The V-Day Vavoom

Once again, the controversial The Vagina Monologues is coming to Dumaguete this March 5, Thursday, 7 pm at the Luce Auditorium. This year's TVM is produced by the SU V-Day College Campaign 2009, the SU Psych Society and the SU Student Government - Gender Studies Executive Committee.

So what is V-Day and what is The Vagina Monologues all about?

V-Day is a worldwide movement began in the late 1990's by author, playwright and activist Eve Ensler who's play, The Vagina Monologues, was staged to raise the public's awareness about violence against women as well as raise funds to benefit female victims of violence and sexual abuse. Valentine's Day has been designated as the official V-Day, a day to celebrate womanhood and renew the fight to end violence against women. TVM is a collection of monologues by several women, all talking about vaginas/sex/abuse/violence in different forms and in different voices.

There have been several modifications and variations to the original TVM. In 2004, a transgender version was presented California and in 2006 the Tagalog version, Usaping Puki, was presented in Dumaguete. My high school classmate, Pam Galvez, our vivacious friend, Sharon Dadang-Rafols, and I were part of the cast of Usaping Puki. We had such a great time with our director, Dessa Quesada-Palm, as well as with the rest of the cast and crew that we were hoping for a rerun. But it was not to be as this year a younger and more energetic generation of women have been tasked to present TVM 2009, subtitled 'Every Vagina has a Story'. I personally know some of the cast and production team members and I know how talented and hard working they are. Thus, my expectations for this year's TVM is quite high.

To be sure, something as controversial as talking about sex and vaginas, to the point of staging a play at the Luce Auditorium about it, is going to meet a lot of criticism, especially in conservative Dumaguete. It has been so for each year TVM has presented. Actually, I find some of the monologues a bit too graphic to the point of being crude. Maybe the crudeness is purposive, intending to be unsettling. Overall, I think it's a wonderful play worth watching. I have my favorite monologues: the one where the persona is a young innocent girl who was molested by her father's friends, then there's the hilarious one talking about orgasm and, of course, that of the lola's who were once made into comfort women by the Japanese during the war.

Find out which stories will make you laugh, cry, cringe or shudder. Be at the Luce Auditorium on Thursday, March 5. Show starts at 7 pm. Tickets at 150, 175 and 200 pesos.

Must Not Miss!

Luce Auditorium events this March:

Prodigy: Kristine Clair Uchi Galano in a Violin Concert

March 6, 2009, Friday, 8 pm

Kristine Galano photo by SoulJah

This blurb is from a press release issued by the Philippine Embassy in Brunei Darussalam:


"Seven-year old Filipino child prodigy Kristine Clair Uchi Galano drew rave reviews after delivering a flawless performance at the Sheraton Utama Hotel in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam last 19 October 2008. Performing in her fourth solo recital, the young violinist played an array of Malay, Korean, modern and contemporary pieces to the delight of her audience that included members of the diplomatic corps and the expatriate community." read more...

The Philippine Madrigal Singers in Concert

March 9, 2009, Monday, 8 pm

The Madz with choirmaster Mark Anthony Carpio

The Philippine Madrigal Singers (the MADZ) is the only choir in the world that has won the Grand Championship TWICE from the prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. The latest competition was held in Arezzo, Italy in August 2007. Composed mostly of students, faculty and alumni from the University of the Philippines, the Madz was founded in 1963 by National Artist for Music, Professor Andrea O. Veneracion.

We, the residents and transients of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental, are so privileged to have this child prodigy and this awesome choir come to our city to perform at the Luce Auditorium. It would be a shame and a waste not to watch these concerts. Tickets range from 200 to 500 pesos.

See you there before 8 pm! March 6 (Friday) and March 9 (Monday).

endings.

Some stories have happy endings.

Some stories have immeasurably sorrowful ones.

oil on canvass, 2007, by Lili Bernard

The Erlking

O who rides by night thro' the woodland so wild?
It is the fond father embracing his child;
And close the boy nestles within his loved arm,
To hold himself fast, and to keep himself warm.

"O father, see yonder! see yonder!" he says;
"My boy, upon what dost thou fearfully gaze?"
"O, 'tis the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud."
"No, my son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud."

"O come and go with me, thou loveliest child;
By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled;
My mother keeps for thee many a fair toy,
And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy."

"O father, my father, and did you not hear
The Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?"
"Be still, my heart's darling—my child, be at ease;
It was but the wild blast as it sung thro' the trees."

"O wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy?
My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy;
She shall bear three so lightly thro' wet and thro' wild,
And press thee, and kiss thee, and sing to my child."

"O father, my father, and saw you not plain
The Erl-King's pale daughter glide past thro' the rain?"
"Oh, yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon;
It was the grey willow that danced to the moon."

"O come and go with me, no longer delay,
Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away."
"O father! O father! now, now, keep your hold,
The Erl-King has seized me—his grasp is so cold!"

Sore trembled the father; he spurr'd thro' the wild,
Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child;
He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread,
But, clasp'd to his bosom, the infant was dead.

Translated by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) from Johann Goethe's Der Erlkönig.

remembering the 1986 EDSA revolution

Where were you when that important milestone in our country's history happened?

*in cebu*

::Attending The Brown Raise Movement::

OnStage

Ayala

Will you be my friend?

On Facebook, that is!

Last month my high school barkada and college roommate, Cristine Flores, invited me to join Facebook. And I did. And then forgot all about it. I don't know what happened but this week I found myself logging on to Facebook again and before I knew it, I found one long lost friend after another. It was such fun!

Every friend found was a special reconnection but this one stands out: Marite Rodriguez, my wacky Cuban classmate, with whom I've gone on many, many adventures in high school. The last time we saw each other was ten years ago, during the Holy Week of 1999, when we had a most wonderful and memorable SUHS reunion in Washington, DC. Before and after that, Marite would send me a Christmas card every December and every now and then I would send her emails but she never answered my emails and I never sent her a Christmas card. After all these years, suddenly talking with her through Facebook just made my day!

In church last night, I told my young (teenagers and young adults) friends, hey, I sent you a message on Facebook! Let's be friends, ha. They freaked out. "Ate, you're on Facebook? Cool! I'll tell my Mom, so she'll be on Facebook, too." As in?!

What's going on ba? Facebook fever in the Philippines? Actually, yes. Check out this timely Inquirer article called "Facebook me" that, Alex Pal, sent me a link to.

So now, if you'll excuse me, I'm signing off to go find more Facebook Friends. ;-)

not the mermaids, after all

Like most Filipinos, I try to make light of the devastation that happened to Dumaguete and some neighboring towns during the February 7 flood. But I am actually smarting because repairing a downed fence costs money and every time I pass by Angatan, the capilya is overflowing with the flood victims whose homes were washed away in the Banica River. And though not much talked about anymore, lives were lost in that flash flood, mostly from families living in makeshift shanties along the Banica River. I asked Ellyn why her relatives made their balay-balay at the slopes of the Banica and she replied simply that it was free land, libre man.

Each time I pass by the overflow at the Banica, I see civilian men "working" in the river. I don't know exactly what they are doing. Digging the bed to make it deeper? Removing debris and fallen trees that hamper the free flow of water downstream? Or gathering sand in sand bags to line their houses by the river bank? Would these sand bags really be an effective dam the next time a flood of similar magnitude comes to Dumaguete? Noticeable also would be the makeshift houses that are back by the riverside. It's incredible that they would still want to go on living there.

I am posting here an article in today's local paper, Metropost, by a man I admire and respect, environmentalist and former DENR secretary, Dr. Angel Alcala and his fellow environment advocates.

_______________

Statement of Concern

The vehemence of recent floods occurring so close to one another (Dec. 31, 2008 and Feb. 7, 2009) causing deaths, displacement, and terrible damage to property and the environment has left many speechless with disbelief and dismay.

Why were the consequences of this weather event so severe this time when it was but a depression, not a typhoon, that caused heavy rainfall for about 20 hours? Is this going to happen more frequently? Are the housing projects on dry riverbeds safe, given the fact that the course of rivers change, and that dry riverbeds are now being reclaimed by nature?

The very few forest trees left in our watershed can no longer absorb the volume of rain thus, resulting to erosion and landslides. The loss of Negros Oriental's forest cover has been dramatic. The old forest cover has dwindled to patches leaving us today with with only 5 percent of forest area as compared to that in 1875. (1992 statistics DENR)

During the floods, many trees by the river banks fell, and more are at rick of falling with every flood as their roots are now exposed.

The Candau-ay dump site by the Banica River lies along the path of floods strewing garbage, mostly plastics, all along the banks up to the sea. The Valencia open dump site garbage also was carried by the flood waters to Dumaguete City.

The critical importance of watersheds has long been known. What attention have past and present administrations paid to protecting watersheds? What significant efforts were made to reforest? We are told that generally, only about 10 % of trees planted in reforestation programs survive because replanting is not accompanied by effective monitoring and support efforts.

It is also important to be mindful of energy development, agricultural and mining activities that encroach into our precious forests, and even into protected areas, bringing high risk of damage to the already fragile environment.

Much environmental damage can be reversible and therefore, solutions are of utmost urgency, but we see no evidence that the urgency is understood and acted upon.

One of the basic rights in our Philippine Constitution is the right to a balanced and healthful ecology. We need to be working together to address the challenges posed to our common watersheds. The time is now for civil society groups and government agencies to come together to map out a comprehensive plan for environmental protection and rehabilitation.

"Prosperity build on the despoliation of the natural environment is no prosperity at all. It is only a temporary reprieve from future disaster." (Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General)

________________

Is the future upon us now?

What will happen when the next big flood comes?

Photos by Hersley Casero, a Dumaguete based artist/photographer, who is currently holding an art exhibit at the Sidlakang Negros in Piapi. Hersley's house was affected by the February 7 flood and almost all their things were damaged.

farewell, doc

white flowers, in remembrance

Dr. Ami Madamba was laid to rest in Bindoy today after an 8 am mass at the Perpetual Help Church. I am still having a hard time getting used to the fact that he is gone, and in such a brutal manner. It is so much more difficult for Robert, who was there at the time that it happened.

Congratulations Galore

Congratulations to the Foundation University College of Nursing for the 100 percent passing rate of their pioneering batch in the November 2008 Nursing Board Exam!!! WhooHoo!! FU is now ranked number one performing school for those with less than 100 examinees, together with St. Paul University Iloilo and University of St. Louis Tuguegarao.

Congratulations also to the following Silliman University College of Nursing graduates who made it to the Top Ten of this board exam:

Rank 7: Rose Jean Dumaboc Capidlac, 87.00%

Rank 7: Carla Mae Tenorio Cuisia, 87.00%

Rank 9: Matthew Wayne Real Chang, 86.60%

Rank 10: Jake Desor Diputado, 86.40%

Silliman University College of Nursing has maintained its prestige of being in the top 3 Performing Schools in the country with a passing rate of 98% in the category of 100 and above exam takers.

Top performing schools rankings for the November board exam:

1 - Xavier University 99% (336 passed out of 341 exam takers)

2 - Silliman University 98% (368 passed with four top notchers out of 375 exam takers)

3 - Central Phil. University 97% (496 passed out of 512 exam takers)

Congratulations to the son of my dear friends Taboy and Rose, PATRICK DIPUTADO CONGJUICO, from St. Paul University Dumaguete (SPUD), for passing the nursing board exam, too!.

SPUD has also consistently ranked in the top three performing nursing schools in the country, with their graduates usually taking the June boards.

Go Dumaguete!!!

Complete list of nursing board topnotchers here.

Complete list of top performing nursing schools here.

_____________________

New doctors

More congratulations are due to all the Silliman University Medical Center Post Graduate Interns for a 100% passing rate in the February 2009 Physicians Licensure Exam!

And special congratulations to graduates of my alma mater, UERMMMC, Marky Jod Abay Pandes (87.25%) and Don Leo Sullano Pepito, (86.25%) for ranking first and fifth respectively in the doctor's board exam. Complete list of top ten new doctors here.

Dr. VTR's clinic

reception area

cozy cushions

Oriental jar

inner clinic sitting area

Dumaguete Mermaids at the MAB

ang serena

ang kataw

Okay, okay. These are Not the mermaids that were rumored to have caused the recent floods in Dumaguete. These cute and friendly serenas are the resident mermaids of the SU Medical Arts Building. The purple-haired serena is one of the many sea creatures that float around the under-the-sea themed clinic of pediatrician Dr. Betty Parrenas-Flores while the red-haired kataw joins Peter Pan and other cartoon characters in Dr. Aideline E. Sison's Disney themed children's clinic. These are just some of the amazing interior designs that can be found in the doctors' clinics at the MAB.

Just in case you're not very comfortable with fish-tailed females, here's someone else to welcome you, Miss SUMCFI herself, Dr. Stephanie Miaco! She's pointing to the Doctors Directory which is color coded according to specialty. Orange for Family Medicine, green for Internal Medicine, yellow for Obstetrics and Gynecology, pink for Pediatrics and blue for Surgery.

"May I help you?" says Dr. Miaco

If you are a patient needing a consultation, first you have to find your doctor's name in the directory shown above or on the computer screen in the Patient's Queuing Kiosk. If you don't have a doctor yet, you can ask for assistance from the receptionist at the counter who will help you choose a doctor based on your specific condition.

The Patient's Queuing Kiosk is a table with a touch-screen computer and a printer that will give each patient a priority number for the computerized queuing system. An instruction sheet goes:

PATIENT'S QUEUING KIOSK

Steps to follow:

1. Press the name of your doctor on the screen.

2. Press "Get a Priority Number".

3. A print out of your priority number will come out from the printer.

4. Get your priority number slip.

5. Proceed to the waiting area and wait for your priority number to be called.

6. If your priority number is called (it will be indicated in the display screen and an automated voice will call your number), please proceed to your doctor's room/clinic.

Note: The automated voice will call your number in this manner:

"Room _____ (room number of your doctor) now serving Priority _____ (the number in your priority slip)."

It's not very difficult to follow, really, but I realized that Dumaguetenos are basically shy and many patients were quite reluctant to try out the touch screens, preferring to ask their accompanying persons or the hospital personnel assigned to help patients at the queuing kiosk, to touch the screen for them. Computer savvy members of the younger generation were less hesitant.

Not surprisingly, there were some glitches and confusion on the first day but none that were not immediately rectified. SUMC President Mr. Bert Montebon, together with his staff, engineers and computer experts, were at the MAB reception area the whole time to oversee the entire process. By the third day, queuing went very smoothly already.

The MAB ultra mod queuing system is akin to the flight arrival-departure monitors in airports, or to the now-serving numbers display in some banks. The numbers in red are the room numbers of the doctors. The numbers in white on a blue background are the priority numbers. Patients should periodically check their priority numbers, watch the screen and listen for the automated voice to call out the number on their print-outs.

"clinic number ___ now serving patient number ___"

Though this techno tool has transformed doctors and patients into flashing numbers on a cold screen, rest assured that the same warm and personal attention by each physician to every patient remains.

a-half-and-one revolutions

A Semi-Revolution
Robert Frost (1875-1963)

I advocate a semi-revolution
The trouble with a total revolution
(Ask any reputable Rosicrucian)
Is that it brings the same class up on top.
Executives of skillful execution
Will therefore plan to go half-way and stop.
Yes, revolutions are the only salves.
But they're one thing that should be done by halves.


A Total Revolution (An answer for Robert Frost)
Oscar Williams (1900 - 1964)

I advocate a total revolution.
The trouble with a semi-revolution,
it's likely to be slow as evolution.
Who wants to spend the ages in collusion
with Compromise, Complacence and Confusion?
As for the same class coming up on top
that's wholecloth from the propaganda shop;
the old saw says there's loads of room on top.
That's where the poor should really plan to stop.
And speaking of those people called the "haves."
Who own the whole cow and must have the calves
(and plant the wounds so they can sell the salves),
they won't be stopped by doing things by halves.
I say that for a permanent solution
there's nothing like a total revolution!

P.S. And may I add by way of a conclusion
I wouldn't dream to ask a Rosicrucian.

new beginnings. and endings.

Today is a red letter day for the medical community of Dumaguete, especially those connected with the Silliman Medical Center, because today the doctors' clinics at the Medical Arts Building opened to the public.

Today is also a black letter day for Dumaguete, not only for the medical community, but for the entire city and province as well, because a well-respected colleague, one of our senior pediatricians, Dr. Ami Madamba, was fatally shot in cold blood last night.

We are shocked, speechless, shaken.

multiple guess: what caused the flood?

It's been a week and a day after that destructive deluge in Dumaguete and after all the flood stories have been told, damages assessed, cost of repair calculated, wits regrouped and everything wet air-dried, it's time for the why-speculations to surface.

Why, oh, why did that totally unexpected, highly improbable disaster befall Dumaguete? These are the reasons I heard and overheard this past week. Take your pick.

1. Too many roads being built without any proper drainage system

2. Rapid population growth with concomitant environmental pollution (clogging of canals and waterways)

3. Rampant kaingin and illegal logging in the mountains of Negros resulting in erosion and landslides

4. Global warming/climate change

5. Poor city planning

6. Mga buluyagon man gud ang mga Dumagueteno.

7. This one I heard at the tiangge: A kataw or serena (mermaid) was accidentally caught in some fishermen's net and the kataw cried and cried, begging to be returned to sea. But instead, she was sold to a fahrener (foreigner) for 100 thousand pesos. The kataw eventually died of kaguol (sadness) and the kataw's clan sent the flood to avenge the demise of one of their kind.

8. Another version: Same as above but with a twist in the middle. The kataw was sold to the SU Marine Laboratory for research purposes.

9. Still another twist to the story: Same as above but the kataw was admitted at the SU Medical Center. One of our nurses, who was wearing her hospital uniform and ID while riding a pedicab today, was asked by a fellow passenger if this was indeed true.

What do you think is the correct answer?

valentine's birthday

HAPPY 83rd BIRTHDAY, LOLO VITS!

CSI: Ang Teoriya ng Literatura (The Literary Theory)

Bloodshot eyes barely visible through puffy eyelids. Tear stains on cheeks. Wet manuscript on desk.

Theory: Someone's been crying.

Cuticles have been chewed off. Fingers nibbled down to stumps.

Theory: Someone's nail biting has taken a turn for the worse.

Clumps of hair on the dresser. Telltale strands of hair under the fingernails.

Theory: Someone's been tearing out one's own hair.

Shards of glass from the jalousie slats scattered on the floor.

Theory: Ultra high frequency sound waves, probably from someone screaming in the key of C, broke the glass window.

Crumpled balls of paper litter the floor. Laptop dangling by its electric cord on the side of the table. Printer, teetering on the window sill, about to plunge to the ground below.

Theory: Someone's been trying to write a coherent essay on deconstruction. And failed.

without due respect to deconstruction

I now belong to the elite few who can actually use deconstruction in a sentence, having been formally introduced to the word, in our Literary Theory class. This is not to say, of course, that I understand it. Therefore, the sentence is going to be something profound and meta-transcendent like "I hate deconstruction." Really, I've not encountered something so silly in a long time now.

Speaking of silly, I'm going to veer away from highfalutin literary terms and post something inane here, emailed to me by a friend who wanted to cheer me up after our fence fell.


* * * * * * * *

Jowks

* * * * * * * *

Q. What's the difference between corruption in the US and corruption in the Philippines?

A. In the U.S. they go to jail. In the Philippines , they go to the U.S.

* * * * * * * *

Reporter: Sir, kung wala po kayong evidence, witness or suspect ano na po ang next step ninyo?

Police: DNA na...

Reporter: Sir, ano po yung DNA?

Police: "Di Namin Alam."

* * * * * * * *

Pare 1: Pare, alam mo ba tawag sa paniki na mababa ang lipad?

Pare 2: Hindi, eh. Ano ba, pare?

Pare 1: Lowbat, pare! Lowbat!

* * * * * * * *

Teacher: Anong similarity nina Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Ninoy Aquino at Apolinario Mabini?

Student: Ma'am, pagkaka-alam ko po, silang lahat ay pinanganak ng holiday.

* * * * * * * *

Titser: Ano ang hugis ng mundo?

Juan: Kuwadrado po, maam!

Titser: Hindi! Ang mundo ay bilog.

Juan: Pero ma'am, sabi ng lolo ko, narating na niya ang apat na sulok ng mundo. May sulok po ba ang bilog?

* * * * * * *

Eliseo: Sobra na talaga ang katangahan ng kumare mo. Ang akala niya, ang LAWSUIT ay uniporme ng pulis!

Joshua: Sus! Tanga nga! Eh, di ba, uniporme ng abugado yun?

* * * * * * *

Erap to Cardinal Rosales: Cards, hangga ngayon galit pa ang simbahan sa akin. That is unfair!

Cardinal Rosales: Bakit mo naman nasabi yan, Erap?

Erap: Tignan 'nyo, Cards, mayroong sabado de GLORIA, mayroong Sagrado de CORAZON at mayroon ding Linggo de RAMOS, Bakit ako wala? Naging presidente din naman ako, ah.

Cardinal Rosales: O sige na nga, Erap. Para wala ka nang reklamo mula ngayon sa iyo na iyang ASS Wednesday!

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