TYPHOON RELIEF FUNDRAISING

PLEASE DONATE A SMALL AMOUNT TO YOUR FAVORITE ORGANIZATION THAT CAN HELP THE TYPHOON AFFECTED REGION OF CENTRAL VISAYAS....


IN SEATTLE, THERE ARE MANY INSTRUCTORS DONATING THEIR TIME FOR A DAY OF ESKRIMA, KALI, OR ARNIS WORKSHOP AS WELL AS CHINESE AND THAI ARTS. THE WORKSHOP IS ASKING FOR $10 PERSON/SESSION OR MORE IF YOU CAN AFFORD BUT A SMALL AMOUNT WITH MANY CONTRIBUTORS WILL HELP MANY OF THE VICTIMS.. I WILL BE ATTENDING AND I HOPE MORE PEOPLE CAN MAKE IT.....

NEW DISCOVERIES

How Ancient Visayans Revered The Dead

By Trizer D. Mansueto

 ARCHAEOLOGIST Jose Eleazar Bersales (left) with some National Museum staff members document an excavated burial. 

In 2011, a team of archaeologists led by professor Jose Eleazar Bersales and several staff members of the National Museum unearthed a burial site along the shoreline of Barangay Poblacion in San Remigio town, about 120 kilometers north of Cebu City.

The place is believed to be more than a millennium old based on the absence of foreign trade goods, such as porcelain ware. It could be one of the earliest human burial sites in the country.

The discovery particularly confirms what Jesuit Francisco Ignacio Alcina described in his work about the lives of the Visayan people in the 17th century.

Like the elaborate death practices in other cultures, it revealed how the ancient Visayans revered their dead and made sure that they would have the same comforts they enjoyed when they were alive.

Before the Spaniards arrived, the Visayans buried their dead mostly along the shoreline in the belief that the soul would panaw (travel by boat) to saad, the afterlife where he or she would be met by Badadum, the god of the underworld.

Wooden caskets 

To facilitate this, the corpse was placed inside an elaborately designed boat-shaped coffin.

“Our Bisayans shared something with the civilized peoples,” Alcina wrote, “concerning the lungun or caskets which they made out of very hard and incorruptible wood.”

The early Visayans must have truly provided their dead with the best caskets so that sometimes “there is hardly anything found in these except a bit of dirt, but the coffins remain intact.”

Although the burials excavated in San Remigio were without coffins, jars were recovered. These vessels were considered secondary burials, which could mean that after the flesh had rotten, the relatives of the deceased exhumed the bones, washed them and placed them inside the jars.

Alcina called these jars ihalasan, since some jars contained snakes when these were recovered.

                           A CRUDELY incised burial jar recovered from the Iron Age site of San Remigio town, Cebu. 

Mourning

Like those who die today, the deceased was also prepared in the past.

Antonio de Pigafetta, the scribe of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition, was able to document a ritual, two centuries earlier than Alcina. The practice may now be considered unhygienic but nonetheless expressed a family’s sense of grief.

When a Visayan datu died, his female relatives performed the first mourning rituals.

After surrounding the dead, Pigafetta wrote “there is a woman who cuts off the hair of the deceased. Another, who was the principal wife of the deceased, lies down upon him, and places her mouth, her hands and her feet upon those of the deceased. When the former is cutting off the hair, the latter weeps; and when the former finishes the cutting, the latter sings.”

After the intimate ceremony, herbs that served as balsam were applied on the cadaver. The body was then placed inside the casket—usually hewn out of a single trunk together with a tight-fitting lid. The lid had to be precisely fitted so that “no stench ever escaped, nor any air possible (sic) enter the casket.”

Despite this, however, corruption of the flesh still took place.

Coffins in the house

If the datu died, his family may opt to keep the casket inside a small room in his house or they may “suspend the coffins high and close to the ceiling.” This practice is now considered taboo.

If the coffin, however, would emit a foul odor, then they drilled “a hole” which would lead to the corpse.

A bamboo was then cut and cleaned of its knots then “they placed one end into the hole of the casket and the other into the ground.” Alcina wrote that the trick sucked out the foul odor from the cadaver.

After a year, the bones were washed and “anointed with scented oils and then placed into a smaller chest of incorruptible wood.” Oftentimes, the bones were placed inside huge earthenware jars.

For those coming from different castes, they were often buried under their houses, called sirum (silong).  “Whenever they buried someone in the sirum, they remained six or seven days and nights making fires around it.”

During the burial, they never took the dead out of the house through the stairway due to superstitious beliefs. “Therefore, they made an opening in the front wall for this purpose and quickly block it up lest anyone who would go through, would die immediately,” Alcina wrote.

Grave goods

Because of foreign trading, the Visayans of Alcina’s time already had imported bowls and plates which served as grave goods. Alcina mentioned that these bowls and plates were sometimes placed under the head of the deceased like pillows. This practice is referred to as bahandi (wealth).

The burial site found in San Remigio did have bowls and plates, but these were not porcelain ware since the graves were thought to be from the earlier Iron Age.

Alcina continued: “Aside from this large plate, if it was a woman, they placed on her breasts two bowls—that is, one on each. Also, a larger one over the forehead which may even cover the face.”

Besides bowls and plates, they often included gold jewelry. When Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Cebu in 1565, some of his men reportedly looted some of the graves, to the horror of their relatives.

Just like the existing practice of katapusan, which is held nine days after a person’s death, a ritual known as pagpasaka (to ascend) was performed.

They did this by getting “hold of two green bamboos together with their leaves which they call kaginking. They leaned them against the house and decorated them with garlands of palm leaves. From these also they made a kind of stairway which led from the entrance to the ground.”

The ceremony culminated in offering some food, such as butchered pig, chicken and linupak (a dish of cooked rice). Also part of the offerings were oil and parina (incense).

A baylana (native priestess) would officiate in a ritual where the “soul of the deceased was coming to accept what was an offering to it.”

It was believed that after performing the rites, the deceased would be contented and would not return to claim his wife, children or relatives and carry them away with him.

Source: Inquirer Visayas - http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/source/inquirer-visayas

RE-DISCOVERING OUR PAST

This article is one of the most fascinating I’ve came across with, it slowly pushes back the historical evidence of Visayan people. Our past has been erased by colonizers and pressed their own. So, we found ourselves like lost children, not knowing who we are.  This discovery will uncover the question of “who” we really are and where we really came from in the past. Knowing our history, will make the current and future generation of Visayans proud of our past.

A Visayan reading of a Luzon Artifact 

Posted  by Nath in Science News from the Islands

It is quite difficult to write on something in which everybody claims to be an expert at. As a matter of fact, this post has been in my dashboard for more than 4 months already.  It has never been touched since I prepared the image on the lower right.

There is a resurgence of interest on Pre-Hispanic Philippine syllabaries (baybayin or surat).  This interest is very much welcomed.  Anything that is older than Philippines 1521 is something worth exploring and analyzing.

This post is about a lonely pot found in Calatagan whose surat has eluded decipherment. The Calatagan pot has 40 symbols and 14 of these are unique. Although questions about its authenticity is still very valid,  many believed that it would be difficult to fake the inscription.

This is the first part of a two-part post on the Calatagan pot.  In this part, I write the Visayan reading of the pot’s inscription while the second part will deal with the internal coherence and anthropological testing of the proposed reading.

Calatagan pot inscription (circular, original; linear, by the authors). The circle is the rim of the pot. Courtesy: Guillermo, J. Southeast Asian Studies 42, 2011.

Guillermo, and Paluga of the University of the Philippines Diliman, writing in the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies [1], give a ‘tentative’ reading of the markings on the Calatagan pot.   Using a combination of traditional palaeographic techniques and cryptographic methods, they propose this :

Gana Bisa Kata

Duna kita’y halabas

Yawa, sala, kakaga

Yamyam la ni Manugdait

Kita sana magbasa

Barang king banga

and the translation,

Gana Bisa Kata [Powerful is Gana’s Word]

 We have a sword

 Evil, faults, falsehood

 Just chant this, Shaman(s)

 Let us read the signs

 Spell/power of this pot!

The authors build upon the earlier works of J. Francisco and Q. Fortich Oropilla.  J. Francisco wasn’t able to make a decipherment of the inscription because there was an error in transcription. But the authors used 5 of Francisco’s identifications which were from the baybayin.  On the other hand, 4 identifications from Orpilla were used by the authors.  These 4 identifications were from the close comparison of the Calatagan script with the Tagalog Doctrina Christiana script.

Oropilla by the way, has a book on his reading of the Calatagan pot based on the Pangasinan language. Guillermo and Paluga’s version however,  is the only reading that has been scrutinized in the Philippines and by the best known experts in the Southeast Asian field.

To settle the question of a correct transcription, the authors photographed and analyzed the image again.   This also helps the authors know the direction of writing.  Should the reading be clockwise or counter clockwise? The assumption is that the direction of writing is also the direction of how it should be read.

The authors used a clockwise reading against the counter-clockwise reading by Oropilla.  They said that 1) the overshooting of the inscription tells you that these symbols are the last to be written; and 2) the writing becomes shallow as one circles from the left to the right as seen in their photos.

Two symbols were deciphered by inverting them and comparing against other known written symbols.

The fifth line was used by  the authors to get the remaining unknowns. The fifth line has only 2 unknowns. They get all possible reading of the fifth line and they zero in on the one that is intelligible.  From here, they obtain the equivalent of the remaining unknown symbols.

-la or ya?

All in all, the authors were able recognize 4 more symbols while still guessing on a 5th symbol, the la.

The authors then put these together to come up with their reading.

So what makes it VISAYA?

da. Courtesy: Guillermo, J. Southeast Asian Studies 42, 2011.

The symbol for da was the clue for the authors to read the inscription in Visaya.  They said, “only the Visayan syllabaries possessed this form of da.”

The Calatagan symbol for da traces its antecedents from as far back as the 1st century.  The difference however is the opening of the round portion.  The Calatagan symbol has an opening to the left while the other inscriptions from Southeast Asia opens to the right.

By using Visayan as the base language, they were able to translate the Calatagan pot inscriptions. Note that the first line actually is not Visayan but of Malay-Javanese origin.  Here is the proposed line by line translation with dictionary meanings.

 

Courtesy: Guillermo, J. Southeast Asian Studies 42, 2011.

So, how did a Visayan pot get to Luzon?

According to Guillermo, “No one knows the details. However, the Visayans are the most sea-faring (historically) of the early Filipinos. Most historians of Southeast Asia nowadays emphasize this kind of mobility as opposed to our modern-day landlocked mentality in Luzon.”

Here are some juicy trivia I pick up while reading this paper.

1) Jose Rizal proposed a Tagalog orthography based on baybayin.

2) Surat is not a Sanskrit loanword and thus must have existed before the Indian-based script.

3) There are at least 4 major theories on the origin of baybayin. These are 1) direct introduction from India; 2) development from  the Buginese scripts and Javanese alphabets; 3) descent from Sumatran writing systems; and 4) derivation from scripts of mainland Southeast Asia, in particular from Cham.

VISAYAN PAST HISTORY

Pirates of the Visayas in China
By Ambeth R. Ocampo, Philippine Daily Inquirer

While there are many references to the Philippines in ancient Chinese records, only a handful are available in English, all reproduced, wholly or partly, in the first chapter of “The Chinese Community in the Philippines” by Chen Ching-Ho (Tokyo, 1968). Surely, the Heritage Center in Intramuros headed by Tessie Ang See or the Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies at Ateneo de Manila University can undertake the necessary research and translations to fill the gaps in our early history. The standoff between the Philippines and China in the disputed Spratly Islands led me to two 10th-century references to the Philippines: the first a description of some islands made by an envoy from Brunei in China, and the second a reference to traders from Ma-I arriving in Canton in 982 A.D. carrying goods and treasures for trade.

What surprised me was a 12th-century account of pirates from the Visayas that attacked what is now part of southern Taiwan:

“Nearby is the country of P’i-she-yeh (Visayas). Their language is unintelligible, and they go naked and lead so primitive a life that is almost subhuman. Once during the Ch’un-lui era (1174-89), a chief of the country, at the head of several hundred of his men, suddenly came to Shui-ao, Wei-t-ou and other villages of Ch’uan-chou and wantonly committed slaughter and pillage.

“They showed a passion for iron vessels, spoons, and chopsticks. People would escape from their hands by shutting the door; then they would tear [these] off and take away the door knobs. When a spoon or a pair of chopsticks was thrown to them, they would stop to pick it up. When they saw an iron-clad cavalryman, they would rush forward to peel off his armor, showing no remorse even if their heads were lopped off left and right. In combat they employed javelins, to which was tied a rope more than a hundred feet long, for they valued the iron spearhead so highly that they could not let it be lost. They do not sail in a boat, but make a raft by tying bamboo canes together. When in danger they carry the raft on their shoulders down to the water and row away on it.”

These Visayan pirates are believed to have taken the sea route from the Philippines to China via Taiwan, unlike the 10th-century traders who went to Canton via Brunei. Fascinating are the old names given to the islands: P’i-she-yeh (Visayas), Ma-i or Ma-yi or Mait (Mindoro), Babuyan, Pu-li-lu (Manila), Li-yin (Zambales), Tung-liu (?), Hsin-li-han (?), and what was known as “The Three Islands” namely: Chia-ma-yen (Calamian), Pa-lao-you (Palawan) and Pa-chi-nung (Busuanga).

However, not all references to the islands and their people were negative or derogatory. In the 13th-century Chu fan chih (Description of Various Barbarians) by Chau Ju-kua (now respelled as Zhao Rugua), Mait is described as a country with over a thousand families living beside a creek, a place where “bronze images of gods, of unknown origin, [were] scattered about in the grassy wilderness.” He wrote, “Pirates seldom come to this country,” but didn’t explain whether this was due to the number of people, the island’s defenses, or maybe there was nothing worthy of a pirate attack.

Most significant was an observation that our ancestors were very, very honest:

“When trading ships enter the anchorage, they stop in front of the official’s place, for that is the place for bartering of the country. After a ship has been boarded, the natives mix freely with the ship’s folk. The chiefs are in the habit of using white umbrellas, for which reason the traders offer them as gifts.

“The custom of the trade is for the savage traders to assemble in crowds and carry the goods away with them in baskets; and, even if one cannot at first know them, and can but slowly distinguish the men who remove the goods, there will yet be no loss. The savage traders will after this carry these goods on to other islands for barter, and, as a rule, it takes them as much as eight or nine months till they return, when they repay the traders on shipboard with what they have obtained for the goods. Some, however, do not return within the proper term, for which reason vessels trading with Mait are the latest in reaching home.

“The products of the country consist of yellow wax, cotton, pearls, tortoise shell, medicinal betel nuts and yu-ta cloth; and the foreign traders barter for these porcelain, trade-gold; iron censers, lead, colored glass beads, and iron needles.”

Honesty was something described not only by Chinese traders but by the early Spanish settlers, too. In one account, our ancestors were described as hard-nosed businessmen who were careful with transactions that involved gold, such that you could give a Pinoy lots to drink and, though tipsy or even drunk, he would not make a mistake weighing gold on his scale.

One of the ways in which to come to an understanding is to see things from the perspective of another, the viewpoint of a rival. When diplomats reference the historic ties between the Philippines and China, they go beyond the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries; they go back a millennium to these early Chinese accounts of the pre-Spanish Philippines.

History can thus be a bridge or a wall between nations.


Visayan pirates in China, Part 2
By Ambeth R. Ocampo, Philippine Daily Inquirer

When I was in school I heard about Chau Ju-kua (1170-1228) and read the portions of his two-volume work, “Chu-fan chi” (Description of Barbarous Peoples), which referred to pre-Spanish Philippines. Searching for him on the Internet recently made me see the many changes in contemporary Chinese orthography. For example: the Chinese capital Peking has become Beijing; the founding father of China, Mao tse-tung, has become Mao Zedong; Chau Ju-kua has become Zhao Rugua and his book “Chu-fan-chi” has become “Zhufan zhi.” These cause some confusion in bibliographic and Internet searches. Nevertheless, Zhao Rugua’s description of the islands that were yet to become the Philippines and of the islanders who were yet to become indios and later Filipinos is one way to see what we were like long before Magellan was born.

The reference to Visayan pirates raiding 12th-century China comes from two contemporary sources: the “Sung shi” and “Zhufan zhi.” These accounts are almost exactly the same, and Chen Ching-ho in “The Chinese Community in the Philippines” (Tokyo, 1968) says the Sung shi copied from the Chu fan-chi (“Zhufan zhi”). Some readers directed me to a website where my last column on Pirates from the Visayas was posted with a comment saying that P’i-she-yeh was misidentified by Chen Ching-ho as the Visayas; it is actually part of Formosa or modern Taiwan. I reread the source for the column that states authoritatively: “[T]here is no doubt as to the identity of the P’i-she-yeh of the twelfth century with the Visayas.” Chen Ching-ho based this conclusion on a contemporary Chinese account that described the faces of the raiders from P’i-she-yeh as tattooed black. He also cited the “Sucesos de las islas Filipinas” (1609) by Antonio de Morga who described the Visayans as “a race of skillful navigators who were eager for pillaging raids.”

Aside from the two 12th-century accounts of the Visayan raids on southern China, there is another from the 14th-century travel account of Wang Ta-yuan who wrote of the Visayas and the Visayans as follows:

“The Visayas live in a remote land in the eastern sea, where the hills are flat and deserted and the fields are little tilled. There is not much planting. The climate is scorching hot. The natives are fond of pillaging. The males and the females both tie their hair in a topknot, tattoo their bodies here and there with ink, and wrap their heads with a piece of red silk to which a piece of yellow cloth is tied to make a tail. Their country has no chief, and the land produces nothing. At times they prepare dry provisions, row in a small boat, go to other barbarians, lie in ambush in wild mountains and remote valleys where no man lives, capture fish-catchers and fuel-collectors whom they happen to meet, and bring home and sell the prisoners to other countries, in which transactions they get two ounces of gold apiece. Men of that country make their living by this custom from generation to generation, for which reason the people of the eastern sea, upon hearing the name of Visaya, are all terrified and flee.” (Underscoring mine).

French Sinologist Terrien de Lacouperie, in his eight-volume work “The Languages of China before the Chinese” (1887), was the first to identify the P’i-she-yeh with the Visaya or Bisaya of the Philippines. Furthermore, an explanatory footnote by Friedrich Hirth and William Rockhill to their translation of the “Chu fan-chi” in 1911 reads:

“During the period A.D. 1174-1190 these raids on the Fukien coast were of frequent occurrence. The P’i-she-yeh were consequently established along the southwestern coast of Formosa at that time, but it seems probable that they were of Philippine origin. This belief is further strengthened by the statement of [Zhao Rugua] in the preceding chapter that the people of Liu-k’iu, the Formosans immediately to the north of the P’i-she-yeh, had regular trade relations with the Philippines (San-sii). It must be noted that the raiders came to China on rafts, not in boats as they would have done had they come directly from the Philippines.” (Underscoring mine).

More research is needed to ascertain the identity of these 12th-century Visayan pirates as well as the tradition of slave-raiding that goes even further back in time. Come to think of it, what is described as “slave raiding” in historical and archeological texts on pre-Spanish Philippines still exists today under another name—kidnapping. While most people think history is a useless academic subject and argue for its removal from present school curricula, it is history that helps us find context. When we go through our history and see beyond the memorized names, dates and places, we see how the past remains current and relevant in our times. The references to the 12th-century Visayan pirates do seem irrelevant except that in our present row with China over some islands and maritime territories, we are rediscovering the long historic links between our two countries. If I had another life I would probably study Chinese if only to see what references to the Philippines lie in ancient Chinese historical sources. Since I don’t have another life, I can only wish young Filipino historians will do this long overdue task.

Post Canadian Adventure..SEACAF

I’ve been busy for the past weeks that I didn’t post anything about the Southeast Asian Cultural Arts Festival. The gathering was on Saturday, August 18, 2012.  It was the creation of like-minded martial artist that wanted to share the art – without ego. It was a great turn out. I heard it was the biggest number they have since it started the festival five years ago.

Event Programme

 The festival ran from 10am to 5pm with 30 minutes for each presentation and 10 minutes in between. At 1pm there was a potluck BBQ featuring lots of ethnic food (with a performance from SEACHS Dance).

1000-1030     Tuhon Loki (maelstrom Martial Arts)- stick stretching

1040-1110     Guros Kevin Haaland / Tom Dy Tang - Kalis Ilustrisimo Repeticion Orihinal

1120-1150     Ajarn Steve Wilson – Krabi Krabong/Thai martial arts

1200-1230     Guro Brent Matsuda of Warrior Zen Martial Arts - Bahala Na Giron

1240-1300     I Made Kartawan of GGA – Gamelan Gender Wayang

1300-1340     Potluck BBQ w/ SEACHS dance performance

1340-1410     Guro Ed Wong (Urban Survival Systems)- modern pencak silat

1420-1450     Guro Louie Lindo (Ikatan Kali) – pencak silat of Cimande

1500-1530     Highland Gong Society – dance and gong performance

1530-1600     Guro John Soriano (Balintawak Cuentada Seattle)

1610-1640     Kathara Canada – tribal rhythms and dance presentation

(Taken from Monsoon Society for the Cultural Arts of Southeast Asia)

To check out  some of the picture please visit Monsoon Society:

http://www.monsoonsociety.org/SEACAF2012.html

Hope to be there next year......

The Art of Kali Ilustrisimo

Last Saturday, I attended a workshop up in Mount Vernon. It was Kali Ilustrisimo. It is a Visayan style of Eskrima from Bantayan Island. Tatang Ilustrisimo was its founder and its best practitioner. His art today are propagated by his loyal students especially by Master Tony Diego. A couple of KI (Kali Ilustrisimo) practitioners from Vancouver, B.C. came down and shared the art or method of Tatang Ilustrisimo at Kalahi Martial Arts Academy. Guro Louei  Lindo and Kenneth Co, were excellent of presenting the fundamentals of the art. We started with the footwork and combined it with the different strikes of Ilustrisimo (Please see below).

It was a great workshop. I hope to attend more in the future..

Thanks Guro Lindo, Ken, and Lou of Kalahi Academy for hosting it....

Education & Assistance

I attended an invitation only workshop in British Columbia last weekend. There were two instructors in the class. First was Guro Louie, he started his class by giving credit to his teacher, “Herman Suwanda”. Then, he began to teach the basic blocks of traditional Cimande and its variations. Once everyone got the hang of it, we partnered up and put those blocks, passing, and entry randomly.

The second instructor was Guro Ed; his style of art was more modern yet taken from the classical silat. He was precise and to the point which mean ending the fight sooner than later….

By the way, part of the proceeds was donated to Jesse Glover’s family

Great Job Guro Louie and Ed….

NORTHERN FAVORITISM AND SOUTHERN COHESION

This is the kind of corruption and regional favoritism of the north that all the people of Visayas and Mindanao needed to stop.  Manila is no longer a powerhouse. The central and southern power hubs are gaining faster and will take over in the near future…..

The first article discussed the underfunded education of  the Visayans compared to the Northern Tagalog dominated region. The second article discussed the long awaited cohesion of Central and Mindanao region.

 Visayas schools, universities to get lowest fund allotment (Sun Star – Wed, Aug 31, 2011)

THE Visayas will get the lowest allocation for its state-funded schools and universities, lower than those

allotted for the University of the Philippines (UP), which has five campuses all over the country, including one in the region.

All 26 state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the Visayas will only receive P3.8 billion out of the total P23.6-billion allotted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The amount is lower than the nearly P6 billion for the University of the Philippines System (UP) which has campuses in Manila, Quezon City, Baguio, Visayas, and Mindanao. The UP’s student population is around 50,000, according to its website.

Central Visayas which is home to five SUCs will receive only P701.6 million with Cebu Technological University (Cebu State College of Science and Technology) getting the highest of P266.2 million, as indicated in the DBM’s National Expenditure Program submitted to Congress.

Negros Oriental State University (Central Visayas Polytechnic College) will get P171.9 million, Bohol Island State University (Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry and Technology) will receive P129 million, Cebu Normal University, P102.9 million; and Siquijor State College, P31.5 million.

Western Visayas will get P1.6 billion for its 11 schools while Eastern Visayas will get P1.5 billion for 10 schools.

 In Luzon, appropriation per region is as follows: National Capital Region, P7.9 billion; Cordillera Administrative Region, P628.3 million; Cagayan Valley, P997.5 million; Central Luzon, P1.6 billion; Calabarzon, P989 million; Mimaropa, P625.7 million; and Bicol Region, P1.2 billion.

 Adiong Memorial Polytechnic State College located in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) will receive the lowest appropriation of P16.2 million. The DBM has proposed P2 billion for the six schools in Armm.

 Other regions in Mindanao will get the following: Zamboanga Peninsula, P616.5 million; Northern Mindanao, P957 million; Davao Region, P304.7 million; Soccsksargen, P504.3 million; and Caraga, P302 million.

 Kabataan Representative Raymond “Mong” Palatino earlier said that the proposed 2012 budget for SUCs has reduced maintenance and other operating expenses of 45 SUCs by P250.9 million.

The same proposed budget has reduced personal services of 58 SUCs by P403.3 million.

The Aquino administration has appropriated zero allocation for capital outlay since 2011, indicating that no funds have been set aside for the acquisition of equipment.

 In the budget briefings held by the House committee on appropriations, several legislators have urged leaders of government agencies to realign a portion of their budget for state colleges.

 The 2012 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) is set for plenary sponsorship when Congress resumes session in September after its long weekend break.

 “We are done with committee hearings. We passed the committee report last Friday. We will sponsor the general appropriations bill in the plenary on September 6. We are right on schedule,” appropriations committee chair Joseph Emilio Abaya said. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)  Sun Star – Wed, Aug 31, 2011

Ilocos Norte pols urge Gwen to run for senator in 2013

By Gregg M. Rubio The Freeman  

CEBU, Philippines - Officials of the Province of Ilocos Norte have endorsed Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia for senator come the 2013 election together with Governor Imee Marcos.

The endorsement was made by Ilocos Norte Rep. Rudy Fariñas during their sisterhood visit in Cebu with the Marcos family led by former First Lady now Rep. Imelda Marcos, son Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, and Imee.

Fariñas was made to speak before officials of the Province of South Cotabato and Albay during the signing of agreements between Cebu Province and the two provinces at the Capitol Social Hall last Saturday.

Fariñas said in jest that they better also have the endorsement launched during that time in the presence of the delegations of around 80 local officials of Ilocos Norte, Albay led by Governor Joey Salceda, and South Cotabato led by Governor Arthur Pingoy. Imee backed the endorsement of Fariñas for Garcia Go for a seat in the Senate.

She said if the Garcias in Cebu have patriarch Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia, who was also present during the occasion, the Marcoses also have their matriarch Imelda, their mother in Ilocos Norte.

Bongbong told reporters that Garcia has yet to tell them of her plans for 2013 when her term ends as governor of Cebu.

“Pero nandito kami at magkakaibigan naman tayong lahat. Seguro kung magkakataon man ay syempre magtutulungan ang mga kaibigan,” Bongbong said.

Bongbong said he was surprised to see South Cotabato and Albay meeting together in Cebu although politicians always think of what are they planning.

“Di kayo magtataka anong mangyayari. Nagsama na ang taga south, central may north pa. Ano ba’ng nasa eastern visayas, di ba Leyte (the hometown of Imelda)? Isa nalang sa west,” Bongbong said.

Bongbong admired the meeting together of governors Garcia, Imee, Salceda and Pingoy in Cebu.

“That is a good thing that the governors, especially these governors, whom I know to be progressive and I know to be thinking very hard for their provinces, I know to have shown a great deal of performances in their provinces,” he said.

Imee, on the other hand, said that what is good for Gwen is that she has a lot of options including a national position.

“Certainly we would be happy to endorse any future efforts from Ilocos Norte, because we look up to Cebu as separate, distinct power hub and genuine nation on its own. Cebu is a country, is not just a province,” Imee told reporters.

Next to the Province of Antique, Ilocos Norte is the second province in the country that established a sisterhood relationship with Cebu.

The visit of the delegation from Ilocos Norte was part of the exchanges stipulated in the agreement.

Ilocos Norte officials also witnessed the signing of sisterhood agreement between Cebu and South Cotabato led by Pingoy.

Pingoy said that the visit of Garcia in their province last month has changed the perception of the peace and order of their place as part of Mindanao.

“It’s a good start because in away we can improve the image of South Cotabato with regards to peace and order,” Pingoy said.

Also, the Province of Cebu and Albay signed the memorandum of economic partnership.

Following the signing, Salceda said a lot more to come as they still have to thresh out what economic partnership really means to both provinces.

 Garcia still refused to give comment on the endorsement.

To recall, Garcia was also endorsed last year by Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla for senator in 2013 and the Revillas in Cavite will be behind her. — /NLQ (FREEMAN)  August 15, 2011

A Comment From A Fellow Visayan.....

How to Secede.......By Dominique Cimafranca

There's nothing particularly new about the idea of a separate Visayas Republic. It's an idea that I've frequently discussed with my friends from Cebu. Invariably, the discussion starts with how much of a mess Metro Manila is, especially with dem grubby politicians. We talk about how much better Cebu and the other provinces would be if, instead of directing our taxes to the national, presumably lining bottomless pockets of congressmen, they could be channeled into local development instead. And on we rant, all the while chugging our beer and downing our sisig. Come the end of it all, we drink one last toast to our motherland the Visayas and stagger on home.

Enlightened by the same otherworldly inspiration that prompted our beloved President to go back on her word -- este, change her mind -- about forswearing electoral ambitions two Christmases past, a group of esteemed governors have banded together and promptly adopted the idea of the Visayas Republic. What can I say? In vino veritas!

Since it is the finest legal minds and elected leaders of the united provinces who are bandying the idea and not a group of drunken friends, we should look at the mechanics of secession in earnest. And who better to be your guide than yours truly who has concocted the perfect plan over several years of besotted frustration?

At the heart of it, the act of secession necessarily involves the creation of a new state. So the first step is also necessarily the creation and ratification of a new constitution. Now, constitutions, as we all know, are notoriously difficult to write, involving a lot of legal ledgerdemain, public consultations, correspondence with international law, and other what-not. Ordinarily, it would take at least two years to put together this new constitution, but hey! we're from the Visayas, so it should take us no more than a fortnight to draft and pass it. In fact, it should take less than a week, assuming that all the constituents imbibe in the process liberally.

Thus written, we will then serve notice to the standing government of the Republic of the Philippines of our intention, backed up by our new constitution. Simultaneously, we should also inform the appropriate agencies and representatives of the United Nations of the formation of our new state. Naturally they will take none too kindly to this brazen deed, and understandably so: the democratic world is notoriously averse to secession. Their lawyers will throw up high-faluting concepts like remedial rights and primary rights and ascriptivist and plebiscitary theories. A few drinks here and there, though, and we should smooth those details over quickly.

New states can be quite fragile so we will also need to prepare for our defense both from external threats as well as internal threats. External threats might come from our future next-door neighbor, the Republic of the Philippines, who will belatedly realize that they should not have cast a jewel such as the Visayas aside. Internal threats might come from the unenlightened citizens who scoff at the idea of secession and who foolishly cling to the fictional notion of the Philippine Islands.

As such, the Visayas Republic should form as quickly as possible a standing army to protect our borders and maintain internal security. The Armed Forces of the Philippines by then would be considered an occupational force and must be removed as quickly as possible, with the exception of progressive officers and troops who resign their commissions. Initially, this will be a transitional army -- and for this, I propose the name Field Army and Navy of the Treaty of Independence to reflect its nature -- composed of reservists, volunteers, and conscripts. Eventually, this will give way to the Visayas Regular Army in due time. Our native security experts, armed with swizzle sticks to assiduously inspect the bags of all travellers crossing our borders, will defend the hundreds of kilometers of coastal waters that will then comprise the islands of the Visayas Republic.

Ah, and the economy. I could write volumes about the conduct of the economy in the newly-formed Visayas Republic which will then be so vibrant without the excess baggage posed by Imperial Manila. While we can wax poetic about the can-do spirit of the people of the Visayas, we would have to face the practical realities of the first stages of the transition. Critical infrastructure such as banks, telecommunications, and manufacturing would have to be nationalized. As much of the gross domestic product will come from export processing zone, it would behoove the new administration to form trade treaties with as quickly as possible. Understandably, the parent companies, based in the possibly hostile Republic of the Philippines, will not take too kindly to this; but that's what we have the VRA for.

But really, what will keep the Visayas Republic afloat, as it does the Republic of the Philippines now, are dollar remittances from Overseas Foreign Workers. And we very well can't have them remitting to the Republic of the Philippines, can we? Cut loose from the tyrannical Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, we will have to form our own central bank bolstered by independent dollar reserves. As a symbol of our new independence (with due respect to our cultural heritage), we can call our new currency, pegged to the dollar, the "pisong tinuod."

And now, one final issue. Who would lead the new country? By now, we would have seen that elections are costly, ineffective, divisive, and just plain more trouble than they are worth. So we will do away with elections altogether and install a monarchy. After all, we already have the living exemplar of a true leader, one who demonstrates elegant statesmanship, steadfast resolution in the face of overwhelming odds, economic acumen, anointed by otherworldly powers, yet at the same time with imbued with the utmost sincerity to say "I'm sorry." So popular is this leader that in the last elections she won by a landslide margin of over one million votes, and that the governors of the Visayas would willingly secede if she were unconstitutionally removed. In her, the Visayas Republic would have a leader that it truly deserved.

Yes, I know, all this sounds fantastic. But who knows? If we leave our fate in the able hands of our present political leaders, this may yet be our future.

Let's all drink to that! (from the blog - Village Idiot Savant)

PEOPLE OF THE SEA

For a long time, I have searched the connection and the origin of Bisayan people. I have discovered that other people are interested with the same topic. They are also looking for the connection of their own culture and to their neighbors. Like them, the discovery was enlightening – the similarity of language and cultures are the connection. The academic experts called these people “Austronesian”.  The group of seafaring people that stretch from Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean…….

NOTE: PAY ATTENTION TO THE COUNTING NUMBERS....
Thanks to hokulani78

TRADITIONAL DANCE: TINIKLING OR BAMBOO DANCE

I don't know about the rest of the Visayan people. I think its time to reach out with our brothers and sisters just across the shore of Borneo. We have been divided for so long of time that we all began to think, we are a separate people. As a start, watch this clip of our traditional dance.

 

What Every Visayan Should Know (Part 3)

What I love about the internet is that information can be discovered when you look for it. I found an old researched written around 1912 by two authors, Charles Hose and William McDougall, the book is titled,” The Pagan Tribes of Borneo”.  What I don’t understand is that, this book was published almost 100 years ago and almost no one knows about.  This could have been the beginning of retracing our history and culture. I highlighted the part where the Bisayans or Bisaya became part of history( or lost history). 

Below is an excerpt of the book, "PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO", Chapter 2.

(*Note:  To read the whole book or the chapter mentioned -please go to… http://www.nalanda.nitc.ac.in/resources/english/etext-project/history/paganborneo/chapter1.html)

PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO

By Charles Hose and William McDougall (1912)

CHAPTER 2 - History of Borneo

(Paragraph 4, Chapter 2)……..

The first account we have been able to find referring to Borneo is a description of the kingdom of Poli from the Chinese annals of the sixth century. Poli was said to be on an island in the sea south-east of Camboja, and two months south-east of Canton. The journey thither was made by way of the Malay Peninsula, a devious route still followed by Chinese junks. Envoys were sent to the Imperial court in A.D. 518, 523, and 616. "The people of this country," our authority says, "are skilled in throwing a discus-knife, and the edge is like a saw; when they throw it at a man, they never fail to hit him. Their other arms are about the same as in China. Their customs resemble those of Camboja, and the productions of the country are the same as of Siam. When one commits a murder or theft they cut off his hands,[6] and when adultery has been committed, the culprit has his legs chained for the period of a year. For their sacrifice they choose the time when there is no moon; they fill a bowl with wine and eatables and let it float away on the surface of the water; in the eleventh month they have a great sacrifice. They get corals from the sea, and they have a bird called s'ari, which can talk." A later reference to the same place says: "They carry the teeth of wild beasts in their ears, and wrap a piece of cotton round their loins; cotton is a plant of which they collect the flowers to make cloth of them; the coarser kind is called KUPA, and the finer cloth T'IEH. They hold their markets at night, and cover their faces.... At the east of this country is situated the land of the Rakshas, which has the same customs as Poli."[7]

This is an interesting account in many ways, and tallies very closely with what other evidence would lead one to suspect. For there is reason to think that Bruni, before it became Mohammedan, was a Bisaya kingdom under Buddhist sovereigns and Hindu influence; and nearly all the particulars given with regard to the people of Borneo are true of one or other of the races allied to Bisayas and living near Bruni to-day. The discus-knife, a wooden weapon, is not now in use, but is known to have been used formerly. The wild Kadayans sacrifice after every new moon, and are forbidden to eat a number of things until they have done so. The Malanaus set laden rafts afloat on the rivers to propitiate the spirits of the sea. The very names of the two kinds of cotton, then evidently a novelty to the Chinese, are found in Borneo: KAPOK is a well-known Malay word; but TAYA is the common name for cotton among the Sea Dayaks, though it is doubtful whether it is found in Sumatra at all, and is not given in Marsden's great Dictionary. The use of teeth as ear-ornaments may refer to Kenyahs. If these identities are sufficient to show that Poli was old Bruni, we have an almost unique illustration here of the antiquity of savage customs. That an experience of fourteen hundred years should have failed to convince people of the futility of feeding salt waves is a striking demonstration of the widespread fallacy, that what is old must needs be good.

Poli had already attained a certain measure of civilisation, and even of luxury. The kingly dignity was hereditary, and the Buddhist monarch was served with much ceremony. He was clad in flowered silk or cotton, adorned with pearls, and sat on a golden throne attended by servants with white dusters and fans of peacock feathers. When he went out of his palace, his chariot, canopied with feathers and embroidered curtains, was drawn by elephants, whilst gongs, drums, and conches made inspiriting music. As Hindu ornaments have been found at Santubong together with Chinese coins of great antiquity, as the names of many offices of state in Bruni are derived from Sanskrit, and the people of Sarawak have only lately ceased to speak of "the days of the Hindus,"[8] there is nothing startling in the statement that the kings of Poli were Buddhist.

(Paragraph 11, chapter 2)……..

An extraordinary incident occurred at the beginning of the fifteenth century, which again -- and for the last time -- draws our attention to the Chinese court. The great Mongol conquerors, Genghis and Kublai Khan, had little to do with the Malay Archipelago, though the latter sent an unsuccessful expedition against Java in 1292. But the Ming emperors, who were of Chinese blood, came to power in 1368 and soon developed the maritime influence of the empire. For a few years there was a continual stream of East Indian embassies. During the last twenty years of the century, however, these became more rare, and in 1405 the Chinese emperor found it necessary to send a trusted eunuch, by name Cheng Ho, to visit the vassal states in the south. This man made several journeys, travelling as far as the shores of Africa, and his mission bore immediate fruit. Among others, Maraja Kali, king of Puni, although Cheng Ho does not appear to have called on him in person, sent tribute in 1405; and so pleased was he with the embroidered silk presented to him and his wife in return, that he visited the Son of Heaven three years later. Landing in Fukien, he was escorted by a eunuch to the Chinese capital amid scenes of great rejoicing. The emperor received him in audience, allowing him the honours of a noble of the first rank, and loaded him with gifts. The same year, having accomplished his one great ambition of "seeing the face of the Son of Heaven," this humbled monarch died in the imperial city, leaving his son Hiawang to succeed to the throne of Puni. Having induced the emperor to stop the yearly tribute of forty katties of camphor paid by Puni to Java, and having agreed to send tribute to China every three years, Hiawang returned home to take up the reins of government. Between 1410 and 1425 he paid tribute six times, besides revisiting the Chinese Court; but afterwards little Puni seems to have again ignored her powerful suzerain.

It is probable that the Chinese colony in North Borneo which gave its name to the lofty mountain Kina Balu (Chinese widow) and to the Kina Batangan, the chief river which flows from it, was founded about this time. Several old writers seem to refer to this event, and local traditions of the settlement still survive. The Brunis and Idaans (a people in the north not unlike the Bisayas) have legends differing in detail to the effect that the Chinese came to seize the great jewel of the Kina Balu dragon, but afterwards quarrelled about the booty and separated, some remaining behind. The Idaans consider themselves the descendants of these settlers, but that can only be true in a very limited sense. Both country and people, however, show traces of Chinese influence.

(Paragraph 15, Chapter 2)

How early the Arab doctrines were taught in Bruni is impossible to state with any precision. Local tradition ascribes their introduction to the renowned Alak ber Tata, afterwards known as Sultan Mohammed. Like most of his subjects this warrior was a Bisaya, and in early life he was not a Mohammedan, not indeed a civilised potentate at all, to judge by conventional standards; for the chief mark of his royal dignity was an immense chawat, or loin-cloth, carried as he walked by eighty men, forty in front and forty behind. He is the earliest monarch of whom the present Brunis have any knowledge, a fact to be accounted for partly by the brilliance of his exploits, partly by the introduction about that time of Arabic writing. After much fighting he subdued the people of Igan,[16] Kalaka, Seribas, Sadong, Semarahan, and Sarawak,[17] and compelled them to pay tribute. He stopped the annual payment to Majapahit of one jar of pinang juice, a useless commodity though troublesome to collect. During his reign the Muruts were brought under Bruni rule by peaceful measures,[18] and the Chinese colony was kept in good humour by the marriage of the Bruni king's brother and successor to the daughter of one of the principal Chinamen.

(Paragraph 17, Chapter 2)…..

Sultan Mohammed was succeeded by his brother Akhmad, son-in-law of the Chinese chief, and he was in turn succeeded by an Arab from Taif who had married his daughter. Thus the present royal house of Bruni is derived from three sources -- Arab, Bisaya, and Chinese. The coronation ceremony as still maintained affords an interesting confirmation of this account. On that occasion the principal minister wears a turban and Haji outfit, the two next in rank are dressed in Chinese and Hindu fashion, while the fourth wears a chawat over his trousers to represent the Bisayas; and each of these ministers declares the Sultan to be divinely appointed. Then after the demonstration of loyalty the two gongs -- one from Menangkabau, the other from Johore -- are beaten, and the Moslem high priest proclaims the Sultan and preaches a sermon, declaring him to be a descendant of Sri Turi Buana, the Palembang chief who founded the early kingdom of Singapore in 1160 A.D., who reigned in that island for forty-eight years, and whose descendants became the royal family of Malacca.

The Arab Sultan who succeeded Akhmed assumed the name Berkat and ruled the country with vigour. He built a mosque and converted many of his subjects, so that from his reign Bruni may be considered a Mohammedan town. To defend the capital he sank forty junks filled with stone in the river, and thus formed the breakwater which still bars the entrance to large ships. This work rose above the water level, and in former times bristled with cannon. Sultan Berkat was succeeded by his son Suleiman, whose reign was of little consequence.

Neglecting Suleiman, we come now to the most heroic figure in Bruni history, Sultan Bulkiah, better known by his earlier name, Nakoda Ragam. The prowess of this prince has been celebrated in prose and verse. He journeyed to distant lands, and conquered the Sulu islands and eastern Borneo. Over the throne of Sambas he set a weak-minded brother of his own. He even sent an expedition to Manila, and on the second attempt seized that place. Tribute poured into his coffers from all sides. His wife was a Javanese princess, who brought many people to Bruni. These intermarried with the Bisayas, and from them it is said are sprung the Kadayans, a quiet agricultural folk, skilled in various arts, but rendered timid by continual oppression. Some have settled recently in the British colony of Labuan, and others in Sarawak round the river Sibuti, where they have become loyal subjects of the Rajah of Sarawak.

Source: Project Gutenberg Pagan Tribes of Borneo, by Hose & McDougall

             http://www.nalanda.nitc.ac.in/index.html

What Every Visayan Should Know (Part 2)

Two article that I found on Cebu Newspaper: 

Article 1: 

VISAYAN GOVERNORS FORM PANEL TO STUDY 'VISAYAS REPUBLIC'

CEBU CITY, July 15, 2005 (STAR) By Fred Languido - Visayan governors took the first step yesterday toward the creation of a separate republic in the Central Philippines in the event that President Arroyo is forced to step down unconstitutionally. Thirteen of the 16 governors in the Visayas, who attended the meeting at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, formed a technical working committee to study the political framework and the possible constitution of the proposed Visayas Republic. 

The governors designated Oriental Negros Gov. George Arnaiz to head the committee, composed of former Cebu Gov. Pablo Garcia, Siquijor Gov. Orlando Phua, Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone and Naval, Biliran Mayor Jerry Espina.

Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, who heads the Governors League of the Philippines and the Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines, said the committee is authorized to hire lawyers to help it draft the framework and constitution of the proposed new republic. Aumentado, however, clarified that the Visayas Republic will only operate if Mrs. Arroyo is unconstitutionally removed from Malacañang. He said that if Mrs. Arroyo resigns and Vice President Noli de Castro assumes the presidency, they will support him because it is still within the constitutional process.

The Visayan governors, however, believe that Mrs. Arroyo will not resign. They reiterated their support for Mrs. Arroyo yesterday, saying she is the only President who has given much attention to local government units by increasing their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRAs). In gratitude to the President, the Visayan governors also announced the Kilos-Asenso program which will utilize 20 percent of their respective IRAs to support the President’s 10-point development agenda. Arnaiz said part of their study will be the possible form of government that the Visayas Republic could adopt in the event that it would operate. He said among those considered are the parliamentary and federal-parliamentary forms. "Personally, I would want a federal form of government," he said.

Evardone said Cebu would likely be the center of government of the proposed new republic because it is in the heart of the Visayas. According to Evardone, among those who will be consulted are former University of the Philippines president Jose Abueva, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Philippine Bar Association, Philippine Constitution Association, retired justices, deans of law colleges, and economic experts. Evardone said the proposed creation of the Visayas Republic is a strong signal to Metro Manilans that the people in the Visayas are already tired of them deciding for the rest of the country.

The governors, however, have yet to decide who will act as the caretaker of the Visayas Republic pending the conduct of elections. The governors and other leaders in the Visayas will hold a summit on Aug. 11 to further discuss the creation of the new republic. Governors Joseph Marañon of Negros Occidental, Raul Gonzales of Northern Samar and Niel Tupas of Iloilo failed to attend the meeting yesterday.

A separate working committee was created with the chairmen of the Regional Development Councils of Regions 6, 7 and 8. — Freeman News Service

Article 2:

The beginnings of a Visayas Republic? INSIDE CEBU By Bobit S. Avila The Philippine Star 07/15/2005

At 6 p.m. today, Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia will present her State of the Province Address, which should prove to be quite interesting or even seditious if she would include in her address something that the Visayan political leaders discussed yesterday, which wasn’t out as of press time. But whether you believe it or not, the Visayas Republic is an idea whose time has come. Suddenly, thanks to the current political crisis happening in Metro Manila, this has become a reachable goal.

You might ask when did this idea of a Visayas Republic surface? Ever since that Spanish Conquistador Miguel de Legazpi left Cebu and made Manila the capital of Las Islas Pilipinas, every true-blooded Cebuano began entertaining in his heart the idea of being independent from the rest of the Philippines. But no Cebuano ever dared say this in public... it was only whispered in coffeehouses or restaurants, unlike in Bohol where they are still very proud of the Dagohoy Revolt during the Spanish times, which was dubbed the longest revolt ever against the Spaniards... and they never caught Dagohoy.

I did write a few weeks ago about the lunch Canadian Ambassador Peter Sutherland had with a group of Cebuano businessmen a couple of months before the 2004 presidential elections, when I asked those around our table who wanted an independent Cebu to raise their hands and to his complete surprise, everyone did! The only difference is that until now no Cebuano political leader has come out in the open to wave the flag for Cebu. Truth to tell, we don’t even have a Cebu flag, unlike the folks in Bohol. Anyway, the Visayan political leaders held their summit yesterday to discuss the mechanics of the creation of the Visayas Republic, which 15 of them called for in a manifesto. I’m sure that the Visayan political leaders know too well that this idea of a separate republic for the Visayas borders on sedition and may give them legal problems. But then the manifesto was crafted in such a way that this could only happen if President Arroyo is booted out of office via an extra-constitutional process... that means all bets are off if they throw out the Constitution, which would therefore free the Visayas (and I guess the same thing would happen in Mindanao) to do their own thing and create their own republic.

Call it blackmail if you wish, but then that’s the reality today. In fact, let me reprint a text message running around Cebu sent to me by my friends, which goes: "A million thanks 2 Rep. Escudero, Susan Roces, Mayor Binay et al, dahil kundi sa kanila, hindi maging Visayan Republic ang Kabisayaan at akoy dina maging pinoy! Yeheey! Kundi tunay na nga Bisak! Mabuhi ang mga Bisaya! A true peace-loving, hardworking pacific islander. Ibagsak ang Imperial Manila! Pls pass!"

Just to refresh you with a little bit of Cebu tourism history. Back in the late 70s when hotelier Anos Fonacier of Cebu Plaza fame (now, he is a Boholano, living at the Bohol Beach Club) began marketing Cebu as a tourist destination, they cleverly sold the province as "An Island in the Pacific" because if they put in their brochures that Cebu was part of the Philippines, no one would come and visit us because we had a poor reputation abroad, especially during the Marcos campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Now who could forget such a catchy ad? I remember taking a cab in Tokyo and seeing brochures of Cebu as an island in the Pacific given freely in a pouch behind the headrest of the cab driver. That ad caught the fancy of a lot of Japanese tourists who were looking for an island adventure in peaceful surroundings. Cebu gave them that and soon, chartered flights from Tokyo became commonplace, and soon became thrice weekly regular flights.

Unknowingly, there was an added bonus to Cebu’s newfound tourist boom. It turned out that many of these Japanese tourists were businessmen and soon they started checking out the possibility of investing in Cebu, and the rest is history. Japanese investments became Cebu’s economic lifeblood; we were no longer dependent on what little business Manila gave us. In fact, if today Manila’s big shopping malls, SM City or the Ayala Center, have opened up in Cebu, lured by the fact that there was a huge chunk of money pouring into Cebu, that didn’t come from Manila... it was for the salaries of Cebuanos employed at the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ). Oh, yes, it was then that the Japanese finally realized that Cebu was part of the Philippines after all.

Again, let me say that when President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared Martial Law throughout the country, there was really no trouble in Cebu. Yet, like feeble sheep, we embraced Martial Law. When the People Power Revolt scared the daylights out of the Marcos Dictatorship, Cebu followed Tita Cory even if she told Cebuanos that under her administration she could not give Cebu much because the other provinces also needed funds, although Cebu flourished even under Martial Law. Now you know why Tita Cory is so unpopular in Cebu.

Did I mention the incident when super typhoon "Ruping" devastated Cebu and Tita Cory’s help came five days too late? Oh, yes, even the check for P3 million that she gave bounced! Why don’t you ask former Gov. Lito Osmeña and he’ll give you a mouthful, especially when Tita Cory ordered that all government communications must be done in Pilipino, which you and I know too well to be Tagalog! That broke the camel’s back and Gov. Lito filed a case against the Cory administration and it was then that we started singing the National Anthem in Cebuano entitled "Yutang Tabunon!"

Of course, the majority of Cebuanos today still believe that the Philippines, as a nation, can still be saved... for as long as we institute real reforms and rid this country of ugly politicians who use the name of the poor in their political parties, yet they’re the ones who get richer and richer. Alas, the poor, especially the ones in Metro Manila, still do not realize that they are being manipulated by politicians, including those Bible-reading kind.

As for President GMA, she ought to realize that the shift to a parliamentary and federal form of government should not be through a constituent assembly (con-ass) since Congress is part of the problems of this nation and we cannot trust them to monkey with our Constitution. It’s via a con-con or nothing! * * *

Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi