Under the Japanese regime, the people lived with extreme austerity and deprivation. Basic commodities were in grave shortage or altogether unavailable so that substitution and improvisation were resorted to. In lieu of the staple rice, people had to feed on root crops, including wild yams (e.g. namu , gamat). They had to make their own salt by boiling sea water. For sugar, they used mahamis locally made from sugarcane juice. Kerosene disappeared in the market. Instead of gas tinterohan, they lit the night using ti-om (clam shell) lamp fueled by oil extracted from coconut. Soap was home-made, again from coconut extracts and lye. Soon, they had to wear scratchy sinamay cloth dyed with locally sourced substances (e.g. achuete for reddish hue, dullaw for yellow). In the countryside, since matches were prohibitively expensive, they maintained a himullang-dan, a log that was eternally burning on one end which had to be tended 24-7.
Month: January 2020
Weekly Reflections
When the writer’s wife entered the room, she found he husband looking sad lost in his thoughts. From behind his back she read what was written on the paper. She left the room silently and came back with another paper and placed it on side of her husband’s writing.
Binarangabanga na an balyena?
Segun sa sarong pilyong chismoso, marinas man daa cotana an ginibo ni Boboy, tanganing magin duwa an gobernador. Dati na daang duwa an congressman, kaya lalong maasenso an Islang Maogma ta duwa na an gobernador, he! he! he!
The governor’s feisty new lawyer
The woman lawyer, according to people close to the governor, is a frequent visitor to the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan offices and courts where the bulk of her cases have been filed.
The Tiger’s chances in the Year of the Metal Rat
In one among probably hundreds of predictions for 2020, the Tiger’s aggressive approach sometimes works in his favor, but only under certain circumstances and will not necessarily ensure a rewarding outcome.
DPWH mulls maintenance of footbridges along highways
In his report to DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar, DPWH Bureau of Maintenance Director Ernesto G. Gregorio Jr. said that starting January 2020, all DPWH Regional and District Engineering Offices were required to submit an inventory of all footbridges along national roads, including structures’ details and condition, and cost of repair.
Caramoran man, 92, escapes jail time in 12-year old case
A widow, Alferes had been the subject of a warrant of arrest issued by RTC Branch 43 Presiding Judge Lelu P. Contreras, for the crime of attempted rape, docketed under Criminal Case No. 3750 with recommended bail of P120,000.
Construction worker arrested in buy-bust
Yet another man listed in the local police’s watch list of illegal drug personalities has been apprehended in a buy-bust operation.
Teeners charged for 2019 Viga robbery
Unidentified suspects took dry goods such as T-shirts, slippers, flashlights, fishing lines and basketballs from inside the store and then also carted away an electric fan, P350,000 cash, 727 British pounds, and US$600 in different denominations.