I remember writing a piece many years back comparing the evolving lifestyles of the Filipino and their diet then and now.
In the 70s, before the arrival of fast-food stores like McDonald’s in 1981 and Jollibee in 1975, many Filipinos were svelte and pencil-thin, and hardly an obese person in sight, unless one was born with it. And then, toward the 80s, Pinoys started getting fatter.
Today, obesity is a common thing in our society. Thanks to fast-food joints, they are grossly responsible for making us obese and unhealthy. And it’s even a misnomer because getting food from these stores takes a long time.
The changing pace of the Filipino adapts to the way he eats and what he eats, so it’s always good medicine to return to our very own “lutong bahay” or mom’s home-cooked meals. I once lived in an all-white community, an upper class neighborhood if you will, where people there had access (because they could afford it) to correct nutrition.
This is short of saying that they shunned eating food from fast-food stores. And most of them, even in their senior years, remained lean and slender. I also lived in a mid-income community populated by Hispanics and Asians, and there I saw many obese individuals who had quick access to burger joints. America today has the biggest and most number of obese people.
Blame that on the food they eat. But in spite of that, America is fighting back to get in shape again.
The same must apply to us Filipinos here in PH. Notice too that most obese folks live in highly-urbanized cities, while the leaner ones live in the provinces. It’s the “pagkaing probinsya” that keeps them that way.
But modernity has crept even in remote areas in our provinces, so people will grow bigger too over the years.
What to do? Let’s not go inside our favorite fast-food joint and wolf down that burger and fries and that large soda. Instead, let’s have that salad (without the mayo) and ditch that cola! Have a vegetable dish instead and some fish. Take it easy on the rice or diabetes may be kicking in in a few years.
We can do it.
Human life begins earlier than what we think
A debate (once again) in kaffeeklatsch corners may be gathering momentum soon. This is all about the beginning of human life long before birth.
Much of this topic surrounding reproductive health and abortion concerns the question of when the merger between an egg and a sperm becomes a person.
The Bible does not tell us when we start to be humans, but it seems clear that the developing fetus is already a human being in God’s eyes.
When Jeremiah was called to serve the Lord God, he heard some strange words: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Apparently, God considered Jeremiah to be a person already long before he was born.
The same conclusion may be reached about John the Baptist. When his mother Elizabeth was greeted by Mary, the baby “leaped in the womb.” It could be argued of course that the child was responding only physically to an adrenaline surge in the mother, but Elizabeth assumed that “the baby in my womb leaped for joy!”
This seems like a real life that was able to experience joy even before his birthday. Another Bible passage would support this conclusion. The Psalmist David wrote that he was “sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” – Psalm 139:13-16. David praises God who “knit me in my mother’s womb” and “saw my unformed body.”
The fetus was not considered to be merely some impersonal biological organism or zygote. Human life was assumed to start before birth. It must start at some time during the gestation or prenatal development, and most likely it starts at conception.
Likha Ko, Lahi Ko
Upon kind invitation from Deputy Social Secretary Bernardina Lourdes Tantoco of the Palace’s Social Secretary’s Office, I was in attendance for the continuing "Likha Ko, Lahi Ko" cultural program with guest of honor First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, in anticipation of the 126th Philippine Independence Anniversary celebrations.
There, I met old friends from the “cultured” community like newly appointed Chairperson Lisa Guerrero Nakpil of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), Commissioner Ivan Anthony Henares of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) (also UNESCO-UNACOM Secretary-General), Chairman Victorino "Ino" Mapa Manalo of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and Jeremy Robert Barns, Director-General of the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP).
In attendance and also taking care of the VIP guests was the hard-working Jahnel Salazar from the OFL and the Bagong Pilipinas HQ. we were treated to some wonderful Filipino merienda together with the display of beautiful Indigenous Peoples’ craftsmanship like Ifugao wood carvers, Maranao burda and balud, Inuod gold thread embroidery, pottery from Tiwi, Albay, Tausug saruk and tutup weavers, Yakan tennun weavers, Punubok embroidery, Jama Mapun mats, and the Inabel Iloko from Bangar and Abra, silk pinilian.
And yes, the silver pokpok from Pampanga, among many other fine craftsmanship and artists in attendance.
This is a continuation of the Likha 1 from a February 2023 gathering of Filipino weavers from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with the objective of showing their fine products, and also connecting artisans with talented Pinoy designers.
The aim of this project is to sustain Philippine traditional textiles, thus making them relevant and fashionable.
This led to Likha 2 held during the 125th commemoration of our country’s independence, and other than textiles, an array of embroidery, basketry, pottery, mat weaving, wood and stone carving, filigree (gold and silver ornamental work) and shell craft were on display.
All these arrangements for the press previews were also made possible by the equally-hardworking and energetic PCO Senior Undersecretary for Traditional Media Cesar Chavez and his team. Thank you sirs.
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Factoid: Emilio Jacinto and Macario Sakay never recognized Emilio Aguinaldo’s authority. Both were also buried at the Manila North Cemetery. General Mariano Alvarez, president of the Magdiwang faction and uncle of Gregoria de Jesus, also refused to join forces with Emilio Aguinaldo.
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