Love, Ines Ligron

Ines (right) with her protege, Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori of Japan


The National Director of Miss Universe Japan, Ines Ligron, is not only a beautiful person who hones young girls into becoming fine fashionable felines but is indeed a woman with the best-quality heart.

She wrote a tragic story (that turned into a miracle of sorts) of her son, Luca, which caught my attention and coaxed me to leave her a message. She wrote me back, and an imprint of her kindness is most deserving of our dedication and homage.

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# JC Guapo Says:
November 1st, 2009 at 8:34 pm

Hello and Mabuhay!

This is such a heart-warming and moving story. I am just glad Luca has become well.

I almost gnashed my teeth for such medical clumsiness that caused your son’s autism for a few years. I hope that people will be inspired and hold on to believe that one day, all will be well.

Perhaps, it is fitting to tell everyone “ganbatte” or “aja aja fighting” for there truly is a God.

cheers,

JC Guapo
# Ines Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:55 am

JC Guapo… you have a nice name!

Thank you for your kind words. Are you okay with the typhoons, actually the 5 times typhoon? Unbelievable…. I have prepared a giant box to be sent the Philippines with clothes and sanitary items. Should be on its way soon. There is unfortunately so little I can do from here….
# Jc Guapo Says:
November 14th, 2009 at 6:31 am

Hajimemashite!

On behalf of the Filipino people, thank you for your kindness, compassion and help that you sent for the typhoon victims. Surely, God sees the goodness in your heart and will bless you manifold.

I was lucky enough to have been holed up inside my condominium building during the typhoons especially during the epic flooding last September 26th that devastated Metro Manila.

With the outpouring of prayers and love from all over, life is back to normal. Thank God.

Thank you for taking the time out in replying to my message. And thanks for liking my nickname, JC Guapo.

God bless you and your family!

Advance Merry Christmas!


Thank you, Ines!

"I Think, Therefore, I Am From UP"

Funny, deep and otherwise entertaining quotable quotes from UP professors.

1. "The aim of policy making is to invoke
action! Because action speaks louder
than words! You do not just say I love you. You say:
If you love me, enter me! " -Dr. Alfonso Pacquing

2. "Class, next week na lang ung result sa exam
nyo. I am having a hard time
checking it. I will seek first the divine guidance on
what to do about it.
Class don't worry about your grade. Let me worry
about it." Sir de jesus,envi sci 1

3. (valentines day)

"Ano ba yan? Students ba kayo ng UP? Bakit ang
bababa ng scores niyo?
Siguro wala kayong date ngayong valentines kaya
ganito kayo. Losers!!!
When i was your age i had a
date. Hindi ba naapektuhan ng UP FAIR
euphoria ng grades niyo? Parang di kayo
masaya..." (sabay matching tapon ng quizzes sa sahig)
"I won't record this. Go find a date."
(sabay walk out.) -Sir Doliente,BA.

4. Ma'am: Many people believe that we, psychology
graduates can read minds...
(silence) Actually, we can.
Class: Weh.. Sample..
Ma'am: Right now, you think that I'm bluffin
-Ma'am Chei Billedo, Psych

5. "I don't give surprise long exams. all
exams are announced. Halimbawa,
Class, mageexam tayo, NGAYON NA!" -Ma'am
Chei

6. "The human body is 70% water. Kaya wala
kayong kasaysayan lahat. Pag may
kaaway ka, sabihin mo sa kanya, TUBIG KA LANG!!! -Dr.
Recio

7. "Oo, nagpapaulan ako ng uno... baket? aanhin
ko ba nun? di naman ako
yayaman dun." -Sir Atoy Navarro, histo I

8. (commenting on a thesis of a
senior student) 'Yang thesis mo? .. Mamamatay ka!!
Mamamatay ka!!' - Dr. llanes, UPM.

9. "Nasa bandang gilid ang fallopian tube. Kaya
kung gusto niyong magka-anak
ng asawa niyo, dapat nakatagilid kayo habang
gumagawa." -Ma'am Meggie, Zoo 10

10. "Last sem was the first time that I gave a
grade of 5, and it felt good!!!"
Prof Goldie, Comm II, circa 1998, first day of class


nung freshie ako:
atheist ako, pero pag nasa bahay, nagro rosary kami
ng Nanay ko, eh kung magalit sa kin yun.
--Socio 11 Prof


11. "you do not fall in love; you rise in love.
That's how you love rationally." --Dr. FG david


12. "Try to die! Try to die!" - sir billones,
on a student who is palpitating while taking the exam. He
claims that after incident refreshed na lagi yung
estudyante. If I know, pag naaalala ng
estudyanteng yun yung moment na yun,
kaya siya laging refreshed, kasi natatawa siya pag
naaalala niya iyon.

13. "Anong molars? You don't say molars because
it is an adjective! Do you say beautifuls?" - ma'am
ilao, to a student who said "n molars"

14. "Kahit magpakamatay ka pa di mo masasagot yang
problem set na yan dahil pang-157 (phy chem II) yan!" -
ibid

15. "Do not memorize! Analyze!" - doc nic,
advising us, her students never to memorize reaction
mechanisms

16. "Kaya nga ideal eh, hindi siya nangyayari sa
totoong buhay. Pero an approximation is good enough" -
sir engle, on ideal and real systems


17. "Don't take the BAR and yourselves too
seriously. baka mabalitaan nalang namin na nag-o-oral
summation kayo sa Luneta. O lumulutang-lutang sa PasigRiver. Enjoy
yourselves, relax, and read at least 15 hours a day.
Nakakabobo ang sobrang tulog. MAg relax ka habang nagbabasa. Magrelax
habang nagmi-memorize. "

18. "Pag nananaba ka sa oras ng exams, ibig sabihin
di ka papasa."

19. "Oh the BAR isn't scary. It's
terrifying. It might even kill you."
and the unforgettable: "Wow. Rape-able."
and "Stand up Miss ___ so that I might see the contours
of your body."

alternately encouraging and disheartening ang drama
nitong prof na'to.

20. Ito naman from our Prof. Ancient:
"Mga engineers? Nako. Bihira pumapasa sa
BAR."

"UP ka nag-undergrad? Bright ka ba?"

"Sa mga taga-UP lang ako bilib eh. Pagpasok nila
sa lawschool, hindi sila disoriented. Bilib ako sa study
habits na meron yang mga batang yan. Some of them look like
they eat kamote thrice a day, pero ang utak, di
ututin!" (ewan ko kung matutuwa ako dito o hindi)


21. sabi ng aming
dean who is 80 yrs old, "class your laughing now,
but i will predecease you all"


22. prof: O, meron na bang nakapunta sa inyong XXX
class: (tahimik)
prof: (medyo nadisappoint) Ano?! Puro na lang ba kayo
aral?
Aral na lang kayo ng aral, ha? Wala na kayong
napupuntahan kakaaral niyo!



same prof: Nakita niyo na ba ang Hooverdam?
class: (tahimik uli)
prof: Hehehehe, ang yabang ko talaga!


Second day of classes
Same Prof: (kinuha ang box ng colored chalks) Ano ba
naman ito... (tapos iniitsa sa lamesa yung mga dark colored
chalks)
class: (tahimik na nagmamasid)
Prof: Class, sulatan niyo ang manufacturer ng chalk
na ito, at sabihing tanggalin na ang mga walang kwentang
kulay na ito... brown, green, violet. hindi makikita ito sa
board. Convince them
class: (tahimik at gulat)

Prof: and .25 incentive sa final grade niyo!


23. terror prof after an exam (last day na din ng
class..): ok class.. see you next sem!


"Ateneo is not a university, it's a diploma
mill. Bakit ba nakangiti pa mga estudyante dyan kapag
lalabas sila ng gate nila, hindi ba nila nalalaman ang nami-miss
nila sa edukasyon?"


"The more wisdom you obtain, the more you shut
your mouth. This is because the more that you learn, the
more you realize that there are even more things that you do
not know. The true mark of an idiot is a loudmouth, the true
mark of a wise man is humility" --Paraphrased
galing kay PI100. best prof sa CAL.

24. "IE? Di naman engineering yun e" –Thesis adviser

25. Classmate: Ma'am, pwede po bang next week na kami
mag report?
Ma'am: Alam mo, God is good. And I am God. So
yes, pwede next week.


26. galing kay sir U eliserio during creative writing
class...
"try everything once except incest"

and one day pumasok ng room, galit na galit. hinagis
ang bag sa table, nagwawala sa harap ng room dahil hindi daw
nasagot ng previous class niya ang question niya.
kaya dapat daw masagot namin, ang makasagot may plus points.
kapag walang makasagot, lagot kami. ang tanong....
"class, sinong lalaking artista dun sa TV show na wonder years"?


27. "Mamatay na mangopya..." saka "Ang hindi maka-100, bobo!".


28. "im gay. so gay i could show you my penis
because it is but an accessory to my body"
-gene navera, spcm1
(oh u did say this gene??? hahaha lol)

29. FIRST DAY OF CLASSES: "Kung may boyfriend o
girlfriend kayo na hindi taga-UP, hiwalayan niyo na agad.
Walang pupuntahan yan. Hindi kayo
magkaka-intindihan. Tapos yung mga anak niyo, magiging
bobo. Gusto niyo ba yun?" (si Avecilla malamang ito!)

30. ANOTHER PROF: "Hoy girls, wag kayong kukuha ng
boyfriend dito sa UP. Pare-parehas tayong mahirap dito.
Kumuha kayo ng mayaman. 80% of the child's
intelligence comes from the Mother naman eh. Kayo guys, wag
kayo kukuha ng bobong babae. Kahit matalino kayo, magiging bobo
anak niyo."

31. "Class, Chinatownis not in China. And Ateneo de
Manila University is not... a university."


32. STUDENT: Sir, pwede po magpa-sit in yung friends ko?
PROF: From what school are they?
STUDENT: St. Scho po.
PROF: "Go ahead. So they'll realize what
they're missing. St. Scho, St. Scho... eskwelahan na ba
yun sa inyo?!"


33. sa PHILO:
"I THINK THEREFORE I AM FROM UP!"


34. "Class, kaya mahal ang bayad sa mga professors
sa ibang school kasi ang bobobo ng mga estudyante dun. Dyuskoh,
I used to teach there... at lumuluha talaga ako ng
dugo bago maintindihan ng mga students yung sinasabi ko. Ang
mahal nga ng bayad, magkakasakit ka naman sa panga kakaulit ng
lessons! Wag na lang! Dito na ko sa UP, at least
nagkakaintindihan tayo. Diba?"


35. Dahil kami ang mga huling estudyante ni Dr.David at
mahal na mahal namin siya, nag-compile kami dati ng mga
quotable quotes mula sa kanya. Ito ang ilan:

"Meanings we find are the meanings we
make."
"WHAT YOU LEARN IN UP IS TO GO ON AND NEVER GIVE
UP. THAT IF THERE BE ONE PERSON LEFT STANDING, LET IT BE
ME. LET ATENEO FALL FIRST BEFORE UP..."
"The measure of a man is how many doors he has
opened to other people, especially to those he doesn't
know."
"To be born is to die. In between they grow and
multiply like flies. 6.2 billion people in the world.
Kadiri, ano?"
"Why not life? Why call it soul? Call a spade a
spade."
"Earth is the only heaven we can know."
"religion is a successful economic institution"
"Do not live long enough to be worthless."
"Domestication of the human male is one of the
greatest achievement of the human race."
"I do not know many. I only know enough to teach
my classes."


36. "We do not accept anyone here in class except
for those who are members of a certain minority group. For
example, gays are part of a minority group, bakla ka
ba? If you admit to this class that you are gay, then
I'll admit you"
-Prof "hail to the chair", to a guy student
na nagpre-prerog


37. "kapatid ng sinungaling ang magnanakaw.
"ergo, gma's marriage to mike arroyo is null
and void ab initio."

consti law class, 1st sem, AY 2005-06


38. "running for summa ka? mapapagod ka lang."


39. "Bilib ka kay Alan Peter Cayetano? E ambaba ng
grades n'un e!"

40. "Si Miriam, crush ko 'yun dati. Muntikan na
maging kami, kaso nasiraan ng ulo, kaya 'yun, iba ang
asawa ko."

41. "Class, gusto ko kayong i-train na mag-English,
so when you're here in class, magsalita kayo ng English!
Ako lang ang exempted dahil matanda na ako at ako ang
teacher!"


42. Ma'am Vitriolo (2nd to the last meeting)
Okay class, next week, we start the lecture proper.


43. more of Ma'am Ilao "Hindi mahirap makakuha
ng UNO sa class ko. Yung gumradweeeyt last year na Magna Cum Laude ng Biochem,
uno siya sakin sa Chem 18"


44. Sabi ng Prof ko dahil may kaklase akong recite ng
recite w/o raising her hand "I think this is the first time i have a student w/ tourette
in my class..."
Recite parin ng recite yung student "Wow the
ejaculatory comments just don't stop!"


45. from my socsci1 prof last sem: "Birds of the
same feather FLOCK together...don' t forget the L".


46. "I'll strangle you, strangle you really
hard, smack right in your jugular (pause ng mga 5 seconds),
you do know where your jugular is?"


47. "Be ready with your speech because I am going to
lambast you!"
-namutla nalang yung classmate kong freshie after
hearing sir navera sa spcm 1 namin
(taray mo gene!!!! HAHA)


48. 'bakit parang napakaligaya ng klase niyo? maging
sad naman kayo, 5 mins.' - prof ko sa math 100.


49. "well of course when you sell your soul you have
to make an elaborate justification to make yourself feel
good." -Sir Walden Bello, Socio 127,
this sem grabe ang galing ni sir bello. nakakaamaze.

50. "ano bang natapos mo? italian 8?"

"punyetissima! " (sosyal pati mura
italian!)

"look at me i'm 433 years old pero ang lakas
lakas ko pa. eh kung walang gulay eh di kakain na lang ako
ng damo. kung wala eh di tubig, kung wala mag-ipon na
lang ako ng laway."
-Sir Tiamson, Italian 11, this sem


51. When you graduate, then you begin to live.
-Dr. Carmen Jimenez, Psych 118


52. from Prof Soresca in my spanish 1 class
Prof:"Mr. Gatbunton, why are you late?!"
Student:"Sorry Mam, galing pa ako Las
Pinas."
Prof: "Ladies, don't marry somebody from Las
Pinas because they have bamboo organs!!"


53. "there are only two countries who still use
Fahrenheit.. the United States of America and Liberia... a
pathetic country in africa"

--Sir Argete


54. Marx is more Christian than Christ and Christ is more
Marxist than Marx. - Sir Lanuza.


55. May kaklase ako, may jowang taga Ateneo
"Ateneo? How could you love someone from the
Ateneo?"


56. sa geol11, ayaw mag-recite ng mga classmates ko..
sabi ni ma'am cathy "wag na mahiya, you have
nothing to lose but your face.."

57. si sir agapito..habang 2nd exam at malakas ang ulan..

"ang lakas ng ulan, ayos yan at least hindi
halata pag umiiyak.."


58. Class: Sir, sa exams po ba nagbibigay kayo ng partial
points?
Prof: Hmm, if I see partial wisdom.


59. "It's okay to smoke inside my class. As long
as you don't breathe it out." -Dr. Obsioma, Biodiversity

60. "Oh, this is good. It's poetic because
it's perfectly stupid." - Ricardo de
Ungria last week on my classmate's work.


61. Prof: Did I remind the class last meeting that
we're going to have an exam today?
Class: (dead air)
Prof: Ok, it seems I forgot to remind the class that
we're going to have an exam today. I'm giving you
five minutes then to buy a bluebook. We're going
to have an exam today.

62. sir tiamson (span 11)
"ayan, di ka makasagot. yung bakal sa ngipin mo
naapektuhan na yung pagsasalita mo"

My Mariquita

(with fond references to Alberto Florentino’s play, Cavort with Angels [1959])

Mariquita is my pet little mouse with a curly tip on her tail.

This year, Mariquita would have been 20 had she not been stepped on by him – Him, the one who would take me with him to his hometown in Mindanao.

Poor Mariquita, he must have stepped on her and died. But my sister assured me that we’d give her a good burial.

Alas, I found Mariquita again!

Will she be blue, pink, orange, yellow or red?

Let's Rock!

Newsflash: GLEANER alumni staff to gather

FSUU high school's campus paper, The Gleaner, attracts the best and brightest among Urians.

The first-ever alumni gathering is currently in the offing. All its past staff members and advisers are enjoined to contact Ms Myle Macalam and Mr Jasper Caesar for interest in joining the event slated in 2010.

We are also completing the alumni directory of the said school organ. Kindly contact us and spread the word.

Posted from the Net: Laguna Copperplate Inscription

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription
A Philippine Document from 900 A.D.
by Hector Santos
© 1995-96 by Hector Santos
All rights reserved.


Once in a while, an unusual artifact different from anything else previously found in the area turns up and baffles experts. It usually ends up in a dusty museum shelf, waiting for the day when somebody will study it, understand its significance, and reveal its secrets to the world.

Copperplate
A small, innocent-looking object found in 1989 on the southeastern shore of Laguna de Ba'y was such a find. It now threatens to upset our basic understanding of Philippine history. The object is a thin copperplate measuring less than 8x12 inches in size and is inscribed with small writing that had been hammered into its surface.

The black, rolled-up piece of metal was found by a man dredging for sand near the mouth of the Lumbang River where it emptied into Laguna de Ba'y. The man could just have easily thrown it away as just another piece of junk that tended to clog his equipment as he tried to make a living. It was not porcelain, like those he found before and was able to sell for good money to the antique dealers from Manila.

Those dealers have been frequenting the area because it was a rich source of artifacts that were in demand among the rich in Manila. These artifacts provided another welcome source of income for people like this man who struggled to provide for his family.

Fortunately, the sand man decided to keep that piece of metal and take another look. Upon unrolling, it turned out that there was some kind of writing on the crumpled and blackened metal plate. He finally sold it to one of the dealers for almost nothing for it was unlike anything ever found before and nobody knew what it was.

Because it was not a recognizable object, the dealer could not find a private buyer for it. In desperation, he offered it to the National Museum of the Philippines, normally the buyer of last resort for unsold objects. The copper object is now called "Laguna Copperplate Inscription" (LCI).

It languished at the National Museum as supposedly qualified scholars passed up the chance to evaluate the artifact. They were either too busy or not interested, but perhaps intimidated by the prospect of working on something they had no knowledge of.

Fortunately, the ability and persistent effort of one man paid off in unlocking the secrets of the LCI. Antoon Postma, a Dutch national who has lived most of his life among the Mangyans in the Philippines and the director of the Mangyan Assistance & Research Center in Panaytayan, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, was able to translate the writing. His effort is all the more remarkable when you consider that the text was in a language similar to four languages (Sanskrit, Old Tagalog, Old Javanese, and Old Malay) mixed together.

The text was written in Kavi, a mysterious script which does not look like the ancient Tagalog script known as baybayin or alibata. Neither does it look similar to other Philippine scripts still used today by isolated ethnic minorities like the Hanunóos and the Buhids of Mindoro, and the Tagbanwas of Palawan. It is the first artifact of pre-Hispanic origin found in the Philippines that had writing on copper material.

Indeed, artifacts of pre-Hispanic writing are so rare that only three had been previously found and made available to researchers. They are the 14-15th century Butuan silver strip, the 10th century Butuan ivory seal, and the 15th century Calatagan jar. The writings on these three previous finds have eluded attempts to decipher them so far.

Important Date
Postma's translation provides a lot of exciting surprises. Like most other copperplate documents, it gives a very precise date from the Sanskrit calendar which corresponds to 900 A.D. in our system. It contains placenames that still exist around the Manila area today. It also lists the names of the chiefs of the places mentioned.

The date is important because a country's history is considered to begin with the first dated document recorded in it. This newly found document pushes the "starting point" of Philippine history all the way back to 900 A.D., 621 years earlier than the previously accepted date of 1521 when Antonio Pigafetta wrote his observations during his voyage with Magellan.

Authenticity
The authenticity of the LCI was a prime concern to all from the very beginning. Postma and the Philippine National Museum were aware of the many frauds that had been perpetrated on Philippine historians in the past. Many of these fraudulent historical documents have unfortunately gotten into Philippine history textbooks which are still being used today.

The most famous of these frauds is the Code of Kalantiaw that every Filipino schoolboy knows. The supposed text of the code was contained in the Pavón manuscript, one of the many fraudulent documents passed on to the Philippine National Museum over many decades by Jose E. Marco, a known philatelic forger. Damage caused by frauds like this is immeasurable.

More than a quarter century after the fraud was exposed in 1965, the average Filipino still believes that the Code of Kalantiaw was real. This is not so much a reflection on the average Filipino's interest in history as it is on the Philippine government's failure to educate the public. As a matter of fact, President Marcos was still inducting "deserving" justices into his Order of Kalantiaw in the 1970's. (This was, perhaps, a fitting way for History to get back at those who wanted to rewrite it.)

Postma was acutely aware of what yet another phony document would do to the community of Philippine historians. He sought and got advice from Dutch and Indonesian experts on the LCI's authenticity. The experts concluded that the specific script style used in the LCI was consistent with its indicated date, and that the correctness of the languages and words used would have been very hard for a forger to have contrived.

Although there were some differences between the LCI and the copperplates found in Indonesia, they were for legitimate reasons and their consensus was that the LCI was authentic.

The text on Indonesian copperplates of the same era was mostly in Old Javanese and, as was customary at that time, mention the name of King Balitung (899-910 A.D.). Unlike its Indonesian cousins, the language of the LCI was not Old Javanese. That the LCI did not mention the king's name was another clue that the LCI did not come from Indonesia.

However, the biggest difference was in the way the copperplate was inscribed. Indonesian copperplates were prepared by heating them until they became soft. Then a stylus was used to impress the letters on the soft metal, creating smooth and continuous strokes. The Philippine copperplate, on the other hand, was inscribed by hammering the letters onto the metal using a sharp instrument. The letters show closely joined and overlapping dots from the hammering.

Philippine connection
It was left for Postma to establish the LCI's Philippine connection. When he first saw the LCI, he thought it may originally have come from Indonesia but made to appear like it was found to the Philippines so that it could be sold as a valuable antique. The text of the LCI convinced him of its Philippine provenance.

The LCI was an official document issued to clear a person by the name of Namwaran, his family, and all their descendants of a debt he had incurred. In the old Philippines, an unpaid debt usually resulted in slavery not only for the person concerned but also for his family and his descendants. The amount of debt was 1 kati and 8 suwarnas of gold (865 g. or about $12,000 at today's prices), an unusually large amount.

The pardon was issued by the chief of Tundun, who was of higher rank than the other chiefs who witnessed the document and whose names and respective areas of jurisdiction are listed. The last sentence on the copperplate is incomplete, indicating that there was at least one more page to the document. Unfortunately, none has been found so far.

Map of LCI Towns
Placenames mentioned in the LCI
Placenames
The placenames mentioned prove the Philippine connection of the LCI. The names are still recognizable today although almost eleven centuries have passed since the document was issued. The placenames are Pailah (Paila), Tundun (Tundo), Puliran (Pulilan), Binwangan (Binwangan), Dewata (Diwata), and Medang (Medang).

The first four places are near Manila but Dewata and Medang pose a problem. They could have been personal names but more likely "Dewata" was Diwata, a town near Butuan, and "Medang," Medang in Old Java or Sumatra. Both these places must have been connected politically to Tundun and the other settlements in 900 A.D.

Diwata is important because in addition to the silver strip mentioned earlier, there are reportedly some other artifacts with undeciphered ancient inscriptions that have been found in the Butuan area. Shamefully, like many other artifacts they are in private hands and unavailable to scholars.

Since the LCI was found in Laguna de Ba'y, Postma first thought that Pailah was Pila, Laguna and Pulilan was the southeastern area of the lake because that was what the place was called in the old days. Pila was then a part of the area known as Pulilan. However, he opted to take Pulilan and Paila both along the Angat River in Bulacan as better candidates because the document clearly referred to two separate places, not one inside a larger jurisdiction. A look at the map would show that his choices are correct since they are more conveniently connected to each other by the usual river and coastal travel routes than if he had picked the Laguna area.

Another possible connection to this Bulacan riverine area is the village of Gatbuca that exists today. Bukah, son of Namwaran, is mentioned in the document. Gat was a title used for important persons and has found its way into many contemporary family names (e.g., Gatbonton, Gatmaitan, Gatdula, etc.). It is possible that the town was named for Bukah when he rose in position later.

Significance
Just how significant is this incomplete document that ends in midsentence and contains only ten lines?

* It means, as we have discussed earlier, that the edge of history has been pushed back 621 years, giving the Philippines a documented existence among the ancient kingdoms of Southeast Asia like Shri-Vijaya (Sumatra), Angkor (Kampuchea), Champa (Vietnam), Madjapahit (Java), and others that existed before the 10th Century.
* Ancient Chinese records with placenames like P'u-li-lu, which was thought to have been Polilio (but didn't make sense), will have to be reevaluated. Placenames mentioned in the LCI will have to be given more importance when evaluating ancient records that contain similar sounding names.
* From porcelain finds, Manila was thought to have been settled as late as 1200. It now appears that an earlier date was more likely. Certainly, a search for other means of dating Manila's first settlements is needed. A search for artifacts in the places mentioned in the LCI might also prove fruitful.
* Earlier historians thought that the Philippines was part of Shri-Vijaya or even Madjapahit. Their theories have been largely discredited in recent times. It is now time to reexamine the possible connection.
* Historians believe that the Muslims who ruled Manila were the first to establish more sophisticated forms of government in the area. They also believe that the Muslims started the trade with Borneo and other points south. It is possible that the Hindus were in Manila before the Muslims.
* The Tagalog script is so rudimentary that it cannot even completely record the sounds of its own language. Three centuries before the Tagalog script's emergence, the Manila area used a script so rich and sophisticated that great empires were ruled through its use. How did this happen? How could a less sophisticated script have supplanted a better one?

Many interesting scenarios can be created to explain some of the above puzzles. During the era of the LCI it was not uncommon for settlements to disappear. They flourished for some time, even for centuries, but things like natural catastrophes, epidemics, emigration, pirate raids, war, etc. made them disappear. It is also known that Muslim culture pushed Hindu influence in Indonesia out of most areas, leaving Bali as the only place where Hindu culture has survived. Any one of these things could have caused the early settlements around Manila to disappear.

The disappearance of the earlier people who settled around Manila may explain why the Kavi script was lost and a lesser one introduced later. But how did the placenames remain? If a few people remained to maintain a continuity of their settlements and placenames, how did they lose their knowledge of the Malay language and the Kavi script?

At this time, everything is conjecture. Many more questions will be asked, answered, and refuted; other questions will be asked again. Little by little, we will know more about the Philippines as it was before the Spaniards came, thanks to a little piece of metal dredged from the sand.

A different version of this article appeared in the September 1994 issue of Filipinas Magazine.

ATS allergic

im allergic to tetanus antitoxin (ATS).

i found that out today. although i know i was skin-tested before in UP and only the tetanus toxoid (TT) can be administered to me.

i was cleaning my teeth with a dental steel tool when i accidentally lacerated the inner lining of my mouth.

so i called up a doctor-friend and he immediately suggested i get an anti-tetanus shot, to be sure.

so i did. 1am at pasaygen ER. the nurse and the doctor were very helpful and attentive to me.

they did some skin-test and was allergic to ATS.

after i had my TT shot, i said thank you and goodbye.

however, because this is a public hospital, it was for free. i thought of saying real thank-you. so i went to an open bakeshop and bought various cupcakes (cheese puto cupcake was still fresh off the oven), and gave to the nurses who were shocked. maybe they were so used to doing their jobs without expecting anything from the patients. i insisted of course and told them i am just grateful.

my doctor-friend and my nurse-friend were on the phone the whole time. another PT-friend constantly texted in. I did not want them to come because it wasn't serious to me, at least. thanks to you, friends. appreciate the great concern.

so i thank Pasay City General Hospital's ER staff, Dr Lo and the attending nurse, Ms Dichungco for all the assistance.

God bless us all.

For 2010. A Dedication to my family and friends all over.

Urgent Call for Votes

Alexis O.


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