Ania ngata a sanga ti saririt ti “pungpong ginabbong“?

Iti panagcunami, nalabit naan-annay met a panangpanunot ken panangamiris ti inaramat ti nangputar iti “Pungpong Ginabbong”.  Agsipud ta idi un-unana, no pungpongen (play with a baby by moving about its arms and legs, according to Carl Rubino’s dictionary) da ti ubing, agtalna daytoy wenno mairidep, no la ketdi saan a mabisin, wenno nabasa ti lamping na, wenno awan im-impenna.  Ammo met a di maawatan ti ubing a maladaga dagiti sasawen ti cancion, isu nga atapen mi a ti ayug ti addaan bilegna a mangandingay iti ubing.

Pinadasyo cadin a pinungpong ni baket wenno lacay yo cadagiti canito a dudua cayo ken sigurado cayo a nacabalunet diay ridaw ken tawa tapno awan agsirip?  Agtalna ngata ti nataengan a mapungpong a cas iti maladaga?  Wenno yepyepen santo casla matumba a nambaan a sumuco ken ni turog?  Siimenyo no ania ti ibunga daytoy cabayatan panangdengngeg yo a dua iti ayug ti “Pungpong Ginabbong”:

BANNAWAG Online!

C. Rambaud

Maragsacan cami a mangipadamag nga addanton Internet edition ti Bannawag, ti cangrunaan a periodico dagiti Ilocano, segun ti naawat mi nga email ni Cles Rambaud, Associate Editor ti Bannawag, idi Enero 30, 2009:

“Dandanin agmata daydi arapaapmo nga adda koma met website ti Bannawag,” insurat ni Cles. “Uray dagiti kakabsat a magasin ti Bannawag, addanto metten websiteda. Inaprobaranen ti MB Management daytoy a kiddaw.”

Ti “arapaap” a dinacamat ni Editor Rambaud isu ti linaon ti impaskinco a blog entry a napauluan iti “Bannawag Website–An Open Letter” iti ilocano-samtoy.blogspot.com idi Feb. 22, 2007.  Daytoy ti insuratco:  “…itan adda pamuspusan tapno mataginayon ken madadaan nga ucagen dagiti pinanid ti Literatura Ilocana 24/7:  isu dayta ti panangipablaac cadagitoy iti las-ud ti Internet.  Mabalin nga ipablaac ti amin a sinurat, saan laeng a dagiti mapili wenno capintasan, tapno iti casta mausisa dagiti aggagar nga agusisa no casano ti panangparang-ay iti literatura tayo.”  Insingasingco a mangipasdec ti Bannawag iti bucodna a website tapno maipablaac ditoy ti amin a sarita, novela, daniw, salaysay, ken dadduma pay.

Maysa cano laeng a simple a website cas pangrugian daytoy Internet edition ti Bannawag.  Cadacami, dackel nga addang dayta agsipud ta lumawanto ti law-ang a masilnagan ti Bannawag.  Bareng dumtengto met ti aldaw a mairaman iti Internet Edition ti archive dagiti napalpalabas nga isyu ti Bannawag, cas pagarigan mangrugi iti Nob. 3, 1934 issue (umuna a bilang).  Maawatan mi a pangrugian laeng ti umay a simple nga Internet Edition ken maawatan mi met a saan a binangon ti ciudad ti Roma iti maymaysa laeng nga aldaw.  Uray pay ni Apo Dios, innem nga aldaw nga… sa naginana iti maicapito…

Cas iti masansan a mabasa tayo iti ungto ti serialized a sinurat, PADAANAN TI SUMARUNO A PASET! Wenno, MAITULOYTO.

No dimo saluadan, amangan no malipatam ti ag-Ilocano

Cadagitoy napalabas nga aldaw, nakisinnucatac iti email ken ni Dr. Aurelio S. Agcaoili, tubo ti ciudad ti Laoag ken nagturpos iti University of the Philippines, premiado a mannurat, lider ti gunglo ti NAKEM, maysa cadagiti sagat nga adigi ti panangparang-ay iti Ilocano ken agdama a Coordinator ti Programa a Pagsasao ken Kur-itan nga Ilocano, Departamento dagiti Pagsasao ken Kur-itan nga Indo-Pacifica, Universidad ti Hawai’i iti Manoa:

Sunday, January 25, 2009, 11:23AM

Patgec nga Ariel:  Annugotec nga akikid ti focus ti blog co, ibangui.wordpress.com, isu ngarud nga umay ca man singaen ken ruroden bareng mapan mo usisaen no ania ti pagcurangan dagiti dua a naudi nga impaskin co sadiay.

Yamanec unay ti ania a criticism nga ipaaymo, Cabsat.

Agraem, —Manong Joe

Monday, January 26, 2009, 4:36PM

Patgek a Manong Joe:  Dinardarasko a sinirpat ti blogyo gapu ta ammoc nga adu ti maadal ken maagsaw.  Ket agpayso!  More, more!  —Ariel

Monday, January 26, 2009, 6:45PM

Dear Ariel:  Thanks for taking the time to humor me.  One thing I was painfully aware of was that the rhetoric was terribly inadequate.  I know you have more ammo in your arsenal.  By all means, let’s use ’em.

The all too enervating reality in what we are trying to do to save Ilocano is the crippling silence of a lot of our fellow Ilocanos who are in a position to see to it that we don’t witness the eventual, albeit slow demise of our language.  —Manong Joe

Monday, January 26, 2009, 7:09PM

Manong Joe:  Dayta ngarud, Apo Joe, ti pagsaksakitan ti nakem ti adu kadatayo iti daytoy a tignayan.  Dagiti pangnamnamaantayo a makatulong iti daytoy a tignayan, awanda.  Ngem ala, aramid daytoy a kultural, aramid a pulitical, ken aramid a kabulig ti ranget ken pannakiranget, iti man bukod a bagi, iti man kailian/kailokanuan, ken/wenno iti sabali pay. Sapay ta agballigitayo.

Maysa a panagsaludar kenca, —Ariel

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 9:25AM

Patgec nga Ariel:  Kinaagpayso na, lacayacon ngem agsipud ta nabayagen a nagtaeng ditoy agdama nga ayanco, nairuamacon a maibilang a cadawyan wenno ordinario laeng (nga isu ti kinaagpaysona) isu nga agalumiimac nga awagam iti “Apo”.  Isu a pangngaasim ta isardengmo ti panangawagmo caniac iti “Apo”.  Caniac a maysa, ni Apo Dios laeng ti rebbengna a maawagan iti Apo.

I know that the move to invigorate Ilocano, such as envisioned in the Gunigundo Bill, requires funding.  However, being this poor rat, I can’t help much in that aspect.  So who can we turn to as our patrons who would not be squeamish about unloosing their power, influence and financial resources to keep the fight alive and kicking and focused laser-sharp to getting the desired results and eventually winning the fight for multilingual education?  Maybe your NAKEM group could come together and formulate a strategy focused on this Gunigundo Bill in particular and, in general, on placing Tagalog on an equal footing with the other major local languages such as Ilocano, Cebuano, Bicol, etc., CERTAINLY NOT as the favored language which is lording it over the other languages at such a costly sacrifice of losing these non-Tagalog languages forever–maybe not in our lifetime but forever any way such as we have witnessed happen with other languages that died.

In other words, here’s your chance, Ariel, to have your group fashion a formidable Ilocano language movement manifesto that has a backbone and muscle to bring about the needed results in much the same manner as the Tagalistas took advantage of the corridors of power to have Tagalog declared as the pseudo “national language”.  As I wrote you earlier, I really don’t mind having English as the national language, as indeed it is now constitutionally, being that it is is also the global lingua franca, and have the other local languages thrive equally with Tagalog in the spirit of the Gunigundo Bill.  Earlier in the mid 1900s, we relished the perception that we had the highest percentage of our population who spoke English with a high literacy rate to boot until the Tagalistas, with their hidden agenda of effectively colonizing the country themselves, came along on the coattails of a Tagalog-speaking president and a swath of Tagalog cohorts in high places.  The rest of us Ilocanos, Cebuanos, Bicolanos, Pampanguenos Hiligaynons, Pangasinenses, Warays, etc., stood by almost completely mesmerized and scarcely lifted a finger at the coming demise of our respective languages, cultures and unique bodies of literature.  WE WERE SO UTTERLY TRUSTING AND DUMB THAT UNTIL NOW NOT VERY MANY AMONG US KNEW AND UNDERSTOOD OR EVEN CARED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HIT US.

History has clearly demonstrated again and again that people with distinctly unique languages/dialects tend to gravitate to the language vigorously propagated by governments as the language of commerce for purely economic or survival reasons.  And that, as you and I know, is what’s happening to the non-Tagalog languages in the Philippines.  The increasing use of Tagalog and the conversely decreasing use of the others can only spell out a sure consequence, namely, the demise of the non-Tagalog languages.

Someone wrote:  “Ethnic genocide is the destruction of a culture.  You can compare it to a living being who is born, lives, and dies.  If he dies a natural death after a long and beautiful life, very well.  But if we kill him, or we don’t help him when he is in danger, that’s something else…  It’s the same with languages in danger of extinction.”

I was kind of hoping that Bannawag, Tawid NewsMagasin, and other Ilocano publications of note, Ilocano writers and Ilocano bloggers would show some energy to carry the torch.  But I believe most of them find no immediacy to the attendant issues.  There just seems to be an incredible amount of apathy toward preserving one’s mother tongue simply because the people who dictate policy and who care to influence the Constitution are brainwashed about the imposition of Tagalog (which was not even the language of the majority at the time) as one of our national languages.  We seem to fail to see that government is just a bunch of people like the rest of us–with their own sellfish agenda.  At this point in time, the Tagalogs just seem to have more energy and determination to assert themselves to colonize the rest of us who, to their undisguised eleation, are mere uncomplaining sacrificial lambs waiting to be butchered and skewered.  —Manong Joe

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 11:11AM

Dear Ariel:  Please don’t get tired of the repetitious messages coming from me.  I suppose you don’t need them.  But what’s important is for you and the rest of us to keep repeating the message until something like the ground beneath our feet shifts in our favor.  We’ve got to keep pounding the message:

“What matters is not the death of a language in itself, but what that death can bring:  When a language disappears, a whole way of thinking, a vision of the world disappears with it, which can only impoversih human culture and the capacity of people to understand the world around them.”

We are nearing the threshold of inevitability of Ilocano being supplanted entirely by Tagalog/Filipino.  We can no longer afford to waste our chances.  NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGHT BACK AND ASSERT OUR RIGHTS TO THE USE AND PRESERVATION OF OUR NATIVE TONGUE, OUR CULTURE, OUR LITERATURE, OUR HERITAGE.

If we don’t, the time will come when the agcamcam (the new Tagalog colonizers) among us don’t even need the obligatory or deferential but insulting and despicable “Okinnam, okinnam…”  —Manong Joe

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 11:13AM

Manong Joe:  Wen, ngarud:  nakakaskas-ang.  Adu dagiti Tagalista a maibilang a kabusor daytoy numo ngem diak agalumiim.  Kinaagpaysuanna, profesorko pay ti maysa kadakuada.  Ngem saan a mabalin daytoy, Manong Joe.  Masapul ti nanakman a dangadang–ken masapul ti kinaregget a kankanayon, a no dadduma ket agmawmaw met.  Mabannog ti puso, madudog ti kararua nangruna no ti makita ket dagiti pada met a nengneng a dida met ammo ti lablabidenda.  Anian!  Ngem saan a gasat daytoy:  daytoy ket resulta ti saan nga umno a panagsirmata ken kinaawan panagparmata iti masakbayan.  Awan pabasolen no di met laeng datayo.  Saan a gasat, saan a ti sabali tapno iti kasta ket makasursurotayo a makibalubal iti nagan dagiti fundamental a karbengantayo. —Ariel

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 11:33AM

Patgec nga Ariel:  Idi nagawidac iti daytay napalabas a Marso, dimo ngata patien ngem casla adda pimmusay a parte ti kina-Ilocanoc idi sungbatandac iti Tagalog tunggal nakisaritaac iti Ilocano cadagiti pada nga Ilocano iti amin a nagpasiarac idiay Ilocandia, agraman dagiti cailian idiay Bangui.

Dayta ti dackel a paggiddiatan ti caadduan cadagiti pada nga Ilocano dita Hawaii.  Iti daydi naudi a panagpasiarco dita Hawaii, napaliiwco a lumawag ti rupa ken macaisem dagiti Ilocano no casaritam ida iti Ilocano, uray pay no dimo am-ammo ida–sadiay Honolulu wenno Hilo airports, idiay USS Arizona Memorial Park, Ala Moana Center, wenno idiay Waikiki Beach.  Nadlawco dagiti pada nga Ilocano nga ibaw-ingda ti panagkitada kenca apaman a mangegda nga ag-Ilocano ca.

Sal-ut a biag!  —Manong Joe

Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 12:03PM

Manong Joe:  Daytoy, Manong Joe, ti empirikal a datos a mismo a nakitam.  Isu nga agung-ungetakon.  Ket iti NAKEM Conference idiay Batac idi 2007, diak nagawidan ti ngiwngiwko ket imbagak nga estupido ti pagannurotan ti govierno maipapan iti edukasion, kultura, ken lengguahe–a nengneng a padak dagiti agpatpataray iti sistema ti educasion.  Iti tallaong nga imbagak dayta.  No dadduma, masapul a kulibagtongem dagitoy pada nga Ilokano a sinalbag.

Ala, makapaunget nga agpayso.  Idi agsubli dagiti nagbakasion a fakultimi, kasta met ti imbagada ken nagung-ungetda met ta agin-Tatagalog kano met dagiti mamaestro ken mamaestra.  Pwe, kunam man!  —Ariel

Dagiti baro nga agcamcam

No dimo naamiris a dagus no apay nga impostec ti “Okinnam, okinnam…” ditoy baba, ti cangrunaan a calicagumac nga ipakita kenca isu ti kinabileg ti pagsasao a pangparucma iti cayat a parmeken.  Nadlawmo nga iti canito (agarup 94 seconds calpasan panangrugi ti YouTube video) a nag-Ilocano dagiti kumacanta nga agpabuya, nabulosan daytoy iti panagray-aw dagiti caadduan nga Ilocano cadagiti nagtitipon nga agbuya.

No di pay nalawag dita utec ken pamanunotam no apay nga incalicagum dagidi nagturay cas iti daydi Presidente Manuel Quezon, Lope K. Santos ken dagiti naruay a pasurot da cadagiti nangangato a puesto ti govierno manipud idi 1935 agingga ita, ti calicagum da a mangparang-ay iti “nailian a pagsasao” a naibatay iti Tagalog, nalabit mautob mo itan no apay babaen ti mismo nga ejemplo iti “Okinnam, okinnam…”  Kinapudnona, masapul dagiti baro nga agcamcam–dagiti Tagalog–a macasursuro ca nga agsao iti Tagalog tapno:

• nalaclaca a maawatam dagiti ibilin da nga aramidem;
• maawatam ida no lacuan da ca idiay tiendaan ken shopping mall, wenno umay da ca danonen a lacuan dita balay mo;
• mapanca agbuya iti pelicula a Tagalog, agdengngegca iti Tagalog radio broadcast ket mangegmo dagiti advertisements iti Tagalog, gumatang ca iti Tagalog a diario, periodico, ken libro, gumatang ca iti ticket tapno inca agbuya cadagiti live performances iti Tagalog ken dadduma pay;
• ipagarupmo nga ay-ayatem ti ilim ken tumulong ca a mangidur-as iti “pangacaycaysa” tayo babaen ti panangsursurom nga agsao iti Tagalog, er, Filipino (“Filipino” ti pangawagda ita, imbes a Tagalog, tapno dica agaripapa wenno agtukkiad nga agsursuro nga ag-Tagalog).  Ngem iti panagcunam, adda cadi talaga naing-inget a panagcaycaysa tayo ita mayarig idi un-unana?
• in-inut a dimo aramaten ti Ilocano, ti nacayanacam a pagsasao, tapno in-inut a malipatam daytoy ket iti casta mapucaw a mamimpinsan ti ca-competencia dagiti baro nga agcamcam–dagiti Tagalog.

Saan da a ganggannaet.  Saan a babaen ti paltog wenno campilan ti panangparmec da kenca tapno sumuco ca ket surotem ti wagas ti biag a calicaguman da a surotem tapno maiturayan da ca ken nalaclaca a sepsepen da ta nagling-etam.

Malagipmo dagiti napaspasamac iti daydi Norman Conquest of England?  Malagipmo a daydi William (“William the Conqueror”), duque ti Normandy ti amianan a Frances, ti nangirusat idi 1066 AD iti panangsakup iti England.  Segun ti Wikipedia, “The Norman Conquest was a pivotal event in English history for several reasons. It largely removed the native ruling class, replacing it with a foreign, French-speaking monarchy, aristocracy and clerical hierarchy. This in turn brought about a transformation of the English language and the culture of England. By subjecting the country to rulers originating in France it linked England more closely with continental Europe, while lessening Scandinavian influence, and set the stage for a rivalry with France that would continue intermittently for more than eight centuries. It also had important consequences for the rest of the British Isles, paving the way for further Norman invasions in Wales and Ireland, and the extensive penetration of the aristocracy of Scotland by Norman and other French-speaking families… One of the most obvious changes was the introduction of Anglo-Norman, a northern dialect of Old French, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. Even after the decline of Norman, French retained the status of a prestige language for nearly 300 years and has had (with Norman) a significant influence on the language, which is easily visible in Modern English…”

Ilocano: R.I.P.?

No dimo pay la maawatan wenno adda pay la panagduaduam  no apay a cayat dagiti Tagalog–dagiti baro nga agcamcam–nga agsursuro ca nga ag-Tagalog, isingasingco nga ulitem a basaen ti Norman Conquest of England.

Malacsid no awan nabati a gagarmo nga agtukkiad nga iturayan dagiti baro nga agcamcam ken awan ti panangilalam iti Ilocano–ti bucod mo a nacayanacan a pagsasao agraman ti cannawidan ken literatura ni Ilocano.  Cas pagarigan, pumusay ti Bannawag agsipud ta bumassit a bumassit ti bilang dagiti Ilocano a gumatang iti daytoy a periodico, dimonto ngata iliwen?

Okinnam, okinnam…

Here’s a brief line on each of the members of the above group:

Rey Valera is a singer, songwriter, music director and film scorer from the Philippines.  He wrote and produced songs that were recorded by various singers, most notably Sharon Cuneta.

Rico J. Puno is a popular Filipino pop singing artist who is credited as a pioneer-promoter of original Filipino music. He started the trend of incorporating Tagalog lyrics in his rendition of the American song The Way We Were and other foreign songs. Also known as Rico J. and as The Total Entertainer, Puno is a singer who regularly infused his on-stage performance with comedy and jokes.

Marco Sison, an award-winning singer and recording artist; he was a graduate of the popular “Student Canteen” noon time television show in the Philippines where he was undefeated for 14 consecutive weeks in the late 1970s

Nonoy Zuniga, award-winning singer/recording artist with international stints in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China and New Zealand.

“Hajji” Alejandro is a Filipino singer and actor. He’s the father of singerRachel Alejandro. The original Kilabot ng Kolehiyala (College Girls’ Heartthrob), Alejandro is best remembered for such songs as Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika, and Nakapagtataka.

In contrast to the “clean” act and powerful performance of Charice Pempengco as in the videos in the previous blog entry, the comedic antics of these OPM (for Original Pilipino Music) hitmakers, became vulgar slapstick and, like it or not, the Filipino locals somewhere in Hawaii seem to love it.  A little over 90 seconds into the video, it’s “Okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam, okinnam,” perhaps upon recognizing that the crowd was predominantly Ilocano.  Whoa!

What do you think?

Trim food budget by growing veggies and fruit trees

Our calamansi in bloom and with fruits in winter

If your’re wondering what’s the point showing you in the immediately preceding blog entry a few of the fruit trees and vegetables we have grown in the backyard right here in Anaheim, California, it’s simply to state the obvious about those from Bangui or those who grew up in there in particular and most of the Ilocanos regarding their old food habits in general.  These are folks who moved out of Ilocandia who pine for the old fruits and vegetables that they got used to when they were growing up.

Unlike the Philippines where the weather actually favors growing most fruit trees and vegetables all year round, we in these parts go through these severe weather extremes–hot in the summer and icy cold in the winter making backyard gardening a real challenge. Yet we try to do everything to not run out of our favorite tropical fruits and vegetables.  Even as we brought the red mombin (sarguelas) completely shorn of its leaves inside the house to prevent it from dying due to the occasional frost, a few tropical fruit trees and vegetables actually survive the winter.  Our oranges, pumelo and mandarins ripen in the winter. Our calamansi and chico bears fruits all year round. Our Carribean papaya planted in May three years ago has large fruits right now. Even the balimbing fruits are trying to hang in there in spite of the wicked Santa Ana winds.  The parda, sweet pea and sayote thrive in the winter, and you can grow lasona and garlic in the cold as well.

The Ilocanos in Hawaii have it much better because aside from their rather warm and mild climate, they’ve got the rains every now and then–I believe they don’t have to worry much about watering their plants.  Every Ilocano in Hawaii seems to have a backyard garden such that there seems to be very few Asian groceries over there selling produce.

Fact is, for us Ilocanos who have moved out of our communities in Ilocandia–our drive to grow our own tropical fruits and vegetables has an added benefit, namely, it helps trim the family budget for food.  The savings may or may not be that significant.  But the fresh produce from the backyard with a minimum of time and money invested is, well, priceless!

Now a flashback to Bangui.  I was there in March last year when it was warm already.  I visited a few homes and I was surprised by the desire of some to cultivate euphorbia and some orchids in their backyards–but no vegetables.  Most of the houses have mangoes; some have chicos and a few others.  BUT NO VEGETABLES!  When they need the veggies, they go to the public market.  Or they rely on the old seasonal alocon that’s been growing in the wild (not planted).  Didn’t see many marunggay or catuday trees, nor camote, saluyot, winged beans (pal-lang), lima beans (patani) or parda growing in their backyards.  I found out that the old habit of waiting for the monsoon rains to wake up the saluyot seeds scattered in the wild the previous year still persists.

How would you go about changing our old iBangui habits and encourage our townsfolk to start puttering in their backyards and bring them alive with their own fruit trees and vegetables?  From the family budget angle? How about the fresh produce and convenience angles?

Wish we have the likes of Warren Buffett who, growing up in the Great Deppression in spartan beginnings in Omaha, Nebraska, to become a mega billionaire, could teach us how to save and invest a few pennies here and there and snowball the effort into something bigger–even only modestly, like backyard gardening to help trim the family food budget.

Natnateng ken fruit trees ditoy arubayan

Yantangay winter ita ditoy Anaheim, CA [nopay agdama nga 82 degrees ti 3:00 p.m.], nagangon ti caadduan cadagiti mulmulac a nateng ditoy arubayan.  Dagitoy Washington navel orange, satsuma mandarin, calamansi, atemoya, marunggay, balimbing, chico ken carmay ti adda nabati a bungana.  Dagiti parda ken lasona (saan a nailadawan) ti saan a sumuco iti lamiis.  Mabalin nga “ipadaramudom” ti lasona a laocan iti bagoong ken camatis, wenno lutuen a cabulon ti bagoong ken scrambled eggs–pagpa-power a cuna tay nga Ilocano!  Isu a no macalagip datao, sublian ti kinalangto dagitoy fruit trees ken natnateng idi Junio tay napalabas a tawen:

Kitaen tay man no siasino ti caadduan ti mailasin, wenno sinno ti macailasin iti amin a nailadawan a fruit trees ken natnateng iti ngato…

Ilocano ngamin a…

Torre Ti Babel

Saan met a di panangilala wenno caawan ti panangbigbig iti bucod tay a pagsasao no aramatenmi ti Ingles sagpaminsan.  Kinapudnona, adda pay sabali a blogmi maipapan iti Ilocano ket awisencayo a sumarungcar sadiay (ilocano-samtoy.blogspot.com).  Ken umannamong cami cadagiti pagsayaatan nga ibunga ti Gunigundo Bill (House Bill 3719, AN ACT ESTABLISHING A MULTI-LINGUAL EDUCATION AND LITERACY PROGRAM, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES) no cas pagarigan agbalinto a paglintegan daytoy.  Cangrunaan nga icalicagum ti Gunigundo Bill ti panangaramat iti nacayanacan a pagsasao [Ilocano iti Ilocandia, Bicol iti Bicolandia, Bisaya iti Kabisayaan, kdp.] cas medium of instruction wenno pagsasao iti panangisuro iti elementaria .

Isu a no ayanna a cayatyo ti mangibati iti pamanunotan wenno pammaliiwyo ditoy a putarenyo iti Ilocano wenno aglalaoc nga Ilocano, Filipino ken Ingles/Castilla, pagracsacan ken iliwenminto a basaen.  Iti panangipagarupmi, no paglalaokem, saan ngata met a mayartap daytoy iti pannacadadael ti Torre ti Babel iti daan a Babylon segun ti Capitolo 10-11 ti Genesis!

Ala ngarud, ag-Ilocano tayo, cailian.

And The Top Ten Entrepreneurs of the Year Are…

We have proposed honoring the top entrepreneurs of the year for Bangui.  It would be nice to award the trophies to the winners at the conclusion of the town fiesta in April each year.  The purpose, of course, is to stimulate business or economic activity within the town, fully aware that entrepreneurs need the right people, the right resources and the right information to bring their business ideas to life.  They need the right people or even existing companies to join their startups as partners, co-founders or other team members. They have to tap into a network of other entrepreneurs and small business owners to learn from them and to avoid the costly mistakes others have made. The biggest beneficiary of all this, of course, is the town and its people.  And that’s why we would like to honor those who, after 5 years or so of successfully growing their business, belong to the elite Ten Entrepreneurs of the Year.

The following is an article, entitled “Entrepreneur of the Year — Trophy Awaits You,” from Mind Body n Soul and it just happens to fit the picture we have in mind:

‘Those who condemn wealth are those who have none and see no chance of getting it”, is a very witty remark by William Pen Patrick.  Candidly speaking there is certainly no reason to condemn wealth.  Wealth creation is an inevitable necessity and quite worthy of that.  Or else how do we propose to mitigate poverty, build infrastructure or develop technology?  But mind you it is by no means a dilettante’s job.  It is like art, better your imagination more attractive the picture.  “Innovation”, the cornerstone of burgeoning business is nothing but a flight of imagination.  In this fast paced world, one who has vision for the SEEN and the UNSEEN is the one who emerges victorious.

Going up on the podium to receive “Entrepreneur of the Year” award is a dream most youths see while entering trade and industry.  It is a very inspiring dream to begin with.  The unconscious dreams that we spin while asleep may have Freudian interpretation but the conscious dreams like this one need conscious energy and effort to come true.  Detailing the colour of your suit or working your thank you speech for the award ceremony is a very gainful visualization.  Do not consider it like building castles in the air.  This is the gas station where the MIND fuels the body for the journey ahead.

But before your name is announced for the award, there will be challenges, fears and uncertainty to cow you down.  Self-doubt is the biggest and the worst challenge with most of us.  Why should you doubt your own capability?  This is the most pitiable and self-justifying excuse you give to run from the task.  “I may not be able to do it” implies “I do not want to do it” because there is absolutely nothing that you are incapable of doing at the command of your mind.

There is no way to lose in the game, because once your mind is fearless and determined you will either reach your destination or go higher.  Don’t we know how.  Columbus set out to reach but discovered?  In an investor’s jargon it simply means, “A fundamentally strong mind will not sell your dreams short”.

There is another fact to understand.  Do not expect absence of challenges because that is not part of the plan.  Since we have the most sophisticated machinery with unlimited capacity (i.e., MIND), challenges should not be much of a problem to handle.  Moreover, a timorous man shying from his fears and skeptic about his ability would not make an impressive “Entrepreneur of the Year”.  This is part of the game that while you are on the way to realize your dreams, the on-road hurdles make you strong and savvy to deliver a cogent and influential speech on the dais when receiving the award.

Bangui High School 2010 Reunion

From the Banguinians headed by Roy S. Padre comes this announcement/invitation for all Bangui High School Alumni from the Main Campus, Banban and Lanao:

For particulars, please contact the people listed below no later than March 31, 2009:

• Lita Rapisura
• Pinky G. Padre
• Daisy E. Padre
• Dolly S. Molina
• Mila P. Valdez
• Cita P. Valdez

You may send a note to:

Bangui High School Alumni, Reunion Steering Committee, 17871 Shady View Drive # 604, Chino Hills, CA 91709

Here’s the tentative itinerary: