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.

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.

EVERY third Sunday of January, Tondo, one of Manila’s most densely populated districts, celebrates the Feast of the Sto. Niño (Holy Child in Spanish). The Sto. Niño is one of the oldest religious relics brought by Fernando Magellan to the archipelago in 1521.

Barely a week after the Feast of the Black Nazarene, thousands of devotees flocked to the Sto. Niño de Tondo Parish, bearing images of the Child Jesus to have them blessed.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle officiated the early morning mass held at 6 a.m., which  was followed by hourly masses held to accommodate the huge number of devotees. A grand procession then ensued, with devotees swaying, images of the Holy Child in their arms, to the drumbeats of native Ati-atihan dancers smothered in black soot around Tondo district.

The event went peacefully with no untoward incident, apart from several people who reported losing valuables to pickpockets.

By PATRICK KING PASCUAL

AMID chants of Viva Pit Senyor! (or Long live the Christ child!), about a hundred thousand devotees of the Holy Child joined  Saturday’s  grand foot procession in Cebu City— the eve of the Feast of the Sto. Niño.

In the island province of Cebu in southern Philippines, the most celebrated feast and patron is the Sto. Niño, an icon in the Roman Catholic faith  symbolizing the child Jesus Christ. Devotees pray to him for different petitions, and to give thanks for all the blessings they have received.

Although the Sto. Niño is not the official patron saint of Cebu, the Cebuanos still continue to celebrate the feast of the child patron with much gusto. (Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu, declared Our Lady of Guadalupe as the principal patroness of Cebu in 2002.)

The Sto. Niño statue in Cebu is believed to be the oldest religious image in the Philippines, donated by Ferdinand Magellan to Rajah Humabon in 1521. The statue is said to be miraculous because it survived a great fire in 1565.

On the third Saturday of January each year, people gather at the Basilica del Sto. Niño Cebu — the oldest Roman Catholic church in the country, to attend the novena in honor of the child Jesus, and the grand foot procession that follows.

The grand procession is the most awaited by the Cebuanos and Catholic devotees, next to the Sinulog Festival, which pays tribute to the Cebuano’s acceptance of Roman Catholicism and also held to honor the Sto. Niño.

According to the organizing committee, this year’s procession passed a  longer 6.8-kilometer route. The change was intended to give many people the opportunity to feel what it was like for the Sto. Nino procession to pass by their homes.

Devotees paraded along the main streets of Cebu, carrying their own Sto. Niño statues. Those without statues simply swayed their raised hands from left to right while the band played tunes that gave praise to the Holy infant.

Spectators eagerly flashed their cameras as  they lined the sidewalks of Cebu’s main streets, secured by ropes and guarded by volunteers and ROTC students.

The procession started around one in the afternoon and ended at past seven in the evening.

Manang Ella, who has been a Sto. Niño devotee since her husband passed away, said that this yearly procession is the Cebuano’s way of showing the most miraculous patron their appreciation and gratitude for the countless blessings He has given them.

For her, the sacrifice of walking from the Basilica up to the city center and then back to the church, is also her way of making up for the weekends and months she had failed to attend mass.

Manang Ella always brings her old black Sto. Niño to the yearly procession. Even if the gold-plated crown and accessories of the statue are already tarnished, she refuses to buy a new one because she had that statue in her possession for so many years, and it has given her countless blessings.

For many of the Cebuanos, it doesn’t matter how their Sto. Niños look like. Some of them only have the small ones usually seen near the wind shields of taxis and jeepneys.

They are thankful for the blessings they have received because of  their faith and  devotion to the Christ child.

PANTUKAN, Compostela Valley—A loud cracking sound followed by waves upon waves of clay, timber and rocks roused sleeping residents in a poor small-scale mining community in Sitios Diat 1 and 2 in Barangay Napnapan, Pantukan, Compostela Valley before dawn of Jan. 5.

Shortly after, more than 50 houses would be buried in rubble, leaving residents who survived the nature’s onslaught in shock.

Thirty-six bodies have been retrieved and four of these remain unidentified, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Sixteen people were rescued from the site of the landslide and were immediately brought to the Davao Regional Hospital in Tagum City. But the NDRRMC reported 40 people still missing.

Dr. Arnulfo Lataya of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of Pantukan said Napnapan, the site of the tragedy, is a high-risk area.  It has been a mining area since the 1980’s.

“We marked this zone as a high-risk area for landslides and the last recorded landslide in this area was on April 2011 that left 14 people dead,” he said.

Small-scale mining operations in Pantukan was authorized in accordance with the approval of the 80-hectare “minahang bayan,” which recognizes the right of the people to benefit from the rich mineral deposits of the country.

Following the Jan. 5 incident, however, the local government and the NDRRMC declared a work stoppage and ordered an enforced evacuation on the small mining settlements in the area. But many small miners are resisting the order.

“We will continue what we have started here despite the threats of similar incidents,” said Lina Daniel, a miner’s wife who survived the landslide. “This is where our livelihood is. What are we going to do in the lowlands? Will the government provide decent jobs for us? We will only die there because of hunger.”

IT was the longest procession to date in the history of Quiapo Church’s centuries-old Black Nazarene.

It took almost 22 hours for the life-size wooden sculpture of a dark-colored Jesus carrying the cross to return to church after leaving the Quirino Grandstand at the Rizal Park Monday morning.  It was already quarter past 5 a.m. of Tuesday when it entered Quiapo Church as millions of devotees who believe the icon to be miraculous participated in the annual feast of the Black Nazarene.

Early on the procession, two of the wheels of the carriage bearing the sculpture sustained damage from the sheer weight of the crowd trying to climb it to get a chance to touch the Black Nazarene. Two more wheels gave way as the procession approached Manila City Hall.

Eager crowds that were waiting along the route of the procession started to proceed to where the carriage broke down. This also prompted Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, the parish priest, to proceed to the site himself to oversee the situation.

The procession continued late in the afternoon with devotees pushing and pulling hard on the damaged carriage.

As the Black Nazarene neared Villalobos Street in Quiapo late into the night, procession organizers pleaded with the crowd to cut the procession short and end it there. But insistent devotees did not want any of it and insisted that the procession must continue with its original route.

Hundreds were injured, suffering from slight cuts, dehydration and exhaustion, but no deaths were reported.

The procession was generally peaceful despite a call on Sunday from President Benigno Aquino III to stay away from it because of an earlier terrorist threat report.

The reported threat prompted telecommunication service providers to black out service to a large portion of Manila along the procession route, disabling the use of mobile phones and similar electronic devices for fear that they could be used as a triggering device.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – After the shock and the tears, people here and in Iligan City are starting to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives two weeks after tropical storm Sendong ravaged their homes and their land.
Lack of sufficient water supply, electricity and other basic necessities, did not stop the survivors of Sendong from moving on.

“We lost our house, clothes, everything. It’s s hard but we have no choice but to move on,”said Jocena Kanood who lost her home in Isla de Oro.

“I’m just happy we are all alive,” she added as she recalled their harrowing experience holding on to a billboard frame for more than five hours.

She said she does not know where to start but she is determined to push forward and overcome the tragedy.
Many of the affected families who did not lose their homes or lose a member of the family face the daunting task of clearing their houses of mud that invaded every inch and cranny of their houses.

Wilfredo Saludo a resident of Gold City Village in Barangay Balulang, who punched a hole in the ceiling for him and his wife to escape the rampaging floodwaters, started cleaning their house a few days after the tragedy. Lack of water is a big problem, he said.

”It is very hard because we don’t have enough water.The mud got into every part of the house and we have to throw a lot of our stuff away.

They are currently staying with his wife’s brother in Terry Hills Subdivision in Barangay Bulua.” Every day we have to travel and bring several containers of water we had pitched just to clean the house,” Saludo said.

Some of the survivors are starting to build small make-shift shelter for a temporary place to stay while looking for permanent a place to transfer to.

People from two of the hardest hit barangays in Cagayan de Oro – Barangay Consolacion and in Barangay Makasandig – picked up whatever they can salvage from what used to be there homes and made a temporary house made of wood and tarpaulins to protect themselves from the elements.

Others settled under the Marcos bridge, making it a temporary roofing, an unsafe situation as it is dangerously close to the Cagayan de Oro City river.

Amidst massive destruction and stench of death, survivors carry on believing in the proverbial sunshine after a storm.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Floodwaters brought by storm “Sendong” swept Cagayan de Oro and Iligan city and other parts of Central Mindanao while people were sleeping Friday night last week.

Power went out. In the darkness of the night, people panicked as they tried to flee from the rampaging mud and debris.

It was chaos. Heartrending cries for help filled the air. Mothers and fathers watched in horror as they lost hold of their children, carried away by floodwaters.

Caught unprepared, local government units were able to establish disaster coordinating efforts more than six hours after Sendong sent its deadly waters.

On the sixth day, 674 people from Cagayan de Oro were confirmed dead, while 502 were still missing.

Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said the number of fatalities is still rising as more dead bodies are found.

The survivors, now homeless, are cramped in different barangay halls and public schools. The evacuation center in Tomas Saco, Macasandig houses over 700 evacuees. There are no facilities in the barangay hall such as bathrooms, so the place is beginning to develop a foul smell. The evacuees, especially the children, are getting sick.

The flashfloods also destroyed the two major pipelines of the city. About 70 percent of Cagayan de Oro still does not have water supply. The Cagayan de Oro Water District estimates that it will take about 27 days for water supply to be back to normal.

As millions worth of aid and relief goods started to pour in the city, thousands of families complained about the lack of proper distribution of relief and aid to the victims. Several residents from different parts of the affected barangay’s were angry because oftentimes those who get the relief goods live near the barangay halls or are close or politically affiliated to the barangay chairman.

Five days after the tragedy, President Benigno Aquino visited Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and declared a national state of calamity in the disaster zone to speed up relief and rehabilitation, as well as secure funding from international organizations.

Adding to the grief and the sufferings Cagayan de Oro Mayor Vicente Emano did something appalling: ordered the dumping of cadavers to a garbage landfill site.

Members of the National Bureau of Investigation who came to help in identifying the dead said it was the first time the Disaster Victim Identification team of had to deal with “this kind of working environment.”

Dr. Wilfredo Tierra, lead forensic expert, said, “There is always a more pleasant, secure, and safe place for us to work.”

On Wednesday the National Grid Corp. allowed the use of its hangar in Lumbia airport as the site for the body profiling.

(Erwin Mascariñas is a photojournalist based in Mindanao.He recently attended a photojournalism workshop conducted by VERA Files.)

ARISTON Dawang Jr. does not take the strings of floods brought about by typhoons sitting down.

The 70-year-old entrepreneur has gone as far as writing former President Gloria Arroyo and incumbent President Benigno Aquino III–copy furnished to all the senators, members of the congress, and all other officials he thinks who will listen–to recommend disaster prevention and demand accountability.

Dawang,  the author of  The Book With 3 Titles (How to Stop Corruption, How to Get Rich by Telling a Lie, I Love You Because,  has also taken it upon himself to report inefficiencies in flood management in his village.

The former Unilever executive’s proactive stance is understandable. After all, his house located in Provident Village, Marikina City, where he has lived in for 20 years, was almost fully submerged in floodwaters during the heavy rainfall of  storm “Ondoy” (international name “Ketsana”) in 2009.

At the height of  storm, Dawang had to jump “rooftop to rooftop” to find a safe haven in a neighbor’s third floor basketball court. After Ondoy, he had his house renovated and added what he calls an “escape room”  that overlooks most of the houses in the neighborhood.

Ondoy flooded 14 of Marikina’s 16 barangays thus affecting 80 percent of the city’s almost half a million population. Some 68 people were also found dead in Marikina, but more than half of them were non-residents.

Months after the devastation brought about by Ondoy, the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 was approved on May 27, 2010.

With his efforts at disaster management, it comes as no surprise that Dawang was driven enough to learn about flood control and send a two-page position paper to President Arroyo entitled “Who is in charge of Flood Control?” in early 2010.

He explained in the letter that heavy rainfall from Marikina and Montalban, flow into the Marikina River, diverted through the Manggahan Channel and impounded in Laguna de Bay then released to Pasig river and Manila Bay during low tide through the Napindan Channel.

After the explanation, Dawang asked Arroyo who is in charge of problems such as flood control system in Montalban, of the reforestation of the Montalban mountains and of dredging the rivers of Marikina, Laguna and Pasig.

He wrote again President Aquino last Sept 30, asking “Who can we turn to for immediate attention?”

The letter was written days after  Typhoon “Pedring” (international name “Nesat”) flooded several areas of Marikina again, including Provident Village.

He told the president that the reason Provident village was “waist deep” in flood waters was because the assigned personnel was not able to operate the village’s vertical flood control  pump, which is under the City Engineer’s Office.

Much earlier, last June, he  reported to Marikina Mayor Del de Guzman that on June 24 during Typhoon “Falcon” (international name “Meari”),  the pump in Provident had “no batteries, diesel fuel and no assigned personnel to pump out the flood water which was then fast rising.”

“Please imagine our fear, our concern every time typhoons bring heavy rains and our frustration in knowing that flooding in Provident Village can be prevented if only concerned government agencies will do their jobs,” he urged in the letter to de Guzman.

A pump operator was sent during Falcon when Dawang called Rescue 161 but was unable to operate because the need for battery was not addressed.

Among all the recipients of his letter, only the Department of Public Works and Highways has been prompt in sending a reply. In fact, the agency, with Dawang, conducted an ocular inspection of the river dike and sump pit in Provident.

The DPWH team reported  cracks, the suction pump in the pump house was not operational and the water reservoir  has been abandoned and has  become a health hazard.

Writing to government leaders is not all that Dawang has been doing. He has also taken all the necessary steps to ensure that he is prepared for another flood.

He has installed a flood warning device in his koi pond in his front yard garden that rings before water elevates and gets inside the house.

Dawang’s escape room is also stored with canned goods, flashlights and batteries, gallons of water and at least seven life vests. He is still planning to put bamboo rafts in the roof.

Based on its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Preparedness Program, the city of Marikina is prepared for natural disasters such as typhoons.

Dr. Jenny Fernando, Emergency Management Systems Coordinator, said  the program is 18 years in the making.  Marikina is ready in terms of facilities, equipment and manpower, but it was “not Ondoy ready,” he said.

Fernando, a member of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council of Marikina, said, however, that he would still like to push his proposal for a citywide-community based early warning system that would put water indicators on all posts in the city and a warning bell in every community.

He said the idea behind his proposal is for easier coordination during typhoons and smoother communication when people call the city’s Rescue 161 to inquire about the water level.

“Naghahanap ako ng sponsor (I’m looking for a sponsor),” he said, adding  the proposal has already been passed to the United Nations Development Program and the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

The United Nations declares Oct.  13 as International Day for Disaster Reduction.

Smiles from painted faces, roars of cheers and barks of laughter and inspiring testimonies from members interspersed with musical performances was how the LGBT party-list group Ladlad celebrated its eighth- year anniversary.

They have many reasons to celebrate.

Ladlad Chairperson Bemz Benedito said the anniversary celebrated eight milestones.

First was its founding on September 1, 2003.

Second was its first Pride March in December  2003.

Third was the writing of its Constitution and By-Laws on March 25, 2004.

Fourth was its filing of its party-list papers in September 2006.

Fifth was the Commission on Election’s rejection of its accreditation for lack of national constituency.

Sixth was its participation in the campaign to give justice to JanJan, the victim of Cebu rectal canister scandal in April 2009.

Seventh was its filing for accreditation on September 2009.

Eighth was Comelec’s rejection of its  party-list application for accreditation on November 10, 2009, which the group to bring the case to the Supreme Court, which, April 8, 2010, ordered the poll body to grant Ladlad’s application for party-list recognition.

Despite the recognition,Ladlad didn’t get enough votes to gain a congressional seat.

Benedito emphasized to the 260 members who attended the celebration the need for LGBT representation in congress.  The party-list will have its last chance to gain a congressional seat in 2013.

Jack Hernandez, Naga, Camarines Sur Coordinator supported Benedito’s call for a representative in congress because  “The happiness we want for ourselves, the happiness our parents want for us, the happiness our brothers and sisters want for us, the happiness our friends and bosses want for us, sometimes depend on the laws or the interpretation of the laws of our land.”

Benedito said  Ladlad members can feel proud with the fact that theirs is “the only political party” of LGBT people in the world.

Dubbed “Metamorphosis”, the celebration held  at the Astoria Plaza in Ortigas on Sept. 24, “signified positive changes and transformation the organization is going through in terms of structure and image,” Edmond Osorio, treasurer  and in charge of special projects and events management said.

He said the theme also means that they “expect more changes to happen.”

Among the prominent guests were Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, author of the anti-discrimination bill and former Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal who supported Ladlad’s accreditation in Comelec.

Casiño, who said he was attending as Beki (slang for gay) Muna representative , said he was a supporter of the cause LGBTs even as a student activist.

“One cannot claim to be for human rights, one cannot claim to be a democrat or a representative of the marginalized unrepresented sectors kung hindi niya ipinaglalaban ang karapatan ng mga LGBTs at ang paglaban sa diskriminasyon (if he does not fight for the right of the LGBTs and against discrimination), he said.

Larrazabal, on the other hand, revealed it was a fierce battle in the Comelec over Ladlad’s application for accreditation as party-list party.

“At some point it became a battle of good and perceived evil , what is morally acceptable against what is deemed as morally  reprehensible,” he said .

Ladlad’s vision is “a society free from gender and sexually-based oppression, prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping.”

Its number one platform is the passage of the anti-discrimination bill that will make “discrimination against LGBTs a criminal act.”

TV personality Boy Abunda, senior  party  adviser ,was presented with a recognition for his unstinting support and inspiration to  Ladlad.