blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

Benigno S Aquino III was inaugurated as the 15th President of the Philippines today under cloudy but rainless skies in Manila's Quirino Grandstand. Police estimate 500,000 people attended the simple but dignified ceremonies. I am glad that effort was made to recover some Presidential inaugural traditions which have been discarded by previous Presidents. First is the venue. The grandstand or its predecessor has been the venue of Philippine presidential inaugurations after World War II. Previously all inaugurations were held at the steps of the Legislative Building (now National Museum). This was borrowed from American tradition (which has its origin from the English) since it means that while the Executive is co-equal to the Congress, it has to work with it (note the prefix "co"). The Chief Justice administers the Oath to the President as a sign that the Judiciary is also co-equal to the Executive. The whole unsaid idea here is that none of the three branches of government...

Martin Luther is best remembered by people as the priest who by posting 95 theses for debate at the Wittenberg church door, unwittingly started the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation is a watershed period in Western history. As a result the Roman Church was forced to discard its worldly trappings and return to its spiritual roots and and other Christians were free to worship as what their understanding of Scripture would say. But personally I would like to remember Luther about his fondness for apple trees. Perhaps one of his most famous quotes is "If I knew that world would fall into pieces tomorrow, I will still plant my little apple tree" This quote is read by many as about faith. Another Protestant minister who started another Reformation in the 20th century United States (this time on civil rights) and shared Luther's name, Dr Martin Luther King Jr used the quote in his sermons. Thus people thought it was of Dr King but it was not. In the devastation wrought up...

Thanks to Karate Kid 2010 , starring Will Smith's chip off the old block Jaden Smith and Kung Fu Artist and Hollywood Star Jackie Chan, everyone in America [most especially in Hollywood] and on Planet Earth knows that China is THE SUPERPOWER. It's obvious from the plot. Motortown USA is now a dump and an African American single mother has to move to China to work for a car plant [probably that famous European brand bought by the Mainland Taipans last year]. She says to son Dre Parker "There is nothing left for us in Detroit. This [Beijing] is home!" [Filipinos should read that as "There is no future left in America. This [Asia a.k.a. China] is the FUTURE!] The movie promotes Air China and shows China's Olympic status symbols, the Bird's Nest, tall office towers, busy streets, fast cars and of course the touristic staples of the Forbidden City, Great Wall, Guilin's Karst Landscape and a real Shaolin temple. Unlike in the original 1984 Karate Kid starr...

The outgoing President of the Philippines, Mrs Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivered her swan song of a speech to the public. "Look around you" she said referring to the economic gains of her 9 year watch. When I was in London many years ago, I joined a walking tour of the City and the tour guide brought us to St Paul's Cathedral. The Baroque wonder is architect Christopher Wren's magnificent opus. Aside from the giant baldachin one of the tourist draws of the cathedral is Wren's resting place and its famous epitaph LECTOR, SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE Translated into English it means Reader, if you need to see his monument, look around you. Wren's tomb is plain but his cathedral ain't! Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is not about to join Wren in the afterlife but she sure will be joining him in history. She obviously wants to ensure her place in Philippine presidential history is secure. And indeed it is. Her ascent into power is a historically significant. How...

Joyce Kilmer had it right on target. Poems are made by fools like him but only God can make a tree! While Science can't prove or disprove whether God created trees or not, it can prove to an acceptable estimate that a tree can store at least 40% carbon it gets from the atmosphere it its trunk, branches and leaves. This is was the conclusion of one of my students, Ms Carol Barrias who studied the carbon sequestration potential of trees at the Angat watershed forest in Bulacan. She studied reforestation mahogany and gmelina trees. This is a significant finding since before she made her studies, trees were just estimated to store at most 30% carbon. Most of the carbon was believed to be lost as leaves are shed. Trees remain as the most practical means of sequestering carbon in the near term. For the long term, we need corals and molluscs who can lock in carbon as calcium carbonate in their skeletons. Trees become most efficient in storing carbon when they are 20 years old or so. When...

The ubiquitous Eurasian tree sparrow ( Passer montanus ) is a globally distributed perching bird. It's original range was in Eurasia but was introduced to Southeast Asia where it is a commensal with humans. It has modified its behaviour and life history to exploit human habitations. Where humans build their houses, the birds thrive. But that was when people had some gardens with their houses. The bird has been declining in numbers in much of Europe . In England, populations have crashed by 90% prompting calls to put the birds on the national endangered species list. In Europe the birds are largely rural rather than urban. Changes in farming practices are regarded as the main reason why populations have crashed. The birds need hay and winter stubble to make it through northern Europe's cold winters. Farmers left stubble when they sow in Spring. Since many farmers have shifted to autumn sown crops (partly due to warming winters), the birds lost a food resource. Another factor is ...

Catholic traditionalist bloggers have to take a cue from a very wise and razor sharp professor who we once knew as Joseph Ratzinger. Now known as Pope Benedict XVI, His Holiness thinks before saying or writing something on controversial issues. When he lectured on what at first appeared to be an unflattering reference to Islam, he had the historical facts right and said it straight. Benedict XVI spoke in Regensberg to what the Vatican calls as "representatives of science". These ladies and gentlemen are experienced university lecturers and professors. Naturlich, the Pope dealt with reason and its responsible exercise in knowing the truth. Well I couldn't say that with a recent post on Rorate Caeli on Bringing back DDT. Now why on Earth and Heaven should a blog dedicated to recovering the old tradition of the Church and promoting orthodox Catholic teaching deal with exterminating insect pests? Any biology student knows that DDT is biologically magnified and has been li...

Compared to Mother's Day, Father's Day is more sedate and the commercialization is more muted. But before I go into the commercialization aspect, the three most commercialized anniversaries are 1) Christmas 2) St Valentine's Day 3) Mother's Day Father's Day isn't in the list. The problem is that it's hard to think of what to get dear old Dad! And marketing whizzes can't be imaginative enough when it comes to Dad as compared to Mum. Scouting the offerings at the various Metro Manila shopping malls, merchants suggest that you get Dad a 1)Bottle of wine, 2) A beer, 3) A necktie, 4) A book, 5) A shirt, 6) An electric drill, and 7) for people with heaps of money at a swanky Makati mall, a BMW! I'm sure that your father and probably mine too (if he were still alive) would have number 7. But given how hard things are nowadays, Dad would prefer that you give him something closer to your heart, not his. Dad would probably like wine, beer, neckties, books, sh...