Self-Administered Test on Bilmoko and The Customer is Always Right (True or False, 25 Items)

Are you getting your money's worth?

Dr Abe V Rotor

The customer is always right. Is it? Let's find out.

1. You need a Utility Vehicle but you want a limousine – that’s how you differentiate the need from want. Needs are based on necessity; want on luxury. Most often we go for things beyond necessity. What you want is more expensive in most cases than what you need. Needs are bare, wants are elaborate.

2. Need is easier to satisfy; want satisfies appeal – and appeal is subjective; it is infinite.

3. New products are aggressively introduced into the market. Slow moving items must go. Expired goods (or about to) are virtually useless, and they are dangerous to use or consume. And here you are - a fish ready to bite. Don’t.

4. Bilmoko is a syndrome created by our capitalistic world. It thrives on young people from kinder to teenagers. They are the agents of consumerism, and consumerism is the main pillar or capitalism.

5. We place high confidence on computers because they are fail-safe; they are accurate, prompt and up-to-date.

6. Computerized receipts are supposed to be BIR registered. Demand this kind of receipt for the item you bought or service you paid for. Conventional receipts should be likewise BIR registered.

7. Don’t be too trusting. Don’t become unwilling victim of opportunists and rogues. Don’t be in a hurry to buy anything. This is where you are most vulnerable.

8. Initial deposits may turn out non-refundable. Don’t fall into this tender trap.

9. Memorandum of Agreement must be bilateral. Don’t be an underdog. Consult an expert, a lawyer, before you sign.

10. Utang, Puro Utang: Avoid Credit, cash it. Don’t use credit card unless it is very necessary.

11. There are possessions that are better to give as gifts or donations, than to convert them into cash. Remember the victims of calamities, poor children around and specially this Christmas.

12. They say only 50 percent (even less) is true in advertisement. There are advertisements though that are genuine and sincere, in fact educational. But a great many merely paints a rosy garden.

13. Advertising appeals to the weakness of human nature – emotion. It thrives on conditioned learning (psychological thirst). Advertisement is applied aesthetics, you are captive of your own desires.

14. Don’t allow yourself the "guinea pig" of new products and services.

15. Geniuses wanted – geniuses discovered. The first person to get rich, in fact multi-billionaire, through intellectual property is Bill Gates (Microsoft).

16. Cyber age brought a new concept of freedom: Digital Democracy. It brought to the masses science and technology, education and entertainment. Make a movie, publish a book, compose a opera with your PC.

17. Printers are cheaper than ink; photocopying machines are cheaper than the ink powder and electromagnetic drum.

18. Managers are paid less than consultants. CEOs receive many times (17 times) more that the average worker in their organizations, according to a US survey.

19. Open University allows you to enter school in your workplace, in your home, even in your sick bed.

20. What makes food expensive is the sophisticated culinary art - the aesthetics of food in restaurants and hotels. Learn the art and trade. Bring it home. Share with your spouse and children, the kitchen and dining room can be transformed into restaurant or hotel of sort.

21. Before buying any fruit juice, powdered or ready to drink, read the label. Be sure it does not contain aspartame or any artificial sugar. Before buying noodles or both mix, read the label of ingredients – be sure there is no MSG Monosodium Glutamate or vetsin.

22. Do not buy seeds and propagules of plants you are not familiar with; don’t be sold to the beautiful label. For all you know these plants are not suitable to local conditions. Consult local farmers or your nearest agriculturist.

23. Customer service is becoming more sophisticated. Customers are pampered, spoiled. More call centers, more waiters and sales ladies, bank tellers, nurses. Personalized service is part of red carpet treatment.

24. Be austere (austerity), be wise and cautious, trust your senses (not emotion and psyche) when buying anything. Packaging will not improve quality, increase value or guarantee your safety.

25. The reason for the series of lessons on food, agriculture, home gardening, pesticide-free vegetables and the like in Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid - is to bring into consciousness the reality of life that is simple, self-sufficient, healthy and happy – at our finger tips, at our command. Indeed it is liberation, the road to freedom from extreme consumerism which is the precursor of abusive capitalism.~









NOTE: Answers are True, except Nos. 5 and 23 (False)

Bringing up smart kids

Bringing up smart kids
Dr Abe V Rotor

 Give them early education, but don't push them too hard. Don't expect your kids to bring home stars everyday. 

 Bonding reinforces self-confidence.  Don't allow your kids to become loners, however intelligent they are.

 Surprise, surprise! This is a result of curiosity.  Your kids may discover things which to us are common and  familiar.  

 Enjoy the seasons, particularly summer - vacation and time for hobbies and learning skills like making kites and flying them. 

 Home gardening is a healthy and educational workshop.  It translates to real what they read in books.  They learn early in life how nature works, acquiring in the process values of work, appreciation and cooperation.    

 Community work such as Clean and Green, wall mural competition, and the like, develop values and skills in the arts, discovering and honing their talents. 

Live, play, enjoy nature to develop natural immunity and resistance, awe and wonder of creation, and integration with the kids in the community, particularly on the grassroots. 

Parents become children too, to be understood by their children. Join them in parties, outings, school activities, games, and whatever interests them  

Aesthetics leads to appreciation of things beautiful and adorable, develops social intelligence.  Let them become angels, princesses, flower girls,stage actors and actresses. 

Learning things older people do - why not? Saling pusa, that's how we encourage prodigy, particularly in the arts.  Expression of talents does not always keep with chronology.  

Computer literary is important, but parental guidance is needed for balanced programming and moderation.  Balance your kids' time and study, indoor and outdoor life. Remember the "magic box" has no feeling at all - iut's like a robot. 

Breastfeeding, weaning on time, early training.  Don't pamper your kids by babying them too long.  Don't let them fall into the tender trap of consumerism. Parents, specially the mother, are your kids first teachers. 

Leisure.  Give your children regular break from school, assignments, household chores.  Let them enjoy weekends with the family in the park or countryside.  

Teach your kids to conquer fear, to develop natural resistance, to have confidence in you are parents or guardians.  

Faith and spirituality, above  religiosity, is what kids need as they grow.  This is very important foundation in their adult life.   

 There is no substitute to outdoor adventure.  Take your kids to nature regulalrly. Teach them the needed skills lik swimming, hunting, fishing, boating, etc.

 Tradition and culture must preserve with your kids, such as indigenous games and sports as those shown in this mural (Philippine Children's Hospital lobby, Diliman QC) 

 Art workshop. Encourage your kids to participate.  It is a wholesome way to spend summer. (National library, and Museo ng Maynila, respectively)
  

If your kid is exceptionally talented, be his talent scout. Exhibit his work.  Accompany him to competitions.  

 Take your kids to the museum.  The museum is a capsule of history, events, arts - space and time. 

 Make-believe once in a while. Masks make them feel different, they learn what it means to be not themselves. 

 Pets are a must to kids.  They teach them a lot of lessons.  Loving often starts with pets.

Insects, insects everywhere, and not a place to hide

Photographed and Edited by Dr Abe V Rotor


These are some insect collections of the Museum of Natural History. They represent but a trickle in the bucket, so to speak, considering that insects are the most diversified and most populous creatures on earth, among invertebrates and vertebrates combined. 

Insects are the most diversified and populous members of sub-kingdom Animalia.  There is an estimated number of 20, 940 species in the Philippines with more discoveries ahead. The biggest Order is Coleoptera - the beetles, followed by Lepiodoptera (butterflies and moth), Hymenoptera (bees and wasp), Diptera (flies, mosquitoes and midges), Hemiptera (bugs), and Homoptera (aphis and mealybugs)

.

 Superlatives of insects: loudest, fastest, most tolerant, strongest, above all, most populous. 

 Grasshoppers and locusts. Passive as in Aesop fable (he Ant and the Grasshopper), and Apocalyptic as in biblical records of insects causing civilization to fall. (plagues of Egypt in Moses' time). 

 Dragonflies and damselflies are among the most primitive creatures, preceding the dinosaurs millions of years.Once giants in the air they have shrunk into harmless fliers, but still retain their remarkable predatory prowess to hunt other insect in mid air. Left, Walking stick, leaf insect are queer looking creatures, masters of the art of camouflage  

 Butterflies, moths and skippers  

 

 Beetles: miniature Volkswagens and Tanks

How lonely can you get?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Lesson:  Learn to conquer loneliness and fear through the creative art of photography and poetry.

Sunken Pier, Sto Domingo, Ilocos Sur

A giant its teeth in gruesome stain!

Where have all the children gone?

the old folks and the fishermen?

The sweep of wind answers none.

UST, Manila 

Empty bench is all that sunrise greets
save the earthworm in its burrow,
after a full night's grind fulfilled,
earned its day's rest through,
and oh, that man should learn
to keep the clock holy and true,
his niche in his Creator's view. 

 Sacred Heart Novitiate, QC

As shy as the frangipani's bloom,
whispers in the air a fountain;
the lawn breathes after its groom,
waiting for the monsoon rain.

Canossa Retreat Center, QC 

Empty benches as the sun rises;  
and no soul around to find;
Empty benches hide in darkness,     
save some tears left behind.

 UST Botanical Garden

The artist works all by his thought,
and builds a world his own;
alone his art slowly comes forth,
like the coming of dawn.

Avilon Zoo, San Mateo, Rizal

What bleed your hearts, oh, pigeons two!

Having found one another, and lo!

Life! must it be the way of love to hurt

and leave an imprimatur in the heart?   

Sacred Heart Novitiate, QC

Someone is knocking on my window pane,
dreary like the spirit I often dream;
it must be a raven or some naughty children,
wanting me to join in their game.

Food and Agriculture - a self-administered test

Dr Abe V Rotor

Self-Administered Test on Food Supply Situation (True or False)

DZRB 738 KHz AM 8 to 9 pm Mon to Friday

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly Tenorio

Marine fish such as the tanggigi are declining. Ambulant vendors, Lagro QC

1.The Good Life is taking its toll in terms of ailments and diseases related to too much eating.  It has bred obesity now a growing global concern. Sixty percent of Americans are reportedly overweight. Asians are coming up next. T


2. Actually there is enough food for the whole world.  It is a question of inequality of distribution. T

3. Aquaculture is man’s ultimate frontier of production, because the conventional production areas have already reached their limit. T

4. Chemical pesticides and fertilizers has improved productivity of farmlands as well as enhanced sustainable production. (F)

5. 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

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

7. Rice can be grown commercially in the highlands, saline areas, hillsides, uplands, acidic and alkaline soils. (F)

8. Decrease in food production is also a result of increasing price of fuel, so that when price of food goes up, increase in fuel follows. T

9. Tragedy of the Commons means that common people who do not wake up to the realities of modern living will be left behind by progress. (F)

10. The sea is limitless in resources considering that more than 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. (F)

11.  For this matter (referring to the previous statement), the world’s population can safely increase further without fear of shortage in food and other needs.  It is only a matter of improving technology and direct it to this purpose.(F)

12. To prevent crust, shut off the stove for a minute after it  has reach boiling point – then turn on the heat until the rice is well cooked. T

13. Vitamins and minerals are concentrated in the vegetable, not in its rind or skin. Thus you have to peel kalabasa, pipino, talong, patola and the like. (F)

14. Food management at home was a subject required in the elementary a generation ago which was then called Home Economics. T 

15. Converting mangrove swamps into fishponds is a solution to food crisis because fishponds produce more food that what the mangrove swamps contribute to the natural supply of food.  (F)   

16. The sea is nearly 4 km deep, and up to 12 km at its deepest – which means that fishing has barely scratched the surface of the sea, thus there is no foreseen danger of depletion of marine resources. (F)

17. Seaweed farming is most popular in these places in the Philippoines: Danahon Reef  (between Cebu and Bohol), Zamboanga and Tawi-tawi. T

18. Our country exports millions of dollars worth of Caulerpa which is the source of carageenan used as food conditioning like in ice cream products.   

19. The most popular seaweed sold in Metro Manila is nori, which is used in making Japanese maki. This seaweed is commercially grown in the Philippines. (F)

20. You save on food if you have no pets at home.  There is a policy of China, even to the present, to limit the number of pets in order to save food on this premise. T

21. GM rice or golden rice contains yellow pigment of daffodils which is rich in Vit A.   Vit A may be needed by the body but an overdose of it may be deleterious to health such as 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.  T   

22. Food is getting expensive because the production base (productivity potential) is declining. Other than low production, to rehabilitate the farm is now a major input in production.  In short, rehabilitation is subsidized by the consumer.  T

23. Revolutions start 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. T

24. What economists insist is that the road to good life is economic development, and any country that remains underdeveloped will never have a taste of it. 

25. 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.  T  

TRIVIA: Name some “Foods of the Gods” in olden days that commoners were forbidden to eat these. 

• Nori (red seaweed, Porphyra)
• Mead (honey wine)

NOTE: Answers will be posted in a week's time.

Rip van Winkle Jr.

Rip van Winkle Jr.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Rip van Winkle Sr slept for 20 long years, short story by Washington Irving.

(Acknowledgment: Photo from Wikipedia, Internet, edited)

A balikbayan was visiting his hometown. He wanted to relive his pleasant childhood. There is something irresistible, a homing instinct that draw many balikbayan to come home in the later years of their lives. Some wish to be buried in the town of their birth.

His townmates call him Tatang, a courtesy to a much older person who is like a father. In fact Tatang means father. To earn this title is not easy.

“You must be part of the people,” a Filipino sociologist said. “And you must have the respectability and touch.” But the most important qualification he mentioned is that you have to have children of your own who call you tatang in the biological sense. In the case of Tatang Ramon, his title is sociological.

Which gives essence to the term kapamilya, connoting extended family. Indeed that’s how small the hometown of Tatang Ramon is. Kinship is by consanguinity, affinity and by being a kababayan, rolled in one.

Tatang Ramon felt easy with the people especially the children, and he felt reciprocated. Well, this what you call touch. Tatang Ramon had the touch when he talsk, even with a slight slang that gives an inkling he is a balikbayan from the states. He had the touch when greeting his kababayan and talking to them. And he had a good memory; he could relate people to one another, at least people in his generation, with something interesting about them.

He is indeed a balikbayan – he is bringing out beautiful memories weaving them with the happenings of a changing world. He even talked of post-modern living, giving emphasis to the prefix, to stress the fact that we are "living in the future." What with space exploration, the Internet and cloning - but he did not dwell much on these for fear he might not be understood.

One day Tatang Ramon found a young man scratching the ground with a stick. He was reminded of his bible. There is a part where Christ was meditating scratching the ground with a stick – which up to now no one knows what he wrote. Around him were angry people who were about to stone a woman to death because she committed a grave sin. Christ rose and said, “He who has no sin casts the first stone.” No one dared. The people left and Christ said to the woman, “Go and sin no more.”

Tatang Ramon approached the fellow who was seemingly in deep reflection. He didn’t know what attracted him to do so. Apparently the fellow was sad and lonely. He needed comfort, at least company. He was writing something on the ground which could not be deciphered. To his surprise, he found out that the fellow is the son of a classmate of his in the elementary.

“What’s you name, young man?” he asked

“Jun,” he quipped, “Jun po … Tang.” Short for tatang. And he talked about his father.

“Why, you look like your father.”

You can imagine how the two fell into a familiar conversation, such as what Tatang Ramon and Jun’s father Tatang Juan had in common, what they did in school, but more important what they did after school. Oh, they fished in the river, rode bicycle together, played sipa and competed in nearby towns. It’s a novel if you are patient to hear everything. Tatang Ramon cut the story, “…then I left for the states … finished college … raised a family … found a good job … my children are on their own now… and here I am, a balikbayan.”

Jun did not say a thing. He heard Tatang Ramon all right.

One qualification how the title Tatang is earned is to be able to advise effectively. Even if you are not a sociologist this is basic. And what do you think Tatang Ramon did?

He gave an unsolicited advice. He cleared his throat, sat beside Jun like a father should to a troubled son.

“You see Jun, when you finish college you will meet people and visit different places. You will find a good job. And you will free yourself from the cares and worries of the world.” He paused, waiting for a response. There was none.

“You will simply enjoy the leisure of life.” The balikbayan flashed a friendly grin, thinking he had driven well his point.

The simpleton momentarily stopped scratching the ground, looked at his new mentor and casually spoke.

“And what do you think I’m doing now, 'Tang?"

Tatang Ramon felt he does not deserve the title – what with Jun’s response?

His mind found solace in his readings. He realized Rip van Winkle is still alive. He is in our midst.

Rip van Winkle is the principal character of a short story of the same title written by Washington Irving in the late 17th century.

Rip van Winkle was a very lazy person, a hempeck husband who left home and went up the mountain on a leisurely hunting and did not return until twenty years later. He fell asleep for twenty long years!

“Who am I?” who asked the villagers when he found his way back to his village. Everything changed, it was a new era. America was now an independent nation. Madam Winkle had long been gone. When he finally reached his old home, a young man was scratching the ground with a stick. His house was still there but was falling apart.

“I am Rip Van Winkle!” The old man cried. “Can’t anyone recognize me?” He paused and got closer to the young man and examined him from head to foot. He looked familiar. "And who are you?"

“I am Rip van Winkle,” came a wry answer.

x x x

Bannawag (Light of Dawn) - Flagship of Ilocano Language and Culture

Dr Abe V Rotor

Columnist (Okeyka Apong)

Bannawag Magazine

   

 

Read Bannawag for 12 Reasons - and More

Read Bannawag, it is the Ilocano magazine with the largest circulation, in the    Philippines and in Ilocano communities abroad - from Hawaii, Middle East on to Europe. 

Read Bannawag, and learn a language learned at birth, by affinity and association, a beautiful language - both exotic and ethnic, rich, musical, expressive, a language Ilocanos carry with pride to the corners of the earth. 

Read Bannawag, it is the flagship and conservator of Ilocano culture, the GI (Genuine Ilocano) imprimatur, trademark of beautiful traits and values - the Ilocano tool of  survival and dominance, at home and away from home.  

   

Read Bannawag, it is a trail blazer of the migratory and transient characteristic of the Ilocano, of his homely nature, and his homing instinct, returning to his native region in the true sense of a balikbayan.

Read Bannawag, it has the uniqueness of the super-superlative, like beauty begetting beauty ad infinitum, so to speak. (napintas, napinpintas, kapintasan - and kapipintasan) - the last word means "most, most beautiful", a rare language phenomenon.  

Read Bannawag, its tonality is akin to the natural environment - tone of tenderness or firmness, tone that pierces distance or keeps closeness sacred, echoing tone over fields and rolling hills, prayerful, romantic, dirgefull.

Read Bannawag, and learn by intonation the speaker's origin, the naturalness of his  accent, clear syllabication, distinct "R" and nasal contraption (likened to German) -  variations indigenous to a place or extent of influence by other languages.  

    

Read Bannawag and enjoy the myths and legends from Lam-ang the epic hero, to Angalo the legendary giant, the biblical Lakay-lakay whirlpool, and many folk tales Ilocano counterpart of the Arabian Nights and the Grimm brothers stories.

Read Bannawag, and live in the era of the Zarzuela (homegrown drama)  and Moro-moro (stage play, musical comedy of Christians fighting the Moors in medieval times) , enjoy the unique musical qualities of Bannatiran (kingfisher), O, Naranniag a Bulan (Moonlight serenade), Pamulinawen (a love song) and Ayat ti Maysa nga Ubbing (Love of a Lass and an Old Man), among many compositions, original and adapted.  

Read Bannawag, in an armchair travelogue of history and arts, of scenic beauty, rich biodiversity, home of living tradition, a piece of Eden created by the edges of the Cordillera range and the South China Sea meeting on a narrow strip of land like a hollow - kuloong, from which the word Iloco is derived .  

Read Bannawag, and meet the great Ilocanos who led the country to greatness from Ramon Magsaysay to Ferdinand Marcos; poetess Leona Florentino, heroes Antonio and Juan Luna, and Fr Jose Burgos whose ancestral home in Vigan is now a  museum; met many other great Ilocanos, old and contemporary. 

 

Read Bannawag, and it will take you back to the homeland of the simple sturdy and frugal, industrious and persistent, where brain and brawn are welded in a sturdy body, determined mind, and throbbing heart of joy and fulfillment. ~