NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Notes on the Philippines
by Bob May
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Thank you!
I just wanted to say thanks for all that you have done and
continue to do for me -- your words of encouragement, your
financial contributions, and most importantly, your prayers.
Every word I receive from you makes my time in missions
work even more enjoyable, and your generous contributions
make the entire effort possible.
I also want to give a special thanks to the kind folks of the
Philippines. You welcomed me into your country and gave me
an unforgettable and wonderful experience.
Thanks,
Bob
I was fortunate to be able to spend most of 1999 in the
Philippines as a United Methodist Volunteer in Missions. I
recorded my thoughts, prayers, poems, sketches and daily
incidents in a little journal. This journal became a “monthly
observation” email to my friends back home. I compiled some
of my entries into this little book.
Please contact me:
Email:
bobmay99@yahoo.com
Home:
19878 Bergton Road, Bergton, VA 22811
Bob
October 1999
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
These are just general observations I have made about the
people and the culture of the Philippines…
It's a myth that English is commonly spoken here. I never hear
it between two Filipinos. It is scattered throughout Tagalog
conversations, but not more than a word or two at a time.
March ’99
Lord, thank you for revealing things and opening my eyes. It’s
all a gift from you. It’s all from you.
The people are wonderful. They are all very friendly and
good-natured. The country is beautiful.
In my experience, phones in general are scarce. There is often
a waiting line to use the public phones. There aren't a lot of
public phones. And there aren't many places to make
international calls. The PLDT Phone Company is the only
place I know of, besides private lines.
The fruit is fresh and fantastic -- excellent mangoes, star
apples, coconuts, pineapples, and all types of native fruit whose
names are unknown to me.
The Banana Salesman
Lots of roosters crowing every morning. It starts about 5:30
and goes until 6:30.
Often the largest sizes (especially shoes) are too small for me,
and at 6'1" and 175 lbs. with size 10.5 feet, I'm not that big. I
had a group of about a dozen people watching me try on shoes.
It was embarrassing.
The people are generally smaller and thinner than Americans.
I'm told the average height for a man is 5'6" and for a woman
5'3" (I would have guessed shorter.) I tower above crowds. I
cannot judge a young person's age. A 20-year old looks about
12 to me. The young women are particularly small.
No one walks, sits, or lies in the sun here. A lighter
complexion is desired to the point where it is common to see
men and women using a book or paper to shield themselves
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
from the sun's rays, even when they're just crossing the street.
Sunscreens with skin lightening ingredients are very popular.
The Caribal / Water Buffalo
Service workers have incredibly good manners when they wait
on people. It's always "Yes, Sir" and "No, Sir".
Books cost about the same as in the U.S. -- making them
almost impossible for students to afford here.
Little lizards are everywhere -- crawling on my room walls,
hiding behind curtains, and scurrying above doors.
Not many people wear shorts. Well, I should say that shorts
are not worn as often as they are in the U.S. We wear shorts all
the time, but Filipinos might wear them one or two days a
week. I think it must be considered too informal. Even in the
sweltering heat, most wear long pants. Almost all the
Americans I run into are wearing shorts.
Drivers use their horns here as a regular part of their driving
process. A horn is used here more in five minutes than I have
used mine in my lifetime. Light-flashing is used to indicate
something, but I'm not sure what. You flip your lights when
you are about to meet in a head-on collision. I'm not sure if it
means "we're both about to die if you don't leave my lane" or "I
acknowledge you, and I'm going to slow down a bit and make
sure you can pass safely".
It is rare to see an American except in the local McDonalds,
where I have seen at least one other American or European on
almost every visit there. They usually don't talk to me, and I
don't talk to them. I think they're just passing through, since
Cabanatuan City is on the way to the internationally acclaimed
rice terraces of Banaue.
Lord, let me see the world through your eyes and not mine.
Let me see You in everyone. Don’t allow my own prejudices
to affect Your work. Let me see when I’m imposing my own
set of standards on someone else.
It's not uncommon to see water buffalo pulling carts through
the streets in the country. It's also not uncommon to see luxury
autos either.
Knives aren't used. The spoon is the utensil of choice. Spoons
and forks only, with all of the eating done with the spoon.
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Power outages are common. At least weekly, maybe a couple
times a week. They tend to last for several hours, but our
longest so far has been eight hours. This has happened several
times. Occasionally there will be a power outage scheduled for
Luzon -- the entire region (1/3 of the country). I use my
computer when I can, because I'm never sure I'll be able to use
it later.
bug is attracted to the light and flies into the bag. I have seen
bags holding what appear to be a couple pounds of bugs.
It's difficult to adjust to these cold showers. Some places have
some sort of electrical device that heats the water immediately
before it leaves the shower, but I don't have one in my dorm.
I see a lot of abandoned but nice buildings. I'm not sure why
there are so many of them. They look like decent places, but
they are vacant. Also, a lot of sites have beautiful entrance
gates but no community behind them -- just gates proclaiming
the great community. Evidently funding for a lot of projects
gets cut before the project is over -- or even started.
Some people ride outside jeepneys on their roofs. It's common
to see workers riding on the roof or hood of their truck, or
maybe in the scoop of their loader.
The Jeepney
There is a problem with quality control. I've seen it in things
from construction, to home products, to personal articles.
This seems to me to be much more a Spanish culture than an
Asian one -- Spanish words, Spanish architecture. Spain ruled
until almost 1900.
I love it when the tricycle driver tries to rip me off now. The
rate is four pesos, but he demands ten. I laugh and hand him
four. He drives off and never complains.
A certain bug here predicts the rain. One evening there were
about a billion of these things flying around in clouds. Before
that day I had noticed none. After that day I noticed none. I
was told that those bugs only come out before a big rain. The
day after the bugs were out, we had our first big storm. They
catch these bugs by attaching a plastic bag to the light. The
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Tricycles
Schoolyard at Wesleyan
The power in the computer lab went out, so I stepped outside
and sketched the schoolyard. Children came by to see what I
was doing. They liked to watch me draw. I had the ones that
could write sign their names on my paper.
Thank you for power outages. Thank you for time I can spend
away from my computer and with the little children. Lord,
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thank you for letting me experience Your beauty in many
ways. Thank you for bamboo trees, children laughing, warm
sunshine, birds chirping, little voices struggling to say “what
are you doing, Joe?”, old bicycles, battered guitars, leaves, and
climbing on a gym set.
Beauty Contests are very popular here.
occasions.
All ages.
Most of the food is fried.
The smell of things burning is constantly in the air. People
burn their trash with small fires.
Many
Rice is left to dry in parking lots and even on the highway.
Just drive right over it. Sometimes one of two lanes is blocked
off just to allow rice to dry. It might be blocked off for 100
yards or so. This makes for more interesting traffic patterns.
Beauty Contestants
Old tires are cut up and used for speed bumps across narrow
streets.
Pirating is everywhere. It is easy to find illegally copied CDs,
movies, books, software. I'm sure that a lot of people couldn't
afford this stuff if it wasn't. In fact, I don't think I've seen a
legitimate video since I've been here. Every store is full of
copied tapes and homemade boxes.
Some people will sometimes repeat what you say to them. If I
say, "I went over to the MegaCenter", they will reply "went
over to the MegaCenter", and "I bought a Coke" becomes,
"bought a Coke".
The driving here really irritates me. It's a total free-for-all.
Everyone does what he can get away with. I'm amazed that
there isn't some road rage. I believe I'm the only one feeling it.
People will touch you when they talk. Resting a hand
anywhere or just continually poking you while they speak.
I hear words like "Joe, American, USA, and Michael Jordan"
whenever I walk through the neighborhood.
Hissing is a way to get someone's attention, but it's somewhat
impolite.
Kids are curious and shy.
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Thank you Lord for having a plan for my life. A plan for my
welfare and not for harm. A plan for a future with hope.
(From Jeremiah 29:11)
It was a nice place with a pool. The two rooms were each
about $30 a night, and we shared the cost. It was about 50
miles south of Manila, but it took a long time to get there.
Probably at least seven hours from Cabanatuan City, which is
about 70 miles north of Manila. One of the guys had a van so
we all piled in for a long road trip. Although it's only 70 miles
to Manila, the drive takes three hours because the road is
packed with slow moving vehicles -- water buffalo, these ricefield tractors, trucks, jeepneys
For my birthday we had sweet potato ice cream flavored with
cheese. It was excellent.
Well, my birthday (3/21) was a good one. The folks in my
dorm Bible study gave me a nice pre-birthday lunch of mango,
pancit (sort of like a tasty lo mein) for long life, and some ricebirthday-cake. Pretty darn good. They sang happy birthday
and waited patiently for me to leave. Then my roommate Noli,
his girlfriend Flor (short for Florida), and six of his Computer
Technology students took me to a great volcanic "resort" for
the weekend.
Jeepney
Computer Lab & Students
and those tricycle (motorcycles with sidecars) irritations. I ride
them every day, but they are a real nuisance to cars. There are
thousands of them on the road at all times. And they don't give
an inch. It doesn't matter if you blow your horn all day -- like
everyone does -- those things will not move out of the way.
And as soon as you work your way around one, another one is
in the way. Until you get near Manila the road only has one
lane in each direction, but both lanes are freely used by all
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
traffic. I seriously fear for my life every time I'm on that road.
I'm totally on edge. I cannot relax a bit the entire three hours.
It seems like every pass is a near miss, and it goes on for hours.
It doesn't matter if the line is ten miles long, bumper to bumper
-- everyone pulls out into the lane of oncoming traffic to pass.
Even with absolutely no spot to pull into. It's nerve-wracking.
Oncoming traffic knows what to expect though, and they're on
their brakes hard all the time. And they're/we're in the shoulder
a lot of the time. This weekend we were at an impasse on a
bridge. Four cars were on the bridge. Two cars facing each
way (head-on collision position in each lane). We just sat that
way blowing our horns at each other for a couple of minutes.
No one gets angry. They just blow their horns and flash their
lights and keep smiling. They have a heck of a lot more
patience than I do. The biggest truck won out -- although he
was in the wrong lane. It doesn't help my nervousness that a
former student at my school here -- Wesleyan University -- was
killed on that road last week. We passed the accident scene an
hour or so after the accident. It was horrible. I've read about
four other people killed in the tricycles since I've been here too.
I'm surprised more people aren't killed. They're dangerous.
Everything is really a near miss. Bare inches to spare. Half the
time they don't have any taillights, and in the middle of the
night they're out on the freeway with the rest of the traffic. (I
would say something like that was incredibly stupid, but I’m
not allowed to impose my value system on anyone else.) Once
you get to Manila the traffic doesn't get any better. It just gets
so heavy that no one can pass, and at least I'm not so nervous
then when traffic in all directions is at a standstill. I have a
chance to catch my breath. It takes several hours to get
through Manila. And they have restrictions about who can
drive when. Even numbered license plates on some days, odd
numbered plates on other days. I'd hate to see what the traffic
looked like if they didn't have that policy. Anyway, despite the
roads, I was able to relax and go for a late night swim at the
resort. Late night swimming is popular here because it is so
darn hot during the day. It's been 90+ with almost 100%
humidity every day since I arrived, and this is just the spring.
I'm told this is nothing, it gets hot in the summer. OK, so we
were at the resort, and I slept well Saturday night. (Maybe
because we had a bathroom that worked! Excellent!) We got
up Sunday morning and saw a beautiful huge lake and crater.
We ate some fish and rice and rented a boat to take us across
the lake to hike up the mountain. The outrigger boat can be
described as sort of a narrow wooden canoe with a motor. It
was actually sort of like a Hobie-Cat with these wooden slats
across it. It got us across the lake in about twenty minutes.
Once we arrived we were greeted by a bunch of folks with
horses. They wanted us to rent their horses, but I didn't figure
that out until later. I thought it was another group going up the
mountain. They followed us. Our group hiked up the first part
of the trail, and it was pretty darn steep. I was the last one in
our group, and the horses behind me kept nudging me in the
rear. I guess I was going too slowly. We made it through the
first section, and one in our group decided that was enough and
rented a horse. A seven-month pregnant lady would then lead
this horse the rest of the way up and down the crater. She
didn’t seem to have trouble navigating the terrain. I think the
horse was around $2 -- which is enough for a pretty darn good
meal here. The rest of the riders turned around and went home.
The entire hike lasted about an hour, but it was well worth it.
The view into the crater was incredible. Smoke was coming
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
out of the side, and you could see the water bubbling/boiling
around the edges of the Lake inside the crater. We were at the
top sitting on a rickety-framed hut overlooking a severalhundred foot drop into the mouth of the volcano. Pretty cool.
There were several craters and volcanoes there. Really
incredible. We stayed at the top for a couple of hours. Met a
couple of arrogant Americans from New England. They were
bragging about how they really screwed some Chinese silk
makers out of a lot of cash. I was really embarrassed to be
talking to them then, and I hoped my Filipino friends weren’t
understanding all of the conversation. A nice European couple
showed up too. They had volunteered at an orphanage for
three weeks and they were going home soon. He was from
Italy. She was from Holland. The guys in my group loved her.
She was tall, blonde and wearing shorts and a sleeveless top –
very daring for this culture. They didn’t say a thing, but they
quietly listened to every word she said. In the privacy of their
group later, they said a lot about her. I understood a few words
of it – “the closest thing to heaven” was how one guy described
her. A lady was selling coconuts at the top of the crater. Noli
bought me one. The lady opened the top, and I drank the milk.
Then she fashioned a spoon out of the shell with her machete
and opened it. I scooped out the meat and it tasted great! Darn
good coconut. (I’ve never been there, but I suppose this must
be like Hawaii.) The boys made an offering to the gods and
tried tossing the shell into the crater. Mother Nature got mad
and blew more smoke out of her earth. When I got back I
picked up my Lonely Planet guide to read about what I had just
seen. "The town offers visitors superb views of the volcanic
island with its crater lake, but only if the weather is clear. The
volcano is one of the smallest AND MOST DANGEROUS IN
THE WORLD. Any (fool) who wants to climb it can arrange
to be taken over to the volcanic island from Talisay, 17 km east
of Tagaytay." Maybe I should have read that before I made the
climb. Oh well. After rolling down the hill and taking a good
swim in the pool, we drove another seven hours back and
finally and semi-safely (not really) made it home. A good
birthday to remember. Thanks guys....
God has revealed much to me during my first month here in the
Philippines. I have learned so many things about the nature of
God and myself. The dorm Bible studies have been very
rewarding as has spending time with my roommate and
Christians here.
I spent one Sunday doing a missions community outreach
program with eight ministers from the school. We visited
spiritually needy families, ate with them, studied the Bible with
them, and prayed with them. I hope to be able to do more like
this. I think I'd like to do something with the street children, if
a program exists.
Thank you for the challenge of discouraging words. Like Paul
said, “I’m glad when I can’t do something on my own. That
just means that when it gets done, it was all You and not me.”
I have only attended United Methodist services here. All of
them have been in Tagalog, but most of the churches also have
English services. My neighbor preaches at a different church
each Sunday and he has taken me with him. The services are
pretty much the same as the ones we have back home, with the
following exceptions:
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

I was amazed by the continuous buzz of the congregation.
There were always people talking during the service. I
suppose it was mostly the children, but there are a lot of
them in the crowd. The church is packed with children.

Communion was taken first by the men, then by the
women, then by the youth , and finally by the children.

They all sing Contemporary Praise songs during the
service. Some of them are in Tagalog, but the music is the
same.

A basket is placed at the front of the church for offering.
You go to the front of the church to drop in your gift.

There’s an unusual custom in the Philippines of children
taking the hand of an elderly person and raising it to their
(the children’s) head for a blessing of some sort. This
happens everywhere, not just in church. A few of the
children from the church took my hand, put it on their head,
and I said something like, “God bless you.” It actually felt
sort of nice.

In an unfortunate tragedy, a former student of the school
was killed in a traffic accident. The funeral proceedings
took place at the open-air chapel of the school. It was open
24 hours a day, with a service every evening for seven
days.
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Recently at 3:30 am I awoke to the screaming of some
unknown woman. It was the loudest thing I have heard in
this city. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my clothes. I
ran outside to see what was going on. It turns out that Holy
Week had started, and the Catholics in this town have a
tradition of a continuous “wailing passion” service for the
next seven days. It’s a live performance from a site
unknown to me, but they sang the same “wailing as if you
are dying” songs all day and night. They had erected a
large loudspeaker near my room and it blasted all day. It
was not supposed to stop for seven days – 24 hours a day!
Fortunately (for me) something broke and it stopped after
only two days.
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
People are very neat and well groomed.
April ’99
I get sunburned a heck of a lot faster here than at home.
The people are wonderful. They are all very friendly and
good-natured. The country is beautiful.
"San Miguel" is the most popular beer.
People swim wearing more clothing than Americans do. Men
wear a T-shirt and swim suit. Women wear either a bikini or
one-piece suit covered by shorts and a T-shirt top.
Globe Digital Cell Phone Company advertises more than any
other business. I see their ads on billboards, street signs and
newspapers. I will not be purchasing a Globe cell phone.
A popular ice cream dish is called "halo-halo", and it means
"mix-mix". It's a couple scoops of ice cream, ice, condensed
milk, chopped fruits, beans, and a chunk of a dark purple root
crop -- called ube, I think. In stores, I continually mistake
baked goods made from ube as chocolate. Instead of a
brownie, I end up with baked ube. It's still pretty good.
There are a lot of mom-and-pop style home stores. A lot!
They are on every corner. Many homes have a small window
in front where you can request small items – water, cokes,
bread, shampoo, garlic-roasted peanuts, etc.
Newspapers cost around eleven pesos (30 cents).
I've learned to be more alert now than when I first arrived. As
I walk along the road I keep my eyes open for two things -hazards by my feet and hazards by my head. Roofs from
roadside stands hit me at about eye-level. Holes in the
sidewalks drop you into the sewer drain.
As you meet or greet people they will ask you, "Where are you
going?" (Replaces "How's it going?" "What's up?" etc.)
Let me be open and receptive to new procedures, ideas and
thoughts. Don't let me be angry with people who are actually
trying to help.
People are very friendly. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a
foreigner or if that's they way they are to everyone.
People are usually not on time. This is Filipino time.
The ketchup here is sweet, and it's made from bananas. They
put it on a lot of things -- like fried chicken. All things
requiring tomato sauce are made from this banana ketchup.
Spaghetti sauce is really banana ketchup sauce.
American movies are popular. As at home, "Titanic" set sales
records. Many movies have been censored. I heard that
Titanic had the nude scene cut. Movies cost 40 pesos (one
dollar).
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I've noticed that there are a lot of small, individual-sized
packages of things. Single servings of shampoo, laundry
detergent, dishwashing detergent, that sort of thing. Of course
there are larger quantities too, but these small sizes are much
more common here than back home. And nothing like the bulk
sizes of the Price Club anywhere here that I've seen.
Air conditioning is called "air-con".
called "sems".
School semesters are
It now sort of irritates me that tricycle drivers sometimes try to
charge me three times as much as any other rider. I always get
out and find another tricycle. If that one charges me too much,
I get out and find another one. It just aggravates me, but if I let
them charge me that, then they'll try the same thing with the
next non-Filipino. I guess it's just the principle of the thing.
They think I have more pesos than the Filipino riders do, but
I'm probably on as tight a budget as they are. Some try to
charge me more after the ride. I never pay it then. Even if they
start yelling at me like the guy did this evening. Single riders
are usually supposed to pay double -- Filipino too, but not
triple. Outside McDonalds is a good place to find a greedy
tricycle driver.
Many banners cross the streets. Lots of advertisements, but
few (if any) street signs.
Girls and women commonly hold hands. If two girls are
walking together, they will be holding hands.
It costs me 6 pesos (16 cents) to mail a postcard to the US, 15
pesos (40 cents) to mail a letter and about 60 pesos ($1.60) to
mail a few photos.
Prices as a percentage of income: One thing to keep in mind
about the prices -- the average worker here is paid much less
than the worker in the US. For a (very) rough approximation
use about 1/10 the wage of a US worker. So if a newspaper
costs 30 cents to the Filipino, it would be as if we paid $3.00
for one. They would be paying the equivalent of $4 to mail an
international letter, $16 to mail a few photos, $10 to see a
movie, and the average fast food meal would be about $15-25
for some rice, a Coke, and small servings of pork or fried fish.
Books are expensive.
A Filipino buying a pocketsize
paperback computer book for 400 pesos would be like an
American paying over $100 for one!
Students are usually very respectful of their instructors.
Thanks for these caring people. Thanks for those who look out
for my welfare and those who send me get-well soup.
The Asian equivalent of McDonalds is called Jollibee. A giant
smiling bee is their mascot. They are found throughout Asia,
I'm told. Instead of apple pies, they have banana and mango
pies. They have soft drinks and hamburgers that are mostly
pork. Their prices are about half the prices of McDonalds.
That banana pie is very good.
There are two professional basketball leagues here -- the PBA
(Philippine Basketball Association) and the MBA
(Metropolitan Basketball Association). In the MBA you are
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
allowed two Phil-Ams (Filipino-Americans) per team. I went
to see our local team, the Nueva Ecija Patriots. The two
FilAms were Willie Miller and Cristano White. I hadn't heard
of either of them. The level of play was not as good as ACC
college basketball, but it was probably better than small
college. I was taller than about 40% of the team. The tallest
man in Manila played for the opponents. He was 7'3" and
looked like he suffered from a severe case of gigantism.
time with them as possible before they left. They left some
good prayer study materials.
I've been volunteering as a teacher for Vacation Church School
(VCS) the last two weeks. The school was held in a
community called Bakod Bayan. This means "Fence Town".
There were these little fences surrounding all of the homes in
the community. The fences were really vertical sticks,
branches and limbs poked into the ground or wired together to
create something that resembled a fence. The community was
about a half-hour away by tricycle. We crammed eight people
and a block of ice on that little 125cc motorcycle and sidecar.
We put five people into the sidecar and three on the
motorcycle. Although I was a little uncomfortable, I loved the
ride there. About half the distance was paved, the other was
just dusty dirt road. We had miles of paths between long flat
rice fields. You could see nothing but green rice fields in all
directions. One morning was particularly memorable. We were
travelling along one of these wide green flat stretches. There
were two hazy mountain ranges in the distance. The sun was
just above those hills, and it was already hot. A single coconut
palm broke the level plane of the huge rice field. A water
buffalo stood about fifty yards from the tree. Farther along to
the right of the buffalo three rice field fires blazed -- sending
clouds of thick black smoke high into the air. Even though I
was a quarter mile from the fires, the burning chaff watered my
eyes and irritated my nose. Then I really felt like I was in Asia
-- and far from home. It reminded me of a scene from some
Vietnam War movie -- the aftermath of some skirmish.
Nothing left but a few scattered fires and a wandering water
buffalo. It was hauntingly beautiful. Scenes like that are
MBA Ticket
Restrooms are called "Comfort Rooms" or CRs. Bring your
own paper.
The dorm Bible studies continue to be rewarding. I'm learning
all the time. Unfortunately my pastor neighbors will be absent
for two months while they vacation and return to their home in
the US. They are a great spiritual influence. I spent as much
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
impossible for me to catch in a snapshot, but I'll never forget
the moment in my mind.
could speak the language. That would make things so much
easier. It did give me more of an incentive for learning
Tagalog though. The kids would be tugging on my pants leg
saying something, and I didn't know if they wanted something
to drink or if they liked the color of my pants. I was usually
totally lost. I did learn a few new words from memory verses
and songs. We had about 30 children from the community.
We didn't have a church or classroom to meet in, so we met
under a big tree beside the ricefield. We used the tree as a
blackboard too. Whenever we needed a board, we taped paper
to the tree.
DVCS Class Meeting Under A Tree
The focus of our Bible School was on migrant workers. One in
ten native Filipinos is a migrant worker. Mainly they have jobs
throughout Asia and the Middle East. One little girl's father
had been killed in the Persian Gulf War while he was a migrant
laborer there. Since they send whatever money they make
home to their families, a lot of the migrant workers don't have
enough funds to leave the country once they've arrived. The
thought of displaced people being killed in these conflicts had
never crossed my mind. I had no idea that Filipinos were being
killed in the Gulf War. Most of the children had family or
relatives working outside the area. One little four-year old girl
named Rose lived with her grandparents. She has never known
her parents. Her mother is out of the country trying to make
enough to support Rose and Rose's grandparents. Rose always
prayed that her mother would come home because she was so
lonely without her family. She was so cute, but her story was
so sad. I got along pretty well with the kids. They liked to pull
the hair on my arms. One boy took a yellow crayon and tried
I co-taught the oldest class of children (10-12 year olds). Well,
I guess I was more of a teacher's aid, since I didn't really do
that much teaching. I was responsible for visual aids. I drew
lots of pictures. I held up signs and carried chairs. I sang
songs and danced in circles. I jumped up and down and made
airplane noises. I couldn't communicate very well with the
kids. None of them could speak English, but they did a good
job parroting every word out of my mouth. It sounded like I
had an echo following me everywhere I went. I really wish I
- 16 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
to color his eyebrows like mine. I miss not being around those
kids now.
The Pastor’s Bird
The memory verse for the week was from Psalm 118:1.
The Black Bird swears in Tagalog.
He ruffles his feathers
And shrieks a stream of profanities
Whenever I get too near.
O pasalamatan ang Diyos na si Yahweh,
pagka't siya'y mabuti;
ang kanyang pag-ibig ay napakatatag at mananatili.
(Awit 118:1)
I try to be friends.
I offer him a cracker –
But he ignores it
And cackles in Tagalog again.
(Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures
forever. Psalm 118:1)
The students memorized it after a couple readings. They were
really quick learners.
I think he would bite me
If he could
He has the personality
Of a nasty old man
A Kid in Bakod Bayan
We welcome the day with jumps and shouts of joy.
We smile warmly under the tamarind tree.
We memorize verses we will never forget.
We learn from our lessons prepared by our teachers.
We like to run and dance to have a good playtime.
We’re almost always happy, but extra happy with a cookie.
This is what it means to be a kid at Bakod Bayan.
What made this beast?
Man or nature?
If I sat in a cage all day
I think I would curse in Tagalog too.
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Vacation Church School the pastor showed up with a little bag.
Inside was a pair of worn shears and a razor blade. He was
going to cut my hair before our VCS graduation exercises.
Convinced that there was no polite way out of it, I followed his
instructions and reluctantly stripped to the waist and sat in the
shade on a little wooden bench under an Acacia tree. (He was
surprised I wasn't wearing a T-shirt.) He took the rusted
scissors from the bag and carefully trimmed away -- first on the
left side of my head and then on the right. His cuts were slow
and deliberate, not like the quick snipping of a hair stylist. He
would make a trim and then examine his work. A few of the
kids stopped by to witness the work. It didn't hold their interest
for too long. I thought they would be a bit more fascinated
with it than they were. I sat and wondered how many different
types of hepatitis there were. Two or three? How many could
I catch from this? All I heard from him was "Very nice, very
nice hair" or "Curly hair -- not like Filipinos". That's not
exactly what I wanted to hear, but he continued with his work.
He told me he cut a head of hair for a penny when he was in
college -- and it paid for his education. That's a lot of practice
for certain, but college was about 30 years ago too. I was just
hoping that he wouldn't cut off so much that someone with
skills couldn’t repair the damage. Hair continued to drop in the
dirt. After the scissoring was finished, he took the razor from
its paper pocket and shaved around the edges of the cut. I
didn't move a muscle. This was an old razorblade in his hand.
I could feel the blade scraping against my neck. He asked if
the blade was stinging, but it wasn't. He would trim a bit and
then shake the blade in a little cup of well water. I prayed for
the skilled hands of a surgeon on my head. Finally he finished.
He advised me to style my hair with Vaseline, and handed me a
DVCS Graduation Day
One of the VCS pastors here kept mentioning my hair and how
I needed another cut. He volunteered to cut it for me. He said
he currently worked on two other heads at the university. He
was insistent about cutting my hair. He said it was his special
mission. What can you do in a case like that? Not to accept
his offer would have been considered rude, I think. I told some
other guys about it, and they said under no conditions should I
let this guy touch my hair. They said to expect a "military".
So I guess I wasn't exactly thrilled about the prospect of a buzz
cut. I put him off for a week, however on the last day of
- 18 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
mirror. I looked at myself and was surprised that it actually
looked OK. Two people told me it looked better than my
normal MegaMall cut. The MegaMall charges 100 pesos, but
the pastor didn't accept anything for his work. The pastor and I
became very good friends. He has a great testimony to tell –
but that’s enough for another book.
responsible parenting -- raising good children. I think that's
another benefit of this missions experience -- breaking down
some of the cultural stereotypes and barriers that gave me an
inaccurate impression or maybe even fear of other peoples.
I attended a special building fund raising fellowship show for
Village United Methodist Church in Manila. It featured
Filipino Christian celebrities -- like Fanny Serrano, Princess
Punzalan and Jun Polistico. I didn't know these people, but
everyone else did. Princess Punzalan and Jun Polistico were
famous Filipino actors and Fanny Serrano was hairdresser to
the stars. Each one got up before the crowd of about 500 and
gave hour-long testimonies in Tagalog. Then they sang songs
(in English). It was a pretty good service. Lasted almost four
hours.
As I was reading "Our Daily Bread" one morning I came
across a passage that included this message -- (1) you don't
really understand something until you have to teach it, and (2)
in order to really receive the blessings of learning something,
you have to pass it along to someone.
I thought it was nice that our neighbors asked me to pray after
an evening of playing music and singing together. It didn't
cross my mind to pray after an evening of hanging out, but it
occurred to them.
Holy Week is celebrated throughout the Philippines from Palm
Sunday to Easter. Each town observes special religious events
during the week. It is supposed to be a time of spiritual
reflection and meditation. Most of the businesses are closed
after Wednesday, and all of the government offices are shut
down. School is also out, and this is generally when families
vacation. Some of the popular vacation spots around Luzon
include the hundred islands, the rice terraces of Banaue, and
the resorts in the cool mountains of Bagio.
I seem to be running into more and more street-children
beggars. I don't know how to handle them. I am on a missions
journey, so I feel like I have some sort of responsibility but am
not sure what to do. The folks here tell me to ignore them. I
gave some money to one in Manila, and immediately ten
surrounded me.
It's interesting to discuss religious issues with a friend who is a
member of Reverend Moon's Unification Church.
The
Unification Movement here actually resembles little of the
image I had of the church. I haven't read much of what
Reverend Moon professes, but one of the characteristics I see
in the members is a strong focus on individual families and
The canteen was closed all week. Most of the restaurants were
closed too. Everyone had left school and there wasn't much
cooking going on in the dorms either, so I had to make do at
my friendly neighborhood McDonalds. In observance of retail
sales, they were open all seven days.
- 19 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Banaue Rice Terraces
Bless all nations. Bless our differences. Make us more
tolerant of each other and our diverse cultures. Let us see the
beauty of our differences and not be frightened by them. Help
us to be more understanding -- even if our cultural differences
keep me up all night, listening to women wailing as if they
were dead.
My neighbors and their driver, Boy, invited me to join them for
two days (Wednesday and Thursday) at the rice terraces at
Banaue, and I was glad to go. "Boy" -- isn't that a cool name?
Boy was a pretty good roommate. He didn't speak a word to
me the entire trip. It took a long time to drive there (as it
always does), but the sight was worth it (as it always is). There
were spectacular views of lush green rice terraces cut into the
sides of mountains. The Filipinos call this the eighth wonder
of the world. It was truly incredible. 2000 years of farming
labor had created narrow, flat fields the entire height of the
hills. Views of bright green terraces going up both sides of the
valleys were amazing. There were hundreds of them -- all
shapes and sizes. A misty mountaintop created the feeling of
this undiscovered land. Really cool.
We popped out our hotel-provided quick-guide to the area and
looked for other interesting sights. A nearby village looked
promising. Actually getting to the village was a bit of a
struggle. We had to climb/slide down a very steep trail that
went on for half a mile or so. When we finally got there, all we
could see were skinny dogs and a bunch of huts. We went
inside one and a woman was selling some carvings her husband
had created. They were pretty good, so I bought a black ladle
carved from the Philippine national wood. It had a lizard
eating a man's head on it. Then the guy asks us if we want to
see "the bones". Sure, man -- I'm always up for a good bone
viewing. He goes into a back room and pulls out this wrapped
woven cloth. He unwraps it, and inside are the bones of his
dead grandfather. It's the custom in the village to keep the
bones of your dead ancestors in your home. His grandfather
was killed during the Japanese occupation of the island in
WWII. The family placed his body in a cave for two years. At
- 20 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
the end of two years the bones are mostly stripped of
everything, so they are removed, wrapped in a cloth and placed
in the home. Excellent tradition! I was surprised by how small
the sack was. It was about the size of my book-bag. You can
fit a lot of human bones in a small space. The skull took up
most of the room. Those bones really rattled too. I guess I've
never listened to bones before. (I think I've heard of village
tribes making musical instruments out of bones.) Bones sound
a lot different when they're not covered with all that flesh. The
guy had a bunch of bags of bones in his house. I guess they all
probably looked and sounded pretty much the same.
Speaking of bones, in the rice terrace region there were a few
stands selling lots of them -- water buffalo skulls, monkey
skeletons (I hope they were just monkeys), pig skulls, etc. It
was a tradition to put skulls on the exterior of your hut. The
size or type of the skull showed your social class. If I had a
hut, I would probably be a rat skull -- not quite up to water
buffalo status.
would have rather been anywhere else in the world came out
and hopped around a bit, airplaning his arms and flapping his
hands. Then he would walk off, sort of embarrassed with his
head down -- probably thinking, "if they weren't paying me $2
a night, I'd be outta here!" I remember feeling like that at some
of the jobs I've had. I wonder if they have a big turnover.
Unlike the men, the ladies were fully dressed. They did similar
dances. They had marriage dances, war dances, harvest
dances, and murder dances -- in case one of the villagers got
killed. They played flutes and shook spears. Donations were
accepted.
On Friday I dropped by the CD Video store to return my
pirated copy of "The Thin Red Line." Some of the scenery in
that movie reminds me of the countryside here. (Note: I have
since found that there have been a lot of war movies filmed in
the Philippines, including “Apocalypse Now”.) The CD store
assured me they would be open, and of course they weren't. I
walked to the MegaCenter but it was closed too. I grabbed a
tricycle and headed for lunch. We were near the market
(Palange), so the driver took me through there as a shortcut.
The market was open and alive. Suddenly the streets were
blocked for some reason. I saw a large group heading my way.
The guys in front were dressed like Roman soldiers. A couple
of guys dragging brown wooden crosses followed them. But
the real point of interest was next. About a dozen shirtless men
were walking behind the crosses.
They were beating
themselves with whips. They were walking along slowly,
swinging this whip thing back and forth from one side of their
back to the other. Their backs were all bloody with large
butterfly-shaped bruises. Little bits of blood and skin were
The villagers also kept these little black idols called Baluuls (I
think) in their homes. These ugly carved men would ensure a
good rice harvest, and if stored in the rice house, would
magically generate more rice. There was one sitting on our
table at dinner, and I swear I couldn't finish all my rice.
Later that evening we went to the cultural center to see a few
tribal dances. They were interesting. Small and wiry, nearly
naked, 60-year old men wearing G-strings and feathered
headdresses danced about the room for a couple of hours. Each
dance was described, then some old guy who looked like he
- 21 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
flying everywhere. Everything had little splatters of blood on
it. The men had cloths wrapped around their heads so they
remained unidentified. Their white pants were covered with
splotches of blood -- like in a butcher-shop. They were
"flagellants" and they were doing this as a religious rite. Then
they stopped walking to lie down in the street. Other men with
tight bundles of tall reeds started beating the men on the
ground. The flagellants were facedown in the road while other
men stood over them, beating their bodies. It was a nasty,
unbelievable sight. They slowly stood up and started walking
again, swinging their whip from side to side. No words were
spoken. No cries or noises were made. I only heard the shuffle
of feet as they deliberately marched along. (Note: In a nearby
town, a group of religious men actually had themselves nailed
to a cross! One guy had done it seven times before. It's
attempted by only the most fervent. I was hoping that no one
here would suggest testing the character of the new missionary
in the same fashion.)
Got up for Sunrise Service at 2 am to travel to Tarlac. I went
with my pastor neighbors. The service started at 4:30am and
took place at a W.W.II memorial site. There were several
thousand Methodists at the service. There were dancers
waving palm leaves. There were many choirs singing Tagalog
and English songs. Bishop Nacpil and my pastor neighbor
spoke about being re-born. Almost all of the service was in
Tagalog. We had a picnic meal on the grounds afterwards.
Got home about 12:00, and shot hoops with the guys here most
of the afternoon, shirtless (and stupid). Holy Week ended with
me nursing a sunburn.
Thanks for the reminder -- I didn't come here to teach, I came
here to SERVE!
Friday I also attended the usual Good Friday church service.
Evidently the same sermon gets preached at all the United
Methodist churches in the country. The message was called
"The Seven Last Words" and it's about the last words that Jesus
spoke. The words are "Father forgive them for they know not
what they do", "Today you will be with me in Paradise",
"Woman behold your son! Behold your mother!", "My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?", "I thirst", "It is
finished", and "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." It
was pretty good, but it was almost all in Tagalog. A different
pastor delivered a message for each of the seven words. The
service lasted almost four hours.
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Bob at Palengke
Bob’s Typical Work Day
Wake up to roosters crowing at 5:30 – 6:30. If it’s before
sunup, my roommate Noli and I can go jogging down to the
Palange Market. That place is a swarm of activity at 6 am.
Noli calls it experiencing the three S’s of Palange -- sights,
sounds, and smells. The smell of the place isn’t so great.
Thousand of people yelling in Tagalog. Really crowded.
Leave your manners behind if you want to get around there.
We can buy some things for breakfast – mango, rice with
roasted coconut topping, bananas, probably some bread. Good
food there. We will also see lots of fish – maybe flopping
around in their bowls. Maybe staring up at us with little wire
hooks through their mouths. There are a lot of rice fields and
fish farms around here. You can buy fresh chicken or pork too.
Lots of fruits and vegetables.
I start my Bible study at 6:30. It generally takes about a half an
hour. If I don’t manage to make it to the market, I’ll head to
the University canteen for breakfast. I’ll say hello to the
workers who are building my dorm – “magandong umaga”.
They start about 6 or 7. All my meals are free at the canteen
now, so I try to go there whenever I can. They generally have
things like beef with rice or maybe some fatty sausage for
breakfast. Occasionally they will have an egg with fried rice
- 23 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
dish. Most of the meals at the canteen are the same. A pork
dish, a beef dish, maybe some fried fish. Maybe a bean dish.
Sometimes cabbage soup. I had a great banana, crushed ice and
condensed milk dessert a few days ago. Usually it’s pretty
much the same every day. It’s like a very small cafeteria. I’ll
get some bottled water or a cold Sprite to drink. My meal is
usually around 50 pesos – maybe $1.35. Sometimes Noli and I
will eat together.
There are about five or six Korean students in the area who
drop by to practice English.
They’re very eager and
enthusiastic.
Sometimes we’ll read a chapter of John.
Othertimes we’ll just talk.
The President of the University approved a PC to be moved to
my room, so I can work there now if I want. It’s usually a lot
quieter in my room, because the lab is full of students – playing
games or working on assignments. However, the lab is airconditioned and my room is not, so it’s a trade off. I’m usually
creating Web page documents to use as teaching aids and
tutorials. The textbooks I brought with me have been
incredibly valuable, since I don’t have ready access to the
Internet here. I have books for almost everything they’ve
asked me to teach. Books here cost about the same as the ones
back home, making them darn expensive for students. I do
have access to the Internet through the President’s office or
through an Internet café in Cabanatuan City, but the response
time is incredibly slow. It literally takes me an average of
about 15-20 minutes per message during the business day.
That’s why I don’t want to receive email like “How to Tell the
Difference Between my Dinner and a Dead Cat”. Also please
don’t send email that says anything negative about Asians or
Filipinos. I’ve already been burned and embarrassed by that.
My friends and colleagues here are usually crowded around my
terminal to see what my American friends are saying. If I get
the feeling the email is risky, it’s trashed before I even open it.
Also – large emails are automatically deleted. My mail system
crashes on large emails or enclosures. Hey, I’m just so darn
excited I can get some mail period!
After breakfast, I’ll either head to the computer lab or back to
my dorm to work on tutoring or my teaching or assignments. I
tutor English almost every morning.
Studying English
- 24 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
After I work on the projects a while, I’ll head back to the
canteen to get lunch. Often it’s exactly the same as breakfast.
Sometimes they’ve added or removed a dish or two. Usually
I’ll eat with Noli, occasionally with students or maybe alone.
The students are mostly shy but they’ll ask me questions like
“How do you find the Philippines?” – meaning how do I like it
here. They might ask my name, my age, whether I’m married,
where I’m from, if I’m a student, whether I can speak Tagalog,
why I’m here. (I wish I could speak a bit of Tagalog. They
like it when I can say something – like “good morning”.)
Those are pretty much the standard questions, and the students
are always very polite and kind. They’re familiar with nontraditional missionaries.
Last year there was a United
Methodist Volunteer In Missions (UMVIM) minister, his wife
and a divinity school student. The student was about my age,
looked a little like me (he was white), and could speak fluent
Tagalog. (Evidently, this dude was a saint -- I keep hearing
from everyone how great he was. I hope I don’t lower their
opinion of Americans, but this guy set such a high standard…)
After my lunch I might pick up a couple of Japanese pastries –
sweet bread/cakes with cheese – two for 25 cents. Tasty!
Philippines. There was a big protest at the US Embassy in
Manila last week. Red paint was thrown over the USA signs.
A few people have volunteered to me that they are nationalistic
and do not care for Americans on their soil. I just tell them I
have nothing to do with American imperialism – and God bless
America! Actually I leave off the “God bless America” part to
keep my hosts happy and me out of trouble. I could certainly
see why the US would want troops stationed here. This place
is ideally located in Asia -- just a few hours to every Asian
nation. Lots of coverage now of Jimmy Carter and his Habitat
for Humanity projects in this country. In the library I might
talk to a few elementary kids. If I talk to one, then a lot of
them will get the courage to talk to me. It’s sort of fun when
they ask me questions. They’re really cute. Sometimes the
deaf students will wander in and smile at me. I learned to sign
a few simple things – “my name is Bob” and I always practice
that. They think my halting movements are funny – or maybe
it’s just me.
I’ll go back to the lab to do a few more hours of class
preparation. I’ll write and test some code, write some
procedures for doing some programming exercise, or maybe
run some errands. I’ll grab a tricycle (4 pesos = 11 cents) to go
to the post office – OK, I haven’t actually sent much mail but I
might start, check my email or browse the Web a bit, go to the
mall to see if anyone has size 11 shoes (no way), etc. As I’m
walking through the University I’ll hear “Hey, Joe” about ten
times before I make it to my dorm. I smile and give them a
wave. Then they’ll laugh or giggle or wave back. I’m (much)
bigger and (much) whiter than everyone here, so I stand out.
I’ll also be the only person walking in the sun – everyone else
I’ll go to the elementary school (note: the University here has
2,000 students from grade one through twelve and 6,000 in
college) library then to read the newspaper – The Philippine
Star or the Philippine Inquirer. They both carry a bit of US
news. The reporting is much more biased and opinionated than
what we have in our papers back home. There was a lot on
Clinton’s womanizing and this controversial thing called the
VFA – Visiting Forces Agreement. There is a fairly strong
backlash here against having American troops stationed in the
- 25 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
will be walking in the shade holding a book above their head to
shield them from the rays. When I get to the dorm I might
shoot some basketball with my dorm mates or maybe listen to
some MP3 music files on my computer. I’m trying to exercise
as often as I can, but I do it only two or three times a week.
I could grab dinner at the canteen (food usually the same as
breakfast and lunch), but Noli and I usually go somewhere.
Sometimes his girlfriend Flor and some friends will join us.
We’ll go to MegaCenter Mall or NE Mega Shell for some
cafeteria style food. We’ll share rice and fish or soup or maybe
some pineapple and a brownie. It gives me a little variety in
my diet. Usually it’s around $2.50. Maybe there will be an
American or Filipino basketball game on their TV. For a real
treat I go to McDonalds ($1.30 buys two hamburgers and a
large Coke) or Pizza Hut ($8 for a large supreme pizza with a
big bottle of coke and four kit-kat candy bars. They both sort
of taste the same as home. We might go to a different mall to
see a movie (cost $1) – well, I’ve seen one Hong Kong film -Jet Lee starred in the “World’s Fastest Hitman”. Actually, I
really liked it. Dubbed in English. Pretty funny. And a dog
kept running through the theater. I just found out yesterday
that there are these movies on CD-ROM that we can watch on
our PC. The quality is very tolerable. You can rent one for $1
and keep it for five days. If it’s Friday night I’ll got to our
dorm Bible study – if not, I’ll go home, maybe play a little
guitar, write a bit about the day in my journal, read a little of
some great books that I have (“The Imitation of Christ”, “The
Portable Henry Rollins”, or “Jesus’ Strategy for Social
Transformation”), take a shower and then go to bed sometime
between 10 and 2. We don’t have hot water here, so the
showers are still taking some getting used to. But it chills me
so that I go to bed really cold and I can usually fall asleep
easily.
When I teach it’s from 5 to 7pm, four nights a week. Two
classes are for the Computer Science faculty and are geared
toward programming (HTML, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Java,
C and maybe setting up Web Servers). Most of the
programming classes here are in assembly language. The
students are very proficient assembly programmers. The other
two classes are for the general faculty and cover the basics of
using Microsoft applications (Win95/98/NT, Word, Excel,
Access, and PowerPoint). Then I teach the same classes again
all day Saturday. I only do this one week a month though, so
it's not so bad. I'm very tired at the end of the week, but I have
time to recharge before my next series of classes. It makes me
feel really good to see my students anxious to learn this
material. One of the professors bound my notes and examples
to create a book to teach his students. It's great to see them
take what I've given and create something better from it. I was
worried that doing volunteer work would be professional selfdestruction, but so far it has proven to be exactly the opposite.
I’ve learned so much about networks (mainly from my
roommate) and some of the topics that I’m about to teach that it
has been worth it professionally already. You have to
understand it to teach it, right? And we’ve set up our
computers in the dorm as a small network, so that was kind of
cool and a bit of a learning experience for me too.
I’m looking forward to doing more things in Cabanatuan City
during the week – like going to some Manila Basketball
- 26 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Association games, seeing some cockfights, hitting some
different restaurants – if they exist, but so far those types of
things have been reserved for the weekends. I did see a coffee
shop today, so I’d like to give that a try. I also rounded up a
few folks willing to do a poetry reading if I can find a venue. I
want to do my first public reading of “The Virtuous Man” –
who drops me on my head, by the way. My weekends have
been spent exploring Manila and surrounding areas, and also
for church services. I spent some of last Sunday on a church
missions project ministering to the needy of the community.
That was pretty interesting. Maybe I’ll be able to do more of
those things. Not sure if my schedule or routine will change
much, but it’s been pretty good so far. The journey is the
reward…
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
May ‘99
Guitar Player
The people are wonderful. They are all very friendly and
good-natured. The country is beautiful.
Happy Group
Thanks for showing me the poetry in life.
It's impossible to escape the little red ants. They are
everywhere. They will find any food item within a half-hour of
my setting it down. They love mango juice. They like
toothpaste too. Every morning I have about a dozen ants on
my brush. I just cover them with toothpaste and brush on.
Sometimes there will be hundreds of these little red searcher
ants running around. The colony must send them out to try and
find food for everyone else. I guess they aren't sure where to
go so they look everywhere -- like all over my notebooks or
textbooks.
I might find them in my clothes or crawling
through my computer keyboard. I like the way everyone treats
the insects and lizards. They just ignore them.
A lot of people know how to play musical instruments very
well, especially guitars. A good evening is spent high on our
dorm roof playing music and singing songs. American love
ballads are very popular. The students here know more
American love songs than I do. There are American and
British bands that were unknown to me back home, but very
popular here.
- 28 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
looking into a house window watching TV. He probably didn't
have a TV at home. I haven't watched much TV because I
can't find one. There's a big screen at Shakey's Pizza that
sometimes has NBA games. There's a little one at NE Mega
Shell fast food restaurant, and there's one in the Technology
School faculty lounge that's locked most of the time.
People find very ingenious ways to make money around here.
An example is the "Batang Semento". These are young boys
who risk their lives by snatching leftover cement. The boys
follow cement trucks that have just made a delivery. They
jump onboard the moving truck and climb to the top. The open
the hatch and jump into the mixer. Then they scrape leftover
cement from inside the walls. They fill a bag and carry it out.
The boys are paid 50 pesos (a little over a dollar) for every
100-lb bag they fill.
A Country Home
Every morning and evening men riding bicycles and squeezing
loud little horns cover the community. They are selling warm
bread called "pandesal". It costs a single peso for a piece of
this bread. Some folks buy two pieces from the bicycle
salesman. They eat one piece with strong black coffee for
breakfast. That gives them enough carbo energy to work in the
field all day. Then they eat the other single roll in the evening.
Evidently people are able to subsist on this meager diet for a
long time. The bread is good. I can eat about ten pesos worth
at a time.
Another street salesman is the balut-boy. Balut is a half-boiled,
ready to hatch duck egg. (You can distinguish the beak and
feathers.) It tastes a little better than it looks. The inside of the
egg resembles a coiled lizard. I try not to glance at the egg
when I eat it. The taste reminds me of the "mustard" of a
Maryland Crab. Usually these kids are walking through the
streets screaming "baluuuuuut, baluuuuut", but I saw one the
other day just standing there doing nothing. I couldn't figure
out what was going on until I got closer -- he was on the street
Phones are rare too. Less than 5% of Filipinos have a phone.
There are always lines at PLDT (Philippine Long Distance
Telephone) pay phones. What surprises me is the number of
cell phones that I see. Quite a few are carried by students and
faculty. I guess the cost of a cell phone must not be much
more than a regular phone. If you're going to have a phone,
then why not have one that you can take with you? On the few
- 29 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
occasions when I managed to find a phone and have called
home, I have had an excellent AT&T connection.
food and water so I just ate and drank exactly what everyone
else did. I think my body adjusted OK to the less serious
troubles. I guess now I can just sit back and wait for the
amoebas to strike.
I've made friends with a few of the twenty American Mormons
in the area. Some of the guys have been here almost two years.
They invite me to play basketball with them at 6am Monday
mornings. We play for about an hour or until it gets so hot that
it's impossible to play. The Mormons speak decent Tagalog, so
they're making me look bad. Everyone still wants to know
why I can't speak Tagalog like they can. I'm making an effort,
but it's sure not easy for me to learn the language. An elder
told me they study for several months before they arrive in the
Philippines, and they practice for 30 minutes a day once they're
here. And they speak in Tagalog all the time when they are
meeting people. I've bumped into them a few times since I've
been here. They gave me some interesting information. The
Mormon Health Service in Manila has only approved two
places in Central Luzon for them to eat -- McDonalds and
Pizza Hut. Only those two places passed the Mormon
sanitation tests. Aside from these two restaurants, they have
not had a single glass of water or a single bite to eat that they
themselves did not prepare. They have also remained in fine
health. (They told me to be careful of amoebas that may lie
dormant in my body for two years.) This restaurant revelation
really surprised me. It would be impossible for me to do the
same. I can't cook food in the dorm and my friends here
seldom go to Pizza Hut or McDonalds. I usually reserve those
places for when I'm alone. I have taken virtually no precaution
with my food or drink. And aside from a two-week infection
in each eye, and a two-week bout with bronchitis, I have only
been terribly sick one day. I wanted my body to adjust to the
Speaking of restaurants, you might want to avoid dishes with
"aso" in the name -- like lechon aso. Although officially
outlawed by the government, tradition dictates that a few
underground establishments in Central Luzon still serve dog.
Jollibee mango and peach pies are just as good as the banana
ones.
Thank you Lord for your wonderful water!
It's hot and humid as heck here. Our dorm heats up all day
under the sun and becomes a radiating concrete sweatbox at
night. It's almost unbearable sometimes. The cold showers are
the only thing to cool us down. I always hope that I'm asleep
before I warm up from the shower. Before the Philippines I
had never taken a cold shower to put myself to sleep.
Manila is especially dirty and polluted. You can literally wipe
the black grime from your body after you've spent some time in
the city. I was shocked when I looked at my towel, but my
dorm mates just laughed -- situation normal in Manila.
In this country there is a "problem" with men relieving
themselves anywhere. It is certainly not uncommon to see a
man standing next to a wall on a busy street. I see it almost
- 30 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
every day -- not that I'm particularly looking for it. The
President said there must be a stop to it, so he cracked down
and told the Manila police to enforce a law that says public
urination is illegal. The police arrested 90 men the first day.
Many students have an afternoon siesta for an hour or two. It's
just called "taking a rest".
As I was walking along the path to school, I noticed a couple of
crude wooden crosses tacked to several trees. My friend told
me that some ghosts had been noticed in the area and these
crosses were to ward them off. They must be working; I
haven't seen any ghosts there.
I have been made a lifetime member of K.A.T.A Combat
Karate school. A pastor here at the University teaches classes
at the YMCA. My roommate, Noli, and I helped him
computerize his forms and logos, so he made us both lifetime
members. He teaches a variety of forms -- some of which I
have never heard. He told us that the best fight is one that
doesn't start, and the best martial artists are the ones who walk
away from petty challenges. I liked his attitude. His approach
was a little different from my Tai Kwon Do instructor in
Maryland. I remember that guy encouraged my class to get
into street fights in Baltimore to work on our technique.
McDonalds sells a lot of things here that they don't sell back
home. The biggest sellers seem to be spaghetti (with banana
ketchup), fried chicken and rice. My Filipino friends here
never get a hamburger at McDonalds or a pizza at Shakey's.
It's usually fried chicken. There's no KFC in Cabanatuan City,
but I’ll bet the place would do some good business.
There's an interesting way of doing business here. I believe it
is called "get-that-guy-out-of-our-office-as-soon-as-possible".
This has happened to me a lot, most recently at the Western
Union office. I tried to get information on receiving money
from the States. On the first occasion I was there, the person
behind the desk told me she would send a messenger to my
dorm with all the information. OK, so I left. No messenger
ever arrived. I returned to the office a few days later. When I
entered the office the same person behind the desk immediately
told me that a messenger had just left to deliver the information
to me. OK, so this time I cleverly got a copy of some of the
information from her -- not all, thinking that I could get most
of it from the messenger. The messenger never arrived. I
guess the messenger is still trying to find me.
When you use your fingers to indicate how many things you
want, Filipinos start with the little finger and work their way to
the index finger. To indicate you want three of something, you
would hold up your pinkie, ring finger and middle finger.
In Quezon City (Metro Manila) they just closed a garmentmanufacturing sweatshop that employed 49 people aged 12-17.
These child laborers worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week.
They were paid $25 a month. That's less than a dollar a day -not even ten cents an hour! And these kids didn't want to be
"rescued" from the place. They said they didn't know where
they could go or what they would do to find other work. When
I hear about things like that my stomach hurts.
- 31 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
All over the country you will find establishments with signs
outside that say "No Guns or Deadly Weapons Allowed".
Guards with shotguns or handguns are posted everywhere -movie theaters, department stores, banks, restaurants,
McDonalds, clubs, etc. Sometimes these friendly guards will
assist you in making a purchase. And they always open the
door for you when you come or go.
problems. It's amazing how skilled he was. He was able to
diagnose my illness from across the room without ever leaving
the comfort of his office chair. He called me into the room,
asked me a few questions about my eye and then dismissed me
with a prescription for a throat lozenge and a handful of allergy
pills -- since I suffered an "allergenic" reaction to the chlorine
in the swimming pool. He never asked me to remove my
glasses so that he could examine my eye. He didn't take a
sample of my yellow dripping mess. He never touched me -no temperature measurements, no cursory smiles, nothing. He
hardly looked up from his papers -- all business, totally
professional, in and out in thirty seconds. Next, please. (He
did ask me to see him before I left for DC because he had a
package he wanted me to deliver.) I shudder to think at the
time wasted in the US when physicians actually put their hands
on your body. When they listen to your heart and lungs. When
someone takes the time to draw blood or to perform a lab test.
Don't they realize they can see more patients if they don't
actually do anything to the ones they are seeing? This concept
was lost somewhere across the Pacific. Someone should
explain this to American doctors -- shuffle your papers a bit
and prescribe a throat lozenge. (As I walked from the room, I
think I would have trusted the care of a local "faith healer" as
much as I believed this diagnosis. Maybe I could still make an
appointment to see one. They could probably pluck my eye
from its socket, bathe it in fresh chicken blood and return it to
my head before I knew what happened. Another thought
crossed my mind. What if my doctor recognized something so
vile and detestable in my eye, that even he feared for his
safety? Maybe my dripping eyeball was a sure sign of
impending blindness. Was that why I was ushered out of his
"Pasalubong" -- it's a Filipino word meaning the gift you bring
back after you have gone somewhere. As I leave in the
evening to get my dinner, the guard crowd at the university
gate asks me where I am going. "Pupunta ako sa McDonalds",
I say. Then I hear -- "pasalubong, pasalubong" - meaning that
they want me to bring something back. Occasionally I do it.
Amid much protest, the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)
passed. This allows the US to temporarily station servicemen
in the country. Almost everyone I talked to here is against it.
They worry that having US troops here will make their country
a target for anti-US aggression. They believe that US
servicemen will spread sexually transmitted diseases and create
a big market for prostitution. They also know that the
approximately one billion dollars that the US will offer the
Philippines will disappear into the pockets of corrupt
politicians. In Manila the only thing larger than the riotous
crowd at the US Embassy protesting "American Imperialism"
and the Visiting Forces Agreement is the long line of patient
Filipinos trying to get a US VISA to enter the country.
Doctors in the US should take a lesson in efficiency from one
of my doctors here. I saw several doctors when I had eye
- 32 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
office in near-record time? Is there still time to visit another
doctor? Can I still recover the vision in one of my eyes?
…(Later)…Well, now actually my eye isn't quite as sore, and
the dripping seems to have subsided a bit. The throat lozenges
must be working.)
There are two other United Methodist churches in the city.
They only have services in Tagalog. I haven't made it to either
of the churches yet, but I will try to do so before I leave.
Our dorm meetings start with a Bible study or devotional led
by the resident teacher and resident missionary (me). The
teacher is leaving this month, so I guess those duties will be
solely my responsibility now.
If this is a lesson in patience and perseverance then bring it on.
This week I've had really bad sunburn, two swollen and
infected eyes, no water, no power, taught long classes, and my
wonderful neighbors have moved. I'm sure the trials and
tribulations teach me something.
I finally finished the "Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A
Kempis. The book was written by a monk for monks, but I
would even recommend it to all of you non-monks. It serves as
a gentle reminder for some of the ways we could shape our
lives. I passed it along. I've started on Bishop Nacpil's book
"Jesus' Strategy for Social Transformation." It discusses
changing Filipino society using Christianity.
Since Wesleyan is a Methodist school that requires Christian
Education, there are about a dozen pastors employed here.
They're decent guys. They take turns with the Tagalog
services. (Well, all the services are in Tagalog.) At every
Wesley Chapel service the pastors and their families sing for
the congregation.
Friends sent me a few Guidepost magazines, and they have
been making the rounds in the dorm. That was an excellent
package idea. In general, I think the students here are a little
more receptive to discussing spiritual things than the young
people in the US. I'm actually amazed by the honesty of the
students here. They say things that surprise me all the time.
They're not afraid to admit when they're a little scared or
lonely. I would do well to learn some things from them.
The chapel is an open-air building -- more like just a roof
covering. It has a piano so students sometimes stop in to
practice. It's always open, so it's nice to drop in there and
meditate or pray a bit some evenings. A small light is always
on at the altar.
The Mother's Day service at the Wesleyan Chapel was nice.
All the mothers received a little white or red rose. They stood
in front of the church and sang a song for the congregation.
My Mormon buddies came calling, and I welcomed them. It
gave me a good opportunity to tell them what it means to me to
be a Christian. I told them how much God loves and cares for
them too. Then I prayed for wisdom and discernment for all of
us, and then they left. They said they would come back and we
- 33 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
could talk more, but they haven't dropped by yet. I hope they
do, because they're nice guys.
Sounds of the Philippines (5/17/99)
I frequently discuss spiritual matters with people here.
Sometimes it's brief, other times a bit more involved. We have
a board in the dorm where we have a daily devotional.
Someone writes a verse and someone else illustrates it. Some
of the drawings have been really impressive. A few of the
students have questions, and I do my best to answer them. And
in turn, I ask questions too.
Pandesol bicycle horn
Rooster crowing
Motorcycle engine revving
Tricycle driver yelling
Dogs barking
Children laughing
Bottles rattling
Loud 6am radio
Construction
Echoes in Wesley Hall
In the Philippines, you will often see references to Jesus. It's
impossible not to see them. They are written on walls, on
billboards, on jeepneys and tricycles. Over 90% of the
population here claims to be Christian (nominally so) and 80%
of these are Roman Catholic. About 8% of the population is
Muslim, and they're almost all in the Southern region (called
Mindanao). 4% of the population belongs to the Church of
Christ.
Baptists, Methodists, Mormons and Jehovah's
Witnesses make up about 2%. The rest of the population is
Buddhists or animists.
Sometimes when a few of us get together, I pull out my chord
sheets and we sing praise songs for a couple of hours. It's fun.
- 34 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
June ‘99
Milk is not very common here. People don't use very much of
it. I haven't seen anyone drink a glass of milk or eat a bowl of
cereal like Corn Flakes. In fact, I don't know if I've even seen
a box of cereal in the supermarket.
The people are wonderful. They are all very friendly and
good-natured. The country is beautiful.
Not much goes wasted around this place. You'll see a lot of
things "recycled". Tricycles are a jerry-rig of everything.
Empty plastic containers are used to hold coins, discarded
plastic sheets are fashioned into rain guards, wood is wired to
the sidecar to make a small cabinet, hunks of used tires are
used to make mud flaps. I'm surprised by how resourceful these
guys are sometimes.
The Philippines has some incredibly beautiful sites that would
be interesting to many tourists, but they just don't have the
infrastructure to support it yet. Some of the problems include
(1) public transportation, (2) accommodations, (3) food and (4)
adequate restrooms:
(1) What public transportation I have used has been reliable,
but most of it would be uncomfortable to the typical Western
tourist -- three people squeezed together, little or no airconditioning and maybe wood-slatted seats.
Often there will be little shrines set up in the sidecar. They
might have everything from little Christ figurines to Disney
toys. Sometimes the driver will hook up a radio or some
Christmas lights. A mirror is usually provided, so you can
check your hair or makeup, or maybe wipe the dust from your
eyes. I'm a bit tall for the tricycles. I usually have to tilt my
head to sit. A few of the tricycles lean you so far back in the
seat it feels like you're ready for launching. Sitting there, my
knees are almost pointed to the sky. I get a kick out of those,
and I can't help doing a little …3…2…1 countdown and
blastoff for my seatmate. It was sort of funny the first time I
did it.
(2) Most of the hotel rooms are modest -- there's nothing in the
room except for a bed or two, a table, no air-conditioning, a
bathroom shared by the floor, and probably no hot water.
(3) I love the mangoes and the bananas, but to be totally
honest, I'm a little disappointed by the foods here. I was
expecting fresh grilled seafood every day, but fried pork
(including all layers of the pig -- bone, gristle, meat, fat, skin)
is much more common. I tried soup made from beef organs this
week, but I ended up losing all of it about two hours later. We
do have fish, but it's almost always fried. Well, maybe it's just
the places that I eat. Or maybe it's actually more of the area
that I'm in. I'm probably as far from the sea as any spot in the
Philippines. It's about four hours away. If you want really
Motorcycle oil is stored in Coke bottles in little roadside
stands. Pull over, buy a bottle, pour it in, and be on your way.
The Coke bottles are also clearly marked "Bottle For Beverage
Use Only".
- 35 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
good foods, go to a birthday party. The homemade foods there
are always excellent!
(1-4 above) Of course, I'm speaking from the average guy's
perspective. You can always find luxurious rooms, good
foods, nice bathrooms and cars to rent in Manila.
Enjoying A Party
In our community there are two bowling alleys. One alley is
highly computerized. It has an electronic keypad, automatic
scoring, bright computer graphics indicating the level of
difficulty in making your spare, modern seating, polished balls
and waxed lanes. It is in the NE Pacific Mall. The other alley
has duckpins, smells musty, is dimly lit and has boys running
along behind the alley to set up the pins. It's also about a third
the price of the modern lane.
The first typhoon of the year just hit. The Philippines averages
20 typhoons a year! The winds were almost 170 kilometers per
hour. It hit just north of Central Luzon, meaning that we got
heavy winds and rains, but were spared the worst of the storm.
The streets were all flooded, but evidently that is normal. No
one got upset about it. They just rolled up their pants legs and
waded through it. Three people died from a landslide created
by the heavy rain.
(4) I've heard that it's difficult to find clean restrooms
throughout Asia. The Philippines is no exception. Use the
bathroom when you can, because you never know when you're
going to find another clean one. And finding a toilet that
works is sometimes a problem. You must know how to use the
water bucket to flush, because some of the handles are
inoperable. And carry everything you need with you, because
you're not going to find it in the bathroom. As you travel,
places along the route advertise clean restrooms if they have
them. (Note: the restrooms in my dorm work great -- thank
you!)
We had an earthquake too. I didn’t feel it. It measured only a
3.2 on the Richter scale. They had a nasty 8-point-something
here a few years ago. That's the quake that everyone talks
about. It brought down a lot of buildings. The people here say
it was the most frightening thing they've ever experienced. I
don't understand why the damage wasn't even more severe.
Everything is built of concrete -- personal homes, business
buildings, schools, etc. Concrete couldn't be the best thing to
withstand violent earthquake shaking.
- 36 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Master or Master Champion or something. Anyway, she's
good. The Manila paper ran a big story on her. I will often see
people playing chess in little alleys along the streets. Some of
the students play in the dorm.
There's a gang of men going around Manila now terrorizing
passengers of air-conditioned buses. Just yesterday they
boarded a bus, robbed everyone and killed four people. They
shot nine people total. This was the seventh bus that was
targeted recently. I suppose they target air-conditioned buses
because they feel that the people riding the nicer bus must have
more money. I think I'll tolerate the heat in a dilapidated piece
of junk bus from now on. The situation is somber. Nine
Manila traffic policemen have been killed in the last two
months too. The police just killed a suspect in the murders in a
dramatic shootout. It continues. The Manila Police Dept
announced that 12% of their Police Drug Unit was addicted to
drugs. Every day I pick up the newspaper I read about political
corruption, kidnappings, brutal murders, and many incestuous
rapes in the Philippines. I guess Manila is like any other large
city. It has its problems too.
Internationally famous Filipinos include a seven-time world
champion bowler, a world-champion pool-player (I don't
remember their names), and stage actress and singer Lea
Salonga.
The runner-up in this year's Miss Universe
competition was also from the Philippines. I've seen a lot of
pictures of her advertising everything now.
The community is very proud of academic achievement.
Banners across the road and newspaper ads announce the
names of people who have done well on certification tests,
examinations, etc.
I've gotten to know a few of the trabajadores -- construction
workers -- at the school pretty well. They live in makeshift
rooms -- a few pieces of corrugated metal and wood propped
together. There are about fifteen of the guys living in this
place. They cook their meals over an open fire. Sometimes
they catch fish or frogs from the swamp. (By the way, keep
your cats away from their camp.) They always offer me food.
Sometimes I'll have a bite or two with them -- OK, rarely.
Sometimes I'll buy them a little something -- like a few pieces
of pandesal bread. One of my friends there gave me a Tagalog
dictionary. It probably cost him more than a day’s pay. He
said that when I returned to the US he would like to have a pair
of my shoes, since he doesn't own a pair of his own.
The most popular sport here is probably American basketball.
There are two professional leagues. I watch the Patriots in the
MBA. I ran into the coach in McDonalds and struck up a
conversation. He was a very nice guy. He travels to the US to
recruit Filipino-American players, and he lived for a year in
DC. He invited me to drop by and watch practice if I wanted,
as long as I didn't carry his strategy to the opponent. The
opponents didn't need my help -- the Patriots ended the season
3-17.
Chess is very popular here too. There's a 17-year old girl
living here in Cabanatuan City and going to Wesleyan
University who is an International Grand Master or Grand
- 37 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
There are dozens of reasons why the Philippines is wonderful - the people, the beautiful countryside, the fresh fruit and fish,
the market, the sunrise, the green rice fields, the volcanoes, etc.
I've heard that some of the most beautiful and isolated beaches
in the world are located here, but I probably won't see them
before I go.
You do not have to clean up after yourself in any fast food
restaurant. Just leave your trash on the table and someone will
come by to take it to the trash.
I think being flexible is one of the keys to a successful stay
here. Try not to get too bothered over any action or mode of
operation.
Since most people do not have refrigerators (called "refs"
here), you go to the corner store and buy ice. Ice is frozen in
little plastic bags -- sort of like cylindrical sandwich bags. You
buy a little bag of ice and you will have enough for a couple of
cold drinks. Whenever you need another cold drink you just
walk to the corner and buy more ice. Sometimes drinks are
also served in these little plastic bags. Just stick a straw in the
end and you're good to go.
When a child draws a picture back home, he'll often sketch a
house and a tree, maybe the sun, some birds or a flower and
maybe some mountains. Here, children always include rice
fields in their drawings. Lots of green squares with individual
rice plants. Central Luzon is the “rice bowl” of the Philippines.
Filipino Children (DVCS Students)
I finally went to a cockfight. Cockfighting is a popular Filipino
diversion. It's practiced throughout the country, and you can
read the results of the "Cocker" or "Cock Derby" in the
newspapers. It was sensational, but actually a little less brutal
than I expected. The arena I went to was built like a big square
wooden barn stadium. It held about 1,000 people and it was
packed -- standing room only, hot as heck, and smoky. Almost
all men, just a few women around selling cigarettes or fruit
juice (everyone shares the same glass). Downstairs they sold
sandals, live ducks, an odd assortment of cock necessities, pork
intestines, and traditional foods. In the center of the stadium
was a glass-walled square ring where the fight would take
place. I'd guess it to be about the size of a boxing ring. The
ring held about four or five men (referees and cock handlers)
and two angry roosters. The cocker began with two men
- 38 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
bringing out their cocks. Each cock had a razor "talon"
attached to one leg. The two men sat their cocks down so
everyone could get a look at them. One cock was placed under
the "Wala", sign and the other was dropped under "Mana". (I
don’t remember the sign names exactly, but it meant something
like “more” and “less”.) Then the place erupted in shouting,
and the gambling began. This was total chaos to me, but
somehow everyone else made sense out of it. The men used a
set of hand signals to indicate to each other how much they
wanted to bet and on which bird. Everyone screamed and
signaled. I saw bets going down for as low as 20 pesos (50
cents) to as high as 2,000 pesos (50 dollars) in my corner of the
arena. Men would bet with several people simultaneously. As
the fans were yelling, the bird handlers were getting their cocks
ready for the fight. They picked up the birds and brought them
near each other. One guy would hold his bird and let the other
cock peck at it a few times. Then they would switch and let the
other bird have his turn pecking. They would move the birds
back to their corners and put them down again. The birds
would fluff up their feathers and strut around. Then the men
would repeat the process. I guess it gave the spectators time to
gamble and the birds time to get really mad. Finally the cocks
were placed about a yard apart and released. The entire
stadium goes silent. The birds sort of fly or bounce in the air at
each other, there's a flurry of feathers, men start yelling again,
there are some "ooohs" and "aaahs", and about thirty seconds
later it's over. One of the birds will be lying in a clump of
feathers. The referees will pick it up and put its head close to
the other bird to see if it will still do anything, but it doesn't.
The owner of the winning bird gets to take the losing bird
home for dinner. The talons are exchanged too. I expected
something far more dramatic. The fight itself was sort of anticlimatic to the rest of the process. I expected something
resembling the familiar farmer dad-hatchets-chicken scenario
that I remember watching a few times at home. Now that was
exciting! The spectators exchange gambling debt money by
balling it up and throwing it to their partners. Lots of rolled up
bills are flying around the arena at the end of a fight. I left
after watching about five of the twenty-fight derby. I met one
of the cock owners outside the arena. He is a guard at our
university. He held his winning cock in his hands and the bird
looked fine -- calm and peaceful. The other cock was in a little
yellow plastic bag ready for the cook pot.
The rainy season has just arrived. When it rains here now, it
really pours. It lasts for a couple of hours. You get totally
soaked if you're out. Umbrellas are worthless. If you don't
want to get wet, you have to stay in. The streets are always
flooded too. They look like big long lakes. Some friends live
in a building that is always an island now. We have to pull our
shoes off and wade through when we visit. I always wonder
what's lurking under the dark water and whether my tetanus
shot is up to date.
This was a hard month for me. Remember how I was recently
bragging about eating and drinking everything and suffering no
ill effects? Well, I've been sick most of the month. It serves
me right
- 39 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
The Library at Wesleyan
July ‘99
The people are wonderful. They are all very friendly and
good-natured. The country is beautiful.
This month was 100% better than last month. My health
(physical, emotional, and spiritual) has been much better. It’s a
bit embarrassing, but I think I was going through a little culture
shock.
Culture Shock – the disorientation, homesickness, frustration
and stress you feel when the novelty and fascination of living
in a new culture wears off. I’ve noticed here that it hits
everyone after they’ve been here three or four months.
The Filipino people are very kind and friendly. They make this
country a special place.
I took a brief trip to visit some great friends in Taiwan.
(Taipei, like Hong Kong, is only an hour flight from Manila.)
On the return flight from Taipei to Manila I was seated beside a
Filipino man. He was in his early twenties. He was in the
tricycle parts importing business. He told me that he goes to
Taiwan several times a year to pick up Japanese motorcycle
parts. He brings the parts back to the Philippines and sells
them for five times what they cost him. The most interesting
thing that he told me was how to get through customs with a
1000 peso bill. He said his customs' tax on his parts would
probably be around 7,000 - 10,000 pesos, but he knew a way
around that. He said he simply slips a 1000 peso bill in his
papers as he hands them to the customs official. The official
will take his bill and open his box to inspect it. When he finds
there are no drugs, he will send the guy on his way. He said it
Evidently, Wesley Divinity, part of Wesleyan University is one
of the few divinity schools in Southeast Asia. I didn't realize
how unique this school was.
- 40 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
always works the same way. I wonder which is better for the
country? The young man keeps his 9,000 pesos, which he will
probably spend on something, putting the money back into the
economy. On the other hand the government is cheated out of
9,000 pesos which it could have used to improve the
infrastructure or to house and feed the poor. One of the biggest
problems here is poverty, so I suppose the young man is
selfishly keeping the money out of the hands of the most
needy. On the other hand, corrupt officials might take most of
the 9,000 pesos anyway, so that it never reaches those that need
it most.
year 2000, and then left after a few quiet minutes. Although I
couldn't stay, I did catch a glimpse of the peacefulness of the
place.
It was a serene respite from the noisiness of
Cabanatuan.
We all need a quiet place to meditate
occasionally, be it a home in the country, a monastery or just a
quiet room in our house.
During my stay in the Philippines, I met many non-Filipino
Asian students. Most decided to study in the Philippines
because the quality of education was good, it was inexpensive
and they wanted to learn to speak English. However, some
selected the Philippines out of necessity. I've become friends
with several students from Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Myanmar is under martial law. In an effort to thwart student
uprisings, all universities in the country were closed. Students
were forced to find educational opportunities in other areas.
Some of my friends studied in nearby India before settling in
the Philippines. Myanmar is 95% Buddhist. Christian
missionaries have a tough time there. The nation believes that
Christianity is a foreign religion and not for the people of their
country. The Buddhist missionaries also entice converts by
paying them small sums of money. The poor flock to
Buddhism to get this cash. (Actually, I didn't know that there
were Buddhist missionaries. I just thought Buddhism was sort
of a way of life in Asia. I didn't realize there were Buddhists
actively seeking converts to the religion. Interesting.) Living
in that part of the world, the students are very familiar with
Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. It amazes me that there are
any Christians in the area at all. They told me that they came
to know Jesus Christ through a group of missionaries that
started a small church there a generation ago. Since Myanmar
I recently visited the Carmelite Monastery. It is on the
outskirts of Cabanatuan City. I took a tricycle off the main
highway to a winding dirt road. The tricycle quickly became
mired in the dirt, so it dropped me off about 300 yards from the
monastery. I walked the remaining distance. Wildflowers and
grasses surrounded the road. I heard a few birds and saw
several water buffaloes nibbling contentedly on water plants. I
found the monastery secluded in trees. The bell in the church
tower was silent, and a large flat metal sculpture decorated the
front of the building. The noise of the nearby highway was not
evident. A hospitable middle-aged lady met me at the front
entrance. I guessed her to be the caretaker of the place. I told
her I was interested in visiting the monastery, possibly to spend
the evening for a short retreat. She told me that this was a
cloistered monastery for nuns. No one was allowed to come or
go except for a few workers and the bishop. The nuns always
stayed there. She invited me to rest in the chapel, so I did. In
the chapel I heard voices singing, but I never saw anyone. I
picked up some information about the Pope praying for the
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
is under martial law, the government keeps a tight rein on the
people. If you put up a poster about democracy at Rangoon
University, you can get 15 years in jail. If you hold a meeting
to discuss human rights, you get 15 years in jail. Actually,
supporters of the democratic movement can be jailed for
anything – possessing a fax machine is forbidden, talking to the
foreign press can get you 25 years in jail, passing out leaflets
got two activists 14 years of hard labor. Just today I read that
Amnesty International has noted that the military in Myanmar
controls the youngest political prisoner in the world – a threeyear old girl who is being held to try and force her activist
father out of hiding. If you want to know more about the
democratic movement in Burma, read about Aung San Suu
Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
construction of several national highways, schools, and
government buildings, which, as evident, were the basics in
promoting faster communication, better quality of education,
and more efficient governance.
On International Relations: The Philippines had a better
relationship with the Asian countries and even with the
Western World during the Marcos’ regime. This could be due
to the fact that during that time, Philippines was one of the
richest countries in Asia, which implies, that being rich, it
could be a good ally -- economic-wise.
What is it like to live under martial law? People here have a lot
of experience with that. The nation was under martial law until
Marcos was overthrown in the 80’s. They tell me of fear and
of curfews. Soldiers walking the streets. They tell me of riots
in Manila. Some of them also told me that the country was
better then than it is now. I've taken an interest in what the
Filipinos think about Ferdinand Marcos. In the U.S., I'd
always heard that Marcos was a ruthless dictator who stole
billions of dollars from the Filipino people. The educated
young people that I have talked to recently view him
completely differently. These are exactly their words:
On Freedom of Speech: Civilian owners of television and radio
stations were forced to sell their properties to the government.
Those who were not willing to give up their right were
kidnapped and soon vanished from the map of the world.
Several instances of brutal take-over left a gruesome mark in
the history of Philippine journalism. Business tycoon Mel
Lopez and his family was one of the many who fought hard to
keep freedom of speech a part of the Filipinos’ lives. Student
activists, mostly from the University of the Philippines, were
frequently seen in the streets, staging rallies against
dictatorship. Unfortunately, most of these students had
experienced violence from the hands of Marcos’ men.
On the Country’s Physical Development: As a president,
Ferdinand E. Marcos would receive a high rating in his
management of infrastructure development throughout the
country. This means to say that in his time, he had ordered the
I created a major disturbance in the town today. I've wanted to
take some photos of palengke, the area market, but I didn't
have the time until today. I took the afternoon off and shot an
- 42 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
entire roll of film there. I took pictures of many vendors and
their fruit, vegetable or fish products. I sat with a couple of
them and had my picture taken. Most of them were really
friendly. They had big smiles on their faces when I came by to
take their picture. (In general Filipinos love to have their
picture taken.) I took the film to the MegaCenter to have it
developed in one hour. I got the pictures and then decided to
return them to the people that allowed me to photograph them.
I took the 20 photos back to the market and started searching
for the individuals in the pictures. As soon as the crowd
realized what I was doing, they surrounded me. They all
wanted to see my pictures. The gathering was so large that it
blocked the street. Suddenly traffic was blocked and motorists
starting blowing their horns. It was mass chaos. I wanted the
earth to open and swallow me. The last place I wanted to be
was in the middle of that mob of people. The traffic police
started walking in my direction blowing his whistle, so I tried
to move deeper into the market so traffic could pass. I
explained to the crowd that I wanted to give my photos away.
In an instant, my pictures were spreading through the group.
The vendors knew each other so most of my photos quickly
found their homes. I couldn't find the travelling banana man
though, maybe he'll show up later. Then the salespeople
returned and asked for autographs. I felt ridiculous. I signed
all 19 photos and that wasn't much fun. I was thinking about
how Cal Ripken stays after a game signing autographs for
hours. It only took me a few minutes, and I was irritated by it.
A professional athlete must really get tired of doing it. I was
tired of being the center of attention too, so I quickly jumped
into a tricycle and sped off before I got into any more trouble.
Before I left, everyone who didn't want to have their picture
taken before, now wanted me to come back.
How does the Philippines compare with other Southeast Asian
nations in per capita income?
Singapore
Brunei
Malaysia
Thailand
Indonesia
Philippines
Laos
Cambodia
Myanmar/Burma
$19,940
$16,000
$8,650
$5,970
$3,090
$2,310
$850
$630
(?)$300
Note: The USA was around $30,000
I had a fine tricycle ride recently. The young man that picked
me up asked if I was a missionary. I said I was, so he asked
why I wasn't wearing a white shirt and tie. I laughed and told
him that those were Mormon missionaries. I was from the
United Methodist Church, and I could wear anything I wanted - even a T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. He asked me to tell
him one thing about my beliefs. I guess I should have said
something about God's love, but what came to mind was
Philippians 4:13, "I can do everything through Him who gives
me strength". I said a couple of words about God giving us the
strength to do whatever task he sets before us. The driver
smiled at me and said, "Thank you. I believe that what you
- 43 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
told me is true." He dropped me off at my dorm and gave me
his name, Wesley. He said he hoped to meet me on the tricycle
again.
memorials were large metal frames. My friend told me that
they were the structures for tents. Every November first, AllSaints Day, the cemetery is transformed into a carnival.
Families gather under these tents and have a boisterous party.
People play music, drink and eat food. There are card games
and children running wild. She told me the day before AllSaints Day is similar to our Halloween, except the children
here collect money and not candy.
View from the Top of Wesley Hall Dorm
Now a little history lesson: Did you know that the explorer
Magellan, who is given credit for being the first person to
circumnavigate the globe, never actually made it? His group of
ships made it, but he died in the Philippines. The story here
goes that a great Filipino hero, chief Lapu-Lapu, killed him in
hand-to-hand combat in a battle in what is now Cebu. A large
cross stands at the site where Magellan was killed.
As you are travelling along one of the largest and nicest streets
in Manila, Roxas Blvd, many homeless beggars will come to
your car and knock on the windows requesting money. Many
of them carry small, sad children. Also along the highway are
large signs (in Tagalog) telling motorists to please NOT give
money to these people. The signs say that by giving them
money you are only ensuring that these children remain in a
life on the streets.
For bananas, the worst looking is often the best tasting.
I visited a cemetery with a friend who wanted to see her
grandparent's gravesite before she left the country. The place
was a little different from the ones I've been to back home.
There were many more things above ground -- not just
headstones, more like small monuments. Above many of these
Today was a happy day at Wesleyan University. My friend,
Professor Engr. Alejandro (Noli), married elementary school
teacher, Flor Aluber. I was the best man.
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
“God is so Good”, but I’d have to say our efforts were a
disaster.
Noli
The President of the Philippines, Joseph Estrada, or Erap as he
likes to be called, has a continuing feud with Manila
newspapers. The President, a former actor, urged the film
industry to pull all ads from the Philippine Inquirer. He claims
that the Inquirer unfairly criticizes his administration. In the
Philippines, the papers print pretty much whatever they want. I
don’t think they rely on the two-source rule. Papers in the US
could never print what they print here for fear of libel. What
the papers state as fact is sometimes merely opinion, and the
President is angry about it. All of the movie ads were pulled
from the Inquirer except one – “Legacy” – filmed in Manila
and starring Bay Watch actor David Hasselhoff. Suddenly the
government banned that movie. They claimed that there was a
line in the movie’s ad that was not approved by the film
association. Unbelievable, but this cracked me up. (And I had
to immediately go and see the movie.) The President has also
banned all Inquirer reporters from his press conferences. It’s
hard for me to believe that the President would take any paper
so seriously, but he does.
The wedding was beautiful in its simplicity and informality.
The wedding was held in the university chapel. No family
members were present – mostly just university faculty. The
pastor, who gave me the haircut under the tree, gave the bride
away. He told me I needed another cut. I skipped out before he
could retrieve his scissors. The bride wore a business dress.
The groom wore a traditional barong shirt and dress pants. As
best man I had several responsibilities. I helped drape a pearl
cord around the couple during the ceremony. This symbolized
togetherness. I got to wish the bride and groom well during the
reception at Mr. Frosty. And finally I was obligated to “treat”
the newlyweds to a song. I enlisted the help of a fellow teacher
and due to his voice competence, we managed to make it
through two verses of “Give Thanks”.
In a related issue, the Manila Times newspaper was abruptly
shutdown. In February, President Estrada sued the Times for
libel, claiming it suggested he was corrupt. He later accepted a
front-page apology from the Times president. An unnamed
person bought the paper and promptly ceased operation. The
buyer is suspected to be a close friend of President Erap’s.
Speaking of singing – my voice is really terrible. Most
Filipinos have a decent voice, but I do not. It’s not that I don’t
try – I just don’t have the gift. Last week I was a guest of
honor at an “acquaintance party” for the school of education.
As honored guest, I was required -–along with two others – to
sing a song on stage for about 2,000 present. We attempted
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
From one of the daily papers: The attrition of the media
continues as Erap friends have acquired a significant portion of
another newspaper – The Sun Star. The timing of the
acquisition has further fueled speculation that President
Estrada’s friends are buying into the media as a plan to control
them. Economists in the country fear that this crackdown on
the press will scare off foreign investors.
and then retreat back to the hills. Recently they took several
policemen hostage. The driver told me he was more afraid of
the police when they got drunk than the rebels. I saw his
collection of photos of children carrying machine guns and
assault rifles. Photos like that are very popular with the NPA.
I wonder…
We stopped at a little store for lunch. As I sat and ate meat and
vegetable soup, a little girl walked into the store, saw me and
stopped dead in her tracks – like she was paralyzed. Her
mouth dropped open, and she just stood there and stared. The
storeowner told her I was an Englishman. The girl said she had
neither seen nor heard of an Englishman. I believe it was the
first time she had ever seen a Caucasian. (Sometimes I frighten
small children. They see me and they run away crying. They
think I’m a ghost.) The resort itself was very nice. It
overlooks a large dammed reservoir. A hidden hydroelectric
power plant sits at the base of the dam. The lake was huge and
almost totally peaceful. A single canoe piloted by an old man
made its way slowly across the surface of the water. My guide
told me that fishing was allowed – but not dynamite-fishing
(which is popular here). The air was very clean and quiet. It
was a welcome change from Cabanatuan City. A man from the
resort gave me a tour of the power plant. It was pretty
incredible. No pictures were allowed in the facility – I’m not
sure why. The highlight of the tour was the two huge generator
turbines. The dam intake was open and the water was turning
the turbines like mad. I stood literally two feet from these
massive spinning wheels. It was so loud here that you had to
scream to be heard.
Folks here say the pressure on the press reminds them of the
first steps of Marcos’s martial law a few years ago.
Today as I entered the movie theater, the guard did a pretty
thorough body pat-down. He went through my bags and
confiscated my camera and all my “ball pens” (ballpoint pens).
I guess the pens might have been used as a weapon. The movie
was “Star Wars -- Episode One”.
I had an occasion to visit a resort in the remote mountains near
San Jose – about 1.5 hours from Cabanatuan. We rode along a
narrow winding road. It was unpaved when we reached the
mountains. Along the road were traditional nipa-hut style
homes. Thatched roof and woven walls. I wanted to take a
picture of some of these homes, but I was a little worried about
intruding on the families.
We passed through three
checkpoints along the way – one was set up by the Philippine
Army, one by the local police, and one was set up by the local
community. My driver said they were trying to stop the
National People’s Army (NPA) rebels who hid in the
mountains. The NPA is an armed communist group of about
8,000 members that demand government reform. You read
about them almost every day in the papers. They strike fast
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Although it has been a true pleasure to live and work in the
Philippines, there are some daily irritations. All I wanted to do
today was print a file. That’s it -- 3 pages. I went to the
computer in the university office. The printer didn’t have a
print cartridge. This started off a chain of frustrations…
Computer 1 – no print cartridge
2 – floppy drive doesn’t work.
3 – machine locked by administrator.
4 – no printer cable.
5 – printed one-half page
6 – machine locked by administrator
7 – no printer driver installed
8 – Word not installed
9 – no printer cable
I spent most of the day trying to print out a small file. I went to
nine different computer sites in this city and I couldn’t print my
document. Usually printer paper is a problem, but today I
brought my own. It didn’t make any difference.
- 47 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
and “acupuncture treatments”. One of my legs goes numb after
I sit in those cramped tricycles, so I decided an acupuncture
treatment wouldn't hurt. I went to the little building (beside the
one that sells US-made toilets) and asked to see the doctor. He
was occupied at the moment, swinging a long stick at a martial
arts student. I watched for a few minutes as the instructor
demonstrated the proper way to disarm an attacker. He looked
like he knew what he was doing. I hoped he knew as much
about acupuncture. He led me to a small room with three beds.
The room had three large old posters of acupuncture points on
the wall. We discussed costs and I negotiated what I thought
was a decent price -- about $12. (I later learned that the
standard price was about $2.50.) The sheets on the bed had not
been changed in a while and the room smelled pretty bad, but
since the price was cheap, I decided to continue the process. I
had to remove my shirt and lie facedown on the first bed. The
doctor grabbed a handful of individually prepackaged (clean)
needles and started pressing them into my back. I couldn't see
much of what was going on since I was lying on my stomach.
He worked from my shirtless lower back down to my leg,
inserting about ten needles along the way. He pressed the
needles through my shorts when he needed too. The needles
felt like any other ordinary needle piercing my skin. After they
were inserted I couldn't feel them unless I moved. There were
some gauze or cotton balls at the exposed end of the needles.
These were lit to allow heat to conduct through my body. The
smell of burning needles actually improved the scent of the
room. To some of the needles the doctor attached a machine
that passed a mild electric current through my back. After ten
or fifteen minutes the machine was moved to different needles.
Unlike most acupuncture patients, I found the process a little
August ‘99
The people are wonderful. They are all very friendly and
good-natured. The country is beautiful.
In general I felt very safe during my stay in the Philippines.
Although there was a lot of unrest in the southern part of the
country, and communist rebels would occasionally create a bit
of trouble in nearby areas, I didn’t really feel threatened.
Having said this, there were a couple of incidents involving
young men in my area. The most recent one occurred about
two weeks before I had to leave. I was riding a tricycle,
returning from the mall with one of my friends. As we neared
the dorm, I thought I saw a group of about ten angry men
yelling and throwing things in our direction. We got out of the
tricycle and started toward the university gate. I immediately
saw a group of male students facing the angry men and
screaming. One of the students from our dorm threw a large
rock over the wall in the direction of the men. My friend and I
tried to find an escape route, but we were sort of stuck in the
middle of them. Another rock flew over our heads-- returned
from the men. The drunken group raced toward us, but I was
uncertain where to go. They passed us and continued fighting.
We ducked and ran into the dorm. I was inside my room when
a gunshot rang out and I saw the group scatter. I later heard
that the university guard had to fire his handgun to get the
group to disperse.
On my way to NE Pacific Mall, I often passed by a small
building advertising “martial arts instruction”, “eggs for sale”,
- 48 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
uncomfortable. I had to lie on the bed for about an hour and a
half. The bed was too short and I wanted to constantly move to
a new position. Each time I moved, I could feel the needles
reposition themselves. Finally it was over and the doctor
pulled everything from my back. He rubbed some sort of
lotion on me. It wasn't an antiseptic; it was more like hand
cream. As I went home, each of the spots bled a bit leaving
blood on my pants and shirt. The doctor told me I would need
about three or four more treatments to make it effective. I was
leaving the Philippines so I didn't return and the single
treatment didn't alleviate my numb leg problem.
My Filipino friends can be described as friendly, happy,
humble, caring, loving, honest…
Father, You live in Heaven. Even Your name is Holy. You
will rule and what You want to happen will happen -- here and
in Heaven. Today give me what you know I need. Forgive me
for my wrongs, and I will forgive those who have wronged me.
Strengthen me during temptation and protect me from evil.
Amen.
- 49 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
opportunity. The students are eager and anxious to learn as
much as they can about technology.
Final Report / Summary
I consider it such a blessing that I was able to serve as a United
Methodist Volunteer In Missions (UMVIM) in the Philippines.
I know that what I offered in six months as a teacher did not
make dramatic changes in Filipino life, but what I learned from
the Filipinos about the Lord and about myself, has made a big
difference in my life. My perspective and attitude will be
forever changed by this experience.
Certainly one of the highlights of my missions experience was
the thrill of watching my students as they learned something
new -- their excitement and sense of wonder made any of my
own personal sacrifice well worth it. But this excitement
wasn't all that the Lord offered during my stay. There was so
much more that He revealed to me.
I learned that for me missions is a three-part challenge: (1)
Serving -- as a missions volunteer teacher, I was not there to
promote my own skills or accomplishments. I was not there to
trumpet my degrees and awards. I was there to serve the
people in whatever way God planned. This meant much more
than showing up in a classroom several times a week. It was a
full time job, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I knew I was
representing everybody in America and everything that being a
Christian stood for -- the Christian's life is the world's Bible.
(2) Sharing -- my experience in the Philippines was definitely
not a one-way exchange of ideas. The Lord used the Filipinos
to share so much about life and about Him. In every
experience I feel like I learned more than I taught, and I
received more than I gave. (3) Loving -- nothing is good that
cannot be practiced in love. This is the heart of Christianity
and missions. No matter what our situation, no matter what
circumstance we are in, our love of the Lord secures our work
and us. For me, Galatians 5:13 sums it best by saying "serve
one another in love".
My responsibilities in Cabanatuan City included teaching
computer programming languages and applications to the
faculty and staff of Wesleyan University. I taught a total of ten
introductory courses -- HTML, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Java,
C++, Microsoft Windows, Word, Excel, Access and
PowerPoint. In addition to these courses, I was occasionally
asked to speak to the students in workshops and symposiums
about recent trends in computer technology. In non-technical
arenas, I was given the opportunity to speak at local churches
about my work in the missions field and to share with
university students in my dorm.
The university has very acceptable computer facilities. There
are several networked classrooms, and the school recently
installed a small Internet lab. The goal is to network the entire
university, although this is several years away. The computers
used by the students are running recent Microsoft applications
and computer-aided design tools. Student interest in computer
training and education is high -- the lab is used at every
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
My time in Cabanatuan City has forever altered my outlook on
foreign cultures and on me. God constantly revealed new
things to me through my extended Filipino family. Each day
brought exciting new insights. I know that now I'm much more
aware of the inhabitants and circumstances that shape and
make our global community.
family or friends whenever you go somewhere. This really
typifies the Filipino people. Pasalubong was part of their daily
life. Seldom did a Filipino go somewhere that they did not
bring a little something back for their friends. I hope that I take
a bit of the selflessness of the people back home with me.
I have more respect for the difficulties involved in survival
through migrant labor. One in ten Filipinos is a migrant
worker. Mainly they have jobs throughout East Asia and the
Middle East. I knew a little girl whose father had been killed
in the Persian Gulf War while he was a migrant laborer there.
Since migrant workers often send whatever money they make
home to their families, some of them don't have enough funds
to leave the country once they've arrived. The thought of
displaced people being killed in these conflicts had never
crossed my mind.
Immediately after my arrival, I discovered how seriously the
Filipinos value family and interpersonal relationships. During
the discussion in our Bible study, it became obvious to me how
important they consider other people and how highly they
value their friends. I think God especially wanted me to hear
this message.
I've certainly grown more comfortable and accepting of
unfamiliar customs. I was exposed to a greater variety of
religious practices, some bordering on the bizarre. I watched
parades of fervent "flagellants" perform penance by beating
themselves to a bloody mess during Easter Holy Week. I
watched as they lay down in the street to be beaten by the
crowd. These battered men were not strangers in a distant
land, they were from my town -- the same people who lived
and worked with me. I think now I'll have a better respect for
all types of spiritual expression. I think that's another benefit of
this missions experience -- breaking down some of the cultural
stereotypes and barriers that gave me an inaccurate impression
or maybe even fear of other people.
I think that I also realize a bit better now how special the Lord
made each one of us and how His love touches us. We’re all
made in His image -- the man stopping his jeepney in the
middle of a crowded street, the tricycle driver trying to pinch a
few more pesos out of our ride, and the little boy gathering
scraps of cardboard. I became more tolerant of our differences
when I realized that my way of doing things isn't necessarily
better, it's just different. We're all trying to make it in the
world, and God loves us -- no matter what we do, no matter
how we do it, and no matter where we are.
The Filipinos taught me to be less selfish. I was surprised by
how thoughtful they were.
They have a word called
"pasalubong", which means the gift that you bring back to your
Although I was constantly adjusting and modifying my
attitudes and perspectives, my time in the Philippines was not
without its special benefits. I enjoyed many simple and
- 51 -
NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
wonderful rewards from my time there. God gave me a great
opportunity to live with remarkable people, and I will be
forever indebted and grateful to these people for showing and
teaching me so much.
tree as he snipped away and cleaned up my long hair, making it
a bit more respectable. I'll never feel the same lounging in a
leather-seated hair salon again. Part of the beauty of the stay
was watching the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the people.
Everything was used and very little was wasted.
Some of the events stand out in my mind as being especially
enjoyable. I loved the laughing children of the Bakod Bayon
community, attending their first community Daily Vacation
Church School. They screamed with delight when their
teachers arrived each morning. Seeing the enthusiasm of these
children as they attentively listened to Gospel stories and
joyously sung praises and hymns for the Lord made my entire
trip worthwhile.
Viewing the incredible beauty of the Banaue rice terraces make
me think they have a legitimate claim at being the eighth
wonder of the world. To see the lush green fields stretching
from valley floor to mountaintop creates a sense of amazement
when you realize that men labored 2000 years to build them by
hand. It's astonishing to think that men were working these
same terraces when Jesus Christ was walking the earth.
These people really make the difference in this country.
Experiencing the generosity of the Filipinos gave me such
warm feelings. Even if they didn't have a lot, what they did
have was always shared. They are incredibly friendly and
generous. Their faith remains strong, even in the adverse set of
conditions in which they are sometimes forced to live.
Throughout it all, the Filipinos remained happy and charming.
The Lord's natural beauty was everywhere. I drank cool
coconut juice on the rim of Taal volcano. I felt God's power
and presence as I sat there for hours watching smoke and steam
pour from the hole. God created an awe-inspiring earth; we
just have to take the time to enjoy it.
There were a host of other things that made my stay so special
too: my friends pausing to teach me a word of Tagalog and me
mastering a few phrases, some close Buddhist friends asking
me to pray for their family, witnessing the energy and
excitement of my roommate's face when he received good
news about his family, enjoying the satisfying and sweet taste
of a fresh mango, the spaghetti pancit (for long life) at birthday
parties, the incredible sunrises and sunsets, a Filipino asking
permission to call me "brother", conversations on the dorm
roof as we wrote little poems about the stars and the moon,
complaining about the heat and humidity together, construction
How could I forget my dorm mate's face lighting up when he
recalled meeting his grandfather for the first time the previous
weekend. I felt his joy when he told us about the feast of ten
chickens, ten ducks, a pig and a goat that this family enjoyed in
his honor. Moments like that are once in a lifetime and cannot
be recreated.
I'll always remember my free haircut from the pastor. I sat
patiently on an old wooden bench in the shade of a Tamarind
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
workers pausing to wish me good morning each day as I
passed, testing fresh fried frog from the fish pond, walking
through my historic tour of Manila, and finally the thrill of
reading my email, listening as people recounted the news from
back home.
put my trust totally in the hands of the Lord through the
Filipino people. I knew that whatever I accomplished was
done only through the Lord and not of my own merits. (3) My
spiritual support family back home. A surprising benefit of my
stay was that I became closer to the people I left behind. When
I left for Cabanatuan City, I thought I was leaving my friends
and family, but I was wrong. They made sure that we went
through all of my adventures together. They were as much a
part of the experience as I was. I had never known such an
awesome display of kindness. Although I was far from home
and distant from them, I never felt alone. I always sensed their
wonderful love and support. I felt their care and concern. I
read their words of encouragement. I opened their care
packages. Most of all I benefited from their prayers. I knew
that no matter what happened, I had the prayers of many voices
uplifting my service. I was an individual volunteer, but I was
working with a great deal of support -- a genuine assistance
that helped me through the various adjustments of the
Philippines.
This experience afforded me the time necessary for proper
spiritual reflection and meditation. Taking time away from the
distractions of my busy American life, I settled into a
comfortable Filipino pace. It gave me the opportunity to
communicate with the Lord -- not only asking through prayer,
but also listening to His reply. I found time to listen to God
and his direction. My soul and faith were restored and
strengthened, but I was challenged almost every day. My
journal entries record the struggles that I faced and how my
spirit responded.
Through these tests, I became more
dependent on the Lord and less dependent on me. This may
have been the greatest good of my stay in the Philippines. I
learned how special and important a privilege we have in
talking to our Creator and being faithful to His will.
I know I was rewarded each day I spent in the Philippines. I
am humbled when I remember how God richly blessed my life
in so many simple yet divine ways. I remain so thankful to
those who made my stay possible -- the wonderful Filipino
people, my home spiritual community, and most importantly,
the Lord. I will always remember with joy so much that
happened, not because the events were unusual or exotic, but
because they make up God's fantastic daily Filipino life.
There are three groups that are responsible for my missions
experience: (1) The Lord. The Lord is everything. Without
Him nothing is possible. I felt His love, His power, and His
glory throughout my stay. He provided the call and the
opportunity. (2) The Filipino people. Without the local
support of an American group to ease my transition into the
culture, I had to become totally dependent on the assistance
and kindness of my hosts. Although this was a little
frightening at first, it allowed me to further experience some of
God's blessings. I had to grow immeasurably in faith. I had to
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
Phones
PLDT (463-1600) is located on General Tinio Street. Outside
phones with both local and international service can be found
there. Some phones there require prepaid PLDT phone cards.
Cabanatuan City Traveler’s Information
Although Cabanatuan City itself isn't the destination for many
travelers, it is the gateway to North Luzon and many pass
through it. Here is information for travelers who find
themselves in the city.
Internet
There are several Internet cafes located in the city. World Link
on General Tinio Street offers service at 55 pesos/hour. There
are also small groups of Internet accessible computers available
at NE Pacific and MegaCenter Malls.
Hotels
Manrio Hotel (463-0814) on Maharlika Highway has rooms for
600 pesos/night.
Village Inn (463-1056) on Mabini Home Side has airconditioning and two beds for 742 pesos/night.
La Parilla (463-1810) on Zulueta is one of the nicest places to
stay in the city. Two beds are 1017 pesos/night. Cheaper
rooms can be found at Magic Court outside town.
Some sleep in the park in the middle of town for free, but the
local authorities might harass you.
Post Office
The city post office (463-0651) is located between palangke
and MegaCenter Mall. It is closed on weekends.
Banks
Many banks are located in the city. Traveler’s checks can be
cashed at Philippine National Bank (PNB) on Maharlika
Highway. You must have your passport and receipt of traveler
check purchase. You can receive pesos from Western Union at
various places in the city.
Restaurants
Plaza Lutecia (463-7475) is one of the best places in
Cabanatuan. It offers a fine buffet for 150 pesos. It is located
along Maharlika Highway, the main thoroughfare in town.
Jollibee, McDonalds, Shakeys, and Goldilocks are also located
along Maharlika Highway. Mr. Frosty's, on Burgos near
palangke (market), serves ice cream and traditional Filipino
dishes. A meal at any of these places will probably be around
50 pesos.
Hospitals
Doctor's Hospital (463-0010) is located on Maharlika Highway
near NE Pacific Mall south of Cabanatuan, and PJGMH (4632129) is on Mabini.
Shopping Malls
There are several modern shopping malls in Cabanatuan City.
MegaCenter (463-7449) on General Tinio Street claims to be
the largest mall in North Luzon. Four floors are open now,
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NOTES ON THE PHILIPPINES
including a theater and food court. NE Pacific on Maharlika
Highway south of Cabanatuan offers a bowling center, billiard
room, restaurants and six theaters. Both shopping malls are
open from 10 am to 8 PM, six days a week, with reduced hours
on Sunday.
Bus Service
Bus companies Baliwag (463-0799) on Zulueta and Five-Star
(463-2461) on Paco Roman offer service to Cabanatuan. It
costs about 90 pesos for an air-conditioned ride to Manila. A
taxi from Manila to Cabanatuan is about 2000 pesos.
Religious
There are a variety of places of worship for many faiths within
the city.
Universities
Wesleyan (463-2162) on Mabini Extension, Araullo (4632217) on Maharlika Highway, La Fortuna (463-3525) on Del
Pilar, and CLPC on General Tinio Street offer campuses in
Cabanatuan City.
Entertainment
Like any other Filipino city there are discos, lounges, and KTV
houses on almost every street.
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