hISTORYA

MARIQUINA SHOES ON A RAINY CHRISTMAS DAY Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 25 December 2016 It is Christmas Day and rain continued to fall since we left Isabela last 23 rd . Checking on the weather bureau 5:00 a.m. bulletin, “ Bagyong Nina” (international name, “Nock-ten”) has maintained its strength as it continues to endanger Bicol region. At 4:00 a.m. today, the eye of typhoon was located at 250km East of Virac, Catanduanes. PAGASA has raised   tropical cyclone warning signal no. 3   over the areas of Catanduanes, Albay and Camarines Sur while Metro Manila is on signal no. 1. The rain did not stop us from taking a trip around the metropolis. We went to Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City. I missed the place and reminisced my high school days in La Salle Green Hills (LSGH). The school is situated a couple of kilometers away from the complex. In the 90s, students of LSGH were allowed to leave campus and have lunch at the commercial center. Then, we had early ...

THE PX OF DAU & STOTSENBURG’S CLARK Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 17 December 2016 I arrived at Royce Hotel at Clark Freeport Zone to attend a dinner at Amare by Chef Chris hosted by Isabela Governor Faustino G. Dy III for the Department Heads and Sangguniang Panlalawigan Members. This is one of my numerous trips to Clark, a redevelopment of the former United States Air Force base in the Philippines. The Zone has modern infrastructure facilities, generous fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, professional support services and other amenities. Today, Clark forms the hub for business, industry, aviation, education, and tourism in the Philippines as well as a leisure, fitness, entertainment and gaming center of   Central Luzon . It is located on the northwest side of Angeles City and on the west side of Mabalacat City in the province of Pampanga and northwest of   Metro Manila . During my elementary days in Ateneo, my bestfriend and I would travel by bus for about ...

KALSADA IN PASAY Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 7 December 2016 It is wise to travel early in the evening from Isabela to be able to reach Metro Manila before the dawn to escape the monstrous traffic of the metropolis. Waiting for a bus ride along AH26 ( Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlika Highway) in Cauayan City, one can see three most common signboards displayed on the window shields of provincial plying buses bound for Manila; Cubao, Sampaloc and Pasay. I will be gracing a three-day Consultation Workshop in Pasay City on the Preparation of Governance Reform Targets Required for 2017 Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces (CMGP) and Other Office of Project Development Services (OPDS) of the DILG Locally-Funded Road Projects. The CMGP is the Duterte Administration’s version of the KALSADA program of PNoy. KALSADA,   or   Konkreto at Ayos na Lansangan at Daan Tungo sa Pangkalahatang Kaunlaran,   is the performance-based devolution program lau...

SAN ANDRES, DE SAYA AND BONIFACIO’S COIN Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 30 November 2016 For the past 104 years, the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle is being celebrated in my hometown in Cabatuan, Isabela. Our ancestors from Bacarra, Ilocos Norte brought their patron saint to their new settlement in south central Isabela in 1912 together with their Aglipayan religion now formally known as the Independent Church of Filipino Christians (ICFC). In 1949, when Roman Catholicism was formally preached by the La Salette missionaries, they adopted the same patron saint and both religion celebrated the feast day of San Andres Apostol in their own unique way. Though there were many instances that their procession criss-crossed in the poblasyon, the Christian Cabatuanenses practiced their faith in peace and harmony. I remember the present San Andres statue at the Roman Catholic Church which was donated by my mother during the time of Fr. Ingeño Rapadas at the turn of the millennium. Mom...

BURNHAM y VILLAVERDE Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 26 November 2016 My family visited the City of Pines upon the invitation of our mayor to unwind after a week of work. It took me three hours to drive from Cabatuan to Aritao town in Nueva Vizcaya province and another three hours from the junction via Kayapa-Ambuklao, Bokod in Benguet to Baguio City. On the way to our hotel, we passed by the famous Burnham Park, dubbed as the “Mother of All Parks” in the Cordillera. Tracing our history gives us the old picture that the most prominent feature of Spanish pueblos was the plaza, a central area for town activities such as the fiesta and where government buildings, the church, a market area and other infrastructures were located; residential areas lay around the plaza. During the conquista, the first task of colonization was the reduccion , or relocation of the indigenous population into settlements surrounding the plaza. Plaza is still a term used today but normally refer...