Mi Choza De Nipa

When the Whole Community Was Our Orchard The other night, my wife and I found ourselves remembering the fruits of our childhood. One name brought out another. Camachile. Tieza. Pomelo. Guyabano. Guava. Abyang. Mango. Aratiles. Balimbing. Kaimito. Duhat. Siniguelas. Mabolo. Mulberry. Sampalok. Pias. Soon, we were no longer merely naming fruits. We were rebuilding an entire community as it once appeared—with tall trees beside houses, branches extending over open land, seasonal fruits hanging within sight and children who knew exactly where to find them. Decades later, many of those trees are gone. More houses now occupy the spaces where they once grew. Families expanded, land became more valuable, and open areas were gradually claimed for new homes. The change was understandable, perhaps even unavoidable. Yet every new structure seemed to take the place of a tree, a patch of ground or a small corner where something edible had once grown freely. Only after returning did we realize how muc...

🇵🇭 Pax Silica in the Philippines: Who Gains, Who Pays, and What the Documents Actually Say When a project promises billions of dollars in investment, hundreds of thousands of jobs, advanced technology and a place for the Philippines in the global artificial-intelligence economy, it is tempting to call it progress before the first building has risen. It is equally tempting to condemn it immediately as another foreign intrusion. Neither response is sufficient. Pax Silica must be examined according to what has actually been signed, what remains under negotiation, what the Philippine government promises, what foreign partners openly expect to receive—and what Filipino communities may be required to sacrifice. The truth is neither a government press release nor a protest slogan. But when the documented benefits, risks and obligations are unequal, neutrality must not become an excuse for silence. This article reflects publicly available information as of August 8, 2026. Because the binding...

The Scent That Led Me Back to the Fishpond This morning, I harvested a couple of tender tips from my green Malabar spinach. I did not need scissors. I held a stem between my thumb and finger and pinched. It yielded easily—a quiet little snap that told me the shoot was young enough for the kitchen. Then came the smell. It was green, earthy and strangely familiar. For a moment, I was no longer standing beside my balcony garden in Singapore. That scent had opened a door, and through it I found myself back in Pangasinan, beside the fishponds of my childhood. I remembered a plant we called balangbang . The vegetable beside the water Balangbang grew along the sides of fishponds, close enough for some of its leaves to touch the water. It was not planted in neat rows. Nobody had to prepare a garden bed for it, buy a packet of seeds or draw up a feeding schedule. It simply grew where land and water met. Its young green growth could be gathered and brought home. The tender portions were made int...

 14-Jan-2026 So for those years when I was quiet, or not writing anything, life is going on. 2020, it was the pandemic. I was hired back by my first company here in Singapore , and I stayed for another 3 years. It was around the 3rd quarter of the 3rd year that I got a message from one of my former colleagues who asked if I want to be doing PROMIS again. We worked together back in 1997 in ADI Philippines doing, guess what? Yes, PROMIS. So our past experiences going back full circle. Work, that is. I thought about it, the skillset is familiar, and we're good at it, so I thought about the financial side. There's an increment which is considerable. I did not expect that amount, really. Which I learned afterwards that my full work experience was considered, which is at least 3 decades. Around 17 years was on doing PROMIS. So yeap, that gave me some leverage to catapult my base pay. And that additional amount was needed. Praise God for his wisdom! At the right time, I was offered ...

 It is now December 2025. For a long time, I have not written anything on this blog, after I posted a copy of ' Mi Ultimo Adios ', partly as I am currently brushing up on my Spanish. Really, only now I appreciate the depth of how Jose Rizal has learned, and not only Spanish, but in totality, 26 languages, and as per details in history book, usually served as interpreter for fellow passengers when traveling. Not to mention that the vernacular in my childhood town is steeped in Spanish, just like in Zamboanga , where Spanish was interspersed, married with the local tongue, creating a unique dialect. So what has been happening lately? What's going on? Kids grow up, they leave the next. As one saying goes: There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe That is not always easy, I mean, as a parent. Kids have a more dynamic and flowing energy, but adults tend to be more lethargic and phelg...