Hilarion Riotoc Lazo: The last actor-playwright of Ilocano Zarzuela

PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente IIocos Sur (Philippines) to the World Series

  Hilarion Riotoc Lazo - the last actor-playwright of Ilocano Zarzuela 

Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance.

 Abercio V Rotor PhD*

Living with Nature School on Blog 

   

Laring R Lazo and cast in one of the last zarzuela presentations. 

When I started to write about Laring, as he is fondly called on or off the stage, I thought of an all time famous line of Shakespeare.  

“All the world’s a stage, and all the people merely players…” 

It is true, all of us are actors in our own rights, and may I say, playwrights too, because we cannot truly be ourselves without the script we make from our own thoughts and ideas, our imaginations and experiences. And from our interactions with people and society.

But there are those whose talent brings to stage the drama people look up to, drama that makes us laugh and cry, enlightens us of our burden, rekindles hope, encourages us to meet the challenges of life.  Or merely keeps our faith alive and respects our personal values.  But the most important qualification a playwright has, I believe, is his ability to unite us as one humanity. 

Manong Laring (address as courtesy to one who is older) is a natural player on stage - actor, director, musician, setup artist, and all that a play needs on stage, that thinking loud of these many requirements would send an ordinary person to simply be part of the audience.  

He knew well the amphitheater of the Greeks which the Romans modified into public forum, and later simplified as entablado - a plaza stage which was brought to the Philippines during the Spanish conquest. 

Here on the entablado generations of Filipinos witnessed many and varied presentations from official functions of government to public entertainment. Two forms of stage drama became institutions during the 400-year of Spanish rule - extending to post American era.  They remained all-time favorites during fiestas: the zarzuela and the comedia (moro-moro).

I grew up near the entablado, a stone's throw from our house. Adjacent to it is the 17th century church, the municipio the seat of local government, and the palengke (Aztec term for market). The plaza was a wide open space for games like sipa, kite flying, procession and parade..

The entablado was integrated into the system and culture. It was designed for governance, through people's participation. Thus the zarzuela is a drama of, for and by the people. Themes like romance, triumph and tragedy, comical and musical, became part of people's lives so that even those from far flung barrios would come on foot or cart pulled by bullock not only to watch the plays but to celebrate with the occasion. It could be the Cenaculo or Passion of Christ, it could be comedia, a regular presentation on the feast day of San Vicente de Ferrer, the town's patron saint. The comedia reinforces Christianity (though not conducive to ecumenism). The theme of the musical farce revolves on the victory (always) of the Holy Crusade over the Moors during the Dark Ages in Europe. 

Manong Laring and I belong to the generation that still carried the influence of Renaissance Europe in spite of the 50-year American Commonwealth rule that followed, and four years of Japanese Occupation. The Philippines now independent, was as young as our generation. It was fragile. While fledgling as a new nation, the world entered into the so-called Cold War, polarizing nations into two opposing ideologies, we on the American side while China and other Asian neighbors joined communist USSR.  The war was to last until 1989, after nearly 45 years. .   

Whatever happened to the entablado at the crossroad of change?

Rapid change followed, steered by breakthroughs in science and technology with man landing on the moon, the arrival of computer age, and the breaking of the code of life?

We can only imagine what drama would be most appropriate to show on stage. The shrinking of the world, so to speak, became conducive to exodus to cities and migration from underdeveloped to industrialized countries. On the other hand, inequity of wealth distribution has created extreme economic conditions particularly on the grassroots.  

I am presenting these historical events in the light of the rise and fall of the zarzuela and other forms of art - and all fields of human endeavor, for that matter. A social scientist once said that periodicity is a phenomenon humanity has no control of time, space, and events. Change is gaining accelerated momentum. We are now living in postmodernism, literally living tomorrow today.

Manong Laring now lives in New York with his family. In his recent visit I requested for an interview and permission to play on my radio program one of his zarzuela recordings - Perlas II (photo). 

It is nostalgic to reminisce the good old days of the zarzuela, in its entire splendor on the last Tuesday of April, the town fiesta of San Vicente.  Maestro Selmo Pelayre would be conducting the orchestra, with Laring as the principal character on stage. Fredelito Lazo, a classmate of mine and a prominent Ilocano writer, would be on the assist, as well.  So with a host of local talents.  I am reminded of the young playwright Pierre Gringore of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, who tried to bring dignity to the art; and Severino Reyes' (Lola Basyang) Walang Sugat  designed to outwit American propaganda during the Commonwealth era.  So with Nick Joaquin's Portrait of the Filipino, with its nationalistic fervor. 

I did some research why the zarzuela is among the most loved and enduring forms of art, we classify today as performing art. All over the world the zarzuela and its variants dominated the stage for centuries.  Europe is the progenitor of the play, it raised it to the highest level of art, developing new movements with the opera, concert, dance and other choreographic presentations. Stage play was used as well in propaganda and campaign. The theater in America gave rise to Hollywood. Rural development through extension, adopts stage play as tool of extension. Laedza Batanini of Botswana is a world model in rural development.       

Singular indeed is the whole cast's greatest hour. There is a bit of Euripides, pioneer playwright of ancient Greco-Roman times' tales and legends, counterpart of Homer's epics - Iliad and the Odessey. There is a bit of Shakespeare the classicist and most influential dramatist, as much a myth as a man. His characters are timeless archetypes that influence us all to this day - Romeo, Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello are among his greatest works. His plays have become a part of the world’s collective consciousness.

There is a bit of the Russian Anton Chekhov, who epitomized the stream-of-consciousness style that inspired James Joyce and other modernists in the literary arts like Elia Kazan, and Ernest Hemingway. There is a bit of Eugene O'Neill, whose sense of despair could be likened to that of Edgar Allan Poe. There is a bit of Arthur Miler dubbed the last great practitioner of the American Stage, a carryover of American colonialism. 

And contemporarily, there is a bit of Tennessee Williams dramatizing his life and family, in relating tragic relationships, dysfunctional families, and brought us a world so real that reflects modern society. And there's a bit of Bertolt Brecht. When you see his play or movie, you leave the place wanting to change your life.

And with today's social media, “All the world’s a stage, and all the people merely players…” gives everyone the chance and opportunity to play his or her best.  But the world continues to search for an actor-playwright like Laring, whose drama doesn't only make Shakespeare smile, but the whole humanity proud. ~

*Article published in Philippine Literature by AV Rotor and KM Doria C and E Publishing 

The essence of the zarzuela is very much alive. Today it lives on the screen, more than on stage. It has found the home a stage through the television and computer. The essence of traditional drama is preserved in documentaries, and made popular through telenobela, and brought down to young audiences through cartoon characters and animations. 

And with today's social media, “All the world’s a stage, and all the people merely players…” gives everyone the chance and opportunity to play his or her best.  But the world continues to search for an actor-playwright like Manong Laring, whose drama doesn't only make Shakespeare smile, but the whole humanity proud. ~

    

 

 

Stage scenes of zarzuela performed in different places and of different genres.

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air)  Dr Abe V Rotor and Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday.

* Philippine Literature Today by A V Rotor and K Molina-Doria  2015 C and E Publishing Inc., Chapter 7 p 155, under pen name Crisostomo "Jun" Rojas

Atty Santiago "Tata Ago" Robinol - Advocate of the sixth sense of the law

 PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente Ilocos Sur (Philippines) to the World Series

Atty Santiago "Tata Ago" Robinol

- Advocate of the sixth sense of the law

"He excelled in the interpretation of the law on the grassroots."

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

To his kababayan (townmates) and his numerous clients, he was known as Tata Ago, with emphasis on his nickname, contracted Santiago who, many people may not know as James - St James or Santiago, preacher and martyr of the church.*

But Tata Ago was not the religious we know, that's too assuming and doctrinaire if justice is to be fought for and in behalf of the faithful - the grassroots who quite settle into penitence and asceticism - or silence - in lieu of fundamental human right - the right for justice. Social justice. 

Graduation photo on finishing law and passing the bar soon after, from Manuel L Quezon University then the primer law school in the country.  He was only 28, idealistic and full of dreams.  He run for mayor in his hometown although he knew well the fate of a neophyte in traditional politics. After recovering from defeat he furthered his studies at the University of Southern California for a masteral degree. He returned and landed as a public servant in Comelec, a job he did not find excitement and challenge.  He went into private law practice and became an institution in his own right. 

The arena is no longer the amphitheater or the cathedral, or some fortress, but a room called the hall of justice where the search for truth is governed by  proper conduct and inspired by  principles of human society - liberty, brotherhood  and equality. Which means that the law must uphold these principles.

But these are beyond the comprehension of common people. And this is where Tata Ago excelled: the interpretation of the law on the grassroots, particularly criminal and civil law. Tata Ago is a kind and considerate man, with a Solomonic psychology as in the case of two mothers claiming for the same baby.  When the king threatened to cut the baby in half, the impostor said, go ahead.  But the real mother said, no, let the baby live, give it to her.  

Or Lincolnian compassion. When a boy soldier was presented for deserting the union army and was condemned to hanging, the kind president said, give him some spanking and send him home.  Breaking the law may be resolved by the letter, but the future of the young man was more important. 

On one occasion Tata Ago was relating the life of the hero of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo who was thrown into the dungeon for stealing bread. I thought that was one of the casual stories on a Saturday afternoon. But he continued.  There was this boy who also committed the same crime and was brought to justice. Upon pleading guilty and showing remorse, the judge said, Society can't just coolly take cognizance of the law in the face of extreme poverty.  He took his hat put a dollar and passed on to everyone in the court. The collection was given to the boy. Of course this is just an anecdote, but Tata Ago could have been a good judge.   

And would Sherlock Holmes be impressed with investigative cases Tata Ago handled? There's one thing that can't pass through his scrutiny - the evasion of justice however "perfect the crime may look." Face it, the law is not intended to shield a crime.  Tata Ago's jaw tightened and the suspect submitted to a plea. 

What greater role does a lawyer play but the prevention of crime? There on his front yard in San Vicente or in Providence Village in Marikina, he was a teacher not so much on the fundamentals of law but the sixth sense of the law.  That is, the potential of crime must be removed to prevent its commission. Like medicine, prevention has no substitute. Which means only one thing practical for everybody: be a good citizen.  Strive to be one always.

Young people, aspiring to pursue their career used to consult Tata Ago.  For he was a model in town particularly San Vicente a small community where looking for a model may not take one to the likes of legal luminaries in the books.  But the local model is not without the qualities of a Recto, Marcos, Saguisag, Roco, Rojas (another model of the town, regional director of NBI), and the vision of those non-lawyers who even surpassed those in the profession.

There is always a disturbing question raised to those people who rose to fame.  And that is, Have you changed the world?  Of course it is a gross, unkind expectation, but this leads one to examine his contribution to the betterment of life.  Victor Frankl in his book, A Search for Meaning, confirmed that those who held on to their hopes and dreams mostly survived the concentration camp. We are in a kind of concentration camp, not to merely escape but help others, too.  Tata Ago was like that, no doubt.

And when he was about to take the armchair to spend more time with his family - a loving wife and four beautiful children all raring to pursue their careers, tragedy struck.

I would like to stop here.  As a chronicler I find it difficult to shift from a happy story to a sad one, from the ideal to the cruel reality of life, the momentum set for a lifetime to end abruptly, inconsolable, irreparable, tragedy beyond any definition of the word. Beyond any explanation.  Beyond any answer.  How we wish heaven has an answer to our tragedies. 

Two of the children died in a fire that razed their house in Marikina, with the eldest son braving the fire to save his sister. It’s a dead end, Tata Ago, Nana Carolina and the surviving children faced.  Silence in gloom is perhaps the most difficult thing to bear. Time stood still, neither can it bring back the past nor pave a clear path and direction.

Tata Ago lived to 82.  On his wake my wife and I joined our townmates to pay tribute to the fallen old man, a relative both on Cecille's side and mine.  I played on the violin Meditation  during the blessing. Méditation is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra,1894.

The final melody of Meditation sounded like dirge, lament in the deepest sense for losing a man who stood up for the dignity of the legal profession, who remained a model of aspiring young men and women to take up law, and practice law in its finest, incorruptible and indelible in the annals of history and the hearts of men - and shining like the legendary compostela.~

    
* NOTE: The name Santiago goes back to the Apostle James (Saint James = Santiago) who went to this most north-western part of Spain, called by the Romans "Finis Terrae", "end of the world", to preach and convert people to Christianity.

After returning to Palestine in 44 a.C., he was taken prisoner by Herodes Agrippa and tortured to death. The king forbid to bury him, but in the night Jacob's disciples stole the body and brought him, in a sarcophagus of marble, on board of a small boat. The current of the sea drove the boat to the Spanish coast, into the port of the Roman province's capital, Iria Flavia. Here the Apostle was buried at a secret place in a wood.

Centuries later, in 813, the hermit Pelayo listened music in that wood and saw a shining. For this shining the place was called, in Latin, "Campus Stellae", field of the star, name that was later on turned into Compostela.

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

Renaissance Man: Fredelito L Lazo: Story teller, teacher, public servant, rolled in one

                                                              PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente Ilocos Sur (Philippines) to the World Series

Renaissance Man: Fredelito L Lazo 

Story teller, teacher, public servant, rolled in one

Dr Abe V Rotor

 Classmate in elementary at San Vicente Central School (now San Vicente Integrated School 1952-57); high school at the Colegio de la Immaculada Concepcion  (CIC, now Divine Word College of Vigan, Ilocos Sur,  1958-1961)

Three-in-one is a rare phenomenon in a person: multi-awarded literary writer and playwright,  dynamic teacher, and dutiful public servant. 

We don't have to go far to find that person; he is here, a native of a relatively small town - San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, a hike west of Vigan, the provincial capital.  He is indigenous, a true Ilocano, in his everyday dealings with the public as provincial secretary; in his literary compositions of short stories and stage plays about local people, places and events; and in his methodology of instruction as a high school teacher.  

Fredelito L Lazo

Lito, as we, his classmates in elementary and high school, call him, is the silent type of a person, nonetheless friendly and helpful.  They say that it is in solace that one draws out creative thoughts, soaring into the depths only the imagination can reach. It is also a retrospection for memories come afresh and alive. In both cases creativity flourishes in dichotomy with the faculty of reason, converging into the making of a masterpiece. 

Creativity is a gift.  But more than that, it is a gift well earned. And it has a price - and a prize as well. Indeed, this is life's mystery. A painful experience becomes a story of courage, tragedy turns to victory, loneliness leads to a soulful communion with the Creator. Doubt traces an untrodden path. "Sweet is sweeter after pain," said our English teacher, Mrs Socorro Villamor. She would recite William Cullen Bryant's 

To a Waterfowl.  And she would ask us to memorize this chosen stanza.

"He who, from zone to zone, 

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 

In the long way that I must tread alone, 

Will lead my steps aright. "

Lito would recite the stanza, and each of us in class would do the same.  We compared the theme with that of  Percy Shelly's To a Skylark.  They are prayers, and the message is one -  that throughout our life wherever we go God is going to be with us, guiding us down the right path.

In our age of electronics, I would liken Lito to the brave warrior in A Never Ending Story, for Lito has gone through difficult stages of life and even reached the "edge of Fantasia," where reality and fantasy divide, where the greatest enemy is oneself.  But it is by overcoming this enemy that we truly earn a place on the highest rung of the Maslow's Ladder, that of self-actualization. It is through this rough and thorny road that made Lito win literary awards, four in short stories published in Bannawag, the leading Ilokano weekly magazine. It is through this experience that he earned a respectable position in the local government, and for becoming an effective mentor. 

These are but the later chapters of life. The Second World War erupted as he came into this world, a war baby, and when peace finally returned after four tumultuous years, the task of rehabilitation denied him, like many of us kids in his time, the comforts of childhood, but instead tempered him to face the realities of life - an initiation to Robert Frost's famous line, "And miles to go before I sleep; and miles to go before I sleep." 

  

Three institutions Lito worked with and served the people - old and young alike, in the true spirit of  an Ilocano: Ilocos Sur National High School; Benito Soliven Academy, Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur; and the Provincial Capitol of Ilocos Sur.  

The plot of Lito's personal life is the basis of many of his stories and stage plays (zarzuela), the original people's telenobela of today. His writings and plays reflect him as a disciple of positivism, an ability to hold back the dark side, and instead project the bright one.  It projects the heroes in Ernest Hemingway's stories, and the adventurous kids of Mark Twain.  It is the determination in treasure hunting in Robert Louis

Stevenson stories, and the drummer boy who never learned to beat the sound of retreat. 

Bannawag (Liwayway Tag) is the leading Ilokano weekly magazine.

Writers take us to the realm of detachment and contemplation, a characteristic of the great writers such as Russian short story writer, Anton Chekov, who is immortalized in a statue in Kiev, Ukraine, and that of sculptor Auguste Rodin's The Thinker. Well, we all experience such moment, but there are those who are sensitive in capturing a fleeting idea - Carpe diem, in The Dead Poet Society. From a writer this "spark of genius" grows into a literary flame. Call it in other terms - expression, awakening, erudition - or institutional titles like Dawn, Arise, Eureka!    

Imagine how an artist would teach the varied subjects in high school.  Literature, humanities and English would be fine, but how about the other subjects? There is no conflict about that. Experts say, generalization now; specialization later. But today, there's a growing demand for the return of Liberal Arts - a revival of a balanced left and right brain tandem. It is a global renaissance in education. This is where Lito the teacher, has advantage over teachers in general. Liberal art is putting values in education, values that make the student not just a learned biological being, but as an enlightened member of humanity with the finest in character towards himself, his fellowmen, Nature, and his Creator.  
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Today, there's a growing trend to return to Liberal Arts - a revival of a balanced left and right brain tandem, the key to the wholeness of the human being.  It is a global renaissance in education. 

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We can't help but go back to the wisdom the Greeks handed to the whole world: Philosophy is traced to Socrates, idealism to Plato, and naturalism to Aristotle. Then there is a truth-searching Diogenes, a serendipitous Archimedes, a master story teller Homer, and a great warrior laying the cornerstone of global order, Alexander. Finally, there is the Academia, the forerunner of the university, the seat of wisdom. 

The relevance of this citation is far-reaching, but it is reflected in the life and works of Lito.  Lito is an idealist, and yet real, for how can one serve the public sans the Grecian touch? To teach without mythology?  It is said that "legends make us heroes, and myths gives us wings." How can we reach out for the grassroots, without popular drama, something the masses can identify themselves to be a part of a drama - on or off the stage - in Shakespeare's adage, "The world is a stage and every one of us has a role to play."    

But Lito has yet to hurdle another test - that of the infirmities of old age, romantically the golden years. Following his retirement he has never truly stopped.  On his study table await stories and plays to write and complete. A loving wife guides him in his walk. With five successful children, and grandchildren, his mailbox and e-mail, are never wanting of good cheer. The community holds high esteem of him.  His students have become teachers like him, public servants, and writers, albeit other careers. "Once a teacher, always a teacher," but to Lito, "a teacher builds teachers." It is passing on the torch of wisdom and character.      

Through a window of a simple home, amid a happy family in a small town, the night is darkest before dawn. It is also a candle's greatest hour. ~

A Check List of Self-Regulated Safety and Security

  A Check List of Self-Regulated Safety and Security 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Be sure the food you eat is safe. Pesticide residue is common in fruits and vegetables.

1. On Food – Number 1 determinant of good health.
• Cook at home, minimize eat-out habit. Plan menu and nutrition.
• Avoid residues of antibiotics and pesticide, artificial additives, coloring, aspartame, salitre, potassium bromate
• Avoid overly processed food – over milled rice
• Prevent possible poisoning – Bohol incident of cassava cake poisoning
• Prevent diseases like – Hepatitis A

2. Medicine and Drugs
• Follow doctor’s advice, maintain family doctor’s relationship
• No self-medication, especially antibiotics
• Overdose – follow prescription and dosage
• Don’t be a “guinea pig” to new medicine and drugs.
• Allergy could be more serious than you think.
• Exercise care in using herbals and natural remedies. See your doctor

3. Home accidents
• Make a list of possible accidents that can happen in your home.
• Kitchen – LPG, knife
• Garden – tools (mechanical and manual) – rake, hoe, etc
• Garage – car repair, tools, fire
• Home repair is one of the main causes of accidents.
• Be alert against burglars.
• First Aid at hand always

4. Road accidents
• Stop-look-and-listen always
• Be alert, follow traffic signs
• Keep vehicle in tiptop condition
• Defensive driving always
• Respect the pedestrians
• Don’t drive when you are not in good condition (drinking, medicine, lack of sleep, emotional problems, poor eyesight)
• No over speeding, avoid bad habit in driving

5. Personal Safety
• Keep good health
• Uphold Values always
• Don't indulge in Vices
• Positive outlook - emotional and psychological, spiritual

6. Infants and young children
• Make a checklist of do's and don’ts
• Don’t leave them alone at home. Governess, nanny/yaya must be trained.
• Special attention to babies; there’s no substitute to parents, followed by grandparents and relatives.
• It’s advisable to have children accompanied by trusted persons.
• Regular medical checkup

7. Government policies and regulations
• Follow the law always
• Professional services, thus board exams for professionals
• Government advisories on red tide, typhoon, etc.
• Be familiar with governmental setup and functions.

8. Socio-spiritual
• Fatalism is prelude to accidents
• Avoid crowded areas.
• Avoid mobs, demonstrations, strikes, stampede (Wowowee at the Ultra, football stampede.)
• Black Nazarene procession (Quiapo). Don't be a fanatic.

9. Schools
• Join fire drills, earthquake drills
• Exercise safety on the playground, and demos (pyramid)
. Follow laboratory rules and precaution

10. Entertainment centers
• Be careful with circus animals
• Merry-go-rounds can be dangerous
• Avoid shock and trauma

11. Environment
• Avoid toxic metals, contaminants
• Don't pollute, help minimize pollution.
• Help control pest and diseases
• Be aware of the dangers of sports - swimming, mountain climbing

12. Workplace  
• Varies in risk. Industry is more risky, followed by agriculture
• Follow safety rules in the workplace (factory)
• Be alert, have presence of mind always.
• Work in group for risky work.
• Join fire and earthquake drills.
• Maintain good health and working condition.
---------------------
Workplace issues
(For Discussion)

Workplace conflict: A specific type of conflict that occurs in the workplace.
Workplace counterproductive behavior: Employee behavior that goes against the goals of an organization.

Workplace democracy: The application of democracy in all its forms to the workplace.
Workplace discrimination: Discrimination in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation.

Workplace diversity: Theory that in a global marketplace, a company that employs a diverse workforce is better able to understand the demographics of the marketplace it serves.
Workplace empowerment: Provides employees with opportunities to make their own decisions with regards to their tasks.
Workplace evaluation: A tool employers use to review the performance of an employee.
Workplace friendship Directly related to several other area of study including cohesion, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to leave.

Workplace gender inequality: Relates to wage discrimination and career advancement.
Workplace gossip: Idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others.
Workplace health surveillance: The removal of the causative factors of disease.
Workplace morale: Workplace events play a large part in changing employee morale, such as heavy layoffs, the cancellation of overtime, canceling benefits programs, and the lack of union representation.
Workplace privacy: Employees typically must relinquish some of their privacy while at the workplace, but how much can be a contentious issue.

Workplace probation: A status given to new employees of a company or business.
Workplace safety: Occupational safety and health is a category of management responsibility in places of employment.
Workplace spirituality: A grassroots movement with individuals seeking to live their faith and/or spiritual values in the workplace.
Workplace strategy: The dynamic alignment of an organization’s work patterns with the work environment to enable peak performance and reduce costs.
Workplace stress: The harmful physical and emotional response that occurs when there is a poor match between job demands and the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker.

Workplace training: Skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement.
Workplace violence Violence that originates from employees or employers and threatens employers and/or other employees.
Workplace wellness: Program offered by some employers to support behavior conducive to the health of employees.

Sources: Living with Nature in Our Times by AV Rotor, UST Publishing House; Internet  Wikipedia 

Reflections on Guimaras Island In Celebration of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem – July 26, 2026

 Reflections on Guimaras Island

In Celebration of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem – July 26, 2026

"Where birds and fish meet, sky and river;

when the world is at peace and not a stir..."

Photographs and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

To see the world in a grain of sand,

     And a heaven in a wild flower;

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand ,

     And eternity in an hour.

- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

Where birds and fish meet, sky and river;

when the world is at peace and not a stir;

   when the heart throbs not of fear and pain,

but tenderness of a flower grown by rain.

Living on the ledge is a curious thing,

From one world to another world;

Where freedom is honor and pride,

And finding but the edge of a sword,

That rules the Great Divide.

Would you like to live behind bars of saplings and bushes?
     where the pond creates a thousand images,
where deep down breathes life, life of the pond and the trees,
     where thoughts live or die as you wish?

It looks like a monster facing the sea,

         all clothed in verdant green;

it holds back the wind, wave and tide,

the evil spirit unseen.

How long will I wait and greet you a pleasant day?

But the shy creature is fast asleep in its burrow;

It can't understand our language, only that of the sea,

And kind notes and gestures more than humans know.

A nursery of mangrove starts to wean

the young plants early for the open sea;

when man by contrast would not dare

but spoils his child from being free.

And the sapling walks alone into the open,

on stakes firmly anchored in the mud;

hello, it greets the world, and many guests,

               to its shadow, confident and proud.

What is a swamp with its unkind, unpleasant name,

this forgotten domain between land and sea,

where monsters lurk, where death reigns, and life

is but an accident, where time is an enemy?

Swamp of sadness, swamp of despair, where

legends and tales are on the dark side;

yet the riches of the world from the ancient sun

here grew, the fossils coming out alive.

Pristine by the mirror of the sky,

the trees aligned on the shore;

the air in the stillness of peace,

the water emerald and pure.

Thoughts run faster than vision, often reaching no destination;

While a boatload of souls patiently waits at sea with the wind

To take them to where they are bound in work or pleasure;

Having also thoughts of their own, but aimed at their mission.

 

   Kugtong - giant lapulapu - feared in the bottom of the sea,
its kingdom secured by its fierce look and size;
who would believe Captain Nemo of Jules Verne's book?

Oh, unless you've seen it with your own eyes.

Bridges tell us of war and peace,
bridge across a river or waterfall;
pontoon bridge in the battlefield -

memories the longest bridge of all.

Either the rock is rising or sinking, I can only surmise,

A cave on the outside, a cavern deep down below;

Wish I were a witness, or that I might be -

To the creation of a world, its transformation, too,

But I would lose the essence of awe. I wish I won't be.

To each his or her reflection, yet collectively the same and one:

     the beauty of nature in a piece of rock floating,

Guimaras - a corner of Eden saved from Sodom and the Flood,

     where man is led back to his happy beginning.

AUTHOR"S NOTE: This post is dedicated to the participants to the 20th Annual 

Conference of the Philippine Society for Educational Research and Evaluation, May 10 and 11, 2012. I was given the honor and privilege to be one of them in the group. ~