Guyito!

The Common Man’s Carabao Becomes A Work of Art--and How!

First posted 06:35am (Mla time) Sept 25, 2005
Inquirer News Service


Editor's Note: Published on page Q1 of the September 25, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

HE WAS first known simply as Kalabaw, the loyal if somewhat sassy companion to farmer Alipio A. Lipin in cartoonist Jess Abrera’s award-winning comic strip “A. Lipin,” a humorous look at the Filipinos’ plight under the Marcos regime published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “They would just talk a lot about the situation in the country,” Abrera says with a laugh of the animal that always had an opinion. “Wala lang sila magawa” (They didn’t have anything better to do). “A.Lipin” was born in 1985, in the heat of anti-Marcos sentiment, a year before Edsa.

Inevitably the boisterous bovine would endear itself to the Filipino public. “The Filipinos began to identify with him,” Abrera says. “Whatever he was thinking was what the Filipino masses were thinking.”

You can read the rest here

And, as 2005 marks Guyito's 20th year, here are some related stories:

Guyito Power

Juan Sajid Imao: A different way of seeing

lost and found

Doing some cleaning can lead you to unearth many things that you previously thought were nowhere to be found. During one such recent put-some-order-in-disarray session, I came across some materials about the Galing Pilipino Movement, including a brochure which contained some witty lines -- witty but also substantial and potent when taken to heart. Like this one --

Ang galing, sa sarili manggagaling.

And this --

Hindi kailangang trabaho'y sikat
upang galing mo'y sumikat.

And another which, to me, holds a lot of promise --

May ibang paraan pa
sa nakasanayan na.

heart and MIND

Heart doctor advises, inspires colleagues to stay home

First posted 05:23am (Mla time) Sept 25, 2005
By Tessa Salazar
Inquirer News Service

Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the September 25, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

CARDIOLOGIST Willie T. Ong is not just content with helping heart patients live. He has another passion: teaching young doctors "survival techniques"-how to survive in the Philippines.

At a time when thousands of their colleagues are being lured to work in the United States and other Western countries, Ong and his colleagues have launched a movement to convince other doctors that rewards await those who stay home and serve.

Ong is a co-founder of MIND, the Movement of Idealistic and Nationalistic Doctors, a non-profit organization that seeks to inspire fresh graduates and medical students to "find their niche" in their own country.

You can read the rest here

petal attraction

As a child, I often saw moths "parked" on the walls outside our house, near the shrubs and potted plants. You know -- those big ones with big "prints" on their wings. I remember these tinted with brick red, brown and black hues, and I would stare up at them, fascinated that they could just stay there for hours as if plastered on the wall, not even moving.

I don't see any of those creatures anymore. Have they simply chosen other localities? Did Manila's fumes wipe out their entire population? There's a butterfly farm somewhere in Quezon City and it sure is a pity if that's the last place left for sightings of those winged creatures.

That butterfly in the picture is a "foreigner," photographed as it was going about its floral rounds among the foliage in a Canadian town. Thanks a lot to Quietfish -- she with the delightful photos and interesting reads on her blog -- for letting me put this pic on my blog after seeing it on hers.

The snapshot instantly reminded me of those years when chasing dragonflies was part of any regular school day at the playground (at least for me and my friends). It was a test of stealth, concentration and muscle control (particularly of the thumb and index finger)...then would come the delight of being able to catch one by the tail ...then the momentary struggle to switch my hold to its flapping wings ...then the few seconds of gazing at its bulging eyes ...then finally letting it loose again.

Where have all the dragonflies gone? Do they still roam and buzz about in vacant fields and playgrounds in the countryside? And do kids still play with beetles? Is the beetle even the same as the salagubang?

street talk

Besides making coordination much easier, these cellphones really come in handy for passing on information about new M.O.'s that robbers and snatchers come up with. Here's a text message I got today from a friend, about the latest in carnapping strategies.

Please avoid passing the following streets at night as much as possible: Gilmore, Hemady in New Manila; Blue Ridge underpass of Katipunan. The carnappers will shine a flashlight on driver to force the car to stop then take your ATM card, credit card, jewelry and car. Take care and be alert all the time.

I believe the streets mentioned are dimly lit and don't experience a lot of traffic; the Blue Ridge underpass is a tunnel which takes quite a long time to negotiate, making it a convenient spot to trap motorists.

Hands-on kind of people

One of the quotes that I see daily nowadays (since it's written on my whiteboard) is this:

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Another that comes to mind more often these days is that one which some highly esteemed figure said:

Be the change you want to see in the world.

... or something like that (if you know the exact wording, please leave a comment). I think it was Gandhi who said that but I'm not sure.

I suppose the latter is a good guiding principle especially if one has a penchant for complaining. Lambasting is much easier to do, but then come to think of it -- one can get into action and do something practical while complaining (whether you drop the complaining or not is entirely up to you).

Speaking of getting into action, I read about the Hands on Manila Foundation in a newspaper article today. The group recruits, educates and coordinates a network of volunteers for community projects within Metro Manila. Volunteer work is so diverse as to range from fixing up a museum and building a home for the underprivileged to helping maintain a zoo and cooking with young women (just to name a few).

You can get more information here and here.

Excess poundage

Pear-shaped. That's the typical Filipina's silhouette. And if one's bone structure takes on this shape, no amount of dieting and exercising will make her pelvic bones shrink.

But then, if you find yourself huffing and puffing too much after walking a couple of blocks -- or if your lifestyle has you seated for hours at a time -- limbering up may do you good. If you're a Manila resident, biking on the streets is not really viable (unless you live in a secure neighborhood). Find a way to clock in even just 15 minutes of exercise everyday (you can start with taking the stairs more often) and you're on your way to fitness. And watch what you eat! Cut down on softdrinks and fast-food fare (the oily stuff), load up on fruits.

The ticker up there could give your quest for fitness a nice push. Weight loss seems to be the common goal -- a ticker for weight gain was nowhere in sight.

By the way, I heard from my mom that there was a planned nationwide transport strike for today. If it pushed through, I hope those affected are safe.

Birds of the same feather

The few trips I've made to zoos, I was never particularly interested in the birds.

The elephants were intriguing, the gorillas were amusing, the tigers -- because of their size, shiny coats and fierce reputation -- were fascinating. The baby orangutan I saw once was cute.

The birds were...birds. I didn't see anything particularly exciting about them.

Now I come across the website of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and see pictures of exotic-looking fowl. And there are guided trips to urban birding sites. I didn't even know there were such places in Manila. Anyway, for those interested, you can simply check out the site. Bird-watching could be yet another off-the-beaten-track weekend activity one of these days.

By the way, the bird in the photo up there -- taken from the group's site -- is a Greater Painted Snipe, one of the hundreds of species that can be found in the Philippines (according to the Papemelroti Planet Patrol, our country boasts of over 500 kinds of birds, with 168 of those residing only in the Philippines).

Give w/o counting the coasts

Sept. 17
is
Int'l Coastal Cleanup day
and this year marks its 20th anniversary!

Last year, over 3,000 Philippine residents turned up for International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), wherein the volunteers covered 124.7 miles of shoreline. You can imagine how many tons of trash were eliminated with so many people working together.

This is an annual international event and if you and your buddies want to spend this coming Saturday differently, check out the ICC site for more info. You can also contact your local DENR office to join the volunteer group nearest you.

pakopya nga

there's a fairly new establishment somewhere in Quezon City which I saw for the first time last week. it was a little photocopying center, called Pakopya ni Edgar, located a few meters from where Petal Attraction (the flower shop) used to be.

seeing it made me wonder how those other shops with witty names must be doing ( i used to pass by those shops regularly) -- laundry shops called Washamacallit and LABADABADOO.