Traditional Healing 2: Poultice made of moss heals wound, relieves pain.

Dr Abe V Rotor

An herbolario treats a minor wound with a common moss. Is there a scientific basis?

A carpet of moss, painting in acrylic, AVR 2009

Closeup of moss gametophytic phase

This is a common practice in the highlands where moss is plentiful and luxuriantly growing. Fresh moss is crashed into a pulp and directly applied on a fresh or infected wound, loosely wrapping it around.

Lourdes V. Alvarez in her masteral thesis at the UST Graduate School demonstrated the effectiveness of moss (Pogonatum neesi) against Staphylococcus bacteria, the most common cause of infection. Moss extract contains flavonoids, steroids, terpenes and phenols, found to be responsible for the antibiotic properties of this lowly, ancient bryophyte. ~


Reference: Living with Folk Wisdom, AV Rotor 2009

Traditional Healing 5: Oregano - best remedy for cough

 Oregano - best remedy for cough
Dr Abe V Rotor

Oregano for sore throat and cough. One or

two leaves taken fresh with juice drink. 

Oregano (Coleus amboinicus) is a popular herbal plant. It is effective in easing cough and sore throat. You chew the young leaf of the oregano while taking the juice, or blanch it, then extract the juice while adding sugar and warm water. It has no side effects.

What a relief! No wonder the plant’s name comes from the Greek words Ore/Oros,, which means mountain, and ganos, which is joy. Joy in the mountain.

The plant is also an insect repellant. It emits an odor which prevents the spread of mosquitoes, flies, fleas and roaches. Its presence in the garden wards off a lot of pest.

Try oregano as spice for dinuguan. This is the secret of Italian cuisine in cooking pork with blood.

Plant oregano in pots by cutting, or the whole shoot or branch. It's very easy to grow. It can grow in the shade or under direct sunlight, with moderate amount of water. During rainy months keep the potted plants away from too much rain water. Oregano grows best in summer, but don't forget to water it regularly. A full grown oregano can be made into cuttings which you can grow in individual plastic pots to supply the neighborhood - for sale or as gift. It takes a cutting to reach full growth in two to three weeks. ~

Warning: Oregano extract is not advisable for pest control, either as spray or sprinkle solution. It has allelophatic substance, which means it is phytotoxic to certain plants, causing stunting or death. Never plant oregano side by side with your favorite garden plants like rose, mayana, anthurium and ground orchid.

Traditional Healing 6: To stop hiccups, jolt the person.

Gulat ang gamut sa sinok.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Gulat ang gamut sa sinok. (To stop hiccups*, jolt the person.)

Now and then anyone may fall into a pit of hiccup for reasons not well understood even in the medical field. But as sudden and unpredictable that it came, just by jolting the person is enough to terminate his hiccup.

This is what you can do to help your friend in a pit. The first remedy is to give him water. If this does not work, gently massage the back of his head. If still this does not work, secretly time the interval of his hiccup. Jolt him up real good coinciding with the next hiccup. Pronto! The hiccup is gone.

Warning: Don't do this if the person has food or water in his mouth. Baka mabulunan. He might choke, instead. The poor fellow may misunderstand you, and this could lead to a fight. Or tampuan that ends in cold relationship. If the fellow is wearing dentures, he might lose them in the process. Or something worst can happen. ~
--------------------

* Hiccups are repeated spasms of your diaphragm paired with a “hic” sound from your vocal cords closing. Your diaphragm is a thin, dome-shaped muscle that separates your chest from your belly. It moves downward when you breathe in and upward when you breathe out. - Cleveland Clinic; Internet cartoon

Hiccups are a mystery, but there are many theories about their causes and cures. Some possible causes include:

• Eating a large meal
• Drinking alcoholic or carbonated beverages
• Getting excited suddenly
• Eating or drinking too fast or too much
• Ingesting air while taking a bottle or breastfeeding
• Reflux

For most people, hiccups usually last only a few minutes, but rarely they may continue for months.

Traditional Healing 8: When your tooth aches, press the joint of your jaw.

Dr Abe V Rotor

My friend who grew up in the city complained. “My tooth aches.” It was lunchtime. Sayang. We were going to have lunch, picnic style beside a farm pond we call alug.

“Sumasakit din ang aking ngipin,” I said, … “na hindi ko matikman lahat nito,” I said, my tooth is also aching for not tasting all these, savoring the aroma of pinakbet (famous Ilocano vegetble stew), inihaw na talapia (broiled tilapia on charcoal). And "jumping salad". (Live juvenile shrimp, with calamansi and salt.) It’s like the proverbial Bacchus feast Philippine barrio style.

“Hindi ako nagbibiro,” He said. "May butas, eh." (tooth cavity)

“Okay press the base of your jaw, like this. ” I demonstrated how. Open your mouth and feel the attachment of the jaw, it’s the hollow part. Press it long enough until the pain subsides. He did it and held it there.

“Okay ka na?”

“Masakit pa rin.”

“Saan nga ba ang sumasakit?” Para akong dentista. (Where does it hurt? I was acting like a dentist.)

“Doktor, nga si Dr. Rotor,” I heard kindly Lola Bistra and someone seconded. Other giggled.

“Dito sa left.” My friend opened his jaw.

“Mali ang pinipisil mo, eh. Dapat sa kanan na jaw, ang tapat ng sumasakit na ngipin."
He pressed the wrong side of his aching tooth!

Well, he got relived finally. He was the last at the table - papag, made of bamboo which serves as a portable bed, too.

Masakit pa ba? I complimented sort of. (Is it still painful?)

Kunti a lang. Kasi kunti na lang ang itinira ninyo. (Little, he said, jokingly referring to the food we left after we had our fill.) ~

In this particular case traditional medicine shows these features:

• Healing between friends is assuring
• Palliative is brief relief
  
• "Humor is the best medicine."
  
• Don't spoil the fun.
  

Biology: Part 1 - Exobiology - Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Dr Abe V Rotor

Life forms crowd the inside walls of Mudspring, a volcanic vent of Mt Makiling, Laguna.

How did life originate on Earth? What did the earliest primitive organisms look like? Were they based on RNA, DNA, or on something we would hardly recognize today? Is there life elsewhere in the Universe?

The branch of biology that deals with the search for extraterrestrial life and the effects of extraterrestrial surroundings on living organisms. Also called astrobiology, space biology.

Evidence of life in Martian meteorites or future rock samples from the Red Planet may be easier to identify thanks to microbes living in hot springs at Yellowstone National Park.

Dozens of structures on Saturn's moon Titan that appear to be collapsed slush volcanoes have been revealed by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The heat and chemicals associated with these possible volcanoes could provide a niche for life on the frigid moon.

Figuring out whether Titan is volcanically active is important because volcanoes could be a source of the methane found in relatively large amounts in the moon's atmosphere. The methane is constantly being broken down by sunlight, so it must be replenished somehow.

In a flyby of the moon on 22 July 2008, radar observations revealed dozens of rounded depressions that look like volcanic structures on Earth called calderas. These depressions form on Earth when the ground collapses after lava has drained out from under it in volcanic eruptions.

A Filipina, Dr Donna Lacap, PhD, is among the few exobiologists in the world. She is studying the extreme conditions of life that exist in the craters of volcanoes, including our own Taal and Mayon. Dr. Lacap is a graduate from St Paul University QC, then St Paul College, for her BS Biology, for which I had the chance to be her teacher in biological sciences. She pursued her graduate studies and post doctoral abroad, among them The University of Hong Kong. x x x

Biology: Part 3 - Quest for the Pierian Spring

Dr Abe V Rotor

We often hear and gladly agree that life begins at 40. After all we would like to live life all over again and make up for our shortcomings, catch up with our unfulfilled dreams, look beyond adventure, gather fragments of memories and wisdom, and settle on some comfortable patch of green, before we go deep into it.

But the Ulysses in us does not sleep. We have not stopped searching for the fountain of youth. And we have not learned from Sybil, the Greek prophetess, symbol of prodigious old age. One day a young man asked her, “And what wish do you have this time, Sybil?” Looking at herself wrinkled and spent, she sadly replied, “I only wish to die.”

Will we live a hundred-and-five? Well, the number of American age 100 or older could reach 850,000 by 2050, according to Time, and our descendants could live to be 200 years old. The life expectancy in the US rose from 47 in 1900 to more than 79 in 1999. What really is the secret of old age?

Who does not dream of Utopia? Somewhere out there in an island in the Pacific (Remember South Pacific?), or in Shangrila on the Himalayas (The Lost Horizon) lies that dreamland. And who would like to live in Tokyo, or New York or Manila, if he can help it? But hear this.

The life span of a Japanese in busy Tokyo is 78, while a native of an idle South Pacific island is only 55. If this is so then it is not how much we rest our bodies and minds that we are assured of long life. What then is rest or retirement? Didn’t Dr. Hans Selye, the authority on longevity relate long life is achieved with positive disposition and less tension?

There are a number of tests to determine how long a person is expected to live. These are considerations which are of vital importance in knowing a person’s life span. Compute on the basis of a life span of 65 years.

A. The PLUS factors

1. With regular exercise – plus 3 to 5 years
2. Positive and active life, loves work - plus 3 to 5 years
3. Happily married with manageable family size – plus 3 to 5 years
4. With history of long life – plus 3 to 5 years
5. Clean living – plus 3 to 5 years
6. Food and weight conscious, with regular checkup – plus 3 to 5 years

B. The MINUS factors

1. Chain smoker – minus 5 to 10 years
2. Unmarried in middle age – minus 2 to 3 years
3. With family history of major ailments (eg heart attack,
cancer, diabetes) – minus 3 to 5 years
4. Risky profession – minus 3 years
5. Indulgence in vices (drinking, gambling, etc) – minus 2 to 5 years
6. Obese, inactive life – minus 3 to 5 years

But why should we be preoccupied with how long we are going to live?

Seneca, one of the greatest Roman philosophers, once said, “Men do not care how nobly they live, but how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man’s power to live long.”
---------------------------
The longest unambiguously documented human lifespan is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997), who died at age 122 years, 164 days. She met Vincent van Gogh at age 12 or 13.
The oldest undisputed lifespan for a male supercentenarian is that of Christian Mortensen, who lived for 115 years and 252 days. (Wikipedia)

The Myth of Rip van Winkle

Dr Abe V Rotor

Aestivating Philippine crocodile in a local zoo.

Cicada or kuliglig spends its whole year existence
in the soil in its immature stage, then emerges
at the onset of the rainy season. There are however,
species of cicada that emerge after 17 long years.

The story of Rip van Winkle, the man who slept for twenty long years, may be better remembered for its sociological, rather than its biological significance. Rip found solace on some mountaintop and there he fell into deep slumber. When he woke up he was a very old man. The way Washington Irving, the author described him must be true. Of course, it is only fiction, but it raises the question, “Do we really preserve youthfulness in sleep?” What really happens in prolonged sleep?

We know that life processes slow down when we are asleep, and in the process our body gets the needed rest. When we wake up we feel recharged. Surely sleeping is still the best way to be fit and healthy - and young, too.

But his is not the case of Rip van Winkle, or that of Sleeping Beauty, the beautiful maid who remained asleep until “a prince came and woke her with a kiss.” These cases point out to the similarity of prolonged sleeping with coma. The body operates at low metabolism, but gets no replenishment. After the reserve fat is exhausted, the only source of energy are the muscles and other connective tissues. It is no wonder a bear emerges from hibernation weak and hungry.

The Virus that Sleeps for 20 Years

One of the wonders of biology is the virus. The tobacco mosaic virus, Marmor tabaci, for one, can remain dormant for as long as twenty years even if the tobacco leaves are subjected to flue-curing and re-drying. The virus remains in the cigar or cigarette, so that a smoker can transmit it unknowingly to a living tobacco plant by mere contact. Unlike obligate parasites which can not survive outside of their hosts, the virus may remain as an infective particle after its host is dead or gone.

The virus wakes up once it is inside a living host. By dictating the host, the latter multiplies the virus. Now in countless numbers, the virus spreads throughout the plant. The infected plant, in turn, infects nearby plants and threatens to spread throughout the whole field. Like other viruses that infect animals or other plants, tobacco mosaic virus may cause an epidemic. The seriousness of the disease in the farming community can only be imagined since it is capable of infecting other crops that include those belonging to the same family, Solanaceae, to which tomato, pepper, eggplant and Irish potato are members.

Is the virus then, a living thing? Scientists look at it differently from true living things because it lacks the vital processes of life. It is not recognized to belong to any of the sub-kingdoms of the biological world. As a chemical particle however, it is endowed with the same universal property of living things, Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid or DNA. It is this code of life that it uses as a tool in communicating with a host cell once it has gained entry. The host cell then decodes the virus’ DNA messages. Thus it is the host that actually duplicates the virus because the latter can not reproduce by itself alone.

Aestivating toad (Bufo marinus) matches perfectly with its surroundings

The Physiology of Hibernation

To hibernate is to pass winter in a suspended, dormant, or torpid condition. In this state of lethargy, organisms have a better change to survive cold and food shortage. During hibernation metabolic activity is greatly reduced and body temperature is lowered. A hibernating mammal spends most of the winter in a state close to death; in fact the animal may appear to be dead. Some have body temperature close to that of freezing; respiration is brought down to only a few breaths per minute; and the heartbeat is so slow and gradual as to be barely perceptible. Among mammals, true hibernators are found in the Orders of Chiroptera (bats), Insectivora (hedgehogs), and Rodentia (ground squirrels). There are mammal hibernator that do not only rely on reserve body fat. At intervals of several weeks the animal elevates its body temperature, awakens, moves about, feeds, and then returns to its state of torpor.

Cold-blooded animals hibernate, too. The largest is the North American Alligator which hibernates very much like frogs. Frogs burrow in mud and exists for months in their sun baked chambers.

Aestivation

Aestivation is the counterpart of hibernation in the tropics, or where high temperature and dryness characterize the environment. The physiology involved is also the reduction of metabolic rate while the organism is protected from the harsh environment. Aestivation also applies to plants and animals, and also among protists. These are examples of animals that are known to aestivate.

1. Crocodiles dig into the mud and remain there virtually lifeless.

2. South American alligators bury themselves in mud while the earth above them is baked into a hard crust.

3. Certain Australian frogs become distended with water during the wet season and use this stored water during the aestivating period.

4. Small mammals like the aardvark and some lemurs are not known to aestivate but undergo periods of quiescence.

5. The Australian snails plug the mouth of their shell with a morsel of clay before entering upon the period of aestivation. Land snails secrete several diaphragms across the opening of their shells which protect them from desiccation and enemies.

6. The African snail (Helix desertorum) and the California desert snail (Helix veatchii) may remain in aestivation for as long as five and six years, respectively.

7. Slugs bury themselves in the ground in the season and emerge on the arrival of rain.

8. Bivalve mollusks dig into the mud, thus they can survive in pools and patches of water.

9. Nymphs of dragonfly which are normally aquatic may be forced to aestivate on dry land.

10. Opposite to aestivation the Egyptian jerboa is so closely adapted to dry conditions of the desert that rain and damp atmosphere induce it to pass into a dormant condition.

Bivalves remain dormant encrusted in mud.

Unique characteristics of organisms that under dormancy

For both cases of hibernation and aestivation, these are the general conditions that scientists have observed among organisms that are undergoing either state.

1. Organisms in dormancy, especially large animals, fast during the period.

2. There is a certain stage or stages a certain organisms can remain dormant.

3. There is a reduction in metabolic rate. Heartbeat slows down. There is a reduction in body temperature among warm-blooded animals.

4. Reserve food is used during dormancy. As a general rule, cold-blooded animals have more food reserve and that they use it more economically than do warm-blooded animals.

5. Survival time without food is usually greater among cold-blooded than among warm-blooded animals, since the former do not “burn fuel” in order to maintain a high body temperature.

Environment: Preserve the environment by leaving Nature alone

Reflection by a lake atop Mt.Pulog mural, St. Paul U, QC

Dr Abe V Rotor

I met an old man living by a lake atop Mt Pulog in Benguet, living like Henry David Thoreau, the great American philosopher who left town to live alone by the Walden Pond in a nearby forest. Sitting by a small mountain lake with him, I asked, “What is the best way to preserve nature?”

His answer was unexpected.“Leave Nature alone.”

I expected a different answer because I thought man is the guardian and custodian of living things – and all creation for that matter. Apparently, man has not succeeded.

“Before, the enemy of man was Nature;
Today the enemy of Nature is man.”

Direct assault of man on nature has been without respite throughout the ages –

from hunting-gathering, to agriculture, and ultimately to today’s accelerating

Industrialization.

“Good bye,” said the fox to the Little Prince, “And here is my secret.”

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery’, The Little Prince)

Life is Beautiful. Let’s make it truly one. It is the best offering we can give to our Creator. ~

ComArt: Teaching: Review # 6 Communication and Socio-cultural Change (True or False, 50 items)

ComArt - Ideas that are Changing Our World: Review #1 - Communication and Socio-cultural Change

1. Ideas Changing the World
(3CA3 and 5CA3) True or False
By Dr. Abe V. Rotor

1. Take the back seat cinema, the so-called movies; save your money and ego. Homegrown producers are in the making in all countries today. In fact Bollywood India makes more than all movies made by Hollywood.

2. And gargantuan corporations that have dominated such small items like Colgate, Gillette,Palmolive, or cartelized coffee, cocoa, shoes, cars, and the like – beware of the changing wind of change, and the triumph of Small is Beautiful.

3. And to universities and schools - put up more and larger campuses, multistory-buildings for classrooms and dormitories to accommodate more and more students as population continues to soar and as knowledge explodes.

4. History tells us time and again that ideas merely influence our thinking as humans, but never will they run the world and keep it spinning; it is money, politics and religion that run our world.

5. The defining challenge of the 21st century will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet. Nationalism, while it remains as the motivating factor in nationhood, must expand into the realm of regional and international cooperation.

6. Customer service, welcome. "Welcome sir, thank you madam." More call centers, more HRM waiters and actresses, bank tellers, nurses. Personalized service is part of red carpet treatment.

7. The key to sustainable development is to make the right choices in our public investments and to find ways to harness and channel, market forces. That is, if we are talking of sustainable development for the whole world – for we cannot enjoy sustainable development while the rest of the world declines.

8. National interests aren’t what they used to be. Our survival requires global solutions. Thus a Filipino works in NASA, China makes goods for the US, Germany supplies airplanes in Saudi, oil tankers serve any country irrespective of ideology or distance or political stability as long as the price is right. This is globalization.

9. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol mandates emission cuts by all countries, particularly the industrialized countries. Two countries did not sign the agreement and they remain indifferent until today – US and Australia

10. In 1999 human population reached 6 billion, and was projected to double in 50 years. But by 2050 stabilization of world population shall then be attained at 8 billion, believed to be manageable under a sustainable development system.

11. In 2000, the UN Millennium Development Goals addressed poverty and education as top agenda. In 2002 ,Health Aid Global Fund was established to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In 2003, UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan called for Green Revolution in Africa.

12. The end of poverty is seen in 2020. Income of all the world’s poorest can be increased comfortably above 1$ per day.

13. In 2030, Fuel Economy programs will produce plug-in hybrids and new technologies will make cars run 42 km/li . By 2040, Zero Emission programs will succeed in halting climate change through renewable energy and other steps.

14. The End of Customer Services. With self-serve technology, you’ll never have to see a clerk again. It started in 1902, Automat in Philadelphia – a German idea. In 1916, the super market Piggy Wiggly, was first self-serve grocery store, Memphis.

15. The key to the tremendous growth of economy is the discovery of huge oil deposit in ones country such as Saudi Arabia, Holland (North Sea), Yemen, and Russia. Thus our dream of perking up our economy is to tap oil off Palawan.

16. Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 cooled the world, emitting ash and sulfur that lowered the atmosphere’s temperature – so that the newest field in combating global warming is to induce the eruption of other volcanoes.

17. Aging gracefully means not only extending the years of our life but our productivity as well, thus creating a new work ethic, and slowing down the pace of economy to one the face of growth, among others.

18. Some 5 billion people in 120 countries will live to 60 years old and over. This is not far from now.

19. In 1947 – self-serve pumped gas started in California service stations by George Urich. In 1967, Teller Goodbye. Barclays bank opened the world's first ATM at London Branch. In 1995, Flying Solo Alaska - airplane ticket can be obtained over the internet for the first time

20. The Post-Movie-Star Era is still around. Get ready for more films in which the leading man is not “he” but “who?”

21. The role of women in Bangladesh in micro enterprises contributed immensely to economic growth. For this the Nobel prize award went to Mohammad Yunus, the founder and head of Grameen Bank.

22. In 1970, Stars faded. All-star vehicles give way to non-star fantasies like Star Wars, ET Jurassic Park. 2000s Lights out. Old style stars rise falling into the black hole of no-name epics and stories.

23. Reverse Radicalism to terrorism? No way. Start talking to terrorists who stop themselves instead. Prisoners incarcerated for Jihad crimes in Indonesia have been persuaded to cooperate with police, many of them have been released after serving time. This is different from the way the US treats terrorism.

24. Ramon Magsaysay, then defense secretary dismantled the Hukbalahap Movement through persuasion and integrated the members into the stream of society. Rebel returnees program of the Philippines is an alternative solution to today's terrorism.

25. About Kitchen Chemistry - the squishy art of cooking is giving way to cold, hard science - molecular gastronomy, which assures us not only better tasting food but healthier and more nutritious.







ANSWERS: All true, except 3, 4, 6, 12, 15, 20 and 25. Based on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid lessons

Environment: A self-administered test on Energy

 A single flash of lightning generates power sufficient to provide the power needs of a city for days, but we have yet to tame this natural element and store its power for our use. 

 Energy - Self-Administered Test on Energy (True or False, 50 items)
Dr. Abe V. Rotor and Ms. Melly Tenorio

Lessons on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid DZRB 738 AM,

8 to 9 Evening Class, Monday to Friday

1. You need less energy to boil water on the lowland (sea level) than on the highland (mountaintop)

2. When water boils at sea level, and you want to increase the temperature, all you need to do is burn more fuel, and even prolong it.

3. The temperature of boiling water inside a pressure cooker can be raised higher than 100ºC.

4. It is cooler on the mountain top than on the lowland, because the air is thinner.

5. One-half of the fossil fuels we use for heating, electricity, machines is actually lost; it’s really a waste of energy.

6. All over the world, the percentage contributions of these main energy sources are as follows: oil and gas 35 %, coal 60%, nuclear 5%.

7. Worldwide eighty (80) percent of energy used for cooking comes from firewood.

8. Generally firewood smoke is harmless to health and the environment. If fact it drives pest and other vermin, induces flowering and fruiting of fruit trees.

9. The most popular local firewood comes from madre de cacao (Gliricida sepium) and ipil-ipil (Leucaena glauca).

10. Firewood farming can be integrated with the forestry program, in mixed tree farming, strip and contour farming; it helps reduce erosion and siltation.

11. SALT means Sloping Agricultural Land Technology, a program of the DA and DENR to protect our hillsides and uplands.

12. Forests, irrespective of its kind and location, increase O², absorb CO², create a mini-climate, attract cloud and increase rainfall. They provide food, energy, shelter and serve as wildlife sanctuary.

13. Biofuel refers to energy derived from farm wastes, oil from plants such as Jatropha, consuelda, castor bean, lumbang, bitaog.

14. Gasohol or alcogas is a mixture of ethanol and kerosene.

15. Car maintenance includes observing carless day, planned route, and car pool,

16. There will be one billion cars in the world by 2018. There are some 600 million cars in the world today which consume 20 million barrels of oil a day.

17. Driving at 100 kph on NLEX is more economical than driving at 80 kph.

18. It takes 1000 people to travel on 125 cars, 10 buses, 1 train.

19. House plan and design should be environment friendly, low in energy consumption, and easily and economical maintenance.

20. Measure the energy you use, monitor monthly consumption. 1,000 watts = 1 kw; 1,000,000 watts = 1 MW; 1 b watts – 1 gigawatt (1GW)

21. Practice recycling to reduce energy requirement – water, re-heat food, waste utilization (wood), scrap metal, used tires, plastics, metals (bauxite most efficient in recycled metal).

22. Austerity in electric energy consumption is necessary. Philippines has the highest cost of electric energy cost, yet it has the lowest GDP per capita.

23. The world continues to build new nuclear power plants, even if the US and Sweden have not built new ones..

24. The world’s worse nuclear power plant accident (meltdown) happen in Cernobyl, Kiev, and three-mile island in the US.

25. Energy of falling water is also called gravitational energy. Hydroelectric plants make use of this principle.

26. SWIP means Small Water Impounding Project is self contained for small communities providing them electric power generation, irrigation, fisheries and forestry.

27. Energy efficiency in agriculture and industry is part of sustainable productivity. It take advantage of the greenhouse effect.

28. Cars, cars, cars. Here are examples of people to car ratios: 1.8 US; 2.9 Russia 24; Peru 52; China 1374

29. Some 1 million cars are manufactured everyday, 80 percent are sold in developed countries.

30. The old Dutch windmills are coming back in the form of wind power farms. (Remember the windmill Don Quijote fought in Miguel de Cervantes’ novel – Don Quijote?)

31. Ethanol comes from sugarcane, sugar beets and root crops (cassava). One objection to biofuels is the direct competition between food and fuel, thus affecting food supply and nutrition.

True.

32. Home Biogas generators are most found in China and India. We have in the Philippine a commercial biogas models at the Madamba Maya Farms in Rizal.

33. These are the used of Solar energy: reflected light (mirror concentrator) to generate electricity, desalination for potable and irrigation water, direct drying, solar panels, solar battery/cell.

25. Fire in the Earth means geothermal energy from hot rocks and volcanic vents. Water is pump to the ground circulates in the cracks, becomes hot up to 200 centigrade and comes through a borehole which then turns a turbine that generate electricity. True. Anglo-French link – the Old Red Sandstone – produces 76 ºcentigrade, hot enough to heat buildings. We trapping volcanic heat at Los Baños.and Tiwi. True.

26. New sails for sea vessels are being developed – but this is not significant to reduce energy of sea vessels which would rather run on fuel. False. New sails can replace engine power.

27. Surging energy of the sea - waves, tides, heat content, salty water, ocean currents – are just dreams yet to come true as alternative energy sources. False. There are pioneer projects such as gully wave generator, wave power, OTEC Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, CLAM – British wave pressure system, Japanese osmosis system at estuaries. .

28. There are now biodegradable plastics for biogas and compost production.

29. Nuclear Powers are North Korea and Iran. While they stirred fear and criticism led by the US and Japan imposing sanction on North Korea, South Korea appears undisturbed by the issue of having a bomb at the other side of its fence.

30. Walking saves on energy, in fact it is therapy and leisure when you combine and harmonize your body, mind and spirit with nature.

31. Energize, instead of exercise. It is exercise that restores gait and adds strength, while it brings inner peace. The mind becomes sharper; sensitivity is honed.

32. Oil from wild plants lighted the homes of our ancestors.

33. One source of oil is lumbang (Aleurites moluccana). Its seeds yield 62 percent lamp and industrial oil. Just pick its ripe berry and light it. It produces a bright bluish flame.

34. Among the alternative sources of oil which are being investigated in the light of spiraling oil price, are the following species of Family Euphorbiaceae, to which the rubber tree belongs.

• Soro-soro (Euphorbia neriifolia),

• Gatas-gatas (E. pilulifera),

• Consuelda (E. tirucalli),

• Physic nut (Jatropha curcas),

• Castor-oil plant or tangantangan (Ricinus communis)

35. Generally the ultimate source of energy is the sun, either directly or indirectly.

36. If you direct all the light of the stars and harness them collectively you will be able to amass tremendous energy.

37. We have succeeded in inventing the “Perpetual machine,” a long dream of mankind.

38. The human body is a perfect machine in terms of energy conversation and utilization, which no human invention can compare.

39. There are now hydrogen powered car running on the streets – the promise to replace fossil fuels.

40. Magnetic shield protects the earth from deleterious radiation from space. .

41. Living organisms do not use energy during dormancy – aestivation and hibernation.

42. Hydrogen bomb works on the principle of fusion, while the atomic bomb works of the principle of fission.

43. Polysaccharides or complex sugars directly release energy in the body.

44. Prisoners become emaciated when, due to prolonged and extreme lack of food, the body converts adipose and muscle tissues into energy.

45. The nemesis of moving parts that reduce fuel efficiency is friction.

46. Synergy means there is more energy than the sum of energies.

47. The ultimate end result when energy is transformed from one form to another is low level heat.

48. Energy is neither created nor destroyed.

49. A single lightning bolt, if only it can be stored, is enough to light a community for days.

50. Overall conclusion and recommendation in conserving energy can be summarized into

“Less is More”

Hydro-electric energy is the main source of electricity in the world. Village size plants can be tapped for power and irrigation, and lately eco-tourism.

ANSWERS
1. False, at sea level water boils at 100ºC; 3,000m – 90ºC; 6,000m – 81ºC; 9,000m – 75ºC)
2. False, Water boils at 100ºC, and remains at this temperature, water will simply change from liquid to gaseous form – steam.
3. True, usually at 120ºC for typical pressure cookers.
4. True. Air absorbs and conserves heat. There is less at higher elevation.
5. True. 50% is wasted
6. False. Oil and gas 60%, coal 35% nuclear 5%
7. True. In rural communities firewood is the main cooking fuel.
8. True. Environment-friendly. Too much exposure is harmful though.
9. True. Philippines, as well as in tropical countries where these trees grow naturally.
10. True
11. True
12. True. Forest also “catch” smog (suspended layer of fog and smoke).
13. True
14. False. Alcohol and gasoline
15.True
16. False, consumption is based on 1 billion cars.
17. False
18. False. 500 only, on the average.
19. True
20. True
21. True
22. False, exaggerated data. But practice energy conservation, such as fewer and more efficient light bulbs, limit laundry (ex. sun dry, bulk washing and ironing), forego using electricity in bath, pressurized water system)

23. True. There are 500 nuclear plants all over the world – now there is a slowdown for new ones. France, Germany, Belgium and Japan will produce more electricity from nuclear reactors
24. True
25. True
26. True
27. True
28. True
29. True
30. True. But there are only 20,000 wind turbine generators (WTGs) in the world with 15,000 located in California. Total production is only 5,000 MW.

31. True. Just like what the Greeks believed in, exercise is the fountain of youth, it could be the missing key to “a healthy mind in a healthy body.”
32. Other than the coconut which is the main source of oil in the country, there are plants growing in the wild that yield lamp oil, among them a large tree called palomaria or bitaog (Calophyllum inophyllum) whose large seed is a rich source of oil called domba or “laurel-nut” oil. The seed or kernel yields 70 to 75 percent oil, and is rich in resin (28.5 percent) making bitaog oil an excellent natural varnish. The resin however, is poisonous. Old folks also use bitaog bark for tanning because of its high tannin content (19.12 percent)
33. True. Other than the coconut which is the main source of oil in the country, there are plants growing in the wild that yield lamp oil, among them a large tree called palomaria or bitaog whose large seed is a rich source of oil called domba or “laurel-nut” oil. The seed or kernel yields 70 to 75 percent oil, and is rich in resin (28.5 percent) making bitaog oil an excellent natural varnish. The resin however, is poisonous. Old folks also use bitaog bark for tanning because of its high tannin content (19.12 percent)

34. False. You may be referring to hanga, a small tree whose mature berries directly burn with bluish flame. It is plentiful in the highlands, such as in Benguet. One can visit the collection of hanga trees at the DENR field station in Loakan, near the Baguio airport.

34. True. However, many of these potential energy sources are in the pioneering stage of development.
35. True. Including fossil fuels, wind and water energy.
36. False. So far no one has succeeded.
37. False. The rule is, “energy in, energy out.” We still have to contend with friction, decay, imprecision, etc.
38. True
39. False. By and large, the Hydrogen engine is still on experimental stage.
40.. True. Magnetic lines run from South Pole to North Pole, creating beautiful aurora borealis and aurora austalis
41. False. Energy consumption takes place at very low rate.
42. True.
43. False. Hydrolysis before respiration/oxidation.
44. True
45. True.
46. True, say the maximum weight the left hand can lift is 20 kg and the right hand is 20 kg, both hands can lift not only 40 kg, but more - perhaps 50 kg. This is not follow the laws of physics.
47. True
48. True.
49. True. We don’t have the technology to “catch and store the energy of lightning”
50. True. Conserve and there will be sufficient energy for everyone.

ComArt - Green Revolution: Review #3 Communication and Socio-cultural Change (Self Administered Test, 25 items)

3. GR Dr Abe V Rotor and Ms Melly Tenorio
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid DZRB 738 KHz AM Band
8 to 9 o'clock in the evening, Monday to Friday

Green Revolution in the seventies - crowning glory of Philippine Agriculture

1. Botanically speaking, the parts of these plants we eat are classified as follows: cassava tuber is a root, so with kamote, peanut is a fruit, potato tuber is a stem, onion bulb is a leaf.

2. The production capacity of genetically modified crops of corn, potato, and soybean – the most common GMO food we are taking every day - has increased even without increasing the supply of nutrients in the soil. GMOs are the world’s ultimate recourse to feed an ever increasing population now approaching the 6.5 billion mark.

3. These are Lazy Man’s plants, or what we consider literally as tanim ng tamad, a syndrome many Filipinos fall into, a little bit of every thing (tingi-tingi), ningas kogon, makakalimutin, kulang sa tiyaga, and mapabaya’: papaya, malunggay, siling labuyo, katuray, ube, patola, kondol, upo, alugbati, talinum, patani, batao, segidillas, kumpitis.

4. Talinum is a small tree that is why it is so easy to grow, and will last for a long time, season after season and you have vegetables throughout the year. Alugbati is tree like malunggay. In fact they usually grow together in some forgotten corner, along dikes and fences, around open well, and does not need care at all practically speaking. Alugbati is best as salad, cooked with mungo, beef stew, sinigang, bulanglang.

5. Agro-ecology will always clash – there is no compromise. Either you are an ecologist or you are an economist. Take eco-tourism, eco-village, etc.

6. The area required for a Homesite for the Golden Years is greatly variable and flexible; it can be as small as 100 square meters to 10 hectares in area. This allows evolution of as many models as one could think of.

7. Value-added, a term in manufacturing gave rise to a new taxation E-VAT. To cope up with the added burden on the part of both entrepreneur and consumer, why not process your product and get instead the benefit of the new law? Example. Don’t just sell your palay harvest, have it milled sold as rice, make flour out of it, make puto and bihon, and others.

8. Based on the same question above, to get the benefits of VAT, market your own produce; be an entrepreneur, a middleman/trader and of course, a producer.

9. Start by planting the seeds of the following crops if you go wish into immediate commercial production – because the seeds of these plants are plentiful, you have no problem of supply: chico, guava, orange, mango, rambutan, lanzones, avocado, tiesa, atis, guayabano – as well as others that produce plenty of seeds. That’s how nature intended it to be.

10. Seeds always turn out genetically true to type. Big mango fruits come from seeds of big mango fruits, big guava means big guava, sweet pomelo – sweet pomelo, seedless atis – seedless atis, red pakwan from red pakwan.

11. Just follow the direction of the sun when you plant by rows and plots – north to south, so that there is less overshadowing of plants. In this case you may increase your harvest by as much as 10 percent.

12. Extend the shelf life of fruits such as mango, avocado, atis, guayabano, nangka, by rubbing salt at the end of the stem, the base of the fruit.

13. Ampalaya has many recipes. All you need is buy a bundle of fresh ampalaya tops made into salad and dipped with bagoong and vinegar. Or add ampalaya leaves to mungo and dried fish or sautéed pork. Pinakbet anyone? Native or wild ampalaya cut in half or quarter without severing the cut. Ampalaya at delatang sardinas.

14. If there is a Luther Burbank, the American plant wizard, in the Philippines we have Nemesio Mendiola, foremost plant breeder of the Philippines.

15. Lowland ricefields during the monsoon season make a contiguous lake that is a an abode to many edible species of freshwater fish, crustaceans, mollusk and amphibians. T

16. Palay-isdahan means converting spent fishponds to rice production since rice is an aquatic plant.

17. Rice can be grown commercially on any elevation from lowland, upland, hillside to highland. This is true to corn, mango and coconut. F

18. The sea is limitless in resources considering that more than 70% of the earth’s surface is water. For this matter, the world’s population can safely increase further without fear of shortage in food and other needs. It is only a matter of improving and disseminating technology and direct it to this purpose.

19. The most allergenic food is cow’s milk. Yet cow’s milk is most recommended for babies and adults alike, in countless preparations from ice cream to cakes to cream, etc.

20. Milk from animals is an invention of countries with winter, when there are no direct source of vitamins and minerals which are fruits and vegetables. Thus, in tropical countries where there are green food all year round requires very little milk – if at all.

21. Converting mangrove swamps into fishponds is a solution to food crisis because fishponds produce more food that what the mangrove swamps normally contribute to the natural supply of food.

22. GM rice or golden rice contains yellow pigment of daffodils which is rich in Vitamin A. Vit A may be needed by the body but an overdose of it is not good to health, among the effects is allergy. This is the first case of “biopharming” – implanting drugs and medicine in food plants to act as food and medicine at the same time.

23. There is limit to growth; it cannot be a perfect progression. Somehow the curve becomes an inverted C – which means that the factors of growths become the antithesis of growth itself.

24. WB warns of social unrest in the event that the impending food shortage cannot be contained on time and by solutions acceptable by the masses. Revolution starts with hungry stomach as history can attest. French Revolution, Russian, Chinese to mention some. These support Marxist philosophy of justifying socialism over aristocracy and capitalism.

25. Ordinary people like anyone of us can secure for ourselves and family enough food and proper nutrition. This is food security in action. It is food security that gives us real peace of mind. The biological basis does not need farther explanation. It is the key to unity and harmony in the living world. Queuing for rice defeats the image of a strong economy. High prices of food do not give a good reflection either. How about ASEAN, UN, WHO? ASEAN commitment to regional food security, food aid from the UN or US may simply ease the impact of food shortage or inequity in its distribution, but they are but palliative measures. And having a dreamer Joseph in public food depot is not reliable either. It is green revolution at the grassroots that assures us of not only food but other necessities of life – and self employment. It is that piece of Paradise that has long been lost that resurrect in some corner of your home. Paradise is not lost, if you create one. Do you agree?














Answers: 1t, 2f, 3t, 4f, 5f, 6f, 7t, 8t, 9f, 10f, 11f, 12f, 13t, 14t, 15t, 16f, 17f, 18f, 19t, 20t, 21f, 22t, 23t, 24t, 25t

ComArt - Photography: Review #4 for Communication and Socio-cultural Change

5. Photography (Modified True or False, 50 Items)
By Dr Abe V Rotor

___1. For best results there is no substitute to having a manual camera with semi-automatic system for photographic art – kahit digital camera pa.
__ 2 . When taking pictures, the rule is that the source of light must be at the back of the photographer.
___3. The lens of a camera is like the pupil of the human eye.
___4. Single lens reflex (SLR) means you are looking at the subject through the lens of the camera.
__ 5. Satellite imaging can detect weather disturbances, pollution; it can predict crop yield levels, and in fact even hideouts of terrorists.
___6. Satellite imaging is used in cartography, that is, the science of mapping the features of the earth.
__ 7. Deeper interpretation of contrast is in the subject of the photo, rather than interplay of light and shadow, colors and lines.
__ 8. The larger the lens opening the better is the depth of field.
__ 9. If the background is bright and your subjects are posed against it, what you can do to counteract glare is to use flash.
__10. Filters emphasize outlines, increases contrast of light and shadow, warm and cool and colors. It is also used in silhouette photography.
__11. The opening of a flower bud step by step is recorded by means of time lapse photography, a technique that compresses time to enable the eye to witness the event in a short time frame.
__12. Buildings appear in concentric circle converging at the top if you use fisheye lens.
__13.When using a wide angle lens for a group photo, those on the sides appear to be very thin while those at the center are fat. (F, it is the opposite).
__14. Telezoom lenses extend the view, compressing distance, thus they are used in war zones.
__15.Allow the pupil of the eye to narrow down by sending a series of faint flashes before the real flash is made. This is to prevent red eye in the photograph.
_ 16. With the state-of-the-art digital photography, a poorly taken photo can be edited anyway - so, why worry?
__17. Black and white photos are simpler to process and print than color photographs.
__18. The computer is equipped with a software to correct blurred, burned, incomplete and misaligned photos to appear normal.
__ 19. As a rule do not retouch a historical documentary photos; they are more authentic in their original state.
__ 20. It is easier to photograph emotions rather than features, because they come naturally, while you have to do a lot of script in the latter.
__21. A famous photograph – a naked young girl, her body burned by napalm (Orange Agent) running along a highway with other children, while soldiers simply didn’t mind, was taken during the recent Iraq war.
__22. A lone man standing in front of a column of tanks was taken during the Vietnam war. The photo freezes the action as if the man succeeded in his suicidal act.
__23. Today, photography – from shooting to printing - can be done in a home studio, and therefore offers a good business opportunity. In fact documentaries and short movies can be done.
__24. Composition is the key to telling a story, be it a painting, a poem, a novel – or a photograph.
__25. The elements of art – are also the elements of photography.
__26. Foreshortened effect is shown on traffic signs written on the highway.
__27. 400 ASA/ISO/DIN film is more sensitive than 100 ASA/ISO/DIN film, in the same way as 4 megapixels is more sensitive than say, 2 megapixels.
__28. As the number increases - 30, 60, 100, 250, 500, 1000 – it means the shutter mechanism proportionately slows down or decreases speed.
__29. Here are three ways to improve your photo when lighting is poor: use tripod, use flash, increase ASA or DIN – in any combination, or all of them at the same time.
__30. You can get multiple exposures in a single shot of fireworks even without a tripod.
__31. Adjust shutter to B and mount camera on tripod when shooting night scenes – a busy street, Christmas lights, stars, constellation, etc.
__32. Today’s digital camera is more versatile, relatively cheaper, easier to operate – but not necessarily superior in quality - to film camera.
__33. Some digital cameras can used the lenses of film cameras, particularly SLRs.
__34. The most advanced digital cameras are made by Kodak.
__35.When a close up of flower is blurred, the subject is too close.
__36. Basketball player in air totally blurred – shutter speed is too slow.
__37. Sunny outdoor view is rough, with dot matrix like in “pointillism.” – ASA value too high.
__38. Photo is too light all over, no accent, clarity poor – insufficient light, lens opening too small, or both
__39. When having your picture taken, relax your shoulder and your face muscles will also relax.
__40. “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and “Micro Safari” have one in common – micro photography.
__41. Light microscope reveals the world of microorganisms – countless of them in a single drop of water.
__42. Electron microscopy produces photographs of extremely small objects up to 50,000 times in a myriad of colors like a rainbow.
__43. Radio telescope enables the human eye to see very far objects like stars using the same principle of lens telescope.
__44. One area of photography that enables us to see fast moving objects normally invisible to the eye is through slow motion photography.
__45. The aura emitted by our body is visible through photography.
__46. Photography brings to the eyes of the world good things to appreciate, and evil things to correct.
__47. Photojournalism is a risky profession, like other media men, they risk their lives. In fact the Philippines has the most number of fatalities among media men, second to Iraq.
__48. War is the arena of photography – war against poverty, graft and corruption, environmental degradation, diseases, ignorance, terrorism, and the like.
__49. Yet photography offers the newest, most modern, technologically advanced, now popularized to be enjoyed by millions of people everyday.
__50. Photography is the extension of our eyes and other senses, in fact our intellect, our feeling and our soul. x x x


















ANSWERS: 1f,2t,3f,4t,5t,6t,7t,8f,9t,10t,11t,12t,13f,14t,15t,16f,17t,18f,19f,20f,
21f,22f,23t,24t,25t,26t,27t,28f,29t,30f,31t,32t,33t,34f,35t,36t,37t,38t,39t,40t,
41t,42f,43f,44t,45t,46t,47t,48t,49t,50t.

Environment and Art: Nature in Murals at SPUQC

Environment and Art:  Nature in Murals at SPUQC

By Abe V Rotor

                Tropical Rainforest, wall mural in acrylic by AV Rotor (8' x 10') 2000

Watershed, Wall Mural, St Paul University QC, (12' x 14') AVR 2007.
The murals have suffered rapid deterioration due to direct exposure 

to the elements and poor maintenance.

Nature represents the idea of the entire universe in a state of perfection. Nature is one: it unites heaven and earth, connecting human beings with the stars and bringing them all together into a single family. Nature is beautiful; it is ordered. A divine law determines its arrangement, namely the subordination of the means to the end, and the parts to the whole.

After putting down my brush, I took a view of the mural from a distance. The scene – unspoiled nature – one spared from the hands of man and typified by the tropical rainforest, flowed out from a wall that was previously white and empty.

In the course of painting the mural, which took all of seven days and in the days following its unveiling, I took notice of the reactions of viewers. It must be the stillness of the scene, freshness of its atmosphere, and its apparent eccentricity that attract passersby as if in search of something therapeutic. It seems to slow down busy feet, soothing tired nerves. There is something I thought was mysterious beyond the levels of aesthetics. For the huge scene is a drama of life completely different from city living. It is respite. It is transformation from concrete to greenery, from cityscape to landscape.

Yet, I found it difficult to give it a title and an explanation that captures both its essence and message. This time many ideas crowded my mind. At the start of my painting labors, the challenge was how and where to start painting. Now that it is completed, what else is there to say after one has “said” it all in colors and lines, hues and shadows, perspective and design? What more is there to declare for after the last page of a book? For a painting, it is the same.

Relaxation did not come easy for me after many hours of concentrating on my subject, dealing with a fast-drying medium of acrylic. What made it more challenging was the unending attempt to capture those fleeting impressions and recollections that pervaded my mind as I painted. I then took a pen and slowly wrote my thoughts. From the mural, I saw the scenery of my childhood on the farm, views of my travels here and abroad, imagery from my readings, and views drawn out like a thread from the mass of a golf ball. It was imagery and memory working jointly.

Tropical Rainforest Model

I chose the tropical rainforest scenery since it is the richest of all ecosystems in the world. The Philippines, being one of the countries endowed with this natural wealth is a treasure, indeed. For this reason, I believe that, the tropical rainforest closely resembles the description of the biblical paradise. It is not only a living bank of biological diversity; it is the most important sanctuary of living matters on earth.

To paint such a big wall is no easy task. It is not unusual to face a blank wall, literally speaking, and not knowing what to do first even with all the colors and tools on hand – and a predetermined topic in mind. Shall I start at the center and move outward, or from both sides slowly progressing inward? Or do I divide the wall into parts, working on them one by one, then unifying them at the end?

…and Heaven and Nature Sing

Christmas was already in the air and the Siberian winds were bringing in the chills. Carol music was now being played in malls, schools and homes. I was engrossed in my work when some students, watching me paint, sang a familiar song. On this particular occasion, something about the song chimed inside me, directing me towards the central theme of my mural.

“…and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.”

- Joy to the World

What does this mean? Is it the idea of nature representing the entire universe in a state of perfection? Or is it nature as one? Does it unite heaven and earth? Does it connect human beings and the galaxies as one family?

Little did I know of my ecology. As a subject I teach in college and in the graduate school I depend much on formulas and equations, principles and case studies. My knowledge about the environment is structured and formal. I use module maps or course syllabi based on accepted teaching techniques and references. My approach was comparative analysis. I was a judge of the beautiful and ugly, the do’s and don’ts. At times I am a Utopian; at others, conformist.

Little did I realize that the order of Nature is not merely determined by natural laws applied as ecological tenets, but as a divine law which determines its arrangement, the subordination of the means to the end, and which the assimilation of the parts to the whole. Many of us are ignorant of this law, or if we know it, seem to forget or disregard it as we relentlessly work to exploit the earth.

In our apparent failure to preserve nature, perhaps it is time to look at ecology with the essence of this popular Christmas song – a song that makes everyday of the year, Christmas. Ecology is “heaven and nature singing together.” Only then can we truly understand the term, balance of nature – a kind of dynamic equilibrium that leads to homeostasis where there is stability among interdependent groups that characterize natural processes, and the period in which they take place. The ultimate conclusion is always a balanced system. We have to look beyond books to understand biological diversity, and its application in nature, to find the common phrase: In diversity there is unity. The general rule is that the wider the diversity is in terms of number of living species, and in terms of the number of natural species and their habitats, the more closely knit the biosphere becomes, resulting in a richer, more stable environment. Undoubtedly, all this is part of a grand design inspired divinely.

A Hole in the Sky

Looking at the mural from a distance one notices a darkened part of the sky, apparently a hole (though this is not the ozone layer pierced by CFC pollution). It gives one a feeling that it is a tunnel to infinity as if to link both earth and heaven. Through this hole, one envisions a Higher Principle. From the foreground, which is the placid stream of a downward meandering river, its tributaries and banks lined with trees and thickets, the eye soon reaches the forested hills and mountains shrouded by clouds.

But it does not end there. Here the cloud is a curtain laden with the radiance of the sun, and the life-giving provenance of rain, useless each without the other for life on earth to exist. This is the crossroad. The cloud opens with a backdrop of infinity. The universe, whose limit is unknown, bursts open a foreground that reveals a whole drama of life on earth. After that, the eye repeats the journey. In the process, the viewer becomes sensitive to the details of the painting. He searches for things familiar, or situations that later become a new experience.

Creatures in the Forest

Creatures in general are not as visible as they appear in books and on the screen. They blend with their surroundings mainly for predatory anticipation and protective camouflage. But there are other reasons too, that are not well understood. Take the case of the butterflies. Their beauty is extravagant for their basic function as pollinators. Fish jump for mere pleasure, dragonflies have wings that split light into prisms. Birds stay in the sky longer for the sheer joy of flying, and not just to cruise in search of a prey.

Among the animals suggested to me while painting the mural are flying lemur, Philippine monkey, heron, monitor lizard, boa constrictor and hornbill. I painted these - and many more, the way I imagined them in their natural habitat. I put a touch of Noah’s Ark, painting them in pairs. For the rodents, ducks and doves I made them in amiable groupings that exude a familial atmosphere.

Whenever I see viewers seriously searching for these creatures with walking fingers, I am tempted to add to the collection of creatures, making them even more difficult to find. But that might change the ambiance to fun and puzzle solving, rather than of meditation and recollection.

People in the Mural

The trees and the massiveness of the scenery dwarf the characters in the mural. They appear mindless of events and time. They care not for the chores of the day. Those who are engrossed fishing with a simple hook-and-line do not show excitement even as they land their catch. Others patiently wait for a bite. There is a sense of tranquility and peace to all characters, whether they are promenading or just passing the time away. Their faces show only the slightest hint of anger or sadness.

I noticed viewers trying to identify themselves with the characters of the mural. Some construction workers envision themselves fishing. High school students are drawn by the promenades. But there are those who simply imagine themselves part of the scene. “This place is familiar to me,” one would say, apparently recalling provincial life. “We have flying lemurs in Davao,” says another.

Where does the water flow, and what does the mural mean to us? Water is everywhere. It is free to flow. Tributaries abound as if there were no limit. Trees are everywhere and far into the backdrop is a vast virgin forest. There is no sign of man’s destructive hand. At the foreground is a placid pond where Nymphaea and lotus grow. It is in contrast to the lively pulse of the river. This is a corner where life is peaceful and serene. It is here that we draw strength in facing the river and beyond.

What really is the message of the mural to us?

Quite often, images of nature enrapture us. These are reminiscences of childhood, a re-creation of a favorite spot we may have visited or seen, or products of the imagination greatly influenced by the society we live in.

These images reflect a deep seated biological longing to be part of nature. Putting it in the biblical sense, it is a natural searching for the lost paradise. They are a refuge from city living, a respite, and an escape from the daily grind.

But these images do not only tell us of what we are missing. Rather, it reminds us what we are going to miss, perhaps forever, if we do not heed nature’s signal towards a fast declining ecosystem. If we do not change our way of life from too much dependence on consumerism, to one more closely linked to conservation of nature, we may end up building memories and future archives of a lost world.

The warning is clear. The painting challenges everyone to do his part to save Mother Earth so that her beauty is not only kept in the form of images, but a scenery of real life enjoyed by us and future generations. ~