DATE: 03/01/2010 21:27:28 / MOOD: savage

Featured in www.pinoyapache.blogspot.com on August 21, 2008

 

I SAW TODAY, June 25, 2008, four agents of the Witness Protection Program of the Department of Justice (WPP-DOJ) escorting a government witness in their midst. They were armed each with 7.62 mm Galil assault rifles slung across their necks and 9 mm Jericho pistols inside their holsters complemented with enough ammo to hold to a standstill George Bush's boys in Iraq. Both fine firearms are made by the Israel Arms Industries (IAI).

They were, in the meanest terms, formidably armed and they put on a show as they escorted their principal down the stairs into a waiting double cab. They were clad in blue uniforms and khaki cargo pants, badge shining on their left breasts with dark glasses to hide their stiletto eyes. You wouldn't see the likes of those except, perhaps, inside a cinema. But, they were real.

They were very alert, disciplined and they were well attuned to the slightest movement as their heads followed jerkily every motion found in their peripheral vision. They were young and clean shaven and they adhered strictly to proper gun safety as I found their index finger extended safely away from the trigger. I will give that last point of observation to them my earnest admiration. And they were tense --- very tense! You could see clearly how they gripped the handgrips hard, some fingerprints adhering to cold steel by their sweaty hands...READ MORE (Press CTRL + mouse click)

 

 

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DATE: 02/04/2010 23:01:30 / MOOD: content

Featured in www.pinoyapache.blogspot.com on July 1, 2008

WHEN I GO TO the trails that intruded into the jungle fastnesses of Cuernos de Negros Mountain Range I felt sheer excitement and my adrenalin rushes to a level that is way beyond my normal dose.Ask me why?

It is simply because along its trails, there are many surprises lurking from within that you would not find in any other mountain range. You liked adventure, you'll find it there. I will afford that information to you as I slowly dissect my experiences there, step by step. We will get there in time, but first, the introductions.

Cuernos de Negros1 is simply unique in terms of flora and fauna and it offers an assortment of challenges and treats that perk up your interest. For one thing, Cuernos de Negros is a huge botanical laboratory and a specie farm administered by the Silliman University2 in Dumaguete City.

Actually, the mountain range straddles the boundaries of Negros Occidental on its western flank while Dumaguete City takes a piece of its eastern part and Negros Oriental eats up the remaining eastern side. Its highest point is Mount Talinis, standing 6,425 feet, more or less, above sea level, and is the peak by which local mountaineering activities is concentrated upon. It is by that name that Cuernos de Negros is more popularly known.

I first climbed Mount Talinis, together with the Cebu Mountaineering Society (CeMS), way back on September 25-26, 1993. We were there upon the invitation of the Silliman Mountaineering Society (SMS), with which climb that year they hosted...READ MORE (Press CTRL + mouse click)

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DATE: 01/16/2010 03:32:33 / MOOD: crappy

Featured in www.pinoyapache.blogspot.com on April 1, 2008

 

I WENT DEEP into southern Cebu last December 29-30, 2007 together with my friends from CeMS (Cebu Mountaineering Society) to observe our traditional year-end climb and trek which we held, this time, at Nug-as, Alcoy.

 

Nug-as happened to cradle within her confines the last stand of old-growth rainforests in the island province of Cebu, of whose forested mountains, we thought, have been completely obliterated into baldy hills by greedy capitalists of the past.

 

And within its enclave is the haunt of the endemic bird -- the black shama or siloy -- whose habitat are losing ground elsewhere in the province due to unabated human intrusion and activity. The presence of the black shama in Nug-as have driven many ornithologists and nature conservation groups to conduct scientific observations and to collect data there, as well as to keep track of the bird’s population.

 

The black shama also added color to the cultural side of the municipality of Alcoy. They have adopted the lowly bird as their emblem wherein a town-wide mardi gras activity is held every August of each year to celebrate the town’s ecological biodiversity, of nature’s kindness and a bountiful harvest for their farms, and is aptly called as the Siloy Festival. (They even snared the first place prize of the Sinulog Grand Mardi Gras held in Cebu City on January 20, 2008!)

 

This climb (or hike) was my first after so many years of inactivity, marked by a sputtering series of ascents that were few and far between from each other...READ MORE (Press CTRL + mouse click)

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DATE: 01/01/2010 02:12:33 / MOOD: accomplished



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DATE: 12/18/2009 04:24:45 / MOOD: satisfied

Featured in www.pinoyapache.blogspot.com on January 16, 2008.

 

MOUNT PANGASUGAN (5,650 feet above sea level) is the first adventure trek which I had with the Cebu Mountaineering Society or CeMS. At that time, I was not yet a member but trying out to be one and on July 31, 1992 we left Pier 3, Cebu Harbor on board M/V “Pink Rose” for Baybay, Leyte at 8:00 in the evening to achieve one of the many requirements for membership with a major climb at Mt. Pangasugan, with or without a typhoon.

My rag-tag gear then were composed of a cheap day pack, which I hurriedly bought for this trip, a borrowed A-type tent, a borrowed “Mickey Mouse” sleeping bag for kids and a borrowed pair of work boots resoled with threaded tire. (You know what, that shoe really held its own against expensive and branded trek boots in the treacherous terrain of Pangasugan.)

Stuffed inside my pack and within its four different pockets were the tent, twelve assorted canned goods, four t-shirts, a pair of shorts, a pair of jogging pants, 2-1/2 kilos of uncooked rice, a kilo of cooked rice, a sweatshirt, a Minolta 110 camera, a loaf of bread, 2 one-liter bottled water, a plate, a cup, fork and spoon, three noodle packs, packets of coffee, sugar and powdered juice, a small Eveready flashlight with two AA batteries and a pair of flip-flops.

The sleeping bag I fastened above and outside of the cover flap of my pack in a Boy Scout manner. Man, it was heavy and I thought that the shoulder straps would give way, but, thanks to God, it held fast for the duration of the climb. I carried a plastic insulated 500 ml. water drinking jug which I slung around my neck which was quite heavy and moved like a pendulum as I walked. I looked goofy with my gear and I stood out among my peers, who carried or wore branded backpacks, gears and equipment all suited for the sport of mountaineering...READ MORE (Press CTRL + mouse click)

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DATE: 03/17/3506 12:29:59 / MOOD: happy



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DATE: 11/02/2008 23:28:55 / MOOD: annoyed

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN being associated with a fraternity or sorority was considered vogue and brings with it prestige, popularity, pride and a sense of belongingness.  During those times, the fraternity and sorority organization only recruited those whom they feel would become a good asset to their organization. 

 

So it is common for them to get only the best student and the brightest scholar, the most popular coed or the strongest athlete and the richest guy or the most influential brat.  Fraternities and sororities are known to support each other in their scholastic pursuits and even beyond it like landing a job position or being promoted to choice seats of authority.

 

I think, I belong to that era.  And we took care not to tarnish the image of our organization so that its standing within the campuses, which it thrived upon, would not be hampered, especially in recruiting neophytes.  Also, it was wise not to attract the ire of the school administration, much less the government authorities.

 

Only on one occasion though -- my fraternity became a part of a civil disobedience campaign during the Marcos regime!  And we won that one and could look back with pride.

 

Fast forward to today.  Cebu City’s news headlines are always assaulted by the repeated nuisance with which the Alpha Kappa Rho and the Tau Gamma Phi are preoccupying against each other.  Both of these fraternities (I would rather call them organized criminal gangs having Greek letters for a name) are engaged in a war of attrition against each other and so many promising young lives are wasted every week for just being associated with either one.

 

The police, on the other hand, has been making threats to classify Akhro and TGP as organized criminal gangs and have them placed in their order of battle.  But, so far, it has done nothing except to announce that threat to the media and, later, doing another nothing by being seen photographed with these so-called fraternity leadership after a peace council was held.

 

Days after that it’s back to square one.  There’s nothing wrong to fight for your turf but when it gets out of hand there must be something wrong out there.  Gee, there must be had with regard to their respective leadership and their organization’s thrusts and objectives? 

 

Their leaders always pay lip service to media assuring the city authorities (and the victims’ families) that they are doing their best to correct the situation.  So far, I have not seen nor heard of any back-channel talks.  They only show up to each other when compelled upon by the authorities for mediation after a series of shootings caused their members’ brains splattered upon the asphalt pavements and alarmed the local residents.

 

I heard that both groups have employed a rather unorthodox tactic of attracting neophytes.  They call it the “community outreach recruitment program”.  I have a first cousin, who is a college drop-out and have not been studying for more than nine years, appointed, after being initiated, as a community chapter leader of one group.  And under him were high school and elementary students and drop-outs as his chapter members or “brods”.  

 

I think it is time a law be passed to compel every school organization, scholastic or not, for it to secure Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration papers.  It is also  important to secure another permit from the provincial or city civil authorities and from the police, with recommendation from the schools where their chapters are entrenched, so as to regulate and control their excesses. 

 

Recruitment of out-of-school youths as fraternity neophytes should be dropped from their programs and discouraged.  What is important here is not quantity but quality.

 

Like it or not, those who fail to comply will be regarded as nothing more than just another criminal group and any criminal acts like murder, homicide or physical injuries attributed to a group, of whose officers and members are publicly known, will be criminally liable being that of either as principal, accomplice or accesory to the said crime being committed.

 

We, the community, are fed up of their skewed dispositions with regard to running their own organization and I am ashamed even to call myself a fratman, much more so, of being known as a member of a respectable fraternity that has nothing to do with those frat wars and killings that these groups are well aversed at.

 

Document done in RoughDraft 3.0, Trebuchet MS, font size 12.

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DATE: 10/15/2008 04:54:37 / MOOD: cheerful

I AM NOT a writer.  I was not trained to be one.  I am not schooled in the ways and techniques in writing a story, an essay or a poem.  I was schooled in the art of close-quarter combat and strategy and the enforcement of laws.  I have never had need of a teacher to guide me on why, how, where, when and what should I write? 

 

Still, I persevered, and I discovered that writing gives me a kind of therapy and energy.  It gives me utter joy as it released all my pent-up emotions and urges that have been bottled inside of me for years.  Or, were they not called memories?

 

The quest to write something is my preoccupation for the last six months or so.  The personal computer is a good tool and a perfect aid in achieving that.  Where, before, there was the typewriter.  The hassles of editing and re-editing an article by that mechanical contraption totally discouraged me into writing during my early years, though I did gave it a try and persevered for a while. 

 

Ditto with pen and paper.  God knows of how many pieces of paper I have thrown into the wastebasket!  Or have recycled when recycling was not yet in vogue.

 

A desktop with Windows to commence my writing is alright with me.  I have started with that operating system since it was called MS-DOS back then.  But I love Linux better.  I don’t encounter the hang-ups and the system crashes that the former has.  But it would be nicer if I could own a Power PC ran by a Mac OS X?   It would be a dream come true for me.

 

Putting your ideas into writing and into an opaque screen is quite a breeze, especially if you have a good word processor to accomplish that task.  I don’t stick to just one word processing tool.  I try them all.  I love to experiment. 

 

I have MS Word, OpenOffice Writer, AbiWord and RoughDraft and they are placed as shortcuts on my desktop screen for good measure.  I installed other word utilities like yWriter2, Notepad, Scribus, MS Publisher, FreeMind and LaTeX; hidden and accessible on the “Unused Desktop Icons” folder.   

 

Internet connection is a most welcome addition, without which I would have no possible outlet to publish my works.  Blogging, that’s what they call it. 

 

Blogging.  Yeah.  I reckoned there are quite a lot of free web-hosting outfits out there and you only have to choose which one’s better and have features that is or are acceptable to your tastes and standards.  I have tried many of those and dropped an almost same number from my retinue.  Then I got stuck with Blogger, Multiply, MyOpera and, to a lesser degree, Tabulas.

 

With MS Word, a bad writer becomes a good one and an average writer becomes better.  It has an automatic spellcheck function and has a built-in grammar-correction feature.  With a click of the mouse you could access the dictionary and thesaurus and all your needs are attended to. 

 

But I discourage myself from using Word, no offense meant for Mr. Bill Gates there.  It does not teach me to improve on my writing by relying on the comfort and ease that these add-ons provided therein.  I am a non-conformist.  I belong to an old-school line of thought and I give justice to my being one by using “less-comfortable” software.  “To thread on trails were few have gone to”.  Now, that settles all my preferred writing media.

 

What writing experience I had are confined to personal letters, a handful of poems, office correspondence and creating lots and lots of criminal affidavits.  Modesty aside, the affidavits I have written were masterpieces of a craft in a department wanting of dynamic and creative investigators. 

 

It is neither bland nor full of legalistic innuendos and is done in a language much easily understood by the common masses yet in a much refined manner.  Simple yet superior.  It elicited awe then from my peers and my superiors, a blessing for the plaintiffs and a curse for the accused and their counsels.

 

I am now in my 40s and it is obvious that I am late in arriving to make a shift in my thoughts and habitual disposition.  It’s alright.  Writing happens to run in my veins and capillaries. 

 

My late grandfather, Atty. Gervasio Lavilles, is an accomplished historian, poet and essayist.  He authored a book entitled Cebu: A History of its Four Cities and Forty-Nine Municipalities, published by Mely Press in 1965 and I saw his works printed on English-, Cebuano- and Spanish-speaking periodicals and newspapers a long time ago. 

 

His daughters, Evangeline and Marietta, my aunt and my mother, respectively; are creative technical writers, essayist and poets themselves.  Both are Theresians and they are able to juggle between their craft, their careers and mothering with such ease.

 

They might have influenced me to write but never the writing style.  What style I might have developed, probably are mere reflections and mirrors from hundreds of thousands, nay, millions; of words, sentences, paragraphs and quotes that I have digested through the years reading and re-reading novels, books, magazines, newspapers, documents, even chocolate and candy wrappers. 

 

I must admit that reading a blog is quite different from reading on a piece of paper.  The glare from a screen are just too much for my ageing eyes, then, you tend to read in haste instead of enjoying what you read.

 

But that disadvantage, as illustrated above, does not hinder me to keep on writing (or blogging).  I write for the pleasure of writing.  For the sake of writing.  For the love of it.  It is there for the taking.  It is free! 

 

It is one of the crafts I learned on my own power.  Like Miyamoto Musashi, the great “Sword Saint” and samurai strategist, I, too, embarked on my own “warrior pilgrimage” and have come to a point to learn the Ways of different crafts apart from the ones where we were born and made into.

 

Document done in RoughDraft 3.0, Trebuchet MS font, size 12.

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DATE: 09/30/2008 04:47:04 / MOOD: annoyed

Featured in www.pinoyapache.blogspot.com on November 16, 2007

LAST OCTOBER 15, 2007, I WENT to Mactan Island on some official business. I went to Pier 3 to board the River Ferry launch that was to take me to that island from mainland Cebu. It was 2:30 PM when the launch proceeded to cross the Mactan Channel. The rain had just stopped minutes ago where there was heavy downpour that lasted for about an hour before that.

As the launch was now cruising on the livid blue-green waters of Cebu Harbor, I noticed swarms of marine birds, unusual in number, dived and skimmed on the water’s surface. They happened to peck and pick on the flotsam and jetsam that the floodwaters of the Lahug Creek disgorged, whose river mouth is now but a square hole underneath the asphalt-and-concrete berthing area.

As far as the eye could see, discarded pieces of plastic in huge volumes and other kinds of household debris and industrial wastes were floating and bobbing on the surface, scattered over the whole width and length and depth of the channel. It was brownish and dirty and fast approaching the dirty notoriety of murky Manila Bay.

The harbor waters wasn’t THAT dirty 30-35 years ago. I remembered in my pre-adolescent years when the city’s waterfront area was my favorite playing ground and hang-out. I learned (or was forced) to swim there after being pushed intentionally and I swam like a dog. Back then, whenever my time would warrant I would take a dip there. Sometimes, as a sport, we would dive from a departing boat and swim back to the pier and the one who left the boat when it is farthest from the shore was declared the winner!

Marine life were abundant back then. Jellyfish would parade like an army of strange aliens. Squid or cuttlefish would appear in droves when no moon appeared in the night sky and find refuge under the glare of lights of berthed ships. All kinds of fishes could be angled from its depths as well as crustaceans caught inside cagetraps from beneath.

Seashells could be had by the mere picking during low tide by swimming towards the exposed reefs, sandbars and rocky beds nearby Pilipog (Shell) island which is a half-kilometer away from the Aduana*.

Today’s condition of the sea is a far cry from that sea of long ago where I used to swim.

As the launch moved on in the middle of Mactan Channel we passed by Mandaue City. The Subangdaku River let out the same kind of debris and wastes, marked by swarms of marine birds, and they took on a pattern as if it were parading in a straight and wavy line going south. Farther north, it was the same discouraging look as the Butuanon River and other northern rivers aped the previous two.

I have done my share by watching the part of the Lahug Creek where I am living and discouraged my household and my neighbors from disposing their garbage on the waterway for it would surely wind its way to the sea. It has been my advocacy for many years now and, I know, it is not enough. It would take a whole mass of people with the same mindset as I have to reverse this trend.

People living upriver and below mine find it convenient to throw their wastes directly on the creek. My heart ached when I see whole canvass sheets, garbage wrapped inside plastic shopping bags, discarded rubber tires and islands of styropor stuck on the river bed impeding the flow of water and it will take a great downpour to erase that stigma. Which the harbor waters graciously receive into its depths that, I know, is a never-ending vicious cycle imposed by man on his environment.

After witnessing the condition of the Mactan Channel after a heavy downpour did it occur to me to involve myself more by writing this story on my blog and disseminate this information into as many people as possible thru the Internet. I would broaden my advocacy on the World Wide Web.

I surmised, that modern science and technology have made plastic and other synthetic material more harmful to man than good in an indirect manner. Especially, if they happen to be used by some people living in Metro Cebu.

Then you add the government bureaucracies that line the shores of this narrow channel who don’t give a damn about its environs and content themselves passing some toothless garbage ordinances that nobody wanted to enforce! Lack of foresight, laxity, ignorance, carelessness and a "don’t care" attitude make up for disastrous elements that may cloud the future of our children.

If I may have my way I would opt to ban plastic and other synthetic materials and those goods contained therein for it doesn’t do no good if they happen to be in the hands of those mindless zombies. For the future of our generation, I say, we BAN THOSE PLASTIC AND SYNTHETIC MATERIALS!

Document done in RoughDraft 3.0, Trebuchet MS font, size 12.

* The old Bureau of Customs building. Now the alternative seat of the President of the Philippines and known as the Malacañang of the South.

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