Breaking The Curse

THIS PICTURE SAYS IT ALL. HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION, ALL!

 

All members of the community and visitors had to touch the pig to transfer the curse to it. We were told the ritual would last for three days because all members of the community had to touch the ring and pig and not all were present on the first day. Here people start to move in to touch the pig. The pig was eventually killed and the meat was divided amongst the village. (Photo and caption by Jacob Maentz)

A Little History

A GOOD READ this Indigenous Peoples' Day/Dia de la Hispanidad/Columbus Day is Antoon Postma's study on the history of Calavite, a lost settlement/mission on the northwest hook of the island of Mindoro, its Parthenon on the hill. "The Calavite site, while still called Pinagbayanan or "former townsite" has only some Iraya Mangyan resident families. A certain Domingo Venturero, residing in Talaotao, a village on Golo Island, has claimed to own the area, including the ruins. Aside from that, the only visitors are treasure hunters who go inside and around the church, breaking open and destroying the stone walls, and looking for supposed wealth hidden there by the missionaries, as if the Moro pirates had overlooked something. Unless someone takes care of the church ruins, it is doubtful whether it will survive much longer as a historic monument." That was when Postma visited about 50 years ago; I wonder how the site is now.

From Punto Mindoro

In My Crap Or Sullen Art

ANOTHER ONE TO CELEBRATE is West Coast journal ZYZZYVA's 35th year of existence (it was first to publish Murakami in English translation in 1988), so I'm sharing a few signed selections from an old anthology launched 25 years ago by its founding editor Howard Junker--Strange Attraction: The Best of 10 Years of ZYZZYVA (University of Nevada Press, October 1, 1995), the affirmation I needed to tell myself I was good to go with my arse poetica. Have a great one tomorrow, and thanks for the recognition, Mr. Junker.

Traveling Light

DRUG SLANG CAN BE colorful. I was in the middle of working on this piece when COVID-19 struck, and the project was delayed for months because I had to work the reality of the pandemic into it. Of course, racial discrimination and homelessness among Pinoys in the U.S. have always been there, though largely unwritten about. So this narrative exercise, a product of this year's growing season, is for kabayans who are the lowest of the low: the homeless, undocumented, discriminated against and diseased drug addicts. One can have it all, I think. Thanks to the Mary Evans Picture Library for The Ignis Fatuus drawing (1860).

Buwan Ng Wika

FLORANTE BOUND to a big higuera or balete tree. This famous soliloquy of Francisco Balagtas' hero in a dark Albanian forest reverberates in my brain from an advertisement of a Manila memorial park called Himlayang Pilipino when my siblings and I were kids, watched on our neighbor's black-and-white Radiowealth console TV when the dog was fed and dishes done after dinner and mother said yes. The stanza was translated into English by Luisa Igloria who writes a poem a day and is Virginia's Poet Laureate. I have a grit of discomfort with her translation of the words "lilo" which in Mindoro means "traitor" and "ininis" which means "suffocated" as in overcome by coronavirus, so I had to do my take.

Sa loob at labas ng bayan kong sawi
Kaliluha’y siyang nangyayaring hari
Kagalinga’t bait ay nalulugami,
Ininis sa hukay ng dusa’t pighati.

Inside and out of my broken town,
The tears are the king,
Good and kind are getting tired,
irritated in the pit of martyrdom and grief.

                        --Francisco Balagtas, Florante at Laura, trans. by Luisa Igloria

Inside and out of my ill-fated land,

Treachery reigns supreme,

Righteousness and reason are sunk in defeat,

smothered in a grave of suffering and grief.

                        --My Take

Fig tree next to an abandoned military facility on a hill above the city of Sarande in Albania

The Good Bride

AND THERE SHE IS. Not in a sham marriage but one with a hairy roasted wild boar. "Although the courtship period has a varied set of rules and ceremonials, the marriage itself is as simple as possible. After the consent of the parents has been obtained, the unceremonious first sleep of both the spouses together is considered as wedlock itself," according to Mangyan Heritage Center. And true to her nature as a shy, self-effacing Mangyan girl, she chooses a quiet life deep in the jungle, far from the prying eyes of land-hungry lowlanders.

The groom was waiting

And here came the bride

This hidden wedge high up the branches seemed like the spot

Where she could make a happy home, singing an ambahan. Maybe to a baby?

Ako gabay putyukan

Ako dayo mangaptan

Baliti nan gubayan

Nakan kis-ab sugutan 

Bunglo kasagunsunan

Ho bay si dis mangaptan

Sa sanga panulusan

Bilog bag-o sangbayan

I'm a common honeybee.

I don't want to settle down

at the side of the fig tree.

The reason: because I saw

many marks of ownership.

The place where I'll settle down

is a branch close to the top.

Only there will I be glad.

                    

                    --Ambahan 216 ("Marriage" from Treasure of a Minority, trans. by A. Postma)

Bridget The Midget And Goliath

GIANT FICUS salicaria '89 and miniature orchid Haraella retrocalla. Is this unlikely New York marriage possible to kick this growing season up a high notch? Will it work o sa pangarap lang? Abangan!

Front: for the grand finale

Back: the epiphyte's alley

Left side: a longer pot is obviously needed to stabilize the center of gravity

Right side: the kneeling giant

Close-up of the nebari

Bridget the midget and her citrus-scented blossom: is she up for the fantasy? 

Strangler Willow

I REPOSITIONED the aerial roots of this willow leaf ficus '89 to reflect its real character: a strangler that strikes terror like a flayed hand, but had to exercise extra caution digging up the roots. I thought I was done with this ficus job this growing season, but this little fellow, a small-leafed non-mutant willow ficus from the Big Island, is arriving next week, not my purchase but a friend's who asked for my training wisdom. I don't know; maybe come back in a year. 

Willow Leaf Ficus '89: Trick And Treat?

MY FINAL FICUS purchase is this willow leaf Ficus salicaria or neriifolia '89 ($200+$31 shipping+$40 repot), native to Asian countries (India, Burma, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, China where it is raised for cattle fodder) in a latitude more northerly than that of the Philippines and altitude up to 2900 meters (9500 ft) above sea level. The American willow leaf variety has smaller leaves and is shorter, but the Florida deep freeze of 1989 (I was living in sunny San Diego then) restored its original Himalayan DNA.  The cold snap froze the nursery stock of a planter named Jim Smith in Vero Beach, Florida to the ground, but the figs did not die, growing faster and with larger leaves instead after the big thaw. Is the freak cold snap of '89 nature's tricky vaccine that made the American willow leaf ficus more robust and cold hardy?

Jim Smith with his mutant ficus

Andrea's find at the nursery

Repotted after aerial roots were repositioned

New front view: the bole above the soil line looks as mystical as a monk

Red Balete And The Aftermath

A NEWCOMER TO THE BACKYARD jungle is this young Ficus concinna or "Red Balete" ($25+$24 shipping+$25 repot). Widely found in Mindoro forests, this fig is characterized by fiery red young leaves that give the tropics an "autumn look" much like the cemetery scene above, then turn leathery dark green as they mature. The brittle specimen in the link was collected by "Prince of Collectors"  Hugh Cuming for the Royal Botanic Gardens between 1835-1839 while on Philippine exploration.  

Andrea's drink-dropper at her nursery for $25

Pruned and repotted three weeks after arrival, reddish new leaves apparent

Aged specimen in Jerry Meislik's house of ficus

BALETE  IS VULNERABLE to cyclonic winds due to its shallow ground roots and heavy crowns, but perfect as a bonsai. How else can it be a grim reminder of typhoon Wanda which leveled Pinamalayan when I was a kid in the 60s long before Nona did in 2015? Remember the F. philippinensis pre-bonsai from a year ago? I recklessly reworked it to play with the idea, and thought it was dead with almost total leaf drop a week after the basal roots were pruned, but after three weeks it looks like it is rebounding with tiny new leaves. It is now the leaning tower of Figsa, but still stable with its trusty aerial roots as suhays.

Pompano Beach resident Jeff McMullan grimaces in the wind as his 80-year-old ficus lies over his home after Hurricane Wilma swept through Florida in 2010. (Robert Duyos, Sun Sentinel)

Unexciting as a pre-bonsai a year ago

Leaf drop about two weeks after restyle and repot, with an angry basal root giving the finger

Draped aerial root removed, tiny new leaves apparent after three weeks: it's alive!

What's Done Is Done

LAST WEEKEND, A MONTH after it arrived, the Ficus philippinensis balete ($150+$28 shipping) had recovered from its transport trauma and was ready to be styled. Repotted and freed in a deep and wide pot (this one was not cheap at $40 with Home Depot free store pick-up, and heavy at 20 pounds in itself) to support unchecked growth and burly trunks, it now looks a bit civilized despite its bandages (inspection tapes from CBP if you can read the label upside down) where incisions were made to graft and reposition a few aerial roots, and the cut water bottles to serve a couple of young guzzlers their fill, all to be removed by the end of summer if the grafts are successful. The trunks are tied together with wires at their point of juncture halfway to the top to see if they will fuse and conjoin, through a process that can take several years called inosculation. As Tatay said after the gapi was accomplished on his kaingin: "There, what's done is done!" The tikbalang, or maybe the mothman, of Mt. Olivet cemetery can't wait to take a spot. To terrorize Maspeth in the meantime, I have this piece from the good book that everyone will like.

Too Close For Comfort

MY INDOOR DENIZENS are foregoing social distancing just to bask in the sun on this backyard beach--er, nursery. It's quite a sight while I do horticulture work and polish repurposing the garage, while The Lettermen croon "A Summer Place" on my wife's radio. Are we really back?

The structure was retired from its original service as a garage, fenced off from the driveway, a private door cut on its side wall, and its window widened to convert it into a writing shed, still in progress under the watchful eye of a fragrant linden tree.

Group shot, clockwise from the rear: (1) the first F. philippinensis (jaundiced from having been indoors since last fall), (2) the latest F. philippinensis with an aerial root being trained soilward using an orange drinking straw, (3) the aged and pricey F. microcarpa with a branch being converted into an aerial root using a water bottle filled with soaked sphagnum moss, (4) the popular F. microcarpa ginseng (also called "mallsai"--go figure), and (5) the young tiger bark F. retusa, in training and experimental restyle. Joining the gang are two other Mindoro denizens in welcome company: (6) sampalok (Tamarindus indica) and (7) kalimumog, tsaang gubat or Fukien tea tree (Ehretia microphylla), both newly repotted.

The young tiger bark F. retusa out of the box.

The trunk was made horizontal by digging up and exposing the main root and propping it on a rock.

Wired and styled with new exposed roots.

Life In The Time Of COVID

TESS HAD TO GO BACK cutting hair when the virus struck and my Chinese barber closed shop in Elmhurst (she now avoids Elmhurst like the plague--ouch!-- including Chinese supermarkets and Pinoy friends she normally visits).  So she gave me this haircut to prove her styling prowess, the one she used on her visiting father (who happened to sport an easy Kojak style) before he passed on. Meanwhile, Andrea Wigert, matriarch of Wigert's Bonsai in Fort Myers, FL sent me this picture of the new Ficus philippinensis pre-bonsai, a diamond-in-the-rough, that I ordered from her before she shipped it from her nursery last Memorial Day weekend.  As soon as it arrived and was by my former garage, Tess volunteered to style it her way, and I must say my new pre-bonsai doesn't look too bad at all. Good job, Mom! Just wait till she gets it repotted and those nebari roots controlled.

Parallel Roots

MY BALETE BONSAI (Ficus microcarpa) has been my keeper of sanity this past week. It is ready to hit the backyard any day soon, but something must to be done first: transform a branch into an aerial root that is parallel with the others and a column of darkly colored soil.

A branch was obstructing the view of the aerial roots.

So I bent it downwards and wired it to an old aerial root.

Removed its foliage and planted it in a pot made from a water bottle filled with black Long Island compost. By the end of summer, new aerial roots will emerge from the branch to be directly planted in and feed on the earth in the ceramic pot. If it doesn't work, I'll use sphagnum moss instead.

Fig Of My Imagination

WAITING FOR WARMER WEATHER that would let my new Ficus bonsai ship from a nursery in Florida (at $315 after $150 credit card bonus still not cheap), I ordered a console table from Amazon ($68 shipping included) to replace the metal cover of the thermostat by the west window of the bedroom and prepare a tropical spot for it next winter, then picked up a kerosene lamp at ACE Hardware (on sale at $8.70 tax included) to complete the works, soon to be together. The balete has many uses in traditional Asian medicine, the aerial roots of some species being a good immunostimulant or booster of the immune system. Will they make good fortifying tea against the coronavirus? Check out these collaborative scientific papers by Kmail, et al. (p. 55), Khan, et al. and Wei Chiang Chan, et al. Last is a fascinating article on Mangyan folk medicine by late Mindoro missionary Magdalena Leykamm (Google Translate into English) describing the use of balete bark as an antirheumatic.

Sublimate Hero?

APOLINARIO MABINI contracted the polio virus at age 31 that rendered him a paralytic, but it was not the bug that killed him; it was the cholera virus in his favorite drink, carabao milk, that did him in two months after he was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1903 from his exile in Guam, after he refused to swear allegiance to the American colonial government. Reading about epidemics and the Philippine Revolution, I strayed into this somewhat irreverent but interesting look at the enigmatic hero by Nick Joaquin in the July 28, 1962 issue of the Philippines Free Press.

A Saint's Petition

"THE MOST WONDERFUL and beautiful letter" out of the six left behind by San Ecequiel Moreno after the great fire of August 12, 1881 that reduced the capital town of Calapan to ashes, according to Antoon Postma, is this petition addressed to the Vicario Capitular of the Arzobispado de Manila, urging the creation of a town out of a Mangyan settlement named Sta. Cruz outside Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro. The future saint's concern and admiration for Mangyan virtues is evident in the letter, as is his awareness of their exploitation and abuse by Christian Tagalogs (true to this day to some extent). For San Ecequiel's other letters, evangelistic missions in Mindoro and canonization after death, read here.

     In compliance with the disposition of Your Excellency in the preceding decree, I am supplying you hereby with the information requested from me, and as suggested by the Fiscal with regards to the establishment of a townsite in the settlement of Sta. Cruz, an annex of Sablayan, together with the creation of new mission posts on this island (Mindoro).

     The petition of the missionary-priest of Sablayan in the name of the Mangyans residing in Sta. Cruz, is in my opinion worthy of attention and approval, due to the advantages it can give to the Religion and the State, once a town will have started in that place, with the obligations that its inhabitants have taken upon themselves.

     How many people know anything about Mindoro? How many have traveled the huge distances that are separating the different towns from each other; have felt the need for intervening settlements to divide those long stretches of roads that are extremely lonely and difficult?

     Only the poor Tagalog, forced by an urgent government request, would dare to undertake these trips, along narrow trails, with dense vegetation, crossing rivers and swamps, going up and down the mountains, without any hope or consolation of finding a resting place nearby, in case his strength fails him.

     That’s why it is clear that those Alcaldes [Mayores] who might have visited (all) the towns of this island are rare, yes extremely rare indeed, and that’s why the (government) orders are slow to take effect, [doing so] at some imaginary time in the vague future.

     Last month (Jan. 1876) I had to send some instructions to the missionary-priest of Mangarin, and I looked for a Tagalog man best suited for this task, one well acquainted with the way going there, and who had made several trips already to that place. I gave him money, and whatever he would still need on his trip, but nevertheless, it is now almost one month since he left, and at this moment I don’t know whether the message has been delivered, or what the response was of the missionary.

     If this happens with a special dispatch well paid for, it can be imagined what would happen with the orders that are sent by a descending line of court officials through someone who is not interested whether his message will arrive sooner or later, and who is not urged on by Gobernadorcillos, or village heads.

     From the above it is clear that it is of great advantage to establish the village in question, because it is going to split up the 12 leagues (about 67 km) between Mamburao and Sablayan, and facilitate the communications that bring so many benefits.

     The new townsite will not change altogether the conditions prevailing in Mindoro, but to a certain extent it surely will. It is a step forward in the execution of the great job that has to be done for the island. The place in question couldn’t be more appropriate, and favorable results will undoubtedly be obtained, as already pointed out in earlier reports.

     This new township deserves also special attention and protection because the ones requesting the formal establishment are pagans. They pledge themselves to conditions that are most beneficial to the Religion and the State; they are now subjects who want to obey authorities that previously they did not submit to, and didn’t even know about; they are people searching and requesting for our Faith and our Tradition, and it is reasonable and fair that we accept them. It is important to do it in such a way that the fruits, obtained by the hard work of the missionary, will not be lost, and I believe therefore, that it is very important that we treat them favorably in everything possible, even to the point of spoiling them at the beginning.

     The Mangyans of Sta. Cruz are still like children who need encouragement, like fragile floats that can’t sail without a favorable wind in the back, and where the slightest contrary breeze will make them founder.

     A kind and fatherly treatment of them is needed; we have to please and not to oppose them at present, and undoubtedly, the results will be favorable and will still increase in the future. When they come to recognize the advantage of living in community, enjoy and be happy with the benefits that Religion offers them, together with the security provided by the government, they will like to participate in well-being and progress for their fellow beings, and give additional support to the missionary who brings the Good News to those who are still left behind in the jungle.

     Today, more than ever, it is imperative to give protection to the Mangyans of Sta. Cruz, once the creation of new missions in this island is realized, which is the subject of the serious consideration of this dossier, as expressed very well in the Fiscal’s opinion, and about which I will be saying something presently.

     After the statements of the authorities of this Province, of the priest of Sablayan, and of the Most Reverend Fr. Provincial of the Recoletos in their respective excellent reports on the case in question, I am the only one still to add my recommendation and opinion to those of such respectable and competent persons.

     I will do so, without many words, without giving more reasons in favor of this matter, because all have studied it in depth, and all agree, supported by strong arguments, that the creation of new missions is profitable and necessary, if this island is to be pulled out of the decadence it finds itself in.

     However, since my humble opinion is requested, together with relevant additional information, I will do so most willingly and will state what I think and know about this particular case.

     If I would be telling Your Excellency, that even aside from the Mangyans, and just considering the welfare in the secular and spiritual sense, and the progress already established on the island, that for these reasons alone there is already a need for the creation of new missions, I would have said enough.

     There are l8 towns on the island itself, and three on the two islands of Sibay, Semirara and Caluya, villages belonging to Mangarin. All of these 18 towns are along the beaches that are surrounding this immense and large island, without roads for communication, as I pointed out already.

     In most of the villages there is no respectable person to be found who could take care of its inhabitants, no one to enlighten and watch over them, no one to imbue in them concepts of helpfulness, progress and dedication to work.

     The local authorities are practically useless, although for these positions the most qualified persons have been elected. Only the Provincial Authority, by making a special effort, is able to visit these villages once, and the parish-priest only a few times, a year, which is the most they can afford.

     It is impossible for only 5 parish priests to frequently go around the whole coastal area that has a length of 85 to 90 leagues [or from 460-500 km], let alone also the 3 islands that belong to Mangarin.

     For example, it is practically impossible for the parish priest of Naujan to be in charge of more than 3000 souls of the town itself where he resides, as well as of 2,000 more who live in 6 other towns, also within his jurisdiction, comprising an area along a shoreline of 20 leagues [or 110 km] in length.

     Because of this lack of supervision and instruction, the inhabitants of these towns are ignorant and lazy, and have no incentive to work. Most of them spend weeks and months in the forests without returning to the town, living on the fruits and edible rootcrops that the fertile soil of Mindoro spontaneously and in abundance supplies them with.

     Many of them subsist on the work of the Mangyans, who are being exploited by them in a shameful way, [they] deserving the most severe punishment [for this exploitation]. The Mangyans are being deceived by them with false deals that most of the time result in their becoming slaves of these unfortunate people.

     This laziness, apathy and lack of interest, this way of living is the root of all other vices, and of the fact that they are not interested at all to have roads, or any progress in their towns, which are just a group of small and worn-out houses, and shelters for some criminals, who are acquainted with the simplicity and ignorance of the inhabitants, and feel confident not to be known and discovered.

     Some time ago one of these [criminals] was the manager and trusted person of a Gobernadorcillo, and neither this official nor the townspeople were in the least suspicious of him.

     Who could put a stop to all these abuses, free the people in these villages from their ignorance, make them into useful workers, and look after the progress of their miserable towns? What I have said already serves as an answer.

     The parish priest during his visits is aware of the abuses and denounces them, he enlightens wherever he can, works hard to make the addicted give up their vices, succeeds in obtaining the conversion of many. However, once the parish priest has left, they return to their old vices, partly because surely no one will reprimand them, and also because they are not well enough aware of the advantages of virtue, and the bad consequences of vice.

     Taking all this into consideration, one is bound to notice the need for the [population] increase of some missions, were it only for the proper well-being and progress of what is existing already.

     If apart from that, one seeks to increase the population, and wishes to do something in favor of the thousands of souls that are hidden in the forests, then, by all means, the six or eight missions suggested should be created.

     The number of Mangyans is hard to estimate, although an approximate number is given of 30,000, but I can only say for sure that there are many, and that after trekking for 3 or 4 hours from the beach into the interior, starting at whatever point of the island, one can still encounter the Mangyans.

     These people are gentle, and obedient to their leaders and elders, don’t cheat, and stick to their given word as if it were a solemn oath.

    They don't practice polygamy, and marriage is a formal act considered to be indissoluble. They punish disobedience, theft and other crimes, especially adultery. As far as could be verified, they have a rather vague belief in a Supreme Being, in the immortality of the soul and in reward and punishments.

     These customs and beliefs of the Mangyan are extremely favorable for a good result of the missions, and we may trust that with God’s help, abundant fruits can be obtained.

     The Tagalog, abusing the Mangyan the way he does, treating him more like an animal than a human being, receives from him obedience, submission, and even, I venture to say, respect.

     If the Tagalog managed this with the way he treats them, what not could the missionary achieve who is not abusing him? He will give him whatever he can afford, will teach him, and free him from slavery, and will treat him with the kindness of a father to his son. The missionary will be prepared to live with the Mangyans, and suffer with them when they suffer, or enjoy when they enjoy. With his soft character and patience he will make them better disposed; will make them accept his fatherly and affable treatment, and the meaning of community life and work, and in this way they will group together in settlements that should be organized initially in a way most advantageous to the purpose we have in mind.

     The Mangyan will come to realize the value of his labor, and the real price of his products. There will be no more deceit in the presence of the missionary, and the Tagalog will have to eat “by the sweat of his brow."

     Once the Mangyan is acquainted with us, his conversion to the Faith assured, and settlements established, it will not be difficult to open up roads of communication with the interior of the island that today is still a kind of enchanted castle filled with treasures, but fortified with its spectral and dense vegetation and inaccessible to the best prepared and most daring explorer.

     At present, hardly the ninth part of the land area of this island is under our control or known to us, all the rest we don’t possess in reality, nor do we have any knowledge of it.

     Therefore, if it is desired to develop and effect the temporary and eternal happiness of those thousands of people who are buried in the mire of disbelief, if it is desired to understand this island, make profit and utilize the riches it has in store, in my opinion, and in the opinion of all the prudent persons who know Mindoro well, it is important, nay, it is imperative, that the missions requested
should be created.

     This is the most appropriate way and one that will only cost a little money (which will be recovered with accrued interest), and eventually the lives of some missionaries.

     The poor health conditions in all underdeveloped and virgin land, the exhaustion of daily trips and other travails, will snatch these valuable lives away. But what can we do about it? It has always happened like that, and it should not he discounted as a setback in this great work.

     Because there is still Faith, there is still Heroism, there are still Apostles and Followers of the Crucified, there are still men who are eager to give their lives for the sake of their brothers, and die martyrs’ deaths.

     They are the fortunate ones! The Country will always remember them, and God will give them a great reward, eternal life!

     This is all I want to say in this connection, as a proper response to the request of Your Excellency, dated the 31st of last month. May God bless you for many years to come!

Calapan, 18th February, 1876
(SGD) FR. ECEQUIEL MORENO

San Ecequiel Moreno, Vicar Forane of Mindoro, 1873-76, patron saint of cancer patients