Scenic Rural Philippines from the Air

 Scenic Rural Philippines from the Air

"Take me for a moment away from you, Mother Earth,

higher than the highest mountain, the tallest building,

that I may view life whole and solid and unabridged

in a perspective beyond details, and without stirring."

Photos and Poem by Abe V Rotor

        

Biggest spotlight - the sun - reveals a typical farming community, the fields

basking with the golden color of grain and color of the earth after harvest.

 

  Geometric parcels of farmland in parallel formation apparently

show diversified farming and system of crop rotation.

 

It's the peak of summer, and the rains have not arrived.

 

  

Green patches are fields irrigated from shallow wells.

Residential houses huddle on one side of a creek (left); farms

undergo fallowing, a resting period in summer.

 

Misty air looms over the dry landscape - a prelude to monsoon

 

This fringe of land appears to have a sub-climate of its own influenced by the 

surrounding sea, while the rest of the island undergoes the normal dry season.

The uplands were once covered with forests and grasslands,

now converted into agriculture and settlements.

A wisp of smoke greets the lazy morning air from among

the trees that line a creek appearing like a miniature forest.

A unique symmetry created by a natural waterway crowded with trees that form 

a natural windbreak and sanctuary of surrounding organisms specially in summer.

Take me for a moment away from you, Mother Earth,

higher than the highest mountain, the tallest building,

that I may view life whole and solid and unabridged

in a perspective beyond details, and without stirring:

I see clouds shrouding you from the sun and blue sky,

in cumulus like giant mushroom on the horizon, rising,

and released into nimbus, becoming heavy, falling as rain

in the accompaniment of wind, thunder and lightning.

I see rivers swell and lakes fill to the brim in monsoon,

flooding fields and pasture, spilling through the valley,

meandering, roaring over waterfalls and boulders,

resting in swamps and estuaries, then flowing to sea.  

  

I see farmers in the field, women and children, too,

and work animals pulling the plow and the harrow;

I hear singing and laughter and joyous conversation,

barking of dogs, cackling  of fowls trailing the furrow.

I see harvesters gather the golden grains by hand;

drying shocks in the sun, and building  haystacks;

I see flocks of pigeon and native chicken gleaning,

women and children, the sun setting on their backs.  

I see the fields scorched, a smoke here and there - 

bush fire! when the grass dries up bursts into flame

spreading all over, burning anything on its path - 

what a waste! but it is nature's work and game. 

I see poor harvest, good harvest, where and why,

crops early or late, and fields never planted at all;

I see farming a way of life, farming as a business,

and farm life in all seasons, happiness is its goal.

I see children flying kites of various makes and colors,

beside them grownups cheering, coaching, flying

their own kites too, oh, they have not forgotten

the art of their childhood, so do I, reminiscing.

I see children playing patintero, trompo and sipa,

games of old folks when they too, were children;

games of beetles and spiders as gladiators;

palo de sebo and pabitin cannot be forgotten.   

I see tourists, I see balikbayan, I see old and young;

familiar and unfamiliar faces, sweet, shy, and bold;

I see children going to school, housewives to market,

people of all walks of life, always on the move. 

I see the hills and mountains, to me they're the same,

but where have the forests gone, the pasture?

I see the rivers, the lakes and ponds old as they are,

I have always loved all of these as I love nature.  

I have seen enough, let me return, Mother Earth,

to my home, sweet home, on the farm, to my family;

and tell them of what I've seen in my short sojourn; 

down below I saw my friends, my neighbors, and me. ~  

Papyrus - Signature of Egyptian Art

 Papyrus - Signature of Egyptian Art 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Museum guide at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, demonstrates to author and other guests on how fresh papyrus stalk is cut and split, then laid crosswise, one layer on top of another, and pressed with a mechanical presser (background, second photo).  The mat is dried and pounded to attain evenness and smoothness. Now it is ready for use as writing and drawing material.  Papyrus is the first paper, hence the name).   

Author inspects papyrus drawings and paintings depicting the rich history of ancient Egypt, the oldest civilization in the western world.  Hieroglyphics (picture story) on papyrus, like Chinese calligraphy (language signs), make an art distinct and  unique from all the arts in the world. Papyrus art is a major attraction to scholars and tourists, and contributes significantly to the Egyptian tourism industry. 

Papyrus is highly adapted in humid tropical countries like the Philippines.  The conditions are similar to those along the Nile River. The local industry developed from papyrus and related species is the making of mats, baskets, curtain and blinds.  

Cyperus papyrus belongs to the sedge family, Cyperaceae, to which our own tikiw (cattail) and barsaga (Cyperus rotundos), a persistent weed on the farm, belong. It is a native of southern Europe, Syria and Africa. Egyptian manuscripts and paintings were done on paper made from this plant as early as 2400 BC. A cheap imitation is made from banana stalk. 

Photos of the plant were taken at UP Sunken Garden, Diliman QC, with author and his children

Genetically Modified Papaya - Treat and Threat

    Genetically Modified Papaya - Treat and Threat  

                                                         Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature School on Blog

  

Solo or Native papaya is resistant against Papaya Ringspot Virus 

                Papaya Ringspot Virus, signs and symptoms: electron microscope image of the PRV 

 The development of Genetically Modified Papaya appears to have succeeded in controlling the pandemic virus (Papaya Ringspot Virus) Two popular GM Papaya SunUp and Rainbow contain in their genes the foreign PRV DNA - permanently spliced, and therefore capable of transmitting the virus gene in the succeeding generations ad infinitum  on undiminished level, spreading out with the wind and insects - and man, the culprit agent of genetic pollution. 

It was claimed that in 2010, 80 % of Hawaiian papaya are produced from GM papaya. The success may be short- lived as more virulent PRV continue to mutate - at a very fast rate typical of any virus, overcoming ultimately the resistance of the passive GM papaya. This phenomenon - a race of Nature and technology - is a continuing and endless process. Nature, through biological specialization, will always find ways to preserve her own species, overcoming all obstacles natural or man-made. And Nature cannot be bias on man's demand, in fact, it may be the opposite. How far reaching can a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) be? 

The biggest threat is the consequence of genetically modified food to human life in the long run which we may not be able to monitor immediately or even in our generation, and therefore we leave the consequential fear to our children and children's children. 

Now hear this, GMOs are orphans of Nature.  They are no longer part of the natural gene pool,  They have changed poisons in the food web, and maybe eliminated in the food chain with man taking them out of the natural state and habitat. Orphans can never be self supporting in in the long run in the game of evolution.  Darwinian evolution applies to GMO even if the great scientist had not idea that some day man will break the Code of Life - that is short cutting evolution on the molecular level.  The principal actors of evolution will remain for a long time, perhaps thousands or millions of years after the demise of Homo sapiens  to Homo faber to Homo tecnicus, the technological man. 

Many people are staying out of GM product - at least to as far as they are aware of.  No Bt Corn.  No Golden Rice. No BT soya, No to SavrFlavr tomato, and No, GM papaya.

Thanks, we still have our native solo papaya - so far. It is tender, sweet, juicy, and it came from our backyard.  The green fruit gives us the most healthful food of the world - Chicken Soup (tinola) - food for the convalescent.  The tree lives for a number of years outliving any known foreign variety. And it bears fruits year round - in succession. It is like picking the green for tinola, or the manibalang for pickles, or the ripe ones direct from the tree.  It is still the sweetest of all papaya in the world. Our native papaya may not earn us dollars but it makes us and our children happy and healthy. ~

Chicken Soup is Best for Early Convalescence

Chicken Soup is Best for Early Convalescence
Chicken soup is good for the convalescent. However, there are specifications of the kind of chicken to be served.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Some time ago, a good old friend asked me, Abe how can you go back to nature? Are you going back to the farm. Don’t you like to live anymore in the city? Are you selling your car.

Yes, I answered. No not my car, that’s my only car. Yes, I can live with nature. Oo nga naman. We talked and talked, until we were back in our childhood – I mean, childhood. This was when my father got sick. And this is how I came to learn that chicken soup is good for one who is convalescing, yon’ galing sa sakit - nagpapagaling.

Chicken soup is good for the convalescent. However, there are specifications of the kind of chicken to be served. First, it must be native chicken. Karurayan is the term in Ilocos for a pure white native chicken which does not bear any trace of color on its feathers. It is preferably a female, dumalaga or fryer, meaning it has not yet reached reproductive stage. It is neither fat nor thin. Usually the herbolario chooses one from recommended specimens. He then instructs and supervises the household in the way the karurayan is dressed, cut, cooked into tinola (stew) and served to the convalescent. He does not ask for any fee for his services, but then he takes home one or two of the specimens that did not pass the specifications. (The more affluent the patient is, the more chicken the herbolario takes.)

Chicken soup as a convalescent food is recognized in many parts of the world. Because of its popularity, chicken soup has become associated with healing, not only of the body – but the soul as well. In fact there is a series of books under the common title Chicken Soup - for the Woman’s Soul, Surviving Soul, Mother’s Soul, Unsinkable Soul, Writer’s Soul, etc. Of course, this is exaggeration, but nonetheless it strengthens our faith that this lowly descendant of the dinosaurs that once walked the earth of its panacean magic.

Try chicken soup to perk you up in these trying times - with all the rush, tension, various ailments, and expensive medication. Ika nga, bawal ang magkasakit.

But first, be sure your chicken does not carry antibiotic residues, and should not be one that is genetically engineered (GMO). By the way, I was a participant in the rituals made by this good herbolario. I was then a farmhand and I was tasked to get the karurayan. Our flock failed the test, but I found two dumalaga with few colored feathers. I plucked out the colored feathers and presented the birds to Ka Pepito. They passed the criteria. Three days after I asked my convalescing dad how he was doing. “I’m fine, I’m fine, now.” He assured me with a big smile. ~

Malunggay - Most popular and nutritious vegetable in the tropic.

 Malunggay (Moringa oleifera) 

Most popular and nutritious vegetable in the tropic.  

You can make your own mineral water with its seeds, too. 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 

Pods and leaves of malunggay are important ingredients of favorite recipes specially among Ilocanos, such bulanglang (diningding Ilk) and buridibod (soup thickened with sweet potato (kamote).  Malunggay is easily propagated from cuttings and can grow along fences and on marginal areas

In the province no home is without this small tree at the backyard or in a vacant lot. The leaves, flowers, juvenile pods and young fruits of Moringa oleifera (Family Moringaceae) go well with fish, meat, shrimp, mushroom, and the like. It is one plant that does not need agronomic attention, not even weeding and fertilization, much less chemical spraying. You simply plant an arms length cutting or two, in some corner or along the fence and there it grows into a tree that can give you a ready supply of vegetables year round. What nutrients do we get from malunggay?

Here is a comparison of the food value of the fresh leaves and young fruits, respectively, in percent. (Marañon and Hermano, Useful Plants of the Philippines)

• Proteins 7.30 7.29

• Carbohydrates 11.04 2.61
• Fats 1.10 0.16
• Crude Fiber 1.75 0.76
• Phosphorus (P2 O 5) 0.24 0.19
• Calcium (CaO) 0.72 0.01
• Iron (Fe2O3) 0.108 0.0005

Owing to these properties and other uses, rural folks regard malunggay a “miracle tree.” Take for example the following uses.

• The root has a taste somewhat like that of horse-radish, and in India it is eaten as a substitute to it.
• Ben oil extracted from the seed is used for salad and culinary purposes, and also as illuminant.
• Mature seeds have antibacterial and flocculants properties that render drinking water safe and clear.

From these data, it is no wonder malunggay is highly recommended by doctors and nutritionists for both children and adults, particularly to nursing mothers and the convalescents.~

Drinking water is rendered safe with malunggay seeds. Why buy bottled mineral water? You can save as much as P100 per day for the whole family. That's P3000 a month or P36,000 a year. You can earn from this simple technology, too. Get in touch with your nearest DOST office for assistance. ~

Mother’s milk is the most nutritious milk in the world.

 Mother’s milk is the most nutritious milk in the world. Children who were regularly breastfed turn out to be more intelligent, diligent, respectful, and peaceful.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Mother’s milk surpasses all the highly advertised milk products in terms of nutrition, digestibility and compatibility; above all it contains colostrums, the natural antibiotics that protects the newly born from a host of diseases.
Mass breastfeeding in the Philippines.

Breast feeding enhances bonding between mother and child. It gives a feeling of security on the part of the child, and for the mother, the maternal instinct is expressed with warmth and love as the child learns more and more about his new world.

Children who were regularly breastfed turn out to be more intelligent, diligent, respectful, and peaceful, than those who were raised with commercial milk formulas. There is a theory that cow’s milk, or milk from other animals, has adverse affect on the behavior of the child. Scientists believe that milk is designed for a particular species, and that it may influence the character of other animals, including humans that may depend on it.

Composition of human breast milk 

Fat total (g/100 ml) 4.2
fatty acids - length 8C (% ) trace
polyunsaturated fatty acids (%) 14
Protein (g/100 ml)
total 1.1
casein 0.4 0.3
a-lactalbumin 0.3
lactoferrin (apo-lactoferrin) 0.2
IgA 0.1
IgG 0.001
lysozyme 0.05
serum albumin 0.05
ß-lactoglobulin -
Carbohydrate (g/100 ml)
lactose 7
oligosaccharides 0.5
Minerals (g/100 ml)
calcium 0.03
phosphorus 0.014
sodium 0.015
potassium 0.055
chlorine 0.043

Acknowledgement: Wikipedia (photo and table)

Return of the Balloon Frog Tukak Bat'og

Return of the Balloon Frog (Tukak Bat'og)

Dr Abe V Rotor

The first time I saw tukak bat’og was when I was a young farmhand. Its name is familiar because bat’og, battog or battobattog, in Ilocano means pot bellied. At that time anyone who exhibited a bulging waistline was associated with this amphibian. But there were very few of this kind then. The war had just ended and people had to work hard.

Hardship tightens the belt automatically, but peacetime and the Good Life opens a new war - the “battle of the bulge.” Today two out of five Americans are obese and Europeans are not far behind. Asians are following the same trend, as more and more people have changed to the Western lifestyle that accompanies overweight condition, whether one is male or female.

But actually Bat’og is all air. It’s like balloon short of taking off. But once it wedges itself in its tight abode not even bird or snake can dislodge it. Not only that. It feigns dead and its attacker would simply walk away to find a live and kicking prey.

Nature’s sweet lies are tools of survival. When it faces danger Bat’og engulfs air and becomes pressurized and distended, reducing the size of its head and appendages to appear like mere rudiments. And with its coloration that blends with the surroundings, and its body spots becoming monstrous eyes, who would dare to attack this master of camouflage.

Not enough to drive away its foe, Bat’og uses another strategy by producing deep booming sounds coming from its hollow body as resonator. I remember the story of Monico and the Giant by Camilo Osias when I was in the grades. The cruel giant got scared and rushed out of his dark hiding when Monico boomed like Bat’og . Actually it was the unique design of the cave’s chamber that created the special sound effect and ventriloquism. The vaults of old churches were similarly designed this way so that the faithful can clearly hear the sermon.

The exhausted Bat’og deflates and returns to its chores, feeding, roaming around and calling for mate – and rain, so old folks say. Well, frogs become noisy when it rains. Biologically, egg laying is induced by rain. Eggs are fertilized in water and hatched into tadpoles that live in water until they become frogs. Bat’og has relatives that live in trees and their tadpoles inhabit trapped water in the axils of bromeliads, bananas and palms. Or it could be a pool inside the hollow of a tree.

After I left the farm for my studies in Manila, I never saw any Tukak Bat’og again. Only a trace of that childhood memory was left of this enigmatic creature.

Then one day, in my disbelief Bat’og resurrected! For a long time it has long been in the requiem list of species, ironically even before it was accorded scientific details of its existence. Well, there are living things that may not even reach the first rung of the research ladder, either they are insignificant or new to science. Who would take a look at Bat’og?

I believe a lot of people now do. People have become environment-conscious after the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, the emergence of Greenpeace movement, and birth of "heroes for the environment". Who is not aware now of global warming, especially after viewing Al Gore's documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth? Who have not experienced calamities brought about by our changing climate?

What changed the thinking of the world - a revolution in our concept of survival - is that all livings are interconnected and that the world is one systemic order, that the survival of one spells the survival of all creatures and the preservation of the integrity of the biosphere and therefore of Planet Earth, and that there is no living thing that is too small to be insignificant or useless.

There in my backyard, ensconced in a gaping crack in the soil covered with a thick layer of dead leaves lay my long lost friend - very much alive.

Hello! And it looked at me motionless with steady eyes. It was aestivating, a state of turpor, which is a biological phenomenon for survival in dry and hot summer, the counterpart of hibernation when organisms sleep in winter and wait for the coming of spring. My friend was waiting nature's clock to signal the Habagat to bring rain from across the Pacific come June to September, a condition necessary for its amphibious life.

Slowly I lifted my friend and cradled it of sort on my palm. And we rolled time back fifty years ago. And before any question was asked, it was already answered. It is like that when two old friends meet after a long time. I remember when journalist Stanley found the great explorer Dr. David Livingstone in the heart of Africa in the 19th century, Stanley simply greeted, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" and the old man lifted his hat and gave Stanley a firm handshake. This became one of the most famous meetings in the world.

You see an event earns a place in history, or in the heart, when it permeates into the primordial reason of existence, which is Reverence of Life.

Reverence – this is the principal bond between man and nature. It is more than friendship. It is the also the bonds of the trilogies of human society – equality, fraternity and liberty. It is the  bridge of all relationships in the complex web and pyramid of life. It towers over equations and formulas in science. It links earth and heaven, in fact the whole universe – and finally, the bridge of understanding between creature and Creator.

Bat’og is back. How easy it is to understand a creature however small it is, if it is your friend. Yet how difficult it is to define the role of a friend. The fox in Antoine de Saint-Exupery’ novel, The Little Prince, warned the little prince, “If you tame me you are responsible to me.” The little prince simply touched the wild beast.

Taming is the ultimate submission to humility. And the greater a person who humbles himself, the truer a friend he is.

How do we relate this principle to our being the only rational creature? The dominant species over millions of species? The God-anointed guardian of the Earth? The custodian of creation?

Allow me to have some time with my long lost friend. Either one of us is the Prodigal Son, but  that does not matter now. Let me join Darwin and Linnaeus and Villadolid et al.

That was a long time ago by the pond that had dried in summer. As a kid on the farm I have known the ways of my friend. Bat’og would stake its prey - termites, ants, beetles and other insects. Like all frogs – and toads – the adults and tadpoles are important in controlling pests and diseases.

One of its relatives belonging to genus Kaloula was found to subsist mainly on hoppers and beetles that destroy rice, including leafhoppers that transmit tungro, a viral disease of rice that may lead to total crop failure. Such insectivorous habit though is universal to amphibians, reptiles, birds and other organisms. If only we can protect these Nature’s biological agents we would not be using chemicals on the farm and home, chemicals that pollutes the environment and destroys wildlife.

Bat'og and its kind protect man from hunger and disease. They are an important link in the food chain. No pond or ricefield or forest or grassland is without frogs. There would be no herons and snakes and hawks and eagles. No biological laboratory is without the frog as a blue print of human anatomy. And The Frog and the Princess would certainly vanish in the imagination of children.

Bat’og is a survivor of chemical genocide. It is the timely age of enlightenment of people returning to natural food and the spread of environmental consciousness on all walks of life and ages that came to its rescue in the last minute. So with many threatened species.

Who does not rejoice at finding again native kuhol, martiniko, ulang and gurami in the rice field? Oriole, pandangera, tarat and pipit in the trees? Tarsier, mouse deer and pangolin in the wild? And the return of ipil-ipil, kamagong and narra in the forest? And of course, Haribon the symbol of Philippine wildlife and biodiversity.

It is indeed a challenge for us to practice being the Good Shepherd, but this time it is not only a lost lamb that we have to save, it’s the whole flock.

Tukak Bat’og symbolizes the victory of Nature. But Nature’s victory does not mean man’s defeat; rather it is man’s submission and obedience to Nature’s laws and rules and therefore, the restoration of order on Planet Earth - our only spaceship on which we journey into the vastness of the universe and the unknown. x x x

Waterfall of our Dreams

Waterfall of our Dreams

"That was many years ago by this fall of our dream,

away from the maddening crowd and Midas' lure;

homing takes us back to where it was once before,

her replica on a wall gleaming full and pure." - avr

Wall mural and Poem by Dr Abe V Rotor

A make-believe re-enactment of sweet memories by a waterfall 

at author's residence, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. 

That was many, many years ago by a waterfall,

hundreds and hundreds of miles away from home,

when time was patient, adventure waiting beyond,

deafening roar settling down in cloud and foam. 

Quiet and calm the fall but it was just beginning

her trek down the river onto the wide, wide sea;

how we followed her in dreams and lofty thoughts,

taking us far and wide that no eye could see.

Career and family, travel and company we sought,

like the waterfall roaring in search for the sea,

dying all along her way on fields and meadows,

giving life to every nook and the community. 

    

That was many years ago by this fall of our dream,

away from the maddening crowd and Midas' lure;

homing takes us back to where it was once before,

her replica on a wall gleaming full and pure. ~

Poetry as Prayer: Seeing Heaven through a Leaf

           Poetry as Prayer:
Seeing Heaven through a Leaf 

                        Dr Abe V Rotor
          Living with Nature School on Blog

                     Atop Mt Makiling, Laguna

I see these holes

windows of the sky,

I see the stars

the birds that fly

I see the day

the darkness of night,

I see the universe

beyond the sight

I see these keyholes

the doors of life,

I see the way to heaven

in joy and strife. ~

"Nature is the art of God"

"Nature is the art of God"

 – Dante Alighieri

Paintings and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor

Trees 

Make me a song, each flower a tune, each tune a melody,
in the stillness of the sea in calm or laughter in its tide;
make me a song among the flowers that bring in the rainbow,
the cadence of the rising sun, the flutter of the butterfly,
make me a song in the shadows of the mangrove, its mirror
of heaven, dropping confetti and making ripples now and then,
Make me a song of the mists that gather into dewdrops,
of clouds coming down as shower or fog that shrouds like veil
the landscape, in gentle transformation of another day -
and another, ad infinitum in the march of time -
and I, I am but a passerby, yet brevity is the essence of all.

Waterfall 

Flow gently down the hills, play with the rivulets,

And laugh with the brook and fill the lake

And when you are full in the sun

Mirror the sky and the world around,

And burst into a waterfall.

Make a wide-eyed child at your feet

Afraid of your roar, cower in your mist, and cry,

Awe him with beauty in mystery, mystery in beauty.

That’s all that life could be Like you, once a river, dying to reach the sea.   - 

avr

Mountain Cavern 

How Deep, How High?
Deep as the oceans the mountains be,
Buzz the bees as many a flower there be;
Dream high, high up as the heavens be,
Or a kite, soaring high, the eye can’t see;
Yet deeper the mind only the heart can see,
And the soul that goodness could bring to Thee.

Nature’s sweet lies

Deceit and conceit in a duo,
Makes one believe or doesn’t know
To accept things or analyze
Nature’s own sweet and gentle lies. 

(Pastel drawing by Anna Christina Rotor)

Seasons

Ask not ‘til when the years are here to stay 
in song, and the breeze a chime;
Maybe, maybe, when the rain comes -
and when it’s finally gone.
When the sun is up and down -
and up again another time.

Song of the Sea

Where the sky and the rivers flow
Under the rainbow by the sea.
Let me flow with thee;
A song I sing in sweet melody
To where the world is free.

Life’s Interrelationship

How wonderful is creation
when we realize in a minuscule
the universality of the simple
linked to the complex,
where every living thing is part
of life’s interrelationship;
like a chain, its strength
is shared by all its links
in place cooperating.

Ephemeral 

Ephemeral is man, he is but a living dust,
And many great things may come to pass.
Someday you shall learn from the sages,
In a world where man through the ages
Craves for glory, yet finds emptiness;
Go light a candle and sigh in gladness.
Fireflies and stars in the night are one,
Like flowers and bees basking in the sun.

The Author invites the reader to open
Earth Day Every Day (Celebrate) by John Denver;
Earth Song by Michael Jackson,

and other earth songs on the Internet