MASANTOL -- A development plan for the Pampanga Bay was revealed on Thursday by the Advocacy for the Development of Central Luzon (ADCL) in close coordination with the local governments of Minalin, Macabebe and this town, which is aimed to develop the area as an eco- tourism destination and marine life center.
The Pampanga Bay runs along the municipalities of Sasmuan, Macabebe and Masantol while both the Pampanga River and Guagua-Pasac River end at the Pampanga Bay.
Also, the group is urging for the protection of the Pampanga Bay's mangroves, saying they are a natural attraction for nature-lovers and serve as a sanctuary of marine life including crabs, shrimps, fish and birds.
Mangroves are also crucial to marine life for they serve as breeding ground for fish, shrimps, crabs and more. They are also a natural habitat for various birds and help protect our shorelines from heavy winds, erosion and strong tides.
"The Pampanga Bay mangroves will serve as our rallying point to promote the area as a tourist destination and eventually as a center for marine trade," the group said.
"But before we could even promote Pampanga Bay as an eco-tourism spot, it is crucial to first assess what must be done with the remaining mangroves and how to clean the Pampanga waters," they added.
The cleanup of solid wastes from the open sea and those dumped by local residents along the Pampanga Delta Protective Dike is the huge challenge.
ADCL's proposed development plan is divided into two phases -- phase 1 deals with cleaning and re-greening, mangrove protection and propagation and eco-tourism development while phase 2 deals with the marine produce center.
Pampanga fourth district Board Members Ricardo Yabut and Nelson Calara and Minalin Vice Mayor Edgardo Yambao expressed full support after they reminisced the time that mangroves and marine life were abundant in the area.
In the end, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) lauded ADCL for its efforts in regaining the past glory of Pampanga.
DENR officials explained the importance of mangroves in the ecosystem, their cause of death, and pollution.
"Solid waste management is only one of the factors in killing the mangroves. The local government units (LGUs) have a bigger role in addressing the solid waste management problem," they said.
"Advocacy is very important. This would be the role of ADCL. If we can educate all stakeholders, we can help educate others," they added. (RCG)
October 19, 2007
October 18, 2007
October 15, 2007
Kapampangan Punk: The Istukas Over Disneyland
I never thought that even before the conception of RocKapampangan, one underground band from Angeles City had already churned out one Kapampangan punk rock song.
The moment someone told me (Elijay of the band Fine Time) that a certain group called The Istukas Over Disneyland has some Kapampangan stuff in their album, I made it a short-term mission to track the whereabouts of these guys. But they were underground, and it was hard finding them.
However, I underestimated their celebrity. Searching the net for the mysterious punk rock group, I have come across several sites that mention these guys! Not only that, I was able to find their Kapampangan song, Biye Keni Yatu [Life In This World], the lyrics of which would delight pubic teenagers who are beginning to spot and question the ills and ironies of society but are pressured to accept things as they are with blind faith.
The song is included in their likewise Kapampangan-titled album, O Guinu! (O, God!)
Mababa la ring marka
Tauli ka pa king eskuela
Meyari na ka masakit pang manakit obra
Obra nang obra
Karing maragul a korporasyun
Bang ditak a luhu king biye adanas mu
[Grades are low
And you're even late in school
You've graduated but couldn't find a job
Work and work
In huge corporations
To experience a little luxury in life]
King arapan ning telebisyun
Masanting ngan ing karelang bage
Ditak a sueldu keng ditak a saya
Pamandurak king biye da ring makabiye
Masanting yang pagumasdan
Makule
[In front of the television
Everything is beautiful
Little wage for a little joy
Exploiting the life of those who can buy
It's nice to observe
Colorful]
Kumabiye ka, mate ka
Makaniyan ing biye keni yatu
Saya ka, misakitan ka
Makaniyan ing biye keni yatu
[You'll live, you'll die
That's how life in this world is
You'll be happy, you'll get sick
That's how life in this world is]
Asbuk, makasara
Mata, makapiyak la
Magbulagbulagan tamu karing akakit tamu
Balugbug, maklak la
Ala ta'ng gagauan
Mate ka, kaburian ta'na 'gyang man ngeni
[Mouths, they're shut
Eyes, they're closed
We pretend to be blind with the things we see
Ears, they're deaf
We do nothing
To die is what we want even now]
Mangabiyayan ka
Kayabe da ring memalen
Pamanalakad king biye
Ingatan me
Detang king puestu
Ilang makapangyarihan
Kaburian da ring kaluguran
Yang malilyari
[You start to work
Together with the people
Take good care of
How you run your life
Those in public office
They have all the power
But what their friends desire
are what are executed]
Sermun king simbahan
Baual ing imoralidad
Bulung da ring pari
E na dapat pangalandakan
Paburen da kang tuki king
Utus ning pengari
Isara mu ne mu ing asbuk mu
E na makibat pa
[The sermon at church
Says immorality is prohibited
The whisper of the priests
Should not be flaunted about
They would just let you obey
What your parents say
Just shut your mouth close
No answering back]
Kumabiye ka, mate ka
Makaniyan ing biye keni yatu
Saya ka, misakitan ka
Makaniyan ing biye keni yatu
Asbuk, makasara
Mata, makapiyak la
Magbulagbulagan tamu karing akakit tamu
Balugbug, maklak la
Ala ta'ng gagauan
Mabiye ka, kaburian ta'na 'gyang man ngeni
If you want to listen to the song, follow this link and look for the Biye Keni Yatu song.
The moment someone told me (Elijay of the band Fine Time) that a certain group called The Istukas Over Disneyland has some Kapampangan stuff in their album, I made it a short-term mission to track the whereabouts of these guys. But they were underground, and it was hard finding them.
However, I underestimated their celebrity. Searching the net for the mysterious punk rock group, I have come across several sites that mention these guys! Not only that, I was able to find their Kapampangan song, Biye Keni Yatu [Life In This World], the lyrics of which would delight pubic teenagers who are beginning to spot and question the ills and ironies of society but are pressured to accept things as they are with blind faith.
The song is included in their likewise Kapampangan-titled album, O Guinu! (O, God!)
Mababa la ring marka
Tauli ka pa king eskuela
Meyari na ka masakit pang manakit obra
Obra nang obra
Karing maragul a korporasyun
Bang ditak a luhu king biye adanas mu
[Grades are low
And you're even late in school
You've graduated but couldn't find a job
Work and work
In huge corporations
To experience a little luxury in life]
King arapan ning telebisyun
Masanting ngan ing karelang bage
Ditak a sueldu keng ditak a saya
Pamandurak king biye da ring makabiye
Masanting yang pagumasdan
Makule
[In front of the television
Everything is beautiful
Little wage for a little joy
Exploiting the life of those who can buy
It's nice to observe
Colorful]
Kumabiye ka, mate ka
Makaniyan ing biye keni yatu
Saya ka, misakitan ka
Makaniyan ing biye keni yatu
[You'll live, you'll die
That's how life in this world is
You'll be happy, you'll get sick
That's how life in this world is]
Asbuk, makasara
Mata, makapiyak la
Magbulagbulagan tamu karing akakit tamu
Balugbug, maklak la
Ala ta'ng gagauan
Mate ka, kaburian ta'na 'gyang man ngeni
[Mouths, they're shut
Eyes, they're closed
We pretend to be blind with the things we see
Ears, they're deaf
We do nothing
To die is what we want even now]
Mangabiyayan ka
Kayabe da ring memalen
Pamanalakad king biye
Ingatan me
Detang king puestu
Ilang makapangyarihan
Kaburian da ring kaluguran
Yang malilyari
[You start to work
Together with the people
Take good care of
How you run your life
Those in public office
They have all the power
But what their friends desire
are what are executed]
Sermun king simbahan
Baual ing imoralidad
Bulung da ring pari
E na dapat pangalandakan
Paburen da kang tuki king
Utus ning pengari
Isara mu ne mu ing asbuk mu
E na makibat pa
[The sermon at church
Says immorality is prohibited
The whisper of the priests
Should not be flaunted about
They would just let you obey
What your parents say
Just shut your mouth close
No answering back]
Kumabiye ka, mate ka
Makaniyan ing biye keni yatu
Saya ka, misakitan ka
Makaniyan ing biye keni yatu
Asbuk, makasara
Mata, makapiyak la
Magbulagbulagan tamu karing akakit tamu
Balugbug, maklak la
Ala ta'ng gagauan
Mabiye ka, kaburian ta'na 'gyang man ngeni
If you want to listen to the song, follow this link and look for the Biye Keni Yatu song.
October 9, 2007
Lost temple on Mount Arayat?
By Robby Tantingco
Peanut Gallery
A FRIEND of mine went up to Mount Arayat, hiked past the White Rock to reach the summit, and got lost. He was supposed to go down by nightfall but according tohim, he wandered round and round the mountaintop and kept coming back to where he had been. He managed to find his way down only the following day.
Quite dehydrated and hallucinating, he talked aboutseeing strange lights guiding (or misguiding) himthrough the night, and hearing whispers and othercreepy sounds. He swore that the mountain was enchanted, thus echoing what others before him have concluded. In fact, our ancestors who climbed the mountain and lived to tell their story probably experienced the same thing, prompting them to weavethe story of Sinukuan.
I climbed Mount Arayat only once but my gaze is always drawn to it practically every waking day of my life.On a clear day you can see details on the slopes, like the gulley that seems to have been formed by a prehistoric violent rush of water from quite possibly a crater lake, and of course the White Rock, which our ancestors thought was the palace of Sinukuan but which is probably the extinct volcano’s lava dome.
E. Aguilar Cruz once wrote that the ancient Kapampangans were really mountain worshippers who putup their settlements around a sacred mountain instead of along riverbanks. If indeed, they had come from the sea, the first thing our ancestors saw was the distantMount Arayat (I proved this when I was on a boat inManila Bay) and they merely stumbled upon Pampanga River on their way to the mountain.
Thus, if our ancestors worshipped Mount Arayat, they must have built a temple around it, or on its slopes, or maybe on top of it -- so I thought. Borubodur and the Angkor Wat temples were hidden in the jungle for many centuries before they were discovered. My theory was bolstered when my friend who went up and got lost on top of Mount Arayat told me that indeed, he saw a moss-covered structure near the summit that looked like a temple.
My friend was not very good at describing things so he just gave me a very vague description of "a wall made of square stones with adoor in the middle."
How high was it? I asked. High, he replied. How wide? I insisted. Wide, he said. I organized and sent a team of researchers from the Center for Kapampangan Studies to look for this mystery structure on top of Mount Arayat, while I waited in the office all day. I told them to call or text me as soon as they found it, so that we could call our media friends to make the big announcement.
As I waited for them, I did my own research in the archives. Throughout history, Mount Arayat had indeed served as the sanctuary of mystics and hermits as well as a refuge for scoundrels and rebels. The plateau between the White Rock and the summit,which is probably the volcano's caldera (crater), was the hideout and headquarters of the revolutionaries in1897 and 1899; it even had a name: Real de Camansi (Camansi Military Camp).
According to one account, the revolutionaries built on this plateau barracks for the troops, houses and offices, for revolutionary leaders like Gen. Francisco Makabulos and Gen. Servillano Aquino. On November 27, 1897, the Spanish Army under Gen.Ricardo Monet sent more than a thousand troops (Spaniards and Macabebe volunteers) up the mountain toattack the revolutionaries at the Camansi camp.
TheMacabebes were stationed on a boulder near the White Rock. A storm, however, prevented what could have been a massacre of the revolutionaries; instead, the Spanish troops retreated back to Magalang. Throughout the day the Spaniards climbed back to the mountaintop a total of six times, and six times they were repulsed byMakabulos' men.
But the Spaniards continued attacking throughout the stormy night, and by daybreak the camp had fallen. Out of over 2000 revolutionaries, 93 were killed; the rest, including Gen. Makabulos and Gen. Aquino, had escaped. Aquino was captured later in SanFernando and was executed at Fort Santiago.
Makabulos survived the Revolution but fought again during the Philippine-American War, surrendered toGen. Arthur McArthur in 1900, and retired as a farmer and poet in La Paz, Tarlac. A few years later, a prisoner-turned- cult leader Felipe Salvador spread his gospel of rain of gold and jewel and redistribution of land” in the region around Mount Arayat, until he was recaptured and publicly hanged.
In the shadow of Mount Arayat, the HUKBALAHAP was organized, and so was its mutant, the Hukbong Mapagpalaya sa Bayan (HMB), as well as all the other communist organizations and armies that engaged the government forces for decades.
Today, the mysticism of Mount Arayat finds expression in a mysterious Rizalista community nestled on its slopes, where long-haired, white-robed members venerate a gallery of saints including an old lady named Sinukuan.
Well, anyway, my research team finally returned from their expedition on Mount Arayat. They reported that they reached only the White Rock and could not go anyfarther because they had lost their way and night was falling. They vowed, though, to return another daybecause they are convinced, something is up there, waiting to be discovered. Maybe not a prehistoric temple, but Gen. Makabulos' military camp. Well, not bad.
Peanut Gallery
A FRIEND of mine went up to Mount Arayat, hiked past the White Rock to reach the summit, and got lost. He was supposed to go down by nightfall but according tohim, he wandered round and round the mountaintop and kept coming back to where he had been. He managed to find his way down only the following day.
Quite dehydrated and hallucinating, he talked aboutseeing strange lights guiding (or misguiding) himthrough the night, and hearing whispers and othercreepy sounds. He swore that the mountain was enchanted, thus echoing what others before him have concluded. In fact, our ancestors who climbed the mountain and lived to tell their story probably experienced the same thing, prompting them to weavethe story of Sinukuan.
I climbed Mount Arayat only once but my gaze is always drawn to it practically every waking day of my life.On a clear day you can see details on the slopes, like the gulley that seems to have been formed by a prehistoric violent rush of water from quite possibly a crater lake, and of course the White Rock, which our ancestors thought was the palace of Sinukuan but which is probably the extinct volcano’s lava dome.
E. Aguilar Cruz once wrote that the ancient Kapampangans were really mountain worshippers who putup their settlements around a sacred mountain instead of along riverbanks. If indeed, they had come from the sea, the first thing our ancestors saw was the distantMount Arayat (I proved this when I was on a boat inManila Bay) and they merely stumbled upon Pampanga River on their way to the mountain.
Thus, if our ancestors worshipped Mount Arayat, they must have built a temple around it, or on its slopes, or maybe on top of it -- so I thought. Borubodur and the Angkor Wat temples were hidden in the jungle for many centuries before they were discovered. My theory was bolstered when my friend who went up and got lost on top of Mount Arayat told me that indeed, he saw a moss-covered structure near the summit that looked like a temple.
My friend was not very good at describing things so he just gave me a very vague description of "a wall made of square stones with adoor in the middle."
How high was it? I asked. High, he replied. How wide? I insisted. Wide, he said. I organized and sent a team of researchers from the Center for Kapampangan Studies to look for this mystery structure on top of Mount Arayat, while I waited in the office all day. I told them to call or text me as soon as they found it, so that we could call our media friends to make the big announcement.
As I waited for them, I did my own research in the archives. Throughout history, Mount Arayat had indeed served as the sanctuary of mystics and hermits as well as a refuge for scoundrels and rebels. The plateau between the White Rock and the summit,which is probably the volcano's caldera (crater), was the hideout and headquarters of the revolutionaries in1897 and 1899; it even had a name: Real de Camansi (Camansi Military Camp).
According to one account, the revolutionaries built on this plateau barracks for the troops, houses and offices, for revolutionary leaders like Gen. Francisco Makabulos and Gen. Servillano Aquino. On November 27, 1897, the Spanish Army under Gen.Ricardo Monet sent more than a thousand troops (Spaniards and Macabebe volunteers) up the mountain toattack the revolutionaries at the Camansi camp.
TheMacabebes were stationed on a boulder near the White Rock. A storm, however, prevented what could have been a massacre of the revolutionaries; instead, the Spanish troops retreated back to Magalang. Throughout the day the Spaniards climbed back to the mountaintop a total of six times, and six times they were repulsed byMakabulos' men.
But the Spaniards continued attacking throughout the stormy night, and by daybreak the camp had fallen. Out of over 2000 revolutionaries, 93 were killed; the rest, including Gen. Makabulos and Gen. Aquino, had escaped. Aquino was captured later in SanFernando and was executed at Fort Santiago.
Makabulos survived the Revolution but fought again during the Philippine-American War, surrendered toGen. Arthur McArthur in 1900, and retired as a farmer and poet in La Paz, Tarlac. A few years later, a prisoner-turned- cult leader Felipe Salvador spread his gospel of rain of gold and jewel and redistribution of land” in the region around Mount Arayat, until he was recaptured and publicly hanged.
In the shadow of Mount Arayat, the HUKBALAHAP was organized, and so was its mutant, the Hukbong Mapagpalaya sa Bayan (HMB), as well as all the other communist organizations and armies that engaged the government forces for decades.
Today, the mysticism of Mount Arayat finds expression in a mysterious Rizalista community nestled on its slopes, where long-haired, white-robed members venerate a gallery of saints including an old lady named Sinukuan.
Well, anyway, my research team finally returned from their expedition on Mount Arayat. They reported that they reached only the White Rock and could not go anyfarther because they had lost their way and night was falling. They vowed, though, to return another daybecause they are convinced, something is up there, waiting to be discovered. Maybe not a prehistoric temple, but Gen. Makabulos' military camp. Well, not bad.
October 1, 2007
Tibuan performs 'Ika Ing Pangarap'
One of Angeles City's prime band Tibuan performs the Totoy Bato-popularized song 'Ika Ing Pangarap' (You Are The Ambition) -- their piece included in the RocKapampangan album set to be out in December 2007.
Tibuan performed as guest band (being 2006's winner) in the San Miguel Beer Battle of the Bands Grand Finals held at Nepo Quadrangle, Angeles City.
The RocKapampangan project aims to instill in Kapampangan musicians, particularly bands, the pride in their own language by inspiring them to employ their Amanung Sisuan (Suckled Language) in their performances and compositions.
Tibuan performed as guest band (being 2006's winner) in the San Miguel Beer Battle of the Bands Grand Finals held at Nepo Quadrangle, Angeles City.
The RocKapampangan project aims to instill in Kapampangan musicians, particularly bands, the pride in their own language by inspiring them to employ their Amanung Sisuan (Suckled Language) in their performances and compositions.
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