The many faces of Carlos Celdran

By Matthew Reysio-Cruz, VERA Files

The whole nation wondered who he was.

Sporting a black overcoat and top hat, performer and tourist guide Carlos Celdran stood before a group of bishops at the Manila Cathedral in September 2010 holding up a sign with one simple, familiar word: Damaso. It was a reference to the power-abusive friar in national hero Jose Rizal’s 1887 novel Noli Me Tángere.

Celdran shouted “Stop getting involved in politics!” before being taken away by police.

That same night, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines filed charges against him for violating Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code, which forbids “offending religious feelings.” Last January he was found guilty of the crime by the Metropolitan Trial Court in Manila. Now free on bail, he awaits the possibility of being sentenced to up to 13 months in prison.

Famous 'Damaso' incident

All this was in the name of the then Reproductive Health Bill, a measure that would give government funding for contraception and which was

Raymund Nanos has hemophilia, a rare bleeding disorderBy Lean Carlo Macoto, VERA Files

Like the vast majority of Filipino men, Raymund Nanos is a huge basketball fan. His favorite sport is basketball. His favorite pastime is watching basketball. Those who don’t know him would probably think he plays ball at the court around the corner. In his purple shirt, walking shorts and flip-flops, he looks like that type of guy.

But he isn’t. In fact, this five-foot-five mega basketball fan plays no sport.

At seven months, before he could even walk, Nanos was diagnosed with hemophilia, a rare bleeding disorder and a lifetime disease. Blood doesn’t clot normally for hemophiliacs, and when they bleed, they do so much longer than normal.

Spur-of-the-moment bleeding episodes are not strange to hemophilia patients, especially around their ankles and other joints. Strenuous exercise like basketball can induce bleeding. At least once in their lifetime a vital organ bleeds, spontaneous or otherwise. A recurring question in Nanos’s life is, “Will I bleed

Entrance to cafe with display of baked products and jams

Text and photos by Elizabeth Lolarga, VERA Files

It is apropos that a café founded by artists, writers and other individuals who operate outside society’s margins should mark its 25^th year as a now respected Baguio institution with music, poetry and a satirical monologue aimed at the foibles of the city’s bigwigs.

Capping a week of workshops on food writing, demonstrations and photography, “Silver Spoons and Tunes,” the program prepared by Café by the Ruins, showcased Baguio’s wordsmiths and musicians. It testified to the café’s support of the arts and literature, apart from espousing the slow-food movement and basing its “lunch of the day” on what is available and fresh at the public market.

One of the café partners, Baboo Mondoñedo, once wrote, “When Café by the Ruins opened in 1988, the artists found a home. At the cafe they planned, plotted, exhibited and even put up their installations. Other people helped them get their act together, among them Su Llamado and Rudi Tabora. The

Bust of composer Potenciano Gregorio in Sto. Domingo, Albay.

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

Bicol composer Potenciano Gregorio-- who penned the famous Bicol love song, “Sarung Banggi”-- turns 133 on Saturday (May 18) with a festival carrying the name of his composition.

But his famous love song has two birth dates: one placed at 1897 when Gregorio was just 17. But in a research made by Bicol historian, Dr. Merito Espinas who conducted interviews with descendants of the composer, it appeared that the piece was only completed on May 10, 1910 which makes it only 103 years old.

It was premiered three months later on the same year – not in Sto. Domingo (previously named Libog) where the composer was born – but in the town fiesta of Guinobatan, Albay.

Among those reportedly impressed by the Guinobatan world premiere of the piece was then President Howard Taft, then governor general of the Philippines.

As the Espinas research indicated, a band arrangement of Sarung Banggi materialized in 1918 and performed by Banda de Libog and yet another version

Commentary

Filipino workers in Taiwan. Photo by Romeo Gacad, AFP.

By Ellen Tordesillas

It took a week for President Aquino to realize that the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by a member of the Philippine Coast Guard team in the disputed waters of South China Sea could lead to serious repercussions for the country

On the seventh day of the incident, President Aquino last Wednesday sent as his personal representative Amadeo R. Perez, chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office “to convey his and the Filipino people’s deep regret and apology to the family of Mr. Hung Shi-chen as well as to the people of Taiwan over the unfortunate and unintended loss of life.”

Taiwan Foreign Minister David Lin refused to meet Perez, who was just received by Foreign Affairs Director-General Benjamin Ho.

Hung Shi Chen, was the 65-year old fisherman who was killed when the a member of the Philippine Coast Guard team that was manning the ship owned by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, fired upon what they considered as an intruding boat

By Leilanie G. Adriano, VERA Files

At the warehouse of farmer Ricardo Tolentino in Laoag, Ilocos Norte are the sweetest and juiciest mangoes, courtesy of a hot water treatment developed at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU).

The technology was the answer to the problem of mango growers in the Northern Philippines who have been have been losing about 30 percent of their harvest due to anthracnose and stem-end-rot--- the common diseases of ripening mangoes.

With a P1.5-million research grant from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), technical experts from the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) were able to develop the first of its kind automatic hot water treatment (AHWT) that guarantees sweet and juicy mangoes with longer shelf life.

Thomas Ubiña, project team leader of the AHWT for mangoes, said during a demonstration of the machine at Tolentino’s warehouse that the occurrence of mango diseases has been reduced to one percent because of this simple technology.

Daisy H. Avellana and Naty Crame Rogers in a scene from Nick Joaquin's Portrait of the Filipino as an Artist.

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

The First Lady of Philippine Theater, Daisy Hontiveros-Avellana, made her last true-to-life stage exit on a Mother’s Day, May 12.

She was 96.

Those who missed her prime as a stage actress should turn to her autobiography, “The Drama of It: A Life on Film and Theater.”

The book reveals she didn’t just act; she was also a short story writer and won prizes for it.

Fact is her autobiography reads like a fine short story: brief, concise but full of humor and so self-effacing you wonder if she was writing about somebody else other than herself.

The book blurb captures not just the actress but her true-to-life leading man, Lamberto V. Avellana who happens to be another National Artist for Theater and Film.

True enough, the book is indeed a front seat in the life-theater of the country's theater icons.

Stage actress Daisy Hontiveros AvellanaIn the first chapter entitled, “My Wedding Gown,” the bride admitted she and the groom didn’t share many things in common. For one, she was near-sighted and

COMMENTARY
By Harry L. Roque, Jr., VERA Files
Chair, Center for International Law

Taiwanese protesters burn Aquino photo. Reuters.

The recent shooting by the Philippine Coast guard of a lone Taiwanese fisherman illustrates the kind of governmental response that we Filipinos deserve when we ourselves fall victim to an internationally wrongful act.

Under international law, there is state responsibility for an internationally wrongful act where there is a breach of international law and when the breach is attributable to the state. Here, it appears that because the killing was due to a shot fired by a state organ -- a member of the Philippine Coast Guard -- the killing may be attributed to the Philippine government.

Acts of state organs, no matter how lowly their ranks, and even if they are ultra vires, are always attributed to a state.

Furthermore, there too appears to be a breach of international law since the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) prohibits the use of unnecessary use of force in dealing with illegal fishermen.