Man, Heaven and Earth

Chapel of turrets and bricks, old English architecture.

Stained glass altar, side windows' view (below)

Panoramic views from the hill top - inner slopes of Tagaytay Ridge.

Highland climate favors Norfolk pine trees

Royal palm and champagne bottle palm trees, and bromeliads

dominate the landscape.

Man, Heaven and Earth - in this order
that I feel blessed on this holy hill;
My feet on the ground, my thoughts yonder,
My body and soul rise to His will.

God put together in trinity -
Man, Heaven and Earth in a trio
Key to harmony and unity,
Calaruega a keyhole view. ~

Home, Sweet Home with Nature, AVR

Living Rock

Abe V Rotor

Shower me with petals of red and orange glare,

Ephemeral on the concrete floor in summer air;

Let the sun shine on my guests - a twosome fair,

Whispering sweetly, building castles in the air. ~

Home, Sweet Home with Nature, AVR

Reliving Old West

Abe V Rotor

Old West scene in make believe illusion in a city restaurant.

Roll back the years to the era of the cowboys

when the old west was prairies and buffaloes roaming

free under the blue sky and myriads of stars,

the land etched with rivulets and meandering streams,

in the days of Mark Twain and John Wayne's films,

when creases on the forehead build sweet memories

that momentarily seize the passing of years.

Dedicated to all fathers on the occasion of Father's Day, June 26, 2010

Part 1: Self-Administered Test on Back to School

Vacation is over, go back to school

Abe V Rotor
Instructor, Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (School-on-Air)
DZRB 738 KHz AM Band 8 to 9 evening Monday to Friday

1. To our beloved students in particular: Remember that good grooming encompasses holistic personality - the inside and outside of the person, so to speak, as reflected by his appearance and actions.

2. Wearing your uniform speaks of you being a teacher, student, parent, policeman, doctor, etc. When not wearing your uniform you are excused from your duties and responsibilities.

3. Revive good handwriting in school is good but not necessary anymore, because of the technological advances of computers – writing, printing, recording, publishing, audio-visuals, blogs, e-mail – why care about handwriting, it’s passe’.

4. It is cheaper and faster, and most likely better tasting, fast foods as long as they are the top in the fast food chain – kilala, malinis, cordial pa ang service, at international pa ang pangalan. Don’t bother to prepare baon. It’s messy – at mas expensive in the long run.

5. Children studying in exclusive religious schools are better disciplined and guaranteed to uphold values than those studying in other schools.

6. Reward and punishment is a must between parent and children, teacher and student, or similar relationships where good deeds are compensated. The most potent and effective reward is that which can be translated to material things and money, especially.

7. If you are in school, make sure that you behave so that your teacher will speak highly of you – pay attention in class and do your homework. Treat your teacher with respect. Do all these with the end in view of getting a good grade and earning a good reputation among your classmates – perhaps you will get also a medal of good conduct and behavior.

8. Schools are not generally receptive to prohibit carbonated drinks and junk foods in school because these are major source of income of canteen and concessionaires.

9. Schoolyear, welcome back to school. It’s a joy to our children. They look forward to it. To many, it’s more than all the joys of Holidays. Kaya, pagbigyan mo naman sila. Give our children new clothes, shoes, notebooks, if possible all new – kaya nga new schoolyear. Pamper our children once in a while.

10. Bayanihan is only a lesson but not really a practice in schools. It’s in rural areas and on the farm, other workplaces where we see Bayanihan in Action – nonetheless our students should have enough awareness of the concept.

11. Flexibility as a virtue allows us to be thrifty and to save, to avail of those locally available, our own products, above all, it is a guarantee of our freedom and right – the right to choose.

12. Growing affluence and increasing level of living standard take us farther and farther away from the basic concept of work, thus less and less young people go for the blue collar courses, and blue collar course are made into white one.

13. Where have all the brilliant young ones gone? They are in engineering, biology, chemistry, physics, medicine, law and in the PMA.

14. The corporate world swallowed up small businesses and farms, family business and cooperatives. Gone is Small is Beautiful (by Schumacher). That is why we should emphasize bigness in education.

15. Flu, in general, specially A(H1N1) or swine flu, is so contagious, mere physical nearness can transmit the contagion, that is why quarantine rules and procedures are very strict all over the world.

16. Greening Movement means protecting the environment, eating more fruits and vegetables rather than meat, practicing Ecological Intelligence like using wax paper instead of styrophore, banana leaves instead of plastic, and the like.

17. You really cannot attribute success neither to your capability as a person alone, nor Providence alone. There are simply people who tend to rely more on their own capabilities before they expect Providence to intervene. Likewise there are those who tend to believe in the Providence above anything else.

18. A person who attributes his success to the Higher Principle, the Unseen Hand, more than his own capability, his efforts, sacrifices, is an existentialist. This philosophy is called Existentialism.

19, 20, 21, 22 A lot of young people grow up in sub-cultures of brokenness, divorce, drugs, sexual temptations, etc. They may have friends, and much leisure – but they are constantly looking of some kind of fulfillment and assuring thoughts and feeling, a real sense of belonging. There are four institutions that shape the character and ensure a good future of our children, namely
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________

22. The greatest concern parents have on their children with subjects of 25 units, and many assignments is stress. Stress can lead to more serious consequences if not arrested early enough.

23. Our children are exposed to many diseases this rainy season like typhoid, diarrhea, leptospirosis, dengue and flu. Sanitation and cleanliness are the most practical means of disease control management, which must begin at home.

24. Manila, because of the Marikina Fault line, and the alluvial ground, and rising sea water, has been ranked lately as No 7 earthquake prone city in the world. That’s why we have to take emergency drills seriously, specially in school.

25. Fatalism is in Pilipino _______________.

ANSWERS: 1t, 2f, 3f, 4f, 5f, 6f, 7f, 8f, 9f, 10f, 11t, 12t, 13f (They are in computer science, healthcare and courses of the least resistance.) 14f (Small businesses have taken the reverse advantage, specially in the present economic crisis.) 15t, 16t, 17t, 18t, 19 to 22 (In any order: home/family, school, church, community) 23t, 24t, 25 Bahala na

Outstanding 23-25
Very Good 19-22
Good 15-18
Fair 11- 14
Failed 10 and below - Listen regularly to Paaralan Bayan sa Himpapawid

Discurso de Apertura UST Quadricentennial Schoolyear 2010-2011

Monument of the founder, Fr Miguel de Benavides.
Background is the main building of the university.

The University of Santo Tomas formally opened the schoolyear 2010-2011 with a mass of the Holy Spirit, followed by the traditional Discurso de Apertura delivered by by Atty Nilo Divina, dean of Civil Law. The schoolyear coincides with the 400th anniversary of UST, the oldest university in Asia founded in 1611 by Rev Fr Miguel de Benavides, and granted Pontifical University by the Vatican.

Here is the gist of Dean Divina's message to the faculty, staff and students of the university.

1. Start with a dream, and dream big. (citing Albert Einstein, man of the 2oth century)
2. Work hard (citing Thomas Edison, the indefatigable American inventor of the incandescent lamp and 101 inventions)
3. Rise from failures (citing Walt Disney, originator of Mickey Mouse and Disneyland, and Bill Gates, computer magnate)
4. In all things you do, put the Imprimatur of Excellence as your Signature.
5. Passion for excellence applies to all - excellence with moral values, and taking a moral stand when needed.

Be Role Models. Yes, we can! (citing US president Obama's credo)

Lesson on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, AVRotor June 15, 2010,

Petit Berries of Aratilis ( Muntingia calabura)

Abe V Rotor

Fruits of aratilis (Muntingia calabura), favorite of children and birds.

The tree is small, but sturdy. Its fruiting branches can be pulled down. But
children would rather climb the tree and feast on its ripe fruits. (Lagro Subd., QC)

Part 3: The Irreversibility of Domestication - Green Revolution

Apple mango, product of selective breeding

Dr Abe V Rotor

Domesticated plants and animals may be classified according to the manner and degree with which their relationship with man is defined. One has lead to total dependency like hybrid crops of corn, rice, wheat, and hybrid animals like today's Landrace swine, and Bantress broiler. The more we modify farm animals for greater economic advantage, the more we make them dependent on us.

Not only that. We narrow down our choice of genes that directly benefit us. Of the 100,000 cultivars in the gene bank of IRRI, we can count with the fingers so to speak of the varieties actually planted. And this is farther narrowed down to the present commercial varieties.

Wheat varieties have been likewise narrowed down on the former prairies of North America. Scientists warn that a major pest outbreak can drastically decrease yield. So with the effects of sudden change in climate. Generally the higher the level of diversity is - different species, varieties, different time planting and harvesting, so with the technology used, etc - the less impact a calamity can cause. High diversity provides natural barriers against the spread of epidemic. They cut down life cycles of pests and pathogens. They provide alternative sources of food.

This is the grave danger of a highly specialized culture. We call it monoculture which fits well with mechanization, bulk handling and processing, infrastructure, etc. Monoculture is designed with the supply and demand of commodities in the international market, as in the case of cereals, meat and dairy products.

Today domesticated animals cannot survive without antibiotics, plants without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, or irrigation. They lose their hybrid vigor in the second generation, more so in the succeeding ones. We have caused organisms to live in places they are not supposed to be adopted. We brought the Anglo-Nubian Goat from the high Steppes of the Middle East to the tropic. Highland crop such as Irish potato though still a temperate crop can now be grown on the lowland. Grapes from temperate countries are now grown in the warm tropics.

The history of civilization is also a story of agriculture in three sequences: domestication of organisms of the wild into the folds of agriculture. This took place in the Fertile Crescent which was to become the seat of the Babylonian civilization. Chinese settlements were even of earlier date.

The second phase in the improvement of stocks and varieties through agronomy and horticulture which lasted for many centuries. The third is the opening of new frontier and diversification. The horizon of agriculture expanded, new products discovered that led to diversification. It too, led to the Age of Colonialism which lasted for several centuries, around four hundred years in the Philippines. Avocado and kalachchi came from Mexico, grapes and citrus from Europe.

Modern agriculture was born out of science and technology beginning in the fifties. Here domestication became mass production and increased productivity. Plants and animals - and microorganisms, as well, began to be raised in volumes. They became living machines to produce large quantities in a short period of time milk, cheese, oil, starch, meat, perfumes, rubber, resin, medicine and drugs, wood, etc. to meet the demand of an expanding market, and to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding population and increasing affluence in living.

I remember the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty. It's about a ship loaded with seedlings of breadfruit or rimas (Artocarpus communis) to be planted in British penitentiary islands. It is a classical example of introducing plants across the globe - something nature can't do within our lifetime. It's like introducing the penguin from the South Pole to the North Pole all the way across the equator. Well, the ship ran into trouble when a certain Christian led a mutiny that deposed Captain Bligh. The ship was commandeered to Tahiti. Captain Bligh miraculously survived the long dangerous trip to England in the long boat. Subsequently the mutineers were hunted down and brought to justice. Others were killed in the process, others died mysteriously.

With genetic engineering whereby genes or genetic materials are spliced and incorporated into an entirely different organism, we are playing God's role of creating new life forms heretofore unknown. We are tinkering on speciation, the tortuous, slow process of species formation. It is unthinkable to apply Charles Darwin's theory of evolution that only the fittest survive the long and uncertain pathway of evolution. Here we are doing the short cut, a detour from the rules of reproduction. It is no longer the joining meeting of male and female gametes to form a zygote, it is not enough to multiply plants and protists through asexual means.

Genetic engineering has opened creation in man's hand by rearranging the code of heredity, in fact the "book of life" according to our purpose and pleasure - not even from the dictate of our conscience. It is a short cut not only to domestication, but creation itself. Genetic engineering is a modern version of Frankenstein that created a monster which had no name - except the fear that remains to this day in the hearts of the meek, peace-loving and righteous people. We who detest the atomic bomb, biological warfare, global warming, and now genetic engineering - the Aladdin's Lamp to ultimate domestication - human cloning. ~

Dragon cactus, recently introduced from Vietnam.
Dragon fruit is commercially grown and exported
by Israelis farming the desert.

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Tuk-tuk: Unique Thailand Tricycle

Abe V Rotor

Friendly driver - he will take you to any place in downtown Bangkok.

Anna on the wheel - one-half car, one-half tricycle

Public utility or personal vehicle

Rear view

Slack time


Tuk-tuk

People's car, people's invention,
People's utility, people's recreation;
Tuk-tuk is the name, it is the same
Tricycle - versatile and also sane;
King of the alley, on-the-go all day,
Sleek and trendy, friendly through the way.
GPS move over, Bangkok's by memory,
Save your map - just hold on and pray. ~

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Monsoon ends fruit season

Goodbye to siniguelas or sarguelas in Ilk (Spondias purpurea), strictly a tropical summer fruit.

Fruit flies emerge with the first rain and breed rapidly on ripe fruits of guava, mango, chico, cucumber, etc.
Atis (Anona squamosa) - Rain stops flowering and fruiting, and the remaining fruits in the tree are attacked by the larva of a moth that tunnels into the fruit at any stage.

Star apple or caimito (Chrysophyllum cainito) is strictly a summer fruit. When buying caimito watch out for holes made by fruit flies. The maggots are likely inside the fruit. They are small and white, jerky in movement and they catapult when disturbed.

Goodbye to kamachili (Pithecolobium dulce). Although it is not commercially sold, it is very popular to children on the farm and pasture.

Premature falling of fruits is a result of gall attack and extreme heat and prolonged drought. The damaged fruit (top) is caused by fruit bat.


Goodbye to durian, except off season varieties. This fruit was harvested from a nearby residential lot near La mesa Dam, QC
Tiesa (Lucuma nervosa) bears plenty of these bright colored fruits which drop to the ground when fully ripe. Its fruiting season is summer.

Rambutan is seasonal, too. It's a highly decorative tree in summer. Don Antonio Heights 2, QC

Watermelon, melon, muskmelon and other cucurbits are all summer crops in the open field. One strong rain can ruin an entire crop.

Other fruits which are getting rare in fruit stands.

1. Mango
2. Guyabano
3. Macopa
4. Cashew
5. Dalandan
6. Nangka
7. Avocado
8. Sampalok
9. Papaya, solo variety
10. Balimbing
11. Duhat
12. Strawberry

And many other fruits. Why don't you add to the list?

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Confluence of Nature

Mural Painting by Dr Abe V Rotor

Mural on canvas in acrylic (9ft x 8ft) 2010 AVR

Detail: Stream comes to rest

Detail: Lilies of the Pond

Detail: A mirage

Detail: Fish at leisure

Detail: Stream and forest meet

Detail: Light in the woods

Detail: Fire in the trees.

Detail: Sky glows at the falls

Courtesy of Atty Lito and Kristine Doria

Lightning spawns mushroom

Abe V Rotor

Wild mushrooms are plentiful during

the rainy months, and are often sold

in the local market.

It's a folktale, but it's true. Lightning (and thunder) spawn mushrooms.

In the province, it is a tradition to go hunting for mushrooms in bamboo groves, on anthills, under rice hay and banana stalks during the monsoon season, specifically after a period of heavy thunder and lightning. And what do you know?

Old folks are right as they show you the prize - baskets full of Volvariella (rice hay or banana mushroom), Plerotus (abalone mushroom), Auricularia (tainga ng daga), and a host of other wild mushroom species.

Where did the mushrooms come from?

When lightning strikes, nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) combines to form nitrate (NO3). Nitrogen in the atmosphere is 78 percent, while oxygen is 21 percent. Scientists call this process fixation or specifically for nitrogen, nitrification.

Nitrate, which is soluble in water, is washed down by rain and absorbed mainly by plants. It fertilizes not only fields and pastures, but rivers and lakes as well. In fact the seas and oceans - leading to rapid growth of algae and plankton organisms, consequently all forms of life participating in food chains, which in turn form into a web of life in the ecosystem. Collectively and ultimately, the whole living world.

This explains the rejuvenation of the living world, particularly during habagat or monsoon season.

Lightning - Nature's way of replenishing nutrients is similarly responsible in the fixation of other elements such as sulfur, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, including trace elements of Bo, Zn, Mn, Mg, Fe and the like, into forms available for use by plants and other organisms. Lightning unlocks the elements and their compounds stored in Nature's chest, to be transformed by living things from inorganic to organic compounds.

Lightning occurs every second - or any fraction of it - on any place on earth. While slower processes take place such as composting of farm residues, and the biological action of Rhizobium and cyanophytes (blue-green algae), it is lightning that contributes most, direct and fast, in maintaining the earth’s supply of these and other life-giving compounds.

Not only green plants benefit from these natural fertilizers, but also phytoplankton (microscopic one-celled plants) - and the lowly mushroom whose vegetative stage is some unassuming downy mass of mycelia enmeshed in decomposing media such as plant residues. With nitrate and other nutrients now available, coupled with favorable conditions of the environment, this saprophyte and its kind transform into their reproductive phase. This is the umbrella-like mushroom we are familiar with. In all its luxuriance and plenty, it is not unusual to discover clusters or hills of mushrooms in just a single spot.

Scientists believe that without lightning, our earth would be an impoverished planet, barely supporting the diversity and density of living things that we enjoy today. While lightning kills and destroys, it is on the other hand, the key to life and balance of the biosphere.~

Living with Folk Wisdom, UST-AVR

Ode to the Stealth Plant

Abe V Rotor



You are a master of mimicry;
a butterfly of a kind, a new species,
camouflaged in color and morphology;
model of the stealth that rules the sky,
faster than sound, or wink of the eye,
radar-free, top secret of technology,
freed from the lamp like the mean genie;
and I, I simply love to touch your leafy
being that God sent for peace and harmony. ~

Home, Sweet Home with Nature, AVR (All Rights Reserved 2010)

Trees, Trees, Trees

Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog

Lesson: Aesthetics and enigma of trees.

Living Christmas tree (acacia), ADMU QC
Leaning fire tree along Regalado Avenue, Fairview QC

Calumpang or bangar tree in bloom. Commonwealth Ave. QC

Tree house on acacia. Rosario, La Union

Deciduous talisay tree shedding autumn colored foliage.
Sugar Regulatory Administration, QC

Leafless frangipani (kalachuchi). The tree undergoes
dormancy in preparation to blooming in summer.
Sacred Heart Novitiate, QC

Trees covered with fruticose lichen. Tagaytay

Towering kapok tree, QC.

Hanging pods of kapok dehisce seeds covered with cotton. QC

Acacia strangled by balete. UST, Manila

Philodendron clings of narra tree, UST botanical Garden, Manila

Dita, the tallest tree in UST Manila

Acacia tree cloaked with ephiphyte. ADMU QC

Sturdy mahogany tree, showing large secondary roots.

Narra in bloom, along NLEX, Pampanga

Balete covers the ruins of a church in Magsingal, Ilocos Sur

Century old Tamarind tree, Iboy, San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur

Mossy tree, Hokaido Japan

Bonsai trees in transit, Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam


Memorial tree, Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam.
Tree was planted by the French in the 18th century