The best dancers from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao came to celebrate cultural diversity in the heart of Manila at Aliwan 2012, a showdown of Philippine festivals, over the weekend.
Now on its 10th year, the Aliwan Festival features a cultural street dance competition, a parade of floats, and the Reyna ng Aliwan (Queen of Aliwan) pageant.
The grand parade that traversed Roxas Boulevard from Quirino Grandstand to the Aliw Theater at the CCP Complex saw the best Philippine festivals—composed of dancers and floats from different areas—compete.
Tribu Pan-ay of Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo was adjudged Aliwan Festival's Grand Champion, a grand slam win having won the title for the third straight year. Second place went to Buyogan Festival of Abuyog, Leyte, while the Pintados Kasadyaan Festival of Tacloban City, Leyte won third place.
The Pamulinawen Festival from Laoag City won the best float, with Lingganay Festival from Alang-alang, Leyte placing second and the Sagayan Festival from Parang, Maguindanao named third.
BEING at Fred’s Revolucion is like going back to a time when the cold war was raging and revolutions were the in thing. It calls to mind a scene from the 1970s movie “M.A.S.H.” whose battle-weary soldiers guzzled up after a hectic day on the war front.
Only this time, the arena is the concrete jungle, and Fred’s customers are modern-day warriors who battle stressful workdays and maddening traffic, among other problems.
Fred’s Revolucion is owned by photojournalist Jose “Derek” Soriano who has covered his fair share of wars, activist Red Constantino who waged wars of his own, and their friend, business news editor Gina Abuyuan. Coincidentally, all three happen to have a grandfather named Fred, hence the restaurant’s name.
When the owners are behind the counter, a friendly Labrador named Gizzard welcomes customers and hangs out with them.
Fred’s chef is Soriano, who finds cooking more satisfying and rewarding than engaging in the current local political and media scene, and whose style of cooking is influenced by his numerous travels on assignment in different parts of the world.
Describing Fred’s cuisine, Abuyuan said, “Our food is cooked more for the taste, rather than the health.”
At Fred’s, customers chill and enjoy brews and food that don’t burn a hole in the pocket. Crowd favorites include dishes like the Split Banger and Mash, sausage that is sliced and served on top of mashed potatoes and gravy. Fred’s has its version of Fish and Chips—fish fillet and fries infused with crispy dilis. Bagnet Blachan is deep fried pork served with spicy bagoong dressing.
Fred’s also has weekly specials like the Chicken Chop on Mash, Chili Garlic Ribs, Smoked Boar and Salsa, Ho Chi Wings and the delicious but sinful Tres Amigos that could put the weak-hearted on the emergency room list.
Opened in August of 2011, Fred’s is one of the more popular establishments at Cubao X, the arcade that used to house the Marikina Shoe Expo. Fred’s has become a favorite hangout of artists, photographers, writers and other wacky characters this part of town.
“I like the crowd, the laid back atmosphere with the right amount of ambiance,”
said Wing, one Fred’s habitués.
Customers who have grown fond of the place have started pinning memorabilia on the wall such as old photos, currencies from around the world, posters, flags, hats, shirts, and the like.
Fred’s has also played host to the works of the country’s best photographers like Geric Cruz, Rick Rocamora, Gil Nartea and Soriano himself.
Fred’s Revolucion is located at Shop 66 in Cubao X at the Araneta Center in Quezon City. The area is quiet during the day with only several galleries and old memorabilia shops open.
It starts to come alive around sunset and could get jam-packed during weekends. For those who want to be pampered, Fred’s on weekends won’t be your cup of tea—it’s for the city-weary who don’t mind not being waited on, and simply seek a respite from the urban war zone.
Veteran Photojournalist enjoying a cold brew at Fred's (L-R) Melvyn Kalderon, Rick Rocamora, Pat Roque, Ray Panaligan, Luis Liwanag and Gil Nartea
THE village called Kapitangan in the town of Paombong in Bulacan is a known pilgrimage site that teems with devotees during Holy Week, particularly on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
It is where Catholic devotees engage in self-flagellation, with a few going to the extreme of having themselves crucified as an act of repentance and sharing in the suffering of Jesus Christ.
This year, five men and a woman were crucified, among them 51-year-old Sonny Bautista, a person with disability. Bautista hails from Hagonoy town, has been mute since childhood and has been crucified for 14 years now.
After his crucifixion, Baustista explained why he goes through the painful the ordeal every year. He simply wrote on the wall with his finger, "Para sa kasalanan ng tao (For the sins of man)."
The Catholic Church looks upon crucifixion or flagellation as part of popular religiosity practiced by people who pray for a particular need or who believe they sanctify themselves resorting to such practices. The Catholic hierarchy discourages such acts, yet its call against what it describes as "popular religiosity" goes unheeded.
The Church allows Holy Week activities that are consistent with the teachings on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Church leaders say it is enough to remember the life and death of Christ during Holy Week through fasting and abstinence, prayer, the giving of alms, reflection, and repentance.
The yearly event at Kapitangan has attracted thousands of spectators, including foreign tourists, curious to see firsthand people who endure pain in the belief doing so cleanses them of sin.
But while penitents believe their souls are cleansed, the Department of Health (DOH) warned them their bodies are magnets for infection that could give them more than a Holy Week agony.
"Due to the unclean process being practiced, crucifixion and self-flagellation may cause infection or worse, tetanus, to the penitent. Tetanus, we have to remember, could result to death," noted DOH—Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases Program manager Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy
Another attraction this year at Kapitangan was Precy Valencia, a faith healer and the only female to be crucified. Asked for an interview after being brought down from the cross, she said that she was no longer "Precy" but had turned into the incarnation of the Child Jesus or Santo Niño.
Marikina City, Philippines_ The annual observance of the International World Water Day on March 22 since 1993 was declared by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). On this day the UN and its member nations promote concrete activities to focus the public’s attention on critical water issues affecting their everyday lives. This year is highlighted by the theme “Water and Food Security” that aims to advocate the importance of freshwater and sustainable management of freshwater resources.
In the observance of World Water Day, Greenpeace launched its campaign highlighting the importance of protecting our freshwater tributaries from toxic substances and revealed in the Greenpeace report called, Dirty Laundry: Reloaded. Launched today at the banks of the Marikina River with volunteer activist demonstrating how toxic chemicals in laundry water leach from consumer garments producers a day ahead of World Water Day.
The Greenpeace study measures for the first time the percentage of the hazardous chemicals nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) washed out during simulated standard domestic laundering conditions. The results show that consumer brands, such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, are unknowingly polluting the public water supplies in regions and countries around the world, including those where there are restrictions or bans on the use of these chemicals.
“While other countries try to improve measures protecting their citizens from hazardous chemicals, the Philippines is even steps behind in terms of regulations on hazardous chemicals. Nonylphenols, for example, are banned in Europe for their endocrine-disrupting properties, and yet it is not even included in the Priority Chemicals List in the Philippines,” said Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s Toxics Campaigner.
“Filipinos are, thus, doubly vulnerable to toxic discharges, both from manufacturing processes and from consumer end-products. This is the reason why we are calling for the institution of a mechanism respecting the public right-to-know about toxic discharges, such as a Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), and for the textile industry to lead the move to safe alternatives to toxic chemicals,” Baconguis added.
