Poems in Translation

Pagtatalik
The Act of Life ni Jacques Cousteau

Isang libog – marikit na kaguluhan
Ng alikabok at hangin
Lumiit naging pulang lupa
Nang tunaw at init

Sa mga nakalipas na habagat at amihan
Ang mundo ay sadyang bughaw
Siya’y isang sapiro
Umiiikot sa kalawakan

Isang pagkaraos ng libog sa sihay
Sa dagat ang bumuhay
Siya’y nagromansa ng buhay at libog
At buhay, ang dagta ng dagat
Ay umapaw sa kalupaan

Isang kadyot ng sihay
Ay bumuhay sa maraming libog
Mga larvae sa karagatan
Sa punla at tamod ng mga pusit
Sa paglalayag ng salmon
Sa pagpapangako ng albatross

Isang kadyot sa sihay
Ang nagpalipad ng ating pangarap sa buwan
Kay Marte, Venus at Jupiter
At kinabukasan, didilig ng luha sa ibang mga tala

Ang marikit na libog ng ating pag-ibig
Na iniyakan ng araw at lupa
Buhay- ang milagro ng dagat na ngayo’y ating hawak
Buhay – naghihirap at nanganganib sa kanyang huling supling.

How should we remember General Antonio Luna?

Well it seems with that proposal to rename Camp Aguinaldo to Camp Antonio Luna in time for National Heroes Day has generated a lot of social media buzz. We really have to really understand our national heroes. Antonio Luna was a remarkable personality but like all of us was flawed. He likely would be an academic had the revolution not intervened. He would have been the first Dean of a College of Science of the Philippine University had the nation made the transition to indepe ndence in a peaceful manner. That was recognized by the American College of Pharmacy when they feted Dr Luna on what would have been his 60th birthday noting his work in combating malaria. But that was not to be. He became a soldier. General Luna was for a professional military within the bounds of the constitution. Perhaps that is the biggest sign of contradiction for today. Please answer the question: Would President Duterte (or a President Aquino, Marcos, Arroyo, Quezon etc) have a General Luna as his c...

Simoun's lamp has been lit, finally.. not by one but by the many!

"So often have we been haunted by the spectre of subversion which, with some fostering, has come to be a positive and real being, whose very name steals our serenity and makes us commit the greatest blunders... If before the reality, instead of changing the fear of one is increased, and the confusion of the other is exacerbated, then they must be left in the hands of time..." Dr Jose Rizal "To the Filipino People and their Government" Jose Rizal dominates the Luneta, which is sacred to the Philippine nation as a place of martyrdom. And many perhaps all of those executed in the Luneta, with the exception of the three Filipino secular priests martyred in 1872, have read Rizal's El Filibusterismo . Dr Rizal's second novel is a darker and more sinister one that its prequel but has much significance across the century and more after it was published for it preaches the need for revolution with caveats, which are when the time is right and who will in...

Marikina River and the "janitor" fish

My newest environmental science research project is to determine the evolutionary biology of invasion by the "janitor fish" in Marikina River. Today we made our first survey and collections. Marikina River is the"greenest"in Metro Manila but that is just on the surface. One master's student is doing her thesis on biotic integrity and a volunteer MD is working on the project too. The "janitor fish (Pterygoplichthys sp) is the dominant fish now in the river,displacing traditional Marikina food fishes such as dalag and hito. The fish are collected and left to rot on the riverbanks. Despite this, there is still some subsistence fishing on the river. The highest densities of the fish are observed near sewage outfalls where they find food to eat. It is likely that the fish can be controlled if we can clean up the river! BTW the name "janitor fish" insults janitors. The fish thrive in dirty rivers and don't clean them up. Janitors on the other hand, ...

blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Search This Blog