By AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN

BEHIND the horrors of kidnappings that put Tawi-Tawi in the headlines, there’s a lot of beauty to discover in the island province.

Nestled in the lush forests with a full view of the endless sea is barangay Batu-Batu, in the municipality of Panglima Sugala.

Blessed with abundant natural resources, the people thrive on the produce of the sea and their farmlands.

Barter trade, the ancient system method of commercial transaction where in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money, is still very much alive in Batu-Batu. Saturdays, people flock to the market, including those from nearby islands to trade.

The town of Panglima Sugala is a unique crucible of culture. Of the  50,000 population, 99 per cent are Muslims and only one percent are Christians. The Muslims generally are from the Tausug tribe while the Christians are a mixture of Visayan, Ilonggos, Ilocanos and Bicolanos.

There is deep respect in matters of faith among the people of Panglima Sugala. It’s not unusual to see Muslims join in the religious celebrations of the Christian minority. In Christian fiestas, the Muslims not only take part in the festivities but also take part in the Christian rituals.

It’s a sight to see a Muslim carrying a Sto. Niño while dancing gaily to the beat of the drums.

Visitors to the place can only wish that the world would be better if everybody would have that open-minded spirituality practiced by the people of  Panglima Sugala and Batu-Batu.

Text, photos and video by VINCENT GO 

A CULTURAL  regeneration program held recently at Manabayukan Village in Capas, Tarlac brought together Aeta communities from several villages in the province to strengthen their cultural bonds and preserve their identity and indigenous way of life.

Spearheaded by the Holy Spirit Aeta Mission of the College of the Holy Spirit at San Sebastian in Tarlac City, the program is part of the school’s mission to organize and empower indigenous communities and to help them secure their ancestral domain.

The Aetas are among the earliest known inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago, believed to have traveled by land bridges in historic times. Most of them settled in the provinces around Mt. Pinatubo and lived a nomadic way life, surviving by foraging and hunting, and depending on nature to provide them with everything they needed. They believe in the supreme creator and the spirits of the forest and that bad things fall on those who do not respect nature and the environment.

In June 1991, Mt. Pinatubo erupted, hitting the reclusive Aeta communities who thought it was the end of the world when day turned into night and ashes started to cover everything. Family members were separated or perished in the devastation, what little livestock they had disappeared, and the forest that nurtured their existence burned or was destroyed by pyroclastic lahar deposits.

This disaster forced Aeta communities into relocation, exposed to lowland culture, and alienated in a system where money was everything. Living in a constrained area of land proved to be very hard for the Aetas who are used to the free spirited way of the forest. Some of the Aetas became laborers doing menial jobs while others resorted to begging in the streets to survive in the lowlands. Others longed to go back home to the mountains.

It took several years for the Aeta people to be able to resettle back in the land they once knew, only to find lowlanders taking advantage of their miseries. Plantations, mining, logging and tour companies had moved into their domain, making it harder for them to preserve their culture. Outsiders also failed to properly compensate them for the encroachment.

To this day Aeta elders believe that the Mt. Pinatubo eruption was a sign of anger and displeasure from their anito (deity) because people failed to respect nature and the environment.

The cultural regeneration program is their way of returning to their roots and at the same time building their capacity to respond to the pressures on the community.

It was an image Butanding Interaction Officer (BIO) Allan Amanse swears he will remember for the rest of his life.

A 28-year-old fisherman had joined him swim with a whale shark, the world’s largest fish, off the waters of Pamilacan Island in Bohol. The fisherman saw how the whale shark, popularly called butanding, glided gently beside Amanse and marveled at the fascinating bond between them. The fisherman, recalling how he would join his father hunt for whale sharks when he was only seven, wept upon realizing there is a better way of coexisting with the gentle giants of the deep.

“When I saw that fisherman cry after we swam with the whale sharks, the more that I wanted to continue with my job. I didn’t know I have a chance to change other people’s lives, too,” he said.

Amanse, the country’s most experienced BIO, thanks the abundance of whale sharks in Donsol, Sorsogon from December to May for the kind of life he now lives. The once sleepy fishing village has become known as the “Whale Shark Capital of the World.”

Amanse’s work as a BIO requires him to not only be a guide to guests participating in Donsol’s Whale Shark Interaction Tour, a project that aims to conserve whale sharks through ecotourism, but to also extend concern over the environment.

Amanse has been invited too many times to speak in tourism fairs and conduct workshops on proper whale shark interaction around the Philippines. In 2009 the Ayala Foundation sent him to Bohol to train fishermen to interact with whale sharks.

Whale sharks used to be poached in the waters of Pamilacan Island in the early 1990s. It was a lucrative business in the Visayas, as whale shark meat and fins commanded a high price in the Taiwanese market.

Then came the discovery of a large pod of whale sharks in Donsol in 1998, which led to the signing of Fisheries Administrative Order 193 (FAO 193) that made it unlawful to catch, sell, buy, possess, transport and export whale sharks and manta rays in the country.

A whale sharks swims too close to the banca in Oslob, Cebu, at the expense of its safety. Photo by Elson Aca

The killing has stopped since, thanks to the growing effort to conserve the whale sharks, in general, and Donsol’s ecotourism program, in particular.

That is why news of whale sharks being fed, touched and treated as pets in the fishing village of Tan-awan, Oslob in Southern Cebu alarmed Amanse and other environmentalists and whale shark conservation experts. A photograph published by The Daily Mail in London in December even showed a local fisherman riding a whale shark, known in Cebu as tuki.

“Whale sharks are really amazing animals. They are very gentle. But people should remember that they are wildlife animals and feeding them could pose more harm than good,” said Amanse, who was president of Donsol’s Butanding Interaction Officers Association from 1998 to 2010.

Elson Aca, one of the most experienced whale shark researchers in the country, went to Oslob in December on the invitation of a television network and described the whale shark feeding and petting in the Cebu town a “disaster waiting to happen.”

“The fishermen touch the whale sharks the way humans would pet a dog. They should be aware of precautionary principles that when they feed the whale sharks, that could alter their behavior and could have a harmful effect on them. Now it appears like the whale sharks are begging the fishermen to feed them whenever they see the boats approaching,” said Aca, who has been in and out of Donsol since 2004, first as a researcher for an independent whale shark research group until he served as World Wildlife Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF-Phil) program manager in Donsol from 2007 to 2009.

But fisherman and Tan-awan barangay kagawad James Marimat explained that the practice of feeding the whale sharks was not forced on the animals but was incidental.

Uyap (small or brine shrimps) abound in the area, and fishermen use them as bait. “A lot of us have observed that we weren’t able to fish anymore because a whale shark started to feed on uyap July last year. Until more whale sharks came. To divert their attention so we could continue fishing, we would take them out of the area by feeding them uyap in other parts of the sea,” said Marimat who estimates at least 10 whale sharks are in Oslob.

The practice of feeding the whale sharks for tourists to see started in September when a fisherman led a whale shark in front of a diving shop in Oslob, said Tan-awan barangay captain Faustini Huder. Korean guests had a field day having their pictures taken with the creature. By December, tourists were flocking to Tan-awan not just to witness the feeding, but also to swim and have their pictures taken with the whale sharks.

In January, the local government of Oslob came up with Ordinance 091-S12, which provides measures on the protection and conservation of whale sharks. Before that, a private resort managed the whale shark feeding tour, charging tourists P200 for paddleboat rental and P100 for resort entrance. Now tourists pay P300 each, P180 of which goes to the boatman, P90 to the municipality of Oslob and P30 to the barangay of Tan-awan.

Fishermen in Oslob feed the whale sharks with uyap from 6 a.m. up to 1 p.m., so tourists can have a look and swim with them. A visit to Barangay Tan-awan this January showed the whale sharks going after the boats when fishermen, known as whale shark feeders, dangle the small shrimps.

“If these whale sharks get used to approaching boats, they can be seen as a threat by fishermen in other places who do not know what whale sharks are, and when their act of approaching the boat is seen as an aggressive behavior by these fishermen, that’s alarming,” said Aca. “What’s worse is when they approach boats in areas where whale sharks are seen as a resource or food. They can get killed easily.”

Darren Whitehead, a whale shark researcher from the United Kingdom who worked as a volunteer for WWF-Philippines’ whale shark photo-tagging project in Donsol last year, saw the photographs in The Daily Mail.

He said the feeding activity is a “potential time bomb ready to explode” and observed that the Cebu fishermen appear like they do not see the long-term effects of their actions.

“Hand feeding the whale sharks in itself creates a level one problem by attracting the whale sharks to the boat as they relate the boats to easy food. Secondly, the image of a fisherman riding the whale shark is not the best example of the encounter codes they want to enforce,” said Whitehead, who is now doing whale shark research in Djibouti in Africa.

During Aca’s visit in Oslob, in which he was able to identify nine whale sharks through photo-tagging, he saw tourists feed the whale sharks themselves, further aggravating the situation.

Huder, however, maintains that only the fishermen who are called whale shark feeders should be allowed to feed the animals, as stipulated in their Whale Sharks 10 Commandments. It also prohibits the touching of whale sharks whether by hand, foot, or camera, as well as blocking whale sharks’ path leading to the fishermen’s boat.

But tourists could not refrain from touching the whale sharks. They also want to have their pictures taken and get too close, even after being briefed on the do’s and don’ts of interacting with whale sharks. Done in less than five minutes, the briefing takes place in a makeshift tent by the beach.

On Jan. 17, from 7 to 8 a.m., this writer witnessed at least three incidents where tourists touched whale sharks. While some fishermen stop tourists from doing so, Huder admits that they lack a stronger way of enforcing their rules.

Roy Lagahid, a 16-year-old feeder, said the whale sharks are actually safe in Oslob since fishermen take care of them. “We don’t know how other people would treat them in other places. They might get killed there,” he said.

Reacting to observations that some whale sharks were wounded when they bumped into boats that fed them, Lagahid said the wounds were a result of the whale sharks bumping into rocks when they scour for food at night during low tides.

Boatman Santiago Llego, who started fishing as a child, is thankful that the whale sharks are able to attract tourists to their town and is confident that through proper management of these animals, the whale sharks would not have to leave anymore.

“It is a good source of income compared to fishing,” said Llego, who explained that his earnings for a night of fishing could sometimes only buy a kilo of rice for his family.

Rico Durens, one of the 14 whale shark feeders in one of the two resorts that host the tour, said their earnings vary every day but could reach P900, a big leap from the P400 they make from fishing the entire night.

This early, small businesses have emerged in the area where the briefing tent is located. Life vests are rented out for P20 to P30, while stalls sell food and beverage. Two private resorts accommodate tourists who want to take a bath after swimming with the whale sharks. These resorts have their own boatmen who take the guests out to sea.

Although not yet a problem, Huder is aware that the setup of the two resorts can eventually pose a problem, especially since the boatmen and whale shark feeders from the two resorts have “divided” the sea into two to avoid overcrowding. (To be concluded)

(Disclosure: Amor’s family owns the Amor Farm Beach Resort in Donsol. )

Editorial cartoon by VINCENT GO

Prosecuting the accused in an impeachment trial is no walk in the park, and it took Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago to drive home that point.

Absent for the entire first week of the trial due to illness, she showed up on Day 5 and more than made up for her absence by grilling the opposing sides like the trial judge she once was.

On her questioning, Santiago managed to elicit the information that the prosecution had no idea how many witnesses they had lined up for all eight articles of impeachment, and no idea how many documents they were to present. Compared to the defense, which had the information at their fingertips, the prosecution looked ill prepared and clueless.

“You should even have a trial brief,” she told lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr., who did not even deny the absence of such a brief.

Santiago’s questioning reminds the prosecution an impeachment is not a trial won by publicity or end-of-the-day press conference, but a trial that will be won by reason, logic, evidence and experience.

The clerk of court reads charges against Espinosa. Photo by Artha Kira Paredes

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES

THE driver of the Universal Guiding Star bus accused in the death of journalist Lourdes “Chit” Estella-Simbulan on Wednesday pleaded not guilty before a Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Daniel Espinosa, who was absent in the Nov. 9 arraignment, entered a “not guilty” plea to charges of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property with homicide before the Quezon City RTC Branch 83. His co-accused, Victor Ancheta, who was driving the Nova bus that police said hit Estella’s taxi before the bus Espinosa’s bus, entered the same plea in November.

Both accused are out on bail.

Espinosa is almost unrecognizable without the moustache.

On May 13 last year, the bus driven by Espinosa rammed into the rear of the Abu Abbey taxi on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.

Estella, the taxi’s lone passenger, died on the spot. She was on her way to meet friends at the UP-Ayala Land Technohub.

At the time of her death, Estella, a veteran journalist, was a journalism professor at the University of the Philippines College of Communication and was one of the trustees of VERA Files.

Judge Ralph Lee of Branch 83 had earlier ordered the arrest of Espinosa when the latter failed to show up in the November arraignment.

Espinosa’s counsel, Salvador Panelo, said, however, his client missed his hearing because the subpoena sent to them indicated the hearing would take place in the afternoon. He said Espinosa arrived for his hearing afternoon of Nov. 9.

“Sila pala ang nagkamali. Mali ang binigay na oras (They committed the mistake. They gave the wrong time),” Panelo told VERA Files after the arraignment.

Espinosa, a native of Davao del Sur, has been employed as a driver since early 2000. He had a clean NBI record as of September 2009 and no police record as of July 2010.

In his counter-affidavit submitted to court, he refused to take any responsibility in the death of Estella’s.

He said that the Abu Abbey taxi got in his way when it was hit by one of the two Nova buses racing against the other on Commonwealth Avenue that has a 60 kph speed limit.  One of the Nova buses was driven by Ancheta. He also blamed taxi driver Vito Jagunos for carelessly occupying the yellow bus lane.

The affidavit executed by fellow Universal Guiding Star bus driver Honorio Panaga also came to Espinosa’s defense. Panaga, who picked up Espinosa’s passengers, said in his affidavit that it was the Nova bus that first hit and “plowed” into the Abu Abbey taxi. He also said Espinosa tried to avoid the taxi but still crashed into its left rear.

The joint pre-trial conference of Espinosa and Ancheta has been scheduled on March 14 because, according to Lee, “under the rules, the court cannot conduct pre-trial (conference) and arraignment at the same time.”

By YOLANDA L. PUNSALAN

THREE-YEAR-OLD Arianna Ysabel Aguilar Ramos can not yet read and write, but she can already paint like a pro.

Arianna recently mounted her first solo exhibit showcasing 40 paintings, which she finished two months before her third birthday last October 29.

The young artist decided to donate the proceeds of her one-day exhibit to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) pediatric ward after she saw a fleeting TV solicitation for help plugged by the hospital.

For this act of charity, Arianna’s name has been listed in the roster of donors as the youngest ever in the hospital’s history.

Her mother Catrina told exhibit guests, mainly family and bosom friends, that young Arianna was moved by that simple TV plug showing the paltry conditions of the sick kids and the hospital’s lack of basic medical supplies and facilities.

Arianna casually told her mom, “I want to help them get well.”

Catrina said the practice of giving generously to charity has been imprinted in the child’s mind.  For the Ramos family, birthdays are for giving to others while receiving of gifts is only expected during Christmastime.

The right ingredients in turning out a happy, generous child are all present in this artist’s fortunate life.  Arianna’s parents gave her more than enough encouragement and exposure to the arts  (aside from their art collection at home, they went on foreign and local holiday trips) that all but expanded her artistic mind.

Surprisingly, there are no other artists in the family. Her father Romell Ramos is a lawyer while her mother Catrina Aguilar is a career woman, who honestly admitted she could not even draw.

Arianna’s Grandma Mildred had so lovingly and gently guided her fingers to hold a pen properly when she was only seven months old.  After the pen, she learned to wield paint brushes of various lengths and sizes.  Then the colors, the easel, and the pastel paper came.

Mom Catrina recalled that Arianna and one-year-old sister Alessa would draw on the living room drapes, on their white tiles and on each other’s faces and arms, turning one another into cartoonish cats.

That, she said, was before art teacher Jerome Malic homeschooled Arianna with art techniques.

Arianna’s whimsical paintings as shown at her exhibit are essentially fun pieces, done in playfulness, and in between hyperactive moods.

It is art without hypocrisy.  There are no portraits of sunsets, or falling leaves or churches or icons — nothing surreal or cubist, nothing calculated or precise.  Her artworks are essentially lines that twirl like ribbons and zip and zap across the pastel paper, scribbles that crisscross and then go in circles and squares, then in dots and splashes that mess the page.

The outcome exudes a kind of serene innocence that captivate.  The viewer can not help but just hold back, be still, gaze intently and smile.

Fittingly, Dr. Carmencita Padilla, PGH pediatric chair, opened Arianna’s spacious exhibit, which was big enough for the artist and her cousins to run around, complete with a rocking wooden toy horse, kid study table and stools, and an easel board, with colorful folded circular fans hanging on the glass doors.

Although Arianna has not learned how to write her name so she could sign her artworks, she however has a gift for giving titles to her own paintings as her three-year-old vocabulary can allow.

She entitled her works as follows: Round and Round, Crayons, Dreams, Barney, Alessa, Lollipop, Yoyo Bounce, Forest, Scribbles, Sprinkles, Cupcake, Big Blue Circle, Motorbike, Yellow Hoop Loop, Swirls, Polka Dots, Square on Square, Fountain, Dots, Christmas, Spilled Milk, Mr. Golden Sun, Waterfall, Peeping Cloud, Waves, Rainbow, The Number Four, Black Cat, Duckling, Winter, Thunder Cloud, Messy Room, and Pink.

Not to be outdone in creativity and generosity, the PGH resident doctors gifted Arianna with a handmade storybook made up of bound sheets of art paper.  Written on it is an original children’s short story, which was beautifully illustrated.

It is about a touching story of a young girl named Arianna and her magical paintbrush. It tells of how she painted lively colors of reds, greens, blues and yellows to give color to the sad lives of hospital patients who were fading away.

Aside from including the child artist in the PGH’s roster of donors, Dr. Padilla said she will submit Arianna’s name to the Philippine Association of the Gifted Children.

Being a child with boundless energy and multiple interests, Arianna seems however to be momentarily setting aside her paints and brushes.

She has asked her parents to allow her to learn how to do the tap dance this time.

Text, photos and video by VINCENT GO

ON the first day of the Year of the Water Dragon, Binondo, Manila became the scene of a huge party filled with street performers and lion dancers and dragons of all shapes, colors and sizes gyrating to the beat of drummers.

Binondo is the oldest Chinatown in the world, established even before the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century. Located across the Pasig River from Intramuros, the walled city that was the enclave of Spanish colonizers, Binondo was the center of commerce and trade by the early Chinese merchants who settled in the country. Forced to convert to Catholicism or face expulsion or execution by the colonizers, the Chinese turned the area into an economic hub in Asia in early times because of its historical and financial significance.

Organizers of this year’s festivities made it extra special because the day was declared a public holiday for the first time as an acknowledgement of the contribution of the local Chinese community to the country’s economy and society. The number of people who attended this year’s celebration was undoubtedly larger compared to previous years because of the long weekend. Most of the food establishments in the area were packed full of customers to the point that many of them ran out of their top selling items.

A symbol of good fortune and sign of intense power, the dragon is regarded as a divine beast that Chinese Filipinos hope would bring good luck and prosperity this year.

Fourteen senator-judges on Jan. 17 vote for Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s ruling to deny prosecution's request to subpoena Corona's family. (Senate photo)

By BOOMA CRUZ

HOW much evidence does the prosecution have to present before the Senate impeachment court to convict Chief Justice Renato Corona?

The answer to this most important question is still up in the air although legal minds, including some senator-judges, agree that proof beyond reasonable doubt is definitely not a requirement.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero says senator-judges are not after proof beyond reasonable doubt because impeachment is not a criminal case.

“Administrative case lang naman talaga ang impeachment. Hindi naman ito layuning makulong si Chief Justice Corona, hindi nito layuning pagbayarin siya ng danyos perwisyo o civil damages (Impeachment is really an administrative case. The goal is not to imprison Chief Justice Corona or make him pay civil damages),” Escudero explained. “Ang layunin lamang nito ay dalawa: tanggalin siya sa pwesto at pangalawa ipagbawal na siya’y magtrabaho para sa anong sangay o ahensya ng pamahalaan habang buhay (The aim is two-fold: remove him from office and second, disqualify him perpetually from public office).”

Under the rules of court, substantial evidence is the requirement for conviction in an administrative case.

To former senator Aquilino Pimentel, one of the sitting senator-judges in the aborted trial of President Joseph Estrada, the evidence required in impeachment proceedings is “any kind of proof convincing enough to a reasonable mind should be sufficient.”

For Sen. Franklin Drilon, a senator-judge in both the Estrada and Corona impeachment trials, the matter is best left to one’s conscience.

The Senate impeachment court has not discussed the quantum of evidence needed to convict Corona. It was among the issues lawyers of the chief justice wanted to discuss and settle in a pretrial conference, but the Senate impeachment court rejected the motion on the first day of the impeachment trial.

Former University of the Philippines College of Law Dean Raul Pangalanan believes the ruling helped the impeachment court avoid a trap. Since there is no precedent and the question of evidence has never been settled, he says the Supreme Court could step in and define for the impeachment court the kind of evidence needed to convict Chief Justice Corona.

“Therefore, you basically set yourself up to be reviewed by the Supreme Court all over again,” said Pangalanan, pointing out the Supreme Court’s expanded jurisdiction under the Constitution.

Under the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Court has the power and duty to determine grave abuse of discretion of any office, officer or agency of the government.

Because the ongoing trial is, by all indications, an administrative proceeding, the decision of Senate President Juan Ponce to reject the prosecution’s motion to subpoena Corona surprised UP law professor Harry Roque. He said the chief justice could be subpoenaed because the right against self-incrimination can be invoked only in criminal cases.

“Wala namang isyung kriminal dito. Ang isyu lamang ay pagpapatuloy ng kanyang panunungkulan (The issue is not criminal. The issue is whether he should continue as Chief Justice),” added Roque.

Enrile, the impeachment court’s presiding justice, denied the motion the grounds that the subpoena would violate Corona’s right against self-incrimination. His decision was upheld by a vote of 15-6.

Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas, Corona’s lead counsel, acknowledges that impeachment is not a criminal case.

Reacting to suggestions that he should resign as Corona’s lead counsel because he is receiving a monthly government pension, Cuevas pointed to Republic Act 910 which says retired justices cannot appear in cases where the accused is charged with a criminal offense.

“Is this (impeachment) a criminal case?” Cuevas has been quoted as saying.

Because the impeachment trial is an administrative proceeding, Drilon said the court cannot extend any protection to witnesses. The witness protection program is for legislative inquiries and not for adversarial proceedings like the impeachment trial, he added.

“Ito po’y paglilitis ng isang kaso at mayrong prosecution, mayrong depensa, may naglalaban. Yung witness protection law ay instrumento ng estado (This is a trial where there is a prosecution and there is defense, there are protagonists. The witness protection law is an instrument of the state). It is protection given by the state. And here, the state cannot take sides as a state,” said Drilon.

Protection for witnesses is a major concern for the prosecution. According to Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas, the prosecution’s lead counsel, a number of potential witnesses from the judiciary have agreed to take the witness stand provided their physical as well as professional security is guaranteed.

Tupas said the prosecution cannot give witnesses any guarantees because the judiciary is a co-equal branch of Congress.

“Wala talagang eksaktong assurance except na labanan na lang natin ito kasi ito ay para sa bayan. And kung magtagumpay tayo dito, ibig sabihin pag na convict ito, malaking reform ang mangyayari, even dun sa kanilang branch of government (There is no exact assurance except to fight for this because this is for the country. If we succeed, which means there is conviction, big reforms will take place even in their branch of government),” he added.

Text and photos by VINCENT GO

THE Chinese New Year is considered the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar. The first day of the Lunar New Year falls on Monday, Jan. 23, which has been declared a public holiday. This means it’s going to be a long weekend, the perfect time for ordinary citizens to get a chance to visit Manila’s Chinatown and join the celebrations.

According to the lunar calendar, 2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon, which begins on Jan. 23, 2012 and ends on Feb. 9, 2013. The dragon, a mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac, represents power and good luck, and is considered to be very auspicious this year.

Chinatown is now abuzz with everything that could help bring good luck, from lucky charms and lucky fruits to red packets and decorations to ward off bad vibes and anything related to the Chinese New Year celebration.

Food plays an important role in the festivities, as it is also the time when family members gather for their reunion dinner to strengthen the family bond.

For those planning to venture into Chinatown this long weekend, here is a simple guide to places that have made their mark in Chinatown’s food scene:

• Salido Restaurant located along Ongpin Street, known for its brewed coffee and pork asado (roast pork).
• Ongpin Mañosa Restaurant located along Ongpin Street for its pork or beef maki, a type of thick Chinese soup.
• LGA Fast food at Estero and  Ongpin for quick Chinese-style food cooked on the spot.
• Po Heng located along Quintin Paredes Street for authentic Chinese-style lumpia (spring roll).
• Sincerity Cafe & Restaurant along Yuchengco Street known for its fried chicken, ngo hiong (more popularly known as kikiam to Filipinos) and duck misua soup.
• Dong Bei Dumpling along Yuchengco Street for authentic hand-rolled dumplings.
• President Tea House along Salazar Street for delicious dimsum.
• Quick Snack along Carvajal Street for its misua guisado (stir-fried misua) and sate chami (stir-fried noodles with sate sauce) .
• Shin Ton Yon Food on Salazar Street for takeout of delicious Chinese delicatessen like pork asado and stuffed pork leg.

And of course, what is Chinese New Year without the tikoy that can be found at almost all corners along Ongpin during the festivities? This sweet, sticky rice cake is believed to keep harmony and closeness in the family.

May the Year of the water dragon bring great good luck, good health and prosperity to everyone.

By AMER R. AMOR

AT the height of the Sinulog Festival’s street dancing competition in Cebu City on Jan. 15, young women, dubbed as “Festival Queens,” carried the Santo Nino and led thousands of dancers and spectators as the city celebrated the feast of the Holy Child Jesus. Garbed in their most festive costumes, they endured an entire day of dancing and merrymaking as they paraded along the main thoroughfares.

Far from the madding crowd of Sunday’s competition, just outside the Basilica del Sto. Nino, another group of women sans make-up and colorful costumes, and with no photographers scampering around them, danced as well as they offered prayers of gratitude, repentance and supplication to the Holy Child Jesus. Swaying to the beat of their own prayers uttered in Cebuano, they are the ties that bring devotees closer to the Sto. Nino.

“We are actually candle vendors whom devotees ask to dance their prayer requests. And we do so wholeheartedly. It’s a practice that I have learned from my relatives,” said Ruby Meonis, one of the vendors.

Along with the other women known as tindera sinulog, Meonis brings to life almost every day a tradition originally conceived as a ritual dance but which the Spaniards adopted as a dance of worship for the Sto. Nino. Theirs is a performance that goes beyond the festivities that surround the Philippines’ biggest and grandest festival.

Meonis, 32, is one of the youngest among these women, having started to dance in prayers just three years ago. Born to a family of candle vendors from the town of Minglanilla in Cebu, Meonis has witnessed as a child how her relatives religiously danced in prayer, and have been blessed by the Sto. Nino along the way.

“I live in a neighborhood where candles are made and where most people are candle vendors. I tried other jobs first, but I realized I grew up with this. It is my way of continuing our family’s tradition. It pays for my child’s diaper and for our food, but more importantly, I also get closer to Senyor (Holy Child Jesus),” said Meonis.

For 89-year-old Leonesa Alicaya, her trips to Basilica del Sto. Nino to dance on behalf of the devotees who buy candles from her have become her life. Having to raise her six children after her husband died, Alicaya seeks refuge within the Basilica. She learned from observing how the vendors dance in prayers and started to perform the sinulog in 1957. To this day, even when she has all the reasons to stop dancing, her trips to the Basilica continue.

“This is my life now. When I am here and I dance for the devotees, I feel alive. I tried staying at home when my children requested me to stop already, but I got weak. I have to be here every day. I am happy here,” Alicaya, the oldest among the tindera sinulog, said.

She has no more requests, she said, only gratitude to the Holy Child Jesus whom she credits for helping her raise her six children. She also counts her grandchildren as Sto. Nino’s blessings to her, one of whom is already a teacher.

“Without me selling candles, and without me praying to Senyor, I don’t know if I can be able to survive all the hardships that I went through,” she said.

She remembers bringing all her children with her to the Basilica when she started peddling candles and is grateful she did so since all of her children turned out to be devotees of the Sto. Nino as well.

With the candles she bought for P4 per one hundred pieces and resold at five centavos each, she recalls that her income was meager 55 years ago, but her faith to the Holy Child Jesus saw her through.

The candles, which come in different colors now, are sold at P10 each. When devotees pray, they light the red candle for the Sto. Nino and the blue one for the Virgin Mary. The yellow is for good health while the green is for prayer requests on business and career, Alicaya said. Their dancing and their prayers remain free.

Not far from Alicaya, 65-year-old Lucila Belacho has just danced in prayer as well. No one asked her to do so, but she has a wish she is fervently hoping Senyor would grant. She has been saying the same prayer for the last five years.

“I only have one prayer every day, every Sinulog. And that is for my daughter to finally come home,” said Belacho, whose daughter Yvonne left for Manila in 2006 to find work. After contacting them twice once she got to Manila, Yvonne has not been heard of.

Belacho, who started selling candles in 1995, takes care of the five children her daughter has left behind. She does not complain. “But I really pray to Sto. Nino that He keeps my daughter safe and that she will be home soon. It does not matter if she doesn’t have work now or we don’t have money, I just really want her home,” she said.

“I hope that day comes when I no longer have to ask for anything from Him,” Belacho said as she waves her hand to the image of the Sto. Nino being prepared on His way to Iloilo, her voice breaking.