Two Gabaldon school buildings of San Narciso, Zambales restored

The Gabaldon school buildings of San Juan-Candelaria and San Rafael-Natividad elementary schools were completely restored during the first quarter of this year (2019).

For many years, the San Juan-Candelaria structure was totally abandoned with collapsed walls and floors dangerous to walk on. It was fully serviceable in January after the customary blessing and inauguration were celebrated

The restored Gabaldon of San Juan-Candelaria Elem. School

Much of what was left of the two schools like the ornamental calado at the top of the wooden walls were restored. The roof of the add-on stage in the central frontage of the building was removed; although, as concession to present needs, the stage remained even if this covered the original steps.

Hallway of San Juan Candelaria leading to one classrooom 

with its calado-trimmed door. The heavy wooden doors at the 

right lead to the three-room assembly area.

The standard plan No. 10 by William Pearson for Gabaldon buildings remained as template for the restoration. As originally intended, the three rooms comprise the assembly area although these can be partitioned into three areas using folding walls.

Capiz windows were installed; thus, the exterior view resembles those of Gabaldons more than a century ago except that grills were placed for security.

The rooms used to have wooden floors. The restored ones though either have wood parquets or are completely concrete. The hallways are of concrete.

Modern lighting and ceiling fans were included.

There were originally three Gabaldons. The third one at the San Narciso elementary school was severely damaged during the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in June 1991. It was replaced. Thus, there was no more need for any restoration.

The San Rafael-Natividad ES Gabaldon building built in 1913.

San Rafael-Natividad has one room with old school desks, which

are cultrural heritage objects themselves being more than 50 

years old.

.

Airy classrooms, thanks to wide capiz windows.

'Naimbag a Pascua' (A Good Christmas) in boyhood country

The municipal hall of San Narciso, Zambales a-glitter with Christmas lights this year (2017).

    

More than a half a century ago, Pascua (Christmas) to us kids in the old hometown seemed to take too long in coming. When we learned to reckon its approach with the onset of the 'ber'-months, we had already lost the pure, innocent joy of waiting.

We can’t remember exactly what our great expectations were while the nights were turning colder, and we would need to wear a pranela (sweater) when we go caroling or simply prowling around with the neighborhood kids. 

We were told to be good so that Santa would bring us gifts come Christmas.  We have no recollection if Santa Claus ever came at all through the windows or the galvanized iron roof of our house of buho walls and bamboo stairs.

By November, our Inang (mother) would be having more sewing jobs to finish.  Her customers, friends and relatives, would be dropping by to have their dresses sewn for the Misa Aguinaldo (midnight mass) on Christmas Eve.  She would stay till late at night to fulfill her commitments, sparing enough time for her and my five sisters’ own clothes as these would be done last.

Memory tells us that we always wore a white polo shirt on Christmas.  Inang took care, we now think, to shield us from the usual taunts, no matter how friendly these were, that loud colors do not seemingly match our earth-brown skin tone.

In those days when we went to school in wooden clogs, and later in rubber sandals, Christmas was the only occasion when we had to wear shoes despite our heavy protestations.  Many a time did we suffer blisters at the back of our feet.  Probably, it’s because parents did not do much personal shopping then.  Unless they did, the bilin (request) system was deemed most convenient whenever a close friend or relative was bound for Manila or Olongapo.  They would trace our feet on a piece of paper and cut this out.  The shoes might fit the pattern correctly, but it did not assure the comfort of poor little kids who should look their angelic best on Christmas day.

Far from our childhood Christmas trees. These are competing 12-ft trees in our town's contest.

In our six Christmases at the San Jose-Patrocinio Elementary School, our Christmas tree, just like in most of the pupils’ homes, was the lowly kuribetbet shrub shorn of all its leaves.   Bands of green crepe paper about two inches wide were cut and then folded along its length.  Narrow strips were cut perpendicular to and along the fold, taking care to go just about halfway, and when done, the bands were spread open and refolded the other side to yield a leafy effect.  These were then wound around the stem and branches of the bare kuribetbet producing an evergreen tree on which to hang colored, usually red, paper balls and bells.  

Industrial arts projects in December invariably would be a parol (lantern), usually the simple bamboo star.  We would cover our projects with colored Japanese paper or cellophane and attached the rayos (rays) made of the same paper at two adjacent points of the star.  Sometimes, we would put a rim attached to all five points of the star.  Some would put a belen of cardboard at the middle, or some other decorative paper cut-outs all over.  When schools closed for the Christmas vacation, we would bring home our lanterns to be hung at our windows.

At home, we always had these breakable decorative balls to hang.  During those years, when the dollar exchange rate was taymes tu  (times two) yet, Inang would ask aunts married to US Navymen to buy these things for us in the navy commissary in Subic.  They had buying privileges even when their husbands were away at sea.  At the end of each season, Inang would have less decors to keep for the next year since the Christmas tree toppled over several times, or because we loved to look at the warped reflections of our faces on the balls’ surface, and we broke several of them.

In some houses, swaths of white cotton would be attached to the tree branches probably inspired by pictures of trees laden with snow in Christmas cards, which were all imported at that time.

We also made chains using crepe paper of various colors to wind around the tree. Tiny blinking color lights around the Christmas tree or hanging from the eaves of roofs were not yet in our imagination.  Electricity came around only at six o’clock in the evening, when the Ramos Electric, the power company of richer relatives, turned on their diesel generator to light up San Narciso.

We always asked Inang why we couldn’t have an aru-o (local pine) branch for a tree, just like what we saw in other houses.   We soon found out that this would not be evergreen at all. The needles would turn brown even long before the start of the Misa de Gallo or dawn masses (‘simbang gabi’ or night mass to the Tagalogs; we don’t know why), and would be scattered underneath before Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar ever reach barrio Alusi-is.  Christmas would not end until January 6 when the Three Kings lead the parade from Alusi-is.

In later years, the bare kuribetbet would be painted all white, probably as a matter of fashion rather than as tangible proof of one’s ‘dreaming of a white Christmas.’  In high school, we did this as a matter of convenience; it did not take long to finish it.

Our childhood gift ritual was never that exciting.  We can’t recall ever jumping and yelling with glee when we found a gift lying beside us when we woke up in the morning of December 25.   We probably would get only a car model to be pulled with a string.  The girls in the family had dolls but not the walking and talking types, and Barbie was not yet born.

Our generation started schooling with English as the medium of instruction.  Our first Christmas song was “Silent Night.”  Thus the Christmas jingles that came with the early evening air in our childhood days were the strains of ‘ol is cam, ol is brayt’ as we, the neighborhood kids, went house-to-house caroling about the oli impan (holy infant).   We were happy with a five-centavo caroling token from each house.

Stingy house owners though would get a musical rapping from us --

            Bulong ti apatot,                                   Leaves of apatot plant,

            Paskuayo a naimot.                               Gifts to stingy people.

            Umulog ti makarurod                           Come down if your angy,

            Ta narnaran ti dandanog.                     And we’ll beat you with our fists.

-- as we ran away, scared that they would come down and face our dare. 

Friends who can hum the tune and sing some of the lines remember that they heard it first from their grandmothers.  Some words in the lyrics are archaic Ilocano.  This suggests that the carol is older than San Narciso, and might have been brought by the settlers all the way from Paoay.   

The chorus of the indigenous carol is an invitation to celebrate the Lord’s birth and to proclaim his power and glory –

Rambakan tay a pada-pada                        Let us all celebrate

Panakay-yanak to Dios ditoy daga             the birth of God on earth.

Umadani tay met kenkuana                        Let us all go to Him

Idir-i tay tan-ok ken gloriana                     proclaiming his power and glory.

The two narrative stanzas speak of His humility and mercy --

Ay dimtengen a ti Dios Apo                      Ay, the Lord God has come

Simnek kaasi na kadatayo.                       Because of His mercy to all of us.

Ti Mesias manipud ngato                         The Messiah from above

Immay nga'd la makipagbiag                       came down to live with us.

     kadatayo.

Maysa a rukib a paglinungan                   A cave that serves as shed

Ti kinayatna nga makapanganakan,        He preferred to be born in;

Ket kuloong met laeng piman                  And merely a manger

Ti inna pinili a nagid-daan.                     He chose to sleep in.

Before “Ang Pasko ay Sumapit” became the de rigeur anthem at the close of Midnight Mass, churchgoers sang the “Rambakan” in cheerful chorus as they troop out of church, greeting each and everyone along the way with “Naimbag a Paskuayo!”

Paskuami, Apo!  On Christmas Day, this is the salutary greeting of children going from house to house seeking gifts.  As a young boy, following Inang’s stern orders to just go to one’s relatives or godparents, I would be back at home in due time to hand out candies to fellow youngsters.  Cousins would stick around for a while hoping that Inang would instead give them a 5-centavo coin or two.  

Lucky are the kids whose godparents are around at Christmastime.  In my time, very rarely did I see my ninongs (godfathers) and ninangs (godmothers), real and surrogate, this last one being the wives of my ninongs.   Two of my ninongs were US Navymen, and when they came home to retire, we were old enough to talk to them in a buddy-buddy way though we still addressed them, with proper respect, 'ninong.'

Agmano (take his or her hand, and place it on your forehead) was the order of the day, whether you were calling on your godparents or older relatives, to show your respect.  Deep in your heart you wish all the time that they would add to your coins in the pocket rather than candies, and worst of all, suman paskua.  

Before refrigerators came to town, much to-do was given for the salapusup, preparing and wrapping glutinous rice into the suman paskua.  This delicacy would be kept in baskets that are hang in the kitchen.  There was no danger of spoilage; in fact, the suman tasted even better after a few days.   There would also be platters of leche flan resting on milk cans half-submerged in a basin of water to keep away the red and black ants.

Food for the Noche Buena would be cooked before the older ones left for the Misa Aguinaldo at midnight.  Unless we were properly motivated to join them to church so that we can watch the ‘walking star’, a parol pulled from the choir loft to the nativity scene in the altar, we would never be able to partake of the midnight repast. 

Sometimes there would be queso de bola, but we now think that these were put on the table to serve as décor. They would remain uncut even onto the New Year when it would serve a superstitious purpose, being red and round.  We preferred the taste of other cheeses like the ones that seemingly melted on the tongue.

Some families might serve ham, which their visiting kin bought from the popular stores in Chinatown or Quiapo in Manila.  But generally, there would always be special dishes of pork or chicken.

Pan americano, or suman, or puto, or the kutsinta ordered from Baket Tirsing would be sufficient to go with the meats and coffee or chocolate.  

Imported castanas, apples, pears, oranges and grapes were luxury food in our boyhood.  An aunt, widow of US Navyman, made sure she bought the stuff from the commissary in Subic and kept the fruits fresh in an icebox, for the family reunion lunch on Christmas Day.  

Again, chicken and pork, cooked in various ways, would be the main fare in the reunions on Christmas Day.  There might be lechon (roasted pig), quite a standard fare, no matter how long and tedious it would take to turn the bamboo pole spit over hot glowing embers.  

Year in, year out, it’s always a fiesta on Christmas Day --  the hustle and bustle around the sumptuous table, the gleeful shrieks of relatives who have not seen each other for years, the shrilly shouts of children having fun. 

Naimbag a Paskuayo! (Merry Christmas!)

"Sangre Roja" - association of San Narciso public school teachers in the 1900's

There was no Gabaldon school building yet in San Narciso in 1910. The first one would be built in 1913 although the Gabaldon law (Act 1801), which appropriated Pesos 1-Million for constructing schools based on the designs of architect William Parsons all over the country, was enacted in 1907.

Male teachers, provincial representatives in a PTA event, 1909. Two of them are from Zambales.
Source: Cover of The Filipino Teacher, June, 1909..

The public school teachers of San Narciso though organized a society they called "Sangre Roja." There could have been a strong reason for them to adopt that name, which means "red blood" but which we can not seem to deduce from what "The Filipino Teacher" reported as "the tendency of this society [of being] (1) Recreative, and (2) Instructive."

"The Filipino Teacher" was the monthly magazine of the Philippine Teachers' Association (PTA) edited in English, Spanish and Tagalog. The San Narciso teachers belonged to the Zambales Teachers' Association, which became the provincial committee of the PTA in 1908. 

In their organizational meeting held in the hall of the Presidencia, the "Sange Roja" elected the following officers:  President - Mr. Victor Amos Altardino, Secretary - Mr. Marcos Fuerte,       Treasurer - Miss Maria Guidilla, and Vocales [Board members]: Mr. Gervacio Fedalizo, Miss Marcelina Academia, Miss Perfecta Amos, Miss Francisca Firme, Mr. Alejandro Dumlao, Mr. Esteban Guidilla.

That meeting was followed by an "interesting program", according to the magazine report which featured the following: 

1.  Preliminary talk by the President of the association “Sangre Roja” Mr. Victor Amos Altardino.

2.  Recitation, the Book of the Year, by Miss Maria Villanueva

3.  Flores Orientales, Waltz by the band of the Municipality

4.  Conference about the important [sic] of Poultry Raising by Mr. Victorio Posadas

5.  Morena Carmen, Waltz by the Band of the Municipality.

6.  Debate. Resolved that it is more beneficial for a girl to stay at home than to go to school

Affirmative – Miss Perfecta Amos, Mr. Benito Ebuen, and Mr. Apolonio Academia

Negative – Miss Marcelina Academia, Mr. Donato Amon and Mr. Pablo Cawagas

7.   Star Spangle[d] Banner and Marcha Nacional Filipina

We read several school programs in the early 1900/s in other places that featured a debate. This could have been an exercise for mastering the English language, an oral test for both the teachers and their students.

Our Narcisenian teachers of 1910 could have been on the job ever since the Americans introduced the new educational system in 1901. Some were qualified to teach after going through the crash course in the English language; others, after passing the Intermediate school (Grade 7), and later, completion of the high school course.. The Zambales High School in Iba was established in 1908, and if there were any Narcisenians there, they graduated in 1912. Eventually, graduates of the Normal School became the leading figures in the school system.

In those early years, there were more male teachers than female. Pensionados to the U.S. were mostly men. 'Gender-fair' was not yet in the vocabulary, and the salary was not equal between the two sexes..

Salaries were either insular (from the national government) or municipal (from the town coffers). The American teachers were paid more than their Filipino counterparts. Every time the Americans were given a raise, the Filipino teachers complained through "The Filipino Teacher" of the "unfair" treatment, and wondered when they would also enjoy the "limpak limpak" salary the Americans got. The Tagalog phrase was from an article in the Tagalog section of the magazine.

Although "the service is open to both sexes, however, on identical terms, and in many provinces, the women teachers receive an average larger salary than the men."  In 1904, for example, "the average salary for a native teacher [was] highest in the city of Manila ... P 72.67 per month for men teachers and P70.16 for women teachers; and it is lowest in Paragua [Palawan] .. P7.50 for the men and P 7.75 for the women. ... [In] Zambales, P9.92 for men and P11.37 for women." 

Thus in 1904, the maestros of San Narciso received an annual salary of  P119.04, while the maestras were paid  P136.44, The Americanos received more than a thousand pesos each.


Note: The teachers in the picture as numbered: 1.Mr. Anastacio Quijano (Gen. Secretary of The Filipino Teacher); 2. Mr. Bernardo Elayda (Zambales); 3.Mr. Francisco de Mesa (Pampanga); 4. Mr. Ciriaco de Leon (Bulacan); 5. Mr. Guillermo Santos (Pres., Executive Board); 6. Mr. Leoncio R. Gonzales (Advisor and Gen. Secretary Protempore); 7. Mr. Militon Cruz (Bulacan); 8. Mr. Emilio Pestaño (Manila); 9. Mr. Hugo de la Torre (Batangas); 10. Mr. Pablo de Guia (Cavite); 11. Mr. Miguel Nicdao (Pampanga); 12. Mr. Pedro Manalo (Rizal);13. Mr. Teodorico Bauson (Pangasinan);14.  Mr. Brigido Santos (Rizal); 15. Mr. Quirino Perez (Pangasinan); 16.  Mr. Zosimo Topacio (Cavite); and 17.  Mr. Marciano Peralta (Zambales).

References:

1. Report on "Sangre Roja" in The Filipino Teacher, 4:3(4), August, 1910.

2. Report on the approval of  Zambales Teachers' Association as provincial committee of PTA in The Filipino Teacher, 2:6(6), December 1908.

3. Annual Report of the General Superintendent of Education. September, 1904. Manila: Bureau of Public Printing. pp 17-25.

Formal education in my old hometown, San Narciso in Zambales

The names of 18 schoolboys and their fathers from the 

barangay of Don Clemente Jose in the 1846 petition.

(Source: Ereccion de Pueblos. SDS-14126. National 

Archives of the Philippines)

We can say that the documented history of formal education in San Narciso started on 22 February 1846 when the fathers of 104 Alasiis schoolboys sent a petition to Fr. Nicolas Martinez, parish priest of Yba and Vicar Forane of Zambales, imploring that they be allowed to hire maestro Don Julian Dias Ronquillo of Subic. 

The fathers wanted their sons to be taught their Christian duties-- ‘walang nalalaman unang-una sa katungkulan ng taong Christiano’—but they were worried about their safety as they walk the miles to the school in Cabangan. Hence, they wanted a maestro-in-residence.

Don Julian became the first teacher of Alasiis and of San Narciso town after its creation from the five Ilocano barrios between Cabangan and Uguit.

Education of the ‘Indians’ was a directive of the royal decree of 05 June 1574. This was iterated by the Raon Ordinance No. 93 of 26 February 1768: “it is strictly ordered that the [the provincial governors] request [the priests] … to establish schoolmasters in all villages, who shall teach the Indians to read and write in Spanish, and the Christian doctrine and other prayers.”

Almost a century later, the general system of primary schools in the country was established by the royal decree of 20 December 1863. The Normal School was founded; secondary schools and colleges followed.

The escuelas, separate for boys (niños) and girls (niñas), were under the control of the municipal government. There were no school infrastructures as we see today.

Teachers were appointed by the authorities in Manila. One of the early ‘maestros de escuela publica de instruccion primaria [teachers of the public school for primary education]’ of San Narciso was Don Jose Ferriols, a 23-years old Spanish mestizo from San Felipe who graduated from the Normal School. He had taught for three years when he was appointed to the post in San Narciso in August 1871.

Don Juan Posadas, another graduate of the Normal School, was appointed as the town school teacher in April 1874 with a monthly salary of sixty pesetas. He served uninterrupted for thirteen years, which was more than the mandatory ten for Normal graduates. In 1888, he asked permission to resign because of poor health: chronic anemia and palpitation of the heart.

There were women teachers for the girls like Dna. Anastacia Garcia (1870s) and Dna. Telesfora Calimlim (1880s).

In 1896, Don Simeon de Villanueva y Pobre, a native of San Narciso, proposed to establish a private school here. He spent five years of secondary education at the University of Sto. Tomas from 1880 to 1885.

“For many years,” he wrote to the Governor-General, “it was my constant desire to open in San Narciso, my own hometown, a private school for adults, teaching in it the rudimentary elements of primary education, but putting more interest in the teaching of the Spanish language.” His petition was endorsed by the parish priest Fr. Francisco Moreno and the principalia headed by Capitan Municipal Rufino Fernandez. Don Simeon’s dream was not realized.

The American occupation brought a new educational system with English as medium for instruction. In 1902, the department of public instruction was re-organized as the Bureau of Education.  Teachers from America--collectively called 'Thomasites'--were spread throughout the archipelago to head school districts and to teach using primers and textbooks from America.   

The Americans set up the prototype of Philippine schools designed by William Parsons. The Philippine Assembly Act 1801 in 1908 appropriated US1-million to construct the so-called Gabaldon schoolhouses named after Assemblyman Isauro Gabaldon, author of that law.

Gabaldon school building plan of West Central (San Rafael-Natividad) Elem. School.
(Source: Bulletin No. 37-1912. School Buildings and Grounds. Bureau of Education)

The first public school building of San Narciso was for the ‘Central School’ built with an appropriation of P5,000 in 1912. It followed the bureau’s standard plan No. 10. This could be the Gabaldon building of West Central (now San Rafael-Natividad Elem. School), the first public school of the town according to oral and written accounts.

Construction begun on 03 April 1913 under a local foreman. “The building was completed inside of four calendar months at a total cost of P18,602.88,” the Bureau of Public Works reported, “including all surcharges, by administration, under a native foreman, the estimated cost being P21,000 and the appropriation P20,000.”  Don Teodoro R. Yangco, a well-known philanthropist of that time, donated P5,000 as part of the cost.

The school was formally inaugurated on 28 November 1913. It was a big event, according to the Bureau of Public Works Bulletin: “It being school holidays from the 27th to the end of the month, all the students of the Iba high school, over 200 strong, the pupils from Yangco school, San Felipe, and Olongapo, and a big crowd of citizens from all over the province and some provincial officials, all came down to San Narciso to witness the grand dedication of the school. … The most notable events were the various athletic meets, in which the students showed no less school spirit in rooting and singing for their teams than in the [United] States, and the elder folks forgot their customary visits to the cockpits. “

Secondary education was offered later, and those who desired it initially went to the provincial high school in Iba.

Alma mater of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay.

The first private high school of the town—Zambales Academy—was established in 1922. This was brought about by the difficulty of transportation to Iba, the increasing number of students tending to crowd the provincial high school, and the inability of that high school to accommodate all those who want to get a secondary education.

After the Second World War, Zambales Academy opened a college department offering education and secretarial courses. Its education graduates taught at elementary schools in the town and province.

In the late 1960’s, the school was sold to the joint venture of the Philippine Episcopal Church and the Philippine Independent Church.

The enterprising couple--Luis Abiva and his wife Asuncion Quiray—put up the Abiva High School before the outbreak of World War II. After the war, according to reports, Mrs. Abiva allowed a group of prominent town citizens to operate the school, renamed San Narciso Cooperative Commercial High School.  It became Zambales Commercial High School later, which was changed to Magsaysay Memorial Institute (MMI) in honor of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay after his death.

The Columbans acquired MMI in 1951. This was the first of the Catholic schools that the religious order established from Olongapo to Sta. Cruz. In 1962, the high school was incorporated into the Magsaysay Memorial College (MMC) with the addition of the elementary and college department.

The curricular structure of the elementary and secondary schools has transformed into the K-12 program, which added two years—the senior high school—to old system. These additional years provide pre-college tracks for the students to choose from: ABM (Accountancy, Business and Management), STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), HUMSS (Humanities and Social Science), and General Academic. Other tracks enable the students to work after graduation: Arts and Design, Sports and TVL.

Secondary education is offered by the private Zambales Academy and Magsaysay Memorial College and the public national high schools of La Paz and Namatacan. 

While MMC provides viable collegiate courses like education for high school graduates, the Philippine Merchant Academy (PMMA) beckons to those who are inclined to pursue careers in marine transportation and marine engineering.

Graduating cadet from San Narciso in PMMA Class 2017.

PMMA, which relocated from Fort Bonifacio to San Narciso in 1998, dates back to 1820 when it was created as Escuela Nautica de Manila. Juan Luna, its most famous alumnus, was 17 years old when he graduated as Piloto de Altos Mares (Pilot of the High Seas) in 1874. Its transformation from Philippine Nautical School to PMMA in 1963 has produced midshipmen/women, and merchant marine officers in shipboard and offshore positions as shipping executives and technical consultants.

Today, there are fifteen public, and four private and sectarian, elementary schools. Three public national, and two private, schools offer secondary education. High school graduates of the town and other municipalities go to MMC for collegiate courses, or to PMMA (if they pass the rigid entrance examinations) for maritime studies.

Education has brought Narcisenians to prominence here in the country and in foreign lands. Their contribution, in many ways, have brought changes in the social, cultural and economic fabric of San Narciso. 

The 32nd International Coastal Cleanup day in San Narciso, Zambales

The 32nd ICC on the coast of  host town  San Narciso, Zambales.

The Philippines joined the annual global observance of  the 32^nd International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day on Saturday, 16 September 2017 with the theme, “Together for our Ocean”.

Zambales was the focal province for the national observance led by ICC Philippines. San Narciso, our hometown, with an estimated 11,000 volunteers from its seventeen barangays, played host to provincial, regional and national government officials, CSOs and NGOs. 

This year, the aim was to surpass the 2015 number of volunteers but also to promote Zambales as an environment-focused province. Hence, the vision of creating an e-cropolis in the vicinity of Mt. Tapulao in Palauig, a mountain area cooler than Baguio, an ideal site for retirement houses of local and foreign seniors, and for an international convention center.

Students and teachers walked a kilometer from the town plaza to the cleanup site.

San Narciso town was conveniently accessible to the volunteers from outside the province being midway between Subic and Iba. It is the surfing capital of the province. It is also implements a marine biodiversity management flagship program-- marine turtle conservation and protection, the only one in Zambales--and this month happens to be the start of the nesting season of the Olive ridley species..

This year’s ICC Day is the fourteenth observance in the Philippines after its commitment through Presidential Proclamation No. 470 issued on 15 September 2003. There was no nationwide observance last year, however, because the government declared a state of lawlessness. The Ocean Observancy accepted the cancellation for the safety of volunteers.

ICC observance in the Philippines in September 2015.
(Source: ICC Philippines 2015 Report)

In the 30^th ICC Day in 2015 though, the Philippines was the top participating countty with 256,904 volunteers from 47 provinces, who cleaned up 1,162.8 kms of coastline, collecting 301,772 kgs of trash in the process. Of the total number of volunteers, 308 used watercraft, and 296 went underwater, to collect debris.

Zambales was number one in the top 10 of volunteers, followed by Batangas, Metro Manila, La Union, Cebu, Cavite, Antique, Catanduanes, Pangasinan and Leyte, in that order.

The province had 89,042 volunteers who collected 8,902 bags of trash that weighed approximately 61,407 kg from an estimated 372.1 km-long coastland, the longest in the list. The total of debris items collected was 5,392,915. Of these, the top ten debris amounted to 3,394,304 items comprising from the largest to the smallest: food wrappers (1,208,950), cigarette butts, straws/stirrers, other plastic bags, grocery plastic bags, plastic bottle caps, plastic take-out/away containers, plastic beverage bottles, plastic lids, and plastic cups and plates (140,545).

Last year’s 31^st ICC Day, with the non-participation of the Philippines, the top three participating countries were the United States (183,321 volunteers), Hongkong (76,311), and Canada (24,475).

The Top 20 participating countries in ICC Day 2016 and weird items found in the marine debris.
(Source: Ocean Observancy's ICC 2017 Report)

There were 504,583 volunteers from 112 countries and locations who collected 8,346,055 kgs of marine debris from along 24,136 kms of beaches, coasts and waterways, comprising 13,840,398 debris items.

Top 10 items collected in the Philippines on ICC Day 2015.
Source: ICC Philippines 2015 Report.

The ICC was initiated by Ocean Conservancy in 1986 is the largest volunteer effort held annually every third Saturday of September to deal with trash, one of the biggest threats to the oceans.

On ICC Day, volunteers around the world remove trash and debris from beaches, waterways and other water bodies, identify the source of the debris, and record information on the debris collected. These activities can ‘change behaviors that cause pollution [and] raise awareness on the extent of the marine debris problem,’ and data analysis of results can ‘aid in better-informed policy decisions and improved solid waste management programs.’

Volunteers record the kind and material composition of objects they collect. The information is ‘instrumental in helping determine the effects that specific materials are having on ocean habitats. … scientists and ocean advocates will be able to identify the best remedies and advocate for solutions that will lead to a healthier ocean.’

Top 10 items collected worldwide on ICC Day 2016.
(Source: Ocean Obsservancy's ICC 2017 Report)

According to Nicholas Mallos, conservation biologist and marine debris specialist of Ocean Conservancy: ‘The ability to pinpoint the types and amounts of material on beaches and in the ocean – not just the kinds of products – makes the data more informative when supporting marine debris policy.’

Learning from the Aytas: beneficial and edible plants in the mountain forests

We went trekking to the Palacapac Falls in Omaya, the mountainside barangay of our hometown San Narciso in Zambales recently; this was the best time to go there, being the rainy season. Palacapac dries up in the summer but the rocky basins of water below it are good for very cool dips.

We followed a kilometer stretch of the bed of Veto River, clambering over big rocks and balancing on mossy, slippery submerged ones as we sloshed through the shallow waters. The Ayta children were fast on this rocky trail, swimming on pools under mini-falls of crystalline water through the gaps between giant rocks where they waited for us, the slow trekking party.

Before we got to the river, we passed through fields thick with tall grasses, shrubs and trees. Our Ayta guides were ahead of us cutting a trail through the grasses, and overhanging branches of shrubs and trees.

The Ayta women were quick to point out plants that are beneficial to them:

Marita shows the edible tuber of the lagyaban plant.

• the lagyaban plant whose tuber can grow as big as singkamas (Pachyrhizus erosus, Mexican turnip). They said that the tubers are fully grown, and thus usually gathered, in September. These are dried, grated and cooked for the eating, or as a source of 'gawgaw' (stiffening starch) for the laundry.

Ripe alagat fruits.

• the alagat plant whose edible red ripe fruits are sweet. 

Unripe arosip fruits.

• the arosip, which bears clusters of round fruits, sour when green, and taste like the familiar bignay (Antidesma bunius). Probably, the plant name is derived from the similarity of the fruit clusters with the edible green ar-arosip (Tagalog lato) seaweeds.

In our first trek to the top of Palacapac Falls two months ago, Dante, the husband of the leader of the Ayta community, was apologetic that he was not able to show us the forest plant they call togatoy. We asked what was so outstanding about it, and we were stunned to hear it was viagratic. 

He described this plant is like orchids or ferns: it is anchored on tree trunks. The roots are 'erectile', he said, and these are cut, immersed in hot water for the stimulating drink.

The Ayta couple have eight children, and Dante attributed this to the power of togatoy. In this latest excursion to the falls, he was telling me that he and his wife each have to take a glassful of the potion for intense and prolonged lovemaking. Unfortunately, we were in an area far from the mountain top where the plant thrives.

We will have to find the scientific identities of these plants from the National Museum botanists. 

Some kudet mushrooms gathered from the forest.

An added feature of our mountainside excursion during this rainy season is the sighting of profusions of edible giant mushrooms under the clumps of bamboo trees. The Aytas call them kudet. The stems are tough and they have to be discarded. The cap is also a bit tough, but for easier cooking, this has to be torn into narrow strips along the gills. We found it suited for chicken broth with ampalaya leaves.

We told Dante that the next time we climb the mountainside, we will look for plants that are of value to them: for timber, medicine, or food. And he had to show me the togatoy plant for documentation purposes.

These plants and fungus are part of the life of the Ayta community. Certainly, these should be included among the cultural properties of our town when we do our cultural mapping project, which local governments are enjoined to do in partnership with the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA). 

Women in the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Class of 2017

Sandiglayan 2017 in parade formation.

The Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) Class of 2017 is still male-dominated: of the 216 graduates, 17 are women. They received their Bachelor of Science degrees in Marine Transport (BSMT) and Marine Engineering (BSMarE) during the 196th Commencement Exercises at the Academy grounds in San Narciso, Zambales on 06 July 2017.

Two women graduated BSMarE cum laude: Kim Melody B. Canet and Agiebel P. Dulatre.

Of the 17 women, seven (7) were in the marine transport, and ten (10) in the marine engineering, degree programs.

The women among the 91 BSMT graduates were Bernadette S. Addun, Karen G. Alcoser, Shaira Marie D. Alzate, Maria Theressa D. Cabrera, Francine Gyneth P. Galino, Christine N. Genotiva and Charlotte S. Pelaez. Cabrera received an efficiency medal from the Department of Naval Science and Tactics.

And the women among the 125 BSMarE graduates were Mira Liza Balabag, Evan Royce A. Bautista, Theya Marie A. Bumanglag, Rizza Mae D. Cabrera, Chinnie Lhen I. Calba, Kim Melody B. Canet, Agiebel P. Dulatre, Kloise Floreca C. Opena, Zaira Margarette M. Rubia and Hazel Gayodan Tallongan. 

Zaira Margarette Rubia receiving the Philippine Coast Guard Sword.

Canet and Rubia were in the Top 10 in the MarE program. Rubia was the most awarded of this batch of women graduates. She was presented the Philippine Coast Guard Sword, the 'Iron Woman' award from the Department of Naval Science and Tactics, and Leadership and Discipline Medals from the Department of Midshipmen Affairs.

This is the 10th year ever since PMMA accepted women into the long blue line in 1997. Of the women graduates since then, two graduated valedictorian and magna cum laude of their respective classes: the first, Zulaika Mariano Calibjo in 2006,  and the second, Laarni Grace Pangilinan in 2014.

This year's batch named their class Sandiglayan, which means "Samahan ng Mandirigma at Manlalakbay ng Karagatan sa Kaunlaran ng Bayan."

Razor Dave C. Samortin, BSMT, magna cum laude, in his valedictory address, profusely thanked, on behalf of his classmates, their families and the Academy for their support and guidance as they sailed the course in the academy, and invoked courage when they face the rough seas in their chosen fields. Arjan Lyndl E. Flores regaled everyone when he recounted how he became stronger by overcoming his academic failures, and thus succeeded to earn the distinction of being 'Anchorman,' the guy with the lowest weighted average grade in their class. 

Samortin, Flores and their classmates entered the Academy through a rigid selection process. PMMA says that about 5% of around 6,500 applicants from all over the country pass the screening and get accepted as midshipmen in two academic programs of their choice: marine transport and marine engineering.

Eight of the 17 women members of Sandiglayan 2017.

Sandiglayan had four-year residency courses: the first, second and fourth years for academic studies on campus, and the third for a one-year internship training as deck or engine cadets on board commercial vessels plying the international ocean lanes. The fourth, the graduation year, is the professional stage where they learn the additional knowledge and skills to qualify as third mates and fourth marine engineers.

They were all government scholars who enjoyed free tuition, board and lodging, and an assured shipboard training on board international vessels with stipend. 

The famous painter Juan Luna y Novicio of Spoliarium fame preceded Sandiglayan by 143 years. He was 17 when he graduated Piloto de Altos Mares (Pilot of the High Seas) from the Escuela de Nautica de Manila in 1874. 

The Escuela was established in 1820 and through the years evolved into the PMMA as we know today.

After sailing for thirty months, Luna quit seafaring, even if he was called el marino atrevido (the daring seaman) by his shipmates, and went to study fine arts.

In the case of Sandiglayan, three career paths were opened for them: enlisting with Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard, and joining the Merchant Marine.

The PMMA stamp virtually assures them 100% employability with  immediate hiring by more than 30 partner international and manning companies of the Academy. Their promising careers include being master mariners, chief engineers, shipping executives, naval or coast guard officers, educators, trainers in maritime-related industries/institutions, etc.

The Philippine Coast Guard has already inducted 22 of Sandiglayan Class earlier on 03 July 2017 as Probationary Ensign, two of them are women. 

Valedictorian Samortin and Anchorman Flores are now P/ENS of the Philippine Navy.

"Our graduates," VAdm Richard Ritual, PMMA Superintendent, said, "constantly serve as Ambassadors of Goodwill, for they circle the different parts of the globe on board various international seagoing vessels bringing with them the positive tenets inculcated upon them during their Academy days: Kawastuhan, Kababaang-loob, Kagitingan (Righteousness, Humility, Courage)."

Sandiglayan tossing their caps in the air after the ceremonies.

Santo Entierro (Holy Burial)

Santo Entierro is also taken to mean the Dead Christ. In our town, we do not use the Spanish term, We refer to the image of the Dead Christ as "Apo Natay," which can be translated as "Dead Lord."

We were in San Agustin Church this Holy Wednesday afternoon, There were two Santo Entierros that were drawing the fervent attention of people doing their visita iglesia: a reposeful image whose body is covered by a gold-embroidered white shroud, and the other, a dark antique image covered with an ornate red shroud.

Reposeful Santo Entierro at the San Agustin Church

Dark antique Santo Entierro originally from Lemery, Batangas.

According to the explanatory caption, the antique image was the 'crucified Christ' acquired by the Medina-Morales family in the 18th century. Before World War II, it was used in Lemery, Batangas during the re-enactment on Good Friday of the crucifixion and burial of Christ..

The wooden image is described as having moveable hands. This reminds us of the "Senyor Sepulcro" of Paete, Laguna whose hands and feet can be bent at the joints. Six years ago, we witnessed how the image was made to sit under a tent of linen and smoked, which was very similar to the ritual of the dead practiced by the Cordillera people until recent times.

Paete's Senyor after the ritual of the dead.

                                           

The "Senyor Sepulcro" was dressed in white and covered with an ornate red shroud for the burial: the men carry the senyor in his glass coffin to the church in choreographed rhythmic steps.

In Lucban, Quezon, the men also carry the Santo Entierro but the journey through the procession route takes hours: the ritual is almost similar to that of the Nazareno of Quiapo with the barefoot male devotees struggling with the ropes and clambering to touch the glass-covered sepulcher, The Senyor here is richly garbed with jewels and a golden shroud.

Lucban's "Santo Senyor Sepulcro"

I remember that at ten o'clock in the evening of Good Friday, a good two or three hours after the customary procession, my mother would tell us that she and her friends in the neighborhood were going to the "funeral" of "Apo Natay." It would be much later when we learned that they were actually accompanying the "Apo" from the church to the "burial ground," meaning the house of the caretaker of the image until the next Holy Week.

That is no longer practiced. What is significant in my hometown is that the "Apo Natay" of the Aglipayan church is the unifying icon of the descendants of Don Timoteo Fernandez and Dna Isabel Ramos, their rallying symbol for gathering all of them in a grand reunion. 

Skimboarding in my neighborhood by the beach in Zambales

Lyric Farala, 10, is top of the grom class in barangay La Paz, San Narciso, Zambales.

Almost everyday since November, I have been watching skimboarders riding the waves close to the shore near my bamboo house by the West Philippine Sea in barangay La Paz, San Narciso, Zambales. They can be as young as five years old or in the early '30s.

Skimboarding is the water sport of choice of the young men in the southern part of the coastal barrio. In the northern part, it is surfing: the local boys teach the neophyte surfers from Metro Manila and other parts of the country the rudiments of this sport at the Crystal Beach Resort.

The skimboarders have shorter boards than the surfers, and they ride the waves or swells nearer the shore, Skimboarding is a fast game on shallow waters. The surfers do the waves farther out, and bigger and finned boards allow them longer and more stable rides on the waves surging to break on the shore..

Both are imported sports: surfing from Hawaii and skimboarding from California.

But both have become native to our provincial haven; hence, we're claiming that San Narciso is the 'surfing and skimboarding capital of Zambales.'

These three A players, Angelo Ceneta, Peter Pagar and Jay Agagas competed in Tiwi, Albay last December.

In a local skimboarding competition event this month, there were competing groups: groms, Class B and Class A.

A grom (derived from grommet) is a skimboarder 14 years old or younger. Their seniors are either B or A, the A being the top players.  Veteran A players did not compete in the recent event, they instead judged in the three categories.

Champion in the groms category was Lyric Farala, a 10-yeat old pupil of the barangay elementary school. His father, uncles and cousins are skimboarders too. One of them teaches surfing at Crystal Beach.

Among those who judged in that January event were the three Class A players who represented the town in the skimboarding competition in Tiwi, Albay last December (2016): Angelo Ceneta, Peter Pagar and Jay Agagas.  Pagar won the top price in the individual category. The two others went into the qualifying rounds but did not make it to the cut for the final rounds.

Pagar has joined the labor force in Manila, and he skimboards when he comes home to take a breath. Ceneta may also give up his boards as soon as he is done with his marine transport education. Agagas does construction jobs to earn his keep, but he's still very much around the beach front with other skimboarders.

Typical skimboarding sights.

All these young sportsmen belong to the San Narciso Shorebreakers Skimboarding Group managed by Mia Casal, who takes time out from her potter's wheel and clay to watch their routines on the surging and swelling waves of the nearby sea.