Sardoz

Sardoz is the father of several kittens, most of whom have an all white fur. He has a big head and moves around the house with an air of authority.

Adamson University

The architecture of this building is one that is worth saving. This is the first building of Adamson University at its present campus at San Marcelino, Ermita. It used to be a seminary ran by the Vincentians. I am glad that the University has improved the façade so that the building can be seen from across the street.

Sidewalk Service

You need a duplicate key? Door knobs or padlocks for repair? A watch to be fixed? How about changing the heels of your shoes? Take a note at the services offered by those busy sidewalks of Manila. This is Boy who shares a spot for watch repair at Paco.

Fence

A piece of granite fence with plants and a piece of roof at Rizal Park.

The Cascades

I met the Cascades (John Gummoe, Gabe Lapano, Tony Grasso, and Chuck Crews) when they did a concert at La Salle Bacolod on June 2006. This photo is at a shopping mall at Bacolod.

Beside Asian Hospital

I took this photo from the Asian Hospital but never had a chance to find out what it was. It looked good from above I wonder how it looks from the ground.

Sidecars

I saw these motorcycle sidecars at the Makati Med area, right across the MAPSA (Makati Public Safety Assistance Group) impounding area for illegally parked vehicles. They look much different from the tricycles that proliferate the city. I did not notice any markings but they are probably MAPSA vehicles.

Coffee, Tea or Me?

This morning scenario at Malate, where people have breakfast and the benefit of a quiet chat, is a departure from what the evenings are like at the tourist belt. Foreigners frequent the Ermita-Malate district presumably because of the gregarious night life it offers. Over the years, portions of Makati, Pasay and Quezon City have developed their own The store is a Country Style Donuts franchise located at the corner of Adriatico and General Malvar, Malate.

Paco Catholic School

This portion of the parish grounds at Paco is right beside the Paco Church. The building houses the Paco Catholic School which was founded by Belgian missionaries in 1912. Fr. Raymond Esquenet, the first CICM (Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae) to be appointed parish priest of Paco by the Belgian Superior of the Order, started the school in of a small chapel in Peñafrancia for about 50 children.

When Fr. Esquenet was assigned to Batangas and Fr. Godofredo Aldenhuijsen, better known as Padre Godo continued what had started. Fr. Godo asked the Belgian Mothers (CMSA now ICM) from St. Theresa’s College to help in running the school. At that time, Paco Catholic School emerged as the largest parochial school in the Far East.

To be a Paconian may not sound as charming as being an Atenean but this institution has contributed much to the Christian education of Manila’s middle class families. Being situated in a highly commercial and densely populated area, Paconians have stood by the school motto Noblesse Oblige "Your nobility, your dignity is great, and great, therefore, is your responsibility."

The CICM Fathers and the Belgian Mothers (now CICM Sisters) continued their administration of the school. After 72 years of dedicated service to the ministry and education, the CICM turned over the management of the school to the Archdiocese of Manila in 1984.

White Caps and Wheels

These nursing students and motorcycles parked at the campus of Adamson University gives emphasis to the changes occurring in Manila. If one finds a statistical regression between the growth of registered nurses and increase in the number of motorcycles, serious students of statistics will caution not to conclude that a correlation exists.

Rising gasoline prices, difficulty of parking cars, heavy traffic and easy-term payments offered by motorcycle dealers has made motorcycles an economical alternative to commuting. The world health organization has considered deaths and injuries from motorcycle accidents a public health epidemic. WHO adviser Hisashi Ogawa says it would help if motorcycles and bicycles would be provided separate lanes, instead of motorcyclists fighting for space with cars, trucks, and buses, exposing them to danger.

On the other hand, the world wide nursing shortage has created a demand for nursing schools in the Philippines as the country enjoys a good reputation of providing medical workers to the first world. Nestor Punay, M.D.. says “Because of the widely publicized high demand for nurses, more students are now flocking to nursing schools. You can expect parents to start selling carabaos, lots and borrow money in order to send their kids through nursing school. For many, this move is a no-brainer. For some, this is make-or-bust move.”

Ferguson Tower

I have always liked this building along M.H. del Pilar, Ermita. It has the elegance of a sentinel positioned in front of the Ermita church observing the shanties across the street. The park beside is no longer called Plaza Ferguson (which is why the building is named Ferguson Tower) but Nuestra Señora de Guia after the patron of the Ermita church across the plaza. Down the road, high rise buildings sprout and more are under construction and in time, will cast a cutting remark against the humble edifices that used to be Ermita’s glory.

Valentine

Present day realities warn us that Valentine’s Day has brought with it the risk of being contaminated by a virus, of which there are two kinds. The first is the risk of sexually transmitted diseases which is a consequence of sexual promiscuity that pervades the environment. The other is the danger of having your computer infected by some virus. I quote from an Islamic source and the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding these two.

Omar says:
‘The modern day ritual of Valentine's Day has developed into something quite different from the intentions of Valentine. Indeed, it is ironic to think that what the Church tried to achieve so long ago was the preservation of the institution of marriage, in the guise of St Valentine's Day. The reality of Valentine's Day and what is associated with it is quite different; the return of promiscuity to society, relationships built upon and that result in fornication, unwanted pregnancies, back street abortions and all things that lead to the degradation and loss of honour in society.”

While Omar hits the nail regarding present day promiscuity, I am unable to verify some of his sources and feel more at ease with Leo Wierzbowski account of fifth century Rome saying that Valentine’s Day was “The Catholic Church's attempt to paper over a popular pagan fertility rite…”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued this warning:
“With the Valentine's Day holiday approaching, be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware). The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to retrieve the electronic greeting card (e-card). Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet-connected device and causes it to become infected and part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet.”

Photo by Cesar Queaño “Take 5 At The Rose Garden”

Note: Photo taken somewhere in America.

Turo-Turo

The Turo-Turo anthology is a typical sight for many Filipinos. Long before the fast food restaurants emerged, the pinoy carinderia has evolved. A contemporary variant of the carinderia is the calde-caldero which delights the customer of seeing for himself what’s a cooking.

The photo is from one of the food stalls at the Student Center of the University of the Philippines Manila,

Makati Medical Center

The beauty of a construction project is an experience like that of a child going into adulthood. Soon the finishing touches of this new building of Makati Medical Center will reveal the architect’s concept and gone would be the scaffoldings and construction equipment and paraphernalia. The twists and bumps of growing up is a lovely sojourn, the bitter sweet period of a season, the joy that fade with maturity.

Tree

“I think that I shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree” and Joyce Kilmer closes “Poems are made by fools like me but only God can make a tree.”


I took this photo of a tree at Rizal Park. I particularly like the roots. The trouble is one of those shanties that have mushroomed the area was at the background spoiling the majesty of the tree. I retouched it so you don’t see the shanty but it’s there. I hope the mayor could do something about those eyesores.

Texting

Summer it is and a quick escape is to the few open spaces of the city. This lady keeps in touch with friends and home via text messaging, a phenomenon that gave the Philippines the monicker “texting capital of the world.”

Indeed, mobile phones have affected our lifestyles. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone and text messaging capability, cell phones are able to access the internet, send and receive photos and videos. But like the proverbial knife, this new tool has its downsides. Spam messages have started to proliferate the networks. Remember chain letters which has been suspected of being a ploy to stimulate sale of postage stamps? The service providers are cashing in on the gullibility of subscribers to forward spam material to friends.

St. Scholastica's College

This campus must be a familiar site to many women who studied at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila. The school buildings were destroyed during World War II, was reconstructed in 1946 and took nine years to rebuild. The school was founded by five young German Benedictine sisters in 1906 in Moriones Street, Tondo. It then moved to San Marcelino where St. Theresa’s College used to be and where Adamson University now stands. In 1914, it moved to its present site at Singalong area which unknown to many, was still swampland.

Table for Twelve

This round table setting for twelve people at the Emerald Garden, a Chinese restaurant along Roxas Boulevard, waits for customers celebrating the Chinese New Year. The lunar calendar heralded the Year of the Rat yesterday with all the merry making at Binondo and other places in Manila even as the catholic faithful are enjoined to abstinence from meat during Fridays of lent.

While the obligation to do penance is left to the individual, each in his own way, the faithful, so that all may be joined together in a certain common practice, days of penance are prescribed by the church. On these days the faithful are in a special manner to devote themselves to prayer, to engage in works of piety and charity, and to deny themselves, by fulfilling their obligations more faithfully.

World Oil Supply

This gas station at United Nations Avenue will soon have competition. I believe it’s Petron putting up one right beside it.

There are several schools of thought with regards to gasoline prices. The consensus thinkers believe that large oil discoveries lay ahead and that new technology for finding and extracting oil will keep the world awash in petroleum for decades to come.

With energy needs continuing to expand worldwide, especially in rapidly growing countries such as China and India, demand for petroleum is now rising swiftly. If world supplies were to shrink, something would have to give and that something would be price.

Paules Church

These portals are at the side of the Paules Church, now known as the St. Vincent de Paul Parish, at San Marcelino, Ermita, Manila. Today being Ash Wednesday, ashes are distributed at the Paules church as well as in other parishes in the city. The ashes were made by burning palms from last year’s Palm Sunday. The faithful receive them from the priest or lay minister who makes the Sign of the Cross with the ashes on each person's forehead and says, "Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return" or some other scriptural passage.

The Padres Paules or missionaries of St. Vincent de Paul arrived in the Philippines in 1862 and were largely responsible for the training and education of the Filipino native clergy. In the latter part of the nineteenth century they were running most of the seminaries in the Philippines.

Mardi Gras

This young lady’s dad was bringing her to the school’s centennial year celebration when this photo was taken. The costume reminds us of Ati-Atihan festivities which has been described as the Philippine version of Mardi Gras.

While the Ati-Atihan honors the Santo Niño whose feast is held on January, Mardi Gras is celebrated during the last day of that ordinary-time interlude known in many Catholic cultures as Carnival (from the Latin words carne vale, meaning farewell to the flesh.)

If Lent is a time of self-deprivation, Carnival is self-indulgence and “Mardi Gras" which means "Fat Tuesday" is misread as the last day for Catholics to indulge or worse, overindulge before Ash Wednesday starts the sober weeks of fasting and abstinence that comes with Lent. Mardi Gras is also called “Shrove Tuesday” or “Pancake Day”

Food Stalls at the CAMP

One of several food stalls at the University of the Philippines Padre Faura that cater to students of the College of Allied Medical Professions (CAMP). CAMP offers degree programs in the professions of Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT), and Speech Pathology (SP).

Tindahan sa Nayon?

I was surprised to see this at the Rizal Park. Yes, at the Luneta.

The beginnings of a colony of squatters right at the area fronting Manila Hotel where descendants of Professor Ben Peña engage in early morning ball room dancing. Ka Doroy must be turning in his grave, not to mention Jose Rizal.

I recall what happened to Intramuros after it was destroyed during the war. It took martial law to drive the squatters out and I heard they were now coming back.... the squatters, I mean.

Paco Church

I took this photo of the Paco Church which was ruined during the Battle for Manila in World War II. The district of Paco was founded by Franciscan Missionaries and was then known as San Fernando de Dilao. The first church in Paco was dedicated in 1580 to Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria which feast is being celebrated today as The Presentation of Jesus in the temple.

The ancient feast of the Presentation of Our Lord is of Oriental origin and was known in the West as the feast of the Purication of Our Lady. It has also been referred to as Candlemas. In the Philippines and other countries, the feast is popularly known known as Candelaria and owes its popularity to the town of Jaro in Iloilo. The legend in Jaro tells of an image of Nuestra Señora discovered by a fisherman on the banks of the river. Known all over Iloilo and even beyond, the feast of the Candelaria attracts thousands of devotees every 2nd of February. The grand Cathedral complex teems with people from all walks of life.

Reflecting on this feast of February 2. forty days after Christmas, popular piety could benefit from some transformation focusing on its Christological significance without losing its Marian appeal.

Pit Stop

This side of Paco Park opposite the Swiss Inn and Garden Plaza Hotel is a favorite pit stop of taxi drivers. I cannot recall if the stall was there during the time Doroy Valencia, vice chairman of National Park’s Development Committee. During his watch, Paco Park was very well maintained, and so was the Rizal Park. “Concert at the Park” and “Paco Park Presents” are some of the cultural events the Marcos regime has initiated that are worth keeping.

Today, the other side of this circular cemetery is often used as a parking lot by container vans and busses while vagrants sleep on the sidewalk outside the wall. Not to mention the deteriorating condition of the wall and the neglect of the greenery.