Monday, December 30, 2019

Rizal - My Hero

Rizal - My Hero 
Dedicated to Dr Jose P Rizal (1861-1896)
"The three greatest treasures of mankind are liberty, fraternity and equality - guard them with your life."

Dr Abe V Rotor

Author poses before the historical marker, Arch of the Centuries, University of Santo Tomas, ManilaAuthor is an alumnus (Ph.D. 1986) and professor in the UST Graduate School, and Faculty of Arts and Letters. (1986-2016).  Photo below:The Arch of the Centuries 
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.Since childhood I have always looked up to our national hero, Dr Jose P Rizal, as my personal hero. Here is a list of lessons I gathered from my readings about his life and works.
  1. Don't allow yourself to fall into vices and bad habits.
  2. Seek the truth, how difficult and painful it may cause you.
  3. Tap your talents, develop them to the fullest and use them for a cause.
  4. Work hard, aim high, and realize your dreams.
  5. Never associate yourself with people who can destroy your values and principles.
  6. Fight for your rights, and the rights of others, seek for and stand by the truth.
  7. Always be ready to help people, particularly those who are less fortunate than you are.
  8. Love your country, there is no better place in the whole world.
  9. Love your people, they are your pride, dedicate your life to them.
  10. Freedom is the first and ultimate right of any individual.
  11. Never forget to recognize God' wisdom and goodness in the midst on man's evil ways.
  12. Be fair, be objective, be sincere in seeking justice.
  13. The meaning of life is its consecration to a great idea - even if its time has not come.
  14. In death there is light even before freedom for which you fought has not dawned.
  15. Goodness will always triumph over evil; never evil over evil.
  16. Look back at tradition, preserve and be proud of it; it is the foundation of values in life.
  17. Remember your ancestors and those who died for your country and people.
  18. Fight for the cause of social justice; you have all reasons to gain for your people and country - even if you lose.
  19. The three greatest treasures of mankind are liberty, fraternity and equality - guard them with your life.
  20. Martyrdom is the greatest credential that shall earn you a place to be with your Creator.
Add to the list other lessons this great man has influenced you, the Filipino people, and the world. ~

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Genetic Pollution - Littering of Engineered Genes

Genetic Pollution - Littering of Engineered Genes
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
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 Genetically modified sea creatures, painting in acrylic by AVR

Genetic engineering is creating genes and genetic materials that threaten to pollute natural genetic pools worldwide. It actually has begun. Once an organism acquires a foreign gene - now a GMO (genetically modified organism) - it becomes a permanent source of genetic contamination and pollution.
     In nature the path of gene transfer is precise and specific along parental lineage and is strictly exclusive within the species.  But not until man was able to crack the code of heredity in the later part of the last century.

     With biotechnology today we can now modify the genetic material of an organism, making it possible to transfer genes across barriers that normally separate species, families, classes, phyla and sub-kingdoms. A classical example - Bt corn, the first commercial GMO - was created by transferring a gene of a bacterium (Bacillus thuringiensis, which belongs to Subkingdom Archaebacteria) to corn (Subkingdom Plantae). Never in history, in all man’s attempts, has this feat of combining genetic characters of two extremely unrelated organisms – a prokaryote (an organism with unorganized nucleus, a characteristic of bacteria) and a eukaryote (one with well-organized nucleus, characteristic of higher life forms) - achieved.

     Bt corn has paved the way to the production of more GMOs. Genetically engineered potato, soybean, and tomato are now freely planted on two-thirds of US farms and are pouring out into millions of small farms over the world.

      This new corn was engineered in the laboratory on the premise of reducing dependence on costly and hazardous chemical pesticides, by inserting into the corn genetic composition an insect-repelling protein snipped from the DNA of Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium known to cause epidemic among caterpillars. The new corn, it is claimed by its creators, has acquired the resistance from the bacterium to protect the corn crop against the destructive corn borer (Pyrausta nobilales), corn earworm (Heliothes armigera), and other Lepidopterans, the family of silkworm, butterflies and moths.

      What the creators of this “Franken crop” (named after Frankenstein, a novel written by Shelley in the early 18th century about a laboratory-made monster) are boasting about is that, “Just leave the corn out there on the field and it will defend itself against the onslaught of pest.”  Thus there is no need of spraying hazardous pesticide on the corn crop.

      Undoubtedly the world is entering into another Agricultural Revolution, which, unlike in the past two agricultural revolutions (expansion of the frontiers of production, and increased production through the advancement in science technology, respectively) is highly controversial and that it potentially carries long-term global consequences more potent than any weapon of war.
       
     You can stop splitting the atom; you can stop visiting the moon; you can stop using aerosols; you may even decide not to kill an entire population by the use of few bombs. But you can not recall a new form of life. Once you have constructed a viable cell carrying a plasmid DNA into which a piece of  DNA has been spliced, it will survive you and your children’s children. An irreversible attack on the biosphere is something unheard of, so unthinkable to previous generations, that I could only wish that mine had not been guilty of.
                              (Erwin Chargoff as cited by Solangi and Perilla) The GMO Controversy, Ad Veritatem
    
      Why Genetic engineering in the first place?

      Many scientists and leaders believe that it is the ultimate solution to the burgeoning problems of providing a spiraling population, now 7.7 billion people, with adequate food and nutrition, better health and living conditions.  Here is the rationale of their contention.

1.     Transgenic animals - With the initial success of cloning animals (Dolly the sheep is the first cloned animal), the idea to produce more transgenic animals in order to improve breeds and increase production of meat, milk and other animal products. The long list includes cows, sheep, and goats, which are very important sources of animal protein in most countries.

     These  transgenic animals are likely to “pollute” the natural gene pool of non-transgenic animals as they mate and produce offspring on the farm and in the wild.  As their offspring reproduce – so with the succeeding generations -  the transmission and spread of the engineered genes becomes unstoppable.  

2.     Increased crop production – Genetically engineered plants improve harvest through selection and combination of yield-enhancing genes, a process that cannot be done by conventional means. GM crops are also tailored for marginal lands, such as those affected by salinity, and prone to drought and other calamities.

     Like transgenic animals, the transfer of pollen of GE-plants to non-GE  plants will definitely contaminate the natural gene pool of the latter, in effect creating "hybrids" of varying combinations of genes of both GE-plants and non-GE plants. 

3.     Improved Nutrition – According to the GM proponents, the staple crops of the world, mainly rice, wheat and corn, can be improved not only in yield but in nutritional value as well by packing more proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.  GE-soybeans have been modified to contain more protein, while GE-rice presently being developed at IRRI contains carotene and vitamins that prevent blindness. Likewise increasing iron content in plants through genetic engineering could be the answer in preventing anemia.

     There will come a time when it becomes difficult and uncertain to measure the nutrient value of plants, say soybean contaminated with genetically engineered soybean. What is the protein content of a GE- and non-GE soybean hybrid on the third generation?  We might be taking in from GE-crops nutrients, vitamins, minerals and the like, which our body may not actually need – or compatible of, thus resulting to allergy.

     Based on the principles of crop production, increased protein, carbohydrate, or oil, in these GE-crops means corollary increase in soil nutrient requirements.  Which means there will be need for subsidy in terms of  fertilizers, pesticides, and the like.  It is possible that these GE-plants are no longer adapted to the habitat of their original kin – thus requiring the revision of our present knowledge in biology and agriculture. 

4.     Better health – Biopharming is the newest application of genetic engineering in the field of medicine and pharmacology.  By splicing into food plants certain drug genes, we will be hitting two birds with one stone, so to speak. Vaccine-containing food plants will simplify delivery and administration of drugs. We will simply eat a biopharmed plant that contains a specific drug and get well from an ailment as a result of the implanted gene. People would be saved from costly medicine and many will vastly benefit from this new natural healing technology.

     But how can we measure the dosage of the implanted drug?  In the first place, how do we know if a plant we are eating contains drugs, and what kind of drugs are these? By introducing unnecessary drugs into our body unknowingly, the effect may prove harmful.  What is the idea of “curing a disease” which you do not have?

5.     Fewer chemicals – In Bt corn the built-in resistance to certain insects means lower pesticide requirement, thus lesser cost of production and a healthier environment. This claim also applies to herbicide-resistant crops.  With this premise GE will ultimately revolutionize plant pathology with the same principle as applied in medicine. The idea is to produce genetically engineered plants to resist deadly pathogens such as tungro in rice, ring spot in papaya, rust in cereals, and the like.

     There is no permanent resistance in organisms – for both host and pathogen.  Pests – from virus to bacteria, insects to nematodes – develop biological specialization, which means that resistance can be developed in the genes of these pests by continuous mutation. On the part of a host plant or animal, there is such a thing as “genetic decline”.  For example hybrid corn should not be planted twice – much less thrice – over.  It is because its hybrid vigor deteriorates through repeated planting. Therefore, Bt corn may be resistant to corn borer now, but not in next year or later, for both reasons.

6.     Conservation – In Jurassic Park, the movie showed the possibility to re-create an extinct animal from its DNA fossil. With genetic engineering, we might be able to propagate endangered species outside of their natural habitat, and even revive the sleeping genie in the DNA of long lost species. A greater part of this contention is fiction.  We doubt if we will ever succeed in resurrecting an organism, which has been extinct for thousands, if not millions of years ago, out of its DNA in its fossil.

     Nature has its way of preserving ancient organisms.  Blue green algae like Spirulina is three billions years old and it has remained virtually unchanged. The Coelacanth fish thought to have been extinct 60 millions years ago is very much alive at the craggy sea floor of Madagascar. Science has just  barely scratched the surface in understanding “living” fossils.  It seems very remote to resurrect past organisms from their fossil remains.

The Coming Age of GMO

     Let us look into the following scenarios:

·        In the United States, borrowed genes from Brazil nut to increase the amino acid content resulted in the development of genetically modified soybean. The resulting soybean now carries higher amino acid all right, but in churns out also chemicals that can trigger allergies to nut-sensitive consumers.

·        “Down with the clown,” protested farmers at McDonalds stores in France against GM beef and potato. Although the European Union has blocked importation of some GM products, it now requires foods that contain engineered DNA to be labeled as such.

·        US sale of GM seeds by Monsanto (US) and Novartis (Swiss producer of Gerber baby foods) rose from $75 million to $ 1.5 B in the last five years, and GM technology is just beginning. Million of hectares are now growing genetically changed seeds of various crops in the US. 

·        Around 30 % of US dairy cows are injected with the recombinant bovine growth hormone that boosts the production of milk. The hormone is made with genetically engineered bacteria. And 75% of all cheese contains chymosin that is produced with bacteria that have been genetically engineered.

·        Now consider these: tomatoes juice from tomatoes containing enzymes from the arctic flounder - an attempt to help crops withstand low temperature; pork loins from hogs treated with human growth hormones to help them get bigger faster; and squash inoculated with watermelon-virus genes to make the squash virus resistant.

·        Corn that contains a firefly gene provides a phosphorescent marker even when mixed with other foods. Another marker, a gene-carrying green phosphorescent in jellyfish transferred in mice, makes mice glow in the dark.

·        The popularity of BT tomato (“FlavrSavr”), the first genetically altered food crop, ignited a chain of other GM crops from high protein beans and grains, caffeine less coffee beans, potato that soaks up less fat during frying, to strawberry with more natural sugar. And there are dozens of gene-spliced food crops in laboratories and greenhouses ready to be released. 

     These include squash, melon, carrots, onions, peppers, apples and the like.

 Destruction of the coral reef with introduced GMO predators which 
disturbed the ecological balance.  Acrylic painting by AVRotor

     Why does it appear easy for government to allow the production and distribution of genetically engineered plants and animals? In the US for one the government sees GM components as mere additives. That is why, virtually anyone can load a fruit, vegetable baby food, or any simple meal with DNA engineered tricks. Arroz caldo from GM rice with borrowed chicken gene, anyone?

     If you don’t see butterflies in the garden anymore that is reminiscent of Rachel Carson’s  “Silent Spring”, blame it to the Bt in corn or rice.  The  bacterium is a scourge to insects belonging to order Lepidoptera which includes one of the world’s best known and most loved insects, the flamboyant orange-and-black monarch butterflies which can travel an incredible distance of 1,600 miles in their migratory flight. The message of the monarch butterflies is clear: Even the most well intentioned biological technologies are without any risk.

     Remember Dolly, the sheep that became famous as the first cloned animal?  She aged rapidly, faster than her parent and died early. It is because clones live only the remaining years of their parent’s lives. They grow old before their time. And if any human being might like to get cloned, he should think twice. He will live and end up with a different world, missing the joys of childhood, the discovery in adolescence, the adventures of youth, responsibility in adulthood, and fulfillment in ripe age. The life of a cloned human being is likely one that is biological - birth, growth and senility packed in a small time capsule – just like Dolly, the sheep.  

      Genetic pollution is characterized in these premises: 

1.       The GE organisms will become a permanent source of genetic contamination and pollution, which will be recycled virtually without end.

2.       New bacteria, viruses, prions (pathogenic proteins) and other pathogens, are more virulent, not only by their infective nature, but through by mutation or reactivation of dormant and harmless ones.

3.       Antibiotic resistant makers (ARMs) in GM crops can be transferred to other bacteria, including the harmful ones. Right now we are unwittingly creating resistant bacteria through abuse of antibiotics. These resistant bacteria could become gene sources of virulent forms.

4.       Resistance is developed among populations of insects, pathogens, insects and weeds under field condition as engineered genes are indiscriminately disseminated. While the pest-resistant Bt cotton or the Bt corn remain the same, the pests themselves are continuously undergoing biological specialization, thus, after repeated planting, the Bt crop is overtaken by the newly acquired resistance of the pest rendering the crop susceptible like any ordinary corn.

5.       GMOs may exhibit increased allergenic tendencies, toxicity, or altered nutritional value. They may also exhibit mutations, which are errors that can occur in the sequence or reading of the DNA within a cell. Altering regulatory functions may create new components or alter levels of existing components of an organism.

6.       Genetic manipulation often introduces proteins from organisms never used as foods, many of which could be a source of new allergens.

7.       Resistance genes, often used as markers to select transgenic cells, may transfer to people or other organisms and aggravate health problems.  Viral genes in plants engineered for virus resistance may recombine with invading microbes to produce new and more virulent hybrids. Through the same process, superweeds can evolve, and spread to neighboring fields and upset environmental balance.

8.       Pest resistance results through continued exposure to crops that make their own pesticides, causing pests to become immune and render the toxin ineffective.

Mechanics of Genetic Pollution

      Let us examine how a gene or a gene material can pollute the natural genetic composition of species. First, let me point out that all living things are made up of a complex genetic structure recently identified as DNA (Deoxyribose nucleic acid), which are organized into genes.  It is the gene that is responsible in encoding proteins that control the expression of a trait in the organism. Traits are transmitted by parents to their offspring. They range from color of skin to intelligence of an individual. Tallness and shortness among garden pea plants were among the genetic traits experimented by Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, some two hundred years ago.

     In the open field the pollen of Bt corn is disseminated by wind, insects, among other means.  Even for several kilometers away, the pollen of this GMO can effectively pollinate and fertilize cornfields irrespective of variety.  In the process the transmitted Bt component now becomes a permanent genetic material in the polluted corn, which is the immediate offspring.  The offspring will in turn, transmit the borrowed gene to the next generation.  As the process is repeated season in and out, the Bt pollen is indiscriminately scattered.  Here is one kind of pollution that cannot just be picked up and burned, or contained and detoxified.  There is virtually no end to genetic pollution since it is transferred through gametes, even with just one of the combining gamete carries the gene-pollutant.    
    
     This new development opens a controversy that touches morality and ethics. It opens a floodgate for researchers to create new types, varieties, hybrids, and even new organisms, which all the more become a serious ethico-moral matter.

Cross-species Breeding

       There have been countless attempts to create an organism by breeding two different organisms with little success. The most celebrated case is the mule, which is the offspring of an ass and a mare, or a horse and a she-ass.  But the mule is incapable of self-perpetuation, and must therefore depend on the inter-crossing of its two different parents to create one.

     Similar limited success is shown in zebronkey, a cross of the zebra a donkey, and peapple (pear and apple). Unlike the mule, the zebronkey is a freak, which means that was breed entirely by chance, so with the peapple.  In the case of plants, they can be propagated by vegetative means, such as  grafting and budding, similarly by cutting and marcotting, and in the process preserve the new genetic composition.  This is not the case with higher animals.

     These cases illustrate how nature protects organisms from the incursion of genes outside their own kind, a key to keep the integrity of the species.  In short, this is how strict nature’s genetic housekeeping is.  As a general rule, genes just cannot be littered around, and even if organisms happen to pick them up, these genes do not pollute their genetic composition. Even the dog which is openly bred resulting in many breeds today, will remain as a dog, Canis domesticus. This is true with every living species. 

The Case of the Living Christmas Tree

      In an agro-industrial fair I attended when I was a student, I was amazed to see a “living Christmas Tree.” On closer examination the tree is a full grown eggplant, breast high, its branches were each of a kind – tomato, pepper, potato, and tobacco. Except the tobacco and potato, surprisingly the branches had fruits on them. The specimen drew a lot of curiosity especially on my part who grew up on the farm and had not seen one occurring in nature.

     “It is an old technique,” the horticulture professor who made the living potpourri explained, “You can graft plants that are genetically compatible.  All these plants joined together belong to one family – Solanaceace.”

     It means then that certain members of a family can be vegetatively grown together without becoming genetically altered. So the tomato branch produces tomato fruits which taste exactly like tomato. This is the same with the eggplant branch.

     Again, this is to illustrate that Nature has its own safety mechanism among plants, as well as animals and the simpler forms of life, like algae – so that the genes are not altered in the open and in the wild through cell-to-cell contact. Thus in the field different plants can live together without “genetically polluting” each another.

     Through vegetative means of reproduction, compatibility is within the variety or species as a rule. Among species it is only possible to a limited extent, those belonging to the same family. Budding among the members of the citrus family (Rutaceae) is a common horticultural practice. So with members of the cucurbit family (Cucurbitaceae).  One application of this practice of inter species grafting is between the kondol (as stock because of its sturdiness) and watermelon as scion. This graft extends the longevity of the watermelon so that it can produce more fruits even through off-season when the commodity is more profitable. 

        Genetic Engineering Versus Tissue-Organ Transplantation

     The difference of genetic engineering with tissue-organ transplantation is that GE introduces a gene, or genes, or a snip or a ribbon of DNA, into a recipient. While in the latter, there is no gene or genetic material involved in the process. Analogously, a tissue or an organ is the scion while the recipient is the stock, if we were to compare the process with the grafting of mango.

         The two parts – the transplant and the recipient, the stock and scion – will never mix genetically, that is, each part will carry their respective sets of genes. That is why, if you have a paho mango (stock) grafted with carabao mango (scion), the fruit which develops from the scion will be of the carabao variety, while any fruit emanating from the stock (if it is not removed) will be paho.     

        Compatibility is between and among their cells, and not in their genes or DNA – unlike in genetic engineering. What is compatible in tissue-organ transplantation is in the way their cells assume physiologic activities like growth and development, metabolism, response to stimuli, and to a certain extent, reproduction. The transplanted tissue or organ is now part of the recipient organism, which with the new part, can function more efficiently, and perhaps save it from destruction or death. 

     Genetic pollution is in its early stage, but like the conventional types of pollution - domestic and industrial – it is expected to grow worse as progress continues.

      These are vital considerations to ponder:

1.     Genetic pollution is the by-product of genetic engineering.  The combination of genes to create desired traits is virtually limitless.  Possibilities are everywhere because of man’s craving for new things that living organisms can give – from antibiotics to increased production of food. In the process these engineered genes can be indiscriminately spread and picked up by other organisms.

2.     The virtually endless possibilities in Genetic Engineering do not only create new characters – it can lead to the development of new life forms heretofore unknown in the natural world. There is a possibility that these life forms will not fit into the natural order and classification of living things.

3.     Genetic Engineering in the hands of terrorists and irresponsible persons is extremely dangerous.  Historically, biological warfare aims at creating virulent forms of pathogens directed to man, his livestock and crops. The benefits of this new science can be overshadowed by the dangers it poses.

4.     Genetic engineering destroys the ecosystems. It will disturb the integrity of the food web and food pyramid. Gene pollution could expand to a proportion that does not only affect particular species of organism and their population, and the ecosystem.

5.     Once as ecosystem such as a lake or a forest is disturbed, it losses homeostasis. Genetically engineered organisms become more dependent on humans, necessitating man’s intervention and management that is indeed very expensive. Even then, it cannot efficiently simulate homeostasis – dynamic balance which only nature can provide.

6.     Genetic pollution is going to be deleterious to health of the individual and the human population.  If this is so then we disturb the working of our institutions and the society as a whole.

7.     Genetic pollution will disturb if not change the course of evolution.  Will humankind ultimately take the path of “auto-evolution”?  And will it set also the direction and path of evolution of other living creatures?  To what extent can we take into our hands Creation, the role of God and only God?

             In support of deployment of genetically engineered organisms and products, numerous arguments are easily shown to be fallacious.  (Solangi AH and MV Perilla, Some Concerns on GMOs, Ad Veritatem 2002)

      The first fallacy - Some scientists advance arguments which dispose researchers, producers and others to support the current rapid deployment of genetically engineered life forms.

     The second fallacy - Modification of genomes occurs regularly through biological process such as natural selection, and transfer of genes through viral means.

     The third fallacy - Genomes of domestic plants or animals are vast complexes of genetic material. Modification of genomes through insertion of one or few genes is an extremely small change. Thus, it is acceptable for us to engineer such changes.

     The fourth fallacy - If we don’t introduce technologies based on genetic engineering other people in other countries will do it, thus, it is acceptable perhaps even necessary for us to do so.

 A fifth fallacy - On behalf of rapidly going deployment of technologies based on genetic engineering, we are forced to do so as a consequence of economic factors.

     Solangi and Perilla continued, and I quote:

1.     Genetic engineering (GE) as applied to crops is a very powerful tool for improving (but not increasing) food production. This is because crops become either pest resistant or pesticide-resistant or both, resulting in less damage and therefore higher yet yields.

2.     The hazards of GMOs to biodiversity, food safety, human and animal health, and demand a moratorium on environmental releases in accordance with the precautionary principle.

3.     GE is not the best method for improving food production. It does not increase yield; it endangers the environment; and it does not reduce poverty of the poor nations.

4.     The adverse effects of eating genetically modified (GM) food are unknown. Existing evidence shows that these are dangerous.

5.     There are interlocking interests of GM companies and chemical companies especially in developing countries.

      In a book this author wrote, The Living With Nature Handbook, he stated some recommendations which support those of Solangi and Perilla.

1.     The key to the regeneration of indigenous biological diversity on all three levels – genetic, species and ecosystem – is in the revival of traditional, organic farming methods which have through centuries demonstrated the sustainability and productivity of agriculture.  Western monoculture techniques – and now biotechnology – are destroying the integrity of sustainable productivity.

2.     There should be a stronger vigilance against biopiracy – stealing of indigenous genes by multinational companies and patenting them in their own countries. These genes are potentially valuable materials to be used in genetic engineering.

3.     In the meantime, labeling should be required for all foods, which contain any genetically modified ingredient, even only one or where genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been used in the production of the food.  There should be a thorough review or study of genetically engineered foods and a moratorium on the release of uncertified\unreviewed genetically modified organisms to protect health. 

4.     There is need of monitoring and surveillance programs concerning the environment. Consumers and producers in the Philippines must be organized and mobilized against GMOs. Arbitration by CGIAR centers at the international level and by national R&D centers at a country level, with harmonized activities at international, regional and country levels. Intensified networking and information sharing and more coordinated efforts among various peasants, consumers, environmentalists and religious organizations and other NGOs worldwide.

     Genetic engineering is indeed the newest generator of the worst kind of   pollution heretofore unknown and untold, that if we cannot contain it immediately, will endanger not only humankind but the whole biosphere to ultimate extinction. ~ 

Destruction of our living world, painting in acrylic by AV Rotor                                                          

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Reviving our indigenous sports and games (SV2W Series)

San Vicente Ilocos Sur to the World (Part 2) 

Reviving our indigenous sports and games 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Image result for Sack race1. Sack race. Open the sack, a 50-kilo jute or plastic sack we used to contain one cavan of rice or corn, put both feet inside it, pull it up and hold the brim tightly with both hands without allowing it to fall as you frog-jump to a designated post, go around it and return. Now it’s your partner’s turn, and then the next’s, similar to a rally race. The group that completes the course first gets the prize. The game is easier to describe than to play it. Try broad jumping in quick succession with both feet ensconced in the sack. I would rather run for a kilometer instead. But surprisingly many people are adept to the game; it really needs practice and honing the skill.

2. June Beetle Gladiators – Raise the tough outer pair of wings of this seasonal insect (Leucopholis irrorata) in a perpendicular position and clip it together with the split end of a barbecue stick five inches long. Do the same thing on another beetle of the same size so that each one faces the opposite direction. Draw a line between the two gladiators equidistant to each other. The contest begins. The struggle goes on until the stronger beetle pulls its opponent across the line and wins. A second or third round may be necessary to resolve any doubt.

3. Rhinoceros Beetle Gladiators – Oryctes rhinoceros is coconut beetle known as u-uang (Tag) or barra-irong (Ilk). The larva (grub) bores and feeds on the growing bud of the coconut. The males have horns which naturally makes fierce looking. The females on the other hand, have no horns and are relatively docile. During the mating season the males ferociously fight over their mates, a ritual that may last for hours, and this is what makes them favorite gladiators especially among the Thais who bet heavily on them like fighting cocks. The game is celebrated on a national scale during the emergence of the beetle usually from April to June. It is a traditional game for all ages and classes, lately the rearing of fighting beetles known as kwang has evolved into business in as much as the game has transformed into big time gambling.

Shielded by a tough armor made of chitin, the male is reminiscent of a medieval knight - clean, shiny, compact, and armed with horns. Normally the horn comes in a pair, vertically positioned, but in some species the horns form a trident with the lateral pair as long and as pointed as the central horn. Horns may reach a third of the body length of the insect, but these are more decorative than functional, except that in the insect world the horns are a deterrent to potential predators, and are used by the insect to bluff its own rival.


4. Spider Gladiators – Spiders are by nature ferocious and they attack even their own kind. Why, we do not find spiders living in group. It is because they will always try to defend their niche and will resort to kill any intruder. Even in mating the male which is smaller may end up instead as a meal. It is for this trait that this sport takes advantage of. Curious kid as we were, we would conceal our spider gladiator in empty individual match boxes. The matchmaker arranges the duel between two similar species of the same size. The contest starts. Actually it is a game of death. Some people even bet to the point of gambling, especially for large spiders like the gagambang hari which measures up to 6 inches from tip of front leg to tip of the hind leg. Tarantulas, other than being rare, are docile and would rather try to scare off their enemies before considering any bloody confrontation. Our folks used to warn us, “Beware of the black widow spider!” We kids would hesitate to capture any unusual kind of a spider. The skull and crossbones insignia embosomed on the back of the black widow is still fresh in my mind. By the way, whatever kind of spider you find, take precaution; there are cases of allergy from spider bite and from inhaling hair dust specially during molting.
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A post-script on the SEA Games We, Filipinos, take pride as overall leader in the number of medals won in the 2019  SEA Games; more importantly, in our unity and cooperation in hosting the game. This honor must give impetus in furthering sports consciousness on the grassroots and in preserving our traditional culture.
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5. Beetle “kite” – It’s a game we children on the farm played when the salagubang (L. irrorata) finally emerges at the onset of the rainy season, usually in May or as early as April, although the insect normally comes out of the ground in June, hence its name – June beetle. We would tie the end of a thread like a kite on the pair of hind legs, then make the insect fly into the air. The beetle that flew the highest and the longest won. But we had to repeat the game over and over until the insect is exhausted, and then we replace it with fresh ones – or until we ourselves got tired.

6. Kara Krus – Also called buntayug (Ilk) this is more of a gamble than game. We kids surreptitiously played kara krus without our parents knowledge. And we would bet our meager allowance. The rule is simple. A pair of coins of the same denomination, say 10 cents or 50 cents in our time (recently larger denominations up to 10-peso coin are used), are tossed into the air. On falling to the ground, a pair of heads (tao) makes a winner, while a pair of tails or bird - meaning the eagle symbol - makes a loser. A head and a tail means you have to repeat tossing the coins. It is purely a game of chance but foul play (daya) is not unusual. Be sure the coins face opposite each other before tossing them into the air, and they must be tossed high enough so that they bounce and settle freely on the ground. The game could turn into a bad habit and could breed future gamblers.

  

7. Spin top (trumpo) – Our town is famous for furniture making, so that the lathe machine (pagturnuan Ilk) makes the best tops in town. Everyone could easily recognize a top made in San Vicente, three kilometers west of Vigan, the capital. There were top tournaments held on certain occasions and we would send our best players to the capital. To be a good player, first you must be accurate at a target. Then there is the real tournament. You should be able to demolish your opponent’s top, by puncturing or chopping it into pieces. This is why the wood used in making tops is molave, better still kamagong, the hardest wood. Exhibitions are part of the game. For example whose top makes the loudest humming sound? How balanced and stable is the spinning of your top? How long will it keep on spinning before it finally dies out? Then there is the skill to “capture” a spinning top and continue it spinning in your palm. 

But how do you make a top by hand, that is without a lathe machine? I’ll tell you how. Cut a fresh branch of guava or isis or Ficus, the one that produces sandpaper like leaves, around three inches in diameter. With the use of a bolo shape one end into a round peg, and drive a 3-inch nail through it, leaving half of it to become the shank. Smoothen the surface, and make it even and balanced as you rotate it by hand. Shape and severe the upper part of the top with a saw or sharp knife. An immature wood when it dries up has a tendency to crack. That’s why you have to look for a seasoned branch; the harder it is the better, and the more durable is your top. For the spinning rope, get a pure cotton thread, numero cuartro, that is ¼ of an inch, and a meter long. Sometimes we would twist two thinner threads to make the standard spinning rope.

1. Jack-n-poi – It is an old game, possibly originated from China, which is used to resolve conflicts like head or tail. It is quite an intellectual and witty way. Here two or more persons play the game. Stone (clenched fist) defeats scissor (forefinger and middle finger open) but it loses to paper (palm open). Paper on the other hand submits to scissor. By law of elimination, the one who survives wins – or faces the consequence he may not like. We, kids on the farm, resolved work like taking the goat to graze, or cleaning the pig sty – and such chores we would prefer someone doing it for us. 

9. Carabao race – I would tell joke in a puzzle, “What is the first car race?” The children of my age then would think of Ford or Chevrolet. Sirit? “It’s car-abao race.” It’s a corny joke, moreso today. But if you haven’t seen one. Go to Paombong, Bulacan during the fiesta of San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of farmers. It is like horse race, with the “jockey” riding without harness. So there’s a lot of skill needed to stir the animal to the finish line, galloping the carabao way.

Carabaos are known to be very docile. They say, you won’t be able to reach your destination on time with a carabao even if you use a horse whip. And don’t ever force the animal cruelly. In Thailand a carabao in the middle of a race broke away and attacked the spectators hurting dozens of them. An animal is still an animal however tame it is. The biological instinct is unpredictable.

10. Catching piglets (bi-ik) in mud. It takes a day or two to prepare the arena or pen, some 5 by 5 meters square, or bigger in area, and secured with interlink wire or wooden fence. To make the game exciting the ground is puddled like a rice field ready for planting. A smaller pen is made next to the big pen. The piglets – some ten are released per batch of contestants. It is a game of two or more contending groups. It could be a one on one contest in the final stage. The rule may be that he who catches the piglet either gets a prize or takes the animal home – like in the movie, Babe, a story of a piglet won from a fair by an elderly farmer who reared it to become a “sheepdog” and earned its place on the farm.

It’s a messy game; it is full of wit and skill. It is in catching the piglets and putting them into the adjoining pen within the prescribed time frame that determine the winner. Imagine the winner standing on stage receiving his prize – or piglet. Can you recognize him? 

11. Palo de sebo (bamboo pole climbing). It is tricky – how can you climb a bamboo pole twenty feet tall covered with animal fat or vegetable oil? Because there was no rule to prevent a participant to devise his own technique, we would coach our contestant to pocket wood ash and applies it as he inched upward until he reaches the top and gets his prize.


12. Pabitin It is a portable trellis around two square meters tied at the corners to a common string, and is laden with many goodies. The setup is usually attached to the ceiling or a tree branch with a pulley of sort, enabling the game master to pull it up and down. The game is actually for children of the same age and ideally of the same height. The rule of the game is that the one who reaches and grabs the item is his. And he is supposed to leave and give chance to the other participants. It not unusual for a parent to carry a young contestant to reach for the pabitin. Followed by elder children. And if the moderator is not strict, expect something unruly to happen. The game ends up into a free-for-all, and what remains of the pabitin is but a skeleton of bamboo sticks and crepe paper. For fiestas and local parties the pabitin is popular even to this day. 
Image result for Pabitin

It is characteristically Filipino. And why not? Imagine how attractive it is up there hanging even before the tart of the party. Every one would be eyeing which item to get. It’s apple to the eye – and remains so until the game leader declare the start of the game. The string moves and the pabitin slowly goes down, down and meet a pack of contestant shrieking, jumping, their arms instantly doubling in length.

13. Kite dog fight – Gliadator kites fight it out in the sky, but it’s the string that is the target more than the kite itself. This is how we did it in our plaza in San Vicente where we used to play kite come harvest time, in the months of October and November. At that time there was no nylon or monofilament, so it was the good old cotton thread, “numero viente” we used, which is the standard for kite string then. We would pound glass finely and mix it with egg yolk, then coat it on the kite string. When it gets dry the string is like sandpaper (papel de liha). Here we go. The opponent’s kite and our kite are flown simultaneously. And when both kites are sufficiently stable in the air, we bring the two kites at striking distance, until the strings get entangled. Now the fight is whose kite falls – or which string breaks. Most often it is the string that spells victory. You can imagine the loser running after his kite across the fields, over fences and making sure no one gets first and retrieve it. A loose kite is everybody’s. 

Image result for tug of war game philippinesImage result for tug-of-war game Philippines images

14. Tug-of-war. It may be a parlor game, but wait until the big boys get hold of the rope. Better an outdoor game then, and be sure the rope is strong. It is a game of strength, but one in unison, so that it needs cooperation and skill. Here are some hints to win the game. 
Choose the members of the team for strength and stamina. Distribute the members of the team evenly; the right handed and left handed in their proper positions on either side of the rope they feel most efficient. Keep distance to maximize individual strength with the strongest ones up front and at the rear as anchor. Distribute resistance with both feet solidly anchored on the ground. Do not allow the rope to sway; keep it steady. Anticipate surge and counteract spontaneously. Be sure you hands are protected, say with gloves or hand towel. Be wary of sudden release by your opponents, you’ll end up into a pile. 

Image result for Puto seko eating contest imagesImage result for Puto seko eating
15. Puto seko eating - Have you tried eating the powdery stuff without water, then whistle to signal you have won? It is a unique game and if you are not careful enough you will surely choke, so that is discouraged among the very young and the sickly. Puto seko is made of rice flour, molded and dried. The contestants line the stage and on signal start eat a prescribed number of pieces. The first to finish all and produce a clear whistle wins. ~
Reference: Living with Folk Wisdom by AV Rotor (UST Publishing House 2010)
Acknowledgement: Internet Photos

Saturday, November 23, 2019

But there's no neighbor!

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

What is missing in this painting?

"Let's draw a house. Each his own."

The children drew and drew: 
posts, walls, stair window, door;
cheek on palm, eyelids moving; 
garden, swimming pool, patio;
twirling a pencil, added: 
trees, mountain, cloud, sun. 

"Here!" They showed their own houses.

"There's something missing."

Back to the drawing board, pondered:
birds in the sky and in trees singing.

"Here," they showed again their houses.

"There's still something missing.
Would you like to live in your houses?"

Silence. 

Fingers moved, lips tightened:
more lines, shades, colors, now with flowers.

"Here," they showed once more their houses.

"But there's still one thing missing."

Silence.


A little girl in a corner drew and drew:
a house nearby, people around.

She showed her house.

The children chorused: Neighbor! ~


*LESSON on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Friday, November 22, 2019

Food Crisis Series 25: Home Gardening: Green Patch at Home

 Food Crisis Series 25: 

Home Gardening:
Green Patch at Home
Dr Abe V Rotor  
avrotor.blogspot.com

By size, my home farm is a Liliputian version of a corporate farm. Intensive cultivation-wise however, it dwarfs the monoculture of a plantation. It is only when your area is small that you can attend to the requirements of an integrated farm with basic features of a garden.

       When I moved to the city, I put up perhaps the smallest garden, a corner lot equivalent to a space of a two-bedroom bungalow. Here, after two years of experimentation and redesigning evolved a garden ensconced like in a shell, an example of tri-commodity farming where I have vegetables, poultry and fish.

Home garden, author's residence

         My wife, who is an accountant, estimates that presently, the garden could save up to 20 percent of our family's expense for food, in exchange for twenty family man-hours every week. Labor makes up to 50 percent of production costs, she says. Since gardening is a hobby in lieu of outdoor games, we agreed not to include labor as cost. This gives a positive sign to the garden's financial picture.

        We do not also consider in the book the aesthetic value of weekends when the garden becomes a family workshop to prove green thumbs, and the influence my family has made on the community by giving free seeds and seedlings, and know-how tips. When my children celebrate their birthdays, the kids in the neighborhood enjoy harvesting tomatoes, string beans and leafy vegetables - a rare experience for boys and girls living in the city.

     
What makes a garden?

        Frankly, I have no formula for it. I first learned farming from my father who was a gentleman farmer before I became an agriculturist. But you do not have to go for formal training to be able to farm well. All that one needs is sixth sense or down-to-earth sense, the main ingredient of a green thumb.

        Take these gardening experiences.

1. Get the most sunlight

        A maximum of five hours of sunlight should be available - geographically speaking that is. Morning and direct sunlight is ideal for photosynthesis. But you need longer exposure for fruit vegetables, corn and viny plants like cucurbits, ampalaya.  So with crucifers like mustard and pechay. These are long-day plants.

       Well, to get more sunlight, I prune the surrounding talisay or umbrella trees twice a year. I use the branches for trellis and poles. Then, I painted the surrounding walls white to increase the intensity of reflected and diffused light.

        Plot the sun's course and align the rows on an East-West direction. Plants do not directly over-shadow each other this way. This is very important during wet season when days are cloudy and plants grow luxuriantly.  Other than maximizing solar radiation you also get rid of soil borne plant diseases. Sunlight that gets in between the plants helps eliminate pest and pathogens. And in summer, you can increase your seeding rate, and therefore potential yield.  Try planting in triangular formation or quincunx.

        Outline that part of the garden that receives the longest sunlight exposure. Plant this area with sun-loving plants like okra and ampalaya.

        Lastly, remember that plants which grow on trellises and poles "reach out for the sun" with less ground space. Put up trellises at blind corners and train viny plants to climb early and form a canopy. For string beans, use poles on which they climb. You wouldn't believe it but as long as your rows are aligned with the sun's movement and trellises and poles are used, you can plant more hills in a given area, and you can have dwarf and tall plants growing side by side. Try alternate rows of sitao, tomato and cabbage.

2. Try Mixed Garden or Storey Cropping
   
        What is the composition of an ideal garden?

       Again, there's no standard design for it. The most practical type is a mixed garden.  A mixed garden is like a multi-storey building.  Group plants according to height.  That is why you have to analyze their growing habits.

     Are they tall or dwarf?  Seasonal, biennial or permanent?  What part of the year do they thrive best? Refer to the planting calendar or consult your nearest agriculturist.

        Look for proper cropping combinations through intercropping or crop rotation. Malunggay, papaya, kamias, banana and the like make good border plants. Just be sure they do not shade smaller plants. Cassava and viny plants trained on trellis are next in height. The group of pepper, tomato, eggplant follows, while the shortest in height hierarchy are sweet potato, ginger and other root crops. Imagine how these crops are grouped and built like a storeyed building.  We call this storey cropping.

 
Salad of young pods of mungo and talinum (local spinach)

       A friend commented, "Why streamline your garden the American way?" I agree with him. Plant the Filipino way.

       At any rate there are crops "we plant and forget." Before the pot starts to shimmer, you realize you need some malunggay leaves, a dozen tops of camote, a handful of fresh onion leaves, etc.  All you need is to dash into the backyard and pick these green ingredients.

3. Practice Organic Farming

       Traditional farming is back with modern relevance.

     Organic farming is waste recycling - not by getting rid of the waste itself but by utilizing it as production input.

       "This system is an alternative to conventional chemical farming", says Domingo C. Abadilla in his book Organic Farming.

        I practice organic farming for two reasons - and for a third, if I may add.  Crops grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides are safer and more nutritious.

Local fruits raised on the backyard
       
    What would you do with poultry droppings and Azolla from the fishpond?  Plus the kitchen refuse and weeds?  Make valuable compost out of them. For potash, sieve ash from a garbage-dumping site. Just be sure it is not used for industrial waste.

       Can we grow crops without insecticides? Generally, no.  But there are ways to protect plants in a safe way.  

·        Use mild detergent, preferably coconut-based soap, to control  aphids and other plant lice.

·        Plant tomatoes around pest prone plants.  They exude repellant odor on a wide variety of pests.


·        Keep a vigil light above the garden pond to attract nocturnal insects that may lay eggs on your plants at daytime. Tilapia and hito relish on insects.

·        A makeshift greenhouse made of plastic and mosquito net will eliminate most insects.

      If you find stubborn insect pest like caterpillars and crikets, make a nicotine solution and spray. One or two sticks of cigarette, irrespective of its brand, mixed into a bucketful of water will do the trick. But be sure not to use the solution on tomato, pepper and eggplant. It is possible that tobacco mosaic virus  can be transmitted  to these crops.

       A relative, a heavy smoker, visited us at home and we showed him our garden. When he touched the tomato plants, he was unknowingly inoculating mosaic virus. Tobacco virus can remain dormant in cigars and cigarette for as long as twenty years. Then it springs back to life in the living system of a plant belonging to Solanaceae or tobacco family.

4. Raise Fish in the Garden Pond

     Water from the pond is rich with algae, plant nutrients and detritus that add to soil fertility. While you water your plants, you are also fertilizing them. 

       The pond should be designed  for growing  tilapia, hito or dalag, or a combination of these. For tilapia, keep its population low to avoid overcrowding and competition. Stock fingerlings of the same size and age.
     Try growing hito, native or African.  When you buy live hito from the market, separate the small ones (juveniles), which will serve as your growers. They are ready to harvest in 3 to 6 months with 3 pieces making a kilo.  Hito is easier to raise than any other freshwater fish. One thing is that you do not change water often because the fish prefers to have a muddy bottom to stay.

        Feed the fish with poultry and fish entrails, vegetable trimmings, dog food, etc. Just avoid accumulation of feed that may  decompose and cause foul odor, which means that Oxygen in water is being replaced with Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen Sulfide.
                            
Fresh vegetables from the garden

       Azolla, a floating fern, is good for fish and animal feeds because it contains 20 to 25 percent protein,.  It is also an excellent organic fertilizer because it is rich in nitrate, a product of nitrogen fixation by Anabaena, a microscopic blue-green algae living in the fronds of Azolla. Nitrate is important for plant growth. Grow Azolla in a separate pond, or in floating cage, so as to maintain a regular biomass supply. 

   5. Integrate Backyard Poultry

       Raise some broilers and layers in separate cages. Have other  cages to rear chicks and growers to replenish your stock.  Formulate your feed.  If not, mix commercial broiler feed and yellow corn grit in equal proportion. This is more economical and you may get better results than by using commercial broiler feeds alone.

      Construct a fence around the cages and have pair of turkey on the loose. Similarly you may rear a few native chickens to feed on feed waste. Clip their wings regularly to prevent them from escaping  and destroy your garden. I don't recommend piggery unless the neighborhood does not object to it.

6. Plant Fruit Trees Trees

       Do not forget to have some native fruit bearing trees such as guava, atis, guyabano, kamias, kalamansi and other citrus species.  If your area is big you can include coconut, mango, kaimito, bananas.  Rambutan, why not?  I saw fruit laden rambutan trees in some residences  in Quezon City. 

     Just like annual plants, adopt the East-West planting method for trees so that you can have seasonal crops in between their rows.  Use compost for the fruit trees, just like in vegetables. You can plant  orchard trees like mango, guyabano, coconut and cashew along the sidewalk fronting your residence.

7. Make Your Own Compost, and Grow Mushrooms, Too      

     In one corner, build a compost pile with poles and mesh wire,  1m x 2m, and 2m in height. Dump leaves, kitchen refuse, chicken droppings and allow them to decompose and become into valuable organic fertilizer. Turn the pile once a month until it is ready for use.
    
     In another place you can have a mushroom pile made of rice straw, or water hyacinth. After harvesting the mushrooms, the spent material is a good compost material and composting will take a shorter time. 

        To learn more about mushroom growing and composting, refer to the technology tips of DOST-PCARRD, or see your agriculturist in your area.  

8. Plant Herbals - Nature’s First Aid

         It is good to have the following plants as alternative medicine.  Lagundi for flu and fever, guava for skin diseases and body odor, aromatic pandan and tanglad for deodorant and air freshener, oregano for cough and sore throat, mayana for boils and mumps, ikmo for toothache, pandakaki for cuts. There are other medicinal plants you can grow in your backyard.  Remember, herbals are nature's first-aid.

         These and many others are the reasons you should have a  home garden.  One thing is sure in the offing: it is a source of safe and fresh vegetables and fruits, fish and meat, and natural medicine.  Most important of all, the garden is a recreation of nature itself, a green patch of a lost Eden. ~