blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

I received news of last Friday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake on Manila Bay since I was supposed to go on a boat and check my research sites. The skipper got a tsunami warning and so the boat ride was cancelled. At the office 30 minutes later, I was able to view in real time the arrival of the first tsunamis. In one video feed, I saw one town completely obliterated by the waves. Then came the videos of the unfolding Fukushima nuclear disaster, where the earthquake destroyed the reactors' backup power systems and that exploding nuclear reactor building. The exploding reactor building is now iconic. It permanently nukes the claim that nuclear power is disaster-proof and safe! Japan by destiny gives us reasons to really go No Nukes . The photos of the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 are iconic and so is the mushroom cloud over Fukushima's nuclear reactor. Japan renounced war and nuclear weapons and perhaps Japan may renounce nuclear energy, the first industria...

I watched The Cove at the Cine Adarna theatre of the University of the Philippines on September 3. It was a free screening sponsored by Earth Island Institute .  The cinema was packed by environmentalists and advocates of keeping dolphins and other whales out of captivity. However, I had to ditch my environmentalist mode so I can watch the film more objectively and I had to see it with  my ASIAN AND THIRD WORLD EYES ! My assessment is that the documentary was well made but MISERABLY FAILS on  cultural and historical sensitivity . And so it can easily be criticized as an ENVIROIMPERIALIST attempt to trump down Japanese culture. First of all the film shows an all WHITE crew of environmentalists trying to save the dolphins. I do not see any problem with saving cetaceans and many Japanese do so too, but a balanced treatment would have been better if a historical aspect was introduced. Wholesale whale slaughter was first made an efficient industry by who else, White Eu...

I was 12 or 13 or so when Dad and his good Buddhist friend Hama-San (who to me was my second father) brought me to a museum in Nagasaki dedicated to Japan's Christians and the persecution they endured as the country became a "closed one" and how the faith survived for 240 years after sans priests, nuns, rosaries etc. What I recall is the katana with the cross on the sword guard. This was owned by a Christian daimyo. I also remember the images of the Buddhist Kannon which is really Santa Maria. I also remember clearly the Fumie, or icons of the Madonna which Japanese were to step on as a test of renouncing Christianity. Japanese Christianity began with the Jesuit priest Francis Xavier who in 1547 landed in Kagoshima with co-missionaries. He carried icons of the Madonna and used these to explain to the Japanese what the Catholic faith was all about. By 1579, there were 130,000 Japanese Catholics by the start of the persecutions 10 years later, there were 300,000. . But the ...

My father was the man who took me to see the first Star Wars movie (it was I think June 22, 1977, Star Wars fan can correct me is if I am wrong, I think it was at the first few screenings) at the old Circle theatre on Timog Avenue Quezon City. My mother wasn't inclined to see a "war movie" so it became a father and son bonding moment. The rest of Asia had to wait a year after.But according to the Inquirer , Japan is the most Star Wars mad country on earth. I wouldn't be surprised, many aspects of the Star Wars universe has its inspiration from Japanese culture. Darth Vader's helmet is obviously a sort of kabuto and those light sabres are nothing but shinai. I think watching the "Wars" is the reason why I took to kendo when I was a boy. I had Luke Skywalker fantasies that later would be doused when the Empire Struck Back. When I learned that Darth was Luke's dad, I know that fantasy was silly. Dad was no Darth Vader. By then I had spent time in Japan...