CALASIAO– “It’s a relief,” Maureen Roy-Yson,37 says of the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
But this survivor of the terroristic attack on the World Trade Center because of a “forgotten basket of apples,” said “we cannot be complacent as his (Bin Laden) followers could be lurking just around the corner, ready to attack again.”
“There is plenty of celebration on the streets of New York now. Everyone is happy. I hope it is really the end of terrorism. But I know that everyone knows we cannot really be completely sure of our security,” she told the Inquirer through a telephone interview.
Her father Manuel Roy, 60, said the terrorists’ leader’s death brought justice to the victims of the terroristic act on September 11, 2001.
“Even those whose family members who survived the attack are happy. They won’t fear anymore that similar tragedies could occur. But America should still be careful as some of his successor may retaliate,” Manuel Roy, 60, said.
Roy-Yson , who worked for a law firm owned by Filipino lawyers at the 18th floor of one of the twin towers, was saved by basket of apple which she forgot and for which she returned to her house, in the early morning of Monday, more than ten years ago.
The day before the attack, the family went apple picking in an orchard and she said decided to bring some fruits for her workmates. She put them in a basket ready for the following day.
But the rush of the morning made her forget the basket. She was already near the bus stop when she realized she left it home in New Jersey.
“So I went back to get the basket, and missed the bus that I took every morning. I had to wait for the next bus going to the subway station. I missed my train so I delayed in going to the office,” she told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.
Roy-Yson usually arrived before her workmates every morning do, getting there at quarter to eight in the morning. If not for the forgotten basket of apples, she would have been at her office when the world’s tallest buildings were attacked. A co-worker, a Filipino lawyer, who also used to come early, was also late that morning and was also spared from death.
But ten years after the tragedy, Roy Yson have not completely shaken off the “ashes” off her memory and refused to go at Ground Zero or nearby.
She recalled that when she emerged from the subway, “everyone was screaming.”
“I was about three blocks away from the World Trade Center when the second attack came. I saw the plane attacking, the bodies flying off the windows. I heard people screaming. It was all dusty around. It was really scary.The people started walking and we walked about 50 blocks, from 9th street to 67th street, until a bus fetched us and brought us to a hospital. My mind was blank. I was praying and thinking of was my one- year old daughter Martina. I had to be safe for her. I asked God to please let me survive or what would happen to her? ”
Her aunt worked at that hospital as a nurse, but in her confusion she was not able to recall her name.
“But I was lucky. Most of us brought to the hospital were wounded. My body was full of ashes but that was all,” Roy-Yson said.
The victims lined up for the pay telephones and she was able to call up her crying mother Aurora, to tell her she was alive.
It was a different matter for her father who was in the Philippines who had to endure for almost a day not knowing if her eldest daughter had died or not.
He said his brother, who saw the news on CNN, called him up, informing him of the tragedy. “I turned on the tv set and I was so worried because I had no idea on what happened to Maureen. I really thought she was gone. Communication lines were cut and there was no way for me to reach her and my wife. ”
When he finally was able to connect to his family, Roy said he could not contain his happiness.
Her daughter could not still bear going back to Ground Zero where memories of the fateful day flash back “like a movie on my mind.”
“When relatives and friends from the Philippines come here and ask to visit Ground Zero, I refuse to accompany them. I ask others to guide them,” she said.
But that experience taught her some lessons to “stay close to God.”
“I am not very religious but I have close relationship with God. I also keep close with my family because nobody knows when I will go. (America) is a very busy country and everyone is focused on their jobs. I think that should not be the case. We should spend more time with the family,” the mother of three said.

Last night I dreamed about gathering plants in a snowy field. That was in the morning.
The following day (sa dream ko ito) I dreamed about howling winds in the field. I said I would go, just to experience the movie scenes I saw. But I forgot which movies.
In the dream I was in a hotel, attending a seminar, and just outside the window I could see the snow-white fields but there were still plants protruding from the snow.

Somewhere in the Camagsilangan village in this town is an unusual bridge – about four meter high and five meter long. It is surrounded by trees and accessible only by a trail with a thick wall of thicket.

Indeed, the bridge, short as it is, evoked awes in those of us who saw it one late afternoon last week. The sun was just about to set and walking along trails that led from one cave to another left us perspiring and tired. Read more

LINGAYEN — Is "America is in the Heart" by Carlos Bulosan an authobiography or a fiction? The book describes Bulosan's childhood as a son of a small farmer Binalonan, Pangasinam, his voyage to America and his years of hardships and despair as an itinerant laborer in the rural American West.

Daranciang is a retired teacher of the Seattle School District of Washington State who lives now in her hometown Mangatarem. Read more

(Late last year, 30 priests from Pangasinan decided not to renew their license to kill, er.. to solemnize marriages. Things have changed, after the NSO decided to withdraw its order telling the priests to undergo a training on marriage laws. Where will all those wanted to marry go? The Catholic ones I mean? There are judges and mayors…but some of course think that being married by a priest is more romantic. And Godly?)

NSO Administrator and Civil Registrar General Camelita Ericta issued memorandum circular 2008-001 revoking Administrative Order (AO) No. 1 series of 2007 which called for the solemnizing officers to undergo orientation-seminars which sought to ensure that they are "knowlegeable about marriage laws and other related laws, marriage registration procedures and the registration procedures of (their) authority to solemnize marriage." Read more

(Who are we to judge what’s nice and what’s not? What color is beautiful and dignified and baduy? The debate, albeit quietly and I heard, through texting and emails and blogs, continues about the colorful municipal hall of Lingayen) 

He said many residents, including balikbayans, were impressed with results – a building with "happy" colors and which enlivened the town center. "I have not heard of any negative comments about the design and the color," he said. Read more

(When I get the time, I will post the different recipes concocted by Villasis people, most of them women, with eggplant as the main ingredient. I tasted some of them during the cookfest and they were really delicious. The winning piece is a little difficult, or maybe time consuming, to prepare. But my friend Vir Maganes who is from Villasis, found it really worth the P5,000 cash prize. I asked the winners what they will do with the money and they said they will give it to the barangay council. I asked, “But why? It’s your money, you should do what you want with it. Maybe start a livelihood project… They just smiled and said they will think about it. Its not much but… Hurray to the women of Villasis!)
VILLASIS, Pangasinan — This agricultural town in eastern Pangasinan is set to prove that eggplant — its main agricultural product — can be cooked in a hundred ways.
During the cookfest during the Third Talong Festival on Friday, 22 recipes with eggplant as the main ingredient were prepared and cooked by representatives of the barangays. This brought to 65 the number of original recipes featuring the versatile vegetable prepared by the townsfolk, said Libradita Abrenica, the town's first lady and chair of the town fiesta's executive committee.
Abrenica said during the first and second runs of the annual festivals, there were 21 and 22 recipes entered in the cookfest. When the number of recipes reach 100, the local government will publish a recipe book, she said.
"The entries get better yearly.Before, the entries were simple ones. But they are getting much versatile and there are unusual entries, the presentation are much better, too," Abrenica said.
The first prize was bagged by Puelay village with its recipe Hidden Talong Mix. Estela Bautista, the group's leader, explained that she got inspiration from butsi, those small rice cakes with fillings like mongo and ube.
She said quail eggs are hard-boiled, halved, and the yolks are removed. The eggs are then filled with mashed eggplant (broiled), then coated with a mixture of mashed eggplant, shredded carrots, chopped hotdogs and pork, spices and seasonings. Then these are rolled in uncooked glutinous rice and coconut milk then steamed for 45 minutes. The Hidden Talong is paired with nutririous malungay juice, a concoction of boiled malungay leaves, honey and calamanci juice.
The second price was the Eggplant Con Yugghort (Camarutan), while the third was a tie betwen Eggplant Pizza (Zone I) and Nazi Guring con Talong (San Nicolas).
The winners got P5,000, P3,000 and P2,000 prices, respectively.
The other entries are also gastronomical delights — talong bopis, eggplant nugget, pinausukang talong, eggplant salad, eggplant sarciado, talong rings, fritters, fried eggplant with rolling bread crumbs, siomai na talong, ratata, salad.
"These recipes prove that eggplant is really a versatile vegetable and I am proud that the residents are able to come up with different recipes adopted to local taste," Abrenica said.
And if there's one thing that parents with picky kids should be happy about, these are recipes with vegetables but which children will surely love to eat.
Four of the five judges were Villasis residents already living abroad, including Fe Prado Nardini who, together with her husband Giulinao, operates a restaurant called Ristorante Pizzeria "I Nardini" in Toscani, Italy.
Nardini said she was bringing some recipes to Italy and teach her husband how to prepare them.
"Our restaurant faces a camping area where different nationalities like Dutch, English and German, come. They are experimental when it comes to food, and I hope to introduce the eggplant recipes to them," she said.
 

( when Sta. Barbara Mayor Rey Velasco, one of the really committed mayors hereabouts, announced that the rural poor of Sta. Barbara will be the beneficiaries of the housing project of the local government and the Gawad Kalinga, he said a teacher and a policeman (or two teachers and two policemen) were included in the list. It's really sad that a teacher, a guardian of the hope of the fatherland, and a policeman, a guardian (supposedly) of the peace and order, are included in the list. Well, its nice that they were included… but to know that they are part of the rural poor, it breaks the heart).

STA. BARBARA, Pangasinan — The Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation has trained its eyes on local government units as partners in the implementation of its housing project as the LGUs have high rating and outstanding leaders, GK national president Tony Meloto said. 

Meloto, who signed on Tuesday a memorandum of agreement with Mayor Reynaldo Velasco for the establishment of a GK community with 88 houses in barangay Leet here, said with LGUs as partners, many private corporation will surely assist in the project. 

But while the GK has built communities in the country, there was "no good model yet in LGUs as there was no LGU which committed as many mayors are afraid of this challenge.". 

Read more

A New Year Story 
 
(This story was written on January 1, 2008. It was for a national daily. But then, it was not published, so I’m posting it here. Yeah, I know it’s late! But there must be a lesson somewhere…)
The Earth shook, large firecrackers exploded with roaring noises, thick smoke rose into the air.
 
It’s 12 o’clock in the afternoon of January 1, the time and day Pogo Grande village in Dagupan City  welcomes the New Year – perhaps the only village in the county that celebrates new year just as everyone is woozy from the past night’s revelry.
For more than 10 years this village has been holding the activity, said barangay chair George Galvan. It was started during the term of then chair Saturnino Siapno when the residents who manufacture firecrackers wanted to explode their unsold products.
It has grown grander yearly, he said. This year, a total of 75,000 firecrackers were strung together and hung above the street or lined along the road of Centro of Pogo Grande. In the western part of the village called Sagur, another 50,000 firecrackers were also exploded. Read more

He was never married and he never officiated a marriage. But Archbishop Oscar Cruz have seen so many broken marriages that he knows the reasons  why husband and wife wanted the knot untied.  

            And the reasons could range from serious case of impotence to petty quarrels over crumpled pillowcases. It does not matter how long a couple had been married before they want out – which is from one week to years. It does not matter, too, if the couple belonged to the moneyed class or if the husband is a jeepney driver and the wife, a laundrywoman. The number of men and women filing for annulment is also about the same. Read more