MikeLigalig.com

Quote from: Bambi on October 13, 2009, 11:01:23 PM
hi WN, baligtad man ang imong abilidad kay sa imong alyas diri,  Sir....daghan ka man ug nahibaloan.  Pangutana lang,  ngano man nga kada lungsod ang centro gitawag man ug Poblacion?  ang mga katigulangan tawag nila sa Poblacion kay "sawang". Daghang salamat.

Bambi,

Ang pung poblacion kinatsila man ni. Gikan tingali ni sa pung "pueblo" nga sa ato pa lungsud. Ang poblacion sa atong naandan mao nang "town center" nga naa diha ang simbahan, munisipyo, mercado ug ang mga kalingawan sa lungsud naa pud diha. Ang atong mga katigulangan ang tawag ini sa atong sinultihan mao nang sawang.

Mao nga sa Tagbilaran ang unang sawang mao nang lugar dool sa Meridienne Hotel. [eastside of Tagbilaran] Sa hing-uswag na ang lungsud paingon sa "North side of the Capitol building" gitawag ang bag-ong "development" sa lungsud nga "lujong sawang". 

WN

Quote from: fdaray on October 12, 2009, 09:39:09 AM
Naglibog ko sa Bool ,  Booy ug Boow. Pareha ra ba ne? Bool or Boow, Booy or Boow.

fdaray,

The word "Bool" is a play on the word "Bujol". I believe Bujol is Sanskrit and it refers to a place. Usa sa mga lugar nga ginganlan ug Bujol mao nang Bohol sa unang panahon nga wa pa moabot ang mga Katsila. Sa pag-abot nila ang mga katsila dili sila mahibaw unsaon paglitok ug Bujol kay wa sa Espanyol ang paglitok sa "J" kundi ang "J" mahimong "H" pero silent pa gyud. Pananglitan ang pung "hijo"... sa Katsila hilom ang letrang "H" pero ang "J" nahimong "H" ang paglitok, di ba? Mao ni nahitabo sa pag-abot nila sa Bohol [Bujol]... kay dili man sila makalitok sa "J" ilang gituyo pagsayop sa pung Bohol. Mao usab sa pung nga Candijay. Ang gamot ana mao nang Candi Jaya. Pero ang paglitok sa mga Katsila Candihay. 

Tungod kay kita wa nato sa atong kinaiya nga isuwat ang mga nahitabo sa unang panahon kundi atong nahibaw-an lang pinaagi sa mga sugilon sa atong mga katiguwangan... mao na nga kadaghanan nato nawa ug dis-a magagikan ang mga ngalan sa pook nga atong gipuy-an.

WN 

Hubag,

I agree with you! Kini mang gung ngan ma-tao ka ug lugar ba, naa gyuy gigikanan. Tungod sa gidugayon na nga panahon kitang bag-ong tubo wa na makahibaw ug dis-a kuwaa ang ngan sa atong baryo o lungsod tungod kay dili uso sa mga Asians mosuwat ug mga istorya sa kagapon kun di atong ibungat pinaagi sa sugilon o sugilanon, di ba? Tungod sa dugtong-dugtong sa mga sugilon sa sud sa mga siglo dili nato masulti nga way masayup. Mao nga malibog ta sa pung ug dis-a gikan. Daghang baryo sa ato nga sa akong paminaw naa gyuy gigikanan sa pung pero wa pa lang nato kaplagi. Pananglitan Sagnap, Dampas, Guiwanon, Ubujan ug uban pa. 

I came across a name Loaysia who was the notarial officer of the Legaspi expedition. Mura gyud nga naa ining punga makuha ang ngan sa lungsod sa Loay... kay sa sugilon nga sa pag-abot sa mga Katsila nangutana ang sundaw Katsila sa lugar, hing tubag ang lumolupyo nga Lo-ay nga ang kaingon niya nga ang pangutana mahitungod sa kahoy nga galu-ay.

WN

Quote from: mike laurence88 on October 07, 2009, 01:16:59 PM
LOAY- pag discovered qnu ani na town nanga lo-ay ang mga tanum
SAGNAP-amu na barangay sauna napuno sa SAG og langgam Plus ga NAP sa Tubig ang amung barrio mao sagnap
PALO-ani kunu kastiguhon sauna ang mga taw mao palo

Loay comes from the word "Loaysia". It is a surname of a person. I think he came with Legaspi as a notarial officer in the expedition to the Philippines. His full name is Jofre de Loaysia.


WN

Ang akong sugyut ninjo nga mag-utingkay pud mo ug pinulongan nga gikan jud ang gamot sa Bohol. Sa akong panan-aw kining sinultiang Binisayang Sogbu-anon naay kalainan sa sinultiang Bol-anon. Pananglitan kinta ang pung nga jamo, jama-jama, palis, piskay o piskayon, kujap, bagtas, insay, arang ug uban pa. Kini gatoo ko nga lunsay nga binol-anon ning mga pulonga kay wa ko makadungog nga gisulti ni sa silingang probinsiya.

WN   

Quote from: Lorenzo on September 16, 2009, 02:42:53 PM
The US economy has surged again. Recession is over.

On the way out? Not any time soon. he he he

God Bless America!

Lorenzo,

The talks of a surging economy by the Obama administration is a part of a socialistic dream coming from his handlers who are communist inspired. It is impossible for America to progress when the American capitalists are sidelined by the Socialist idea of Obama.

This 15 Trillion dollar economy you are talking about is realized because of Capitalism in America and it will go up in smoke if America will change its system into Socialism. Why? Because in a Socialist country it is a system of big government. It is a system of big spending where the government will spend for unemployment, free health care, free pension and doleouts. Where does the money of the government come from? Of course from the 15T dollar economy created by capitalism. When this money will dry up Obama will tax the people. The rich Americans will just escape a regime of high taxation.

Obama is a liar! He pretended during the election that he is a Democrat but the truth is... he is a Socialist and a Communist. The Stimulus plan which is to protect unemployment... did it work? The answer is no... instead unemployment rose to 9.7% which is the highest since the Carter administration. Who wrote this stimulus plan? The answer is; the Apollo Alliance. This is a group of communist inspired people whose plan is to create green jobs and is acting the role of a shadow government in the Obama administration. Did it succeed in creating jobs? The answer is no... instead they created more unemployment. For example; they closed the flow of water going to San Fernando Valley in California drying the farmlands that supply food for the American people. The purpose of closing the flow of water is to protect a small fish [looks like bulinaw] that thrives from the lake where the supply of water to the farms come from.

WN   

Quote from: Macky Ferniz on July 15, 2009, 10:49:54 PM
In other readings, I found Rajah Sikatuna's lineage as follows:

The following are some details about the King Luisong Clan:

Rajah Lapulapu - the older brother of Rajah Soliman; he led in Cebu and took the area of Mactan Island.

Cousins of Rajah Soliman and Rajah Lapulapu:
•   Sultan Kiram Sinsuat
•   Sultan Hadji Kiram Misuari
•   Sulu Sulatan Muhammad Badar Un-din

The grandsons of King Luisong :
•   Rajah Sikatuna - ruler of Bohol.
•   Rajah Gat Mauban - the trhird eldest grandson, took eastern part of Quezon, Sampaloc & Lucban.
•   Rajah Enginda - covered the area of Bohol.
•   Rajah Kolambo - ruler of Limasawa.
•   Rajah Lacandula - took over Tondo.
•   Rajah Humabon - the eight grandson, ruler of Limasawa.

MAHARLIKA. Long before the Spaniards came to Philippines shores, the Philippine archipelago consisting of 7,169 islands with an area of 1,049,212,962 nautical square miles, including Guam and Hawaii was known as Maharlika. It was populated by Malays and ruled by the Tagean Tallano clans from the ninth to the fifteenth century. When the Spaniards started ruling the Philippines archipelago, they renamed it Hacienda Filipina.Of the many kingdoms in Asia, Maharlika was one of them under King Luisong Tagean Tallano, the father of Raja Lapu-Lapu and Raja Soliman, the successors of King Marikudo of the Sri Vishayan Empire. Its principal products at that time were peanuts (mani) exported to Mexico and European countries and Herbal plants known as "Nilad" with some medicinal qualities which were exported to Mainland China. With the passage of time, the Chinese traders changed the name Maharlika to Maynilad or Maynila.

Macky,

This is what confuses us more. Our historians did not explain to us about "rajahs and sultans". Your idea about Rajah Soliman and Rajah Lapu-lapu as cousins to some sultans in Mindanao is too vague. There is not a possibility I think. When you say rajah.... it is Indian for the word king that comes from an old sanskrit culture of India. Sultans derive from the Ottoman word for king also. Ottoman is muslim. There is a difference of culture... and in the 15th century only Sulo and Cotabato were influenced by the Ottoman Empire. The rest are a diverse culture of the Indians, Malays and Chinese. The Muslims are feared not only in Bohol but also in Cebu, Negros and in Panay for their culture of kidnapping and harassing peaceful community. If some muslim sultans were cousins to us in Bohol or in some parts of the Visayas why is it that the kidnappings of Boholano natives did not stop until the start of the 20th century.

The reason for the watchtowers built by the Spaniards in Bohol and in Cebu is a warning of incoming trouble against muslim marauders. They are strategically located. One is at the edge of Panglao Island where San Agustin Church stands. This Panglao watchtower is the first line of contact with the enemy. When Muslim marauders are sighted coming out from the sea of Zamboanga the villagers will build a fire that will warn the watchtowers in Punta Cruz and Pamilacan Island. Punta Cruz will alert the watchtower in Cebu and the villagers of Tagbilaran. While the Pamilacan watchtower will alert the watchtower in Loay and the villagers of Baclayon.

The Negrenses have also a watchtower located near Bayawan and this will alert the villagers of Dumaguete.

WN       

Quote from: Koddi Prudente on August 22, 2009, 01:41:32 PM
Calape - kape
Tubigon - swamp
Candijay - Kang Dihay
Alburquerque - Albuquerque (no R)

Diay akong tampo:

Ang Tagbilaran gikan sa pung nga tago-bilaan kay kadto mga Bilaan sa Mindanao sa panahon nga nauso ang "slave trade" ang mga moros mamihag ug mga lumad diha sa Misamis ug ilang ibaligya sa Sultan sa cotabato ug Sulo. Duha ka klaseng lumad ang ilang bihagon Bilaan ug Manubo. Tungod kay nahadlok sila sa mga Moros ang mga manubo nanagan sa bukid pero ang mga bilaan hinglalin tabok sa dagat didto sa Bohol.

Dihay mga lugar nga maayo nilang himoan ug pinuy-anan pero gipili nila ang Tagbilaran tungod kay pang-pang. Boot pasabot nga kung mugukod man nila ang mga moros mosaka una sila sa pang-pang. Ug sa english pa naay ilang "defensive position".

Pag abot nila sa Tagbilaran diha nay lumlupyo sa Baclayon, Loay, Dauis ug Panglao... nga ang akong boot pasabot nga silang mga Bilaan maoy nagmugna sa lungsod sa Tagbilaran.

Ang baryo sa Cortes nga sa una ang tawag Wadje. Tungod ni kay ang mga unang lumulupyo diha mga Wadje ug tawgon karon mga Bombay. Ang akong lola ug makakita ug Bombay wadje ang iyang tawag.

Ang Dauis ginganlan ug Dauis gikan sa pung nga ininsik "dao o dau". Sa unang panahon ang mga lumulupyo sa Dauis mga insik. Mao nga makakita ka ug taga Dauis mura'g nawong ug insik. Ang Panglao gikan pud ni sa pung nga Malay or Malay language nga "palaw" nga boot pasabot isla o pulo. Ang pung Panglao o Panglaw tungod sa "accent" sa mga insik.

Ang Candijay gikan ni sa Sanskrit o pung sa mga Indian nga usa sa mga unang lalin sa Bohol. Ang pung "Candi" ug sa English pa temple ug ang "jay o jaya" gikan sa pung nga Vijaya ug sa atong sinultihan karon bisaya... nga ang boot pasabot sa inenglis "victory". So Candijay means temple of victory. Ug subayon nimo ang storya sa Candijay dihay mga tawo nga indian ang kagikan nga karon ang ilang mga lubong nadiskubrehan sa kilid sa pang-pang. 

Ang Tubgon tataw kaayo nganong ginganlan ug Tubigon kay "swampy" o matubig pero ang Calape nga duol sa Tubigon di ba daghan lapok o kalapukan nga nahimo na karong mga fishponds. Tingali pud ug diha gikan ang pung Calape.

Ang pung Jagna gikan sa Sanskrit pud na pero taas nga pung. Gigamit na lang karon ang mubo nga version mao nang Jagna. Daghang mga pinulongan sa Bohol nga makalibug kung dis-a gikan tungod sa pagdagan sa panahon nga ang unang mga tawo nga gigikanan sa pung nangawa o milalin sa laing lugar. Pananglitan kinta kanang pung nga banat-i. Ambot ug kinsa sa Bohol ang tiggamit ining punga pero ang pasabot
ug banat-i mao nang bojang-jang. Kana bitawng itum ug puwa ang iyang "color" nga liso. Naay bod sa Tagbilaran nga ginganlan ug Banat-i Hill... Kinsa may gahatag ug ngan ini? Ang nag-ngan ini mao tung gapuyo una sa Mansasa nga mga lumad nga ang pango mao si Datu Dalisdisan tungod kay gihuraw siya sa mga Purtuguese milalin siya ug ang iyang mga kabanay ngadto sa Aklan ug Iloilo. Pagkawa nila sa Bohol nawa pud ang ilang pinulongan pero ang pung Banat-i Hill gapabilin tungod naandan na nga maoy tawag sa bod. Ang hingpuli nila sa lugar mao tung mga insik ug mao nang Mansasa gikan sa pung nga ininsik.     

WN

Pangutana:

Ngano mang gipangutana diha sa Buhat 1:6-11 nga kung maibalik ba ang gingharian ngadto sa Israel. Unya mismo ang mga Kristohanong nasud ila mang gipanghimaraut ang mga Hudeo bisan ngadto sa kinatumyan sa mga yuta?

Salamat

WN

Biblical trivia:

1. What is the old name of the city of Jerusalem?

Answer: Jebu is said to be the old name of Jerusalem. Salem is not described as Jerusalem but in Canaan. Canaan will encompass the province of Syria in biblical times.

2. What was the burial ceremony done to the bodies of Jacob and Joseph in Egypt?

Answer: They were mummified.

3. What was the name of the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a spear?

Answer: In the apochrypal writing of Pontius Pilate the soldier's name is Longhinus.

4. Why is it that there are only four gospels?

Answer: Bishop Iraneous who decided what is inspired by God and what is not... argued, and to paraphrase his words he said; "Since there are four corners of the world as there are four winds of the earth so much so are the gospels. In today's world order Iraneous can be classified as an editor of the bible. He had the final judgment what scripture is to be considered as part of the bible. All the others are heretical writings.

5. Judas Iscariot... did he hanged himself or did he suffered another kind of death?

Lorenzo your answers are correct!

WN

Biblical trivia:

1. What is the old name of the city of Jerusalem?

2. What was the burial ceremony done to the bodies of Jacob and Joseph in Egypt?

3. What was the name of the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a spear?

4. Why is it that there are only four gospels?

5. Judas Iscariot... did he hanged himself or did he suffered another kind of death?

Quote from two specific verses in scripture:

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of The Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath The Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up."
(2 Chronicles 36:22-23)

and

"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of The Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of The Lord God of Israel, He is the God, which is in Jerusalem."
(Ezra 1:1-3)

Lorenzo:

I agree with you! I think Jeremiah's prophecy you quote yesterday was the emancipation of the Israelites from exile in Babylon.

Lorenzo opined:

"The temple was rebuilt again, Way Nada, after the liberation of Israel from Babylon under the will of Cyrus the Great, who was, as relegated in scripture, the anointed of the Most High.

As for your mentioning of the needing to level the Dome of the Rock and the conversion of peoples to Judaism. That is not necessary."

Reply:

The conversion to Judaism refers to the lost tribe of Israel. For us Christian the re-building of the temple is not necessary but for the Jews the re-building of the third temple is an obsession as it is the center of their religious life, culture and the history of the Jewish people.

During the 7 days war of 1967 when the Israeli Army conquered Jerusalem, a coronel and his men communicated with Moshe Dayan the chief of the Israeli Army, telling him that he and his men are atop the Temple Mount. Moshe Dayan called up Golda Meir the Prime Minister of Israel at that time, telling her about the situation at the Temple Mount. Golda Meir ordered the Army to stay put. It was understood that the coronel and his men were waiting the order to blow up the Dome of the Rock.

It was politics that prevented the event to happen.

Lorenzo opined:

"It is important to note that the arrival of Christ, who is The WORD of God and IS God, completed that prophecy and finalized it.

The Lord Jesus Christ, who is THE WORD, and is God Made Flesh, himself prophesied:

    Jesus answered and said to them,  "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."

    The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?"

    But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
    Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.
--John 2: 19-22

Reply:

These passages in the bible is an allegorical story. This was written for the purpose of doctrinal teaching and to give strength of the idea in the divinity of Christ. This is an allegorical story because the verses you are quoting were from John which was written 7 to 8 decades after death of Christ. When Christ rebuked the Jews in the temple and said; "Destroy this temple", the literal temple was really destroyed because it was razed to the ground by the Roman soldiers in 70 AD. This means the story of Jesus came later than the destruction of the temple. It's John making a parallel story of the temple.     

Lorenzo opined:

Christ's death on the Cross destroyed the Jewish Temple, and his rising on the 3rd day solidifies His promise that was ushered by Jeremiah, and again in John 2, which was also the construction of the new Temple. This was made so in the Transfiguration of Christ Jesus, Our Lord on the 3rd day. And on the following days of Pentecost.

Reply:

This opinion is like the "Theology of Replacement".

WN

Quote from: Lorenzo on March 29, 2009, 03:19:44 PM
Solid answer to this question can be found in Jeremiah 31.

I will share it:


    The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will seed the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.
28
    As I once watched over them to uproot and pull down, to destroy, to ruin, and to harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.
29
    In those days they shall no longer say, "The fathers ate unripe grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge,"
30
    but through his own fault only shall anyone die: the teeth of him who eats the unripe grapes shall be set on edge.
31
    The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
32
    It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
33
    But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34
    No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
35
    Thus says the LORD, He who gives the sun to light the day, moon and stars to light the night; Who stirs up the sea till its waves roar, whose name is LORD of hosts:
36
    If ever these natural laws give way in spite of me, says the LORD, Then shall the race of Israel cease as a nation before me forever.
37
    Thus says the LORD: If the heavens on high can be measured, or the foundations below the earth be sounded, Then will I cast off the whole race of Israel because of all they have done, says the LORD.
38
    The days are coming, says the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt as the LORD'S, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39
    The measuring line shall be stretched from there straight to the hill Gareb and then turn to Goah.
40
    The whole valley of corpses and ashes, all the slopes toward the Kidron Valley, as far as the corner of the Horse Gate at the east, shall be holy to the LORD. Never again shall the city be rooted up or thrown down.

--Jeremiah 31: 27-40

Lorenzo,

This prophecy of Jeremiah is not yet fully fulfilled. The realization in the fulfillment of this prophecy is to wipe out the people living in Jerusalem or be converted to Judaism and the mosque or the Dome of the Rock should be destroyed and be replaced by the third temple. 

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Isn't this statement contradictory? If the media is untouchable, why are so many mediamen brutally killed? In a properly functioning democratic society, libel suits should be the only Damocles' sword hanging over journalists to keep them in line with the tenets of truth, integrity and objectivity required by their profession. But in our country, murder and undue harrassment are the grimmer threats hounding journalists.

Reply:

It is not contradictory. It's true the media is untouchable by law. A provision in the constitution says; "No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, idea, expression and of the press." This is the law that made the media powerful. They cannot be sued in court except on libel. The media publishing  defamatory statement in the news against an individual person is libel. But the government cannot bring the press to court for libel. This provision in law made some media practitioners abusive that is why they are hunted down by the person they harmed in the press. I think we are not yet ready for absolute press freedom. We got this system from the Americans but I think there is a difference of culture between the two countries. Sarah Palin for example, she can take the issue during the election that her special child is the son of Bristol her daughter, but telling that to a Filipino politician I think that journalist will not last long.


This is what I said that; "the right of the media to publish the news is balanced by their duty to be responsible."

---------

The media is responsible only for the truth, and not in behalf of anybody. Ensuring freedom of press will make the media a clearinghouse of issues that will bring to light the scurrilous and the mercenary. The law can deal with legal lapses of the media like defamation and misrepresentation, and the reading public can deal with its excesses such as unbalanced and prejudicial writeups through public censure and withdrawal of patronage.

Reply:

It is easy to say that the media is reponsible only for the truth, it's like music to our ears but the person the journalist hurt in the press, the journalist is not responsible because he believes he is writing the truth. The word "truth" can always be seen in all different angles. This is why the journalist should take responsibility in all he writes in the papers.

The press in the Philippines if they are really the purveyor of the truth they should produce evidence that can stand up in court so that those public officials they maligned as corrupt can be brought to a court of law. Filipinos are catered always with the issue of graft and corruption in the press but not a single official in the cabinet rank that went to jail. If they have no evidence to support their allegation they should refrain this rumors of corruption in government to prove that there is responsible reporting in our country. The media is only fueling the emotion of the people to get angry at their political leaders. The fear-mongering in the media is always going overboard causing political and economic instability. Foreign investors will shy away because the Philippine media is putting always the issue in the news that Filipinos are corrupt. Where will foreign investors go if they fear the Philippines? They will go to China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand or India, countries that have regulated media outlets. The Filipinos? They will go to countries that will offer good paying job for them and too much brain drain happening in our country because of economic dislocation. The truth is only few Filipino intellectuals who are benefitted by the lively debate in the media.               

-----

In my observation we are the only nation in the world making the issue of graft and corruption against our political leaders.

Even in the more polite and self-restrained media of Japan, political leaders are criticized of graft and corruption, not to mention, inpetitude, daily.

Reply:

You are right! But Japanese media practitioners criticizing their leaders of graft and corruption have evidence to support their criticism which is why a politician or a business leader who is the target of criticism will resign and some will commit suicide. In Australia documents as evidence of fraud or corruption are put in the news or shown on television so that the people reading the news or listening on TV are well served with the truth. In the Philippine the press are good only in the issue of graft and corruption in the news without evidence and can be interpreted by a few as political intrigues but to those unsophisticated Filipinos, it's up to them to balance it whether it is right or wrong which is divisive and can cause instability in government and in the economy.

--------   

The issue of the AIG bonuses is not raised as an issue of corruption against the government because first, it is an act committed by the private sector, and at this point in time, no government official has been indentified as having benefited from it (unlike the issue of Legacy, etc.)

Reply:

The issue of AIG bonuses is an act committed by the Democrats in congress and approved by the Treasury Department because Senator Chris Dodd has revealed himself as the author of a controversial amendment that cleared the way for the huge bonuses to be paid to executives of AIG, the insurance giant rescued by the US Government last year to avert a global financial meltdown.

But this is not the point... The point is, if this insertion of "pork barrels and bonuses" into the stimulus package happens in the Philippines, I am very sure that the Philippine media will have a feast on these as issues of graft and corruption in government. But in the US, not a single media practitioner ever dared to raise these as corruption issue. Why? The answer is because it is not corruption but a provision inserted in the stimulus package law.   

--------

I think it is not fair and right to blame the media for our social ills. For all its imperfections, the media only chronicles and reflects the dynamics of our society, and brings into the fore issues that the public ought to pay attention to. Some issues it raises turn out to be flippant and even downright false, but the free and open press has a self-corrective mechanism. As the Fourth Estate, the media strengthens the healthy functioning of checks and balances in our society. By and large, the free media is the first to acknowledge that one's freedom ends where another one's freedom begins.

Reply:

You are right! It is not fair to put all the blames on the media but blames can be attributed partly also to our politicians who, by common knowledge, are bribing and corrupting the media to furhter their political ambitions. The press is the battlefield of politicians but most of the time political bickerings are going overboard causing our very own democratic structure to fall. The fall of Erap happened because of the over-zealous media thinking that by enciting the people to rebel is healthy to our fledgeling democracy.

WN   

Alay,

Thanks for your response. I love to be exchanging views with you who I believe as per your posting as one of the members of the media. This is also an awakening since the media before the emegence of the internet is high above their ivory towers. They are untouchable until there is a libel suit against them in court. If I am not mistaken the Philippine is one among the highest numbers of brutal killings of mediamen in the world.

Why is this killing of mediamen happening? Is there something wrong with the media? Or there is something wrong with the people who are brutalized by the media.

I think the right of the media to publish the news is balanced by their duty to be responsible. It is sad to note that there are marginalized sector of the media using their profession to eke out a living. In the words of one Manila mediaman he said; "Media profession are like lawyers. Clients who want their opinion published should pay us as their voices in the press."

Will it be published even if it is scurrilous and defamatory?

To paraphrase the words of Benjamin Franklin he said; "Whether to publish it or not, it should be determined if a lowly journalist can go home with only a loaf of bread in his stomach, drink water to make it his supper. In the morning go back to work undisturbed of any inconvenience of any kind whatsoever. This is a form of determination never to prostitute the press by corruption and abuse."

Can we find mediamen what Benjamin Franklin is talking about? Not anymore! Not in the Philippines either... because as what I understand according to your opinion; "the media, whether they fabricate their report or not for a blockbuster acceptance should they like it to be, it is still a question on how well the person concern takes on the report whether they be constructive or destructive reports or criticisms."

If a journalist thinks that it's up to the recipient of the criticism who should qualify whether or not his opinion is destructive or constructive therefore this journalist does not know what he's talking about. If he's criticizing a person is it proper to put down his reputation without any evidence that supports the allegation of the media? If criticizing the government is it proper to put down a government without documents to support its criticism? This is what happened to the government of Erap. He was ousted by the initiative of the media.

You asked:

"So why are there so many Filipinos becoming so disgruntled by our present set up of politics? Is it because of the media people bringing them the report about the massive corruption in the government?"

You answered it no... but my answer is yes! Because making the issue of corruption against the government and its officials is detrimental to the political health of the nation. In my observation we are the only nation in the world making the issue of graft and corruption against our political leaders. This is bad because corruption is illegal. In other country if you allege that to a public official without any evidence is libelous and defamatory. This is the reason also I think that other nations observing our country will think that we are a nation of thieves. Foreign leaders are too sensitive to the word "corruption".

Let me give you a comparison. The US government which is very much similar to ours. In the stimulus package law there are more than 9,000 pork barrel packages for senators and congressmen. They call these "earmarks". The scandal of the AIG bonuses for its employees and officials are all over the media in the US but not a single media practitioner ever dared to raise these as corruption issue. Why? The answer is because it is not corruption. The US media does not pull down their government with the issue of earmarks be related to corruption.

In the Philippines it is easy for the media to accuse government officials in relation to "pork barrels" as corruption. Pork barrel is legal in the Philippines and the US. It is money appropriated for a congressman or a senator's constituency.

WN

N.B. Tomorrow let's talk about Marcos and Enrile.

Addendum:

I think few of us know this that in Pag-asa at Diliman you will see a big dome. That edifice there is a nuclear reactor and it is our first try on nuclear power because during the time of President Dwight Eisenhower he promoted Atom for Peace program. As an ally of America we were the first to acquire this technology of studying nuclear energy. This nuclear reactor was built during the incumbency of the late Carlos P. Garcia. Inside this reactor are nuclear wastes that were there lying for more than 50 years. Ever since I have never heard of a leak or a fallout.

WN

Alay,

I'll try to answer your questions below.

Questions relevant to the above issues could be asked like the following:

1. How sure we are that the environment is well protected. Are we prepared to live like what happened in Chernovyl, where the whole city within the 50-km radius from the reactor is totally abandoned because of exposed radiation? All the reactors in that place are now shut down because this nuclear station is no longer viable for operation. If we look at the cost-benefit ratio of the project it is already beyond the ideal level.

Reply:

We are very sure that the environment will be protected because the technology comes from Westinghouse Inc. Chernobyl is different because the accident happened when the Soviet Union can no longer afford at that time to maintain the plant. Their economy was bankrupt. With the demised of the Soviet Union the Russian Federation as what they are called now is reviving their expertise in making nuclear plant. As we speak they are now selling and building the Iranian nuclear plant.

2. How about the residents proximate to the location of BNPP, are they willing to be dislocated with their livelihood and businesses in case untoward incident happens, like radiation leaks?

Reply:

The BNPP was constructed away from the residential areas and even if there are people nearby, what's there to be afraid of? The plant is not a ticking bomb. This is what happened to us when we listen too much to the staunch critics of nuclear plants. They talked as if the plant is a bomb. In the 1950's up to the 60's people in the Pacific Islands was exposed the open explosion of a nuclear device. In Australia the British tested their nuclear bombs openly in the desert and there is no report of a nuclear radiation affecting the people. This BNPP is not a bomb but a plant. The danger of a fallout is very remote.

3. From what source do we extract uranium to feed the reactors? Are these sources available locally or for import. How much?  (This figure is needed for power distruibution price analysis). Is there any tendency that our government be under the mercy of the uranium suppliers if in case they would then create a supply monopoly?

Reply:

The mining and export of uranium is regulated by IAEA. Uranium ores come cheap from Australia, Russia and some African countries. There is no danger that we are at the mercy of some suppliers because this is regulated by IAEA.

4. Is it really cheaper to buy power from this source? I read from an article in the Inquirer that despite of the 50+ nuclear reactors Japan has, buying power from this source is still higher compared to other sources. (TB membrs from Japan please confirm this report please.)

Reply:

Nuclear power is much cheaper to operate but expensive to build. BPNN is already finished and it cost the Filipino people $10 billion dollars to build and it just lay there inoperable because of politics. Last night Gordon Brown the Prime Minister of England specified in his speech that nuclear energy is the best alternative to oil and coal for a much much cleaner environment.

WN

Quote from: A Layman on March 13, 2009, 07:56:56 AM
Granting that political maneuverings are the same throughout the world and differs only by means of media coverage, how come that our country is still the sluggish country in Asia in terms of economy? The most corrupt country in Asia? If a person's quality and character is reflected by what he does and accomplished, how would you say about our country's politicians? Are they considered, the best? For me, they are the best swindlers in the world!

Alay,

In your posting asking the question; "How come that our country is still the sluggish country in Asia in terms of economy?"... You answered it yourself by saying that; "[We] differ only by means of media coverage".

I would like to give you an idea elaborating your reply about how the media... say for example in Singapore and Australia, differ from the Philippines in their coverage about their governments and leaders making us sluggish in Asia economically.

Singapore like Australia inherited their legal system from the British. There is a British law that says; "The media or no person cannot criticize any department or office of the British government." But even with the presence of this law in Singapore and Australia their governments today are adapting tolerance criticism to their governments. They can criticize their governments twice or thrice but not all the time. When the media sense that their criticism can create chaos especially in the economy they will shift the topic to another issue.

This is what they call constructive criticism!

This was also copied by Marcos when he declared Martial Law. Marcos closed all media publications like the Manila Chronicle, Manila Times, Philippine Herald and other press outlets criticizing the government. He created the press tribunal and the KBP or Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas. The purpose of the closure of all media outlets was to revise and make it as economic partner towards progress with the government.

But this was not received favorably by the few elite in Manila like the Roceses and the Lopezes who are media moguls in the Philippines and whose publications were closed by Marcos. The members of the academe, the Philippine clergy and the intelligentsia were among the few who defied Marcos and his Martial Law regime.

Even if they were few they are more politically influential than the majority who embraced Marcos Martial Law regime. Remember that Marcos government is a right of center government and these few Manila elite who were in the opposition has the power to influence international organizations who are leftists like Amnesty International and Transparency International or the Guinness Book of World Records to demonize Marcos and his government. Please note also that these 3 organizations are based in England but their influence in the British press are limited. Why? Because they are not allowed by law. So they are exporting their ideology to our country whose people has this wrong notion of freedom of the press and democracy.

By criticizing Marcos and his government after the lifting of Martial Law, the Philippine press believed that their criticism is constructive. The people, because they were blinded by the press, didn't know that the press criticism against Marcos is destructive criticism. It made the Marcos government fall.

The most vicious that the media did to the Filipino people was when they made themselves instrumental in the ouster of Erap and the destruction of the Philippine government and our democracy. Erap was elected by the overwhelming majority of the people but the few elite in Manila didn't like Erap because he was elected by the Filipino poor. 

WN



     

Lorenzo,

I believe and in my opinion because the Philippine media is too licentious in using freedom of the press people tend to believe that Filipino politicians are the worst in the world. They don't know that government officials all over the world are almost the same as our own politicians when it comes to government perks, privileges, dealing with allowances and money matters. The difference is how it is being carried or published by the media. The Philippine media deals too much in the issue of real politik while other countries like for example Australia, Singapore and Malaysia give more weight on the issue of ethical politics in the media.

This is the difference how freedom of the press is being practiced. Some people will come to think that freedom to lie is guaranteed by law in the Philippines. In other countries for example Australia or Singapore the press cannot publish any article that is derogatory to any person without the media having documents to prove its accusation as true. Even if it's true in some instances the media has no right to take pictures on their faces and putting them on TV, that's why their faces are being blurred to protect their privacy. In Australia by law, the press has no right to criticize government departments but because they have a tradition of tolerance they let it some trivial criticisms to have a go. 

The most vicious that the media did to the Filipinos was when they initiated the ouster of Erap. The media was the primary factor in the destruction of democracy in the Philippines.   

WN 

Quote from: Lorenzo on March 11, 2009, 11:41:30 PM
If this topic is painful for members in here, know that it was started because we, the Filipino-American youth who did not grow up under the Marcos regime or remember it, have a keen interest in understanding policies.

I myself, have learned alot from the postings of members in here, specifically, Way Nada, Calle, Glacier, Hofelina, Layman, Benne-san and the entire lot.

This is a learning experience, for me, and am sure for my fellow Americans, Filipino-Americans who did not have such experiences.

To ask, is to learn, to be corrected is to learn, to listen is to learn.

This thread is not only educative, but also enlightening.

I thank all of you for your personal input. As an American and growing up in the United States, my knowledge on recent Filipino history, policy, and discourse is limited, compared to you all, who grew up and lived/live in the Philippines.

I gain knowledge from your experiences, your voices, your different points of view.

Keep on sharing.


Fondly Yours,
And With My Deep Respect,
Bran Lorenzo

Lorenzo,

The Philippine political system is a copy of America. But I have this observation from the past that even if they are politically allign they differ in the observance of real politik. But with the emergence strength of the internet used by the left in America real politik is getting nastier by the day.

I'll give you an idea what I mean. Previous political campaigns in the US don't apply mud slinging as a way to attract voters but today the American left uses the power of the internet to smear, malign and throw mud to candidates. The victim of this mud slinging is Sarah Palin.

Now let's go to the conservatives. One of the issues they raised today against Pres. Barack Obama is "earmarks". Other term of earmarks is "pork barrel". In my observation the US conservatives or Republicans are not using the issue of earmarks to refer to corruption.

But in the Philippines "pork barrel" to senators and congressmen are being castigated in the Philippine media as corruption. You get what I mean?

WN   

I said in my previous posting that political power has its own relation with greed, but more than that also, it has something to do with wealth. This is the reason why Filipino politicians are vying themselves aiming for the seat of power. For them one week is too long for the next election. Each one of them is positioning  to take that covetted wealth and power! Ug sa ato pa mao ang pagkab-ot sa gahum ug mga bahandi.

Marcos again is no exception and I believe he [Marcos] made the most brilliant political maneuver of wresting power away from his political rivals. He outmaneuvered his rivals by declaring Martial Law which is legal under the constitution. PP I and PP II if you take a closer look they are illegal because it can be interpreted as revolutions and any kind of armed uprisings are illegal in any country all over the world.

The BNPP as every Filipino believed is a source of corruption in the Marcos regime. This belief was given more strength when Cory's men discovered documents in Malacanang after Marcos fled during the people power uprising. The documents purportedly said it is from Westinghouse Inc. and it said that it gave Marcos a commission worth $10,000.00 for winning to build BNPP for Westinghouse.

The next day the newpapers in Manila bannered the news that they have found the "smoking gun" to indict Marcos for the crime of bribery and corruption. But Marcos cannot be charged in the Philippines because bribery cannot be committed by only one person but two. It takes two to tango... ug sa ato pa. Marcos partner is Westinghouse Inc., so the transitional government of Cory Aquino sent its bright boy Rene Saguisag to Seattle, Washington the place where the main office of Westinghouse Inc. is located to file charges of bribery and corruption.   

In the Seattle hearing the court did not believe Rene Saguisag's arguments that Marcos the president of the Philippines and Westinghouse Inc. committed the crime of bribery and corruption but, the court gave more weight on the deposition of Westinghouse Inc. that the $10,000.00 dollars given to Marcos is a commission. That even if Marcos did not accept it somebody in his government will receive it because it is a company's policy of giving commission.

So Atty. Rene Saguisag went home empty handed.

WN

 

   

I would like to comment in the discussion in the cut and paste posting between German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Utz Claassen, CEO of Germany's third-largest energy provider EnBW, about whether nuclear energy can provide a way out of the climate crisis.

In my opinion I would consider Sigmar Gabriel as an environmental alarmist and in his capacity as the German Environment Minister I think it is but natural for him to be an alarmist. The discussion is too extreme a topic for me because I don't believe that there is a climate crisis. But I believe more in the opinion of Utz Claassen that;

"Nuclear energy has been employed in a safe way for decades in Germany."

Claassen said; "A study by the German Energy Agency (DENA) -- not a study by the energy industry, that is, but one by the center of competence for energy efficiency in Germany -- came to the following conclusion: When 37,000 megawatts of wind power capacity have been installed, that will make 6 percent of those fossil fuel or nuclear plant capacities that can provide the base load obsolete. So 2,300 conventional megawatt blocks of coal or nuclear energy could then be abandoned."

Aside from that Claassen added that; "Roughly estimated, you would need about 10,000 wind turbines to reproduce one large nuclear plant. That should be clear to everyone who also bears in mind the landscape and other issues."

Now... if the Philippines will adapt the environmentalist idea of wind turbines to power electricity where will these 10,000 wind turbines be constructed just to replace one nuclear power plant. The Philippines needs a big windy landscape with wind power to reproduce the power of one nuclear power plant. You will construct this in Samar facing the Pacific Ocean or Surigao. Imagine these 10,000 wind turbines during the typhoon season they will just be blown away. Therefore this is not feasable in the Philippines.

WN

Quote from: ayessa on March 10, 2009, 05:07:21 AM
Way Nada, I think you have modified your previous post.  it just makes me wonder why would solar and wind energy benefit the leftist?

and if you say they are promoting it, in which way would it also benefit them?  or simply way nada, why are they promoting solar and wind energy?

Para maklaro; you quote me if I said solar and wind will benefit the leftist. Ang akong sulti nga; "the Philippine economy will be benefitted if we reopen BNPP."

WN

Political power has its relation to greed. I think Marcos is not immune to this thing when he grabbed power and declared Martial Law. But there are instances that leaders of a country will resort to drastic and emergency measure when they think that the country is in imminent danger of revolution. Marcos has this excuse of declaring "Martial Law" because in his judgment the Philippines was in danger of an armed revolution.

I believe Marcos had its good intention as every political leader in our country has. His motive in the declaration of Martial Law was to improve the lives of the people and change the Filipino society.

When he declared Martial Law Marcos saw that the Philippines was in darkness and he established NEA [National Electrification Administration] and because he was a dictator he commanded; Let there be light! And light shone on every barrio of the Philippines.

When he saw that Filipino farmers were less abundant in their harvests he established NIA [National Irrigation Administration] and irrigation started flowing to every paddy and ricefield in the Philippines. Starting with the Masagana 99 program the Philippines was able to have abundance in the production of palay and for the first time in our history during Marcos time we exported rice to some parts of the world.

Before our export products like copra and sugar were conducted in free enteprise style by greedy capitalists who transacted business in the high seas without the knowledge of the government. What I mean is that our export crops are smuggled outside the  Philippines without paying taxes to the government. Marcos revised this method by monopolizing the export of sugar and copra by government owned corporations so that the people will be benefitted by our own export products. 

During Martial Law the Philippine economy was entirely an agriculturally based nation and because of Marcos lofty ambition to promote the lives of the Filipinos he started to industrialize the whole Philippines. He invited foreign capitals to invest in our country. He established EPZA [Export Processing Zone Authority] in Bataan, Intel in Baguio, the Mactan Export Processing Zone in Cebu and the processing of electronic spare parts in Pasig. To generate power for these industrial zones he commended the expertise of Westinghouse Inc. to start building the nuclear plant to power electricity needs for these industrial complexes and electric consumption for the people of Luzon.

He also invited foreign capitals of the car industry to invest in the Philippines and with Filipino automotive engineer's designed cars we started designing for Filipino use and export to other countries. Toyota has the Tamaraw model, Mitsubishi has the Cimmaron, Volkswagen has the Sakbayan and Ford has the Feira. These are the initial models for development in the Philippines. Expecting the rise of the transport industry Marcos built the Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway from Mindanao to Luzon. He built also the two super-highways, the north and the south.

With this development there was no mass migration of Filipino workers to the Middle East. And the political opposition did not like this that they called Marcos a power hungry dictator. They protested that Marcos should conduct elections. Marcos conducted election but the opposition don't have a ghost of a chance of winning because they cannot show to the people any performance that will attract voters to vote for them. So the started the issue that Marcos was a cheat. Not only that they accused him as a thief.

The leftists not to be outdone with issues started destabilizing the government of Marcos by penetrating the workers with communists propaganda and urging them to unionize. The first two processing plants to fall were in Cainta and Pasig. Barbie who was making dolls in Cainta and employing thousands of Filipinos transferred to Bataan EPZA but Bataan EPZA was also penetrated by leftist union and eventually like a sand castle everything crumbled because of the penetration of labor unions.

And then the Philippine economy collapsed and rumors floated that Ninoy Aquino is coming back to the Philippines. True enough to our expectation he returned bringing along with him a number of journalists. Inside the plane while interviewed he averred that he is not the enemy of Marcos but the economy. Of course he is the enemy of the government because some people believed that he orchestrated in the collapsed of the Philippine economy.

The reason why he brought along with him a phalanx of news reporters is because he knew that he is the enemy of Marcos and any untowards incident these newsmen will be witnesses to his execution.

After his assassination at the airport tarmac is also the start of the demonization of Marcos. The sympathy of the people was with Ninoy even if Marcos had done more to the Filipinos than any other leaders of the Philippines.   

According to the words penned by a famous bard it says; "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones..."

Filipinos today forget the good deeds of Marcos because Marcos political enemies are still with us and they are now in power in government. And the industrialization of the Philippines which Marcos started is completely forgotten. The EPZA, the Bataan shipyard and the car industry which he started come to a complete halt and for this reason started the mass migration of laborers to the Middle East and some parts of the world.

WN

Quote from: bol-anon nga cebuano on March 10, 2009, 12:34:42 AM
ang lalis man gud aning revival sa BNPP is safety. tanang opposition aning maong bill puro naghisgot kabahin sa safety ug effect sa environment. ang goal sa author is cheap energy producing plant using a cheaper fuel. mao ning iya gusto i-revive ang maong idle plant nga wala jud nagamit despite the fact that it consumed a lot of people's money. tiaw mo nang $2 billion plus nga kanditad atong panahon ni marcos kung gi time deposit na. pila na kaha ang na gain interest ana nya ang gigamitan wala jud nagamit sulod sa 22 ka tuig.

Mao lagi na. Kita gihadlok sa isyu sa mga leftist nga dili safe ang BNPP kay kuno naa mahimutang sa earthquake fault sa Bataan. Wa nato mabasa sa diyaryo nga ang tibook nasud sa Japan nahimutang sa earthquake fault sa Pacific Basin pero ang ilang 55 ka nuclear plant way bisag usa nga disgrasya, di ba? Kinahanglan kita dili motoo ining isyu sa leftist kay mao ni maka purdoy sa Pinas kung sila atong toohan.

WN

Trivia:

Do you not know that all the more than 1,800 decrees, edicts, executive orders, letters of instruction and or laws enacted by the Batasang Pambansa signed by the former president Marcos is still in effect until today?

If Marcos was wrong or the system he followed is defective governments after him should have repealed all the laws he signed. Other contributors in TB will say; "Why is he not like Lee Kuan Yew?" Marcos and Lee Kuan Yew are the same dictators but people has a difference of perception. It's how the media put them in the newspapers you read.

WN   

Quote from: ayessa on March 07, 2009, 05:21:23 PM
How could you categorically prove that the leftist movement benefit from promotion of the wind and solar energy resources?  I think, that was my question.

Ayessa,

I think you gave a wrong meaning to my opinion that; "the Philippines will benefit economically if we operate BNPP". You put my opinion in a different way.

You said; "Meaning to say Way Nada, the leftist economically benefit from Wind and Solar energy resources? Is this what you are trying to say?  And why could this be a political agenda?"

You see... If I'll agree with your opinion both of us will be lost in translation. Di na ta magkasinabut, di ba? What I said is; "the Philippines will benefit economically if we operate BNPP" and not the left.

Regarding my idea why the left has their own political agenda regarding the use of nuclear energy will go down a long way to explain it but let us go to the issue today which the left is advocating. It's the environment! Therefore it is about the politics of the rain forest, atmosphere, the whales, carbon emission, ozone layer and climate change.

Because nuclear is radioactive material the left wants us to believe that if use in a power plant the people living near a nuclear reactor is in danger of a fallout. The perception of the people because of the leftist propaganda tend to believe that a nuclear reactor is like a ticking bomb. The Philippines is being conned by this leftist issue that nuclear is not good for us in the Philppines.

Anti nuclear started in Europe but the left political agenda did not work there so they brought their idea to the third world which the left in the Philippines readily embraced it. And this is what is happening now. England, France, Italy and other countries all over the world prospered with clean environment by using nuclear energy and the Philippines because we gave more weight on the opinion of Etta Rosales and Joma Sison stagnate economically.

Japan is a victim of a nuclear bomb but there are 55 nuclear plants operating in Japan today. If Japan listened to the politics of the left they will have a hard time looking for source of energy to power their economy.

To prove that the idea of the left is right let us wait for the plan of the Obama administration to prosper. The US government is financing the use of solar and wind energy which is included in the Obama stimulus plan. In the plan Obama is investing billion of dollars to develop wind and solar for generating electric power.   

WN   

Carlos P. Garcia - President of the Philippines

Victor de la Serna - 1965 Bar Topnotcher who graduated fro San Beda

Oscar Glovasa - 1969 Bar Topnocther who graduated from Holy Name

Jose A. Clarin - first Boholano lawyer and a senator of the republic

Jacinto Borja - ambassador to the UN

Tomas Cloma - claimed the Spratley's Islands for the Philippines

Quote from: ayessa on March 06, 2009, 03:50:20 PM
Meaning to say Way Nada, the leftist economically benefit from Wind and Solar energy resources?
Is this what you are trying to say?  And why could this be a political agenda?

If we operate BNPP the Philippines will benefit economically. They are very cheap to maintain. The left opposed the operation because they have their own political agenda. They don't want nuclear as source to generate power because they believe that nuclear energy is harmful to the environment which is not true if given the proper maintenance.

Nuclear power plants are safe with the exception of Chernobyl which was not maintain well by the former Soviet Union because their economy was going down at that time. In the US navy nuclear energy are used to fuel their submarines, aircraft carrier, cruisers and destroyers but their is not a single accident at sea. In the west countries nuclear power is fully in operation like England 75% of their power source is nuclear, Japan which is noted for earthquakes but nuclear is their main source of energy, France used nuclear power for energy and Russia today is selling their expertise to Iran.

We have a bad perception of nuclear energy because our minds are conditioned by the liberal media about how bad nuclear energy is to the environment. The media is not telling the truth what is good and beneficial in having nuclear as source of energy.

WN

Simeon Toribio - equal the world high jump record in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He finished 3rd to take the Bronze Medal. Participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Nino Ramirez - Philippine entry in the Men's Long Jump in the 1936 Olympic Games. He dropped in the qualifying round but he was the event Long Jump title holder in Asia. He was also a good basketball and tennis player.

Lauro Mumar - Known as "the fox" in Philippine basketball because he was instrumental in disqualifying the best player of Puerto Rico during a World Basketball Conference in Brazil. He caused the revision of the 20 seconds rule in basketball when he "freeze" the ball for 4 minutes against Puerto Rico. Carlos Loyzaga was known to be "The great difference", but there is a saying that says; he [Loyzaga] would not be "the great difference" without the "Fox" Mumar. 

Eugenio Sarabia - A MICAA stalwart playing with various teams like Seven-Up, Yutivo, Crispa, Chelsea and Yellow Taxi.

Jorge Naron - A MICAA player playing with Yutivo

Dodie Bonita - played with Crispa   

Quote from: bol-anon nga cebuano on March 05, 2009, 03:44:08 AM
kung mao na sir macky, dapat suportahan sa mga pinoy ang pagrevive sa bataan nuclear power plant. pero nganong daghan man ang supak ani? kulang sila sa workforce ug funds aron pag educate sa mga tawo aron mahibaw sila sa effect and benefits aning BNPP?

Bol-anon,

Tinood nang imong giingon nga kinahanglan mo-uyon ang mga Pinoy nga ibalik ang BNPP. Ang nahitabo sa panahon ni Marcos nga gihimong isyu pulitika ang BNPP sa mga "makakaliwa" sa Pinas. Ang "nuclear plant" makatabang kaayo sa ekonomiya sa Pilipinas kay barato lang ang pamintinar ini.

The leftist not only in the Philippines but all over the world don't want nuclear energy to be developed because they have their own political agenda which is to promote the wind and solar as sources to generate power.

WN

Quote from: Bad Godesberg on February 03, 2009, 03:10:49 PM
Bohol is a unique place that has its very own language. The Boholano dialect is a separate language from the ones Cebuanos use. It is a rip off of the Cebuano but characterizes some differences. There are a couple of phonetic distinctions in the Boholano dialect that makes it distinctive from Cebuano.

The Boholano dialect, in all its pureness can be heard in far-flung areas of Bohol. In the city area, especially in Tagbilaran, the language is almost interchangeable with the Cebuano language. There are also other parts of Bohol, aside from Tagbilaran, that uses Cebuano. It would be quite difficult, even for an all-knowing tourist to spot the difference, thus, you will have the impression that the locals speak one and the same dialect.

One has to be wary to notice the difference. The most specific differences between the widely used Cebuano and the locally used Boholano language is in the way ‘y’ and ‘k’ are spoken. In Boholano language, ‘y’ sounds ‘j’ while ‘k’ sounds ‘h’.

+JLY

Bad,

I agree with you that the Boholano dialect is a separate dialect not only from the Cebuhanos, but also from the Warays, Ilonggo or the Hiligaynon. What I mean here is; When the Philippine islands came into being by volcanic eruption diverse people from mainland Asia had a heyday populating each piece of land that sprouted from the sea. In other words the flood of migration to the Philippines [Of course before it was not yet called the Philippines.] was in drove of tribespeople. Each has its own ethnic dialect. I believe the word Vijayan refers to the Boholanos. The Boholano dialect with its "J" accent is having similarity with some Indonesian dialect. There are many Indonesian dialect that are prominent with the "J" accent and with only a bit of difference to the Malay accent.

Ang atong weakness sa Pilipinas nga gamay ra ang nag-utingkay bahin sa atong gigikanan. Philippine historians want to research our history in Italy and Madrid as if our ancestors came from these places.

WN 

Quote from: glacier_71 on March 06, 2009, 12:26:59 PM
sakto ka, WN.

mao man gani naay gitawag nga PPC or Finance Council kada parokya kono kay aron motabang sa pagpadagan sa parokya

pwede man gani tingali mo-suwat ang mga tawo sa ilang obispo kung duna jud silay reklamo bahin sa ilang pari. ako ra pod nang nadunggan sa uban.

Quote from: glacier_71 on March 06, 2009, 12:26:59 PM
sakto ka, WN.

mao man gani naay gitawag nga PPC or Finance Council kada parokya kono kay aron motabang sa pagpadagan sa parokya

pwede man gani tingali mo-suwat ang mga tawo sa ilang obispo kung duna jud silay reklamo bahin sa ilang pari. ako ra pod nang nadunggan sa uban.

Glacier,

Tinood nang imong gisulti. Karon ang mga parokyano mahimo na moprotesta sa taas nga awtoridad sa simbahan aron mapahawa ang dili nila gusto nga pari.

WN

Lorenzo opined:

"Just because one individual makes a mistake does not make the entire Church, and the billions of Roman Catholics around the world make them bad."

Reply:

You are right! One person's mistake cannot be blamed on the whole church... while saying that there is corruption in the church does not mean billions of catholics around the world are bad either but, criticism will help the church administrator how to serve their parishioner efficiently and spiritually. Unsaon man ang masulti nimo kung ikaw sige nimong makita ang kora paroko sa simbahan kalingaw gaduwa ug mahjong ug naa pa gyu'y hinuktan, aber!

If you think the church is the people therefore every individual who is a member of the parish has the right also to criticize how the running of the church is being conducted.

Quote from: glacier_71 on March 04, 2009, 12:09:52 PM
daghan man ang hinungdan, bay WN, nga mawa ang usa ka butang: naguba, gilabay, gibaligya, gikawat o kikotkot.

bohol, ko WN. ngano man diay, unsa may naas sa Licoan? 

Sakto ka! Daghan hinungdan nga mawa ang usa ka butang pero ako hing uyon lang ko sa imong pung nga; "gipangkawat ang ubang mga alahas". Tungod pud sa usa ka butang dugang sa imong sulti nga; dihay tawo nga "convicted of theft" bahin ining mga butanga.

Taga Bohol ka pero nagpuyo na tingali ka dugay sa Cagayan. Mailhan nako kay nakapuyo pud ko sa Cagayan. Kanang pung nga; "daw be ug kabalo" diha nako mahibaw-i sa Cagayan.

Quote from: glacier_71 on March 04, 2009, 11:55:54 AM
hahahaha, daw be, og wa na jud toy sulod diay sukad pa sa una. nakabalita man ko diha nga gipangkawat ang ubang mga alahas, di ba?

Dili sukad sa una wa'y sud kundi kumpormi ko nga moingon ka nga gipangkawat ang ubang mga alahas. Di ba? Asa mang ka sa Cagayan de Oro? Nakapuyo ko sa Licoan sa una.

Quote from: glacier_71 on March 04, 2009, 11:46:05 AM
ah ok. unya bay, kabalo ang curator unsay sulod ug pila tong mga alahas nga tua tanan sa chest?

Unsaon man pagkahibaw sa curator ug pila tong mga alahas nga wa na may sud ang "treasure chest"? Hehe....

Quote from: glacier_71 on March 03, 2009, 09:41:51 PM
unsa man diay corruption makit-an sa museum sa baclayon? nga antiques man tua didto.

Glacier,

Kung moadto ka sa Baclayon Museum makakita ka ug duha ka "treasure chest" nga puro wa'y sud. Ug magsukit-sukit ka sa curator kung unsay purpose anang duha ka baul o kaban... ang curator kung nakahibaw motubag nimo nga mao nay sudlanan sa mga alahas sa Birhen. Ako sa bata pa mamista sa Baclayon ug mosimba mahinumdum ko nga ang Birhen diha kwentas nga perlas nga hangtud sa sa iyang tiil ang gitas-on ug dihay iyang korona nga mga diamante ug brilliante. Boot pasabot nako ini nga kanang duha ka kaban napuro alahas sa Birhen ang sud sa unang panahon.

WN

Lorenzo,

I think you are taking the issue personally. My opinion is not dealing with what you do in church and beside I did not mention any name or priest or bishop in my posting. Why? Because it's not only priest and bishop who are responsible of the loss of church implements and ornaments. They are also stolen by church curators.

You call my opinion as hearsay or rumor because actually there is not a single priest convicted of theft and you are right. But it is common knowledge that church paraphernalia are lost because somebody stole it or the church is ransacked by robbers. Some robbers are inside the "convento" itself but they are not brought to a court of law.

Listen to this rumor! When I was a 5 year old kid I went always with my Lola twice a week to the church. My Lola was my first teacher and she used to teach me how to pray and most of all taught me to identify who are the saints inside the church niche. Two of those saints she told me were Santa Monica and Santa Filomena. I asked her; "Why is their faces look shiny and pinkish?" She answered; "because they are made of garing." "Garing" is ivory. She added that this kind of ivory comes from a fish and not from an elephant. In those days our church has 5 altars with 4 big chandeliers with one of them hanging down from the center of the church dome.  These chandeliers can match the chandeliers that are hanging in the palaces in Europe.

When the church was under renovation there were rumors that some of the church saints and implements are to be sold for the renovation of the church aside from cash contributed by the parishioners. Among them that were sold to antique collectors were the 2 saints Santa Monica and Santa Filomena, the four big chandeliers, with the 12 receptacles for holy water which are made of marble, the pipe organ, the old pulpit and many more.

Even before the renovation of the church was finished the parish priest displayed in the convento a new Impala. This parish priest is the first person who owned an Impala in the whole province. But because priests are treated with respect the people just didn't mind that maybe they think that in God's name the priest has the right to own a car.

But there are a select few who did not agree with the majority of the community and they are the people who are members of the local intelligentsia like my uncle who was once a judge and another member of the bar who became the CFI judge of Cebu. Much of the rumors originated from these kind of people on how a priest with poor family background can own an Impala and I don't think they can be called vagrants or satanists. When I returned to my town the rumors about who bought the 4 chandeliers still persist. I learned now that the chandeliers are owned by the segioun Reyna family of Manila.

If you want to learn more about corruption in the church try to go to the museum in Baclayon and make your own research.

WN 

Quote from: hofelina on March 03, 2009, 08:07:17 AM
nangaliyupo = begging

Para nako kini nga pulong ang pinaklisod i-translate. The word  nangaliyupo has a very deep feeling, bisan sa spanish or german, walay ikatandi. This is a typical lunsay´ng bisaya.

Naa pay maayong hubad sa binisaya sa pulong nga "begging" kay kining begging mura ug atong sabton nagpalimos. Nangaliyupo means asking for clemency.

WN

Quote from: Lorenzo on February 23, 2009, 10:56:18 AM
It is getting worse because even if there is a use of a People's Power Revolution won't solve any problems if the politicians who pledge to a people's power coup--will not change. Continual uprisings only destabilize government.

Use proper channels to vent disinterest, instead of rising in numbers and forming a mob, and declare it the 'People' when in actuality, it is nothing but a mob.

Lorenzo,

I agree!

WN

If you want change, vote for change. Take it to the polls. And don't sell your vote.

Those who sell their votes have no right to complain about the destititution. Since you acquiesced to the system of corruption.

Change begins with you. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "You are the change you seek in the world."




Lorenzo

Quote from: Datu Dagohoy on February 27, 2009, 01:40:14 AM
the good point of views is dili ingetiro ang mga Bol-anon, kung ano man ang mayron ka dili mi mangarap na magkaroon pag di kaya sa bulsa namin di tulad nang iba mangutang para lang magkaroon tularan lang ang iba.

You are correct! Boholanos are hard working and not envious of what other people have.

WN

Quote from: glacier_71 on February 13, 2009, 10:55:25 AM
translation, refer to previous page

gikabuhi - under stress
gidagaw -
gikalag - haunted
gibuntas - hungry
gidabo-dabohan - mauled
giango-ango - sinile
gimanggad - to bear

More...

taboan - market
pangaliya - pleadings
ampo - surrender/pray
road - dan/dalan
panan-aw - perception
kina-adman - intelligence
matig-a - hard
agak - guide with the hand
batong-bantilis - hard stone
bato-balani - magnet
balisbisan - yard/ground
kuta - wall
ugbok - plant/let it stand
pusgay - shattered
buskag - disarray
bay/igsoon - brother/sister
amoy - god
bubunlan - throat
ubol ubol - Adam's apple
buna buna - forehead
kulba hinam - suspense/thrill
lapa lapa - sole
diwa - spirit
kamag - to work in the night
pagub - vigilant guarding
kasugpanan/kalibonan - bush
guiwanon - nothingness
banati/bujangjang - a seed with a red and black color
wadji - an Indian person
abat - welcome
abot - arrive
sambunot - game
sawang - city center
ba ow - farm
ba ol/kaban - chest
himsug - healthy
baskug - fast
yellow - bulaw
grey - abuhon
pink - lila
sakdap - swoop
lakdap - cockfight[practice]
sabong - cockfight[in a cockpit]
buwang/tari - cock's sword
alimungaw - talking in a dream
damag - nightmare
damgo - dream
dimdim - taste as in wine or tuba
kisum kisum - after taste as in wine
kilum kilum - twilight
banag banag - dawn
tinapay - biscuit/bread
tingusbawan - progress
bahod - infection
bandila - flag/announce
mantala/taho - report
balita - news
manso - practice/train
sana sana - rehearsal
tagolilong - magic/magician
takas - attack
asdang - advance
namug aw - left alone/getting cold in the dark
tarung - crown
katarungan - reason
katungud - right
katungdanan - duty
batakang balaod - constitution
hukom - judge
hukmanan - court
husay - court hearing
gihusay - investigate
kahusayan - justice
puslan - use
kapuslanan - usefulness
sukit sukit - scrutinize
ampay - favorite

panggi - knife
datag  - swamp
sukna - reckoning
tanlag - conscience
insay - shout to signal
kaguliyang - riot/kagubot

Sus! Kamong tanan akong gibasa wa diay mo makahibaw ug asa ang "corruption" sa simbahan. Kanang kolekta kada misa labi na sa Dominggo, kanang pagbaligya ug mga santo nga antik ngadto sa mga "antique collectors" wa intao'y hanaw ang katawhan, mga rebulto nga garing [ivory] sa inyong mga simbahan nangawa na, alahas sa mga santos nga pagatawgon ug "heirloom" gipamaligya, mga bulawan nga kalis gamit sa misa ug uban nga mahunahunaan ninjo. 

Salamat!

WN

I think you mean the St. Michael Painting changed through its restoration. I have this feeling that restoration cannot alter the original style easily in a span of 60 years if there is no other artist told to do the restoration. The "last Supper" of Da Vinci which is painted on a wall is believed already altered. It is being restored by many art restorers in so many span of times. It differs from the original because the wall keeps on moving through the ages that everytime a restoration is done the restorer will maneuver his brush paint through the crack of the wall.

If Rico Ramasola and Ortiz are hiding something... what will they profit from it? If you are a Jagna-anon and you have the knowledgeable source that Francia's work on the St. Michael painting is being altered, I will not dismiss your allegation. If Rico Ramasola and Ortiz wanted fame as the fakers of Francia's work then, so be it.

Salamat!

WN 

 

Quote from: apothecary on January 21, 2009, 06:27:05 PM
grazie7y,

the clarity of the st. Michael painting shows it may not be a Ray Francia anymore.

Try comparing it with other Ray Francia paintings like in Anda, Cortes, Alburquerque and Talibon and you will see the difference in style.

The way i see it, it has to be a work restored by a local artist, my best guess is by Rosalio Ortiz, a guy who beat Botong Francisco in a national competition in Manila in the early sixties.

Ortiz, along with another Boholano painting icon Ric Ramasola chose to hide in the anonimity of Bohol and is now in Jagna.

My studies of local church restorations in Bohol also showed Ortiz being commissioned in Loay, and if you would be able to peek at the ceilings in the Trinity Church, you may have to agree with me that the Jagna St. Michael is not a Cebuano artist's work but by a Sano who chose to be a nobody despite his amazing skill.

This topic reminds me of my opinion in TB some months ago about dying and religion. If I am not mistaken I said; "Religion was invented because of the fear of death." In the olden days and until now death is too difficult for a person to accept. This is the reason why we go to God and religion for our salvation and ressurrection.

But there are people who are not afraid to die, not because they are brave and that they have nine lives like that proverbial cat but because they are religious fanatics. And they blow themselves up in the middle of innocent civilians and instantly they become martyrs. They believe that after a suicide attack they will go directly to paradise where 72 virgins are waiting for them.

Salamat!

WN

Quote from: Lorenzo on September 18, 2008, 10:20:43 AM
Way Nada,

I accept and have read your points and your thoughts.

I will acquiesce to the fact that you have a beautiful mind and your thoughts on this matter is eloquently analytical.

However, I will choose to refrain from further analyzing the what ifs and the would bes in this given situation.

I will not, given my imperfections as a lowly man made of dust and to which I SHALL return after death, analyze the life of my Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus God BLESSED Forever.

In my heart, and in the being of my SOUL I know that Christ Jesus is LORD.

He is The WORD that made everything. Before there was rationalization, He was There. He Was, He IS, and HE WILL BE. Even after all of us are dead.

He is Divine and His Divinity transcends the Humanity.

That is all that I will say about this topic.


Please accept my kind refusal to further go into this topic. For both personal as well as spiritual reasons.



Kindly and Respectfully Yours,
Bran Lorenzo

Lorenzo,

Thanks... I appreciate your answer. Hold on to your faith!

WN

Quote from: ms da binsi on September 22, 2008, 09:27:53 AM

Yes the picture of yuor father is really your father, but the picture of Jesus was not even Jesus. For Heaven's sake who have ever seen Jesus?

Ms. Da Binsi,

You are correct! No person has ever seen Jesus, even among the people believed to be the first Christians, they mentioned Christ in their writings but not Jesus. The people I am refering to were the Essenes. These are also the people mentioned by Josephus in his historical records as the people who wanted to separate away from Judaism. By the way, Josephus was a Jewish historian whose writings date back to the time of Jesus in the bible.

The Essenes were also the people who were waiting for the coming of Christ and the end of the world. In modern times they can be called as a doomsday cult.

The worship of statues were already practiced by the first Christians. The Greeks were amazed by the way the Jews practiced their religion because they worshipped only one God and without idols in their temple. During those times all other religions worshipped idols except Judaism. The Jews used to call them idolaters. In Greek mythology they worshipped their gods and godesses symbolized by idols and statues. When the Greeks started preaching Christianity they portrayed the statue of the apostles in Greek clothing and not in Jewish clothing.

When Constantine the Great the emperor of Rome was converted to Christianity he incorporated all religions into  the Roman Empire and the more the worship of idols and paganism was strengthened. The religion of Rome which is Mithraism was incorporated with Catholicism, which is why there are Catholic religious practices today that originated from pagan Rome. Modern teaching of the church today prohibits in the worship of idols. Even if the essence is not to worship idols the majority of the catholic faithful who are naive and ignorant of the teaching of the Church still cannot get rid of old habits of worshipping statues and idols.

WN

         

Quote from: ms da binsi on July 28, 2008, 11:10:03 AM
Many believe that religious images help them to worship God. Is this view correct? How does God feel about the matter?



P.s. I just got this article today and find it very interesting to talk about....

Ms. DaBinsi,

Yes your view is correct. Religious worshippers ever since tend to believe that images as objects of worship help them to go to heaven. But there is one religion that differs from the other, that religion is Judaism.

When the Romans came to conquer Jerusalem the first place the Roman soldiers went is the temple mount to look for images of gods and goddesses to be destroyed and be replaced with their own Roman gods and godesses. To their surprise the Roman soldiers cannot see any images inside the temple that is used as an object of worship. This is so because the Jews faithfully follow the laws of Moses of not worshipping any other gods.

But before the Romans came Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalem and the Middle East. This is the start of the hellenization of the Jews meaning the Greek conqueror wanted to change the culture of the Jews. One of the changes imposed upon the Jewish people was to change their religion and worship Greek gods and godesses. The Jews resisted and they revolted against the Greek. The leader of this revolt was a man named Judas Maccabees. In the OT his books are included as Maccabees I and II.

Some of the Jews were converted when Paul a hellenized Jew preached about the life of Jesus. They were converted not by force but by evangelization.

WN

Quote from: Lorenzo on September 17, 2008, 07:01:23 PM
Way Nada,

Before the splintering of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, both churches existed as one; and one thing that they made sure was the proliferation of a united bible; one that agrees to teaching. Even to this day, the bibles used by both Orthodox Churches as well as Catholic Churches are identical, given the Orthodox bible is written in Cyrillic. However, the texts are the same.

Priests and the ecclesiarchy of both Orthodox and Catholic Churches united all the writings and utilized the ones that were identical and wiped away those that were considered blasphemous.

The bibles that we read today stem from the compilation of writings that the Catholic Church has created; given, protestant bibles are far more simplified. However, the texts that they read were organized and printed and approved by the Roman Catholic Church. Which headed the West. And the Orthodox, headed the East.

Lorenzo,

Yes, I understand what you mean that both the Catholic and Orthodox are one church before but you are missing the point.

My opinion refers to the controversy of the relationship between Jesus and Mary magdalene. Their relationship is written in the Gospel of Phillip. In the book it says that Jesus kissed Mary on the lips but some interpretation portrayed them as husband and wife. But I have a different view in this story that is why I reversed the topic to Thomas who was also a disciple of Jesus but doubt his ressurection. The verses in the bible can be found on John 20:24-29. But is John 20:24-29 written to make us believe about Christ ressurection or are these verses written for the conversion of the Jews who do not believe in Jesus up to this day?

In the Gospel of Thomas it tells us of a different Jesus. It is a Jesus that teaches not of the ressurection but of self knowledge.

For example in the Gospel of Thomas verse 3; Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) imperial rule is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) imperial rule is inside you and outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."

Gnosticism believes that Jesus is only in our hearts and minds, like the Jews Gnostics do not believe that Jesus exist historically. Gnostic means gnosis in Greek meaning knowledge. The 4 gospels were written somewhere in the 80 to 100 AD 50 or 70 years after the death of Christ. The Gnostic gospels were written somewhere in the middle of the second to the third century, 220 to 270 years after the death of Christ. So it is very clear that the Gnostic gospels were not written by the apostles but by somebody presumably a greek. How about the 4 gospels... were they written by the apostles? The point here is that in the 3rd century when Christianity was still struggling to be recognized even among them who are the originators of Christianity were arguing who has the right religion.

Religion is always controversial but let me go back to the controvery about Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Since Gnosticism does not believe in the historical Jesus therefore what's the purpose of the author portraying them as lovers? If you continue reading about Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of Phillip you will find out that Mary is a leader or she maybe a pastor in the congregation. My understanding of this controversy about Jesus and Mary Magdalene is that it is written purposely because of theological reason... that a woman can be the head of a church.

Salamat....

WN

Quote from: michael-ligalig on August 12, 2008, 11:19:25 PM
Anyone can write a novel and create controversies all for the sake of money and fame.

It's either we believe what the Bible says or what a novel claims.

Mike,

I think you are refering to the novel "The Da vinci Code" as making a controversy. The novel and Mary Magdalene are different stories. The controversy about Jesus and Mary Magdalene will go back to the 3rd century AD. This controversy is found in the Gospel of Phillip.

Long before the scriptures were compiled into one book as the bible there were other Christian sects who wrote the scriptures. One of them is the Gnostic Christians. Their books were discovered in the Egyptian desert town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Which is why the books are known today as the Nag Hammadi library. These are also part of the apocryphal writings of the bible. The newest discovery is the "Gospel of Judas". If not for this discovery scholars will never know today that there were other Christian sects who wrote about Jesus. 

In the Nag Hammadi library the Gospel of Thomas is given importance to scholars because he is portrayed in the bible as the doubter of the resurrection of Christ. In the Gospel of Thomas the existence of Jesus is only in the hearts and minds of Christian believers. In other words there is no historical Jesus! When their kind of Christianity spread around the Middle East, Ireneous the bishop of France ordered their books to be burned. But there were monks in Egypt who got the idea of saving the manuscripts [called codex] by burying them in the desert sands.

The burning of the Gnostic writings and other apocryphal books of the bible started the Catholic teaching that only the bible [as it is today] compiled by Ireneous is the inspired words of God.

WN

Quote from: Lorenzo on September 15, 2008, 08:26:28 AM
Way Nada,

For me, I do not care what anyone else says if they criticize me how I worship my Lord, my Creator, and my Redeemer. We do things and we pray the way we do because we are invigorated in Faith and called to pray by The Most High.

I care not what a man calls me, or what his views are in how I worship. Scripture strengthens me because it says, ""Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned." (Luke 6:37)

Sacred Tradition in lieu with Sacred Scripture helps me to see forward and to find my Lord and Savior. If a person has a problem with it, then I say to them, "God Bless You!"


Through Christ Jesus, Our Lord.

Amen.

Lorenzo,

I am not questioning or criticizing your way of worship. You are correct! You should worship your God according to your faith. I think you are putting my opinion emotionally instead of having an open mind.

WN

Quote from: buwadsanga on September 08, 2008, 08:45:39 AM
whats your point WAY NADA? to believe or not believe lang naman diba?

My answer is correct as it is being elaborated by Lorenzo in his answers too. Let's go back to my idea and I said;

"This is an old idea. This is as old as the deep blue sea. Hehehe.... This idea caused the invention of religion because of the fear of death. In other words those people in the olden times like the Sumerians, the Persians and the Egyptians theorized this concept for the salvation of their body and soul. The ancient Egyptians especially the pharaohs carried with them the things they used on earth believing that they can still use it in the afterlife when they are resurrected. Religion put hope into their hearts! Moses copied it when he saved Israel from bondage in Egypt."

Here's the point:

I challenge everybody here to this question! Is it not true that primitive people created the idea of having a religion? Why? The answer is because of the fear of death. Modern man rationalizes the idea today with its teachings and its dogmas and doctrines. My reply to Mike is only telling the truth by explaining the origin of religion. I am not questioning each one's belief in God!

In the story of the Hebrews their religion was originally from the Egyptians because 
they were slaves in Egypt before until Moses rescued them from bondage. Moses was educated in Egypt but when he rescued the Hebrews and brought them to Canaan he did not copy the religion of the Egyptians but he introduced to the Hebrews a monotheistic religion. The worship of one God! But not necessarily abandoning all its paganistic rituals. For example is the living sacrifice of an animal or farm produce like Cain did. Moses also copied some doctrines from religions older than Judaism like the doctrine of the 'children of light and the children of darkness'. This is from the old Zoroaster religion of the Persians. St. Augustine who was not originally Christian copied this doctrine from the Manichean religion, an off-shoot of Zoroastrianism. St. Augustine is one of the great teachers of Catholicism was originally Manichean and was converted to Christianity. He hated the Jews very much.       

Professor : Quote: My Brother died of Cancer even though he Prayed to GOD to Heal him. Most of us would attempt to Help Others who are But GOD didn't. Unquote

Michael,

This is an old idea. This is as old as the deep blue sea. Hehehe.... This idea caused the invention of religion because of the fear of death. In other words those people in the olden times like the Sumerians, the Persians and the Egyptians theorized this concept for the salvation of their body and soul. The ancient Egyptians especially the pharaohs carried with them the things they used on earth believing that they can still use it in the afterlife when they are resurrected. Religion put hope into their hearts! Moses copied it when he saved Israel from bondage in Egypt.     
                  

Quote from: Lorenzo on February 01, 2008, 04:11:45 PM
You are welcome, Teng.

For me, it says al ot when my countrymen still retain a strong sense of respect and nostalgia for the 'Marcos Years'. My own father, a hard lined conservative, still believes that the Philippines would have been better off had Marcos retained power, and believe that the country would have been better off had someone with the same 'Marcosian' personality and influence took the reigns in Malacanang. And it is not only my father's views, but many of my Titos and the parents of my friends here share similar feelings.

For many Marcos apologists, they still resound, "What a President he could have been.."

Lorenzo,

Your father is right! "The Philippines would have been better off had Marcos retained power." For a country to progress fast it should be in a dictatorship rather than in a democracy. 

The press will always ask; "Why are we not like Singapore?" As if the people are always being put into a spin by the press. Of course the people will always like progress like Singapore but the press and the Marcos opposition don't want it. Marcos and Lee Kuan Yew are of the same mold. They are dictators in their own right but in Lee Kuan Yew he was able to control  opposition to his regime while Marcos was too lenient to the oppositionists. 

When Marcos declared Martial Law that was the start of the industrialization all over the land. It was during the Marcos regime that we were able to export rice to the world. EPZA was open for the first time. The Bataan processing zone was a haven for employment for the people. It was during Martial Law that people can buy cheap goods because the government established price control like the Price Stabilization Council and also controlled the price of oil by subsidizing the oil industry.

It was also the start of the car manufacturing in the Philippines like the Mitsubishi Cimmaron, Volkswagen Sakbayan, Ford Fiera and the Toyota Tamaraw. After Marcos evrything of these are gone except the Toyota Tamaraw. For the people during the Marcos regime it was a true democracy... industrialization and employment to have money to buy food for their stomach. But for those ideologues who ran to the hills during Martial Law and fought the government, the Marcos government was a repressive one because according to them, it was not a democracy. This is also the lament of the political opposition.

Today that we have a democratic government what happen to progress? Matud pa sa ato; Siging taas ang presyo, unano ray wa motaas.

Salamat!

WN

Quote from: olintaha on May 16, 2008, 03:27:16 PM
I agree with Prof. Pernia, an international airport for bohol is not economically and morally justifiable.
I agree with Prof. Pernia, Panglao is not geologically suitable for airport, whether of international or domestic standard.
I also agree with Dot(.), we need a new airport outside of Tagbilaran.
So my suggestion is, a modern domestic airport, somewhere between Kabawan, Tagbilaran and Corella or even as far as Sikatuna. 

Nilo,

Prof. Pernia comes from UP. This is the breeding place of anti government elements in our country. I think he is aligning himself with the left. There are always bias to their reasoning. In my opinion there is no reason to protest to progress and development. When this was planned by the Bohol government years back where was Prof. Pernia? Why did he not raise his voice? Why now? What is his agenda? I think he just wants to say no to progress.

Salamat!

WN

Quote from: ms da binsi on August 01, 2008, 12:26:38 PM
Ang ako jud gikalibugan noh? kay si Jesus jewish man na sha...pero gi abandon man nija ang Jewish tradition nga ang mga Jewish sa una ug karon nga PRO GOD man na sila...they worhip the God The Father man...

libog ko....

Ms Da Binsi,

Jesus Christ is Jewish... You are correct! But why is it that in the bible Jesus preached to abandon the Jewish tradition?

Well, I put up already an answer to this question in my previous message that; the whole bible is divided between the two religious philosophical principles. The OT which is Hebrew and the NT which is Greek.

The NT which is principally in Greek wanted to reconcile with the OT which is why Christians always philosophize that the NT is the fulfillment of the prophets in the OT. But this Christian logic is always blocked by the owner of the OT who are the Jews. The Jews are not believers of Jesus as the Christ until today. Christianity during the days of the early Church Fathers is called heretics by the Jews. This caused the Christians to hate the Jews and accused the Jews of killing the Christ which the Christians wrote in the NT. Which is why the NT is a filibuster against the Jews as wicked people.

Ms Da Binsi, I hope you can get an idea to what I said. If Christ is a Jew and he wanted to abandon his Jewish tradition therefore the people who wrote the gospels might not be Jewish but Greek. Christ is only a subject to convert the Jews and gentiles to Christianity. In the gospels 3 are synoptic which means that they have almost the same idea... Matthew, Luke and Mark but John is different. The book of John according to bible experts was intellectually written in Greek. The gospels if they were really written by the Apostles it should be in Hebrew and it should not be a message to abandon their tradition. Some believed that the gospels are only pseudepigraphical books, meaning that the authors were not Jews but Greeks. I'll give you an example; The Apostles the way they dressed as pictured by Christians are in Greek style and not like Jewish.

Salamat!

WN   

Quote from: ms da binsi on August 01, 2008, 01:29:14 AM

i like your point Nads! sajun ra kaajo sabton! sumpayi pa daw kay murag hajag na gamay!

Q: Who converted Paul to Christianity?

A: Jesus, when he was walking on his way to Damascus he was blinded by a light and heard a voice from heaven saying; Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me? It happened in 36 AD three years after the death of Christ.

Q: Which came first in the New Testament... the story of Jesus in the four Gospels or Paul's conversion on the way to Damascus?

It's your judgement!

Some people read the bible as a subject of historical studies but most people read the bible as a foundation of faith in God. My understanding is in the Jewish religion every person is free to say something pertaining to religion as long as they don't abandon the Commandments of Moses or the Torah. There was Simon Bar Kochbah who the Jews believed as the Christ when in 68 AD led the Jews to a revolt against the Romans. Another was John the Baptist or in the Talmud he was called Bannu the baptizer who established a religion before Christianity appeared.

In Christianity it is different because Jesus taught to abandon the Jewish traditions and the law of Moses especially the Sabbath. In Jesus the commandments is divided into two; Love of God and love of your neighbors.

In my opinion the bible is part history, part theology and most cases the stories are allegorical like Sodom and Gomorrah, the walls of Jericho or the flood during Noah's time in the bible. In the New Testament there is a story about the temple. When Jesus went to the temple he saw it as a place of commerce among the Jews. So he drove away all the people doing business in the temple telling them not to make the house of his Father a den of thieves. He challenge the Jews to destroy this temple and in three days he will rebuild it. This is allegorical because this story is written in the bible after the destruction of the temple. The gospels were written in 75 to 130 AD while the destruction of the temple was in 70 AD. Allegorical story is to disregard the real event in place of theological reason. The theological idea here is the resurrection of Christ in 3 days.

Salamat!

Way Nada

Quote from: Lorenzo on July 16, 2008, 11:13:57 AM
Excellent points, Tito Benne.

I actually stumbled on a particular passage in Jeremiah 9:24-25 which literally dictates the worthless nature of circumcission. It supports your points, Tito.

The passage itself, "See, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will demand an account of all those circumcised in their flesh. Egypt and Judah, Edom and the Amonites, Mab and the desert dwellers who shave their temples. For all these nations, like the whole house of Israel, are uncircumcised in heart.


The WORD of the Lord

Circumcision is a Jewish tradition. This rite of circumcision is a mark that you are a Jew. In olden times people are uncircumcised so the Jews to distinguish themselves as the chosen people of God so they branded themselves by circumcision. This look like paganistic because you are  hurting a person but now we Christians accept this tradition or else you will be a 'baho ug oten kay wa kay tuli daghan ka ug tiktik'.

Quote from: ms da binsi on July 31, 2008, 12:33:38 PM
Luke-a doctor. Sa native merikans pa na, medicine man.

mao tingali gihimo na sha prophet kay maka ayo man ug sakit...

Kini si Luke mao kuyog kalingaw ni Paul sa iyang pagsangyaw sa maayong balita sa mga hentil. Siya pud ang nagsuwat sa Acts of the Apostles. Siya ang nagsuwat nga si Judas wa maghikog kundi naigo ug liti. Naa ni mabasa sa Acts: 1:17-19. Pero diha pu'y laing kuyog ni San Pablo sa
pagsangyaw sa maayong balita nga usa ka babaye. Ang iyang ngan mao si Tecla. Naa ni sa libro nga The Acts of Paul and Tecla. 

This is my story about religion we are very familiar with. First, more than 2 thousand years ago there was no Christianity but Judaism or the religion of the Jews. Then in 49 AD Paul or Saul, a pharisee, after his conversion to Christianity wrote the first 6 books of the new testament. He wrote about Jesus. Then after his death in 68 AD 15 years later gospels or good news were written about Jesus. Mind you... There are not only 4 gospels but more than 30 gospels were written about Jesus.

The books in the new testament were written in Greek. The books in the old testament were written in Hebrew. Therefore the bible is divided into 2 religious philosophical principles, Jewish and Greek.

The Hebrews believe in God as a spirit so they worship God in spirit which is why there is no statue in their synagogue. The Greeks believe that God became man. The Greeks admire the religion of the Jews but they don't want to follow it because of its so many traditional rituals. When Jesus came through the new testament the Greeks rebuked the religion of the Jews and its traditions as obsolete because Jesus said that, 'he is the new covenant promised by God'. Jesus in his so many of his teachings rebuked the traditions of the Jews. Since Greek tradition worship statue in their temples like the statue of Zeus they also brought that tradition when they were converted to Christianity. In olden times most of the people does not know how to read and write so to convert them is to show pictues, icons and sculptures. The Jews since they do not believe in Jesus vilified Christianity that the bickering cannot be settled by love and friendly persuasion but by hate.

This religious bickering lasted for almost 2 thousand years until the Jews were slaughtered by Christians in Hitler's Germany. Did you remember the late Pope Paul VI asking for forgiveness from the Jews for what Christians had done to the Jews for the last 1,900 years?

Salamat!

Way Nada

Dili ma-awat ni Francia ang pornography ni Michaelangelo. Nasuko gud ang Santo Papa nganong puro gahubo ang iyang mga tawo sa kisame. Nangutana si Pope Julius ngadto kay Michaelangelo. "Mao ba ni ang imong pagtan-aw sa Dios nga wa'y saput"?   

Quote from: C2H4 on October 12, 2007, 11:35:41 AM
I loved the self-portrait.

Sir Sigbin, how is Ma'am Nene related to the Borjas of Iligan, or nilang Cesar or Caste Borja?

Si Cesar ug si Caste ig-agaw gihapon sa banay ni anhing Ramon "Damon" Borja. Si anhing Damon maoy amahan ni Anhing Jaime, anhing Inciong ug ni Ekit Butalid, asawa ni Rolly.

Quote from: Lorenzo on April 17, 2008, 04:31:13 PM
Their language is foreign to my ears. It isn't even remotely similar to Tagalog, Illocano or the Greater Visayan Language.

They're a beautiful agrarian people. Untouched jud ni sila; similar to the Amish here in America.

Kining mga Igorot naa pu'y gigikanan ining mga tawhana sa tibook Asia ug atong usisahon. Kay kanang ilang kultura sa pag "mummify" sa ilang patay dili lang kay ila ra sa Asia. Ang Amish gikan kuno ning kulturaha sa mga Irish sa kaniadto.

Obama's sojourn in Europe is just ego-tripping. This is only for image building in his campaign for the presidency of the United States. The truth is, he is a typical liberal. “Ug sa ato pa; Magasige lang ug paling-paling ang baruganan.” If he is elected president I think he will be another weakling in the White House like ex-president Jimmy Carter.

A politician like Obama is not new to me. We have plenty of that kind in the Philippines who can deliver political oratory on stage but short on substance but one thing is that his flip-flopping opinion is sweet music to his ultra left wing supporters.Obama's sojourn to Europe is just ego-tripping. This is only for image building in his campaign. The truth is, he is a typical liberal. “Ug sa ato pa; Magasige lang ug paling-paling ang baruganan.” If he is elected president I think he will be another weakling in the White House like ex-president Jimmy Carter.

A politician like Obama is not new to me. We have plenty of that kind in the Philippines who can deliver political oratory on stage but short on substance but one thing is that his flip-flopping opinion is sweet music to his ultra left wing supporters.

In the case of the military surge ordered by President Bush and backed by John McCain though it’s working he still opposes it because he don’t want to antagonize his left wing supporters who are anti war, anti military, anti surge and in other words will accept defeat and surrender of the US forces in Iraq. McCain is right that Obama is playing politics at the expense of the US fighting force.

Once he [Obama] spoke in front of a pro Israel lobby group AIPAC, he told them of his support of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the Jewish state. And just recently while visiting Ramallah in the West Bank he told Abbas and the Palestinians, as president, he is going to help them look for solutions of the Jerusalem problem. In this situation as the late July Ferniz would usually say; “Depende na sa audience.” Boot pasabot depende ug kinsay gapatalinghug. You see, what Obama is doing is pure and simple politics. He has to lie in order to accommodate his listeners.

But his lies are blared all over the world! When confronted he would readily answer that we do not understand or we are not listening to him. He believes he’s unerring to his pronouncement.

Salamat!

Way Nada

So people will ask. How did it vary? My answer is; Spaniards cannot pronounce the letter "J", so instead of saying "Jago" from Candi Jago they pronounce it Kandihay without the "go" because the letter "G" is pronounce in Spanish as an "H" like the Virgin de la Senora del Carmen.

WN

So Candijay must be a variation of Candi Jajaghu or Candi Jago.

Salamat!

WN

Macky,

Thanks for the website you posted. I have a new discovery again. I don't aver that I am holding this as the ultimate truth but as the website is suggesting there is a connectivity in our place in Bohol. For example is the word Candijay. People don't know where the word Candijay came from but only speculation that it comes Kang Dihay.

In my analysis the name Candijay was brought to Candijay by people who migrated from Java. The evidence of my assertion is that, in Candijay before the Spaniards came there were people who had a custom of disposing their dead in a ledge of a cliff. There remains were discovered in a ledge near the sea and are on display in the town of Candijay today. Their way of life passed away, became extinct or exterminated during the hispanization of Bohol. But this way of life is still thriving in Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan province of Indonesia. I have seen a documentary movie about these people. They are still disposing their dead on the side of a cliff and they speak almost the same language as the Visayan people.

The website you posted says;

"Mentioned in the Nagarakertagama as one of the places visited by King Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit in 1359, Candi Jajaghu, also known as Candi Jago, or Candi Tumpang, is located 24 kilometres east of the city of Malang. Principally Buddhist in character, Jajaghu was built originally as a mortuary shrine for King Wishnuwardhana of Singosari in the latter half of the 13th century. The building which we see today, however, is probably the result of a renovation carried out in the 1340's on the order of the Sumatran prince Adityawarman, a blood relative of Hayam Wuruk. The temple, which faces west, has a rectangular ground plan measuring 23 X 14 metres. Since the roof and much of the body of the main sanctuary have collapsed, it can only be estimated that the original height of the monument was about 15 metres. Access to the principal shrine is by way of two stairways, which lead up from the front of the building via three receding terraced levels, creating the illusion of ascending a mountain slope."

Tagbilaran… A Glimpse

Historical inconsistency:

Miguel Lopez de Legaspi sailed from Navidad, New Spain [Mexico] across the Pacific Ocean and landed in the shores of Cebu on February 13, 1565. After seeing the natives hostile to him he weighed anchor and sailed for Leyte and Camiguin but the wind drifted his boat to Bohol. In adjoining stories the Purtuguese led Legaspi to Bohol. Another was along the way he met a Mohammedan pilot in the high sea and led him to Datu Sikatuna in Bohol. But on his way to Leyte and Camiguin he bypassed Bohol after leaving Cebu maybe because he was still looking for somebody that will lead him to Sikatuna.   

In Arcila’s, “Jose S. Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation” 2001 revised edition, according to Rizal's sources, Pagbuaya gave Legaspi sea pilots. Hence, it is very likely that the pilots brought Legazpi to Bohol or, if not, informed Legazpi about Bohol when the expedition was near the island.

It looks like history is making Rizal a rumormonger while he was an exile in Dapitan in 1892-93. He wrote to his friend in Germany Ferdinand Blumentritt about Pagbuaya aiding Legaspi by giving him sea pilots. Why is this story of “giving sea pilots to Legaspi” an event that happened 327 years ago blown up in our history books? Did Rizal really write a letter to Blumentritt? If so, what has Blumentritt have to do with that information that happened 327 years ago? Or is this only a whitewash by Spanish historians to cover up a sinister plot between Legaspi and Sikatuna in deceiving the Visayans?

The conquest of Cebu and Bohol:

On 15 April 1565, a month after the blood compact allegedly happened Legazpi took Bohol in the name of the King of Spain without a single drop of blood. He went back to Cebu, allied with Sikatuna, bombarded and conquered it, and on April 27, 1565 founded Cebu. He built the first Spanish settlements, naming it Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesús (Town of the Most Holy Name of Jesus) and Villa de San Miguel (Saint Michael's Town). It did not say if Legaspi built a church. The first two Spanish settlements in the Philippines but no church built. But the church of Baclayon commenced its construction in 1596 a span of 24 years after the death of Legaspi in Manila. Legaspi already changed his capital city and died, still no church in Cebu. Is this not also a contradiction?

There was also another Boholano chief who made a blood compact rite with Legaspi after Sikatuna. His name was Si Gala. It is impossible for two chiefs to be living in one place. So Si Gala must be a chief somewhere in Bohol. In the town of Candijay we can find the remains of ancient people discovered at some ledges of a cliff. Chances are that those skeletal remains are that of the people of Si Gala. The name Cimagala is a prominent name in Candijay and I would not discard the possibility that they are the descendants of Si Gala.   

After 1565 there was no more mentioned of Sikatuna. He lived in obscurity or maybe his blood compact with Legaspi blew out and became an embarrassment that caused him to migrate to other islands in the Visayas. I cannot recall if there is any other person with a name Sikatuna, Katuna or Katunao in Bohol. But in Aklan there is a name that sounds like “Katunao” because my mother in law told me that her great great grandparents came and originated from Bohol. According to her, “they were fishermen.” Their surname is “Tugnao”. Is it a coincidence?

The Church of Baclayon:

In 1595 the Spanish authorities in Manila delegated to Bohol two Jesuit priests Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez as the first Spanish missionaries or doctrineros in the area. I think this is still debatable because in my view, enforcing a religious faith cannot be easily handled by two priests but I believe there was a presence of a military force to back up the enforcement of the Catholic faith. I mean they enforced it by force.

According to a written account that, shortly after their arrival a visita was erected on the spot. This assertion looks like easy to say but the truth is, it cannot be done by just a snap of a finger but by force because, you cannot change a culture, belief and the way of life of a people overnight. So the building of the visita is through the use of force. A visita is a small extension chapel inside a church or a church that is under a jurisdiction of a parish. Now we can visualize the situation that there was already a building when the visita was erected. The more amiable way in welcoming the two priests according to one of the stories that, the villagers provided a house for the two priests when they arrived in Baclayon. We can make discernment by this story if it was a house or a temple. It is also possible that the house mentioned by the historical account is the religious temple of the people. I tend to believe that Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez built the visita inside the adjoining wing of the temple probably after burning all what they believed as idols and things that were contrary to the Catholic religion.

The church of Baclayon which is situated facing just about 25 to 30 meters away from the seashores seems to tell us that before the church was erected there was another edifice or building which welcomed worshippers coming by canoe or boat from the sea. I have this intuitive feeling that the church of Baclayon is founded on an ancient Majapahit or Vijayan temple. Just like the church of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico is founded in an ancient temple of the Aztecs.

Salamat!

WN

Macky & Lorenzo:

Thanks for the pictures. Below the gargoyle there is a carving that looks like an emblem. I can't decipher the meaning of that emblem. Between the two ventilation holes of the bell tower there is another symbolic escutcheon or something like a seal. I think this will need physical inspection.

Salamat!

WN

Quote from: Lorenzo on April 15, 2008, 06:40:43 AM

Quote from: Way Nada on April 14, 2008, 07:12:41 PM
Lorenzo,

I have this feeling that the temple of our ancestors that was built in the Philippines was covered by the construction of churches, just the church of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city is found on top of an old Aztec temple. Maybe someday a strange sculpted figure can be discovered in one of these churches.

WN

That is very plausible, Mr. Matig-a.

Perhaps, that maybe just so.

Lorenzo,

This is my clear perception because long time ago countries went to war because of religion. During the crusade Christian soldiers built churches on top of the temple of Solomon. When the Christians were defeated by the Muslim, churches were demolished and on top they built the dome of the rock. The is a symbol of victory that their god is better than your god. Until now in Jerusalem this is the cause of conflict.

WN

Macky,

Please post the picture... And how about the carvings on the door? If the carvings on the door was done by a native Boholano in the 16th or 17th century his cutural influence must be from the Sri-Vijayan or the Majapahit empires and not with the European cultures.

WN

Lorenzo,

I have this feeling that the temple of our ancestors that was built in the Philippines was covered by the construction of churches, just the church of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city is found on top of an old Aztec temple. Maybe someday a strange sculpted figure can be discovered in one of these churches.

WN

Tagbilaran… A Glimpse

The church of Baclayon reveals its past by a gargoyle, I believe without the knowledge of the Spanish architect, installed by the workers or laborers on the ledge of the first base of the bell tower that looks like a Hindu god or the bust of Buddha.

In 1596 when Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez erected the church in Baclayon the people refused to cooperate and defied to build the church. This is normal behavior of a people not to accept instantly the laws and government of a foreign power. One written account says; the Boholanos’ [people of Baclayon] initial reception of the missionaries was cold. The presence of Spanish tax collectors had made them suspicious. The Jesuits had to muster their skills at persuasion, even using dramatic and rhetorical devices to state their intention. Another factor of the cold reception was they were not understood by the natives because they were speaking Spanish and the people resisted to follow a new religion and moreover it is not easy to force and ram a new religious belief through their throat. This made the missionary priests transferred their residence to Loboc and delayed the construction of the church. The reason of Moro marauders harassing them is only a cover up of the suppression and repression of the people that took place after the priests fled to Loboc.

Twenty five years after they erected the visita in 1596 the people of Baclayon revolted led by Tamblot. This revolt was reduced by the Spanish historians as a babaylan revolt. Tamblot is referred here as a babaylan or a medicine man. I think this is doubtful history because a medicine man or a quack doctor does not command big followers and cannot influence the people to revolt because his work was not with the socio-political and religious affairs of the people. My hunch is Tamblot was a “Hindu Guru” who had religious powers and socio-political influence of the people. I can surmise that the revolt was suppressed by the Spanish authorities and caused the continuation of the construction of the church even without the supervision of a priest. While it is on records that in a span of 130 years there was no parish priest assigned in Baclayon, the Spanish civil authority and government was centered here. The fact that this church has a dungeon is indicative of a clandestinely operational justice system and it stands to reason that civil authority was functioning and the unfinished church served as a government house. Baclayon became a parish only in 1717 but it was in the year 1726 that a parish priest was assigned permanently.

In addition to my opinion of the gargoyle of the church of Baclayon as the bust of Buddha or the god Diva, [Diva is Sanskrit for spirit god where we got the word ‘Diwa’ and Divata is another spirit which we got the word ‘Diwata’] the carvings also on the door of the church is characteristic of the stone carvings in the Borubudur temple of Java. I cannot offer any hard evidence for this except a conjectural opinion that those carvers or sculptors involved in building the church of Baclayon, if they were not Spaniards then, they might be the temple builders of Java and Bali with the orientation of the cultures of the Sri-Vijayan and the Majapahit Empires. The spin that the stone tablets of the church were stuck together with a million egg whites is good only to attract tourists but this type of information is purely rubbish. “Di porbidang daghanang tortillas itlog adto. Napo-o ang mga manok sa Baclayon ug mao nang kalakiha.”

WN

Macky,

Wadje is an Indian race and while the totally pure stock is erased because of inter-marriage, there are still many people in our place feature the looks of an Indian. Before the Spaniards, they came as conquerors under the Madjapahit empire. The culprit here are the Spaniards as what you said; "the Spanish conquestadors have literally erased/conspired/fabricated our history and heritage". For example are the people of Cainta, Rizal who are also "Wadje". When Manila was conquered by the Spaniards they looked for a hiding place and settle in Cainta, Rizal. Everything about their looks and their way of life is distinctively Indian but the Spanish historians kept silent about them. There was even an elephant that was unearthed in Cainta before but there was no talk why and how did it happen that an elephant was there in Cainta. Instead the Spanish historian confused us by telling us the name of the king of Manila who is Rajah Suleiman. The confusion is this; Rajah is a word in Sanskrit meaning king while Suleiman is an Arabic name. How can you reconcile Sanskrit to a Muslim name?

Those ancient people in the Visayas were temple builders. They built the Borubudur temple in Java, and there is a possibility that when they built the Baclayon church they left remnants of the past. I am going to post my next installment because I wrote about the gargoyle of Baclayon.

WN

Quote from: Happy on April 13, 2008, 05:32:48 AM
I have never heard of Wadje before, until I read this thread.

But then it gives me a confusion, is it a family name or a people

Happy,

I think it refers to a people. My Lola used to say when she sees a person with an Indian stock as "Wadje". Now we used to say when we see an Indian as "Bombay". Wadje was named after a people. Wadje is used also as a family name.

WN

Quote from: Way Nada on April 13, 2008, 05:24:35 AM

Quote from: grazie7y on April 13, 2008, 02:12:13 AM

Quote from: salvation is free on April 11, 2008, 11:10:44 AM
By Rudan Alberto Matig-a

Wadje is no longer a popular name in Bohol. All of the people, or if not the majority don’t know or ignore the meaning of Wadje. I believe the place got its name from the families of Indians living in Wadje before, who populated the barrios of Manga, Taloto and Ubujan. The Penaflors, the Zamoras, the Matuods and the Tabacos who lived in Taloto, Manga and Ubujan probably came from Wadje before Tagbilaran became a full fledge municipality. The decision to change the name of Wadje to Nuestra Senora de la Paz is like burning a bridge that connects us to the past.

  

So La Paz, the barrio next to Manga used to be called Wadje?

Grazie,

Wadje at first was not a place but refers only to families of Indians living in that place. It became a by word that it was carried through the ages as Wadje. I'll post the message I wrote explaining about Wadje.

WN

Lower Mansasa was already a developed community when the Bilaans came. The Chinese were the settlers of Lower Mansasa. The Bilaans settled and developed a community called Sug-ang now a sitio of Tagbilaran. Sug-ang is a closed proximity to Lower Mansasa bordered only by a cliff. Most of the places my Lola Iya Awing mentioned during the early days of Tagbilaran were Sug-ang, Mansasa, Bool, Baclayon and also Dauis and Panglao. North Tagbilaran in the 17th century was uninhabited. The barrios of Booy, Cogon, Taloto, Ubujan and Manga came in later in the development of Tagbilaran.

A place farther up is Wadje the first barrio of Cortes from Tagbilaran.

This place escaped the scrutiny of the Spanish authority in Bohol or Wadje was not listed officially in the roster of places in the Spanish almanac in Bohol. It escaped their scrutiny because Spaniards cannot pronounce the letter “J”. If it was officially listed as a place they should have changed the name of Wadje to Spanish sounding name. Or Wadje refers only to a name of a person. Like the name Bohol, the original name is “Bojol”. Because the Spaniards cannot pronounce the letter “J” they change it to Bohol. Since the letter “H” is silent in Spanish they took it away and changed it “Bo-ol”. But by some twist of the imagination the Spaniards taught the locals that Bo-ol is a name of a tree and until now I have not seen a tree by that name.

Daghang salamat!

R.A. Matig-a 

Quote from: grazie7y on April 13, 2008, 02:12:13 AM

Quote from: salvation is free on April 11, 2008, 11:10:44 AM
By Rudan Alberto Matig-a

Wadje is no longer a popular name in Bohol. All of the people, or if not the majority don’t know or ignore the meaning of Wadje. I believe the place got its name from the families of Indians living in Wadje before, who populated the barrios of Manga, Taloto and Ubujan. The Penaflors, the Zamoras, the Matuods and the Tabacos who lived in Taloto, Manga and Ubujan probably came from Wadje before Tagbilaran became a full fledge municipality. The decision to change the name of Wadje to Nuestra Senora de la Paz is like burning a bridge that connects us to the past.

  

So La Paz, the barrio next to Manga used to be called Wadje?

Grazie,

Wadje at first was not a place but refers only to families of Indians living in that place. It became a by word that it was carried through the ages as Wadje. I'll post the message I wrote explaining about Wadje.

WN

In a discussion brief titled; “A Different View” the argument says that, the blood compact was not a formal treaty of friendship. It is admitted and it could also be interpreted, so it says, as the first formal treachery or swindling committed by the Spaniards against the Boholanos.

My view is the treachery or swindling committed by the Spaniards against the Boholanos is not much of a surprise. Swindling, treachery or trickery Legaspi as a soldier should do all what he can for the glory of his king and Spain. I am interpreting this as his sense of duty and patriotism to his country.

If there were anomalies involved maybe it was on the part committed by Datu Sikatuna? I believe it was Datu Sikatuna who sold us for 30 pieces of silver to the Spaniards. The years from 1563 to 1565 when the name of Datu Sikatuna is active in Philippine history I tag him as the conspirator in putting down the Vijayans. Datu Sikatuna was not a Vijayan but a vassal of a Hindu king from the Majapahit Empire. The Spaniards called us “indios” because the Majapahit and Vijayans are of the same stock of people, coming from the south of India and Sri Lanka. While they may be the same people they don’t have the same cultural and religious background. Sikatuna is Hindu while Humabon of Cebu, Datu Dalisdisan and Pagbuaya are maybe of different belief, or Buddhist. Tribal wars among the people living in Bohol at that time were caused primarily by religion. 

The Dauis and Mansasa massacre:

By classifying the cultural and religious background of the people living in the Visayan Islands we can now see an outline why there was a massacre of villagers in Dauis and Mansasa. I have this idea that Datu Sikatuna and the two chiefs of Dauis and Mansasa, Pagbuaya and Dalisdisan cannot meet eyeball to eyeball because of religious differences. Datu Sikatuna’s eagerness to go to war against them is held back by the weakness of his forces against the combined forces of Dalisdisan and Pagbuaya, so he sought the help of the Ternateans or the Purtuguese. The death of Dalisdisan in that tribal war caused Pagbuaya to flee to Dapitan.

I cannot buy the notion held by historians that a combined force of Portuguese and Ternateans plundered Dauis and Mansasa because, if there should be a village to be plundered along the coast of Bohol facing Mindanao, it should be Baclayon or Albur which are very much visible to the naked eye from the ocean. If you conduct an ocular inspection of Dauis and Mansasa you will find these two as secluded places hidden away from people navigating the open sea, except perhaps if there is a Boholano insider telling pirates and marauders from foreign lands that there are Vijayans living there. [Dauis and Mansasa]       

Hinawanan:

The water at the mouth of the river in Hinawanan, Loay is not an ideal place to celebrate a blood compact but it is a beautiful place to hide a boat away from the prying eyes of the villagers. Today’s Hinawanan can vouch of its thicker population but during the 16th century I doubt if a soul can be found there. The river in Hinawanan is a tributary to the Loboc River. That area is swampy grown with thick foliage before and until now it is prone to an overflow from the Loboc River. According to Jes Tirol a captain in Legaspi’s crew was told to survey the coastline for a deeper harbor where they can weigh down anchor. The story says that he reached the coastline of Bool but he recommended Hinawanan as the right place as it has a deep water harbor. Is it also a coincidence that the place chosen by the captain is also the place where Datu Sikatuna resided, since Jes Tirol asserted that Datu Sikatuna lived near a river? Be that as it may but in my opinion aside from its marshy character of the place the water in the river is not potable. I think the river described where Sikatuna lived near is the one at Baclayon which supplied a lot of potable water for the villagers that flowed from the upland.  To be continued…

Daghang salamat!

R.A. Matig-a

The writings of history in our country are at a minimal. Historians focus their studies of Philippine history only inside the 400 year period of Spanish colonization in the Philippines. Little is known before the Spanish era giving me a sense of urgency to postulate theories as a point of dicussion that may in some ways be the basis to rectify the wrongs. In my opinion our history is hidden from us by the Spanish authorities or they deliberately distorted it of course so that future Philippine historians will focus only on their exploits and the bringing of Christianity into our country. Our present day historians [If I may say…] limit their research in the archives of Madrid and Italy where the writings of the Spanish historians or Pigafetta are found. They always overlook the time of the Majapahit and the Sri-Vijayan empires in Southeast Asia and its relation to Philippine history.

The word Sri-Vijayan… does it ring a bell?

The Boholanos are called Visayans, but where did we come from? Who were the original Visayans? If your ancestor is not a “lumad” then you descended from the original Visayans who came from the Sri-Vijayan Empire encompassing Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Bali and the Kalimantan Island. Furthermore these people originated from Ceylon or Sri Lanka and Southern India. Their empire is “thalassocratic”. It means that the nature of their government is located in the sea. The Vijayan are a defeated people and they started their Diaspora in 1200 AD leaving behind the Borubudur temple in Java. They were identified as Buddhists. We have many ethnic dialects that derived from the Sri-Vijayan dialect even the names of some Filipinos who defied Spanish laws by not changing their names to Spanish are still using their original names. For example is “Bagatsing” as written in Visayan. I think this comes from the Singhalese language which is; “Bhagat Singh”. The word “bhay” means brother. This is the word we use to address a person who is stranger to us in a different accent which is “bay”. But we have another word for “bay” or brother which is “igsoon”. This also explains the sea nomad called the “Bajao”. Sri-Vijayan is also Sri-Bhoja. The Bajao people pray to Buddha as it is their original religion.

The Spaniards when they arrived, everywhere they went in the Central Philippines the people already called themselves as Vijayan. I once read in the Philippine Free Press that the island of Leyte was formerly called Ceylon. In some parts of the Visayas there were also rumors of migration of “datus” from Borneo especially in Panay. A legendary story brought to Panay a golden salakot from Borneo. If this migration is true I believe this can be very much a part of the Diaspora of the Vijayan.               

Philippine history is inflated of conflicting historical passages which we consider it as true but behind it there is something inside that nags questioning its authenticity and its truthfulness.

Legaspi’s landing in the Philippines:

The landing of Legaspi in Cebu posed a disturbing question. Rajah Tupas of Cebu being hostile to Legaspi is unusual because 44 years ago Magellan planted already the cross in Cebu and his father Rajah Humabon and his mother were baptized as Carlos and Juana in 1521. It is therefore safe to say that his son Rajah Tupas and the Cebuanos are Christian’s or else historical account of Magellan is wrong.  This conflicting reading of history is very unfortunate to us the recipients of slanted and distorted historical account chronicled by the Spaniards just for the purpose of forcing their will on us. When Legaspi sensed that he was not welcome he left Cebu and strong wind carried him to Bohol. But it also said that he had two pilots that led him to Datu Sikatuna who was living in the village of Baclayon or Hinawanan in Bohol.

The Blood Compact:

Legaspi and Datu Sikatuna met not with fanfare and celebration as true blood brothers in front of the town’s people but in a secret meeting inside the galleon San Pedro. Sikatuna having a pact with Legaspi inside the ship to me is suspicious. In my view there was no blood compact at all but Sikatuna agreed an alliance with Legaspi to put down Rajah Tupas. A blood compact is a solemn rite to be celebrated among his people. It’s an old Asian culture of promoting amity, fraternity and friendship. One month or more after the meeting Legazpi took possession of the island of Bohol in the name of the King of Spain and the Boholano chieftain Datu Sikatuna allied with Legaspi in combat and conquered the forces of Rajah Tupas. In addition historian Jes Tirol himself said something like this; “Legaspi did not forge a treaty of friendship [quote also from a town mayor in Spain] but made a tactical alliance with Sikatuna.” This is an admission that Spain was not interested in friendship but they were after a tactical alliance with Sikatuna to topple Rajah Tupas. Datu Sikatuna was made into an instrument to betray the Visayan people and handed the Philippines to Spain. The presence of extant manuscript is true but it does not necessarily mean that there was a blood compact. The written records were only a spin to cover up Sikatuna’s betrayal against the Visayan people. And this manuscript was never published until 1886-87. This is 322 years after the event happened inside the ship San Pedro.

The famous painting of the Blood Compact by Juan Luna shows a faceless Sikatuna. He only painted Legaspi and his soldiers. Poor Sikatuna his face is not too important to Juan Luna and the Europeans It’s only the back of Sikatuna is shown. “Ug camera pa ni giputlan ug liog si Sikatuna…” To be continued.

Daghang salamat!

R.A. Matig-a

Tagbilaran… A Glimpse

Tagbilaran church:

St. Joseph Cathedral now is not what it used to be when I was a child. An American who visited Bohol in 1900 looked in awe at the churches in Bohol arrayed with gold and ivory of saints and altars that can rival the great cathedral of Europe. The ceiling of the church in Tagbilaran is adorned with glass and crystal chandeliers. The riches found in churches all over Bohol are in stark contrast to the people living only in their nipa hut. I know what this American is talking about. The people give more for the salvation of their souls than their luxury of living.

Sixty years then when my Lola Iya Awing took me to church twice a week the chandeliers were still there. There were four of them. The biggest is the one that hanged from the dome shape ceiling of the church. It was a beautiful chandelier in blue and white crystals. The loft for the big organ is located at the median from the choir loft. The pulpit was once located at the base corner of the dome and the east wing of the church. There was a big antique door we called “puerta mayor”. The church is shaped like a cross but you cannot detect it anymore because of so many renovations.  Some years back there were five altars including the main altar. There were two altars to each wing. They took away the two altars at the west wing and one altar from the east wing was detached and transferred to the west wing facing the congregation. At present you will see three altars.

The bell tower has no changes since they put a smooth surface on the dome of the steeple.

The old “kumbento” does not exist anymore. The late Mons. Manuel Mascarinas DD transformed it into a palace. The old kumbento was very much smaller that the Bishop’s Palace today. It had a gate and a concrete steps down to sitio Ubos for residents having easy access to the church. When it was demolished, I found out that the walls were made of hardened fibrous materials reinforced with bamboo slats. [lipak] It looks like concrete but it’s not. The flooring is hardened limestone. [anapog]

Daghang salamat!

R.A. Matig-a       

Bennelynne,

This is what Rayborze said;

"I'm telling you its not working either even with some honest leaders, what would it be like in our corrupt politicians--- its like I'm mixing black coffee with sour cream......what we should do though is change our way of thinking then maybe we can have a government that is for the people--- but again it seems like a plague..... what we need is A LEADER THAT CAN TRULY BRING CHANGE> AND THAT IS "JESUS CHRIST"."

This is what you said;

"But I agree that we should allow our faith in God to change us from within and make us better persons. We can't govern this country if we can't even govern our individual lives.I think I clearly stated that what I agree on is the necessity of individual change from within."

Di ba identical ang inyong mga panghuna-huna?

What does Rayborze mean? If I'll dig deeper the meaning of the quote above, Rayborze is saying that the person who will lead our country should act like Jesus Christ or else his mentioned of the name 'Jesus Christ' above is a real person who will act to be our leader. If the 'Jesus Christ' in the quote is abstract then what he meant is that before a person becomes a leader he should change his way of thinking and act like a saint in leading the government. Kung mao ni mura ni ug celestial government. Langitnong gobierno dinhi sa yuta.

Aw kini di man pud nato ni ikatinga kay apil man gyud ni sa tawhanong mga pangandoy. It's a pie in the sky... So they say! But according to Winston Churchill of England; Quote-It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.-unquote

In my opinion I'd better opt for the government described by Churchill as 'the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.' Ato sa lang ayum-ayuman ning atong gobierno karon kay sa mangandoy ta ug gobiernong langitnon nga way siguro di gyud moabot. Hehehe...

WN

Quote from: grazie7y on November 22, 2007, 07:05:36 AM
Did you mean through DNA, Sir WN?  But, where would they compare the seminal fluid sample from?  It's easier if it's true that the father was the one who raped her (I pray to God he didn't!) because the forensic technician/scientist has basis for comparison.  Or, am I wrong? 

Grazie7y,

If there is laceration probably there was also sexual abuse. Even those sperms that are not visible to the naked eye will come out in a modern forensic investigation. That is if we have this kind of investigation in the NBI today.

Quote from: benelynne on November 22, 2007, 08:34:43 AM
Ang bahin ani nga mo-agree ko is the need for a change from within. As I mentioned in an earlier comment in this thread, the Constitution is just a piece of paper. It requires the integrity and fortitude of mind among those who bind themselves to it so that it can make a difference in our lives.

The example of Canada is a very relevant one, because it is a federal parliamentary system, the very same government prototype that the cha-cha proponents hereabouts want. A federal system seems just right for a huge country like Canada and yet as Rayborze has pointed out, it is far from perfect (foremost among the problems is the secessionist movement in Quebec).

But I simply can't imagine what a federal system will do to the very small Philippines. Even as a unitary state, we Filipinos can't even seem to overcome the regional, insular, ethnic and tribal divides in our minds and put our act together! Won't further cutting up ourselves politically into small, independent units worsen such internal divisions we are already suffering from?

But Rayborze is right to say that before we can change the world, we should change ourselves first. Jesus, however, has rejected any political role even when he was still on earth--asking to give unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's.

But I agree that we should allow our faith in God to change us from within and make us better persons. We can't govern this country if we can't even govern our individual lives.

So, you agree with Rayborze opinion that; "What we need is A LEADER THAT CAN TRULY BRING CHANGE> AND THAT IS JESUS CHRIST".

Pero mao lagi ang pulitika dili sama sa relihiyon. Mura ni sila pareha sa tubig ug lana. Dili nimo ni sila masagul tungod kay ang relihiyon nagagikan sa atong pagtoo sa Dios, pero ang pulitika tawhanon, boot pasabot nagagikan sa atong pagsabot sa mga tawhanong katarungan. Ug naa pa tay gobierno sa dios ining kalibutana di hagbay ra ang tibook kalibutan nga hamugaway. We will just wait for the second coming! Hehehe...

Aside from all the rumors behind... If the girl is reported in the autopsy to have laceration in her sexual organ the suspicion of a crime is credible. Today even if there are no witnesses to the crime, it can be solved easily through the science of forensic. 

Quote from: Happy on November 16, 2007, 10:41:16 PM
Maayo unta mahilom na ni nya wala nay gubot, and hope that they won't ask for more kung maila nana.

Happy,

Maayo unta... Pero lisod mahitabo kay kining muslim ang ilang pulitika sagul pud ang ilang relihiyon. Kung ang relihiyon nila gaingon nga kinahanglan masakop sa islam ang tibbok kalibutan... Unsa ba lang nang hisgut ug kalinaw sa Pilipinas? Mura ra na kadak-a ug tungaw sa ilang pangandoy nga mahimong moros ang tibook kalibutan.

The person who wrote about Erap to run for president is Rodel Clapano. He is journalist and I think he is taking Erap's supporters for a ride especially those who do not know that Erap has no more right to lead our country because he was convicted of plunder. The truth is the political enemies of Erap are afraid of him to be resurrected to political stardom, that is why they convicted him of a crime he did not commit.

Rayborze opined; "what we need is A LEADER THAT CAN TRULY BRING CHANGE> AND THAT IS "JESUS CHRIST"

Boot pasabot mo Rayborze na relihiyon ang ipuli sa atong pulitika. Ang tawag ana 'theocratic government' pareha karon sa Iran ug Saudi Arabia. Ang relihiyong kristyanismo wa man gani magkahiusa unya himoon pang batakan sa pang gobierno? Karon... Granting nga matuman ang imong kabubut-on... Kung relihiyon ang masunod sa atong pang gobierno kinsa may motindog nga lider? Si Jesuchristo? Tua na man sa langit si Kristo di naa na pu'y tawo nga motindog 'as vicar of Christ' in the Philippines. Kinsa man na siya? Ang Cardinal, si Manalo, si Eli Soriano, Villanueva o uban pang lider sa relihiyon sa Pilipinas? Di magboto na pud ta unya balik na pud sa usual natong eleksyon. Sus! Mas dakog gubot ni. Hehehe... 

I was watching CNN sometime ago and there was this Taleban Afghani who was interviewed by a CNN reporter. This Afghani is a 'would be' suicide bomber and while about to explode the bomb strapped around his body, the detonator to the bomb malfunctioned. He lived to talk about his mission. He is now held by government authority.


During the course of the interview... he was asked why he is going to kill himself and drag innocent civilians to go with him to his death. He answered that; "God spoke to him to drive out all foreign fighters in his country and to do this... is to go on a suicide attack. And when he killed himself in a jihad, he will go directly to paradise." Furthermore I learned from him that he was trained in Bannu, a town in northwestern Pakistan.


In my view this is the kind of enemy that is always overlooked by many sectors of the American society especially politicians who are opposed to the war in Iraq, the Iraq Study Group led by James Baker and Hamilton, the liberal democrats and the far left bloggers in the internet,  and the leftist extremists. Sad to say... They comprised 75% of the American people in the survey. Even the U.S.
mainstream media is critical of the war and they are kowtowing to the propaganda of the extreme left and their Arab patrons. The recommendation of the Democrats in congress as well as James Baker and the Iraq Study Group to talk peace with the enemy of America in the negotiating table is commendable based in the principle of political correctness. But what James Baker and these American politicians cannot fully understand is the characteristic of this kind of  enemy. They don't know they would be dealing with islamic fanatics. One thing I am sure of this Muslim fanatics is; They cannot comprehend and understand what is the meaning of political correctness as is being understood in the west.


I wrote an opinion before regarding this kind of enemy. I am refering to my opinion in the past about General Bautista of the Philippine Army who agreed to make peace with Usman Sali in Patikul, Sulo. Before the participants of the peace talks started the negotiation, men of Usman Sali from behind opened fire at the Philippine government negotiating panel and killed all of them except a driver who was able to escape the massacre. This is what I mean... The treachery, the untrustworthiness and the perfidious characteristic of Muslims that they cannot be trusted and relied upon whenever they settle disputes with their enemy, whom they called as the infidels.


To engage the U.S. in peace negotiation with the Iranians or the Syrians is no different to General Bautista's aborted peace talks with Usman Sali, even if the supposedly Sali/Bautista talks involved only the local politics of the Philippines. Adding to the notion that it happened only in an obscure town of Patikul, Sulo... doesn't make any difference either. But what happened to General Bautista may also happen to the American negotiators if ever peace talks will occur, maybe not in the same fashion, but the possibility of the Iranians or the Syrians committing treachery if ever there is peace talks is always a possibility. Because Muslims did not obtain their studies in politics and diplomacy from Harvard, George Washington university or Oxford and Cambridge in England. What Usman Sali, Ahmedinejad, Bashir Al Assad, Hassan Nasrallah or Hamas, Al Queda, Hezbollah, the Palestinian terror groups, and that Taleban Afghani "would be" suicide bomber have in common is; They knew and learned their science of politics and diplomacy from one and the same book... the Koran. Practically the basis of their political belief is in the Koran.


James Baker who pressured the Bush administration to talk to the Iranians and the Syrians, may have the savvy of a seasoned diplomat and no doubt an expert negotiator. Peace talks is better than no peace talks at all, but I doubt if he can win and succeed talking to Ahmedinejad or Basher Al Assad whose mentality run similar to people like Yasser Arafat, Hassan Nasrallah, Usman Sali or the Afghani suicide bomber. George W. Bush Jr. may not be an expert diplomat like James Baker [or Nancy Pelosi?], but he has a prophetic vision revealed to him by his political prophets, the neo conservatives and from Israeli think tank whose political expertise in the Middle East I believe, is beyond question.


But talking peace in the negotiating table with the clear possibility of your counterpart to cheat on you, is better than not to talk peace with them at all. George W. when he first stepped into the oval office totally ignored the peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. That peace talks negotiations was there going on already for more than 30 years and not a glimmer of hope to succeed is seen. How can it succeed if Palestinians are far more interested in spreading terror in the streets of Jerusalem, bombings inside restaurants in Tel Aviv and suicide bombings inside passenger buses... than promoting peace talks. I think the issue of global terrorism is the main reason why the Bush administration is reluctant to talk peace with Iran and Syria. Another glaring proof of the perfidious characteristic of Muslims or for that matter Iran, is the manner on how the Iranians tried to hide from the UN their intention to develop a nuclear device. While they are denying accusations that they are developing a nuclear weapon, clandestinely they keep on a fast pace of enriching uranium which is a step in the development of a nuclear bomb.
   

Countering terror is not by soft talks alone but by force of arms. As the former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt once said; "Speak softly but carry a big stick." The meaning is simply put this way... If diplomacy fails use your guns.


Going to the topic of Guantanamo bay Detention, I think there is something wrong in the management of terrorist prisoners incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay Detention  in Cuba. It is not the tactical interrogation doned by the National Guards to the inmates, as some people believe, is a violation of Human Rights. One thing that is overlooked not only by prison authority in Guantanamo Detention but by the Pentagon strategist in the war against global terrorism, is the hardenned wall of religious fanaticism among Muslims. It seems to me that this is the hidden enemy within that should be vanquished. These inmates should not be pampered by reading the Koran alone. Since they are under the power of their captor, their mind should be cracked open by intoducing inside the prison walls the democratic doctrine of free expression, the freedom of thought and ideas. Most of all they should be re-indoctrinated back to civilization since they are still harboring belief that did not change since the 7th century.


Guantanamo Bay Detention center should be invaded not by an army of soldiers but by religious army from the evangelical Christians, priests and nuns, pastors and born again Christians. The purpose is to open up their minds and teach them that going to paradise is not through violence in a Jihad. Evangelist Jerry Falwell, Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Filipino El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde... They should lead in conquering fanaticism. Just like from one cult to another... At least these Muslim fanatics have a choice.


WN

Quote from: Bohol on June 20, 2007, 01:13:37 PM
Carmen is an interior town located near the center of the island. It used to be called "Imbaya" after the name of a brook in the community. The town used to be part of Bilar. When it was made an independent municipality, it was changed to Carmen supposedly in honor of a woman who was said to be a popular figure in the community.(the provincial government file)

Bohol,

Nganong nakalimtan na man si Carmen sa atong gobierno nga popular man unta. Wa jud ni sija hatagi ug kasugiran o history.

WN

Tubag Bohol,

Who is Alicia that took the place of the name Batuanan?

WN

Quote from: Bohol on June 20, 2007, 07:30:04 AM
This progressive town lies on the northwestern coast of Bohol 114.8 kilometers from Tagbilaran City. It was established in 1830. Before that, Talibon was a part of Inabanga.

No records are available to show the origin of the town but old folks claimed that the place got its name from 'talibong,' an ancient spear which they used for mining gold. Later on the letter "g" was dropped so the name Talibon prevailed.

During World War II a guerilla force was organized which took control and authority of Talibon. The force maintained peace and order in the town and restored for a time the normal functions of the municipal government. The then Senator Carlos P. Garcia, later President of the Philippines, acted as their High Adviser. When Japanese soldiers occupied Bohol their first act was to dispatch a patrol to capture Carlos P. Garcia, but he narrowly escaped to Leyte in a sailboat together with his family. Failing to capture Garcia the Japanese soldiers burned the Garcia house and subjected to severe torture volunteer guard Cesario Avergonzado for giving them the wrong direction. That was July 4, 1942.(the provincial government file)

Bohol,

Di ba pud gikan sa pung 'libon' o kalibonan or 'bushland in English.

WN

Quote from: Bohol on June 20, 2007, 01:16:52 PM
Calape is on the western coast of Bohol. The town was established in 1802. The first settlers were said to be immigrants from other places such as Cebu, and other municipalities.

Bohol,

Ikaw ang akong adresan Bohol kay baskog kang mag-researh. Unsa man pu'y meaning ug Calape?

WN

Quote from: Bohol on June 20, 2007, 08:09:12 AM
Panglao is the southernmost town of Bohol. It is one of the 2 towns on Panglao Island, the other being Dauis. It is of historical significance in that it was the place where the Spaniards went after an unfortunate experience in Cebu.

It is said that the Spanish explorers who came to this island in 1803 named it Panglao after the world 'mapanglao', meaning 'lonesome place'. It is also one of the oldest towns of Bohol. It had a population of 6,543 in 1879.(the provincial government)

Bohol,

Kining pung mapanglaw gikan sa Tagalog ni. Boot pasabot nga masolub-on. Pero ako naka-abot pa ko sa akong Lola nga mosulti dili 'Panglao' kundi 'Pangao'. Ayaw ko ingna nga jungit tong akong Lola. Tingali naa gyu'y kahulugan ug 'Pangao'. I think the meeaning of the word is, 'a glow in the dark'.

WN

Bohol,

Mangutana sa ko. dis-a man magagikan ang pung Jagna?

WN

Quote from: Happy on November 02, 2007, 06:11:49 AM
WN,

Mao ni ang sa Soviet Union? Hangtud karon?

Happy,

Ang Soviet Union nag-disintegrate na ako lang gisulti para makahatag lang ko ug pananglitan sa duha ka klaseng socialista nga gobierno. Ang Soviet Union mao na kanang Russia karon. Ang ilang pamaagi mura pud ug parliament pero tawag nila Duma. Termino ni sa panahon pa sa Tsar.

WN

Happy and Ginger,

Kining sistemaha sa Scandinavian countries mao ni gitawag ug 'socialism' pero demokrasya. Ang Soviet Union sa unang panahon 'socialism' pud to pero communista. Boot pasabot nga way katungod ang tawo mopili kung kinsay mamuno nila kundi kanang gitawag ug; "dictatorship of the ploretariat". Usa ra ang partido.

WN

Lorenzo,

Greetings to you sir! Thanks for the reply.

Does it make sense also if the American founding fathers adapted a parliamentary government in America since they were also under the British rule... Contrary to your opinion that it would not make sense for the Philippines to adapt the parliamentary system since we were not under the British empire. When the Americans adapted the three branches form of government and constitutionalized the 'Bill of Rights', it was only in papers. While it is mandated in the constitution that; 'All men are created equal", their government is literally grabbing the land of the Indians and enslaving the black people. These all gave proof that during the initial phase in the birth of the American republic, it was not bed of roses for the blacks and the Indians. It took them 200 hundred years for the black people to have their civil rights. 

Admitting the fragility of the Philippine government because of its strong influential role of the people in politics is an admission that Democracy American style is not working very well for the Filipinos. For me, it doesn't matter if the passion of the people affect the running of government, that is normal, as long as we adhere to the rule of law. Institution like the press, the academe or political parties should not stir the emotion of the people to revolt against duly constituted authority. It is unpatriotic! Let us listen to the people and not the rule of the mob. I mean the people manifesting their voice in the ballot box. The manifestation of the rule of the mob in our country, even if the initiators of people power are members of the press, the clergy, the academe or the intellegensia, still it is a sign that we are still politically immature people.

The American system while it is also affected by the passion of the people like what happened to America during the Vietnam war... They lost the war! While it was the passion of the people that started it, but they did not resort to people power. Or right now where the American passion is smoldering against G.W. Bush Jr., still the rule of law is being respected. Why? Because America, to borrow your words... it is an 'aged-timed-tested' democratic country. But was it really democratic? When America started a democracy it was not really democratic but a wild west government. In its history is a series of declarations of Martial law by the state federal government. Indians were considered sub-human or savage. Women were not allowed to vote. Legislation for women to vote was only in 1920. The civil rights of the black people was signed by President Johnson in 1964. So what is there for the Philippines to be much interested in full swing democracy?

In the Federalist Paper No.47 which you featured, whoever wrote this dissertation, whether Madison or Jefferson, he addressed his ideas to those people opposing the U.S. constitution to the loyalists of the king of England where at that time were many like for example the son of Benjamin Franklin who was the governor of New Jersey. He was a staunch supporter of the king while his father was an American patriot. This are theories at that time. Loyalists won't believed it.

Lorenzo opined; "The magistrate in whom the whole executive power resides cannot of himself make a law."

I think it is not the magistrate whom you said that the whole executive power resides, I think you mean the president. If it so... This is only in theory that the president cannot of himself legislate or make a law but the American founding fathers thought it to be so just to give impetus to the idea of  separation of powers, which was also the primary objective of the revolution. But today's government the president can issue executive orders, presidential fiats and declare Martial law. The judiciary theoritically cannot legislate but can pronounce decision in court as a precedent that can be interpreted as the law of the land.

Your opinion that; "The Philippines' current system adequately fulfills this given need", is deffective in itself because you and I know that we keep on changing system every now and then. Just discount the epoch you called Martial Law. When Marcos was ousted from power... [What did we do?] we shifted to a system which you clearly said that adequately fulfills this given need and which was also the battlecry of people power... that we need truth, justice and democracy! Now that democracy was restored [never mind the truth, never mind justice...] the elite who are supposedly knowledgeable about democracy and the law led a people power revolution to topple a democratically elected president. If they revolted to a system you believed as adequately the fulfillment of the given need then what is there to cheer for? It means that we are not yet mature to be left alone in government. Thwarting the voice of the people is the height of our immaturity. Marcos was right when he said that to achieve economic development, there is a need to discipline the people.

I think it needs to fully comprehend what is a republican form and a parliamentary form of government. If we want to go to a conventional way of thinking, we can differentiate a republican form from the parliamentary form because a republican form of government is headed by a president. Even if it is headed by a president this does give assurance that it will adapt a three branches form of government. And there are also many republican form of government that has a law-making body that function as a parliament. For example is the French republic... It has a strong president with a parliament headed by the prime minister. Australia for once conducted a referendum to cease allegiance to the monarch of England, changing the job of the governor general to a president but still the parliament will function as it is. This means that Australia will change itself into a republic without changing the parliament. Normally parliaments all over the world are unicameral but Australia has a bicameral parliament. It has the parliament and the senate. Another is the Philippines after Spain. President Emilio Aguinaldo established the Philippine republic without the three branches of government. The Philippine assembly which convened in Malolos, Bulacan was a unicameral form of government like a parliament. When the Philippines was under the American occupation the Philippine legislature of 1907 functioned like a parliament because there was no three branches of government at that time. It was a unicameral form of government until the ratification of the 1935 constitution which we adapted the three branches of government. But this government was functional only after July 4th, 1946. But the most stable government we had so far was the Batasang pambansa of the Marcos era. If you consider the start of Martial Law, there were more laws created by Marcos and the Batasang Pambansa than the preceding governments since 1946 up to the Cory government until now.

Lorenzo opined; "A voting block retains power by the masses and elects a prime minister, not according to the people's choice, but by the vote and choice of the elected parliamentarians. Hence, in all reality, a legitimate way of placing a 'democratically chosen dictator'."

Is it not the electoral college an offshoot of this system of government. I think the American system is more hypocritical compared to a parliamentary system because it pretends to give the right of suffrage to the people but the reality is, the choice of the people for president can be defeated by a few elite members of an electoral college personally handpicked by the governor of a state. You see! While parliamentarians are voted into parliament by the people to elect a prime minister. Al Gore was defeated by G.W. Bush Jr. even though Al Gore garnered the more popular votes. So who has the louder voice?

The last time I came accross a UN survey of nations of leading domocratic governments in the world, I did not see and read what place the Philippines is in. The U.S. which is the model government of the Philippines placed only in number 24, Britain in number 18. But those countries in the top ten are Switzerland, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Israel, Austria and Canada. Australia protested why they were only in number 4. So, what are the criteria of judging these countries? In the Philippines we boast of our rights, freedom and liberties just to be called democratic. But are these the only standard of judgement? I think what is more important to the judges is the presence of social justice in a country. The top ten I mentioned above are the leading countries that give social justice to its citizens like free housing, free health care, unemployment benefits and dole money. Yes, they may have lesser freedom of the press because they cannot tolerate to criticize their monarch, or of movements like Israel because of security reason while the Philippines is a free wheeling democracy in terms of freedom of the press and expressions but cannot be seen in the standard of social justice.   

The notion that; "A parliamentary system is unstable, by nature of its body", is a contradictory idea when it comes to its implementation. On the contrary a parliament is a stable government because a parliamentary government will not fall. Once parliament is in chaos it will be dissolved by the president, the governor general or the king. In the British, French or the Australian style of parliament the prime minister don't have a ghost of a chance to become a dictator. In this kind of system the allegiance of the military is to the king or president. Reserved powers is vested in the king or the president. Once the parliament is dissolved the prime minister is nothing more than an ordinary citizen. The king or president will legislate alone. Which is why the press will label a parliament as a 'breath away from dictatorship'. Marcos had this power also to legislate during his presidency. This was in; Amendment no. 6 of the 1973 constitution.

In a parliamentary system factional differences is not a hindrance in parliament because it can be solved within the party. If a ruling majority leader is challenged by another member of the party he can submit himself for election within the party. If he is defeated by his challenger he should surrender the seat of the prime minister to the winner in the party election. Parliamentary system is a smooth kind of government. If you are still 'greenhorn' in parliament, you cannot become instantly a frontbencher. He should learn the ropes of parliamentary procedure as a backbencher. Those who are taking the cudgel of the party are the frontbenchers against the frontbenchers of the shadow government. The shadow government is a term referred to the opposition in parliament. Passing of legislations are very smooth because it's always the majority that is in government. The Philippines adapting the three branches form of government is a wait in the dark for the people because legislation are very hard to pass through because of its check and balance hindrance. The truth of this check and balance system is too much politics in the system makes the people suffers a lot. The result is only a small segment of the people are mostly benefitted by the system. And they are the capitalists.

WN         

Lorenzo,

Greetings to you sir! Thanks for the reply.

Does it make sense also if the American founding fathers adapted a parliamentary government in America since they were also

under the British rule... Contrary to your opinion that it would not make sense for the Philippines to adapt the

parliamentary system since we were not under the British empire. When the Americans adapted the three branches form of

government and constitutionalized the 'Bill of Rights', it was only in papers. While it is mandated in the constitution that;

'All men are created equal", their government is literally grabbing the land of the Indians and enslaving the black people.

These all gave proof that during the initial phase in the birth of the American republic, it was not bed of roses for the

blacks and the Indians. It took them 200 hundred years for the black people to have their civil rights. 

Admitting the fragility of the Philippine government because of its strong influential role of the people in politics is an

admission that Democracy American style is not working very well for the Filipinos. For me, it doesn't matter if the passion

of the people affect the running of government, that is normal, as long as we adhere to the rule of law. Institution like the

press, the academe or political parties should not stir the emotion of the people to revolt against duly constituted

authority. It is unpatriotic! Let us listen to the people and not the rule of the mob. I mean the people manifesting their

voice in the ballot box. The manifestation of the rule of the mob in our country, even if the initiators of people power are

members of the press, the clergy, the academe or the intellegensia, still it is a sign that we are still politically immature

people.

The American system while it is also affected by the passion of the people like what happened to America during the Vietnam

war... They lost the war! While it was the passion of the people that started it, but they did not resort to people power. Or

right now where the American passion is smoldering against G.W. Bush Jr., still the rule of law is being respected. Why?

Because America, to borrow your words... it is an 'aged-timed-tested' democratic country. But was it really democratic? When

America started a democracy it was not really democratic but a wild west government. In its history is a series of

declarations of Martial law by the state federal government. Indians were considered sub-human or savage. Women were not

allowed to vote. Legislation for women to vote was only in 1920. The civil rights of the black people was signed by President

Johnson in 1964. So what is there for the Philippines to be much interested in full swing democracy?

In the Federalist Paper No.47 which you featured, whoever wrote this dissertation, whether Madison or Jefferson, he addressed

his ideas to those people opposing the U.S. constitution to the loyalists of the king of England where at that time were many

like for example the son of Benjamin Franklin who was the governor of New Jersey. He was a staunch supporter of the king

while his father was an American patriot. This are theories at that time. Loyalists won't believed it.

Lorenzo opined; "The magistrate in whom the whole executive power resides cannot of himself make a law."

I think it is not the magistrate whom you said that the whole executive power resides, I think you mean the president. If it

so... This is only in theory that the president cannot of himself legislate or make a law but the American founding fathers

thought it to be so just to give impetus to the idea of  separation of powers, which was also the primary objective of the

revolution. But today's government the president can issue executive orders, presidential fiats and declare Martial law. The

judiciary theoritically cannot legislate but can pronounce decision in court as a precedent that can be interpreted as the

law of the land.

Your opinion that; "The Philippines' current system adequately fulfills this given need", is deffective in itself because you

and I know that we keep on changing system every now and then. Just discount the epoch you called Martial Law. When Marcos

was ousted from power... [What did we do?] we shifted to a system which you clearly said that adequately fulfills this given

need and which was also the battlecry of people power... that we need truth, justice and democracy! Now that democracy was

restored [never mind the truth, never mind justice...] the elite who are supposedly knowledgeable about democracy and the law

led a people power revolution to topple a democratically elected president. If they revolted to a system you believed as

adequately the fulfillment of the given need then what is there to cheer for? It means that we are not yet mature to be left

alone in government. Thwarting the voice of the people is the height of our immaturity. Marcos was right when he said that to

achieve economic development, there is a need to discipline the people.

I think it needs to fully comprehend what is a republican form and a parliamentary form of government. If we want to go to a

conventional way of thinking, we can differentiate a republican form from the parliamentary form because a republican form of

government is headed by a president. Even if it is headed by a president this does give assurance that it will adapt a three

branches form of government. And there are also many republican form of government that has a law-making body that function

as a parliament. For example is the French republic... It has a strong president with a parliament headed by the prime

minister. Australia for once conducted a referendum to cease allegiance to the monarch of England, changing the job of the

governor general to a president but still the parliament will function as it is. This means that Australia will change itself

into a republic without changing the parliament. Normally parliaments all over the world are unicameral but Australia has a

bicameral parliament. It has the parliament and the senate. Another is the Philippines after Spain. President Emilio

Aguinaldo established the Philippine republic without the three branches of government. The Philippine assembly which

convened in Malolos, Bulacan was a unicameral form of government like a parliament. When the Philippines was under the

American occupation the Philippine legislature of 1907 functioned like a parliament because there was no three branches of

government at that time. It was a unicameral form of government until the ratification of the 1935 constitution which we

adapted the three branches of government. But this government was functional only after July 4th, 1946. But the most stable

government we had so far was the Batasang pambansa of the Marcos era. If you consider the start of Martial Law, there were

more laws created by Marcos and the Batasang Pambansa than the preceding governments since 1946 up to the Cory government

until now.

Lorenzo opined; "A voting block retains power by the masses and elects a prime minister, not according to the people's

choice, but by the vote and choice of the elected parliamentarians. Hence, in all reality, a legitimate way of placing a

'democratically chosen dictator'."

Is it not the electoral college an offshoot of this system of government. I think the American system is more hypocritical

compared to a parliamentary system because it pretends to give the right of suffrage to the people but the reality is, the

choice of the people for president can be defeated by a few elite members of an electoral college personally handpicked by

the governor of a state. You see! While parliamentarians are voted into parliament by the people to elect a prime minister. 

Al Gore was defeated by G.W. Bush Jr. even though Al Gore garnered the more popular votes. So who has the louder voice?

The last time I came accross a UN survey of nations of leading domocratic governments in the world, I did not see and read

what place the Philippines is in. The U.S. which is the model government of the Philippines placed only in number 24, Britain

in number 18. But those countries in the top ten are Switzerland, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Finland,

Israel, Austria and Canada. Australia protested why they were only in number 4. So, what are the criteria of judging these

countries? In the Philippines we boast of our rights, freedom and liberties just to be called democratic. But are these the

only standard of judgement? I think what is more important to the judges is the presence of social justice in a country. The

top ten I mentioned above are the leading countries that give social justice to its citizens like free housing, free health

care, unemployment benefits and dole money. Yes, they may have lesser freedom of the press because they cannot tolerate to

criticize their monarch, or of movements like Israel because of security reason while the Philippines is a free wheeling

democracy in terms of freedom of the press and expressions but cannot be seen in the standard of social justice.   

The notion that; "A parliamentary system is unstable, by nature of its body", is a contradictory idea when it comes to its

implementation. On the contrary a parliament is a stable government because a parliamentary government will not fall. Once

parliament is in chaos it will be dissolved by the president, the governor general or the king. In the British, French or the

Australian style of parliament the prime minister don't have a ghost of a chance to become a dictator. In this kind of system

the allegiance of the military is to the king or president. Reserved powers is vested in the king or the president. Once the

parliament is dissolved the prime minister is nothing more than an ordinary citizen. The king or president will legislate

alone. Which is why the press will label a parliament as a 'breath away from dictatorship'. Marcos had this power also to

legislate during his presidency. This was in; Amendment no. 6 of the 1973 constitution.

In a parliamentary system factional differences is not a hindrance in parliament because it can be solved within the party. If a ruling majority leader is challenged by another member of the party he can submit himself for election within the party. If he is defeated by his challenger he should surrender the seat of the prime minister to the winner in the party election. Parliamentary system is a smooth kind of government. If you are still 'greenhorn' in parliament, you cannot become instantly a frontbencher. He should learn the ropes of parliamentary procedure as a backbencher. Those who are taking the cudgel of the party are the frontbenchers against the frontbenchers of the shadow government. The shadow government is a term referred to the opposition in parliament. Passing of legislations are very smooth because it's always the majority that is in government. The Philippines adapting the three branches form of government is a wait in the dark for the people because legislation are very hard to pass through because of its check and balance hindrance. The truth of this check and balance system is too much politics in the system makes the people suffers a lot. The result is only a small segment of the people are mostly benefitted by the system. And they are the capitalists.

WN