Bapa's Notes

Divide and Conquer Policy

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This national election has aggravated the long history of ethnic prejudice in this country. Such disunity that made Spanish control over us Filipinos gone unchallenged for almost 300 years. Our venerable national heroes were also engrossed with faction during their time, as epitomized by two most notable figures, one by a reformists, Dr. Jose Rizal and the other, by a revolutionist, Andres Bonifacio. Rizal coming from a wealthy scion of Mercado clans with Chinese descent while Bonifacio from the ordinary native peasant family. A dichotomized society where the upper class always sought to dictate the affairs of this nation while the lower class were also deeply polarized within by questions of loyalty towards any aspiring leaders coming from their own rank. Popular voting has its own flaws, such that only those well funded could be elected to their desired public office. It's an irony that running for the highest position of our land, such as the presidency only requires very little and ordinary qualifications. Anyone interested, he or she must be a Filipino citizen, not less than 45 years old, able to read and write. What a simple qualifications as the 1987 Constitution required for those who aspire to be president of more than 80 million Filipinos. No degrees on MBA or an MPA for that matter, none whatsoever, not even a Civil Service eligibility as most of our government employees were required upon application. It's okay if one has only limited educational attainment in order for you to file a candidacy for the highest office of the Republic, "as long as you are sincere to serve the public", many of our politicians rhetorically pronounced. The phrase "as long as you have the heart to serve the public"  has been around for countless elections that happened in our country,  as many elections as one could ever imagine. This subjugation policy of "divide and conquer" applied to us by our previous colonial masters, namely: Spain, America and Japan are still prevalent and has its momentum even in our present national life. That policy has been used by many powerful nations during colonial periods, it has been effective in containing any resistance coming from the native settlers. Spain have subdued the Aztec empire of Mexico using the embittered native Indians whose Aztec emperor Montezuma they had hated. Seeing the discontentment of those minority Indians, Spain solicited from the latter the needed disloyalty in order to topple the Aztec empire. The same is true with the Mayans of Yucatan, the Inca of Peru, all of these great empires were conquered by Spain using this tactic, "divide and conquer", and our nation too has not yet completely broke its ties with the effects of such policy even at present modern time. It was easy for Spain to contain any native resistance like the one launched by Dagohoy of Bohol during the 17 th century, using the divide and conquer tactic, aided by some discontented subjects of Dagohoy, his defeat was sealed by the conquistador Spain. This long history of ethnocentric disunity in our country has effectively hampered our national growth and development. As our country hold this national election, one can see around the ugly effects of "divide and conquer" policy causing havoc in the political life of our nation. 

UNLEASHING THIS FLOW OF THOUGHTS

The winner !

The passing of days are like a free flowing water that goes into the creeks and onto the rivers and finally onto the vast seas of past memoirs. We no longer own those days, it is forever contained, encapsulated to the eternal past which will sometimes give us pleasure and pain as we draw from its bottomless pit of oblivion. The past, the good old days, the simple life and its immaterialism, these are the things we try to reminisce. On the day we were born and being gently carried by those dependable and diligent arms of our fathers, and being fed by the nourishing breasts of our mothers, we may not vividly recall those times but that warm and assuring gentleness carried us through until our maturity. Onto the days when we carve our own path, away from the familial ways of our loving parents, we moved away from it because we aspire to have our own. Under the sun, there is always a time for everything as one great ancient king have said, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time  to reap. Memories are the only thing that remain, this intangible but most cherished by all, the past memoirs. Gone are those days, gone are those times but one thing that keeps us going is this immutable hope. Hope that someday, in the twinkling of an eye, we will forever live and be clothed with perfection. Away from this wasted material body and be forever clothed with the glorious spiritual body, no longer bounded by the laws of physics. A body eternally glorious where no longer be afflicted by the physical pain inherent of this fallen world. Our days are always numbered, both young and old, each has his day of reckoning, each has a day of departing. Many had been so obssessed by the tangible trophies of life’s triumph, many had been blinded by their laureate of  success, as if all are permanent beyond lifetime. If one should only pause and ponder, and be reminded that everything will just fade way like a mist in the morning. There are some who regard life as a container to be filled by the world’s riches, material affluence becomes the measuring gauge for success and failure, for triumph and defeat, their lives are always aimed for winning and shun of losing. They will do even the most ugly and ignoble just to become a champion, to be regarded by all as the best and overcomer. They are willing to sacrifice nobility for winning sake but they also forgot that winning is not always a sweet thing, the way one played the game matters most to others. Playing in order to win has drove others towards utter disregard of rules of the game, for them fairness is no longer appealing, winning no matter how they played is a blinding goal of some. There is always a day of reckoning, a day to give an account for all that transpired on this limited life.

HIDDEN TREASURES IN KIOTOY

 

 

Treasure Chest

The place called Kiotoy, which etymologically means “Little Tokyo”, a barangay of Panabo City, located some 25 kilometers northwest from the city proper. From the old folks who were pioneers of Kiotoy, they testified on the presence of Japanese imperial army, establishing their garrison and barracks in the area 70 years ago. There were accounts that those imperial army had strategically placed their anti-aircraft artillery at the highest peak of Kiotoy, overlooking the Gulf of Davao, aimed at approximately 15 miles away towards the wharf. It must be noted that even before the WW II took place, there were already a considerable number of Japanese entrepreneurs operating some abaca plantations in the surrounding places and coastal towns of Davao Gulf during those days. Tales of Japanese treasures hidden on some parts of Kiotoy have circulated widely among many groups of treasure hunters both local and abroad. When a multinational company, a cement manufacturer established their open limestone quarry in the area,  folks in the nearby barangays have suspected that great and untold chests of Japanese treasures were discovered and unearthed in the place by the mining operators. This hearsay was also validated by others claiming that they saw those Japanese engineers coming in the area for site inspection and soil sampling. Kiotoy has been a favorite destination for countless of transient treasure hunters throughout the country for many years now, some of these hunters have very sophisticated hunting gadgets, they were well funded but there were also impoverished groups known to be operating on aq "fly by night" basis. Many were impressed by some of these Manila-based hunters equipped with advance technology on metal detecting using modern GPS (Global Positioning system). They were well meaning people, with professional backgrounds in geology, others in metallurgical engineering.. They were equipped with some Japanese drawn maps, others have studied Nippon symbolisms. These treasure buffs could even suspect any protruding boulders found on crags and cliffs as signposts and hints for treasure locations. Treasure hunting is a lucrative business for many who wanted to quickly get rich. I remember that local film in the 90's, the Yamashita Treasure which depicted how the Marcos government tried to catch the hunter, Aurelio Roxas (played by actor Jestoni Alarcon). Back to our Manila-based hunters, after months of scouting, they left Kiotoy,  empty-handed and confused without a hint on the whereabouts of those elusive Japanese treasures much talked about. Untold amount of financial resources were spent by these hunters, others have forcibly abandoned such waning career only after losing almost everything including their physical wellness. Kiotoy is unmoved and unscathed. However, the only treasure that Kiotoy truly possessed is her amiable settlers and their kind-hearted hospitality for anyone who happens to visit their place.

 

PROTESTANT WORK ETHICS

duomo

I once read a story about two masons. The two were asked, "What do you do in life?" The one answered lifelessly with head stooping: "I am just a mason of that building." But when the other one answered the same question, with pride and dignity he said: "I am a builder of the great Cathedral of Notre Dame." If only all people comprehend the timeless lesson about the story. It was a Protestant ethics that fueled the Industrial Revolution of the New World during the 16 the Century. That Protestant work ethics described in the Letters of Apostle Paul, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward." (Colossians 3:23-24)

RUBBER MAKERS

Old tires

If you have a problem on finding replacement for worn out motor parts like rubber stoppers, rubber gaskets, rubber bushings of your vehicles or big trucks and you have combed all the stores in the city only to find out that there is no available replacement. What should you do? There is nothing to worry now, you can visit and seek help from the local experts. Because of Filipino ingenuity there are now some craftsmen in the city who can fabricate your needed replacement parts by copying the original design of worn out rubber parts of your machines or motor vehicles. I was amazed by the sheer adeptness of these craftsmen to carved out rubber designs out of junked rubber tires from big trucks. Their cutting knives were so sharp that it could cut through some six (6) inches thick rubber tires, wow! Back in the 80's, I remember a neighbor who used to make rubber sandals out of worn tires from logging trucks. I wore one of those sandals during childhood and it was made out of those famous tire brands during those days like Firestone, Goodyear, Brigestone, Yokohama and more. I can attest to the sturdiness of those sandals and our neighbor quips that on wearing those sandals, it will eventually wore our feet out but not the sandals. The funny thing was that we may not have a car or a truck back then but we were wearing Firestone or Goodyear branded sandals . Back to this skilled craftsmen who fix the problem of many motor vehicle owners, I would say they are really genius. While sitting in their shops, I observed customers from different levels of society, the rich, the middle class and the entrepreneuring shop owners coming in and seeking help from these low profile genius craftsmen. I'd like to call these craftsmen, the RUBBER MAKERS.