La Purisima Concepcion

Americans and Filipinos fought with all their might but the Japanese Imperial Air Force crushed Bataan. It was the start of Japanese invasion and colonization in the Philippines during World War II.
The town of Malabon was not spared. Japanese occupied the town and claimed everything. Men are captured and women are forced into white slavery. Homes became their barracks and churches became prisons.
A small church in Malabon with the Immaculate Conception as the patron was one of the converted churches. The icon was dated in the early stages of Christianity in the Philippines and believed to have performed many miracles in the community.
Since majority of the Japanese are non- Christians, they had no beliefs of what so ever in the Christian faith and sad to say also, that they showed no respect to these churches during those times.
On the first day the Japanese soldiers occupied the Parish of the La Purisima Concepcion the community fought back but their bladed weapons are no match with the guns of the Japanese soldiers. Even the parish priest was not spared. After the priest refuses to bowed to the Japanese soldiers he was kicked in his knees, and because of the heavy and tough boots of the soldiers the priest’s bones are crushed.
Inside the church the soldiers urinated and bowelled at the altar. They also make fun of the Immaculate Conception. They picked the nose of the Virgin and laughed about its pointed nose. But an unexpected and unexplained phenomenon happened. Instantly, soldiers who picked nose of the Virgin, their fingers became stiffed and cannot be moved. Physicians cannot find any reason for the paralysis. During the night the soldiers became even more baffled and scared. The serpent at the feet of the Immaculate Conception became alive and bitten the soldiers.
Many soldiers died but not one prisoner was harmed. When morning came those soldiers who were still alive told their superiors what they had witnessed The Japanese decided to abandoned the La Purisima Concepcion parish completely.

Banga ng Gusi (Pot of Gold Bars)

My Great Great Grandfather is Placido Gino who just passed away when I was a toddler. I am his first Great Great Grandson. The stories and ideas of him was just narrated to me by his daughter, Aunt Amada. Grandfather Placido did not have a formal schooling but manages his financial well. He has three fishing boats and manufactures Pineapple weave textiles. He had a hundred employees. His sport was bird hunting. They use blowguns to kill the birds. Together with his two friends they hunt the mountains of Montalban, Rizal.
One season while they were concentrated and busy tracking the birds they lost track of time. They must return to civilization since their supplies are all consumed. They trailed the forest as fast as they could but the night was even faster. Soon darkness and fog blanket the forest.
While trying to trace the trail they found themselves in front of an old nipa hut. You would think that it was abandoned without the small gas lantern lit near the window. They knock and asked for help since they were lost in the forest. The door opened and three beautiful women were inside. They explained their situation and the women gladly accept them to stay for the night.
The women are very hospitable. They always kept a warm smile on their face even though they were ready to sleep in their kamison and tapis when my grandfather and his friends disturbed them. After a few conversations the women offered them food. A hot bowl of sopas was served on the table. They were ready to eat the soup and scooped the elbow pastas with the wooden spoon when they were surprised with what they saw. Together with the elbow pastas were little fingers of children. They tried not to panic for fear of the women. They secretly dropped the fingers to the bamboo floor and into the splits the little fingers fell to the soil below. When they were done the women showed them their room to sleep for the night.
They did not sleep but attentively listen to their surroundings. They heard noises like of big roosters clapping their wings. They cautiously and silently went up and searched the hut. Below the hut they found big pots containing gold bars and near it with amazement they saw three pairs of legs from stomach down wearing the tapis worn by the women. They think fast and decided to put salts to the intestines. They know about these creatures from Philippine mythology. They are called Mananangal. An evil being, were from human form transforms by splitting his or her body into two. The upper part had wings and fly to hunt humans for food. The lower part of the body was hidden because they were vulnerable. After scattering the salts all over the intestines my grandfather and his friends hide. Soon the three mananangal returned. They cried after they saw what my grandfather and his friends did to their lower extremities. The women beg them to remove the salts because no matter how they try to land and put back together their bodies they failed. They explained that they have not done them any harm. They told them that when the sun rises and still they are not with their lower bodies they would burn and die. They bargained for anything. Pleasures or treasures, just remove the salts from their intestines. My grandfather and his friends became more afraid since the three female beasts became desperate. If they will not help them they might just kill them too.
They asked the three women to leave them while they remove the salts so that they could also have time to run for their safety. After they removed the salts they ran as fast as they could and never again return to that place.

A Little Girl

Everytime I went down the stairs of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1), I can’t help it but to cry. It just breaks my heart to see this little girl around six years old without her right arm. She waits patiently for passers to drop coins in her tumbler. Sometimes she reads (I don’t know if she could really read or even went to school.) and sometimes plays her old, dirty and also missing the right arm doll. I don’t know if it’s just incidental. She is not alone in this train station. There are toddlers that if not running and playing are begging for money. One of the babies was being carried by a teenager while begging because the baby has a hydrocephalus. I don’t know if that baby is still alive while I am writing this. And where are their parents? There are adults in the vicinity of the stairs. They are the vendors, beggars or just the people who sits and smoke there all day. Their exact location is in the stairs of Gill Puyat South Bound Station, Light Rail Transit (LRT1), Manila. PHILIPPINES.
I tried to find help in the two giant networks in the Philippines namely ABS-CBN and GMA. I thought their programs XXX and Imbestigador could coordinate with DSWD and help this little girl find a new home but a month passed the girl still suffers there in the station. I just want to take her with me and give her a decent meal and home but surely the adults there would react and could harm me.
Just yesterday I saw her again in the staircases of the Gill Puyat train station. She was silent but I could hear her in my heart saying, "don’t give up on me". If I could speak to her I will say, "I promise I will not". After I posted this all over the Internet I will call all the government agencies and private institutions I could find to beg to save this little girl. "If you could save one life you saved the entire world". Just think for a moment if she’s your daughter or sister wouldn’t you cry too.

Contentment is a Virtue

An old joke goes like this; A mother went to the beach with her child. She arranged their things and sat on the beach towel. She opened her book and starts to read while her child run into the ocean and swam. After a few hours a big tidal wave rushes to the beach. The mother saw her child engulf by the wave and was gone. Lifeguards and people in the beach tried to save her child. The mother while crying fell in her knees and starts to pray. "Dear God, Please bring my baby back to me." As if a miracle just happened, the same wave came back carrying her child and gently returned it to the beach. The child was a little shaky but was not hurt. The mother hugged her child, wiped her tears and cried out loud "God damned! My child had a hat when we came here!"
I just went from a derma clinic inside a hospital for the elecrocautery of my warts. Beside the derma clinic is a clinic for diabetic patients. A patient just finished her check-up. She was fat and in a wheel chair. Both of her legs were cut off. The patient's companion was called inside. I heard the doctor telling to the companion that if she could not control her blood sugar her wounds would not heal and she might die. I pity her at the same time thankful to God that I only went to the hospital for my warts.
How many times that we presumed our wants as our needs. Many people have their happiness attached to worldly things. They are so attached to this world that they even spend lots of money to take care of their corpses when they died. People just want and want all of his miserable life and finally when he died he never felt true happiness. All of the material possessions are just temporary, it will fade fast and gone.
"What does a man gets when he gains the whole world and yet looses his own soul". It is only normal to people to be ambitious. Ambition is the fuel for the achievements of man. But it must also have a limitation. Ambition must not be for the glory of man but for the glory of God. We must know when to stop ambition and starts contentment. Let us not reach the level of loosing one's soul. Let us be contended when our wants are affecting our happiness. I believe that theoretically man should be happy. The life that God gave him should be enough to make him happy. If that ambition is making one sorrowful do not wait that it does not only take your happiness but also your faith.
It is very hard to be contented in this world. Everywhere you look is a temptation. Most of us are not saints and contentment is a virtue. But as time passes and your dream fail, that is the time to embrace contentment.

Save Binuangan

Barangay Binuangan is a small island in the province of Obando, Bulacan Philippines. For centuries the community in Binuangan live with peace with nature. Their primary commerce is fishing. The sea surrounding their island is their source of food and income. The bounties of the sea send their children to school. There are also some who was born with artistic talent that instead of fishing they make masterpieces. They use the beauty of their surrounding water as their source of inspiration.
They live in peace and prosperity. But now their fishing community is threaten. A nearby town, Navotas has converted their vast land, just boundaries to Binuangan into an open dumpsite. The wastes are coming from major cities in the Philippines. The tons of garbage are being shipped using open barge boats passing the sea of Binuangan. Trash that fell from the barges and the dumpsite floats in the sea. Toxic fumes could be smell from the homes of families living in Binuangan. Dead fishes float in the sea. The impact to their livelihood is tremendous. Fishfence and oyster cultivation is now impossible, specially the oyster which could only grow in exceptional clean water. Just years ago Binuangan was known for oyster cultivation.
People specially children are getting sick. They have bronchitis and skin diseases. Proliferation of flies, cockroaches and mice has also been observed.
The neglect of the government to Binuangan was obvious eversince. Children go to public school during rainy seasons wearing rubber boots because their classrooms were flooded. They tolerate the government's neglect to them for years, but now they cannot endure anymore.
The people of Binuangan protested They wrote to the President of the Republic of the Philippines. They even used their fishing boats to barricade the boat barges carrying wastes. The government's action was they send military personels. The presence of military gives an intimidation to the community. Because of the anti- masses action of the government, the community has no resort but to wrote another letter. This time addressed to the National Democratic Front. The armed struggle group of the Philippines. Two months ago the rebellion group raided the military detachment in Binuangan. They disarmed the military and took their communication equipments. Good thing there was no bloodshed. Again, the government reacted to the incident. They sent more troops to the site.
Now there is tension in Binuangan. The peace loving people whose only wealth is the sea and the nature surrounding their community are in constant fear. Afraid of what might kill them first, the bullet or the garbage.
The Philippine government is pro- environment. Just last month they banned the use of CFC to car aircons. Car owners whose vehicle models are 1998 and prior must convert their CFC aircons to HFC. Ofcourse, the government only did this because of the pressure of the international community. The direct impact of the pollution to the masses has no significance to them.
The survival now of Binuanagan lies in the hands of the international community. To those who have the power, authority or any ways and means. To those who still believe in Humanity.

-Binuangan Artists Society www.artmajeur.com/binuangan

The Da Vinci Code

It’s a good movie the actors and actresses did well. I give it a 7. But it’s just again another movie depicting the imperfection of the church. It is no big secret that the church especially the Roman Catholic is not perfect.

In history they have killed thousands of people. This includes women and children who were accused of being witches. It changes the lives and beliefs of people whether by hook or crook. They had conquered lands, riches and cultures. The church is truly a grand master for it shaped the course of our history. Before Pope John Paul II died he ask the Catholic Church for forgiveness. For all the things it has done to Humanity.

Most of the practices, beliefs and tradition of the Catholic Church was influenced by Emperor Constantine the Great. It was he and his mother who introduces the cross to Christianity. The arguments of most sects are that Constantine is not even a Christian. He was a pagan. He even prosecuted Christians at that time. He was only converted after he dreamed of the cross where Christ was crucified. "In Hoc Signo Vincos". "In This Sign Thou Shalt Conquer". After this miracle thousands of lives were again sacrificed for the benefit of their goal. The conversion of other religion to Christianity.

Leonardo da Vinci is no doubt a master. His intelligence is advance in his time. A study shows that a person who is genius in certain expertise will also exceed in other field of interest. If the painting masters like Da Vinci, Angelo and Botticelli were given a chance in Medicine, Business Management or Theology they will also succeed. It is called Multiple Intelligence. The antiquity of the documents as the source of information is another area to be considered. Informations that were passed in time are more venerable to errors and misinterpretations. These informations may be affected by the opinions of the people who are translating it. Since Leonardo has lived centuries before us he might have accessed some documents that are no longer existing or completely mistranslated in our time. With regards to his source of information and intelligence let us give him an epistemological privileged.

The Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci has some interesting features. Why it is that the most important artifact is not present on the table. Is it because that the grail is not a cup but a womb of a woman. It is very interesting to note that from the time of Abraham to the time of Jesus there were no artifacts found. We could find mummies in golden coffins and drawings in caves made by prehistoric man but no Christian artifacts. Where are the tablets containing the commandments of God or the ark that King Solomon dances everytime they parade it. What about the ship where Noah put all the kinds of animals in the world for the survival of the species. In Christ’s time where is his true cross, or his cup if there is one. Are these artifacts really lost in time or just hidden because of their secrets that might scandal the great religions of the world. What powers would they bring if they were found. Does man ready for such powers.

Another feature of The Last Supper was the apostle sitting at the right of Jesus. Why is it that he is the only one wearing the same color of garments as Jesus. His sitting position in the painting is different from the other apostles in fact his and Jesus position will form a grail and if cut his head can exactly rest at the shoulder of Jesus. Is it because that it is not a he but a she. According to the movie it was Mary Magdalene, the possible apostle, wife and mother of the daughter of Jesus.

There are people who want this movie to be banned. According to them it is Anti- Christ and a direct attack to the Roman Catholic Church. Its real purpose is to destroy one’s Christian faith. But can this movie really affect one’s faith. If it can, then one might just loose that faith for it is worth nothing. I had seen man suffers. It is because of their sufferings that one looses its faith and not because of a movie. A person’s faith to Christ is not based upon facts and theories. It is more out of love. If our faith is all about information gathering then it is like a paper boat in a sea of fire. It will not last to the whipped of time.

For Art's Sake

The freedom of expression has always reached the boundaries of morality. In visual arts it is categorized as pornography by the moralist and subversive by the authoritarian. But how can we distinguish a real art from a crap. Is there such thing as a masterpiece or it just happened that a group of individuals has the same taste. A masterpiece to few and ridicule to some.

Since the beginning, man expresses and recorded his ideas in the form of visual. In a later era we could see in Rome the grandeur of the masters. It is breathtaking. In Vatican we could marvel at the painting of Michael Angelo's Creation. It is nude, but is there someone who would say that it must be removed because it is pornography. Then what is the basis for a nude art to be a masterpiece or pornography. Is it the medium. If there was a camera in the time of Boticelli then he might used photography in his masterpiece The Birth of Venus. Most censorship uses the genitals of the human body as the limitation for art and a basis for pornography. Should this be the real filter for pornography. We must also remember that custom, tradition and morality change in time. It is unpleasant in history that we banned a particular nude art that in the future it will be hailed.

Art is the freedom of expression. It is every human's right. To judge the art of others is as vital as judging his race, origin and religion.

So what it is that makes a nude art a masterpiece or pornography, frankly, I am not sure but I have a few basis of my own. I ask myself how honest is the artist. What is his real motive in creating the art. Is it Humanities or just money. How much effort he put unto it. Does it require extensive studies or planning to create such an art. Can you still consider a man who pissed on the wall and says it's art.

Pornography and morality is pushing its boundaries for centuries. As artists we are responsible for our creations. Let's make masterpieces for the glory of mankind and not to his downfall.

A Patient Life

One of the things I am proud about Filipinos are their cheerful attitude. In fact Bacolod City, one of the cities in the Philippines has a caption "The Smile City". They're just happy people, considering the fact that the Philippines is having an economic and political turmoil. Are they just being patient, optimistic or joyful?

My experiences are those people who are patience are happy people. Not just only being happy but being happy because of their contentment in life. Who are those people who are always angry at so many things. They are always not contented with their income, family or their lover. They always complaint about the traffic, the whether, and the news. They are so angry with their boss, their government and their life. These people are the miserables.

There are little irritating things in life, which if combined in a day will make a person explode. How many can still stay cool if been cut in trawitnessed drivers whom when cut chases the culprit and cut him also as revenge. Will you still chase a Beetle who cut you if you are driving a Rolls Royce? Exaggerated, but the fact is those who have much tend to be more forgiving than those who have less in life. Plus being patient will save you from all the trouble.

The contentment is not only for material or financial. It can also be about love, spiritual or emotional. I believe that the true joys in life are free.

So everytime you're loosing your temper remember the sweet things in your life. Here are some examples: Your daughter's smile everytime you look at her; Your son's belief in you for all the stories you've told him; Your wife's compassion for all the things you've done; A neighbor's hello; A pet dog wagging his tail everytime you arrive; The sweetest cookie baked by your mother; Laughter of your friends; The trust of your father; The sunshine on your face; the cool breeze; There are millions.

Binuangan Artists

I really love art ever since I was a child. But for the reason of monetary I graduated college with an accountancy degree. Now in the field of business it supports me, my family and my art enthusiasm. I still continue to do art because I believe it is my calling but I cannot leave my day job for it supports me well financially.

There is nothing extra ordinary about my situation. This is not about my story. I just want to share the lives of the artists who live in Binuangan, a small fishery community in the Philippines. Not all the folks there are fishermen. There are those who earn a living being an artist. Even thou being a professional artist gave them minimal financial support they continued what they believe- Their art.

Most of them cannot afford a decent home for them and their family. There are times they have to loan just to buy food for the day. And yet they still hold to their art and not venture to other work. One artist told me his hands were designed by God to hold brush and not nets.

I salute you my fellow artists in Binuangan.

Artist's Philosophy

Of all the gifts God gave to man the finest is his free will. Second to life itself. It is the essence of man. It is what separates man from all the other creatures of God. By ones choice or action he is judged if he is worthy to be called the man created by God.

The child of free will is art. It is man's self-expression. It is synonymous to freedom of expression. Every art is unique since every man is unique. How man perceives art is also unique as how man perceives beauty. As how man perceive life.

Art is like life. It all depends to the person's perception. Truly beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. The gauge of how beautiful life is, depends uniquely to every man.

A professor of mine once walked in the streets of Manila during summer. It is very hot, humid and dusty. He noticed a very old beggar asking for coins to the passers while bathing to the heat of the sun all day. Beside the beggar was a newspaper stand. One tabloid headline reads 'Young Matinee Idol Commits Suicide." My professor stops for awhile and asks himself how could this young man kill himself when he has everything. Money, women, good looks, popularity, youthfulness, what more could he ask for. While this old beggar is still striving for a few coins. Why not just threw himself to the vehicles speeding in front of him. Like my professor, my conclusion too is that it's all a matter of perception.

Like life the beauty of art depends solely to the individual. It is how man perceives art that makes it beautiful.

Those who believe that they found the beauty in life. Let as show that beauty to the world. Let as show our art.

Artist's Biography

Jose Mari Montesa or Jo Mari is a Visual Artist by talent. He has Masters Degree in Business Administration, Accountancy is his profession and currently working in a bank. But his heart really belongs to the Art world.

Since his boyhood he joined many art contests in different mediums. He has informal trainings in Painting, Technical Drawing and Photography. Also, a student and a believer of Humanities.

Jo Mari is also into Photography. He joined competitions both local and international. Some of his Photographic works are now in the hands of private collectors.

Right now the artist is concentrated in painting. Specifically Oil painting on canvas. He hopes that he will be known for this medium.

Most of his paintings are influenced by the rich culture and tradition in the Philippines. For example his series of Immaculate Concepcion oil paintings are inspired by the dark wood used in the icons of the Virgin Mary centuries ago when Spain brought Christianity to the Philippines. This type of wood are used to make the skin complexion of the Virgin similar to Asian or a Filipina.

Jo Mari have also done Landscapes, Still Life and Abstract paintings.