INA, KAPATID, ANAK : SOMETHING AMISS IN THE REVELATION SCENE

The concept of surrogate motherhood as tackled by the TV Series “Ina, Kapatid, Anak” (Mother, Sibling, Child) has been tackled long before in 1972, in the komiks novel of Elena Patron “Isinilang ko ang Anak ng Ibang Babae,” (I Gave Birth to a Child of Another Woman) serialized in Pioneer Komiks. When the concept of in-vitro fertilization and surrogate pregnancies became a reality in science, the komiks novel of Elena Patron was made into a film with Boots Anson Roa, Dante Rivero, Pilar Pilapil and Snooky Serna as major characters. It is quite surprising to see Pilar Pilapil being part of the cast of the TV series with the same plot or concept. Pilar Pilapil was nominated for Best Actress in the Famas for her acting in the film.

Now back to the TV Series, despite of the implausibility of the plot, the series is good watching. I have posted before how beautiful and great was Pilar in her confrontation scene with Cherry Pie Picache when they met again after 17 years. The subtle nuance of emotions as seen in the facial expression of Pilar is something I greatly appreciated. I thought only one actress, Nora Aunor can do that in the Philippine movie arena but I was deemed wrong because Pilar Pilapil, although tagged to be one great actress in her time has never elevated her thespic talents in the level of acting greats. Her moment in that scene is enough for me to put her in that pedestal. Although I know that the focus of the story is not hers but surprisingly, she was given enough scenes to shine.

Let me tackle Cherry Pie Picache’s role. Cherry Pie is a very good actress. I have seen her act in other movies that made a mark in Philippine Movie History. Her role here is very complex. She attacks it in a very inconsequential manner. She comes out as effective most of the time. But she under acts in her highlights of the series and therefore I cannot feel her angst and torment.

In the revelation scene which the viewers expect that it will be a highly charged confrontation, I felt off.  Probably I would blame the director because the scene was not handled well….Cherry Pie was her usual self. We've seen her in previous scenes and she was acting like this is just another day.

 Janice on the other hand was given a role which she could have attacked with so much fervor and anguish but no. She was hysterical in all her scenes. It is understandable to have a “kontrabida” like role in establishing their characters but alas, the director might have forgotten that she is human after all.

If I were the director, I would have 4 foci in that confrontation and revelation scene, Cherry Pie, Janice, Kim Chiu and Maja Salvador.

First is Cherry Pie Picache, as the “mother” who is bound to lose that connection with the child she bore with for 9 months in her womb and for the next 17 years.

Second would be Janice. I would focus how startled she is and with the great revelation, would show an explosive characterization that could match the acting nuances of Nora Aunor in Ina ka ng Anak Mo or Vilma Santos in Tagos ng Dugo. It would have been a great characterization for Janice. Alas, the director’s creativity was particularly lost and Janice delivered a one-dimensional character. Poor Janice! I admire her acting prowess but she was clearly undermined in this series. If Janice can only suggest on how to attack her role, then probably she can rise up to a much better appreciation of her character. But if Janice is the one that gave the interpretation of that role, then I believe she failed me as an actress.

 What about the 2 young girls that started out as friends then enemies and probably mortal enemies? Well, I appreciated the day to day series that established their characters. But in that great confrontation scene, what happened? It has gone kaput. Maja Salvador who won an acting trophy was clearly missing the spot. The wide-open eyes to show her anger and fury are not enough for her to hurdle such great scene. On the other hand, Kim Chiu was unexpectedly unfelt in that scene where she realized she has two mothers – a biological mother and a surrogate mother.

Well, whom do I blame for that unrealized great scene that would showcase the acting abilities of the characters? Maybe…..the director? Hmmmmmm…..Well, this critic is not going to stop me watching the series but based on the scenes flashed onscreen, I get this feeling that the series might denigrate and deteriorate again into something without focus and meaning. If this happens, another TV Series of ABS-CBN that had gone the way like others in trying to fleece out high ratings rather than a real enjoying fare for the viewers and spectators most especially to people like me who away from home. 

MY FIRST AT SHABO-SHABO RESTAURANT – SM MALL BAGUIO CITY

Photo Courtesy: OpenRice.com
This Mini Shabo-Shabo Restaurant is at the 2nd Floor of SM City in Baguio City, Luneta Hill
Is it really an "O" or a "U"

I was supposed to take the kids out for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant last September 30,2012. One of the kids suggested Max’s Restaurant while my personal choice was David’s Tea House. The Max's Chicken suggestion was vetoed at once since it was always Max's. RR, the one who suggested gave a sneer but did not insist any further. Lara, the eldest in the brood suggested to try something different and since we are up for something Chinese, she suggested that we go to Shabo-Shabo restaurant. Cris, readily agreed so off we went, 7 of us to the restaurant located in the second of SM Mall Baguio City.

Each table has a boiler for the mix of the Shabo-shabo meal

Shabo-shabo menu is something new to me in the sense that I have not tried it. However, I am not really new to it as I see a lot of diners who order shabo-shabo in my favorite Mandarin Restaurant. I was just wondering what it is and what are they doing with their orders. Well, it is about time to try it.

Cooking the different mix seafood shabo-shabo components

When the menu was presented to me, I was quite dumbfounded. I told the two leaders to select the menu as I am not really familiar with it. My niece and nephew ordered mixed sea foods with finely sliced pork. Then I thought the food was not enough, so I ordered some pork for grilling and tempura. From ordering tempura, it started to dawn on me that shabo-shabo might have originated from Japan. Slowly, I opened my cellphone and went into the net and searched what it meant? Shabu in Japanese translates to swish, which refers to the creative way of preparing raw beef and seafood at the table. In other restaurants, they incorporate the Shaba. Shaba is the Thai word for hibiscus, the tropical flower. Since the restaurant is named shabo-shabo we surmised that the recipe is more Japanese influenced. The absence of the hisbiscus flower indicates that there are no Thai influences in the menu. The spelling is also quite different. Probably this is to differentiate it from shabu which is a banned drug in the Philippines. The store probably changed the spelling to shabo rather than shabu. I find the spelling of shabu-shabu in the menu of Chinese restaurants that I frequent however. 

The grilled pork bits

Well, how did I find eating my first shabo-shabo? Well, I did find the grilled pork to be very good – soft and tasty. On the other hand, the seafood mix we ordered was just something ordinary like a stew for me. We were provided with food mix to cater to our tastes and I just thought why not sour tastes to probably make it a “sinigang” brew? I laughed at the thought. 

The lean meat

Most of the kids loved it but one of my nephews whispered he did not like it. I chuckled at the pronouncement for I too have the same reaction. When we were out of the restaurant, I told the kids about how I felt about the experience, their answer was: “It’s still a good experience so that in the next time around, we would be able to tell our friends what’s in a shabo-shabo restaurant!” Sounds practical and justified! Well, ask me if I want to go back to a shabo-shabo restaurant? Well, one experience is enough and probably two is too much.Well, there is no such thing as a period in eating food anyway.

The shrimp tempura

OF MEN AND WOMEN

Last week a lot of my FB friends have been wondering why I was posting in my status certain quotations or sentences that appeared to be super emotional on my part. The truth is it is not so. I was just a spectator to the developments of what had happened recently to my co-expatriate in this island. There are only few expatriates in the island and most of them are Filipinos. It cannot be avoided that some of us will have some misunderstandings with one another and will in one way or the other these misunderstandings will cause so much emotional pain. And this emotional pain may result to further aggravations.

There are certain issues involved here. When a man tries to physically attack a woman and mouthing expletives in public, what does it constitute? Well, it is said that the man was guilty of assault. But the issues I want to tackle is not what assault means because if we read a lot of materials even in the internet, it is defined as an act intended to cause an apprehension of harmful or offensive contact that causes apprehension of such contact in the victim. Well the court has proven that. 

Weeping Women by Walter Langley

One of the issues I would like to tackle is that, is there a gender issue here? In most cultures, the saying that “Men must fight” and “women weep” underscores the general notion that men are stronger and women are the weaker sex.  These are traditional notions. Men are the aggressive type while the women are the passive and emotional type. But what happens when men become aggressive and emotional at the same time? Would you call them “gays” or “bayots” or “bakla” as the different Filipino terms are used? I asked this because when the incident happened, the man was called “bakla”.  This was so because Filipino culture dictates that women should be regarded with utmost respect as they adhere to the saying that every man and woman came from a woman. However, what probably happened is that he is a typical irrational man who acts before they think. After what had happened and after thinking through, he must have realized he did wrong but he cannot apologize because of pride and his ego worship.

February 2007 – OF LOVE AND LONGING….

The issue of the great misunderstanding of the New Year refuses to die down. The poor telecommunications in Kosrae refuse to buckle down. The signals from different communication systems among the Filipino community continue to carry the buzz. Yes, it’s the buzz that the 3 telecommunication systems in the Philippines are said to be actively operating in Kosrae – Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular. The stories are very reminiscent of Lino Brocka’s Insiang, Ora Pronobis and Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag. Of course, if you are very familiar with the backdrop scenes of Relasyon, Pagdating sa Dulo and Broken Marriage movies of Ishmael Bernal wherein gossips are part of the Filipino life landscape, you would just smile and nod your head. So the saga continues.


Valentine’s Day –

Valentine’s Day is such a silent day in Kosrae. They never celebrate it. But because of the fact that we long for our love ones during this day when you are far from them, we find it more doubly important to remember people we love on this day.

Death Anniversary

The death anniversary of my mother falls on the month of February. And thus, I feel the angst of pain during this month. Who would not anyway? I can always remember my mother as a hard working woman who helped my father through life by being a dressmaker at the outset but she eventually became best cook of native rice cakes in the province. She oversaw the education of her children by her skills in rice cake making. I can always remember bringing bags of puto and kutsinta to my school and earn my days’ allowance by selling rice cakes. They call me “magpuputo”. That’s why whenever I cook all these stuff: puto, kutsinta, tikoy, bibingka, suman, nilatikan and pilipit, I will always remember my mother. She does them so good that I believe I can never even equal her cooking skills. I will always remember my mother when I prepare tocino, longganisa, embutido, rellenong bangus and chicken galatina . I never mastered her recipe for morcon and lumpiang shanghai. She cooks lumpiang shanghai so tastefully that even the local Chinese restaurant wanted her to be a cook in their establishment.

To continue the task more, I always remember my mother who never blocked my ambition to become a doctor. Even when my teachers told me you can not become a doctor without lots of money. My mother tempered herself and just said, if that is your dream, reach out for that dream. She supported me all throughout the ordeal in reaching and making that dream a reality. When all others were having difficulties in the college of medicine – both financially and academically, I was cloistered from the financial difficulty because I was enrolled in a school that did not only give me the best of medical skills but also the best of medical knowledge in the Philippines. I was on a scholarship at the University of the Philippines and was therefore, losing hair and eyebrows studying and taking examinations after examinations in the hallowed halls where great men and women in the medical field in the country came from. How I’d wish my mother took the same path that I did. Because whenever we were sick, she was our doctor, our nurse and the relieving person all rolled into one. Her fears were etched on her face. And the love that emanates from that face is nothing that can be compared when we talk of that love. I have always wished that mother with her innate intelligence should have continued her education. But my grandfather came from the school of antiquity – that women are for the house; and that men should do the studying because they are the providers for their family. Unfortunately, of the 5 men in the brood of 11, only one managed to get an education and went to the United States and never looked backed. On the other hand, of the 6 women, only one had a college education because she defied my grandfather’s wished. Unfortunately, that woman was not mother. She dutifully obeyed and eventually she dutifully took care of the aging people during her time.

My mother never wavered. She believe in her son who when he was 3 years old was stricken by polio. And of course, during the 60’s, polio is a dreadful disease that could lead to paralysis of the lower extremities. She took her son to all doctors whom he could hear might give a cure. With faith in God and faith in man, his son’s polio was considered the abortive type and miraculously survived the ordeal. Her son underwent rehabilitation therapy and although showed atrophy of the lower extremities have become functional and went on to reap honors for the family. Who would ever thought that the “tikling” – (tikling is a bird that has very thin legs and walk in a very gyrating manner) would grow into a quite enormous entity (big bellied and fat, I will not call myself obese because there are more people fatter than I am).

It was also my mother who amply reminded me of what commitment to take. Her question to me when I became a full-pledged doctor was: “Are you also leaving just like what your cousin did?” I was clearly stunned. I wanted to explore more. I wanted to expand my wings. I wanted to bring about change in myself. I wanted to bring about change in the family.

Little did I know that the values of compassion, idealism, empathy and kindness instilled by this woman in me during my formative years would be the same values that I would use in making a decision for myself?

What now was my question? Am I going to join the bandwagon and add to the brain drain of my country? I decided to enlist in a volunteer program of the government. I became a country doctor deep into the forests of Balbalan, Kalinga-Apayao. I have enjoyed the life of the country. I have enjoyed the people with their simplicity. I thought I had found the meaning of medical service through these people. I thought this is it.

But life has its own convolutions and trials. My mother got sick. And I decided to stay with the family. I went into surgery training. As I went deeper into my training, my mother’s condition slowly deteriorated. The tell-tale signs of Chronic Arteriosclerotic Brain Dementia are beginning to show. After my fellowship in Bologna, Italy in Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery in 1996, I decided to go back to the country and serve in my province La Union. I went into private practice and joined the academe. While being part of service to patients, I was also being part in the molding of young people’s mind through paramedical education. In a sense I was fulfilling the prophecy of my mother.

One of the signs that mother’s dementia was starting to rear its ugly head is when she starts to cook rice cakes and forgetting to put sugar in it. Slowly, my mother lost her memory. She started to call me his brother. She started to fear herself. The once beautiful Miss Yuletide Aringay when she was still 18 years of age was slowly wasting away physically. As my mother’s condition progressively deteriorated, I started fearing that dejection might come into my father. But I saw my father doing his caring acts. I have never seen my father so overly demonstrative but during the last years of my mother. My father showed how much he loved my mother and that matters most. Eventually, my mother succumbed on February 21, 2005 to Chronic Arteriosclerotic Brain Dementia.

On this second year death anniversary of my mother, JULIANA QUIROS MALLARI, I came across a song written by National Artists Lucio San Pedro and Levi Celerio , Sa Ugoy ng Duyan. It is a very touching song about the longing for our mother’s love. I translated it to English. I know the English translation may not be equal to the lyricism of the original song, but here’s my take for I have always thought of writing a piece for my demised mother but never had the chance. Now finally, I have written one. I miss you my dear mother. May you enjoy the gift of eternal peace and love. Here is the translation of the song:



AS THE CRADLE SWINGS
(Lucio San Pedro/Levi Celerio)


I
I hope my younger days will still be around
I long for the days as a child in my mother’s care
How I miss the songs of my beloved mother
Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep


II
I hope my younger days will still be around
I long for the days as a child in my mother’s care
How I miss the songs of my beloved mother
Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep

III
In my deep slumber
I am being guarded by a bright star
This star is my sentinel
In my mother’s bosom
Life is heaven
So that when my heart is nursing a wound
I long for the cradle of my mother that rocks me to sleep

IV
I hope my younger days will still be around
I long for the days as a child in my mother’s care
How I miss the songs of my beloved mother
Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep

V
In my deep slumber
I am being guarded by a bright star
This star is my sentinel
In my mother’s bosom
Life is heaven
So that when my heart is nursing a wound
I long for the cradle of my mother that rocks me to sleep

VI
I hope my younger days will still be around
I long for the days as a child in my mother’s care
How I miss the songs of my beloved mother
Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep
(Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep)
O I want to sleep in my former cradle where mother rocks me
O my mother

A TRIBUTE TO MY MOTHER

I would like to invite you to click on the link as I wrote a tribute to my mom here..

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/note.php?note_id=10150284174354782

PANAGBENGA 2008 - I WAS THERE!!!!!!!

FEBRUARY 2007 - OF LOVING ANG LONGING

The issue of the great misunderstanding of the New Year refuses to die down. The poor telecommunications in Kosrae refuse to buckle down. The signals from different communication systems among the Filipino community continue to carry the buzz. Yes, it’s the buzz that the 3 telecommunication systems in the Philippines are said to be actively operating in Kosrae – Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular. The stories are very reminiscent of Lino Brocka’s Insiang, Ora Pronobis and Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag. Of course, if you are very familiar with the backdrop scenes of Relasyon, Pagdating sa Dulo and Broken Marriage movies of Ishmael Bernal wherein gossips are part of the Filipino life landscape, you would just smile and nod your head. So the saga continues.


Valentine’s Day –

Valentine’s Day is such a silent day in Kosrae. They never celebrate it. But because of the fact that we long for our love ones during this day when you are far from them, we find it more doubly important to remember people we love on this day.

Death Anniversary

The death anniversary of my mother falls on the month of February. And thus, I feel the angst of pain during this month. Who would not anyway? I can always remember my mother as a hard working woman who helped my father through life by being a dressmaker at the outset but she eventually became best cook of native rice cakes in the province. She oversaw the education of her children by her skills in rice cake making. I can always remember bringing bags of puto and kutsinta to my school and earn my days’ allowance by selling rice cakes. They call me “magpuputo”. That’s why whenever I cook all these stuff: puto, kutsinta, tikoy, bibingka, suman, nilatikan and pilipit, I will always remember my mother. She does them so good that I believe I can never even equal her cooking skills. I will always remember my mother when I prepare tocino, longganisa, embutido, rellenong bangus and chicken galatina . I never mastered her recipe for morcon and lumpiang shanghai. She cooks lumpiang shanghai so tastefully that even the local Chinese restaurant wanted her to be a cook in their establishment.

To continue the task more, I always remember my mother who never blocked my ambition to become a doctor. Even when my teachers told me you can not become a doctor without lots of money. My mother tempered herself and just said, if that is your dream, reach out for that dream. She supported me all throughout the ordeal in reaching and making that dream a reality. When all others were having difficulties in the college of medicine – both financially and academically, I was cloistered from the financial difficulty because I was enrolled in a school that did not only give me the best of medical skills but also the best of medical knowledge in the Philippines. I was on a scholarship at the University of the Philippines and was therefore, losing hair and eyebrows studying and taking examinations after examinations in the hallowed halls where great men and women in the medical field in the country came about. How I’d wish my mother took the same path that I did. Because whenever we were sick, she was our doctor, our nurse and the relieving person all rolled into one. Her fears were etched on her face. And the love that emanates from that face is nothing that can be compared when we talk of that love. I have always wished that mother with her innate intelligence should have continued her education. But my grandfather came from the school of antiquity – that women are for the house; and that men should do the studying because they are the providers for their family. Unfortunately, of the 5 men in the brood of 11, only one managed to get an education and went to the United States and never looked backed. On the other hand, of the 6 women, only had a college education because she defied my grandfather’s wished. Unfortunately, that woman was not mother. She dutifully obeyed and eventually she dutifully took care of the aging people during her time.

My mother never wavered. She believe in her son who when he was 3 years old was stricken by polio. And of course, during the 60’s, polio is a dreadful disease that could lead to paralysis of the lower extremities. She took her son to all doctors whom he could hear might give a cure. With faith in God and faith in man, his son’s polio was considered the abortive type and miraculously survived the ordeal. Her son underwent rehabilitation therapy and although showed atrophy of the lower extremities have become functional and went on to reap honors for the family. Who would ever thought that the “tikling” – (tikling is a bird that has very thin legs and walk in a very gyrating manner) would grow into a quite enormous entity (big bellied and fat, I will not call myself obese because there are more people fatter than I am).

It was also my mother who amply reminded me of what commitment to take. Her question to me when I became a full-pledged doctor was: “Are you also leaving just like what your cousin did?” I was clearly stunned. I wanted to explore more. I wanted to expand my wings. I wanted to bring about change in myself. I wanted to bring about change in the family.

Little did I know that the values of compassion, idealism, empathy and kindness instilled by this woman in me during my formative years would be the same values that I would use in making a decision for myself?

What now was my question? Am I going to join the bandwagon and add to the brain drain of my country? I decided to enlist in a volunteer program of the government. I became a country doctor deep into the forests of Balbalan, Kalinga-Apayao. I have enjoyed the life of the country. I have enjoyed the people with their simplicity. I thought I had found the meaning of medical service through these people. I thought this is it.

But life has its own convolutions and trials. My mother got sick. And I decided to stay with the family. I went into surgery training. As I went deeper into my training, my mother’s condition slowly deteriorated. The tell-tale signs of Chronic Arteriosclerotic Brain Dementia are beginning to show. After my fellowship in Bologna, Italy in Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery in 1996, I decided to go back to the country and serve in my province La Union. I went into private practice and joined the academe. While being part of service to patients, I was also being part in the molding of young people’s mind through paramedical education. In a sense I was fulfilling the prophecy of my mother.

One of the signs that mother’s dementia was starting to rear its ugly head is when she starts to cook rice cakes and forgetting to put sugar in it. Slowly, my mother lost her memory. She started to call me his brother. She started to fear herself. The once beautiful Miss Yuletide Aringay when she was still 18 years of age was slowly wasting away physically. As my mother’s condition progressively deteriorated, I started fearing that dejection might come into my father. But I saw my father doing his caring acts. I have never seen my father so overly demonstrative but during the last years of my mother. My father showed how much he loved my mother and that matters most. Eventually, my mother succumbed on February 21, 2005 to Chronic Arteriosclerotic Brain Dementia.

On this second year death anniversary of my mother, JULIANA QUIROS MALLARI, I came across a song written by National Artists Lucio San Pedro and Levi Celerio , Sa Ugoy ng Duyan. It is a very touching song about the longing for our mother’s love. I translated it to English. I know the English translation may not be equal to the lyricism of the original song, but here’s my take for I have always thought of writing a piece for my demised mother but never had the chance. Now finally, I have written one. I miss you my dear mother. May you enjoy the gift of eternal peace and love. Here is the translation of the song:

AS THE CRADLE SWINGS
(Lucio San Pedro/Levi Celerio)


I
I hope my younger days will still be around
I long for the days as a child in my mother’s care
How I miss the songs of my beloved mother
Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep


II
I hope my younger days will still be around
I long for the days as a child in my mother’s care
How I miss the songs of my beloved mother
Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep

III
In my deep slumber
I am being guarded by a bright star
This star is my sentinel
In my mother’s bosom
Life is heaven
So that when my heart is nursing a wound
I long for the cradle of my mother that rocks me to sleep

IV
I hope my younger days will still be around
I long for the days as a child in my mother’s care
How I miss the songs of my beloved mother
Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep

V
In my deep slumber
I am being guarded by a bright star
This star is my sentinel
In my mother’s bosom
Life is heaven
So that when my heart is nursing a wound
I long for the cradle of my mother that rocks me to sleep

VI
I hope my younger days will still be around
I long for the days as a child in my mother’s care
How I miss the songs of my beloved mother
Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep
(Her songs of love while I was being cradled to sleep)
O I want to sleep in my former cradle where mother rocks me
O my mother