yet figured out, but I think it is designed to give a touch of class to an otherwise only averagely weird name. It results in creations like Jhun, Lhenn, Ghemma, and Jhimmy. Or how about Jhun-Jhun (Jhun2)?

There is also a whole separate field of name games - those where the parents have exhibited a creative sense of humor on purpose. I once had my house in London painted by a Czechoslovakian decorator by the name of Peter Peter. I could never figure out if his parents had a fantastic sense of humor or no imagination at all - it had to be one or the other. But here in the Philippines, wonderful imagination and humor is often applied to the naming process, particularly, it seems, in the Chinese community. My favourites include Bach Johann Sebastian; Edgar Allan Pe; Jonathan Livingston Sy; Magic Chiongson, Chica Go, and my girlfriend's very own sister, Van Go. I am assured these are real people, although I've only met two of them. I hope they don't mind being mentioned here.

How boring to come from a country like the UK full of people with names like John Smith. How wonderful to come from a country where imagination and exoticism rule the world of names. Even the towns here have weird names; my favorite is the unbelieveably-named town of Sexmoan (ironically close to Olongapo and Angeles). Where else in the world could that really be true? Where else in the world could the head of the Church really be called Cardinal Sin? Where else but the Philippines!

Note: Philippines has a senator named Joker, and it is his legal name.

Copyright 2009 7th Millennium Community, a proposed project
Maasin City 06600, So. Leyte, Philippines
Updated: 11-2009