Usapang Bayan World Food Day October 16, 2025: Let's Cut Down Food Waste

Usapang Bayan Oct 10, 2025, 2 to 3 pm 

 in celebration of World Food Day October 16, 2025

Let's Cut Down Food Waste 

Annex: No to MSG or Vetsin!

Ms Melly C Tenorio, host, and Dr Abe V Rotor, guest

Dr Abe V Rotor

We have chosen this article for this session in response to the current problem of rice supply this lean months or off-season period which is exacerbated by the El Niño dry spell, and precipitated by the COVID pandemic.

While our government is committed in assuring sufficient supply of this staple commodity at affordable price, it is the responsibility of every citizen to cut down losses in wastage, and over consumption, of rice and other food commodities.

 

While our national goal is self-sufficiency in rice by increasing yield and hectarage, we must at the same time reduce rice loss in the field, in processing, and on the dining table on one hand, and reduce rice consumption through various food substitutes, on the other.  

The second aspect is how we can reduce our consumption of rice in the light of recurrent production shortage, and increasing price without necessarily depriving ourselves of energy and nutrients.

As an overview, rice is lost in three stages.

1. Field loss in production mainly to pest and force majeure runs up to 50 percent of potential harvest. In many cases, it is total crop failure.

Mechanized rice threshing in modern agriculture replaces manual method and close-knit community tradition.  

2. Gains in rice production may be negated by huge postharvest loss mainly due to lack of facilities and improper processing. Postharvest loss ranges from 10 to 37 percent of total harvest. If we can only reduce Postharvest loss to the low level of 10 percent, we would be self-sufficient in rice. Philippine rice importation in 2014 was 1.2 million metric tons worth at least one-half billion dollars.

3. Nutritional loss incurred during food preparation, cooking and poor eating habits is likewise high (no quantified figure but significant).

We can reduce postharvest loss. Postharvest loss can be reduced during the following activities:

1. Threshing - Use improved thresher, thresh on time and do not plant easy-shattering varieties.

2. Drying - Sundry properly, use mechanical dryers if sun drying is not feasible.

3. Milling - Use mill types/model with high milling recovery. Mill grains, which are properly dried. Do not mix different varieties.

4. Handling and transport - Use good sacks, transport properly and on time.

                                                        Rice Weevil (Sitophilus oryza)

5. Storage - Keep pest away and moisture low. Store properly and dispose on time.

Let's Develop Substitutes to Reduce Pressure on Rice

Low production together with devaluation of our peso and spiraling world market price of the commodity have caused the price of rice to shoot up to as much as 100 percent in the last five years, and it is going to increase further. 

Nature's gleaners.  With farm animals and fowls around there's little waste on the farm. In fact, what is considered as waste becomes profit. 

This view leads us to believe that we can institute or strengthen agricultural reforms and programs. One area to focus our attention is the development of rice substitutes such as other cereals, rootcrops, and legumes.

Aside from direct substitution, the increase in the uptake of fruits and vegetables, meat and fish would lead to a reduction in rice consumption, not to mention its valuable contribution to nutrition, thus the improvement of health.

Corn as a whole tops all rice substitutes, other than the fact that 20 percent (20 million) of our population depends on corn as staple.

In urban areas the most popular rice substitutes are noodle products, followed by pandesal and other wheat products. In rural areas, sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) and cassava (Manihot esculenta) top the list of rootcrops.

Among the legumes, mungo (Phaseolus radiatus) is best known. Generally, consumers of these products are unaware that they are doing a favor to the rice industry, particular during the lean months.

The development of these substitute products on the part of the farmers is beneficial. It will definitely boost diversified farming, and consequently income on the farm.  A program based on this alternative is definitely necessary both in the short and long term, particularly if the focus is the development of indigenous products.

Here are some facts about rice to consider:

1. Per capita consumption of rice is from 95 to 130, Metro Manila and Ilocos Region, respectively. National average is close to 100 kg per person.  Update, from DA-BPI, as follows:

The Philippines is a major rice consumer, with a population of roughly 110 million and annual per capita rice consumption of 133 kg.

2. Daily calorie supply per capita is 2,357. Rice supplies 38% of it.

3. With a total of rice eating Filipinos of 87 million, our total rice requirement is 13 million MT. Today's production is less than 12 million MT.

4. Our total rice area is shrinking, even as land use policy regulates non-agricultural land use, such as settlements and industry.

5. Farmlands are becoming marginal due to poor management.

6. Agrarian program, since it was promulgated 50 years ago, remains a social and political issue, instead of being a catalyst of growth and development.

7. Farming remains in the hands of farmers who are on the average 58 years old, with low formal education, and with very little personal savings.

8. There are less and less students taking up agriculture. Not even 10 percent of agriculture graduates go into farming.

9. There is need to define clearly our agricultural policy on rice self-sufficiency. In the seventies and eighties, the Philippines became one of the world's exporters of rice, as a result of a successful food production program. We were also self-sufficient in most basic food items.

10. Investment in agriculture is very low, priority is in industry. It should be the other way around, as many countries realized lately. ~

Don't Waste Food, Please Don't!

"Yes, children, Santa Gracia is watching us."

In observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste observed on September 29, 2025, and World Food Day celebrated every year on October 16, 2025 to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) in 1945.

Don't throw away food left on the table. Please don't.

 Recycle leftover in a different presentation.

• Food is Santa Gracia (holy grace) as old folks reverently call it.

• Food waste could otherwise go to millions who have not enough to eat.

• Food waste breeds pest and disease, sickens the air.                                                                                                                                       

• Anything that goes to waste draws down the economy.

• Waste widens inequity in resources.

Here are some things to do with food leftovers.

1. Sinagag - fried rice mix with bits of bacon, ham, fried egg, fish, and the like.

 2. Torta - tidbits like those mentioned in scramble egg. Include veggies like carrot and onion.

3. Pickle – excess veggies and fruits plus vinegar, sugar and salt, and spices. Good for carrot, bell pepper, cucumber, green papaya, yam (sinkamas), others.

4. Paksiw – if not consumed is fried, makes a new menu.

5. Daing – fish in season is dried, cooked with gata’ (coconut milk).

6. Suka – fruit vinegar from overripe pineapple, banana, others, but not tomato and kamias.

7. Pudding – bread not consumed on time is also made into pizza bread- bread crumbs, garlic bread.

8. Sopas – Grind bones, shrimp head for soup and broth. Bulalo for whole bone.

9. Pastillas – milk powder not consumed on time, also grated hardened cheese.

10. Veggie and fruit peelings – for animal feeds, composting. Include solids from brewing (coffee) and juicing fruits. Ultimately, inevitable food waste is collected for feeds in poultry and piggery.

Food waste also emanates from carelessness in handling, food preparation and serving. Much is also lost due to lack of proper processing, transport and storage facilities. Estimated loss in postharvest alone runs from 10 to 37 percent of actual harvest of crops. - avr

In "Give us this day our daily bread..." in the Lord's Prayer, us here is regarded as thanksgiving and remembering the millions people around the world who may not have the food they need.

I believe in the wisdom of the old folk who reminds us of the value of food. They have experienced hunger during war, drought, flood, crop failure, pestilence - even in normal times. They have not lost sight of the presence of Santa Gracia.

Yes, children, Santa Gracia.is watching us. ~

------------------------

ANNEX - No to MSG!

Don't Eat Food with MSG (Vetsin)! Please Don't!

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is banned in approximately 50 countries, primarily due to health concerns, particularly in baby food and products for children. 

MSG or Vetsin has been linked to various health issues, leading to its restriction in many countries. Concerns include potential adverse reactions such as headaches and allergic responses, prompting some nations to take precautionary measures against its use, especially in food intended for children.

1. Some of the countries that have banned MSG include:

Austria

China
Vietnam
Germany
Saudi Arabia
Kuwait
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Hungary
Italy
Norway
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland

2. MSG reactions include:

• Headache.
• Visual aura without headache.
• Flushing.
• Body tingling.
• Quick, fluttering heartbeats, called palpitations.
• Chest pain or heaviness.
• Feeling sick to the stomach, called nausea.
• Muscle aches xxx

3. People who tend to eat a lot of processed foods with MSG can experience physical symptoms that can last from a few hours to days, and the most common of these is brain fog.

4. The term ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome’ was first coined in 1968 when Doctor Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote an op-ed to the New England Journal of Medicine. He questioned why he invariably felt sick 20 minutes after eating food from northern China. 
Common symptoms he reported were a racing heart, weakness and numbness, which he blamed on MSG. This quickly escalated into global hysteria, despite his question not being a study or including any evidence. The hysteria was heightened by racist and xenophobic headlines such as in the Chicago Tribune: Chinese Food Make You Crazy? MSG is Number One Suspect. xxx

5. MSG has been associated with various forms of toxicity. MSG has been linked with obesity, metabolic disorders, Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, neurotoxic effects and detrimental effects on the reproductive organs.

6. In Pakistan some states already banned the use MSG recently. Finally, The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered a ban on the sale, import and export of monosodium glutamate salt declaring it is hazardous for health, local media reported recently.
Pakistan Government has also banned the import of MSG into Pakistan.  

7. MSG is now banned in child food in about 50 countries including the EU countries.

8. MSG causes obesity.  It has no real taste of its own, but it stimulates the taste buds in the human tongue so that the tongue tastes other flavors more vividly. This might sound good but another harm is that when you begin to consume a product that contains MSG, you continue to eat it even though you are full, which causes obesity.

9. Opt for simple steamed dishes, stir-fried vegetables, and grilled meats, which are less likely to contain MSG compared to heavily seasoned or processed foods. 

10. Look for restaurants that focus on fresh, homemade cuisine rather than fast food or chain restaurants, as they may use less MSG

Acknowledgement with gratitude: AI Overview, Wikipedia, Internet, Living with Nature book series by Dr AV Rotor

No to MSG!

--------------

*In observance of World Food Day October 16, every year. Actually, Food Day must be observed every day.

** The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste is observed on September 29, 2025. This day aims to raise awareness about the urgency of reducing food loss and waste, which is critical for achieving a sustainable food future. The observance encourages individuals and stakeholders to take action against food waste, highlighting that over 1 billion meals worth of food are wasted daily. (Food Drink Life)

World Food Day October 16, 2025: Four Green Revolutions - A Review

                                             World Food Day, October 16, 2025

Four Green Revolutions - A Review

          Originally,  Can Genetically Modified Food (GMF) Feed the World?

Dr Abe V Rotor

A general impression about seminars and conferences on Genetic Engineering is to find out if one agrees with the issue or not. One may be asked, “Are you in favor of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and genetically modified food (GMF)? Outside of the hall one may be asked casually of the same question.

Photo Acknowledgement: Time Magazine

It is hard to expect clear yes or no answers. Here is the story to make us understand why – and to help us take side intelligibly on the issue.

We in the older generation have witnessed three revolutions in food production. The first green revolution was the opening of new frontiers, such as the development of Mindanao, the land of promise. The second green revolution was brought about by the so-called miracle varieties, or the introduction and breeding of high yielding crops. In both cases production tremendously increased – horizontally with new lands placed under cultivation, and vertically with higher productivity obtained. The third, which we are experiencing today, is biotechnology, which highlights the radical approach of genetic engineering.

The first Green Revolution pushed production frontiers up to the mountains and down to the sea. Slope agriculture and aquaculture were born. When agronomy succeeded in pushing plants and animals to yield to maximum, we began tinkering with their genes through conventional breeding and atomic radiation. The world proved Malthus to be wrong up to this point.

Today with more than 9 billion people populating the earth and with their geometric increase unabated, the biggest challenge of mankind is how to meet the tremendous increasing demand for food. Proponents of genetic engineering believe that only by applying the vast potentials of this scientific breakthrough can the world’s burgeoning population be saved from the Malthusian apocalypse.

By-Products of Green Revolution

The main drawback of the Green Revolution I - that of pushing the frontiers of production - has been the irreversible loss of natural environments and species. For GR II, we spoiled our lands, lakes, rivers and seas with pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals exacerbated by industrial wastes. For GR III – biotechnology – what is causing a lot of fear is Frankenstein-like, a kind of Genie released from the confines of super intellect.

Some even branded GMF as Frankenfood named after Frankenstein, title of a novel written in 1818 by Mary Shelly. It is a story about a brilliant medical student, Victor Frankenstein, who created a monster that terrified the world and at the end turned against his own creator. It is not difficult to associate the concept of genetically altering organisms to Frankenstein syndrome. The story is perhaps the first serious warning on the use of high technology in man’s ambition to play God. GMO is the most controversial issue today that touches all aspects of our life - environmental, health, safety and ethical questions. It is claimed to be anti-God and anti-nature.

The Promise of GMO

“Will Frankenfood feed the World?” is an article written by Bill Gates for Time, Visions of our 21st Century Technology. The multi-billionaire stirs the world on two fronts: GMF has met fierce opposition among the well-fed, but it is the poor and the hungry who need it most.

Integrity of the gene defiled by genetic engineering, painting by the author 

He admits that even before the warning came – in spite of the information highway – the world was not well informed before hand. There was no global consultation. But GMF is already a part of life of Americans and Europeans. Here are some proofs.

1. A third of the corn and more than half of the soybeans and cotton grown in the US is the product of biotechnology.

2. Since 1992, a total of 70 genetically modified crop plants have been released commercially worldwide. This means that many people have been eating genetically modified food without their knowledge.

3. Only one country in Asia – Malaysia that has not introduced GMO. On the other hand Singapore imports food in bulk from the US and Europe and therefore Singaporeans are likely eating GMF.

4. In the Philippines the most likely GMF we are eating without knowing or being informed about it are those served at fast food stores and PX goods coming from Europe and the US.

But the debate about biotech is tempered by the fact that there is apparent desperate need to feed fast-growing and underfed populations. According to the UN 800 million people around the world are undernourished.

While we cannot rely on conventional agriculture, ironically too, arable land has declined steadily since 1960 and will decrease by half over the next 50 years, according to the International Service for Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).

One area of heated debate is in the aspect of ecology. Because the products of Genetic Engineering are new and untested, their effects as they pass through the food chain must be thoroughly investigated. Admittedly very little study has been done on this aspect.

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO): Neo-Frankenstein Monster

A Genetically Modified Organism (or GMO) is a result of rapid genetic pooling or buildup of desirable traits by means of genetic engineering, rather than through the conventional method of breeding. 

GMO  Gone Wild in acrylic by the author 

The conventional agricultural breeding methods are tedious, and subject to uncertainty. Today’s biotechnology opened a frontier whereby the genes of organisms can be transferred and combined according to the traits one wishes to combine. It is actually opening a floodgate of possibilities, spectacularly including cross-species or cross-phyla transfer of genes. This could mean a firefly gene implanted in a rat can make the rodent glow in the dark.

All these scenarios have their early beginnings with the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) model proposed by F.H.C. Crick and J.D. Watson in 1953, the two later sharing the Nobel Prize in biology. So precise is the double helix model that with modern tools, one can insert a portion of the genetic material from one organism onto another, causing the latter to carry a desired trait. Thus a gene of a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, spliced into the genetic structure of corn produced the Bt corn, the first genetically modified crop. The plant is claimed to be caterpillar-resistant since B. thuringiensis causes disease in caterpillars that destroy corn. Protein gene of one legume can increase the protein nutrients of another. Beta-carotene gene from daffodils, when introduced into rice produces golden rice.

The questions are, when introduced, what extent are the modifications? What kinds and directions will they go? Could an organism, reaching a level of modification, lose its genetic identity, thereby becoming alien to its adopted environment?

We ask these questions in the light of the following premises:

1. A single gene may control one trait, but where there are more traits controlled by multiple, blending genes, the process can get out of hand. The collective expression of modified gene combinations, not to mention the effects of disturbed loci in the genes, can be dangerous. It will take time for us to know the adverse effects of GMO on the human species, and the environment.

2. Every trait of an organism, in one way or the other, has an affect on the environment, and vice versa. This means that if the protein is elevated, the higher protein levels will need more nitrogen, thereby requiring fertilizer subsidy. An increase in milk output means more cattle feeds, and antibiotic input to protect the animal from milk production-related stress. There is a saying in ecology that there is no such thing as “free lunch”.

3. Ecologically, how will a GMO relate to the natural members of the environment? How will the new organism now fit into the ecosystem in which its “parents” were once a part, integrally built by laws governing seres, niches and evolution? We may be only interested in how the organism serve our purpose for the moment, but unaware of its usefulness or destructiveness, when left alone in its own environment.

4. Genetic engineering may increase the number of plants and animals that now depend entirely on man’s care and attention. Many genetically altered breeds and varieties may no longer be able to live and prosper in the open. This is indeed an antithesis of ecological farming, and sustainable agriculture. ~

TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University: “Lindol sa Cebu: Pagyanig ng Lupa, Pagbangon ng Diwa”

Lesson on TATAKalikasan, Ateneo de Manila University

87.9 FM Radyo Katipunan, every Thursday, 11 to 12 a.m., October 9, 2025

 Lindol sa Cebu: 

Pagyanig ng Lupa, Pagbangon ng Diwa”

 Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery

(Handa, Laban, Bangon)

      

      Host,  Fr JM Manzano SJ, with Dr Abe V Rotor, Prof Emoy Rodolfo, AdMU, and Prof. Pauline Salvana Bautista, Ateneo School of Theology

Guest: Dr John Dale "JD" Dianala 

(Assistant Professor, National Institute of Geological Sciences, UP Diliman).

Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery

(Handa, Laban, Bangon)

References and Review Articles

Dr Abe V Rotor   

        Part 1 - Always Be Prepared: Typhoon, Flood, Tsunami,

             Earthquake, and Other Disasters
Part 2 - 13 Frankenstein monsters roaming in our midst 

Part 3 - Our lives are being outrun by Science and Technology!

Part 4 - Triumvirates of Doom: (Nuclear, Chemical and

              Biological Warfare)

ANNEX - 10 Fire Prevention Tips You Need to Know Now                                          

On September 30, 2025, at 21:59:43 PHT (13:59:43 UTC), an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale (Mw ) struck the Visayas archipelago in the Philippines. It was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in northern Cebu and the deadliest in the country since 2013, with its epicenter located off the coast of Cebu Province in the Central Visayas region.

The earthquake was felt in all of Central Visayas while also felt in some areas of Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Mindanao and Southern Luzon (particularly Bicol). Thousands of aftershocks were recorded. PHIVOLCS confirmed that the newly named Bogo Bay Fault was the source of the earthquake after documenting surface ruptures and fault scarps in Bogo.

The earthquake killed at least 72 people and injured 559 others. A total of ₱3 billion (US$60.91 million) worth of infrastructure was damaged. Numerous buildings and houses collapsed, including churches and hospitals, with damage occurring as far away as Cebu City. Tsunami advisories were triggered, widespread power outages occurred and landslides caused damage. In response, schools were closed in several parts of the Visayas archipelago. Teams were deployed as the government supported relief efforts. Following the earthquake, most countries expressed their readiness to assist the Philippines.

Overview of the Philippine Sea Plate
The Philippine Sea Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate located to the east of the Philippines. It is primarily composed of oceanic lithosphere and is bordered by several other tectonic plates, including the Pacific Plate, Eurasian Plate, and Caroline Plate. The plate is notable for its convergent boundaries, where it interacts with these neighboring plates, leading to significant geological activity.

Boundaries and Interactions

Subduction Zones: The Philippine Sea Plate is primarily characterized by subduction zones. To the east, the Pacific Plate subducts beneath it at the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, while to the west, it subducts under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Philippine Trench and the East Luzon Trench.

Convergent Boundaries: 

Most of the boundaries of the Philippine Sea Plate are convergent, which is unusual for tectonic plates. This configuration increases the likelihood of earthquakes and volcanic activity in the region.

Fault Zones: The Philippine Fault Zone accommodates lateral motion due to the oblique subduction of adjacent plates, contributing to the tectonic complexity of the region.

3 Sources
Geological Significance
The Philippine Sea Plate is crucial for understanding the tectonic dynamics of Southeast Asia. Its interactions with surrounding plates lead to frequent seismic events, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The region has experienced numerous significant earthquakes, with magnitudes of 8.0 or greater occurring in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Conclusion
The Philippine Sea Plate is a vital component of the tectonic framework of the Philippines, influencing both the geological landscape and the seismic activity of the region. Understanding its boundaries and interactions with other plates is essential for assessing geological hazards and the overall tectonic evolution of Southeast Asia.

Yellowstone USA super volcano

NOTE: Tagaytay Ridge is the northern rim of the Taal Caldera. The Tagaytay Ridge overlooks the Taal Lake and is part of the Taal Caldera, which is an ancient volcanic caldera that now contains the Taal Lake and Taal Volcano

------------------------------------------------

In Afghanistan, a series of earthquakes on October 7, 2023, killed 2,400 people.  Several hundreds were reported missing, 1,714 houses destroyed, and 11,066 people left homeless. 

On September 8, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Morocco, with more than 3,000 people  confirmed dead, and thousands injured.  The disaster was Morocco’s most powerful earthquake in more than a century and its deadliest since 1960

More than 33,000 people have died across Turkey and Syria since a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6, 2023.* The quake is one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years. Thousands of buildings collapsed.

10 Deadliest Earthquakes 21st Century
Rank Date Location Total Deaths Magnitude

1 Jan, 2010 🇭🇹 Haiti 316,000 7.0

2 Dec, 2004 🇮🇩 Indonesia 227,899 9.1

3 May, 2008 🇨🇳 China 87,652 7.9

4 Oct, 2005 🇵🇰 Pakistan 76,213 7.6

5 Feb, 2023 🇹🇷 Türkiye 56,697 7.8

6 Dec, 2003 🇮🇷 Iran 31,000 6.6

7 Jan, 2001 🇮🇳 India 20,005 7.6

8 March, 2011 🇯🇵 Japan 18,428 9.1

9 April, 2015 🇳🇵 Nepal 8,957 7.8

10 May, 2006 🇮🇩 Indonesia 5,749 6.3

10 Most Powerful Earthquakes

10. The 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes - 8.2 - 8.6

9. Assam-Tibet Earthquake (1950) – 8.6

8. Rat Islands Earthquake(1965) – 8.7

7. Ecuador-Colombia Earthquake(1906)– 8.8

6. Maule (Chile) Earthquake (2010)– 8.8

5. Kamchatka, Russia Earthquake (1952) – 9.0

4. Tōhoku Earthquake (2011) – 9.1

3. Sumatra Earthquake (2004)– 9.1

2. Great Alaska Earthquake (1964)– 9.2

1. Valdivia Earthquake (1960)– 9.5

 
Typical flood scenes 

This article is an update of an earlier post on how we prepare, respond and recover, in times of calamity. Here is a checklist to follow.  Add to this list other necessary measures, particularly those that fit into the conditions of your place.

1. Keep informed and abreast – Radio, TV, Internet, Telephone, neighbors, cellphone. Social media in action.

 2.  Know at fingertips emergency numbers for disaster, fire, earthquake, police, NDCC, DECS, DOH, others. Be emergency response conscious of evacuation sites, fire exits, hospitals and clinics,

Secure appliances and items (furniture, documents, books, toys, etc) on second floor or on safe area. Move heavy objects away from harm’s way, these include apparador, potted plants, heavy tools, etc.

3. Prepare for power cut off. Set your freezer to the coldest temperature setting to minimize spoilage if the power is cut off. Have on hand flashlight, candles, batteries, etc. Charge cellphones and emergency lights. Have enough LPG during the emergency period. Keep a spare tank. In the province be sure you have sufficient stock of dry firewood.

4. Have your car, motorbike, ready for emergency. If water rises, secure them to higher ground.

Always see to it that they are at tiptop condition.

5. Check windows and doors, walls and roofs. Reinforce and seal them if necessary. Have handy towels, rags and mops. Seal leaking walls and roof even before the typhoon season.

6. Stay at the strongest and safest place in the house if the typhoon gets severe. Keep away from flood water, electrical outlet and wire, china wares and glass windows.

7. Seal off broken window or door with mattress or sofa over as typhoon gets severe. Secure it there with a heavy piece of furniture. Dra

w curtains across the windows to prevent against flying glass. Release trapped pressure by allowing it to escape opposite the direction of wind. My experience is to open a window just enough to maintain equilibrium.

8. Remember that a typhoon has an eye of calm. Don’t be deceived; it may appear that the typhoon has passed. It is only half of it. The winds then pick up again, now in opposite direction.

 
9. When the typhoon is finally through, check for hazards - broken glass, fallen trees and downed power lines, dangerous damaged structure.

10. Observe hygiene during and after a typhoon. Make sure your drinking water is not contaminated. Boil if necessary. Make sure that food properly prepared and stored. Avoid eating food from roadside vendors. Protect yourself from WILD, acronym for Waterborne, Influenza, Leptospirosis, and Diarrhea. Include Dengue, and other diseases.

11. Give priority attention to infants, children and the elderly. Provide them with whatever measures of safety and comfort. Keep them out of danger. Evacuate, if necessary, before the typhoon strikes.

12. Get rid of breeding grounds of mosquitoes, flies, rats and other vermin. Drain stagnant pools, dispose containers with water. Dispose garbage properly. Use pesticide only if necessary. Application of insecticide, rodenticide, and fumigant needs expert’s supervision.

13. Protect yourself from toxic waste if you are living in an industrial center, these include toxic metals (mercury, lead, cadmium), hydrocarbon compounds, pesticide residues, oil spills.

14. Wear protective clothing like boots when wading in flood water, raincoat, jacket, had hard during clearing and construction, gloves, etc. Be careful with leptospirosis, a disease acquired from rat waste through flood water.

15. Protect yourself from road accidents. Chances are higher during and after a calamity because of fallen trees and poles, damaged and slippery roads, non-functioning traffic lights, obstructions of all sorts.

  
16. Have your damaged vehicle repaired and cleaned as soon as possible to prevent further damage, specially those submerged in flood. So with other appliances – refrigerators, TV sets, furniture, etc.

17. Have an adequate supply of food and water for the foreseeable period of emergency. No panic buying, please. 

18. Medicine cabinet, first aid kit.  Check regularly and replenish the needed medical supplies, principally for the treatment of common ailments, and victims of  accidents.

19. Protect your home from burglars (akyat bahay).  Don't fall unwary victim to rogues.  Bad elements of society usually take advantage on the hopeless, like refugees in a calamity. 

20. Keep in touch with loved ones, relatives, friends to relieve anxiety. It is timely to text some kind words to the the infirmed, lonely, aged.  Offer whatever help you can extend. These are times to exercise neighborliness in action.~

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), the strongest storm to make landfall in recorded history, flattened coconut trees like match sticks. 2012

Deadliest Cyclones

Rank	Storm	Dates of impact	Deaths
1	September 1881 typhoon	1881, September 27	20,000
2	Haiyan/Yolanda 2013	2013, November 7–8	6,241
3	Thelma/Uring 1991	1991, November 4–7	5,101
4	Bopha/Pablo 2012	2012, December 2–9	1,901
5	Angela Typhoon	1867, September 22	1,800
6	Winnie 2004	2004, November 27–29	1,593
7	October 1897 Typhoon	1897, October 7	1,500
8	Ike/Nitang 1984	1984, September 3–6	1,492
9	Fengshen/Frank 2008	2008, June 20–23	1,410
10	Durian/Reming 2006	2006, November 29-December 1	1,399

       Typhoon Lando - Oct 22-28, 2015 - In terms of sheer strength and scope of destruction, Typhoon Lando (international name: Koppu) was the worst storm to hit the Philippines, with USD11 billion loss, 464 death.

Most destructive

Rank	Name	Year	PHP	USD
1	Haiyan (Yolanda)	2013	89.6 billion	2.02 billion
2	Bopha (Pablo)	2012	42.2 billion	1.04 billion
3	Rammasun (Glenda)	2014	38.6 billion	871 million
4	Parma (Pepeng)	2009	27.3 billion	608 million
5	Nesat (Pedring)	2011	15 billion	333 million
6	Fengshen (Frank)	2008	13.5 billion	301 million
7	Megi (Juan)	2010	11 billion	255 million
8	Ketsana (Ondoy)	2009	11 billion	244 million
9	Mike (Ruping)	1990	10.8 billion	241 million
10	Angela (Rosing)	1995	10.8 billion	241 million

Indian Ocean Tsunami, Dec 26, 2004 (Christmas Tsunami)

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred  on 26 December with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia resulting a disastrous tsunami killing 230,000 people in 14 countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 metres (100 ft) high. Hardest hit are Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. With a magnitude of  9.1–9.3, it is the third-largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph.  Photo of a village in Sumatra

The earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 centimetre (0.4 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska. A worldwide humanitarian response amounted to US$14 billion in humanitarian aid.

Fukushima Japan Tsunami,  March 11, 2011

It was a city known for its beautiful beaches and boasts one of the longest cherry blossom tree tunnels in Japan. But after a tsunami and a nuclear disaster both struck in the space of 12 months, Tomioka near Fukushima was turned into a ghost city.

More than 15,000 residents living in 6,000 houses were forced to evacuate in March 2011 because of safety fears concerning dangerous radiation levels. Three years on, schools and business are still prevented from returning while parks, playgrounds, roads and the city's train station have been left covered in overgrown grass.

A total of 300,000 people have been evacuated from the east coast of the country since the disasters and 15,884 have died. (Photo shows a boat left on a highway for three years on the outskirts of the deserted city, which was evacuated because of radiation fears following the nuclear disaster.) Acknowledgement: Internet, Wikipedia

-----------------

*Do you believe in miracles?

A 10-year-old girl named Cudi was rescued after spending 147 hours trapped under rubble in southern Turkey’s Hatay province. In the same region, a 35-year-old survivor identified as Mustafa Sarıgül was freed from the ruins of a six-story apartment building after 149 hours.

Part 2 - Thirteen (13) Frankenstein monsters

roaming in our midst

"The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest challenge we have faced since World War Two." 

Anyone who has read Frankenstein cannot forget the frightful scenario of a monster created in the laboratory that eventually turned against his master and terrorized the world - a reminder of the unpredictable consequences of science-on-the-loose.

 

We have revived the Frankenstein monster in many forms, such as these.

1. The invention of the atomic bomb and its subsequent progeny - hydrogen bomb, neutron bomb and cobalt bomb - that are far more deadly and destructive, and their stockpiling into a power keg that still exist today even after the Cold War has ended in 1989.

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, 2011

  

Hiroshima atomic bombing, and aftermath, 1945

Holocaust, Nazi Concentration Camp in Auschwitz,1944

Scene of Dr Frankenstein and the monster he created (Wikipedia),

based on the celebrated novel by Mary Shelly in the 19th century

2. Medical breakthroughs in saving lives and extending life span contribute to the population explosion and demographic imbalance where societies are burdened by too many young who are unproductive and highly dependent, and elderly group, with increasing healthcare-dependent members.

3. Organ transplantation and replacement which is leading us farther and farther to a new frontier called bionics; a combination of the rational being and the robot, natural and artificial intelligence.


4. Genetically modified organisms (GMO) whereby it is possible to combine genes of organisms outside their kind, irrespective of species - or kingdom, for that matter. Bt Corn carries the gene protein of a bacterium - Bacillius thuringiensis - that parasitizes caterpillars that feed on corn crop. New strange life variations are sprouting defying identity and classification. They are nameless like the monster created by Frankenstein.

5. Mega-industrialization that has resulted not only in the demise of natural environments (ecosystems) and many species of organisms, but the destruction of the ozone layer and the gradual and steady buildup of atmospheric gases and temperature known as global warming. Global warming has alarming effects in changing climate patterns worldwide, spawning more frequent and more destructive force majeure from drought to flood to  typhoons and tornadoes.  

6. Urbanization leading to the growth of megacities which continue to destroy the homeostasis of rural-urban relationship, spawning poverty and leading to the degradation of human life at the source of migration on one hand, and at the burgeoning centers on the other.

 
7. Population explosion setting a record of 7.7 billion people today and doubling in less than fifty years if left unchecked - indeed a grim reminder of the ghost of Malthus two hundred years ago (Malthusian Theory), and a proof that the natural laws that govern survival has been radically changed. (Internet photos)

8. Consumerism on which capitalism flourishes in the guise of progress and the good life, but in effect creates massive pollution, imbalance of the economy of nations, dividing them into power-wealth categories, and have and have-not, loss of values, and abusive exploitation of resources at the expense of Planet Earth.

9. Gold rush syndrome resulting in the Tragedy of the Commons, a principle that is based on Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale, a story that illustrates that greediness and wanton destruction has always a tragic end, as evidenced today by the declining fish catch in the ocean, dwindling freshwater supply, logged over forests, spent farms and pastures, near exhaustion of fossil fuels, and the like.

10. While ecumenism bridges religions, cultism is divisive and segregative. There is a rise of the so-called hybrid religions which have lost their dogmatic identities, and are gaining popularity as a kind of religious liberation. On the other hand, more and more people around the world are drawn into the world of nones (people who have lost faith in organized religions) - if not the atheism, particularly those overwhelmed by the influence of postmodern living.

11. Substance Abuse comprises of prohibited drugs, alcohol and tobacco. 

 

12. Corona Virus Pandemic (COVID-19) 

Coronavirus pandemic continues to grip the world

"I don't believe that this infection really is being transmitted in waves. It's more like a coronavirus forest fire where in fact, it just burns, burns and burns. But then as soon as you let up the break, then it all comes back again." CBS News, Oct 13, 2020

13. Massive pollution worldwide on land , water and air as a result of population explosion, rapid industrialization, rise of megacities, destructive agriculture, unabated affluence, among other factors in the way we live today in a postmodern world, seemingly untenable by present governance and management.   

  
Industrialization greatly contributes to climate change, acid rain and health problems; plastics being non-biodegradable "survives the age of the earth." 
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“One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken.” —Leo Tolstoy

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These 13 attributes of a modern Frankenstein haunt modern man and his society today exacerbated by his aim at globalization. The shrinking of the planet into a global village so to speak, through scientific breakthroughs, expansion of commerce and industry, opening of new frontiers of human settlement and habitation which sooner or later include the building of cities under the sea and in space, and the proliferation of multimedia making information accessible anywhere in any place of the globe - all these make the avenging monster closer to his creator, and therefore making him vulnerable to its evil intent. Such is the story of Mary Shelley's fiction that has a tragic ending - the destruction of both monster which never bore a name, and its creator - the young genius, Frankenstein. ~

 

                     Part 3  - Our lives are being outrun

by Science and Technology!

Dedicated to Peace in the current Russian War on Ukraine.

In advanced meditative observance of the 77th anniversary of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

In our age of modern science and technology, of automation and computerization, of globalization and space travel, will we finally find peace and prosperity?

 Dr Abe V Rotor

Left: Atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Right: Atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, taken by Charles Levy AP

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, following up three days later with another bomb on Nagasaki. As per records, approximately 80,000 people were killed directly by the explosion of the atom bomb. Another 35,000 were injured and maimed for life. By the end of 1945, another estimated 60,000 people lost their lives under the impact of harmful radiations emanating from Little Boy. By the end of 1945, Little Boy had killed more than 1,40,000 people in Hiroshima, which turned into heaps of mangled concrete and metal.

A self-examination on the real meaning of life 

the way we live in today.

I proceed by presenting to you two challenges posed by our increasingly complex scientific and technological world.

The first challenge is to keep up with the pace of scientific and technological change. At its present rate, we are virtually grappling with the pole vault to cope with the leaps and bounds of discoveries and inventions which are pushing us to change our ways, and our very lives. 

It is no longer us who dictate science and technology; it is science and technology that dictates us.

The second challenge calls for a conventional approach. It is to find the means with which to cushion the impact of rapid change of science and technology on our lives by clinging on some anchor of values. If we have a choice of priorities, of looking back at history and tradition, or by simply standing rationally firm to what is good not only to us but for all mankind, then we just can not become easy victims of “progress”.

Our lives are being outrun by Science and Technology

In so short a time – virtually just within a life span of many of us in the elder generation - the world witnessed three important unprecedented discoveries which have changed human life and our society forever. There is no turning back now. Science and technology marked the milestone of no return, a point of irreversibility as we race for industrialization, and plunge into the “third wave” of progress

The three scientific breakthroughs are

1. Splitting of the atom (nuclear power, atomic bomb);
2. Invention of the microchip (electronics, computers); and
3. Cracking the DNA code (Human Genome Project, genetic engineering).

The applications of these breakthroughs cannot be overemphasized. as we witness today or in the near future the following:

1. Man’s landing on the moon;
2. Information highway via satellites and the Internet;
3. Cloning and genetically modified organisms (GMO);
4. Universities without walls (distance education);
5. Robotics and nanobotics (microscopic robots);
6. Frankenfoods, (modified foods);
7. Test tube babies, menopausal childbirth;
8. Gene therapy and immunotherapy;
9. Extended life span (now 78 years on the average, to 140 by 2500); and
10. Cryonics or human hibernation, which prepares man for space travel.

We just can not be bystanders, an advice as old as the Renaissance, when Shakespeare said, “The world’s a stage, each one of us has a role to play.” We are participants in this “modern” drama of life heretofore known only in fiction.

Virtually there is no place to escape from our high tech world. Imagine life if there were no cell phone, cable TV, video-games, malls, hospitals, e-mail, solar watch, MRT/LRT, ATM, and the like. And if we think about today’s process in making many products we use everyday - from ball pens to cars – imagine computers and robots at work in place of man.

Scenario: You are awakened by a quartz clock. You switch on the light, tune in the TV or radio, take a shower, pick up the phone, cook breakfast, read the morning paper, dress up, take the elevator, drive the car, etc, etc, etc. All this is not surprising to most of us.

But hear this. The milk you drink is genetically modified (human embryo hormone was injected into the cow to produce more milk), the corn flakes you eat comes from BT corn (corn with a gene of a bacterium – Bacillus thuringiensis), your potato and onion are irradiated for longer shelf life, your lettuce carries a trace of dioxin, the deadliest toxin ever synthesized, your tuna carries a residue of mercury, the microwave emits rays that are not good to health, the paint in your condominium contains lead, plastic deteriorates into microplastics and nanoplatics, and you may not know you are absorbing the by-products, synthetic fabric is the cause of your allergy, there is nitrate (salitre) in corned beef and in tocino, MSG (sodium mono-glutamate) in noodle, aspartame in soft drinks, sulfite in sugar, potassium bromide in bread. And the list goes on, ad infinitum.

Again we ask, “Where will all this lead us to?”

Well, read again Dylan Thomas poem, “Do not go gentle into the night” purporting everyone to become vigilant and not settle into comfort and take a license for freedom. It is the road often trodden. Why can't we take the road less trodden?

This masterpiece reflects an experience the boy Dylan had one Christmas. He was given a beautiful book that told him everything about the wasp, a relative of the bee. Everything about the insect - except “Why?” And the boy wondered, “Is this all?” Rage builds up the more we ask “Why?” – and we find no satisfactory answer.

Does it strike you sometimes that knowledge – even the knowledge we obtained from the university - does not bring true satisfaction - much less enlightenment? It is because our education, especially in science and technology, emphasizes the “How?” rather than the “Why?” Instead of searching for meaning we are searching for causes, or cause-and-effect. As we study phenomena we seem to underestimate the question, “Why?” which is the foundation of values.

Search for life’s meaning or values on a historical perspective

Maybe it would be good to our searching mind to reflect on life’s meaning or values on a historical perspective. Consider these

1. Socrates model, the right to seek, to awaken from ignorance. (birth of the university)

2. Communal enterprise which gave the vitality of the Renaissance, brought West to conquer the East (colonizing and civilizing)

3. Voltarism – “reach for knowledge and share the experience of civilization”. (Post-Alexandrian concept of one civilization, one world)

4. Enlightenment spawned by the French revolution (birth of democracy and nationalism). Trilogy of the French Revolution: Liberty,  Equality, Fraternity

5. Capitalism-consumerism, the world is a global village (economics today).

We have been disciples of Voltaire too long, believing that the greatest achievement of mankind is civilization. We do not dispute that civilization is a prerequisite of progress. But recently we began to raise disturbing questions.

Before going farther let me interject a tale of B. Traven, The Treasure of Sierra Madre which is reminiscent of an earlier story, The Pardoner’s Tale by Chaucer. In both tales, the plot is about men who meet by accident and join together in search for gold. They take mortal risks for one another in their community of search. But when they find the gold, they are filled with suspicion and end up fighting each other - and losing their treasure in the process. This syndrome still haunts us today.

Now let us consider these issues.

1. Two world wars, nuclear armaments, unending armed conflicts, and now Russian War on Ukraaine

2. Domino effect spawned by super economies which toppled the lesser economies (Asian crisis) 

3. “How the Other Half (of the population) Dies” (a book exposing inequitable distribution of wealth, as the reason of mass hunger and poverty, by Susan George)

4. “Silent Spring” (a book by Rachel Carson, an expose’ of deadly chemicals, specially pesticides, which are destroying wildlife and the environment)

5. Pollution, global warming, Ozone hole, and now Plastic pollution in air, water and land, and the making of Plastic Continent and Islands.  These are consequences of man’s quest for a better life through industrialization

6. COVID-19, AIDS, EBOLA, Wide-spread Cancer, drug abuse, all on worldwide scale.

 
7. Mass poverty, widespread ignorance, broken homes, erosion of values

8. Destruction of the ecosystems

9. “You do not find sacredness anymore,” Rise of "nones" - no organized religions. 

10. “Death of privacy,” A question of "brotherhood. self respect, community, "

The deleterious by-products of today’s science and technology exacerbate the problems of mankind. Paradoxically, science and technology have not successfully eradicated the ancient scourge of mankind – disease, poverty and ignorance. While man may have a grasp of history and his society he has apparently lost control of his destiny. ~

                      Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki in ruins and today 

                                   (Internet Photos)

                        Part 4 - Triumvirates of Doom

(Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Warfare)

In our modern world an all-out war is likely to employ all kinds of warfare – nuclear, chemical and biological.

                                                            Dr Abe V Rotor

 City Ruins, made of termite's nest remnants mounted 

 on acrylic painting by AVRotor 2020

As an aftermath of the catastrophic 9/11 bombing of the Twin Towers in New York, the US Postal Service ordered gloves and masks and irradiation systems for key mail-sorting facilities in Washington, New York and New Jersey, but questions as to whether these measures to prevent anthrax from spreading via mails are effective or not remain unresolved. Does zapping letters and packages with radiation really kill anthrax spores? What is the downside to irradiation? Are the postal workers really protected from anthrax and other biological warfare germs?

Hypothetical model of the Corona Virus, cause of the current COVID-19 pandemic.  Model by AVRotor 2020

- As a precaution the US government has accelerated the delivery of 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine to add to the 15.4 million doses already stored. These will be enough to inoculate every American. One drawback is the possibility of side effects of the vaccine particularly to those receiving other medical treatments such as chemotherapy.

- African killer bees (Apis mellifera scutellata) claimed to have escaped from a laboratory have interbred with the domestic species creating an equally deadly hybrid that now threatens the US after spreading throughout Brazil, Central America and Mexico. A colony is made up of some 70,000 ferocious bees with the queen bee reproducing up to 5,000 a day to maintain this enormous population.

- E. coli is a familiar intestinal parasite. Naturally occurring outbreaks of Escherischia coli typically the result of fecal contamination in anything from hamburgers to swimming pools, sicken hundreds of thousands of people each year. What really trigger the outbreak of E. coli? What caused the epidemic that hit Tokyo three years ago?

As I ponder over these scenarios I remember when I was a child seeing many people who were survivors of smallpox epidemic. The center of the epidemic was a town whose population was decimated. The mere mention of its name rings the sad memory of the early 1900s’ disaster. Lapog became virtually synonymous with the name of the dreaded disease. It was later renamed San Juan (Ilocos Sur).

My father told me that of the eight siblings in the family, only two of them survived the disease. Uncle Leo who was the oldest miraculously survived, and my dad who was the youngest was born after the epidemic had subsided.

In my mind I still can picture the faces of a dozen survivors. Pockmarks cover their faces, and may also cover the body, arms and legs, including the ears, nose, eyelids and lips which become somehow disfigured. Fingers and toes are deformed in serious cases.

But I remember how these survivors continued to live normal lives. I remember them as happy and hardworking in spite of the traumatic experiences they went through. Psychologists say there are many survivors of tragic experiences who find the new lease in life a new opportunity. Stories on how whole communities rise with these survivors uplift the spirit. I saw this miracle happen in the family and community I was brought up. Many people in many places I believe, can overcome painful experiences with this kind of spirit.

Conquest and Diseases

Christopher Columbus and his men allegedly introduced syphilis in the New World. The meeting of East and West during the era of colonization also resulted in the exchange of diseases. James Michener’s novel, Hawaii, relates how smallpox caused death and sufferings to the natives. To the novel’s principal character, the Reverend Hale, it was a manifestation of God’s wrath on the sinful and the non-converts. While this incident helped him in his mission, the end proved that the English missionary was wrong - that God is not a God of vengeance. Whole settlements in the New World just perished to indigenous diseases that were unknown in their countries of origin. Scientists explain that these pioneers lacked the natural immunity to the diseases, in the same manner that diseases introduced into the Old World killed many people similarly because they did not have the natural resistance. This is the basis why for many years until recently, the World Health Organization and many countries required the vaccination of travelers against certain diseases as a requirement in obtaining passports and visas.

"Throughout history, war has been the scourge of man, the evidence of man’s inhumanity to man. It is the antithesis of culture and civilization that are supposed to uphold the dignity of man and his society." -avr

These are of course incidents that we can dismiss as force majeure or historical events, which our faith and culture may accept. But what about in the case of war when man is pitted against man, nation against nation?

Man’s Inhumanity to Man

How different it is to think about war. Since biblical times war has always been associated with inhumanity – man’s inhumanity to man. It is the antithesis of culture, of civilization, the very institution that is supposed to eliminate this treat to society. Ironically war has plagued every civilization, and many a great civilization has been the center of human conflict like the epicenter of an earthquake. According to the historian Gibbon twelve great civilizations that include the Greek and Roman civilizations fell because of war. They never recovered again.

History is not replete of the fact that the more civilized societies have been the cause of the loss of peace, if not the whole destruction of the less civilized ones. The great Spanish conquistadors forever destroyed the great civilizations of the Aztecs and the Mayas, in the same way that the pioneers in the West forever destroyed the American Indians.

Early Biological Warfare

Carthage (PHOTO) a thriving agricultural and trading center during the times of the Roman became swamp and subsequently into desert that we know today. How did this happen? The invading Romans drew saltwater into land flooding settlements and fertile lands, thus finally putting to end the powerful enemy.

How The West Was Won, is a story of the destruction of the American Indian civilization which had been flourishing for many centuries. The natives fought fiercely at the European invaders and defended their “nation” for years. But the pioneers knew exactly the key to their victory over the powerful Indian tribes - to annihilate the buffaloes, millions of them that roamed the Great Plains or what is known as the prairies. Because buffaloes provided the Indians their basic needs from food to shelter, famine ensued and the great American Indian civilization was ultimately reduced into marginal settlements. Buffalo Bill is reported to have killed more than three hundred buffaloes in a single day for which he earned his name and “reputation.”

What if China’s threat to send one million Chinese to fight and die in Vietnam had come true? I heard of this story during the Chinese-Vietnam conflict that preceded the Vietnam war. Should such unthinkable strategy happen, the task of burying the dead alone, more so in controlling pestilence, would certainly render the enemy country defenseless and economically bankrupt. On the part of the triumphant country it shall have somehow reduced pressure on its burgeoning population and rid the misfits. Many believe that war is a purification process of a society. Definitely it is not. The Germans lost thousands of scientists in World War II. Many soldiers who died in the Vietnam War were among the finest of the youth of their time in their respective countries.

Agent orange was used as defoliant to flush out Vietcong guerrillas from their 

stronghold in jungles during the Vietnam war.  

But man has not had lessons enough. And war in its most ugly form using chemicals, biological agents, nuclear and ultramodern tools, is with us and it is all over the world now. For nuclear arsenals alone, the world’s total stockpile has the capacity to kill three times the whole population of the world. The world is witness to the recent wars in Iraq, Bosnia and Macedonia, Uganda and Angola and Afghanistan. It is happening with the Tamil Guerillas in Sri Lanka, along the Pakistan-Indian border, the Basques guerrillas, the IRA in Northern Ireland, and other parts of the world. It is happening in our home ground with the Abu Sayyaf and the NDF-NPA. War has many faces indeed.

War Without Borders

Something unexpected and different happened. On September 11, 2005 year the World Trade Center, a 110-storey twin-tower was erased from the skyscraper map in matters of minutes shortly after two planes commandeered by terrorists smashed into the superstructure signaling the vulnerability of our present system of capitalism. It challenged the economic powers of the world, particularly America.

The world woke up into a new age hitherto unpredicted - the age of Terrorism and the birth of a new nation without political boundary, but an invisible organizational network with its tentacles reaching global proportion.

This time intrusion into the enemy’s territory or defining the place of battle does not follow the conventional rules anymore. In fact there are no specific rules when we refer to the modus operandi of terrorists. Scenarios of war have thus changed after the September 11 attack.

This article concentrates on the tools of biological warfare. Here are some of them.

First there is anthrax, the most serious and the first to hit the headlines after the bombing of the World Trade Center. It leads a dozen of similarly devastating epidemics of biological warfare potential.

Second, there is an attempt to revive bubonic plague that killed one-third of the world’s population in the Middle Ages. It was the Japanese who experimented in the making of bubonic flea bombs intended to spread the plague in major USA cities. The project was to breed the fleas which harbor the plague bacteria in its body, then scatter these to infest rats and other animals in the target area where they in turn multiply and transmit the pathogen to the residents. The bomb was successfully tested in China with hundreds of Chinese succumbing to the bubonic plague bacteria. Preparations were then made to attack the US. But the US had decided to drop the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bubonic flea bombs were never used. Japan hastily removed all the evidences of its evil experiment even before its surrender to the US.

Third, the threat of influenza (PHOTO) which killed several millions at the first part of the twentieth century in the US and many parts of the globe has caused alarm as early as the 1980s after discovering a new strain of virus, a hybrid of the chicken and human influenza viruses. Based on the ratio of victims with the population in the first epidemic, scientists are looking at the possibility that some 60 to 100 million people could die of the new influenza virus strain should it strike in our times. In spite of utmost precaution to stave off the epidemic, scientists believe that we are not yet off the hook.

Biological warfare intends to use germs with historical epidemic background. Here is an outline of the basic facts about these most important potential epidemic diseases.

Anthrax

• Also known as malignant pustule, malignant edema or woodsorters’ disease

• Most common in South America, Australia, Africa and Russia

• Highly infectious disease of animals, occurring especially in cattle, sheep and other ruminants, horses and mules as well.

• Transmitted to humans through contact with any part of the inside or outside of the animal carrying the infectious agent

• Caused by Bacillus anthracis whose spores which are resistant to disinfectants and heat, may remain infectious even after 15 years in soil. Grazing animals can accumulate spores contained in the droppings of infected animals

• Humans acquire the disease through cut or wound of the skin, by eating infected meat, or by breathing in the spores contained in the dust emanating from the sick animal’s hide or hair

• Skin infection characterized by severe itching and appearance of boil, usually on the arm, face and neck. The inflamed area grows into an ulcer called a malignant pustule, which eventually bursts and produced a black scab. Fever, nausea and swelling of the lymph glands are accompanying symptoms

• Internal anthrax acquired through inhalation results in acute pneumonia. When infected meat is ingested symptoms of acute gastroenteritis occur

• Anthrax is effectively treated with antibiotics. Immunization against the disease has been made possible through the use of vaccine. Effective livestock management is key to the control in the spread of the disease.

Bubonic Plague

o Known as the Black Death in the Middle Ages which ravaged Europe and Asia

o In some places as many as two-thirds of the entire population died

o So-called from the blackening spots which broke out from the skin during the course of the disease

o Characteristic symptoms are fever and swelling of the lymph nodes mainly the groin and armpit

o It is caused by the plague bacillus (Pasteurella pestis) which is transmitted from sick rats (Rattus rattus norvigicus) to humans by flea bites (Xenopsylola chopis)

Small pox

• Highly contagious, often fatal that once ravaged mankind in epidemics. Just one infected person could cause the virus to radiate from a family to a neighborhood to a city in a matter of months.

• Smallpox cannot be treated effectively once symptoms begin. 30 percent of those infected will die.

• WHO declared the eradicated of smallpox in 1980. Routine immunization for protection against the disease was stopped as early as 1971.

• First signs: chills and high fever, severe headache and backache, followed by rash which eventually covers the entire body and turns into pus-filled blisters

• The blisters in turn dry up to form scabs which very often leave pockmarks.

• The disease may be accompanied by vomiting, convulsion and diarrhea Complications include other skin infections such as boils and abscesses, ear infections, pneumonia and heart failure

• Disease is not transmitted by animals

• Disease has been eliminated through world wide vaccination programs, although a mild form still exist in Ethiopia

• The disease has been largely eliminated by extermination of rats. Antibiotics such as oxytetracycline, streptomycin and chloramphenicol are effective in its treatment

Other Potential Bio-Warfare Organisms

There are many organisms that can be used in biological warfare. A terrorist attack aimed at crops and livestock would be less dramatic but might cause more disruption in the long run.

Potato Blight – also called late blight, a worldwide serious disease of potato and tomato in cool humid countries caused by a fungus, Phyhtopthora infestans In Ireland 30 percent of the population starved to death, died of typhoid fever that followed - or emigrated during the period 1845 to 1860. Tomato blight caused by the same fungus destroyed 50 percent of the crop in Eastern US in 1946.

Rust Fungi - There are species of Puccinia affecting cereals and among them which is Puccinia graminis tritici consists of 200 such races to which wheat varieties are differentially susceptible. Although rust fungi are host specific and can only complete their life cycle in the presence of alternate host such as barberry in wheat rust, the potential fore biological warfare is great to consider that cereals comprise the staple of the mankind. The narrowing down of varieties for commercial cultivation exposes greater danger of rust diseases to spread out into epidemics.

Salmonella - In 1984 a cult in Oregon set off a wave of food poisonings. Gastroenteritis caused by natural contamination and careless food handling afflicts millions and results in 5000 deaths each year. Salmonella is a large group of rod shaped bacteria that invade the gastrointestinal tract, among them typhoid and paratyphoid germs.

Antibiotics are recommended to combat Salmonella infection. A recent incident happened in Rizal when hundreds of children who ate spoiled spaghetti were hospitalized. The religious group, which sponsored the feeding program, admitted fault to the incident. A similar case also happened two years ago. The owner of seven-eleven apologized for the incident and paid the victims.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease – The disease affects hoof animals from hogs to cattle. Its natural occurrence is worldwide and we have our own season in the Philippines that is during summer. Although the pathogen is not transmitted from animals to humans, losses incurred are usually heavy with the infected animal economically worthless.

Like in the case of mad cow disease, and chicken flu that affects humans, the infected animals are destroyed to prevent infection. Quarantine and an extreme sanitation program are the best defense in curbing the spread of the disease.

Mad Cow Disease – It is called bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE that has been determined in 1996 to infect humans in the form of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). Eighty people in Britain have died of CJD and there is no data to show how many more will die because there are initial signs of acquiring the disease are not clear and that the gestation period of the virus before it reaches the brain is up to 15 years. It originated in Britain crippling the country’s giant cattle industry, then spread to the European and now it has reached Japan threatening some 4.6 million cows.

Other biological warfare agents include potato beetles, which Britain suspected the Germans for dropping small cardboard bombs filled with the beetle pest on English potato fields. In the 1980s Tamil militants threatened to target Sri Lankan tea and rubber plantations with plant pathogens.

HIV-AIDS – So far 17 million have died and at least 25 million may follow. The heart of the epidemic is at the lower quadrant of Africa. AIDS is anti-Darwinian – it is society’s fittest who die, not the frailest, thus leaving the children and old behind. But recently more and more children become victims. There are 3.7 million children who have died of AIDS and AIDS has orphaned 12 million children.

An estimated 8.8 million adults in Africa are infected with HIV/AIDS and in the seven countries in Africa 1 out of 5 is living with HIV and 3.8 millions Africans are infected every year. There are 36 million adults and children in the world living with HIV/AIDS. Bioterrorism may be eyeing at the spread of the disease in the industrialized countries through the blood donation and immunization channels, other means notwithstanding.

Ebola (PHOTO, EBOLA VIRUS) – It is a highly virulent disease caused by a virus that originated in Africa infecting human and primates. Much of the information about the disease is a mystery but one thing sure is that it is almost one hundred percent fatal once a person gets the virus.

Contact of any kind, and even only through inhalation, the virus can be acquired in no time. One incident showed a member of a religious congregation who had been treating ebola patients suddenly died. Ignoring warnings other members attended her funeral. One of them got the virus and died later.

African Giant Snail (Achatina fulica) – brought by the Japanese to the Philippine during WW II. Pest of garden and field crops. Damage can lead to crop loss and consequently starvation. The pest persists to this day but seldom develops into epidemic proportion. The introduced Golden Kuhol thought to provide livelihood on the farm became a major pest affecting more than 50 percent of our lowland ricefields.

Protection Guidelines

Here are guidelines to protect yourself.

1. Keep distance from possible sources of biochemical materials such as spores of the deadly anthrax. Be wary of suspicious parcels.

2. Get help from authorities to get rid of suspicious looking materials. Curiosity kills the cat.

3. Be familiar with the locations of Bomb Shelters (PHOTO). Such shelters are found in big cities like New York, Tokyo and Tel Aviv. We do not have one in Manila, but there are places and buildings you can find temporary shelter in case of attack.

4. Don’t loiter in centralized air-conditioned places like malls. Avoid crowds and busy streets if you can.

5. Early symptoms should be treated immediately by a doctor. Anthrax for example has flu-like symptoms.

6. Keep resistance high all the time. Good rest, balanced diet, regular exercise are key to resistance against diseases.

7. Don’t be a victim of psychological war. Terrorism thrives on it. We have yet to coin a word for biochemical phobia.

8. Like Boy Scouts, remember “Always be Prepared” – for your own protection. Equally important be prepared always to help other people.

On September 11 (9/11) many people thought Third World War had started. Well, the big wars we know started small. In our modern world an all out war is likely to employ all kinds of warfare – chemical and biological – and worst is the use of nuclear weapons. There are no defined borders and everyone is a potential victim. It will be difficult to detect the enemy and the tools of war he will use. The “morning after” exposes further destruction. Nuclear weapons have long years of half-life. It means radioactive materials will continue to kill, to make people sick. Even to this day, there are people in Japan where the atomic bombs were dropped 45 years dying due to radioactive fallout.

This is also true with bacterial spores. They have the capacity to re-infect and cause a second or third wave of epidemic. Even after the white flag is raised, still many people continue to get sick and die – physically and psychologically. In many cases it is beyond medicine to cure – or science to explain.

In early 1960s I was part of a research program at UPLB, then UP College of Agriculture, in promoting modern agriculture to farmers. Among the farm chemicals I handled were herbicides. By coincidence the US was developing a chemical called Orange Agent that I found out later was to be used in Vietnam. While this chemical can maim or cause death, its intended use is as a defoliant. By spraying the chemical trees lose their leaves, in fact their entire crown. When this happens a jungle would easily catch fire and in no time spreads out flushing the Vietcong guerillas from their hideouts.

It was my first encounter with biological warfare. The memory does not only linger, it has remained fresh.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERFECT BIO-WEAPON

The "perfect biological weapon" would have these characteristics:

· Be infectious and contagious in a large percentage of those expose
· Cause severe long-term debilitation or death of the infected organism
· Have few available antidotes, preventives or cures
· Be easily deliverable to the area or population targeted
· Have low likelihood of causing damage to those using the agent

THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Some candidates for use as biological warfare agents include Anthrax, Smallpox, Viral hemorrhagic Fevers (Ebola, etc.), and Pneumonic Plague.

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Dr Abe V Rotor -  Award-winning author of "The Living with Nature Handbook" (Gintong Aklat Award 2003) and "Living with Nature in Our Times" (National Book Award 2008); Recipient Father Jose P Burgos Achievement Award (2016); professor, University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle University-D; columnist Bannawag Magazine, former Director, National Food Authority; and Consultant on food and agriculture, Senate of the Philippines.

ANNEX - 10 Fire Prevention Tips You Need to Know Now
MONEYMAX EDITORIAL TEAM
 (Internet) Last updated March 21, 2023

What are the Goals of Fire Prevention?
A fire prevention program is considered successful when these three goals are met:
    1. Prevent the loss of life
    2. Protect properties from damage
    3. Avoid downtimes caused by operational disruptions

What is a Fire Triangle?
For a fire to ignite and maintain combustion, three elements are needed: fuel, heat, and oxygen.

When at least one of these is missing or is present but only at low levels, a fire can’t start or spread. That’s why one of the basic strategies for preventing fire is to isolate sources of fuel or heat. Needless to say, removing oxygen from the equation is most of the time nearly impossible

What are the Top 10 Fire Prevention Tips to Remember?
Here are 10 fire safety tips for keeping your home or workplace safe from disasters:

1. Avoid Electrical Overloading
Overloading your circuits is a big fire hazard—this is one of the most important fire safety reminders you shouldn't overlook. Avoid plugging too many devices into your electrical outlets to keep them from overheating and catching fire.

High energy-consuming appliances like refrigerators and air conditioners should also have their own outlets to prevent electrical overloading at home.

Also, practice unplugging your devices and appliances when not in use. It's a good practice whether you’re just going to bed for a few hours or leaving your home or workplace for an extended period.

2. Check Electrical Connections for Faulty Wiring
Faulty electrical wiring can cause a fire. To prevent it, have a licensed electrician periodically check your appliances for exposed or worn-out wires.

Even on your own, you can easily spot some signs of damaged wiring, including out-of-place flickers and a burnt smell. When you spot frayed wires, damaged sockets, or defective electrical equipment, have them fixed or replaced immediately.

3. Fireproof Your Kitchen
You can never get too many fire safety tips in the kitchen, which can be a fire hazard all on its own if not properly maintained.

Whatever you do in the kitchen, don’t leave a gas stove on unattended. Even if you have to leave momentarily, just turn off the stove until you can attend to it again.

Another crucial fire safety tip is to not lean over open flames when wearing loose clothing to keep it from catching fire. Also, keep your cooking area free of combustible objects like potholders and towels.

Lastly, after using charcoal for cooking, make sure to extinguish the embers completely.

4. Turn Off Gas Tanks When Not in Use
It only takes an errant spark to cause your gas tank to ignite. To avoid a terrible accident, close your liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) every after use. It's one of the most important safety tips for fire prevention that you must take to heart.

Also, constantly check the LPG for any leak or damage to avoid not only fire but also health risks.

5. Keep Your Light Sources Secured
This is another of those fire safety tips that seem easy to do but are still somehow ignored.

It’s common for Filipinos to light candles or gasera (kerosene kamp) during a power outage. If this is something you do as well, make sure that you use sturdy candle holders that can keep your candles in place. Also, look for a clear spot where candles and gaseras won’t be tipped over.

Also, keep your candles away from things that can easily catch fire, including curtains, carpets, bedsheets, and paper.

For safety against fire, use a rechargeable lamp or flashlight as an alternative light source during a power outage.

6. Remove Common Fire Hazards
Not all fire hazards are blatantly noticeable. A pile of leaves in your front yard looks harmless until extreme heat turns it into a bonfire.

Sometimes, what sets off a fire could be a stack of old newspapers, a mound of empty plastic bottles, or a clump of overgrown shrubs.

Fires are hard to foresee, so some people prepare for the unexpected. For example, they get mortgage redemption insurance to ensure that their outstanding mortgage debt is paid in the event of total disability or death during a fire. It may sound grim, but it’s actually a good measure in addition to fire prevention.

7. Practice Good Housekeeping Habits
This is one of the top 10 fire safety tips at home that you can incorporate into your lifestyle. Practicing good housekeeping habits not only prevents fire but also improves your overall well-being.

As a rule of thumb, keep aisles, walkways, and stairways clear of any trash. Having clean and clear pathways at home or in the office can prevent the spread of fire. It also gives people enough space to move and evacuate during emergencies.

Properly labeling items is also a good exercise to avoid misplacing flammable substances and corrosive liquids.

8. Observe Proper Smoking Etiquette
If you’re tempted to smoke inside the house, just don’t—unless you have a designated smoking area at home designed to prevent fires.

Smoking in bed should be avoided at all costs. Linens and mattresses can catch fire easily, so you want to stay as far away from them as possible when smoking.

Also, use an ashtray to crush your cigarette stubs and dispose of them properly, ideally after dousing them with water.

9. Install Smoke Alarms

Fires can happen anytime, so it’s good to have smoke alarms in place to alert you when a fire breaks out.

When a smoke alarm rings, it’s not yet too late. There’s still a lot to do. However, depending on the situation, smoke alarms sometimes do nothing but announce impending doom.

In such situations, it’ll give you a little peace of mind to have a contingency plan like fire insurance to protect yourself financially in the aftermath of a fire.

10. Get a Fire Extinguisher