Soul Waves/Our World-Tuesday

In a small corner of Rizal Park stands "Soul Waves", sculptural waves crafted from stainless steel, a memorial erected in 2010 by the Korean community in the Philippines to remember their loved ones who perished in World War II.  Soul Waves also symbolize the sacred shores of both Korea and the Philippines and the joint efforts of both countries to protect its shores.  

Beside the Soul Waves is the Filipino-Korean Soldier Monument---a fitting tribute to Filipino soldiers who fought side by side with the Korean soldiers during the Korean War (1950-1953).  About 7,500 combat troops known as the Philippines Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK), the 4th largest force under the United Nations command, were sent to defend South Korea from a communist invasion by North Korea which was supported by China and the Soviet Union.

Recently, North Korea declares war with South Korea and the US, and as tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula, let's all hope that cooler heads would prevail.  An estimated 4 million people were killed during the Korean War.  

Today, April 9th, we commemorate the "Day of Valor" in the Philippines, also known as Bataan and Corregidor Day, the Fall of Bataan during World War II.   

"What a cruel thing is war:  to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world." 

~ Robert E. Lee, letter to his wife, 1864

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Mural/Photo Hunt

 "Peace" mosaic mural along Roxas Boulevard.

 

Linking to Photo Hunt

Lorenzo Ruiz/Our World Tuesday

 
Most Filipino Catholics recognize the name San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, the first Filipino saint. He was also known as Lorenzo de Manila, born in Binondo, Manila between 1600 and 1610 to a Chinese father and Tagalog mother.  He was an altar boy and was educated by the Dominican Fathers.  San Lorenzo Ruiz was a layman, with two sons and a daughter.

This statue of Lorenzo de Manila is located at the open field near Quirino Grandstand across the Rizal monument.

The caption at the statue’s base reads: “Si yo tuviera miles de Vidas las daria por mi fe."  The on-line Spanish-English translation is "If I had thousands of lives, I would give for my faith."  This was part of his declaration while being tortured and his tormentor taunted him that his life would be spared if he would renounce his faith.  

"That I shall never do, because I am a Christian and I shall die for God, and for Him I will give many thousands of lives if I had them.  And so do with me as you please." ~ Lorenzo de Manila

In 1636, Ruiz was falsely accused of killing a Spaniard.  He sought asylum on board a ship with Dominican priests bound for Okinawa, Japan.  By the time they arrived in Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate was persecuting Christians and the missionaries were consequently arrested and thrown to prison.  Ruiz and his companions went through different types of torture---needles were inserted inside their fingernails, they were beaten unconscious; they were hung by their feet and submerged in water until some of his companions recant their faith.

On September 27, 1637, Ruiz and his companions were taken to the Nishizaka Hill.  There, he was hung upside down into a pit---this form of torture was known as tsurushi in Japanese or horca y hoya in Spanish.  This was the most painful way to die in those times and involved using rocks to add weight to the person until the tortured person suffocates and is crushed from their own weight.  After two days, Lorenzo Ruiz died from bleeding and suffocation.  His body was cremated and his ashes were thrown to the sea.  He never recanted his love and faith in God.  Source

Lorenzo de Manila was beatified by Pope John II during the Papal visit to Manila on February 18, 1981.  Saint Lorenzo Ruiz was elevated to sainthood and received canonization on October 18, 1987 by Pope John Paul II in Rome.  He is recognized as the first Filipino saint and martyr.

I feel sad for this tattered marker.  I feel sad for those who suffered, who are still suffering  and persecuted because of their faith, political allegiance, and ethnicity.

Linking to Our World-Tuesday 

Dancing Rings/OWT

Right across the Rizal monument at the Rizak Park is a replica of the "Dancing Rings" sculpture by Olympic artist, Jose Datuin.  The sculpture won 1st Prize in the 2008 International Olympic Committee Sport & Art contest at Lausanne, Switzerland in the celebration of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, besting 35 countries.  The winning piece is now permanently housed and exhibited at the International Olympic Committee Museum in Switzerland.

Crafted from stainless steel, the work consists of five rings and ball that is lightly welded on the central ring.  According to the artist, the ball represents the World while the interlocking rings denote One Dream.  It also suggests the form of dancing human figure, creating an exciting infinite movement.

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Joy/Sky-Watch Friday

Some people have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy. ~ Abraham Maslow

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~ Howard Thurman

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. ~ Karl Barth

More amazing skies from around the planet @ Sky-Watch Friday

Vendor's cart/Blue Monday

A vendor's cart displaying balls, kites, and other toys for sale at the open field near the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.  The open field at the Quirino Grandstand is usually used as a venue for cultural, political, religious, and sports events;  people also come here to enjoy the open space, and possibly escape the dingy confines of their crowded homes and neighborhoods.  We definitely need more parks in Metro Manila.

Join us @ Blue Monday

Sorbetero/Our World Tuesday

Childhood memories rushed in when I saw this sorbetero near Quirino Grandstand a few weeks ago.  A sorbetero was a street fixture of my childhood, a street vendor who sold home-made ice cream we call sorbetes.  He would announce his presence by ringing a handheld bell that usually roused us from our afternoon siesta.   We rushed to the ice cream cart like children from the desert.

Sorbetes is a traditional variation of ice cream in the Philippines.  It is now more popularly known as "dirty ice cream".  Peddled by street hawkers (or sorbeteros), it is usually served with small wafer or sugar cones, and more recently, bread buns.  Sorbetes is uniquely made from coconut milk and cassava flour.  Flavors vary from the usual natural fruits such as mango, jack fruit, avocado, melon, coconut and strawberry to flavors imitating commercial ice cream such as chocolate, cheese, vanilla, mocha and ube (purple yam).  Source: Wiki

My mother predicted trips to the emergency room every time my siblings and I ate dirty ice cream.  It was frowned upon by our elders as the sorbetero was himself purportedly not exactly a model of hygiene.  What water was used?  And why did he not wash his hands after he handled our peso coins?  I even taunted my little sister that the sorbetero didn't wash his hands after using the bathroom---it was after she ate the sugar cone!  Sorbetes became a guilty pleasure  we devoured behind our mother's back.

Sorbetes is peddled in colorful carts which usually can accommodate three flavors, each in large tin canisters.  The cart is stuffed with crushed ice sprinkled with salt to produce a lower temperature around the tin canisters and keep the ice cream frozen.  

Sorbeteros walk the streets the whole day, or they're parked near schools, parks and churches, calling customers by ringing a small handheld bell.  Children gathered around the ice cream cart in the middle of the street is  a common sight especially in the summer.

The sorbetes industry competes with commercially available ice cream from giant companies such as Nestle, Magnolia and Selecta which have also started peddling their frozen products in the streets in more sanitized carts.

Dirty or not, ice cream remains my ultimate comfort food.

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Stars & Stripes/Blue Monday

A horse-drawn carriage at the Rizal Park.

More blues @ Blue Monday

Tourism HQ/Our World-Tuesday

The Department of Tourism (formerly Agriculture Building) headquarters in the southern section of Rizal Park in Manila.  I recognize the Corinthian columns (thanks to the designers I have worked with.:p)---an example of neoclassical architecture; designed by Architect Antonio Toledo and was built in the early 1900's.  The DOT building is the future address of the Museum of Natural Sciences.

The DOT building is located at Teodoro F. Valencia Circle, formerly called Agrifina Circle, in Rizal Park.  A marker was erected here to pay tribute to Teodoro F. Valencia (May 7, 1913 - May 4, 1987).

"Teodoro F. Valencia, better known as "Ka Doroy," was widely regarded as the Dean of Filipino Journalists. His many civic undertakings made him a legend, particularly his knack for raising funds to help the underprivileged and the less fortunate. Known as the "Builder of Rizal Park," Valencia was largely responsible for developing Rizal Park into one of the best parks in Asia.

Ka Doroy was born in Tanauan, Batangas where he finished his elementary and high school education. He earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Sto. Tomas in 1935 and took up Law at the Philippine Law School where he graduated in 1941.

Pursuant to Republic Act 6836 renaming Agrifina Circle to Teodoro F. Valencia Circle and in grateful recognition of his life-long service to the Filipino people, the National Parks Development Committee under the Department of Tourism, dedicates this circle as a living memorial to Teodoro F. Valencia on this 7th day of May 1990. City of Manila."

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Lapu-Lapu: Sentinel of Freedom/Our World-Tuesday

Today, August 27th, we celebrate National Heroes Day to commemorate our heroes throughout history.  

One of my favorite Filipino heroes is Lapu-Lapu--a man who resisted a foreign invader and fought guns with spears, kampilan and kalasag. He was the first-ever recognized Filipino hero and freedom fighter.  I was in Rizal Park two weeks ago and visited Lapu-Lapu's 30-foot bronze statue.  This monument is called the "Sentinel of Freedom", a gift from the Korean Freedom League, and was erected here in 2004.  It was conceptualized to give recognition to the first Asian who fought against foreign invasion.

The hero was shown standing guard, holding his kampilan, which is concealed in its scabbard and firmly planted on the ground.  A man of peace yet ready to protect his territory and people if threatened.  The statue faces the west, towards Manila Bay.

Lapu-Lapu (1491-1542) is known in history as the Datu of Mactan in Central Philippines who defeated in 1521 the Portuguese explorer and conquistador Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan, who was under the service of the King of Spain, was the first man to circumnavigate the world.  After the historic battle in what would later be known as the Battle of Mactan, it took the Spanish colonialists 35 years before they would set foot again on what is now the Philippines.

The statue was sculpted by Juan Sajid Imao, a 2001 TOYM awardee for the arts.

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Mango vendor/Our World-Tuesday

A mango vendor at the open field near Quirino Grandstand in Manila.  Fresh green Indian mango is a popular snack, usually paired with shrimp paste (bagoong).  Indian mango is smaller, pudgier and less intensely flavored variety of mango---it's not as tart/sour as the green Philippine mango.

Linking to Our World-Tuesday

Stone bridge [Sunday Bridges]

@ mirandablue

A stone bridge over a small lagoon that leads to the marble wall etched with Jose Rizal's "Mi Ultimo Adios" and a diorama of his execution.  Located in Rizal Park, Manila.

Posted for Sunday Bridges hosted by Louis

LP: Publiko [Public]

@ mirandablue

Rizal Park, ang pinaka-kilalang pampublikong liwasan sa Pilipinas.  Dito nakahimlay si Dr. Jose Rizal, ang pambansang bayani, at ang monumento ay sagisag ng kanyang kadakilaan.

@ mirandablue

Ang jeepney ay pampublikong sasakyan na makikita saan mang dako ng Pilipinas.  Ito ay naging simbolo na ng kulturang Filipino.

Posted for Litratong Pinoy

Rizal Park by day [My World-Tuesday]

Last month, I showed you  Luneta by Night.  I went back to see Luneta (or Rizal Park) at daylight on August 21st, two days before the ill-fated hostage crisis just across the Rizal monument on August 23rd.  I wanted to post these photos right after the tragic event but it was too painful and humiliating.  

The dismissed police officer who hijacked the tourist bus full of Hong Kong tourists probably thought of the symbolism of this park to our history when he asked the bus driver to stop at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.  Or he was just crazy and desperate and the open grounds of the park was convenient for his evil plan.

This place was once called Bagumbayan, a marshy land facing the beach which is now Roxas Boulevard.  Bagumbayan Park gracefully hosted flirtations among the Manila elite as well as witnessed the deaths of its disloyal citizenry with indifference. For 74 years, the Spanish used this park as an execution ground for "rebels and mutineers". Between 1823 and 1897,  158 patriots and martyrs were felled on the square by Spanish infantrymen, including the 3 priests, Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora.  Jose Rizal was executed here by firing squad on 1896, and it is said that the blood they shed served as a "spiritual fertilizer which invigorated the Filipino people's yearning for liberty". (Source:  National Parks Development Committee)

It was the Americans who set the motions of building a memorial to honor Dr. Rizal.  The bronze figure is the work of Swiss sculptor Richard Kissling.  It was completed in 1913 and thereafter, Rizal's bones from the Paco Cemetery, where he was secretly buried right after his execution, were transferred to this monument.  Inscribed on Rizal monument:   

"I want to show to those who deprive people the right to love of country, that when we know how to sacrifice ourselves for our duties and convictions, death does not matter if one dies for those one loves – for his country and for others dear to him." 

The Rizal Diorama (or the Light & Sound Tableau on the Life and Martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal) was one of the highlights of my last visit to the park.  More about the diorama here.

There is a motorized train for those who are not fond of walking.  It's a 48-hectare park, if you're determined to walk, wear comfortable shoes.

There are a lot to see and experience here.  This the entrance to the Chinese Garden.  There is also a Japanese Garden, the National Historical Institute, National Library, Planetarium, Central Lagoon, Orchidarium (it was under renovation), Butterfly Pavilion, National Museum, a chess plaza, and a lot more.  There are concerts and performances at the open-air auditorium.

Ordinary folks with their families on a picnic, couples (young and old), students, vendors, tourists, photographers, joggers, Tai-Chi practitioners are the people one usually sees at Luneta.   It's an oasis in the middle of an urban jungle.

Sleep in the shadows of nothingness

Redeemer of an enslaved land---

Don't weep in the mystery of the tomb

Nor grieve the momentary triumph of the Spaniard;

For if the bullet ravaged your skull

Your idea vanquished an empire!

~ Cecilio Apostol, Filipino poet,

on Rizal's 2nd death anniversary, 1898

Rizal Park, Kilometer 0

Manila,  Philippines

This post is linked to My World-Tuesday

The Rizal Diorama [My World-Tuesday]

As promised in my last week's Luneta post, I returned to the park on Saturday afternoon to see the Rizal Diorama.  The Rizal Diorama is the actual location of his execution on December 30, 1896.  It is located on the north side of the Rizal monument, in a small enclosed section of the park. 

The area is protected by a  stone wall, a moat with a stone bridge.  The small bridge leads to a black marble wall where Rizal's poem "Mi Ultimo Adios" is engraved.
 

The poem, "Mi Ultimo Adios" (My Last Farewell), was written by Rizal on the eve of his execution as many believed.   The poem was actually untitled, undated and unsigned when Rizal's sisters found the folded paper hidden in a small alcohol stove.  On the afternoon of December 29, 1896, a day before his execution, Rizal was visited by his mother, sisters and two nephews.  When the family was about to leave, Rizal told his sister Trinidad, in English (the Spanish guards didn't understand English), that there was something in the small alcohol stove.   The Rizals reproduced copies of the 14 five-line stanzas and sent them to friends in the country and abroad.  The poem was published in the first issue of La Independencia in 1898 entitled "Ultimo Adios", thus Rizal's poem became popularly known as "Ultimo Adios" or "Mi Ultimo Adios".

Before and after Rizal, many innocent Filipinos have been executed in this area of Bagumbayan (the old name of Luneta) by the Spanish colonizers.  Falsely accused of masterminding the Cavite rebellion, the 3 priests, Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were garroted here in 1872.  In 1897, 13 Filipinos were also executed in Bagumbayan---casualties of Spanish pressure against the revolutionary Katipunan, an anti-Spanish revolutionary society.  Many unsung heroes died in Bagumbayan--patriots from Bicol, Capiz and other parts of the country were brought to Manila and executed in Bagumbayan.  The Spanish version of the "Killing Fields".

Larger-than-life dioramas show Rizal's final days in captivity and his death at the hands of his countrymen.  The Spanish authorities used Filipino, not Spanish, soldiers for his firing squad.  I was awed by the size of these bronze statues--they're about 8-10 feet tall.  It costs about 22 cents to see this diorama; about a dollar to see the light-and-sound  presentation at 7 pm.  I wanted to see the light-and-sound presentation but the gate-keeper said that there were only 6 of us who wanted to see it, they needed at least 15 people.:(

I have read some articles that Rizal's last act of defiance was to face away from his Filipino firing squad.  That is a bit incorrect because his statue here is supposed to represent him spinning away from the firing squad in a last effort to die looking up to the sky, instead of breathing his last facing down.

Some historians wrote that Rizal's last request was to be shot facing his executioners, but the Spaniards refused, citing a Spanish law that seditionists are to be shot in the back.  Legend has it that as bullets hit his back, with superhuman effort, Rizal spun himself so he could die facing the sky.

I sat on the concrete stool and contemplated  at the horrible scene...I almost cried.  I  regret that I never paid much attention to my Rizal classes in school.  His books "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" are obligatory for high school students in the Philippines, and truth be told, I only read those books because I needed to.  I think it's about time I reacquaint myself with the works of Rizal.

The Rizal monument viewed from the stone bridge.

P.S.  Across the Rizal monument, at the Quirino grandstand grounds,  a hostage crisis involving a dismissed police officer and a bus with more than 20 tourists from Hong Kong happened today.  The hostage crisis ended after a 10-hour negotiations, the police assaulted the bus, and the hostage-taker killed by a sniper's bullet earlier this evening.  At least 7 wounded hostages were brought to the hospital.  Aside from the 9 hostages released earlier today, there are no news on others survivors.  A sad day, indeed.

Posted for My World-Tuesday