Thursday, November 30, 2006

FACTS ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES

This is an interesting reading on seldom-known facts about the Philippines ..... .

Founded in 1595 by the Spaniards, the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City, Philippines is older than Harvard and is the oldest university in Asia. University of Santo Tomas in Manila, established in 1611, is Asia's second oldest.


In the Philippines, Filipinos were introduced to the English language in 1762 by British invaders, not Americans.


What is the world's 3rd largest English-speaking nation, next to the U.S.A. and the UK? The Philippines.

The USA bought the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam from Spain in 1898. The Filipino-American Independence War from 1898 to 1902 ensued, killing 4,234 Americans and how many Filipinos? 16,000 were killed in action and 200,000 died from famine and pestilence. (The Philippines lost and was colonized, but educated, until 1946.)

Los Angeles, California was co-founded in 1781 by a Filipino named Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, along with 43 Latinos from Mexico sent by the Spanish government.

What antibiotic did Filipino doctor Abelardo Aguilar co-discover? Hint: Brand is Ilosone, named after Iloilo. Erythromycin.

The one-chip video camera was first made by Marc Loinaz, a Filipino inventor from New Jersey.


The first ever international Grandmaster from Asia was Eugenio Torre, a Filipino, who won at the Chess Olympiad in Nice, France in 1974.

This son of two Filipino physicians scored over 700 on the verbal portion of the Standardized Achievement Test (SAT) before age 13 is Kiwi Danao Camara of Punahou School, Hawaii.

Edward Sanchez, a Mensa member, bagged the grand prize in the first Philippines Search for Product Excellence in Information Technology.

Who was the Filipino-American dancer who scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT?
Joyce Monteverde of California.

Who invented the fluorescent lamp? Thomas Edison discovered electric light and the fluorescent lighting was thought up by Nikola Tesla. But the fluorescent lamp we use today was invented by Agapito Flores. (A Cebu man named Benigno Flores of Bantayan Island, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer), a Filipino scientist. The Americans helped then President leader Ramon Magsaysay, to develop for worldwide commerce.

(Yes! Many foreigners have noted that the Filipino population has Asia 's highest rates of inventors and international beauty queens.) Filipina beauties, Gloria Diaz and Margie Morgan, chosen as Miss Universe in 1969 and 1973.


Pure or part-Filipino celebrities in American show biz include Von Flores, Tia Carere, Paolo Montalban, Lea Salonga, Ernie Reyes Jr., Nia Peeples, Julio Iglesias Jr., Lou Diamond Phillips, Phoebe Cates and Rob Schneider.

The first Filipino act to land a top hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1960's was a group Rocky Fellers of Manila. Sugar Pie deSanto (father was from the Philippines) , The Artist Formerly Known as Prince (according to the October, 1984 article "Prince in Exile" by Scott Isler in magazine Musician) , Foxy Brown and Enrique Iglesias followed.

Pure Filipinos who made success in minor charts were Jocelyn Enriquez, aka: Oriental Madonna, Buffry, Pinay and (Ella May) Saison.

Latina-American pop star Christina Aguilar lost to Filipina Josephine Roberto aka Banig during the International Star Search years ago. In a mid-1999 MTV chat, she said that competing against someone of Banig's age was "not fair".

Besides gracing fashion magazine covers, this international super model from Manila had walked the runways since the 1970s for all the major designers, like Calvin Klein, Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Donna Karan, Gianni,Versace and Yves Saint Laurent - Anne Bayle.

Who is the personal physician of United States President Bill Clinton? Eleanor "Connie" Conception Mariano, a Filipina doctor who was the youngest Captain in the US Navy.

The first Filipino-American in US Congress was Virginia Rep. Robert Cortez-Scott, a Harvard alumnus.

Distinguished British traveler-writer A. Henry Savage Landor, thrilled upon seeing a Bicol landmark in 1903 wrote: "Mayon is the most beautiful mountain I have ever seen, the world-renowned Fujiyama (Mt. Fuji) of Japan sinking into perfect insignificance by comparison. "Mayon has the world's most perfect cone."

Filipinos had their first taste of Mexican chili and corn during the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade (1564-1815). In return, Mexico's people had their initial taste of tamarind, Manila mango and a Filipino banana called racatan or lakatan.

The first female president of the Philippines sworn into office in 1986 was Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. Her maiden name isChinese.

On March 31, 1997 article, The New York Times reported that the CIA manipulated elections: "(CIA operative Col. Edward Lansdale essentially ran the successful presidential campaign of Defense Minister Ramon Magsaysay in the Philippines in 1953."

Who was the first Asian and/or Filipino to snatch America's Pulitzer Prize? Philippines Herald war journalist Carlos P. Romulo in 1941. (He was also the first Asian to become UN President.) The first two Filipino-Americans to garner the same award 56 years later were Seattle Times' Alex Tizon and Byron Acohido, who was part-Korean. Filipino writer Jose Rizal could read and write at age 2, and grew up to speak more than 20 languages, including Latin, Greek, German, French and Chinese. What were his last words? "Consummatum est!" ("It is done!").

"What's still impressive to me about the Philippines is the friendliness of the people, their sense of humor..." wrote Honolulu journalist John Griffin in a 1998 visit to Manila. Although, I lived in America longer years than my birth place Bohol, I still have plenty of bagoong left in m y body that can energize and catapulted me all the way to Maribojoc, Bohol, Philippines.

And I might add the latest sensations: One, the Pacman, Manny Pacquiao, who repeated the feat of Gabriel "Flash" Elorde in boxing; Two, the Ballroom Dancing Queen, Cheryl Burke, with Drew Lachey, last season, and with Emmitt Smith this season. She and her mother, a devout Catholic, were very grateful to the Filipinos who voted them to victory by phone when the scores by the judges were tied with the other runner-up.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

WHEN RELIGION LOSES ITS CREDIBILITY

I saw this article in the Internet under "OPINION". Written by Oliver "Buzz" Thomas, a Baptist minister and author of an upcoming book, "10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't Because He Needs the Job)". I find it interesting and decided to share it here in Philkans Blog. No comment on my part, presented it as it is. Here it is :

What if Christian leaders are wrong about homosexuality ? I suppose, as a newspaper maintains its credibility by setting the record straight, church leaders would need to do the same.

Correction: Despite what you might have read, heard or been taught throughout your churchgoing life, homosexuality is, in fact, determined at birth and is not to be condemned by God's followers.

Based on a few recent headlines, we won't be seeing that admission anytime soon. Last week, U.S. Roman Catholic bishops took the position that homosexuality attractions are "disordered" and that gays should live closeted lives of chastity. At the same time, North Carolina's Baptist State Convention was preparing to investigate churches that are too gay-friendly. Even the more liberal Presbyterian Church (USA) had been planning to put a minister on trial for conducting a marriage ceremony for two women before the charges were dismissed on a technicality. All this brings me back to the question: What if we're wrong ?

Religion's only real commodity, after all, is it's moral authority. Lose that, and we lose our credibility. Lose credibility, and we might as well close shop.

It's happened to Christianity before, most famously when we dug in our heels over Galileo's challenge to the biblical view that the Earth, rather than the sun, was the center of our solar system. You know the story. Galileo was persecuted for what turned out to be incontrovertibly true. For many, specially in the scientific community, Christianity never recovered.

This time, Christianity is in danger of squandering its moral authority by continuing its pattern of discrimination against gays and lesbians in the face of mounting evidence that sexual orientation has little or nothing to do with choice. To the contrary, whether sexual orientation arises as a result of the mother's hormones or the child's brain structure or DNA, it is almost certainly an accident of birth. The point is this: Without choice, there can be no moral culpability.

Answer in Scriptures.

So why are so many church leaders (not to mention Orthodox Jewish and Muslim leaders) persisting in their view that homosexuality is wrong despite a growing stream of scientific evidence that it is likely to become a torrent in the coming years ? The answer is found in Leviticus 18. "You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination."

As a former "the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it" kind of guy, I am symphatetic with any Christian who accepts the Bible at face value. But here's the catch. Leviticus is filled with laws imposing the death penalty for everything from eating catfish to sassing your parents. If you accept one as the absolute, unequivocal voice of God, you must accept them all.

For many of gay America's loudest critics the results are unthinkable. First, no more football. At least not without gloves. Handling a pigskin is an abomination. Second, no more Saturday games even if you can get a new ball. Violating the Sabbath is a capital offense according to Leviticus. For the over-40 crowd, approaching the altar of God with a defect in your sight is taboo, but you'll have plenty of company because those menstruating or with disabilities are also barred.

The truth is that mainstream religion has moved beyond animal sacrifice, slavery and the host of primitive rituals described in Leviticus centuries ago. Selectively hanging onto these ancient proscriptions for gays and lesbians exclusively is unfair according to anybody's standard of ethics. We lawyers call it "selective enforcement", and in civil affairs, it's illegal.

A better reading of the Scripture starts with the book of Genesis and the grand pronouncement about the world God created and all those who dwelled in it. "And, the Lord said that it was good". If God created us and if everything he created is good, how can a gay person be guilty of being anything more than what God created him or her to be ?

Turning to the New Testament, the writings of the Apostle Paul at first lend credence to the notion that homosexuality is a sin, until you consider that Paul most likely is referring to the Roman practice of pederasty, a form of pedophilia common in the ancient world. Successful older men often took boys into their homes as concubines, lovers or sexual slaves. Today, such sexual exploitation of minors is no longer tolerated. The point is that the sort of long-term, commited, same-sex relationships that are being debated today are not addressed in the New Testament. It distorts the biblical witness to apply verses written in one historical context (i.e sexual exploitation of children) to contemporary situations between two monogamous partners of the same sex. Sexual promiscuity is condemned by the Bible whether it's between gays or straights. Sexual fidelity is not.

What would Jesus do ?

For those who have lingering doubts, dust off your Bibles and take a few hours to reacquaint yourself with the teachings of Jesus. You won't find a single reference to homosexuality. There are teachings on money, lust, revenge, divorce, fasting and a thousand other subjects, but there is nothing on homosexuality. Strange, don't you think, if being gay were such a moral threat ?

On the other hand, Jesus spent a lot of time talking about how we should treat others. First, he made it clear it is not our role to judge. It is God's. ("Judge not lest you be judged." Matthew 7:1). And, second, he commanded us to love other people as we love ourselves.

So I ask you. Would you want to be discriminated against ? Would you want to lose your job, housing or benefits because of something over which you had no control ? Better yet, would you like it if society told you that you couldn't visit your lifelong partner in the hospital or file a claim on his behalf if he were murdered ?

The suffering that gay and lesbian people have endured at the hands of religion is incalculable, but they can look expectantly to the future for vindication. Scientific facts, after all, are a stubborn thing. Even our religious beliefs must finally yield to them as the church in its battle with Galileo ultimately realized. But for religion, the future might be ominous. Watching the growing conflict between medical science and religion over homosexuality is like watching a train wreck from a distance. You can see it coming for miles and sense the inevitable conclusion, but you're powerless to stop it. The more church leaders dig in their heels, the worse it's likely to be.

Post note: I believe it was Pope John Paul II who had the courage to admit the church's mistake on this Galileo thing, after more than five hundred years !!!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

BLOGGING: NEW VOICE OF FREEDOM

I would like to share this article about blogging. From the magazine "The Week", Volume 6, Issue 284, November 10, 2006, Page 16 (Best Columns: International). Heading is EGYPT - Where Writers Fear No Censorship : Blogging has come to Egypt, said the London-based, pan Arab Asharq-al-Awsat in an editorial. Published authors and beginners alike are setting up blogs as "a means of expressing political opposition" or "exploring taboo topics". You won't find much in Egyptian newspapers on conspiracy theories or alternative Islamic movements, but such articles abound on the Web. Novelist Mohammed Al-Ashri says that only on his blog can he be truly free. Elsewhere, he says, "there is censorship of ideologies, and even if it is not repressive, it is a boundary that limits one's imagination". He and other literary bloggers find that they can experiment with the language in ways that print media doesn't allow. Nael Al-Toukhi, for example, writes "in the Egyptian colloquial dialect", which he finds more expressive than "classical Arabic". Political bloggers are less numerous, but they're starting to make their presence felt. Several have banded together to raise support for causes ranging from Sudanese refugees to women's rights. Arab bloggers are truly becoming "the new voices of freedom".

Contributed by : Andy from Sumaila