My Best Photographs of Animals (Article in Progress)

 My Best Photographs of Animals

Dr Abe V Rotor

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35 Cases of Allergy Commonly Encountered .

35 Cases of Allergy Commonly Encountered

Dr Abe V Rotor

Let me present some cases of allergy that are commonly encountered. These were gathered from our radio listeners on the former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid. (People's School on Air)

 

1. 
   Smoking. Drivers, office workers, mechanics, farmers, writers, teachers, name it, and the habit is widespread. I know one whose only bisyo is paninigarillo. He didn’t live long. 

2. “Canned entertain
   ment” such as parties in fastfoods predisposes kids to various ailments and psychological trauma, and to certain kinds of allergy.  It is devoid of the natural environment that builds resistance to allergy as the children grow up.

3. Some common allergens are pollen from flowers of trees and annuals - kasoy, kupkupyes, macopa, and tapilan. Lipang Kalabao, a very itchy plant that grows into a tree.  The sap of aldelfa and yellow bell may cause paralysis of the pharynx leading to asphyxiation. 

5.  Mushroom Allergy. There are spores of fungi like Auricularia or “tainga ng daga” and wild tree mushroom even when they have dried up. 

6. Fowls and wild bir
   ds are common causes of allergy, from their feathers and parasites, to their droppings. The filthiest bird second to the vulture is the crow carries vermin from carcasses of animals and garbage.  Allergy from reptiles –  from skin casting to vermin attracted by their food and droppings. 

7. Don’t play with spiders. Spiders cause allergy with the hair coverings of their body, and web or silk of certain species.  The Black Widow is one of the few poisonous species. 

8. Allergic to trees like Ipil-ipil?  It’s due to “plant lice” like Psylla, a minute insect pest that wiped out ipil-ipil plantations in the seventies and eighties. They build dense colonies on a single tree, sapping its vitality until it dies. 

9. Mealybugs and scale insects (Order Homoptera) produce waxy covering layer for protection and camouflage, as well as casing of their eggs and young. Cottony mealybug (Pseudococcos) on guava leaf; the insect without waxy covering. 

10. Pesticide Residue in fruits. Fruits may carry pesticide  residues of dangerous chemicals like Folidol, BHC and Malathion. 

11. Pesticide residues on vegetables, particularly on crucifers – cabbage, lettuce, pechay, cauliflower – register above allowable levels. Lack of monitoring may predispose consumers to the effects of pesticides. 

12. Kapok or Cotton Tree (Ceiba pentandra L) releases seeds covered with lint from the mature pod  The fiber is gathered mainly for pillow. It is cool and preferred over synthetic fills. Dehiscence period is towards the end of the year.  

13. Fire Tree (Delonix regia) Both flowers and caterpillars attacking the tree may cause allergy. Higad or the hairy caterpillar of Tussock moth causes irritation of the skin which may last for days.  A common remedy is to apply vinegar on the affected skin. If the sharp hairs are imbedded, apply candle drops and  allow to solidify. Then peel off with the encased hair. Mosses, algae, ferns and short growing annuals may cause allergy, including their substrates that undergo transformation by weathering. 

14. Allergic to Termites? It may be the termite or the mushroom in farms in its chamber - or both - that cause the allergy. Termites work with lignin-breaking fungi that soften the wood. Inside their guts are protozoa that break up cellulose, aiding digestion – a classical case of symbiosis. 

   

Global Warming and Climate Change increase incidence 

of Asthma and Allergy cases around the world.

15. Pesticide Residues.  Poisonous hydrocarbon and phosphate compounds find their way through the food chain – in the case of frog from sprayed insects that serve as its prey. Pesticide residues accumulate in its tissues and transferred to the its predators, including man.   

16. Are you allergic to native delicacies?
17. Sinanglaw (left) is a favorite Ilocano dish from internal organs of carabao or cattle cooked in slow fire and heavily spiced with hot pepper, paminta and ginger. Pinapaitan and kilawin prepared from goat’s meat are a native delicacy in many parts of the country. Other delicacies include kaldereta and soup “number 5.”  

18. Tulingan or Tanggigiis a common cause of allergy to many people. It is a practice to drain the blood by cutting the tail, and carefully removing the entrails before the fish is cut and served raw or cooked. The danger worsens when the fish is no longer fresh. There People who are also allergic to tuna.  

19. Shellfish – tahong, talaba and halaan may harbor the red tide dinoflagellate is large quantity that may lead to Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP) in man.
20. PSP symptoms may first appear as allergy, and may be lethal if not treated immediately. 

21. Allergy is caused by insects spiny caterpillar

22. Banana and mabolo (left) attacked by fruit fly (Dacus dorsalis/cucurbitae). It attacks dozens of popular fruits and vegetables, including mango, citrus, guava, macopa, cucumber, ampalaya.

23. The domesticated honeybee (Apis melifera) normally does not sting unless provoked, unlike the notorious African honeybee which threatens the US honeybee industry today. There are as many deaths due to bee sting as snake bites. People vary in reaction to bee sting, from swelling to difficulty in breathing.   

24. Millipedes (Class Diplopods) exude Cyanide gas to stun their prey as well as repel their predators. Thus children should warned not to play with the “diken-diken,” playing      possum by curling its body into a tight ring. 

25. Off! Avoid obnoxious and annoying insects - all kinds of bugs, plant lice,  aggressive Insects such as wasp and hantik ant.  Hemipterans- the bugs – exude an obnoxious odor which is caustic to the skin and eyes, a chemical offensive that wards off would-be  predators attracted by their brilliant colors and attractive designs. 

26. Perfectly camouflaged, these insects lie surreptitious to their prey and predator and people may be unwary of them. Lepidopterans – butterflies, moths and skippers – are covered with scales of of chitin, a very resistant cellulose-like compound. The practice of releasing butterflies in place of throwing rice on a newly married couple has been discouraged because of the danger the chitinous scales cause such as irritation of the skin and eyes. 

27. There are various allergic reactions to fowls and birds,  not only for their feathers, but mites and lice PHOTO belonging to two Orders Anoplura (sucling lice) and Mallophaga (chewing lice) - that reside in their bodies and nests. 

28. Ngarusangis is a very small bivalve that occurs in colonies in estuaries. The shells are gathered for food and for ducks in raising balot.  Allergy cases have been reported by eating this favorite soup of the Ilocanos. Below, increasing lead pollution has forced the shutdown of many salt beds in the country.  Salt made near cities and industrial sites may pose danger to health.  
29. Does radiation cause allergy? Radiation emitted by radio transmitters have been found to be the cause of a number of ailments from insomnia to sterility. It is also associated with cancer, abnormal blood levels and heart conditions which may be related to allergy or allergy symptoms.

30. Danger lurks in murky water – diseases, vermin, etc. Heavily polluted waterways such as the Pasig River contain high levels of Hydrogen Sulfide, Ammonia, Methane, other gases, and toxic metals. 

31. Allergy to plastics and other synthetic materials. Stuffed toys may cause allergy, so with many things put into the mouth. 

32. Aflatoxin in peanut, corn and others go unnoticed with the preserved food PHOTO 
    
    
    

33. Believe it or not – kapre lives in old balete tree. Naan-annongan is different from nakasagsagid , but the symptoms are quite similar -  profuse sweating and feeling of general weakness. 

34. Allergy from yeast and young wine. 

35. Are you allergic to fireworks, and on New Year’s Eve?

To what extent does nature provide immunity? Fortunately as children grow to maturity, particularly so under natural environment, they acquire the defense the body systems need against a host of health problems from allergy to physiologic and pathological diseases, albeit adaptation to emotional and psychological stress. 

Homogenization is likened to Globalization – one economy, one media, one culture, one car, one MRT, one computer, one bank. There’s one thing we are missing – the environment.   In fact we are missing Nature in our lives.  Our children are now spending more and more waking hours with the computer as if it were man’s best friend.  Come to think of the computer as the root of allergy and many ailments.  Spending more time with the computer deprives millions especially children of participating in health promoting games and resistance-building exposure to nature.

It is a scenario that we see everywhere, a scenario of our own making. And yet, like artists before the canvas we have the power to create one that is beautiful and conducive to our well being. But we do not or we refuse to do so, although we are aware that a healthy environment is primordial to good health and a happy life. 

Ever wonder what it means to enjoy childhood outside of the confines of  air conditioned  room?  Many children look forward to the first rain in May. Boy scouts and girl scouts do.  To the athlete, the naturalist.  And many boys and girls wishing to play outdoor. PHOTO

Our children are no longer children of nature; they are captives of education and media, of malls and cafes. 

They like to think that the mind is like the computer, that the more information it acquires the better of is the individual. This is not so. Not when it pertains to health, not with the ability to arrive at correct decisions, not when and where survival is the name of the game.  And not when it comes to matters of love.

Which reminds me a story of a young man who was in love.  So he asked the computer,  “What is love?”

Whereupon, came a prompt answer – not only one or two, but in many definitions, technical and literary.

“How does it feel to be in love?” the young man continued. 

This time the computer did not respond.  He entered his query once more, and again, but still there was no response. After several attempts, the computer finally gave up. “I cannot feel.”

And here are our children spending most of their waking hours with an “intelligent” thing in the shape of a box, a thing that has no feeling at all! Even when the computer can tell us of all kinds of the sickness in the world, it cannot comfort you. Because a robot has no feeling.  ~

Acknowledgement with gratitude: Internet images

Be vigilant! Don't be a victim of unscrupulous trade practices.

Usapang Bayan, November 11, 2026

Be vigilant!

Don't be a victim of unscrupulous trade practices.

30 Surreptitious Ways

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature - School on Blog [avrotor.blogspot.com]

Wa-is, coming from the word wise, is the local parlance to describe a person who puts one over his fellowmen. It is taking advantage of others of their situation,
 

Be sure you know what goes into your coffee. It may be adulterated with ipil-ipil seeds. Likewise, chocolate may contain road dust as filler. Papaya seeds mixed with black pepper is not uncommon. Peanut butter comes from broken and immature seeds; bagoong and patis from unsold fish at the end of the day.

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

1. Coffee may be adulterated with ipil-ipil (Leucaena glauca) seeds. The seeds contain mimosin that retards growth and causes baldness.

2. Broken and inferior peanut is ground into peanut butter. It is high in aflatoxin which causes cirrhosis and cancer. Healthy nuts are sold whole peanut.

3. It is the culled piglets (bansot) that are made into lechon. The robust ones are grown for meat.

4. Papaya seeds are mixed with black pepper. They look similar.

5. Inferior quality fruits such as strawberry, orange and mango are made into jam and puree.

6. Ordinary milkfish (bangus) is passed on as prized Bonoan bangus from Dagupan. The lower tail of Bonoan bangos is shorter than the other tail.

7. Unscrupulous traders add water and salt to bagoong and patis to increase their volume.8. Premium grade fruits are arranged on top of kaing (basket); inside are of inferior grade.

Generic medicine is all right if guaranteed by DOH. Branded medicine is expensive, and capitalizes on its brand.

9. Ordinary rice is mixed with premium rice, and passed on as premium grade.

10. Cabbage grown on the lowlands of Ilocos is brought up to Baguio and passed on as Baguio cabbage which commands a higher price.

11. Before a large animal like cow is sold to the auction market it is first bathed with patis to make its body to swell and appear fat. This is a malpractice observed in Padre Garcia, Batangas, the biggest animal auction market in the Philippines.

12. Tomatoes are forced to ripe when price is high, This is done by uprooting the whole plant laden with fruits and hang it upside down until all the fruits, including the immature ones, are "ripe."

13. Immediately after the Chernobyl nuclear accident fallout-tainted milk found its way to the Philippines. The huge shipment was impounded pending investigation. When the investigation was over, to the surprise of not everyone, milk was gone. To the amazement of housewives - powdered milk and polvoron became so suddenly cheap!

 

14. Double dead is not a new term. This is meat from already dead animals - poultry and livestock sold clandestinely. It is prevalent during foot-and-mouth epidemic for livestock, and corriza for poultry, usually in the summer months.

How do you if an egg is fresh? Immerse in water. Fresh egg settles on its side at the bottom.15. Check expiration date, also date of manufacture. If there is none - erased or altered - don't buy the commodity. This is specially true to canned goods, bakery products, and other perishable products. Check date of harvesting or slaughter for fresh items. There may be frozen food long overdue for disposal.

16. The most rampant trade malpractice is short selling. Watch out those weighing scales on the sidewalk. You pay for three kilos lanzones when the actual weight is only two. Translate this to bigger volumes.

17. Frozen dressed chicken? After thawing, it shrank by a quarter. So with fish. Sometimes water is injected before freezing.

18. Formalin is added to ice water to preserve fish. Any trace of formalin is enough warning. But not so many people can detect it.

19. Kalamay sa ba-o. How do we know if it's really filled? This is where trust of a suki comes in.

20. Food coloring makes food and drink attractive and inviting. Many food dyes are carcinogenic.

21. Over packaging (e.g. tupig is wrapped with layers of banana leaves, so with carabao cheese, puto and the like. Too much and elaborate packaging is part of selling strategy. It makes the item real expensive.
 

The cost of mineral water is 70 percent for the container, and 30 percent for the content. Which makes it the most expensive water in the world! It’s even more expensive than premium gasoline.

22. Davao pomelo, Zambales mango, Laguna lansones???

23.Naka tikim ka na ba ng kinse años? (Referring to a 15-year old wine). It's a lie; a viable business can't let money sleep that long. And how about the hidden indecency of the message? Would you patronize the product?24. Made in USA, Made in Japan, But the components of the appliance are made in China. German Design, but locally made. "USA" Translation: Deer in Pilipino

25. Dilution = More Profit, in shampoo, washing detergents, softdrink, fruit juice, whiskey, brandy, rubbing alcohol, perfume, gurgle. We may be buying "water" and least of the product.

26. Fillers in toothpaste, detergents, cosmetics, air, etc. Breaded fried chicken, fish to make them look bigger - and cheaper.

27. Sale! Sale! Be aware of the original price, and find out if it's really sale.

28. Advance payments. Payment-in-kind. Wholesale price, factory price. (Really?)
No exchange, no return. The customer is always right. You mean, the right of the customer.

29. Smuggled? contraband (guns)? Stolen? Regulated (drugs)? Fenced? The customer must know the law. Ignorance is no excuse. Don't fall victim of illegal activities.

30. Book Cover Syndrome. We are in an age of aesthetic design. Of beautiful facade. Of first impression. Of idol endorsers, of the "in" thing. "Contemporary" means now; tradition is passe. Futurism (Lady Gaga), gender insensitive (Charice).

Don't fall into the tender trap of consumerism. Impulse buying, psychological appetite. Restraint, restraint.

These and many more practices attest to the negative traits of some Filipinos - and other nationalities as well. It is by knowing these unscrupulous trade practices that we are forewarned. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed."Add more to this list, and share them with your family, in school and your community, more so with your own experiences, and those malpractices experienced by others you know.Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM 8 to 9 Evening Class, Monday to Friday 

“We must have something to cling to. Some things must not change.”

“We must have something to cling to.

Some things must not change.”

– Dr Arturo B Rotor

 (Dr. Rotor served as the Executive Secretary under President Manuel L Quezon, and subsequently under President Sergio Osmena.)

Dr Abercio V Rotor, PhD

 Awarding Ceremony, Introduction of Dr Arturo B Rotor

The Arturo B Rotor Memorial Awards for Literature, Nov 26, 2022

Distinguished officers, and members of the Philippine College of Physicians, and PCP Foundation; organizers and participants to the Rotor Literary Awards; guests, ladies and gentlemen.  I greet you all a  pleasant and memorable evening.

What I wish to convey is a message of Dr Arturo B Rotor (PHOTO), 5 years before he died at the age of 80 in 1988. “We must have something to cling to. Some things must not change.” 

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Dr. Arturo B. Rotor was a very busy person, all around and dynamic - a medical doctor, the first Filipino allergist, internationally acclaimed short story writer, horticulturist, musician, and former Executive Secretary of the Philippine War Cabinet under Presidents Quezon and Osmeña.

Dr Rotor was a graduate of the University of the Philippines  College of Medicine and Conservatory of Music, earning two degrees at the same time. His short stories "Dahong Palay" (1928), "Zita" (1930), and "The Wound and the Scar" (1937) were published by the Philippine Book Guild, which won him acclaim. Recognizing his immense contribution to Philippine literature as one of the country's greatest short story writers of the 20th century, Dr. Rotor was awarded the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1966.

In 1941, upon the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, Pres. Manuel L. Quezon established the Commonwealth government-in-exile in Washington, D.C. There, Dr. Rotor served as the War Cabinet's Executive Secretary. He continued to serve in this capacity until the reestablishment of the Commonwealth government in Manila in March 1945.

He resumed his medical practice, and in 1948, he published his research at John Hopkins Medicine, about the rare form of jaundice, which was soon named after him—the Rotor Syndrome. 

He served as director of the UP Postgraduate School of Medicine, and was a pioneer of Allergology. To promote allergy/immunology as subspecialty, Dr Rotor founded the Philippine Society of Allergology and Immunology (which was reorganized into the Philippine Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology or PSAAI).

While practicing medicine, Dr Rotor continued his literary pursuits. His "Confidentially, Doctor"(1965) column with the Manila Times, and his older works republished in 1973, and "The Men Who Play God" (1983) were all inspired by his experience among patients, with anecdotes and stories of compassion and courage – and humor.

Dr Arturo Rotor died in 1988 from cancer and was survived by his wife Emma Unson, who taught college mathematics and physics at Assumption. Thy had no children.

(Arturo B Rotor, Today in History, Internet)

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Three breakthroughs in science and technology within Dr Rotor’s life

· First breakthrough is the splitting of the atom, which led to the invention and subsequent detonation of the atomic bomb that ended WWII, and marked the beginning of the Atomic Age and the beginning of the Cold War.

· Second breakthrough is the splitting of the gene, the breaking of the Code of Life, which  radically changed the concept of life and creation. It opened a new and controversial field of science, Genetic Engineering, which now threatens the ecosystems and the biosphere.

· Third breakthrough is the invention of the microchip and the Computer, shrinking the world into a global village, so to speak, and radically changing the way we live with electronics at our fingertips, from communication to transportation, to the extent of peeping through a keyhole prospects of space exploration.  

These breakthroughs changed the world, and continue to do so on an accelerated scale.  But Dr Rotor warned of the consequences of such rapid and chartless change. He knew that runaway change has very dangerous consequences. He stressed in his golden years, this message, “We must have something to cling to. Some things must not change.” He was 75 then, 5 years before his death. (National Review feature written by Ms Lily Lim.)

                                           Holistic Life

He stood as vanguard in the way he lived, warning us of the ill consequences of the so-called Good Life in the way we live today, the Age of Postmodernism, We are “living tomorrow today” on borrowed time and resources. His advocacy is, "Let’s live as holistic human beings."

Holism is the word for his message. Dr Rotor is an epitome of the four attributes of a holistic life." He is a Neo-Renaissance man, on the principle of "health in body and spirit, psyche and intellect."

· Man, the Thinker (Homo sapiens)
· Man, the Maker (Homo faber)
· Man, the Player (Homo ludens)
· Man, the Reverent (Homo spiritus)

The Little Brown Book, THE MEN WHO PLAY GOD.

The title leads to a study of Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel – The Creation, on the relationship between man and his Creator, whereby the two appear to reach out for each other.

A gap separates their forefingers. It’s like that of a spark plug. it is this gap that the doctor-writers tried to interpret and define. It is this theme that the 25 entries sought for meaning in different interpretations.

The Little Prince novelette by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a guide to understanding The men Who Play God.  Here is the novelette's summary.

A pilot crash-landed his plane in the Sahara Desert. While he tried to repair his plane, 

a little boy appeared out of nowhere and asks him to draw a sheep.

The pilot learned that this "little prince" came from a faraway tiny planet with three volcanoes. He left a rose. his most important possession. Before arriving on Earth, the little prince visited other planets and met with strange individuals: a king, a vain man, a drunkard, a lamplighter, and a geographer.

He dropped down into the Sahara Desert. He found no friends there, but a snake told him that if he ever needed to return to his home planet, he could take advantage of the snake’s bite. He met a fox that taught him to realize that to know others we must “tame” and be "responsible" to them.  This is what makes things and people unique. "The essential is invisible to the eye," says the fox.

The pilot learned to love and cherish the small boy, He and the boy found a well and drink from it, which saved the pilot’s life. He was about to tell the prince he had fixed his plane, when the prince was talking to the yellow snake about returning to his home planet.  

The prince wished to reunite with his rose. And he let the snake bite him. He fell over into the sand. The pilot did not find his body the next day so he hoped that the boy was not dead. The pilot returned to his normal life but always wondered about the prince and hoped he would return someday.

Who is the Little Prince? What is its relevance to Dr. Rotor’s Message?

 San Vicente, ancestral hometown of the Rotors 

(San Vicente has been declared Heritage Zone of the North (RA 11645 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte)

 

San Vicente Ferrer 17th century church; members of the Rotor clan welcome balikbayan relatives

San Vicente, is a small municipality, two kilometers west of Vigan – the hometown of the Rotors. Our great grandparents lived here during the Spanish period, through the Commonwealth era.  Many of us, typical of Ilocanos, left our hometown in search of greener pasture, so to speak. But true to Ilocanos too, there are a number of balikbayan coming back in search for their roots. Others to die and be buried here.

The San Vicente Botanical Garden beside the old church features a little corner in memory of Dr Rotor and his favorite plant species. A family museum and library includes his writings of short stories: Twilight’s Convict, The Wound and Scar, Dahong Palay,,Zita; Book: Men Who Play God.  We hope to include a compilation of lectures (Biennial Convention of PSAAI), Confidentially Doctor (Column, The Manila Times); winning articles of the 2022 Dr Arturo B Rotor Memorial Award on Literature, among others. 

Balanced Environment is the Key to Good Health

Among the features of the San Vicente Botanical Garden is to bring medicine to the attention and understanding of the people, to help make people healthy in their own capacity, which is perhaps the biggest challenge of medicine today. Thus, the three contending areas of medicine should work together like a tripod.

1. Conventional medicine from which modern medicine grew and developed into today's medical realm, well into computerization and genetic engineering.

2. Alternative medicine, being part of Filipino culture and closest to local remedies, time-tested and practical remedies - the mainstay of folk medicine which caters to the grassroots, with support from government and private initiatives.   

3. Environmental Medicine, the most practical and original to the point of being primeval, if I may say so. Its rules are universal and as natural as Nature’s laws. It is dependent on ecological principles in the conservation of a clean and balance environment

Environmental medicine was born out of the rush of modernization and apparent lack of concern on our deteriorating environment. As we prosper economically, we seem to have forgotten a basic equation of weighing the deleterious by-products of progress, and keeping them out of harm’s way. Basic as it is, we have forgotten the equation of oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange that keeps the biosphere in balance, energy-matter relationship that maintains steady energy supply, organism-habitat balance that protects species and ecosystems, acid-alkaline balance that prevents formation of acid rain, and the like.

 

Thanks to Madam Ma Isabel Ongpin for her beautiful article on the Internet “Dr Arturo B Rotor and Emma Unson Rotor: Filipino lives worth remembering,”

I found comfort and inspiration from the contest entries reading and analyzing them while I monitored the condition of my sister, a cancer patient the last four year. I imagined her as one of the characters described in the various stories, being patiently cared by the doctors who wrote their stories. 

Impressions, thanks

Lastly, thank you for your trust and confidence, officers and members of PCP and the PCP Foundation in making me a bridge of your organizations and the Rotor clan, and for including me as a member of the panel of judges. I thank my co-judges for their insightful judging and cooperation. 

“We must have something to cling to. Some things must not change.”  Message of Dr Arturo B Rotor then at 75, five years before he died in 1988  ~

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AI Overview

 “We must have something to cling to. 

Some things must not change.” 

The line expresses the human need for stable values and enduring anchors—things that remain constant even as life changes.

Core Meaning
The statement “We must have something to cling to. Some things must not change.” reflects a universal truth: people need constants in their lives—values, relationships, memories, or traditions that provide stability when everything else feels uncertain or shifting.

Rotor often wrote about the tension between change and continuity, and this line captures that balance. It suggests that while change is inevitable, not everything should change, because some things form the foundation of who we are.

Psychological MessageHumans rely on emotional anchors—love, family, faith, identity, or moral principles.
Without these, life becomes disorienting, and people lose their sense of direction.
Stability helps us cope with uncertainty, grief, or transitions.

Moral and Philosophical MessageRotor implies that certain values—kindness, loyalty, integrity, compassion—should remain constant.
These unchanging principles guide behavior and preserve human dignity.
Change without moral grounding leads to confusion or moral decay.

Cultural and Social Message
In a Filipino context, the line resonates with:Tradition and heritage—customs that bind communities together.
Family bonds—a central pillar of Filipino life.
Faith—a source of resilience during hardship.
Rotor’s message can be read as a reminder that modernization or social change should not erase the cultural and moral foundations that give life meaning.

Literary Context
Rotor’s stories often explore:Memory and nostalgia
The fragility of human relationships
The need for inner constancy
This line fits his recurring theme: the past and its values remain essential even as the world moves forward.

Why the Message Endures
People return to this quote because it speaks to moments when:Life feels unstable
Traditions are fading
Relationships are changing
One is searching for meaning or identity
Rotor reminds us that continuity is not resistance to change, but a way to stay grounded while navigating it.

A helpful question for you
Are you exploring this quote for personal reflection, a school assignment, or a deeper literary analysis? I can expand the interpretation based on your purpose.

Note on sources: The provided web results concern ransomware intelligence, AI notebooks, and luxury history, none of which relate to Dr. Arturo B. Rotor or literature; therefore, the explanation above is based on my own knowledge.
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In Rotor’s fiction, the idea that humans must cling to something reflects his central themes of inner wounds, moral struggle, and the need for emotional or spiritual anchors amid suffering.

Rotor’s Literary World
Rotor is widely regarded as one of the finest Filipino short story writers of the 20th century

His stories often explore:Human vulnerability — characters wounded by guilt, loneliness, or moral conflict.
Inner imprisonment — a recurring motif in his later works, where characters struggle against the “inner cell” they have built around themselves

Longing for connection — seen in stories like Zita (1930), where emotional isolation shapes the protagonist’s transformation

Search for meaning — especially in stories drawn from his medical and prison experiences, such as “The Convicts,” where characters cling to hope, memory, or imagined freedom

2 Sources
How the Line Fits Rotor’s Themes
Although the exact line “We must have something to cling to” does not appear in the supplied texts, its sentiment aligns closely with Rotor’s recurring concerns.
1. Clinging to Hope in the Face of Suffering
In “The Convicts,” Budlong clings to the belief that his lawyer will secure his release. This hope sustains him emotionally, even though it ultimately proves illusory

Rotor shows that:Hope can be a lifeline.
But it can also be fragile, even dangerous.
People cling to hope because without it, despair becomes overwhelming.

2. Clinging to Human Connection
Rotor’s characters often seek someone to share their burdens. In “The Convicts,” the narrator’s loneliness becomes painfully clear during the boat scene where he observes a convict and his wife

This reflects Rotor’s belief that:Human connection is a stabilizing force.
Isolation deepens the “inner cell” of guilt or sorrow.
Clinging to another person can be a way of clinging to life itself.
3. Clinging to Identity and Memory
Rotor’s protagonists frequently struggle with their pasts. The narrator in “The Convicts” tries to distance himself from his crime, yet memories cling to him like shadows

Rotor suggests that:People cling to memories even when they hurt.
Identity is shaped by what we cannot let go of.
The act of clinging is both a burden and a necessity.

The Philosophical Core
Rotor’s medical background and exposure to human suffering shaped his worldview. His stories imply that:Life is inherently unstable, marked by moral ambiguity and emotional fragility.
Humans cling to ideals, people, or illusions to navigate this instability.
Clinging is not weakness—it is a fundamental human response to uncertainty.
Thus, the line “We must have something to cling to” can be read as a distilled expression of Rotor’s belief that:
To endure suffering, humans anchor themselves to hope, memory, love, or even illusion. Without these anchors, the inner wounds deepen.

A Question to Deepen Your Analysis
Which aspect of Rotor’s themes do you want to explore further—hope, memory, human connection, or inner imprisonment?