Quiapo Medical Center

Schedule a trip to what Dr. Michael Lim Tan calls the “Quiapo Medical Center” and the other big medical / private hospitals in Metro Manila any day prior to August 25, 2015 discussions. [Tuesday, August 25 at 1-3 pm on SDH: Culture and Illness]. Dress simply; try to blend in with the other consumers and/or church goers. Explore as many facets of the medical centers' - “wings”: emergency room, OPD, lobby, admitting section, pharmacy, wards [if any], cafeteria, other areas. As expected of a health professional, be respectful and observant. Keep your eyes open, listen to the sounds, smell your surroundings. Keep safe, be alert. Be aware of wonder.

A question of authenticity 

The first thing that concerned me about the whole Quiapo Medical Center concept was whether the 'personnel' really believed what they were offering. It's one thing to sell these things as part of a cultural system one really believes; to sell these things without believing in them is another and that just seems wrong. It's the difference between a quack doctor and a faith healer. Coming from a family of doctors in Quezon City, I have no prior experience with these things. It's a completely different world from the one I know. And so, authenticity was one of the issues I hoped to investigate.

Pop culture as shared contexts

I used to hate mainstream, thinking that if it mattered to the majority, chances are, it isn't so valuable in the end. Trends are fleeting, and people'd tire of them, their interests captured not for the value of the thing in itself, but the fact that it was attractive to many. With that in mind, I only checked things out when they're already considered laos. 

Ang Tanong ni Kia: Mnemonic para sa Type I at Type II Errors

Dalawang taon na ang nakararaan, may tanong ang kaibigan kong si Kia:

"Anong mas masakit na pagkakamali: Yung Type 1 error wherein you conclude that a relationship exists when in fact it doesn't OR Type 2 error where there is really a relationship but you fail to recognize it."

Isang paghihimay dito ang aking tinangka sa isang pinaglumaang sulok. Babalikan natin ito ngayon hindi upang muling sagutin, kundi upang paghugutan ng hindi bagong distinksyon.

On Filipino Translations

It's common to hear people complain when certain TV stations dub an English movie or an English TV show in Filipino. I was among those who were a bit squeamish when the Filipino translations of 50 Shades of Grey and Hunger Games came out, and it wasn't because of the novels themselves (although, of all popular young adult fiction, I cannot fathom why 50 Shades would be worth translating). I think it's the process itself, the translation of an English material into Filipino.

On Professional Fees and Principles

Conversations with non-medical (former) classmates about my (soon-to-be) profession are usually steered towards a discussion of specializations-- what I want, what they hope I'd be, and/or what they believe is most profitable (hence, I should consider). Sometimes, the people who nudge me towards profit are also those from whom I have heard constant grievances regarding outrageous hospital bills and medical fees. So I'm not quite sure what they're driving at. Are they condemning the system or are they encouraging me to be part of it? Perhaps both?

Si Susie Pumasok Sa Pinto, Sa Door Pinto, Sa Door Pinto, Sa Front Door Pinto, Sa Front Door Pinto

Isa yang mnemonic na tinuturo sa pagkabisado ng electron configuration sa chem. Nagulat ako nung narinig ko iyan sa lecturer noong college sa UP noong nag-Chem ako kasi kilala ko kung sino ang gumawa niyan, mga kaklase ko noong third year high school habang chem class: yung kras ko at yung bespren niya.

Basha's Line

When I first watched One More Chance (2007), I was impressed with the dialogue. Not all of it, but in general. It's fun, witty, dramatic but not that cheesy-- a whole level classier than its contemporaries and predecessors. Except Trisha's lines which I hate.

Cannot even read this aloud without squirming!

My favorite is Basha's lines during her climactic confrontation with Popoy, particularly the last bit.

Last bit: sana ako pa rin, ako na lang, ako na lang ulit.
For full effects, watch this

Notes on the Bontok's view on relationships between men and women, nudity and sex

(The last of a series)

Of arranged marriages and love

It wasn't mentioned explicitly in the film, but the Bontok appeared to believe in monogamy. There were people who remained unmarried, but they believed in marriage.

The parents arranged the marriages. This did not mean that the Bontok never married for love-- they also did (we'll talk about that later)-- it's just that the parents were the ones who talked and finalized it. Often, it did happen that the couple, especially the woman, did not love the man she was betrothed to, but they would get married anyway in accordance with their parents' wishes.

Medical Ethics is NOT Common Sense

Better view of the letter here

When it's about three major things in your life, you just can't help it.

Almost a year later, this still gets me all fired up. People should know this, and yet they don't. There's still much to say. The vehemence to talk about this more and convince you that this is ethical consumes me.

Notes on the Bontok and work

(The fifth of a series)

One of the factors that may promote the concept of rape is idleness. As they say, idleness is the playground of the devil. A society where people can end up having nothing and doing nothing with their lives is no good in preventing crime.

Work in the fields

In the old Bontoc, there were no unemployed bums who just drank and gambled all day. The Bontok were a hardworking people whose work was central to their daily lives. Everyone able was sent to the fields to work. Those who cannot go to the fields (i.e. the elderly, the disabled) are left in the village to care for the children.

But work in the fields was not just work; it was a social activity. People get to interact while working, like some sort of bonding activity. In fact, it was where the youth fell in love and found their spouses. There was also food: owner of the field provided it as compensation. Perhaps the La Presa community in the hit local teleserye Forevermore is a nice depiction of what it had been like.

Notes on the Bontok gender beliefs

(The fourth of a series)

The restrictions imposed on Bontok women mostly had to do with war. As mentioned earlier, women were not allowed in the male dormitories and this was only because those were the venues for talking about war. Women should not at all be implicated in those matters since:

(1) women should not die in war
(2) women have other more important concerns

Respect for women

It was discussed previously that men were not supposed to kill women during war because the Bontok associates women with life due to their natural capacity to give birth. Women were to be respected for man comes out of her (double meaning unintended!). Precisely because of this was female genitalia not supposed to be gazed upon.

Notes on the Bontok customs of "tribal" war

(Or the third of a series)

Rape of women in the times of war is unavoidable, one of my classes in UP (or maybe UPIS) discussed. It is symbolic of the taking a place, a symbol of overpowering a nation, an exertion of power. That's why in history they call it "the rape of <insert place here>." And as it is said, rape is more of a crime of power than  a sexual crime. During World War II, the Japanese army even established the infamous "comfort stations"-- military-controlled facilities for sexual slavery created especially for the Japanese soldiers-- after the large scale rape of women and girls they committed in Nanking, China. [1]

That's the most horrible thing I ever "learned" in a classroom. War sucks, and it does even more when you're a woman. The scary part is that it is the soldiers that commit most of it. They who have been trained to be disciplined commit the most atrocious acts. That's when you're certain war brings out the worst in humanity.

Notes on the physical structure of Bontok communities

(Or the second of a series)

Previously, it had been suggested that if rape happened in Bontok, it couldn't have been outdoors because they believed that sexual intercourse in a public area would evoke the anger of the spirits, bestowing destruction upon the place. However, the physical structure of their communities wouldn't allow it to happen indoors, either.

Of houses without privacy

Notes on the spiritual and moral beliefs of the Bontok

(Or the first of a series)

Most of Bontok is now Christian, or to be more specific: Roman Catholic-- thanks to missionaries of the colonial period. The elders, however, do not seem to be satisfied with their relatively new faith and report that they were more morally upright in the past.

Being a Christian, I tend to think that it's probably not a matter of cultural superiority that makes pre-Christian Bontok more morally upright. Rather, it is likely that Christianity just has not been taught and understood properly. I do not know how to argue for this position and I will not attempt it here. But I admit that I find this disturbing.

I cannot elaborate on the Bontok's spiritual belief system because the film did not delve into much detail. The details it did present, however, did not stick with me. What I did understand is that they believed in a Higher Being. They performed rituals to please those that they believed in. They had a concept of "evil acts" and also of "acts which anger the spirits"-- both of which are prohibited.

The Bontok implemented their code strictly. They were very clear on what is right and wrong, and took that seriously.

A Series on "Walang Rape sa Bontok"

The eleventh film I watched in the cinema is a documentary entitled Walang Rape sa Bontok, shown in UP Theater. It investigates whether the Bontok culture (the old, declining one) has a concept of rape, for at the outset: (1) they do not have a word for it, and (2) their laws do not have punishment for its commission.

The film identifies six factors that had prevented the emergence of the concept of rape in Bontok:

1. Spiritual and moral beliefs
2. Physical structure of the community
3. Customs of "tribal" war
4. Gender beliefs
5. Views on relationships between men and women, nudity, and sex
6. Work in the field

What I like about it

Pineapple: a metaphor

My mother planted these pineapples in 2011. They've just been there since.

Book Tales

It was through my mother’s efforts that I came to love reading. I don’t remember but I’m pretty sure she taught me to read like Teodora Alonzo to Pepe. While cleaning stuff that haven’t been touched for decades, I found evidence: the letter S cut out from green art paper and pasted on cardboard (totally her style), along with the first books I probably owned as a child. I remember looking at the pictures of those books before learning to read. When we got a piano, I would open them on the piano, and then press piano keys, telling my little sister that that page was played as such.

My mother bought us books althroughout our childhood. There were storybooks of various sizes in either English or Filipino, mini illustrated dictionaries and encyclopedias and other illustrated educational materials. I think I read every book she bought, not once but multiple times.

Ilang Kwento ng Paghingi ng Tulong

May babae sa waiting shed na kumausap sa'kin habang naglalakad ako sa Kalayaan kahapon. Akala ko magtatanong ng direksyon kasi sabi niya kanina pa daw siya nandun at hindi niya alam yung gagawin kaya humihingi ng tulong. May mga sinabi pa siyang hindi ko naintindihan pero ang naging malinaw sa huli ay kulang na daw siya ng pamasahe kaya kung maaari daw, nakakahiya man, ay humihingi siya ng kahit gaano kaliit na halaga para makauwi ng Valenzuela.

Sa isang mabilis na sandali, napaisip ako. Pano ko malalaman na totoo yung sinasabi niya? Hindi malayong magawa ko rin iyon, pero hindi kaya scam ito? Hindi kaya modus ito at naghihintay lang sa isang sulok yung kasabwat niya? Magbibigay ba ko? Tatanggihan ko ba ang humihingi ng tulong?

Mga dalawang buwan na siguro ang nakalilipas nang may lumapit rin sa'kin matandang lalaki sa gawing iyon ng kalsada. Galing daw siyang city hall, pero naubusan ng pera kaya hindi makauwi ng Marikina. Naalala ko yung kaibigan ko nung hayskul na taga-Marikina rin na minsan daw nauubusan ng pamasahe kaya napapalakad nang malayo.

Mga ganoong panahon rin, sa loob naman ng compound ng National Kidney and Transplant Institute, nang pauwi ako galing PCSO, may manong na tumawag sa'kin. Tricycle driver daw siya sa Maginhawa at namumukhaan niya ko dahil baka daw naging pasahero niya ako dahil alam niyang taga-doon lang ako. Matapos kong isiping imposibleng naging pasahero ako dahil hindi naman ako sumasakay ng tricycle, pinakinggan ko ang mapait niyang kwento. Yung asawa daw niya nakitaan ng bukol sa hindi ko maalala kung baga o bato, pero ooperahan daw noong araw na iyon. Hinihintay niya ang anak niyang lalaking nagpasada ng tricycle nila para bigyan siya ng pera nang makabili na siya ng lugaw na ipapakain niya sa asawa niya bago ito ipa-fasting. Sa huli, lumabas na hinihingian niya ako ng bente kung meron man ako.

Mga isang linggo lang ang nakakaraan, habang naghihintay ako sa paborito kong sulok sa compound ng Lung Center, may lumapit sa'king manong, tinatanong kung may pasyente rin daw ako doon. Yung asawa daw niya ay naroon rin dahil may bukol sa baga. Kakaapruba lang daw ng hinihingi nilang tulong sa PCSO kaya noong araw na iyon ay ooperahan din ang kanyang asawa. Hinihintay daw niya ang anak niyang babaeng nagpapasada ng tricycle upang makabili siya ng lugaw na ipapakain sa kanyang asawa bago ito ipa-fasting. Habang sinasabi niya ito, unti-unting lumalabo ang kanyang mga salita, at dahan-dahan siyang lumalayo at tumatalikod dahil marahil bigla niya akong namukhaan.

Binhi't Kalansay

Ilang ulit ko nang napanood ang Magic Temple (1996) mula nang una itong pinalabas. Ito ang unang pelikulang napanood ko sa sinehan kung kaya naman hindi ko ito makalimutan. Habang nasa banyo at nagliliwaliw ukol sa paborito kong talinhaga, biglang dumaplis sa aking isipan ang isang eksenang ngayon ko lamang namalayan ang natatagong paglalaro ng lalim: ang laban ni Sambag at ni Diyablong Bungo.