Mga Kwentong Pamana – Stories of Heritage

This year’s Heritage Month is celebrated quite differently. Everything is done on social media. The theme for this year is “Mga Kwentong Pamana,” (Stories of Heritage). In many of my talks, I emphasize that the Philippines is a nation of storyteller, no wonder we are replete with stories created by the rich imaginations of our forebears and passed on to the next generation. What more fitting way to celebrate the heritage of a Filipino as a storyteller than in this year’s theme, which, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts elaborates as an opportunity for Filipinos to foster “their creativity in sharing heritage stories and information in new ways, that will engage more people to promote, connect, and appreciate our rich cultural heritage for the enjoyment of present and future generations.”

I lament that I have not done much to share stories of our rich heritage. I feel so sorry for not doing something about what I'm passionate about. House repairs, checking my students' papers and periodic reporting to the library (yes, we're back to work!) have been keeping me busy.

Since it's too late to start a heritage series, I'll just  share some history and heritage-related articles I wrote before on this blog and on Facebook. These are stories that celebrate the vastness of our heritage as Capiznons and Filipinos

Enjoy!

A Heritage of Pandemics

Capiz and the Asiatic Cholera

Capiznon vessels quarantined  (Pandemic in Capiz History #1)

Muchacha, Wash your Hands! (Pandemic in Capiz History #2)

History repeats itself, even pandemics (Pandemic in Capiz History #3)

Cholera from China (Pandemic in Capiz History #4)

Do not Reveal! How the Spaniards covered up cholera cases (Pandemic in Capiz History #5)

No cure for the deadly virus (Pandemic in Capiz History #6)

Food and Heritage

Tuba from Capiz

The Coconut in Pre-Spanish Philippine Society

Nipa, Tuba, and the Prewar Distilling Industry of Capiz

Bibili ka ba ng Bibingka? A Short History of the Bibingka

Built Heritage

Water Tank for Capiz [A History of Ang Panublion Museum - Water Tank]

The Construction of Capiz Provincial Capitol, 1911-1912

A Home School for Capisnon Orphans

Intangible Heritage

Alfredo V. Jacinto, the Cebuano Governor of Capiz

Don Manuel Gregorio: "The Most Enlightened Man in Capiz"

Notes on Holy Week the Capiznon Way

Natural Heritage

President Roxas, the town once chopped off, a Spanish Sugar Mill, and Liktinon Falls

The River Was Calling—Experience Palina Greenbelt Ecopark

Mabaay Island, the Hidden Gem of Ivisan, Capiz

 

Just another Sunday morning walk

I feel guilty I’ve been more idle lately. Aside from my usually gardening routine (whew!), I don’t really do much to keep myself shaking and going. I used to be very enthusiastic in taking long walks and I know I gotta keep going! Last Sunday I finally ventured out to take the much needed walk. It was one of those beautiful Sunday morning – lazy and sunny – and for a small city like where I live, Sundays means a slower pace where upon reaching the riverside, one has to stop to enjoy the view. 

The historic Capiz Bridge in all its glory looks grander with the majestic sky as its backdrop. 

Both banks of the Panay River in front of the Roxas City plaza are planted with bougainvilleas of different colors and variety and they come to life every summer. A professional photographer could get the right angle to make you believe you're in Europe. Sadly, I'm no professional photographer.  

Air and land pollution has  significantly tanked since transportation slowed down following COVID-19 restrictions and I really appreciate how nature started to heal because of this. I love blue mountains visible from my vantage point. I gotta do some walking now, enjoy the view!

COVID-19 Diary #5: GCQ – Now what?

My camote and kangkong

May 4 - Towards the end of April, the Province of Capiz, as well as other communities where COVID-19 has significantly dropped, was placed under General Community Quarantine. This was a significant downgrade from what used to be the lockdown-type enhanced community quarantine, where non-essential establishments were closed and only public markets, groceries, pharmacies, banks, and medical facilities were allowed to open. With the General Community Quarantine, the government has lightened its grip on the public and beginning May 1, a new sense of normalcy is put in place.

I appreciate the stay at home policy because it allowed me to do many things that I have put aside for quite some time because of busy work and travels in between. However, the real struggle is the absence of public utility vehicle which limited my trips to the grocery and the market. I got used to it, anyway and I appreciate the thought of not rushing after a deadline, working on your own pace, and working on passion projects that feed your soul. As for my case, I spent more time on my tiny backyard, where I raised some vegetable beds. It is relieving to work on the bare earth and feel the harmony with nature.

So, what’s with the GCQ? Here are the guidelines implemented by the country’s Interagency Taskforce for COVID-19 for areas under general community quarantine.

• 0-20 years old and 60 years old and above, pregnant women, those with health risks  are required to stay at home except when "indispensable under the circumstances for obtaining essential goods and services or for work in permitted industries and offices."
• Social distancing, wearing of face masks in public, mandatory checking of temperature, and regular use of disinfectants shall be strictly observed.
• The movement of those living in GCQ areas remain limited to accessing essential goods and services and going to work in offices and industries allowed to operate.
• More businesses and sectors are also allowed to operate. Malls and shopping centers will reopen with limited operations and capacity.
• Theaters, gaming areas, and other leisure stores will remain closed.
• Hotels in GCQ areas are only allowed to entertain long-term bookings, those who have existing accommodations for foreigners as of May 1, and those housing distressed OFWs and stranded Filipinos or foreign nationals.
• Mass gatherings remain prohibited, except for essential work assemblies and religious activities, as long as physical distancing of two meters is observed.
• Public transportation are allowed, but they could only take no more than 30 percent capacity. In my place where tricycle is the many mode of transport, only one passenger is allowed. I think this will affect the cost of tricycle fare.
• No commercial flights for now.
• The nonessential entry and exit of people to and from the ECQ zone is prohibited.

The past few days I’ve been actually overthinking about what would life be like with the new normal. I’m not yet ready to go out. I’m not so sure if this is anxiety, but i begin to question myself if I really wanted the old life that I left at the office – the 8-5 job, the rat race, the competitive environment, the obsession for promotion, the need to impress. I like it better here, stuck at home. I’ve g With weeks of staying at home, it became clearer that, no, I don’t want to over-obsess myself with the contemporary notion of what career is all about -  fascination for promotion that everything you do you do because it’s an added value for your career rise and not because you want to do it because it gives you joy and self-fulfilment. I’ve come to think it like this – I don’t like to be a building, straight and towering, yes; but dull and lifeless. I’d like to be a tree, whose roots burrow deep unto the earth,  whose branches reach for the sky, and whose leaves thrive with life and color.

What realizations have you made so far?

Brooding over title shifts

Career shifts should excite us. It’s a welcome respite. Others though, find it a chance for ruminations.   For the last four years, my intent to move to a faculty position has been a driving force why I took another master’s degree (I already hold a master’s degree in library and information science). Here in the Philippines, if you want a career at a government-owned university or college (which insider call SUCs – state universities and colleges), one entry level qualification is a master’s degree closely aligned to your bachelor’s degree. So, if one intends to teach at a Teacher Education institution, he or she needs a bachelor’s degree in Education plus a master’s degree in Education. Policy-makers call that vertical articulation.

Of course, it still gives me the thrill to march on the stage. A little boost on the ego as well to have another prefix added to my name, although I only limit using “Christian George Acevedo, LPT, RL, MLIS, MAT” strictly on official documents where my license and degrees are required, e.g. accreditation, quality assurance audits, and monitoring and evaluation.

Winning a government scholarship to pursue a second master’s degree was a windfall. I got partly covered up for my tuition with a comfortable stipend to go by. I go with the flow, seeing things and events as another page that I should turn, remembering the lessons from each page, but never dwelling far too long, or else I’ll miss out on the more beautiful stories waiting to unfold.

Three years is what it took me to finish the master’s degree that I needed to earn to get a faculty rank. One more year I’d have to wait. Now that I’m about to get it, I feel a little voice whispering, “Don’t you want to regret it?” Some new rules in civil service barred me from moving to a faculty position equivalent my present rank as a librarian. I know, I know. Financially, I’d lost a few thousand pesos a month….  Then getting promoted has gone more challenging now. I’ve heard  some colleagues  stepped a rank higher after a few years when in fact advancing before meant jumping from assistant to associate professor in a breeze. Quantum leap they say. But again, the government has tightened its standards to institutions whose faculty rush to get a PhD because it meant promotion.

 I dread the thought of dragging myself to attend a Saturday class because I need the diploma to rise in ranks. So, no PhD for me now. I have higher regards for a post-graduate degree. I still see it as a sign of intellectual maturity and personal development above anything else. I guess I’m just being idealistic but wait til I get that well-coveted title and I’ll get back to you and tell you if I have really matured intellect-wise.  For now, I’d relish in this feeling of uncertainty… of how I’d wade myself into the current that every faculty desires to dive in. Once upon a time, I was a solitary librarian hiding behind stacks of books…  Now, I’m one of them, so let’s see where this gets us…

COVID Diary #4: COVID-19 stress and anxiety is real

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19-related fear and anxiety can be overwhelming and one could undergo strong emotional storms, particularly adults and children. Usual symptoms include fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones, changes in sleep or eating patterns, difficulty sleeping or concentrating, worsening of mental health conditions, and increased use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.

A close friend of mine penned an essay as a way of coping up with the emotional attack she’s been going through lately. Two of her family members are directly affected by this disease and they’re in different parts of the world.  I could only imagine the stress, the emotional trauma, and the pain she’s going through right now. She asked me to share this to everyone on the FB group I created specifically for COVID-19 life experiences. Here’s her story…

Before this whole pandemic and lock down happened, I thought I was a normal lady in my early 30s, who is used to being independent. Ever since high school, I’m used to being away from my family. I live in the city and seldom go home to the countryside. I married my husband who is a seafarer, so i saw my family less and less because i have to stay more often in the city. We are now renting an apartment. And yes, most of the time I’m alone. Although i have a friend next door who i eat meals with, at the end of the day, it’s just me alone in the bed. So basically i have time to think and ponder on things, especially when insomnia kicks in.

Now going back, when lock down was announced, i didn’t really mind it that much, it’s just that, i would miss going out  and eating out during my lazy times when i don’t have the energy anymore after arriving from work. As the community quarantine was announced, my apart-mate and I decide to go out to buy our necessities.  That time, social distancing was not yet observed but alcohols, Lysol and other disinfectants were starting to be off the shelves already. I was still fine then.

After a week of updates and news , and as cases increased and the first case in the province was announced, i felt something strange. I know in myself something is wrong. I started to panic without any reason at all. I felt nervous. I started shaking, and felt a lump in my throat. I immediately informed my uncle who is a nurse abroad and he told me to do things, such as steam myself with boiling water with salt, drink ginger tea, and inhale essential oil to calm me down. He assured me that I would be fine we talked long enough that night.  I also told my husband about it, unfortunately due to his signal, he couldn’t communicate and check on me that often. I was also constantly checking my temperature. It was ranging from 36.4 to 36.9. I kept on consoling myself that I’m fine and it’s still a normal temperature.  I was already in a very panicky state. It came to a point that i already packed an overnight bag just in case anything happens. I slept downstairs on the sofa, probably around 1am.

Next day, I felt a little better compared to last night. I tried to act normal and prepared food. During lunch as me and my apart-mate was eating, I told her what happened. She told me i was just being hypochondriac and we laughed about it. But i still have that gag feeling, i want to throw up yet nothing came out. And the lump is still in my throat i even informed her that i am sleeping at the sofa and if i couldn’t message her please try to check on me (she has a spare key of my unit). That’s how paranoid i was.  Now it was nighttime again. That anxiety is starting to creep on my system again. I was about to call my uncle again but i saw in our family group chat that he said he doesn’t feel well and he decided to submit himself for a drive thru PCR test. So i didn’t disturb him and just did all the regimen he told me to do, again i slept at the sofa.

The next morning i felt better again. Tried zumba (first time doing it alone in the house.) Did things to make my mind busy. Eating with my apart-mate, then going separate ways after meals. Until night comes again.  Now this night's episode was again an intense one. I started to gag really hard that a little really came out. I was starting to have cold sweats. This was the night my uncle told us that the result came out to be positive. I didn’t know what to do, i felt the lump swell even more, i steamed myself, took ginger tea but I was shaking.  I was crying. I was helpless in putting myself to stay calm. But i couldn’t. I didn’t know what to do. I felt helpless. I remembered something, looked for the rosary in my bag. Honestly, i already forgot how to do the rosary, but thanks to Youtube, i followed the virtual holy rosary video, i was praying and sobbing silently. I prayed to God to make me calm, to make my uncle safe, to protect my husband, to protect my family. I promised to him that starting that night i would make it a habit to do the rosary before  i sleep. It calmed me and i managed to sleep at around 2am, again at the sofa.

The next few days were more peaceful than before. The gag feeling was gone, by this time i avoided drinking cold water and soda and i even started to loose weight. All of a sudden one afternoon, while we were watching at my apart-mate’s unit, i started to shake again, panic is kicking in again. By the way, we went out for groceries together and usually do it on Wednesdays. She told me to calm down and think of happy thoughts. She even assured me that if i got sick so should she since we were together most of the time. I asked her if i could sleep over, she agreed. She kept on talking to me to keep me away from that anxiety. That was one of the few nights i slept early in the duration of the lock down... If 11pm is early.

The next day i woke up at around 6 or 7am, I think I told my apart-mate I’d go back to my unit. For the first time in few days, i slept again in my room, opened the AC and took a nap for a couple of hours and woke up again at around 9am. The following days were a routine. My uncle started to feel better. Another week had passed.  Then one afternoon, I felt it again. I told my apart-mate about it and asked her to sleep on my unit this time.   It made me calm again.  Every time that I felt that panic would kick in, God knows how I tried to put it off my mind. But the anxiety is really strong you couldn’t control the shaking, the pain in the chest as if your being choked. And the lump in the throat.  Every time i feel it, i ask my apartment for a sleep over. 

By the way, my mother is not aware of everything that happened to me up until now. I decided not to tell her to avoid her to be stressed as well.

Then the province shifted to general community quarantine. It was my chance to go home immediately. It felt really good seeing my family. During my first day, we swam in an inflatable pool. I stayed there for a couple of hours. I was with my two little cousins who really enjoyed the pool so much. Today, it’s my second day in here. I woke up not feeling well, probably because of too much swimming yesterday. Panic starts to knock on my mind again. I am now checking my temperature almost every 15 minutes. Still on a normal range. The lump is back. I’m quietly distancing myself from the people here in the house. This time, I informed my mom about it. I’m keeping a safe distance. Then suddenly my brother who is working abroad messaged me. His room-mate has tested positive! Now I’m in full blown panic attack in my mind. He added that because of that, their entire building is on lock down and he will be subjected to strict quarantine. I asked him if he had already told mama about it. He didn’t and he asked me to do it for him. I can’t. I don,t know how to. My stress level is very high now.

Mind you, people, this pandemic is a real cause for emotional roller coaster. The psychological impact is real. It makes you feel weird things, crying for no reason, feeling anxious, insomniac, etc. You think you're brave, you're strong, but once you feel what i feel, your guards will go down. I’m now considering professional help so I could cope up. To make me feel my normal self again. I wrote this as an outlet and to take me away from the negative thoughts even just for a short time. Hoping by doing so it would make me feel a little better.

To those people out there who is experiencing the same, stay strong. Pray. We can get through this!

If you feel you need an outlet for the emotional burden that you’re going through now, write it down. Share your thoughts. Share your feeling. Share your pain. We heal as one.